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Lunarlord34The World of Aedven
Orc Camp
"The entire camp rested at the base of a mountain, with a sloping ledge and trails at its edge that led down past rocky brushland to a dense treeline. Many of the camp’s shelters were thus carved into the rocky outcrops and cliff faces, though tents and crude wooden buildings were scattered around as well. Usually only the stronger or more renown monsters lived in the natural caves, with the rest being forced to make do with tents and teepees—in the case of some poor Grunts, it was the best they could do to make an A-frame shelter with a bed of leaves."
"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 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 Shaman enjoyed a rather cozy home by comparison: the cave itself was set at an angle to a curved rock face, and the lean-to had been built as an extension of sorts. It was similar, perhaps, to a covered patio or porch built as an add-on to a human house. A few of the Shaman’s personal belongings and knicknacks could be seen around the corner of the stone entry, but the outer area seemed to serve as her “workshop,” or ritual area…maybe even a lab?"
"Several tall wooden posts had been planted into the earth, and thinner branches formed a frame for a sloping straw roof on one side. Underneath this shed, a furnace of fired clay bricks had been built along with bellows made from animal skins. Crude tables of both wood and stone held various tools and a few works in progress, although for a "blacksmith" it seemed like he worked as much with tree branches and knapped blades as much as he did with any actual metal. In place of an anvil he simply had a huge, square slab of stone."
"Shamar, the Head Hunter of the tribe, could be seen near a large, yurt-like dwelling on the far western side of the camp, in an area of flat, unshaded rock. Away from the hustle and bustle of most other orcs, it was unclear whether she settled here out of personal taste... or because the fumes from her animal pelts, stretched and tanning in the sun, were so strong. Even to an orc's nose, they were unpleasantly pungent. The finished product of her pelts could be seen in her home's construction, stitched together in a multitude of colors with fur still attached.
Wooden sawhorses were draped with fresh hides for scraping. Numerous drying racks encircled the fire, which also had a large spit for roasting chunks of meat. Another rack on the other side of the yurt held the strung up carcasses of recent kills as they bled out into bowls made from wood and stone lying underneath them."
Wooden sawhorses were draped with fresh hides for scraping. Numerous drying racks encircled the fire, which also had a large spit for roasting chunks of meat. Another rack on the other side of the yurt held the strung up carcasses of recent kills as they bled out into bowls made from wood and stone lying underneath them."
Agronak dwells in a more ornate home than any other orc, one that's been properly constructed to take advantage of the mountainous terrain. His personal room is within the cabin-like structure near the top, while the chamber beneath is a communal area of sorts where the tribes elders and those directly under the Warchief's command will occasionally meet. Agronak's bodyguards can often be seen standing at the bottom of the first set of stairs, preventing public access to the commune unless they're accompanying the warchief himself.
"Most Orc infants and Runts still too young to hunt stuck to the Brood Pit, a large, circular dugout beneath an overhang of rock. The Brood Pit’s name came from the fact that this was where baby orcs were left while the broodmothers went about their other activities. Hidden from the sight of flying raptors by the rocks, and kept from escaping by the walls of the pit and several guards who were always on duty, the infants would be quite safe here until they matured into proper Runts. The wetnurses, a couple of pudgy, older Orc females, were responsible for gathering the babies up and hushing them with food—such as fat, squirming grubworms and some kind of pasty gray gruel. A protective wooden fence atop the raised earth on the sides of the pit offers extra protection, but it's mostly to keep the little ones inside."
"A handful of rickety towers were scattered throughout the camp, with the larger ones incorporated into the wooden palisades towards the front of the valley. 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."
Roughly an hour’s walk from the camp, in a northerly direction along the scrubby, gravel-covered slopes between the trees and the mountainside proper, a valley opened up where a fast-moving stream came down a long slope and meandered off into the woods. Within this valley, there were several cracks and clefts in the rock walls to either side, and one of these was larger and darker than the others. It looked to be a talus cave of some sort, where the collapse of rocks who knew how many eons ago created a roof that was piled high with detritus and topsoil over the years. A short climb would allow one to see over the lip of the ground and down into a slanted, slippery passage...but this open chamber of the cave was still somewhat cramped, and a much narrower passageway further into the depths sat at its back, where the shadows hid what else might lie down that path. Yet, one could feel a cool draft coming out of the rock, which meant there had to be more to this cave than met the eyes...
A part of the cave wall looked dark and smooth and slightly wet, yet within it were faint sprinkles of lighter material, like individual grains of sand. It was clearly a different kind of stone from the rest of the material around it…
And deeper into the cleft in the rock, the narrow passage, along the right-hand side of the wall there was another difference in the stony layers. Standing out from the crags around it was a jagged part of the wall with a yellowish color and a metallic luster. It bore what looked to be scratch marks in several places. A distinctive black streak with green flecks crossed the uneven surface, as if drawn there with paint.
The narrow passage widened again after only a few feet, into a chamber that had a lower ceiling. That chamber slowly began to slope upwards and turn on itself, like a spiral ramp deeper into the mountain.
The smooth floor rose around the bend like a spiral staircase designed by a drunkard with no measuring tools, then opened up into a long tunnel, almost a natural hallway. Its upward slope continued, though at a lesser grade, and here and there stalactites and stalagmites formed a sort of stony forest. They were all smooth and...almost milky, to the touch. Some of them had points that came to sharper tips, or at least thin enough that they might pass for sharp if they weren't wet. However, past this point, the sunlight from the outside could no longer reach.
The southern edge of the mountain range beyond the Orc Camp started to fall in elevation instead. The ground was covered in gravel, save where a few scrubby bushes popped up here and there, and the rocky slopes were more shallow. They weren't exactly smooth, but didn't have the sharp edges and crags like the cliffsides in the northern valley near the other cave. A Runt could probably climb them by hand without slipping and falling off, since there were ridges flat enough to rest on. But, every so often, a cave or dip in the trails could be seen--no doubt there were still creatures lurking about up there.
Eventually a couple of scraggly trees and a patch of stubbly grass appeared in sight. The entrance of the cave here was much wider and taller than the one up north, a washout or sinkhole that had filled with silt and stabilized over who knew how long. It went down into the earth like caves should, a distance that would be like taking two or three steps at once. Due to its breadth, however, the entrance let in lots of sunlight, so one could see what was probably a little over twenty feet into the tunnel.
The tunnel was relatively wide, making it easy for at least two runts to creep alongside one another but with plenty of space between them, and the walls. There wasn't much for the first thirty feet or so, just rocks and dirt. However, a couple of rocks looked sizeable enough to serve as tools, both of the sharp edged variety and the simple blunt kind. In one area of shadow near the wall, in what looked like a little mound of soft earth left by a burrowing animal long ago, the distinctive Red Cream mushrooms were growing ripe.
Past this point, however, the tunnel forked. The right hand side remained fairly open and clear. In the left hand fork, the tunnel took a sharp and narrow turn between the rocks...but, creeping out of that path like clusters of ivy, was something white and thick...almost like a stretched out piece of cotton candy.
After about an hour of traveling, heading first east towards a high cliff in the Forest outside the Orc Camp and then turning northward, one would come to a small clearing just before the woods seemed to transition to older, darker, and more crowded growth. Even during the broad daylight, the trees were dense enough here, and the canopy dark enough, that a gently rolling mist creeped low to the ground. The area was rich with valuable mushrooms, wood, and animal life...but also many hidden and unexplored dangers...
