Belinswae. Winter...
With the end of his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth as he concentrates, and with only forefinger and thumb pulling the string back.
Dorc da Orc closes one eye and aims, the large ork tries not to draw back too far, but he fails and the string breaks.
The large ork in frustration takes the bow and smashes it on the ground, flinging away the piece that's still in his hand, then he looks away to his left.
"Hey" says Dorc da Orc, who is interrupted with "Do it yourself Dorc" by Riley Hait the mercenary ranger as he sits upon a rock about thirty yards from where the ork warleader is.
The large ork scowls as he looks at the ranger Hait who has his back to him "Cunt" growls Dorkindle, who then sighs and wanders over to the pile of weapons nearby.
He kicks them around, and finds what he's looking for, and picks up another bow, a bow that's more stave than a weapon of choice for an accomplished archer.
That suits the needs of the ork weaponsmith just fine, as he's already broken three bows in his attempt to relieve his boredom.
The son of the former matriarch of the wolf tribe of orks walks back to where he's was positioned before. He sits down, and from a pouch on the quiver there, he takes out another string.
The warleader of the ork race, looks at the string, the bow, and then his large, meaty, pan sized hands, which really aren't suitable for stringing a human sized bow.
"Fucken cuntbum" mutters Dorc da Orc, who sticks his tongue out in concentration as he beings the difficult task, well it's difficult for him, of stringing a bow that's far too small for him.
Where he sits upon a rock watching the nearby road, Riley Hait the mercenary ranger looks over his shoulder to see what the large ork is doing.
The mercenary ranger from the elven principality of Envadarlen in the Southlands, shakes his head as he watches the ork weaponsmith stinging another bow. A bow that when he eventually strings, the ranger Hait knows he'll end up breaking like the others.
The mercenary ranger who in actuality is a hordes outrider from the southern tundra, then looks to what Dorc da Orc has actually been doing.
"Big fucking psycho" murmurs Riley Hait in the dialect of the hordes barbarians of the southern tundra in the Southlands, then the mercenary ranger looks back at the road he's been watching.
The two of them are just off the road that goes southeast from the city of Falnic in Belinswae. They're nearly fifty miles from the coastal city, that's the largest in the region.
They're in half blood, or half breed country. Where those who are not townsmen, nor the nomads of the plains, dwell. There's a half blood village just a few miles south of them, the dry arid plains where the nomad tribes live, isn't all that faraway to the east of where they are.
The dry, arid plains is within sight of where they are. If the ranger Hait looks beyond where Dorc da Orc is, he can easily see the Nomad's Plains. Especially on a clear, cool morning like it is today.
Riley aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman takes a drink from his water bottle, then he rolls his eyes as hears an "Ah ha!" of triumph from the ork warleader behind him. The large ork has been successful in stringing the latest bow.
The ranger Hait shakes his head, and waits for the ork weaponsmith to snap the string, or break the bow. Or both, as he done so already.
So the mercenary ranger is mildly surprised when he hears the distinctive thunk of an arrow being shot off, then Dorkindle grunt, and sourly say "Fucken missed". It's only the second shaft the large ork has successfully shot off so far.
The ork warleader takes another arrow from the quiver on the ground, and puts it to the belly of the stave like bow, which of course doesn't have a plate as it's a basic weapon to say the least.
"Don't break ya cunt" mutters Dorc da Orc as he uses just the forefinger and thumb of his right hand to gently pull back the string, while his tongue sticks out the side of his mouth as he concentrates. The ork weaponsmith takes careful aim, and not drawing the bow too far back, he lets the arrow fly without breaking the string, much to his delight.
The eyebrows of Riley Hait the mercenary ranger go up in surprise as he hears the large ork shoot off another arrow, followed by a muffled groan. Then the human ranger who was raised and trained by elven warders in the principality of Envadarlen turns around on the rock he's sitting on as hears the warleader of the ork race burst into laughter.
"Ahahahahaha me shot him in the fucken dick" brays Dorc da Orc, who has sat down on the ground and is pointing, the large ork goes to say something else, but he's laughing too hard, and he can't get anything out as he points at what he's just done.
Tied to a weathered old tree is a justifier's guard. The guard who was a member of a small squad that the two of them ambushed on the road a little after dawn. Already has one arrow in his shoulder. Now has another in his groin, thanks to the large ork who has been taking pot shots at him.
The guard, who is gagged, can't even slump down as he's tied tightly to the tree, is groaning in pain through the wad of cloth that's been shoved into his mouth so he doesn't make too much noise.
Sitting, tied up, with his back against a rock not far from where the pile of weapons are. Is the other survivor of the ambush, another justifier's guard, who is also gagged. Who though wounded with a slash to the right thigh, is clear headed enough to see what's been happening.
He's looking on with total fear in his eyes, as he's pretty certain he'll end up being tied to the tree like his fellow guard in the service of one of the justifiers of Belinswae. And be used as entertainment for the whims of the large ork.
The ranger Hait just shakes his head as he looks at Dorkindle who is in the middle of a fit of uncontrollable laughter, the ork weaponsmith who has tears streaming down his face, is pounding the ground with one fist as points, and laughs at the dying guard tied to the tree who he's just shot between the legs.
The two of them, the ork warleader and the mercenary ranger just returned to Belinswae after spending a few days out on the Nomad's Plains. Where they spent some time with the closest tribe to this part of Belinswae.
They arrived back last night, and they were fortunate enough to see a squad of patrolling guards on the road early this morning, just after dawn. It's the first squad of justifier guards they've ambushed in nearly two weeks. As there's hardly been any of them along this road southeast of Falnic of late.
They've pulled the dead bodies of both guards and their horses off the road. Dorc doing most of that, as the ranger Hait kept him occupied.
The dead guards and horses have been dumped down in a dry creek bed behind the weathered looking tree one of the two surviving justifier's guards is tied up to. While all their weapons, all of poor quality, are lying in a pile not far from the large ork.
Riley aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman shakes his head, turns back around on the rock he's sitting on, and goes back to watching the road, leaving the large ork to his own devices.
A little while later the mercenary ranger grins, when he hears Dorc da Orc finally stop laughing, and go back to shooting at the justifier's guard he's tied up to the tree. The ork warleader has just snapped the string of the bow, and he's growled something incomprehensible in the language of the orks, and smashed the bow on the ground.
"Shitty fucker" mutters Dorkindle who biffs away the broken bow, the son of the former matriarch of the wolf tribe of orks sighs. Then walks over to the pile of weapons he took from the squad of justifier's guards they ambushed earlier this morning.
He saw another bow amongst them, the last one left after he's broken the other four.
As Dorc da Orc goes to get it, he glances at the justifier's guard tied up to the tree, to make sure he's still alive. The ork weaponsmith grunts in satisfaction that the guard in the service of one of Belinswae's justifiers is still alive even though he has an arrow through a shoulder, and another in the groin.
The large ork is just about to bend down at pick up the last bow, when he grunts as he smells something "Oooohhhh horsey" says the warleader of the ork race.
Riley Hait who hears this, says "There's plenty of horses down in that creek bed if you want to eat one" says the mercenary ranger, who then dryly adds in the hordes dialect of the southern tundra "Or fuck one you sick bastard".
"Nah cunt" says Dorc da Orc, who turns and makes his way to where the ranger Hait sits, and adds "Horsey is on the fucken road".
As Dorkindle makes his way up the slight incline to the mercenary ranger, Riley aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman who can't see a rider upon the stretch of road he's been watching, knows that the large ork has caught wind of a horse.
"Where, from which way Dorc?" asks Riley Hait "North" is the reply of the ork weaponsmith, the ranger Hait gets off the rock, and lies down on the ground beside it as he looks northwards. The large ork reaches him, and lies down next to him.
"How many?" quietly asks the hordes barbarian who just happens to inhabit the body of the mercenary ranger from the elven principality of Envadarlen in the Southlands "Just the fucken one" is the reply of the warleader of the ork race.
The ranger Hait slightly frowns as there's hardly been any lone travelers upon the road during the winter. As when they've seen people who aren't justifier's guards traveling upon it, they've been in small groups. Often with a wagon, as they transport goods to Falnic.
The war the justifiers of Belinswae are waging upon the dwarven clans of the Stone Hills to the north of the region. Has had a detrimental effect upon travel and trade upon the roads of much of the central and northern areas of Belinswae.
"There's the cunt" says Dorc da Orc who points away to the north, a few moments later and Riley Hait sees the rider too "See who it is first before we do anything" quietly says the mercenary ranger. The large ork, who wants to kill again today, grunts to that, and goes with what the ranger Hait just said, but he does say "Can me kills him if he's a cunt working for them justy-friers?".
"Maybe" quietly says Riley aka Zubutai Timaginson who already knows the solo traveler isn't a justifier's guard. Because he's traveling by himself, and because Dorkindle would of told him immediately if he was.
As the rider gets closer, the ranger Hait sees that it's a fairly nondescript looking individual, wearing a brown cloak over his clothes, and no obvious weapons. But Riley Hait is pretty certain he has a couple of long daggers beneath that cloak he's wearing.
The mercenary ranger taps Dorc da Orc on the shoulder, and nods for him to stand up. The large ork grunts, and stands up which the ranger Hait is doing as the rider approaches where they're overlooking the road.
"Good morning" says Riley Hait as the rider comes to a stop when he sees them "Going for a bit of a ride are we?" asks the mercenary ranger who was raised and trained by elven warders.
The rider eyes go wide and his mouth drops open at the sight of the large ork, then he shakes his head and says "Good morning" he clears his throat as that came out as a bit of a squeak, then he repeats "Good morning".
The rider looks at the two of them then says "The ranger Riley?" followed by "And Dorc da Orc?". The two from south of the equator share a look, and after a slight pause, and after Dorkindle mutters "Who the fuck is this cunt?" the ranger Hait says "Yes" followed by "Who wants to know?".
"Messenger from lord Farque" says the rider, who then dismounts after the ranger Hait gestures for him to come forward. The rider walks his horse up the incline and joins the two of them, and introduces himself as Lorrick.
"One of the free folk?" asks Riley aka Zubutai the barbarian hordesman "Aye" replies Lorrick who then adds "I can pass myself as a townsmen of Belinswae, and travel pretty freely through the region" he hands the ranger Hait a sealed envelope as he adds "I've been riding up and down this road for the last five days trying to find you two".
"We've been away" says the mercenary ranger who cracks the seal, opens the envelope and takes out the letter inside as he adds "We just got back in the area last night".
As Lorrick looks down the otherside of the incline and says in shock "What the hell?" as he sees what Dorc da Orc has been doing, shooting at the tied up justifier's guard. The ranger Hait reads the letter, which is written in a mix of the elven and dwarven languages, as well as a smattering of the dialect of the hordes barbarians of the southern tundra.
The mercenary ranger who recognises the hand writing of the lord and ruler of the lands Farque, and is the only one who can read those three languages. Lifts an eyebrow in surprise as he sees the new orders from the undead warlord.
Riley aka Zubutai Timaginson gets to the end of the missive, where unfamiliar like scratchings, which he figures are runes of some kind are written.
"Here" says the ranger Hait to Dorc da Orc, he continues with "The last bit is for you" as he hands the letter to the ork warleader who asks him "What's he fucken say?".
There's no written ork language as such, but they do use a form of runes to communicate with, and the large ork grunts in surprise at what he reads.
"We're going to attack a city" quietly says Riley Hait, who then rubs his chin as he adds "And we're going to need an army" as he looks out away to the east at the Nomad's Plains in the distance . . . . . .
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