New Friends, New Adventures

Early one morning, with the sky just beginning to turn a light orange, Saige and Storm stride into Kog’Thrak, ten new orcs following close behind.

As they make their way through the village, Saige eagerly points out landmarks to Durzhag, waving enthusiastically to anyone they pass. Now and then, she rubs at her eyes and yawns, though she continues on eagerly.

She leads the group to the longhouse, plants herself at the door, and knocks.

“Kogdorrrr! You awake? I brought new friends! And food!”

Storm walks in with a small deer slung over her shoulder and looks around. The ten orcs with their packs all look around. 

The longhouse is bustling with activity though it appears to be mostly Draconians walking around. The orcs around the longhouse are bleary eyed and yawning which is a stark contrast to the Draconians marching around and chatting. 

All eyes turn to the doorway as Saige, Storm, and the orcs enter. Some people give them long curious stares while others look at them with concern. And just as quickly as they had turned their attention to Saige and others, they return to their tasks and meager rations.

But a booming voice fills the longhouse. "SAIGE!! Ahahaha!" 

Kogdor walks through the crowd and up to the group, looking everyone over. He tenses a little when he sees the other orcs but keeps a big smile plastered on his face.

"You brought friends? Be welcome!" Kogdor throws his arms up in a welcome gesture. 

The orcs look to one another and then begin speaking in orcish. Kogdor nods and responds to them in orcish. While they chat, Kogdor looks over his shoulder and jerks his chin at Storm. Another orc steps up and holds out his arms.

Storm deposits the half starved deer into his arms and says in bad orcish. "Sorry it small."

The orc chuckles and responds in common. "Most us speak your tongue now. You speak normal too."

Storm chuckles. "Gotcha. Well, sorry it's so small but we tried."

Kogdor looks to Saige as he finishes speaking to Durzhag and the others. "Saige brings many friends and food. Thank you, Redleaf."

“They’re from the bluff I told you about! I’m glad we were able to find them, I was really worried.”

Saige pauses, taking a breath.

“I know food’s getting harder to find, but I wanted to tell you that my friend figured out what’s causing the shortage! So we’re going to fix it soon! We’ll just have to be extra careful until then.”

She taps her chin thoughtfully and turns to Storm.

“We might just have to start hunting in the bluff. I mean that’s why I went out there originally, to find food. What do you think?”

Kogdor sighs heavily. "Yes. Food scarce. And you bring more mouths to feed. But we will survive. We have survived worse." He laughs, a hearty laugh. "Come, new friends! We will prepare deer. Have what we can share. I will get Mabzur to give you work later. Rest from your journey."

The other orcs look to each other before they move as a group past Kogdor and Saige, making their way to the serving line.

Storm chuckles and then turns to Saige when addressed. "We could hunt the bluff but we'd need a better way there and back. That's a long trip, Saige. A lot of what we caught would probably spoil before we got back."

“Don’t worry Storm, I’ve got this! I have soooo many ideas.” She grins mischievously. “Now come on! Let’s go visit my family!”