Inside Camp
Lazash
@Crusader Lord"Head Warrior. Do you know where any creatures that come out at night sleep during the day?"Auguz looked down at Lazash with a raised eyebrow, before giving her an amused half-grin. His yellowed teeth glinted as he sheathed his blade and spoke to the runt.
“Think you’re clever, aye?” The sound he made might’ve been a chuckle, or a growl. “Alright then!” He turned slightly and
pointed to the north-west of the camp, not down the slopes towards the forest but further up the jagged mountains. “There’s caves where
Camazots make their nests, up thataway!” Then, he shrugged. “Or, ya could try findin’ a
Nooki den down in the
woods. But,” and here he either chuckled or growled again and waved the little female off on her way, “Ya might wanna think about
why them night time beasties prefer to slink around inna dark, geh heh heh!”
Gren and Vola
@Lucius Cypher@Unkown58Gren opted to take a detour and looked around the camp for stuff he could use, and in the process met Vola doing the same. Most of the other orcs didn't take notice of the Runts running around, as many of them seemed to have their own tasks to attend to or at the very least were focused on something besides babysitting. In fact, one orc was so focused on sprinting across the camp, stone axe in hand, that he almost ran the two newbie hunters over. As Gren and Vola just barely stopped short before their paths could collide with the runner, they would see this orc hop over a nearby cookfire that had several other adults sitting around it. One of them lurched to one side, wooden bowl full of something that steamed suspiciously, and hollered at the sprinter.
“Oi,
mukh, what’re ya runnin’ ‘round like that for!? Ya almost spilled me breffast!” One could hear the shouting easily over the short distance between the two Runts and this group. The runner only laughed at those he'd offended and kept going.
“Outta my way, fatarse!
Bowbh’s makin’ me a new knife—so I gotta bring’im wood for the forges!” As this orc-turned-woodsman disappeared around a tent corner, the others around the fire went back to eating--but not without continuing to grumble among themselves.
“Hmph, more wood? What ‘e needs is more ore! And better stuff, too. That bog iron ain’t worth
gruhk!” said one, gesturing with a hand-carved wooden spoon before scooping a big pile of gray gruel with brown chunks in it into his tusked maw. The word "grukh" was said with the same emphasis one uses when struggling to excrete after eating too many dairy products.
“Aye, but for that ye’d need a propah cave to mine—and good tools! Ya can’t make a pickaxe outta wood!” said another with a somewhat square head, who pulled up a skewer out of the flames. The blackened stick had been used to impale what looked like a black, ash-charred rat, which he promptly took a crunchy bite out of followed by a deep belch.
“Y’know,
I saw a cave on me way back from up north the other day. Betcha there’s ore in there!” replied the first, hitting another next to him on the shoulder in excitement.
“Yeah? Well you go find it then, and don’t come cryin’ to me when ya get eat by somethin’ down inna dark!” countered this orc, who looked like much less of a morning person than the others. He yawned, before turning his entire bowl of gruel up and loudly slurping it down.
While this conversation was going on, if Gren and Vola were particularly opportunistic they might notice that these three orcs weren't paying the best attention to their belongings around them and the cookfire. They could see a few objects that might well qualify as "useful" for their purposes...but, the three orcs were sitting at such angles to one another that, while a Runt might be able to grab something without one noticing, it was almost certain the other two would see the thief.
Thus, if they really wanted to, it might be best to just pick one or two items and make a break for it. Considering they were eating and talking at the same time, and not really focused on the little ones, they probably wouldn't notice Gren or Vola had taken something until the two were gone...Although, if what they took turned out to be
valuable, they might be risking earning the adult's ire. The question was, what did Orcs value?
- A stone hatchet, left unattended and leaning against a tent.
- A fire-roasted bone with a few big chunks of meat left on it, cooling on a stone near the fire. A femur of something small but stocky...like a goat, maybe?
- A pouch made from some kind of animal hide, hanging on a tent post by a rope belt.
- An unlocked wooden container, roughly the size of a breadbox. It has a sliding lid on top.
- A small basket woven from strips of cane and straw, with several handfuls of charcoal inside it.
Optional Quests Available.
- Gather wood for Bowbh’s forges.
- Gather ore for Bowbh’s forges.
- Optional: Gather Bog Ore
- Optional: Gather Cave Ore
- Optional: Bring Bowbh high quality ore.
- Discover the North Cave
Which Quest(s) will you accept?
As most of the Runts made their way towards the camp's entrance, they passed by a handful of rickety towers. Made from rough-cut timber stacked somewhat like a game of Jenga, these wobbly structures had ladders made from rope, sticks, and occasionally a long bone by which
Orc Grunts scrambled up to serve as lookouts. The lighter demonkin had an easier time climbing the towers without bringing the whole thing down on top of them, though more than one of the tribe had cracked their thick skulls on the ground after a collapse or a tumble. Older than Runts but still not full-grown, these adolescents had often poked fun at the younger Orcs by taunting them, stealing food, and occasionally throwing things at them in the brood pit.
“Oi! Look at awl da widdle dummies, headin’ out on their fuwst big hunts! Bah ha ha ha!”
jeered a particularly large Grunt. Standing at about five feet tall and about fifty pounds heavier than most Runts—maybe with the exception of Gren and a few others—the bully called
Builge had been an especially sharp thorn in the sides of the latest batch coming up from the pits. “Betcha at least half of ‘em don’t come back! Buncha mukhs! Yeah, I’m talkin’ t’you, weaklings!” But Builge did little more than harass them from his perch—probably because every time the big lug dared to move a muscle, his pile of twigs threatened to topple itself. At one point, the platform he stood on remained level, while the base did its best slinky impression.
They would then come to the palisades proper---numerous logs, from trees and branches alike, sharpened into stakes at a variety of angles and plants in the ground with all the pointy bits out towards the world. There were a few platforms here, or even an attempt at stacking rocks into a sturdier wall every so often, but for the most part these defenses seemed to be little more than a very tall fence meant to keep any hostiles out of the camp. Falling onto, or charging into, these spikes would certainly not be a good time for any creature or group that tried to charge the base.
The orcs standing guard, holding large but crudely made wooden shields and vicious looking spears, gave each Runt a glare and a nod as they ushered them out of the camp and onto their first hunt.
As Agar looked out, down across the slopes and over the tops of the shorter trees down below, the view might have actually reminded him of his home—the beautiful mountains and forests of Montana, camping at the foot of the Rockies, or hiking in the canyons and lake valleys. The forest, on closer inspection, seemed to favor a more “northerly” flavor, with what looked to be a great deal of large conifers, but the weather was quite temperate and great hardwoods grew in thick patches among the mix. Close to the camp, most of the underbrush had been cut back, but the woods grew denser and darker not far beyond the treeline.
In the distance, he could see a place that must’ve been some kind of hill or rocky cliff, for a section of trees rose above all their brethren quite suddenly and at an angle. This rise was almost directly east of the camp, though if his experience riding far across the range wasn’t lying to him, it was probably at least an hour’s walk away. A little further to the south of that rise, it seemed like there might be an opening in the canopy, but whether it was some sort of clearing, meadow, or just a hole in the ground couldn’t be seen from this distance at this angle. Something in his instincts said “lake,” but was it the Orc part of him, or the human?
If he looked back at the mountains where the camp had been nestled, he would see that the orcs’ settlement was essentially on the bottom of a wide, ramping valley that only went a short distance vertically up the mountain base—but being backed into the rockface at least seemed like a good defensive strategy. The rocks to the north of the camp looked much more scalable, with switchback trails over ledges and a few worn paths that could be seen even from a distance. The southern mountains seemed rougher going, but also didn’t rise as high as the other side of the range. However, both sides of the valley stretched tall enough that, as he craned his neck back and blinked against the haze in the sky, Agar would be able to make out snow atop several peaks and a few that even reached cloud cover.
Speaking of clouds, there didn’t seem to be many today. The sky was bright blue, and if the sun still rose and set in the same direction as on Earth then the time had to be somewhere roughly between eight, maybe ten o’clock in the morning at the latest. So the Runts had clear weather and bright sunlight to hunt by, at least for those who didn’t delve into caves or something like that.
Now that he had the lay of the land, perhaps Agar would find it a little easier to keep his bearings as he set out on his hunt…
At that moment, Duram approached, singing a song easily recognizable by just about anyone except those born on this strange, new world. Would Agar betray what, up until now, he likely only knew about himself? Or would he play like the other orcs of the camp, who gave Duram the kind of looks people would probably give someone who loudly screamed obscenities in a public plaza?
Agar and Duram would also see one of the other Runts, leading another by the hand, following a growing trail of footprints into the forest--one set was light enough as to be barely there. Another set was heavier, and deepened the first set as they'd intentionally followed at a lumbering gait. And now these other two made four runts, all heading in the same direction.
Then Agar and Duram would also hear a sharp crack coming from somewhere else in the forest, followed by a cloud of birds taking flight.
As
Akeno performed her kata in the clearing, perhaps the strange peace known to come from martial arts mastery was what calmed the area and made even an Orc seem not quite so threatening to the local fauna. Hop by gentle hop, ears and nose a-twitching, came a wary creature to nibble on the lush, green grasses at the very edge of young Akeno's training ground.
It was certainly aware of her, as whenever she stopped her movements or made a snapping turn to another direction, the
Jackalope would also stop whatever it was doing and twitch one floppy ear in her direction. Its stillness had the kind of tension that said "if I get even an inkling of a threat, I'm off like a shot, sister." But so long as Akeno didn't look directly at it or move too close, after a few moments it would go back to chewing the scenery---quite literally.
But then
Grunthor came onto the picture, and though he wasn't trying to be actively disruptive he also had a more lumbering gait. As he spoke to Akeno, the Jackalope moved into the shadow of a large tree. It was still visible, if one cared to really look, but could disappear into the brush at any given moment---and it almost did so, as a loud sound interrupted the two runts.
"CRAWK-A-DOOBY-DOO!"
That unmistakable caw was one the runts had heard before, because the creature that made it had been caged more than once by the adult orcs in various attempts at domestication. Though they couldn't see it, they knew an
Elwet had to be out there, somewhere, among the brush.
Not long after that, Esfir showed up, dragging Lazash behind her. The other female orc had been interrupted in her thoughts just after leaving Auguz and skirting around the known places where Dire Rats tended to nest, but now it seemed like she'd be going into the forest proper instead of scouting for caves. Then again, it seemed like Esfir had an actual plan, and what's more she wanted to work together.
Would this be the first Orc Runt Party?
Another caw answered the first Elwet. The Jackalope, on the other hand, clearly didn't like the sight of so many potential predators gathering in one spot. Even without anyone making an aggressive move towards it, the little beast jumped into the bushes and
took off in a mad dash! They could hear it rustling the underbrush, but it was completely lost to sight...and within seconds, would be lost to hearing, too. Although, it did seem to stir something up not too far away--
which provoked a third Elwet's screech. Maybe a whole flock of the creatures was nearby?
The place where Ushnekh slipped into the woods, in a different patch of tree and brush than where it seemed most of the other Runts were heading, now sported a perfectly circular patch of broken ground around 10 feet in diameter as if some strange kind of mining or farming machine had broken the first layer of earth into multiple, angular chunks and then rolled them over a handful of times. The centerpoint of this area had sunk in almost a foot deep, as the rest of the earth had been pushed out away from it to form a crater. The noise and danger of his spell caused an entire flock of small, mundane looking birds to flee the trees with startled cries. Did that mean that most animals would avoid such noise? Or...would something dangerous come to investigate?
Ushnekh didn't seem to want to hang around to find out, and decided to scuttle off in search of another Runt to tail--
but just before he left the newly made clearing, something dropped out of a tree right on top of him!The monster appeared to have been somewhat stunned or shocked by the sudden shockwave that had rattled the base of a branch it'd been resting on--part of said branch was still curled in its tail. However, by the time Ushnekh reacted to what amounted to a coiled rope suddenly dropping on his face and bouncing off with a heavy thud, the creature too had recovered its wits.
With a shrill hiss, the monster lunged at his leg with its fangs bared!
