Found:
Orcs.
Three lessons I learned early in life were: Never become attached for you will always be alone; Never look back for the past will only depress you; Always appear confident in your role regardless of your true feelings. It is that third lesson which has served me well yet again.
My plan worked to perfection. Through a mixture of attire, aggressive confidence, canny lies and my darker hue, I have not only been able to enter this ancient fortress largely unmolested but been given free reign to tread where I will by the current denizens.
True, they were at first somewhat suspicious of me but my laying open of a particularly large orc's face with my newly acquired bullwhip convinced them that I was there at the behest of their master - whoever that may be - and that none would be permitted to get in my way. Brawny they may be, but they are not terribly bright. I remain wary of them however, lest they change their mind concerning my presence here, but I do not show them such. Better to walk with my back straight and my head held high - arrogance personified - appearing for all the world that not only do I belong in this place, but in the absence of its long dead masters, I own it.
I have not ventured too far in yet. A cursory look about the place revealed that the courtyard - Lower Fornost as I think of it - is breathtakingly huge. I could happily while away several months in this area alone were it not for the large orc encampment to the east and the two smaller ones outside of the gates, Accordingly, I have set my camp in the southwest corner - far away from the main orc bastion, sheltered also to save me from exposure, but with several methods of egress should it be necessary.
Soon, my preliminary mapping of Lower Fornost should be complete and already have I sighted several promising locations. In a day, maybe two, I'll begin my search of this part in earnest before moving onto the true prize; Fornost Proper.
