Nok-Nok - Dreams - Part 3

Episode 19

It’s midday, the sun almost at its peak. You find yourself standing in a field, close to a village. You see figures running towards the gates of the village. They are screaming, frantically trying to get into the village. You see arrows flying through the air hitting the dirt and the walls near them.

Looking in the direction of the bowmen, you can see an orcish warband moving out of the tree line onto the field. The archers let loose another volley of arrows as 3, 8, 12 brutes push past them and onto the field you hear their battle cries ring out towards you. Your eyes follow the brutes and as they pass by you, you see in the distance, horses collapsing onto the ground, multiple arrows protruding from them. The carriages they were pulling come to a stop as the brutes push closer. Two figures jump off the carriages and run for the gates. Another volley of arrows passes overhead, an arrow hits one of the figures in the shoulder. The figure stumbles but manages to make it into the village. The gates close just in time to block the arrows from finishing him off.

You hear some more battle cries, this time they sound more like victory cries. You watch as the brutes tear the dead horses from the caravan. They start pushing the wagons back to the forest while volley after volley of arrows rain down on the village gates. You watch as fresh horses are hooked to the wagon and led into the forest with the warband in tow.

You look towards the town and see no one attempting to defend the villagers or goods. You notice the gate is not closed properly. The horses look like they are old and lame and needed to be put down anyway, but for some reason they were pulling the wagons.

Your vision fades and when it returns it is night time. You are standing inside a tent with the large orc and the female you’ve seen before. She looks scarred but healed, much healthier than your previous visions of her.

Large Orc: “I travel with you tonight. I have a special gift for our friend. He has outdone himself with the last raid, we did not expect the wagons to be so full. It’s time we repay him with something long overdue. When you hand over the gold, tell him Blakor, the merciless sends his regards. He’ll know what it means.”

You notice the look on the female orcs face, it looks curious and it seems like this was unexpected to have him join.

Your vision fades again. Your vision returns and you are now standing 50 feet in the tree line just outside the same village which was previously attacked. You can see the dull glow of torch light emanating from the village outlining figures which are moving towards you. They enter the treeline and push towards you. As they draw near you can make out their details. A nobleman flanked by guards. One of the guards looks like he recently sustained a wound to his shoulder. They stop about 10 feet away from what you now know to be Blakor, the merciless and the female orc.

Blakor nods as a greeting and the female orc proceeds towards the nobleman. She hands him a bag full of gold and whispers something to him. You see a slight grin curl up the side of the nobleman's mouth. He looks past her and nods at Blakor while an uninjured guard takes the bag from her. The female orc turns and walks back towards Blakor.

You see the nobleman gesture with his hands and a few words silently escape his mouth. You watch as suddenly the female orc’s body starts to tense up and her momentum causes her to fall to the ground. You can see her eyes darting from side to side, as she realizes she is paralyzed.

She tries to fight back, but her body does not respond. From the corner of her eye, she sees Blakor, smiling and encouraging the nobleman to take what he desires as he turns and disappears into the forest. Able to see what was going on, but not able to react, she lies there while the nobleman has his way with her. The guards standing watch with their backs turned to them.

Through sheer will and determination, she manages to break the hold of the spell and in an instant she snaps the neck of the nobleman on top of her. Before the guards can react she is on top of them and manages to steal a sword from one. She fights them, screaming and yelling and you can see the anger and hatred pouring out from her as she takes her frustration out on them. She kills one and knocks the other unconscious.

You watch as the wounded and disgraced female orc lifts the still living body of an elf into the air and offers it to Gruumsh as a sacrifice. She drops the elf onto a sword and as he draws his last breath, she sits and waits for Gruumsh to answer, but no answer comes...

You wake up sweating with your battleaxe summoned in your hand. As your eyes begin to focus…