The Thunderbane (Orek) I

Orek emerged from the ‘Blind Crab’ tavern, the liveliest tavern in all of Unbroke, for the first time since the sun had set. Fortunately for him, it also functioned as a brothel when the night time ran and the guards weren’t so strict. Many probably were there themselves! He was just not in the mood to notice them. He pushed the two doors open and took in a breath of the air. He smelt that it was fresher than usual. None of the shit from the commoners throwing their waste out of the window this time.
The edges of the little market that the ‘Blind Crab’ were starting to become visible. The lovely rose gardens between the roads were in bloom and a bright pink, beautiful to the eyes of many, though no one else was awake to witness them in bloom. The nearby houses were white or pale for the most part to keep out the heat in the hot living conditions here. While not as hot in the countryside further north, the black walls surrounding the city were absorbing heat, and even now, he could start to feel it. Couldn’t they paint them something lighter this year?
Already, he saw the two moons were fading in the sky as the sun rose once again, the very first sign of it appearing on the sky. His tightly knit gambeson made of linen felt awkward and itchy on him, particularly because he had been stupid enough to put his normal smallclothes underneath it. Mixing business and pleasure was something he should have learned to forget long ago, yet here he was. Wouldn't mother be proud, he thought as he smelt the perfumes of the wenches he had 'encountered.'
He was a tall, broad shouldered man, half a head over most others, with eyes of sapphire, hair of tangerine, and a sharp nose above a coarse beard. He bore a scar over his left cheek, a reminder of the day he earned his infamous nickname, the 'Thunderbane'. He refused to have it tended to fully, as he wished to remind anyone who crossed him of what he had achieved. That and none of the doctors in Unbroke came across as particularly trustworthy to him, given their reliance on casting out the 'humours'.
A night of drinking and whoring had been just his way to end the long week of being a bouncer for some other tavern, fending off thieves, attempted rapists and squatters. In truth, it was far more boring than going out fighting bandits and being rewarded as a hero once they were dealt with. Money, women and fame had taken him from being a low-life security guard at the Sheep's Eye tavern back in Phurz to being a go-to for many local nobility in search of dealing with an insurrection or a faulty creature attack. He never went after nobles themselves; that was the job of the Black Eye. Being a mercenary was a tough life for Orek 'Thunderbane' Steele, but it was not without its benefits. One of such was his partner in crime, the infamous Vrain head-hunter Tzuliifaznizkuzolzfarnixicuum. Or Tzuli, as they preferred.
Tzuli was the only Vrain colony Orek had ever met in the business of selling one's combat ability for cash. It was often thought that, given they were made of mites no larger than those in the dust of the city walls, and their weakness to fire, that Vrain made poor combatants. Tzuli has shown Orek that this was merely a myth. Tzuli had been travelling with Orek for five years now, and was the closest of all his friends. The others had died, abandoned him, or settled down for some boring life. It would be years before he ever even thought of such a boring life. He was grateful that Tzuli thought the same. Due to the ever-evolving nature of their mind, Tzuli was incapable of the emotional bonds with others that Orek took for granted, but Tzuli nevertheless was very fond of Orek. Or at least Orek thought they were.
"So, you're finished with that house of horrors now? You know how boring it was searching for food scraps your kind left discarded, or how some of us ended trying to make a 'snack' of that dead rat overthere?" Tzuli was never a being for patience, certainly not for the simple pleasures of humans. They preferred higher pleasures like literature, poetry, Vrain sports and of course, battle; though how that classified as a 'higher' pleasure was questionable. "Perhaps next time, you'll find us somewhere we can both enjoy ourselves."
"For now, yes." Orek said, wiping his brow. He'd been sweating like an Azori pig in the sun while in there. He felt lightly embarrassed in front of his friend. But Tzuli had seen much worse than that. "Now, on to the matter at hand." He got out the letter that turd Anthony had gave him for the next contract the night before. He took off the blue seal with a wolf's head on it, the symbol of the Seluny family, one of the most powerful houses in not only the west, but all of the Dominion. Donnel the 'Stripescyther', commander of the Dominion's navy and one of the ten Decarchs, was a member of this family. Their name was big business here in Unbroke, the most fortified city in the Dominion.
"This letter comes from our good old friend, Anthony Hotzyll," Orek started laced with sarcasm. "-he says on behalf of Margoret Seluny, that there is a contract that needs taking care of-killing, basically.” Orek knew Tzuli hated smalltalk and indirect speech. He read further. "Something about a duke's son going more than a little mad? Apparently he goes a bit too far in the whole pleasure-seeking lifestyle, what with having servants flogged for 'entertainment' and all that. Sounds fun."
"Isn't killing a high ranking authority figure the position of an assassin?" Tzuli composed, though Orek could slightly hear that other parts of Tzuli gave alternate answers, showing the deviation within Tzuli's whole being. Tzuli usually had full control of their parts, but there were times like this where certain components wouldn't work quite the way the thinking-units wanted them too. Orek just went with the most obvious objection.
"That would be the case, my composite friend, yes. But you see, this little shit, Dayle Slint, has a private army at his hand given from his father. Or perhaps more accurately, taken out of his father's vast wealth." If only mine had been so rich. Or so generous. He stood up straight to debrief the situation. "As I'm sure you know, the Slint family have near-complete control over the mines and farms of Slithia, the backbone of eastern Phurz. That's where we're get some of that good old coin. Of course, declaring war openly on Dayle would make his father Joseb cut off Slithian gold and jewels from the capital, while the Decarchs are busy putting their eggs in the Evergnon basket." Orek privately hoped not to be called to that front, not against the dreadful Jazyarts.
"Not to mention would be very costly even after the war is resolved, and we'd be out of a job in no time. So even though Unbroke could easily fend off any army the Slints throw at them, the resulting gold-shortage would leave the entire Dominion in debt. So our beloved Dowager Magister Margoret has decided the best option is to hire some loveable rogues like ourselves to break into Dayle's summer palace and kill the buggar and all his guards, particularly that Mercat's twat Leona. We'll be working with the Emerald Eyes, a new and upcoming company who the Magister-"
"It's whom, not who." Tzuli corrected him. Tzuli was always one for perfect grammar. You'd have guessed that the outcast from Forkton's Vrain community wouldn't have their snobbish disposition to speech, but Tzuli had never lost that bit of their manner.
Orek rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright then, whom Magister Leo himself is said to have dabbled with before he was voted in." Better? Orek thought to himself as he waited for Tzuli to respond to his actual argument. "Well? What do you think of it all? A good chance to g-"
Tzuli raised an 'arm' out of their colony. "We hear something." They ducked down as if they had turned into a puddle. Orek had no such luxury. His linen outfit with iron chains and gold chains from his drinking victories, with steel shoulder pads wasn't the stealthiest thing to walk around with. He got out 'Smoke', his warhammer from his sheath, while his other hand got out his circular shield, better at deflecting blows than the rectangular designs the majority of people used on the battlefield. Tzuli's weapon was of course a concealed dagger, for stealth was what they excelled at. When shove came to violently attack though, they also had the blades to work with, capable of swinging them around like a scythe and cutting through enemy necks. Orek still had no idea what was going on or who was supposedly a threat to them. Stealth was never his strongsuit. Which is why he and Tzuli complimented each other so much on the battlefield. They never needed to be one or the other, but both.
Orek whispered as quietly as his gruff voice allowed him. "And who is it we're trying to hide from, exactly, dearest friend?" Bluntness and Sarcasm were the only humours his friend Tzuli had, but they excelled in those traits. Orek was glad that was still true that his friend was loyal and maintained his integrity Tzuli still hushed him and made the two head over towards the thorny bushes. . His footsteps were as quiet as he could possibly make them in his leather boots, though Tzuli had no such issue. They got behind a bush. Orek whispered impatiently. "You better be telling me what's going on, old friend. Before I get the oil out again..." Suddenly Orek saw what was going on. He shut himself up appropriately. By the gods, he thought.
A couple of long and fearsome shapes roamed down the road as the guards slept on a night shift, as the rising sun only started to illuminate the paths. They stood tall and lean, like some great cat but their tails were thick like an lizard’s, and their arms, each tipped with a single, scythe-like claw...even in the low lights of the early morning,there was no mistake what these monsters were.
"Rippers." Tzuli whispered. "The deadliest scythebeast in all of Tzunar, second only to the stripescyther in all the isles, or their own sub-race, the whiteripper. They-"
"I don't need a lecture on what they are, I need to know how to not get eaten by them. You should be fine, but I'd be pretty tasty to them." Orek could feel the sweat coming down his brow behind the thorny bush. He always tried to joke when he was nervous. Often it hasn’t helped him, but old habits died hard. Both creatures were now fully visible. Each of their four legs resembled that of a cat, but with three claws instead of five at the bottom. One ripper came closer to the bush, revealing it's full size. The closer beast was a male, judging by the size of his horse-like mane, and his-Orek tried not to pay attention to that. The beast in front stood over one hundred and thirty centimetres in height, and could reach even taller if the front of its back and heck were reared up, exposing its deadly weapons. As it did now. Now, Orek could see it’s full majesty up close.
The tail was long and muscular, thick like a small tree. A yellow coat with black diamonds covered its entire body. As well as its four legs, the two signature arms of the East's terrible predators let themselves be known. A single swing could cut a man's throat like soft cheese, and while the head was not as large proportionally as that of a wolf, it still bore razor sharp teeth in not one, but two rows. The one just ahead of them licked its lips with an almost knife like tongue. It's ears were small holes like those of a lizard, but he had been told they worked as well as any other's. All three of the ripper's eyes, one on the forehead, were sharp as a dagger, keenly searching for scraps or perhaps prey. It's nose was said to be one of it's weaknesses compared to that of a wolf or bear, and so a decent perfume could offput them. Orek hoped this would save him and his friend now.
A low growl was heard from the other as it must have heard some other noise. Female rippers were smaller than males, and with no mane, though given their aggression, they could still cut an unprepared man to ribbons. The hungry male turned away from the bush, towards his partner, and the two continued towards whatever this new sound or scent was. Orek has never felt so thankful for leftover foods before. They watched until the two predators came out of sight, and then some more.
"Shall we go now?" Orek questioned his composite partner? "They haven't come back."
Tzuli rose up. Orek took that as a sign. "How in the Underworld did those get into the city? I thought Unbroke was supposed to be...you know..."
"It would seem that the Grand Guard aren't doing their job particularly well. That or they somehow managed to slip through the city gates while they bought in the next load of supplies." The latter seemed more likely to Orek. The Grand Guard of Unbroke was not the type of position to be taken lightly, after all.
"Well, whatever it was that caused this, I'm glad its over." He spoke at normal volume finally. He tried to think about what he had started about before they had to hide from a predator. "Do you think those things would have killed us if we chose to fight them?" He said to his composite friend.
"We think that given you aren't wearing suitable armour covering, like, say a helmet, and you're clearly still a little tipsy from last night, that you would have likely been torn to shreds while the townsfolk slept. They might have put your corpse in the sewers since you wouldn't be recognisable after that." Tzuli was always such a sensitive soul, Orek thought.
"Thank you for that great encouragement, my friend." Orek said dismissively. "Next time there's a firey building, I'll leave you to yourselves." That made him feel slightly better after nearly wetting himself at the sight of the rippers. Tzuli had seen many fires in their sixty-two year lifetime, but enough would still send them scattering like sand just the same. Orek has noticed that the time they had-
“Your thoughts are trailing off again, we hear?” His friend perceived somehow. “Something about fire?” The mysterious process that allowed the Vrain queens to control the lesser members of the hive could sometimes overflow, allowing them to detect the thoughts of those around them. Orek hated it when Tzuli did that.
“Stop, friend.” Orek said, brushing himself down. “Anyway, we have a contract to fulfil here. The Seluny family won’t be waiting too long for us, or else they’ll be hiring someone else in our place. I say we make our way east.” Of course, he first needed to retrieve his armour and full gear from the Great Wall around Unbroke, and buy some supplies. He had hardly slept last night, so a good campfire on the way there would be most helpful in this situation while heading east. Perhaps they would go past...
”Indeed, it would seem that Dayle Slint is owed a visit from us. We may end up dressing up as some Southern Alliance soldiers or something along that line. The Great Hive knows the Alliance would love to see the Dominion knocked down a bit. We wouldn't mind watching those racist bootlickers get knocked down either.” The way the Vunk treated the Vrain of their land was indeed appalling, as was the way they kept an opposed state of Kilt as a trusting ally just to keep the people in line. Tzuli rarely felt disgust collectively, but Orek knew they despised abuse and racial hatred more than anything else.
“That does sound a better plan than just barging in and killing everyone, and then getting our heads chopped off or worse.... The Seluny’s would prefer not having their hands dirty, after all. Might as well extend that to us.” Orek saw that logic.
“Well, chopping all of our many thousands of heads of would be very tedious for even the most seasoned executioner,” Tzuli said. “But I guess being burned or having our queens killed would be pretty awful too. So yes, disguising ourselves as enemies from the south would be good. We just need to get the Emeralds in on it too.” Orek nodded and they proceeded on their way to the wall, looking out for those rippers. The guards would probably deal with them. Probably.
As the road ahead of them continued, people started to emerge from their homes to continue their jobs in the great markets. Through Unbroke’s mighty gates, some of the first farmers were being let through to sell their food from the surrounding countryside to the folk of the city inside. Orek reckoned the guards would be pretty tired too already. He wanted to go down and find a nice tent to lay himself on.
Orek turned to his shifting friend, who had just noticed another Vrain colony in the market, preparing to go to a stall to fruits. Next to it were two fairly tall trees, with undergrowth between them, and six small yellow fruit popping out from the darkness. What did that remind him of again? “I guess none of them are particularly aware of what we just-“
Aaaaaaaaaah!
One of the residents, a woman fell over her feet in fear, as the rippers kept from the bushes. The she-beast lept on top of her, growling and readying it’s claws.
“Why couldn’t it have ended there?” Orek said under his breath. Now he shouted to Tzuli. “Tzuli! You distract the big one from the crowds! I’ll handle this one!” He got out his hammer again, and charged at the monster as it raised its claws to kill.
He roared in defiance at the beast, which turned its head to face him. Facing away from the woman, he now had a chance to lure it away, into the range of his spike, which even with a mighty predator, could cave in its skull. This beast wore no man made armour, so that was a good thing. But it was inhumanly agile. He was not.
“Come here, you sneering pond-drinker!” As he charged forward, trying to distract the beast. Now it came to face him. He realised the gravity of his situation  a little more. Oh dear, oh dear. “Anyone have a spare shield here? I could sure use one of them right now!” He backed from the beast as it charged. He lept out of the way of a slash, which dented the front of a stand that was now abandoned. The commoners has gotten out of the way fortunately. He saw his chance.
As the stand front collapse, Orek grabbed the handle of the front, used to lodge into place, and now had a makeshift shield against the predator. It wasn't his normal gear, but it would have to do. "Easy, rippie. Easy there, I promise I won't hurt you." He said as he raised his hammer to height. The creature growled.
A swarm jumped into the beast's face before it could take any action against him. Tzuli had split themselves into smaller colonies, he saw. This one got around the eyes of the beast, biting all three at once and causing it pain. Orek swung the blunt end of his hammer into its lower jaw, with a sickening crack securing what happened. He saw what was happening with the big male ripper.
Tzuli had split into four smaller colonies, each with a dagger in their control. They swung under and over the beast, inflicting short but noticeable cuts in it as it swung its great claws, which went through Tzuli like water. "You wish you could catch us, don't you?" They shouted in taunting of the beast as it tried to get a futile grip on things that could barely be seen with the naked eye. He saw his chance to strike now as the female was distracted.
"Why don't we swap, friends?" Orek shouted as he headed over, jumping over a fallen metal rod the beast must have knocked over fighting Tzuli. "I'm looking for more of a challenge today!" Or perhaps he was looking for something more. Even he hadn't figured that out yet.
"If you insist." They said as they withdrew from the cut and bleeding male. It growled at him, with its left eye gouged out, while the right and middle on its forehead remained present. It bared its teeth, canines every bit as long proportionally as those of the long dead lions could be seen with ease now. Maybe we should have picked that bodyguard job in Illustrio, he thought as he prepared to fight. The monster swung its taloned arm towards him, just barely missing. Then it reared up, and stuck its front legs onto him. This time, it did not miss.
He crashed to the ground with a loud umph, knocking his hammer out of his hand, as the beast threw down one of its claws, as his head quickly dodged out of the way. It was raised, and no sooner than the next claw came coming down on the opposite. While this happened, he was pushing it with all his arm strength. The hammer was just out of his reach. Oh no.
The fighting female threw dust at Tzuli's colonies and screached. Tzuli's three colonies merged together and made a full attack on the face of the beast. It screamed now with pain, trying in vain to kick the many mites off biting into its flesh. Meanwhile, they jammed three daggers into its eyes and neck, while the other two colonies went for the sensitive tail and underside. A stray kick knocked his hammer into reach. Yes! Orek grabbed it and with all the might in his arm, smacked right into the left wrist of the great male. It cracked like a fallen branch. It withdrew it in pain. He struck again, this time flicking the spike towards its exposed chest, jamming it into an gap between the ribs. It was a large monster, but it had no armour on its skin, and so it cut over two inches deep into the flesh, and the beast let out a screech. Even if it hadn't reached the heart, it wasn't far off, and the bleeding would weaken it a bit. It raised its left paw in anguish and he rolled out opportunistically.
"That's right, you scum! Diee!" He threw himself at the beast, spike in and jammed into the side of its neck, just behind the skull. It shrieked as blood poured out like a well when he withdrew, and he hit it again. As it lunged forward, he stepped out of the way, and smacked the damaged eye with the side of his shield, throwing its leap off course. As it charged, blood splattering into Orek's face, it tripped and fell into Mavy's fruit stall, knocking weeks of produce off the caskets and crushing much others. The ripper howled out. Orek relaxed. Taking a breather. He dropped his makeshift shield. That was close, he thought.
A voice came from the croud. "What are you going to do?"
Another, this time an old woman cried. "The poor beast is suffering. Just let it end!"
A third; "for Kruatirs' sake, just kill it already!" The man's wife slapped him for blaspheming. Orek paid no attention as he stammered over. He noticed his ankle was broke, and his wrist was dislocated. But not as bad as the monster's.
"This is what you get for trying to eat innocents on my watch!" He raised the hammer spike and thrust it into the central eye of the ripper, right into its brain. It's movement ceased after that. The stunned crowd broke into cheers.
He looked around. He saw that Tzuli was among those clapping, or at least the top of them did as the rest feasted on the now dead female ripper. They had killed a pair of rippers together! Without proper gear! Orek still questioned where they came from, and if someone had released them, but he felt content that it was done with for now. Tzuli rushed over, and shifting into a human like form, lifted him up fully, to make up for his limp. "We think you will need a trip to the doctor before we claim a bounty. Also, we need that bounty." They pointed towards the beasts, offering a dagger to Orek. He would do the honours.
An hour later,
After that turmoil, the sun was now well into the sky, and the two were now on their way to the great gates of the mighty city, that could keep out armies of fourty-thousand during the days of Olm. But apparently not a pair of rippers, Orek thought as the two walked towards the mighty walls. The doctor had given him some supplies should any more injuries come, as well as casting out any nasty spirits that may try and occupy him while his wounds were exposed.
The two great mercenaries could now see the mighty gates, each door being as tall as twelve fully grown men, and thick enough to lay a wagon in between the two. Before them on both sides were offices and staircases, constantly patrolled by guards of different stripes, and not merely the clearly inept city watch who wouldn't start their shift for another hour at least. Those who were there wore golden armour with red cloaks with circular helmets, except one who had a tower of white feathers at the top, and the edges of the helmet were shaped like the head of a griff. Orek, tired and hungover, went up to the guards angrily. They hardly seemed to have had more sleep themselves, perhaps gambling or some such. “You have such wonderful security here friends. I guess those two rippers in the city centre don’t understand your prowess?” Their eyes widened. “You didn’t see them? Me and my friend here almost got eaten by them.” Orek took out the head of the male head had killed from the bag, all bloodied now. “The she-beast is partially eaten by my friend here, so I’m afraid that hers might not look so pretty on your wall. Lovely pelt isn’t available. I’d hate to imagine what the two would have done to any sleeping townsfolk!”
The two guards at the front, youthful twins it seemed, looked at each other and their captain, Hanson Gleitvig, who glared at them, and rushed off their post, spears in hand to see the commotion and clean up the mess. The others remained at their post, the captain coming ahead to the two mercenaries. His hair was as white as snow already, despite probably not being a day over sixty; the stress of the job, surely. He stood almost as tall as Orek, and had a beaked nose under his armour, and grey eyes. “Have you two been causing trouble again, Steele?” Gleitvig had known of the two adventurers for three years now, and had always been quite stern with them when they went in. "Whenever you're here, Orek, something goes wrong. What is this?"
Orek held it up. "Well, it's the head of a ripper. I don't know what in the hells those beasts were doing in the city, but I can't imagine it being particularly noble of whoever released them." He didn't even have a split second before his companion corrected him on that.
"What evidence have you that this creature was released? Did you see anyone transport it through in a cage? These are quite bold accusations. Nevertheless," he breathed in. "I am grateful to you for eliminating these cruel beasts and preventing them from causing death. I thank you from the bottom of my heart." This would seem charitable from an outsider's glance, but this was the biggest favour Orek and Tzuli had done since Gleitvig had bailed them out from the Crane's Head incident during last year's Great Harvest festival. It would probably take another year of 'favours' until that debt was paid.
Hanson came from the Duchy of Altyn, given his paler skin and lighter hair. It wasn’t uncommon for those of the south to go grey earlier than those further north. Being on the frontier with enemies of the Dominion didn’t help either. The commander’s mouth has lips so thin they seemed to hardly be there at all. As he walked right up to Orek, it seemed one ear was missing underneath the helmet.
He let his guard down. “I apologise for the ineptitude of my subordinates in managing border security. I’m afraid many of the men on this side were involved in gambling.” I bloody knew it, Orek thought. “There won’t be such incidents in future, that’s for sure. We at the gates take our position very seriously, as you know. Or at least I do. These recruits always seem so..." He deliberately coughed, possibly to avoid that topic. "Anyway, what brings you two out of the city? I thought you were here for the tavern job.”
“We finished that two days ago now.” Tzuli explained. “We spent the last two enjoying ourselves in whatever ways we can.” Orek noticed another Vrain unit was among the guards. They struggled to fit into human made armour, and didn’t need a helmet, instead dyeing themselves gold and red to differentiate their position. It seemed progressive of them to have such a non-human race among the guards, given the cities old history before Dominion laws were reinforced regarding tolerance of non-humans. “We have a new contract now, a far more difficult one. We need entry out.”
“Are you sure you're allowed to do so, friends? I was sure-“
Orek butted in. “It’s from Margoret Seluny! I suggest you don’t interrupt her plans.” He took out the letter with the blue wolf seal. The guard captain’s face turned white. His hands shook ever so slightly, though he tried not to make Orek notice it. It didn’t work.
“Welll...I-I believe you are both permitted to leave the city immediately with haste! I'll be honest with you, that Slint boy was always someone to look out for. When I served alongside his father in the Salymian uprising, he seemed a good man at heart, just not the kind I thought to be a caring father. I swear it, to call the boy half-mad would be far too generous." He handed the letter back. "I apologise for wasting your time with meandering. Your proper armour and weaponry and in that crate over there for you to take."
Orek and Tzuli went to the guards in front of it, and they parted, letting them get back their old gear. Orek's beautiful gold encrusted circular shield, which he named Goldeneye after it's resemblance to a gigantic eye, was still as shiny and beautiful as the day his mother had given it to him. He looked back to Hanson. "G-g-good luck catching that young ruffian!” Now Orek and Tzuli were on the road with their full gear and some compensation for killing two dangerous beasts.
The guards parted and they opened the great gates out into the surrounding countryside. As they walked through the thick gates, Orek muttered under his breath. "Good riddance to that stinking city." Now the green, lush countryside was in front of him, at least in the distance past the farms that couldn't afford the protection of the walls. Villages were seen from a distance, some doubtlessly founded by squatters refused entry into those great gates. They would be the first to suffer if war ever break out, Orek knew. Those walls could-
“Fend off forty-thousand Jazyarts and ten thousand allied centaurs with catapults and horse archers?” Tzuli started again. “Back when they were first united under Yart Hulu, of course. This was the end of his anti-Vrain reign of terror.” They stopped when they noticed Orek’s frown at it. “Sorry. We know you hate the mind-reading thing.”
“Orek was more curious now. “What do you mean ‘first?’ I thought Hulu died over seven hundred years ago, and his sons were nothing in comparison?” Or at least that is what Mother taught him while growing up.
“True, but We overheard that another, some sheep-shagger names ‘Cyxi’ is trying to do so again.” That can’t be good, Orek thought. Is that what’s wrong in Evergnon?
As harsh as it was, Orek preferred renting horses instead of having his own. Saved on the budget after all. Plus he wanted to appreciate the beauty of the outdoors anyway. The pebbles roads that connects the Dominion’s territories were older than the Dominion itself, but they served a great use. What weren’t were the signs, thank the gods. They went up to see the closest place to the meeting point. The letter noted they were to go to meet the Emerald Ryes was to the village of Rudhill, names after the Olmese word for “‘great”, for it was on the top of the hill. Perhaps the sign would have answers?
“Well, we’ve only been walking a couple of minutes and I already have no idea where we’re supposed to go. I suppose you know any better?” Orek stretches his legs instead of go over to read the sign himself.
“Well, our human friend...” Tzuli began to raise themselves into a column to read the sign. The first units vibrates down, resulting in the colony’s entire being rippling downward to inform the brain, and back outwards. -“it would seem Rudhill is on that hill to the north-west of us, a quarter of the way to Great Phurz itself.” A humanoid face was formed one Tzuli’s ‘back to face Orek. “So the direction isn’t too hard to make.”
Orek sighed “Great Phurz? You mean Forkton? Only those snobbish elite who act as if the Dominion has been here forever call it ‘Great Phurz’, regardless of how great it may be.” He had not been a member of the Dominion’s elite ruling class in any city, so he felt no need to uphold their special names.
“We hardly forget that you’re not of noble blood, ‘Thunderbane’, we’re just remembering our own heritage. It’s hard not to, even if our brain units regenerate the wrong way.” When the units did that, many memories could be lost, but it was usually regulated among the other cast to ensure memories continued. “I haven’t been damaged lately at least.”
“Alright then.” Orek replied, ever eager to move on from that line of conversation. “Let’s go north-west!”
The birds could already be heard in the air as they tweeted, and the hissing octogriffs also started to stir to their burrows. Similar in size to rabbits, these nocturnal griffs had big ears and hunted insects and lizards as they slept. Now they wished to go to sleep in their comfortable burrows, he saw. Orek felt great envy for these little creatures as they got to relax after a night of hunting.
“Don’t pity yourself so much, Orek.” Tzuli was doing that thing again. “You spent the night drinking and whoring when you should have slept. Don’t blame the contractors for your own mistakes. Besides, you definitely don’t want to piss off the Selunys, that is always a bad idea.” They came closer to the ground now, hopping like some overflowing caterpillar.
“Yes, I haven’t forgotten our dear patrons’ hospitality. I’m not looking that forward to the Slints’ either, though. I think that should be ok our list of calls to make before we meet these freaks.” The green hills ahead of him showed the rising sun in all its majesty as the light of Brunus, the Sun God of the Phurzic pantheon. He was not a priest like his brother Lynn, but he couldn’t help appreciate the grandness of the world right now. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Certainly, friend of ours.” Tzuli said as they raised themselves to full height, equal to Orek himself. “We do not know what lies ahead, but we shall be glad to have you as a companion in whatever that may be.” Tzuli laid a composite arm out and out it on Orek’s shoulder.
“It’s always appreciated”, the tired mercenary replied.
As they proceeded towards Rudhill, they saw a Great White Griff fly overhead in view of the hills, the symbol of the Dominion itself. It’s wingspans must have been eight and seven metres respectively, and its long snout, hooked at the end with the teeth of a predator, there was hardly a more majestic sight in the wild, as the domestic white griffs were smaller and lacked the bright yellow head crests this creature had. As Orek looked at it fly over them, he thought, perhaps there is hope in this journey.

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Now we are introduced to another major character, Orek Steele, a lowborn mercenary is the Phurzic heartlands truing to make a living alongside his Vrain friend, Tzuli.