I watched as more and more orcs entered the village. Tensions rose in the village between the Dunlendings of the ox-clan and the their white hand guests. As the day progressed the tension ended up in some brawl fights between orcs and ox-clan here and there. Me and Frerick both were feeling the dread of the upcoming fate that awaited us. Somewhere around noon a Dunland warrior silently came to our cages, carefully looking around if no-one spotted him. He threw at both of us an unspoiled big chunk of roasted boar leg and quickly disappeared again. I never enjoyed a piece of meat that much, we both ate all without spoiling anything. Frerick and I discussed tactics on slaying wargs, we both had killed a few before.
That night I could hear the orcs making a racked in the village with their vile ways, I was doubting if they were fighting or just making fun. It was a dark night and I could not sleep. The fresh meat made me feel better, -much- better. Why would he give it to us? Why now? As I lay in my cage I saw a large skull of an ox appear out of the darkness. I smirked “Hello old man..”. There was an uneasy silence and the shaman spoke “Slaves must win tomorrow..” he spoke silently, “name weapon of choice”. I was confused and replied “… eh spear, shield and some armor would work, and a javelin while you’re at it”. From the other cage I heard “armor and biggest sword you have..”. Without a word the ox skull disappeared in the darkness.
I slept uneasy and the new day progressed slowly. I relived my life in my head, what errors I made, what a fool I had been that made me end up here. The moment arrived. A large group of Dunlendings arrived before our cage. They looked nervous and were dead silent, as if- they- were about to thrown in that pit instead of us. They nudged us out of our cage and guided us to the weapon racks without the usual violence. They brought a body armor for me to wear and some sturdy boots and greaves. They had a nice broad shield, javelin and a spear for me. One of them added a sheathed sword on my belt. I saw Frerick getting a large sword and a similar armor as I. We both looked at each other and nodded with a nervous smile.
The gate of the pit was much higher and more massive than the last one, they opened it and we walked in. The palisade was much higher as well this time, and spikes at the top. To my surprise there were white hand banners all around instead of banners of the ox-head. The spectators consisted of half-orcs, Uruks on one side and the Dunlendings on the other. Once we were in view there was a commotion, the orcs were mad about something. My guess would be they were displeased about our wide arrange of weapons and armor. There were some fights again between orcs and Dunlendings on the palisade. Our focus turned to the gate behind us.
Growling… and soon after five black wargs came running at us barking and snapping their jaws. Javelin first, one throw. The stupid beast saw the javelin coming towards his head and tried to catch it with his jaws, the javelin entered his mouth and pierced his skull. One down. Frerick ran forward with his great sword in a low guard. Once the warg was close he swung his sword upwards and the beast let out his last yelp. Two down. The third warg jumped at Frerick and pushed him to the ground. At the same time the fourth warg attacked me and bashed against my shield, in response I plunged the spear in his neck. Three down. There were a lot of displeased sounds coming from the orc side. I ran towards Frerick, but the fifth warg came crushing at me, threw me off my feet and had his jaws in my greaves. I lost my shield and held on to my spear while the warg dragged me over the ground. I saw Frerick had dealt with the fourth warg and came to my aid. One large hew of the great sword decapitated the last warg. Frerick reached a hand to me, to lift me off the ground. I look passed him towards the orc side of the palisade, half-orcs had loaded their crossbows. “Frerick seek cover!!”
I rolled to hide behind the dead body of a warg when the bolts came flying down. I saw Frerick turn around and get pierced by many bolts. He fell down coughing up blood, and died soon after. Farewell my friend. .. I wurmed half below the dead warg which functioned as a shield against the incoming bolts. Suddenly I heard a frenzied scream, like an old man getting crazy, it was the shaman. What followed was sounds of weapons getting unsheathed and the battle cry of many men. The crossbow attacks stopped and soon after Orcs and Dunlending corpses alike were falling off the palisade. I looked up and saw that the spectator circle became a battle ground. The battle noises stretched further as if the entire village was fighting. The gate of the palisade opened and a host of Uruks appeared. I tried to get up from under the dead warg and drew a sword and stood ready to make my last stand.
As the Uruks ran into the pit screaming with bloodlust, a host of Dunland riders with bows appeared behind them and shot the majority of them down. Two Uruks kept on running with arrows in their back. I hacked and slashed away, blindly until both lay dead on the ground. Another Uruk threw himself on me leaping off the palisade. He had his hands around my neck, I nearly choked but managed to put my sword in his side. The Uruk screamed and gave me a headbutt. He kept on putting pressure on my neck. Arrows hit the Uruk and he died on top of me. I was unable to fight anymore, exhausted and under the heavy weight of a dead Uruk I released the sword and stared at the blue sky with some clouds. It is a beautiful day to die. The battle continued between the men of Dunland and the orcs. I was about to lose consciousness. That cloud….
Nahar… safe me…
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OOC notes:
Daellas was either forgotten or left to rot in the pit while the rage of battle spread through the village.
There were heavy losses on both sides.
While this battle endures the story ties to the group that went looking for Daellas.
When the battle is over, the shaman was not found amongst the dead.
I hope you liked reading this chronicle so far.
