The Emerald King

Kulg Zruhk was generally considered a very patient and fair orc. The inhabitants of his great city, Kulron Zruhk, adored him for this very reason. Once one of the strongest warriors and most cunning of hunters, he had risen to the top, as what he felt was the greatest leader his kin would ever witness. Kulg was strong, his muscles well defined under his noble black garbs, his tusks white as snow, brushed and polished to perfection. He liked to keep clean-shaven and cut his hair short and neatly brushed. A very respectable orc no matter the clan.

Today was not a good day for Kulg, however. He was stuck sitting in his war room, with seven of the eight other Zruhk leaders sat in a circle around a polished stone table, babbling incessantly on what Kulg felt was a minor nuisance. The musk of the elderly plaguing his nose as they babbled. An unseen race had somehow managed to invade their lands, and while they raided a couple small villages here or there over all they weren’t much of a threat.

Kulg figured they could have sent warriors out to handle them by now and be done with it, but in tiring Zruhk fashion the many leaders felt they must have a gathering to discuss it; before sending anyone out to fight.

“We must be wary,” Gelm said, combing his white beard with his fingers, “we do not know what these invaders are capable of. For all we know it could take five of us to match one of them. As it is they’ve ransacked several small villages without so much as a single loss in sight, it’s preposterous.”

“They were ambushed, Gelm,” Maar responded. “Anyone could fall from a sword to the back.”

“I agree,” said Kron, “Do we have an idea of their numbers? With that information, we could mount a proper counter-attack.”

Geel Zruhk stood up and stretched, letting out a long sigh and cracking his back and boney knuckles as he did. His sunken yellow eyes hovered over each of the gathered leaders. To Kulg it looked like he was trying to read everyone’s minds, rather unsuccessfully. Geel sat back down and cleared his throat.

“I’ve sent scouts to each of the villages that have been attacked thus far. I should receive word on their findings within the next few days. Until then maybe we should bolster our own defenses.”

I’ve sat here half the day, just for these old geezers to decide on a plan that would take less than an hour to figure out, Kulg thought, no surprise Gala didn’t show up.

Kulg stood up and gave himself a good stretch as well, then placed both hands firmly on the table, leaning forward. He gave each of the leaders a sharp look, hoping they would understand he was done with this meeting.

“Alright we’ll bolster our defenses, but what of the villages? We should send warriors to defend each of them and be done with it.”

Each of the leaders sat in silence, some of which, Kulg could see, were holding back laughter. It was no secret to him that the majority of Zruhk nobility cared nothing for orcs living outside the great walls of their cities. It sickened Kulg to no end, but he was in no true position to where he could sway them to change their views.

“The villages will be fine Kulg,” Bur Zruhk said dismissively.

Bur twirled the edge of one of his long black eyebrows in boredom. He seemed overall uninterested in anything going on. As far as nobility was concerned, Bur was the biggest culprit when it came to deeming those beneath him unimportant; Even within the walls of his city. If it didn’t affect his way of life within the walls of his luxurious palace, it was no concern of his. What’s more, he loved to parade around covered nearly head to toe in jewelry. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, opals, several smooth glowing stones from the Riverlands, and the Zruhk emerald at the center of it all adorning a gold chain necklace.

Kulg had seen lepers that were less of an eyesore. In fact, he would say in comparison they were beautiful as opposed to the mess of shiny rocks sitting across from him.

“I beg to differ, Bur,” Kulg spat, “if several villages were truly wiped out I have no reason to believe the others will be fine. I know you don’t give a damn, but I do. Now all of you, leave. Too much time has been wasted here, there is work to be done.”

The room was silent, save for the rattling of gems as Bur fidgeted uncomfortably. Klog was the first to stand, clapping his hands together and letting out a sigh.

“Alright, you heard him,” Klog said, “let’s leave Kulg to his work. We have our own matters to attend to as it is.”

Klog gave a quick glance toward Kulg and took his leave. One by one each of the leaders followed after, Bur having shoved his way to the front of the line in his embarrassment. Once the last one had left Kulg sank into his seat rubbing his eyes. For only having sat half the day he felt exhausted.

I need to do something about them. These gatherings, the pretentiousness filling the air every time they meet. At the very least something must be done about Bur, he is the greatest waste of resources this world could offer.

“Sir,” a familiar voice chimed in.

“What is it Drik?,” Kulg replied.

The old withered butler stepped forward from behind one of the many stone pillars lining the room. His gentle maroon eyes scanning Kulg’s demeanor as if he were gauging how willing he was to hear anything he had to say.

“The scouts have reported back, and have rather interesting news regarding the invaders.”

Kulg gave his servant a curious look with a raised eyebrow.

“Bring them in,” he commanded.

As if expecting the command beforehand the door swung open, three slender female orcs in plain grass green attire entered one by one. Each of them turned to face Kulg and kneeled. Taga, Veera were their names, or so Kulg had hoped he remembered correctly, lead by his lover, Gree. Each of them, masters of stealth in their own rite, and the leaders of the scouting division in his military.

“My lord,” they said in unison.

“I’ve told everyone countless times,” Kulg said. “My name is Kulg, and stop kneeling. Greet me as an equal. The role of lord is just that, a role.”

“Our apologies,” said the Gree, kneeling in the middle.

The three stood up and took seats around the table respectively.

“Now,” Kulg said, “What have the three of you found?”

“We followed the invaders until they arrived at the Riverland’s borders,” Taga said, her voice a hushed echo.

“Whoever they are, they know the lay of the land. Since their arrival, they’ve attacked village after village as if they knew where each one was from the start. The last village attacked was that of Chieftain Grun Zruhk. The huts and walls were set ablaze, their horses and females stolen, and all the males and livestock slain.”

“Interesting,” Kulg said pondering. “That village is farthest from any other, and near the edge of the hyena’s forest. That is very suspicious. Have you discovered anything else?”

This time Veera was the one to speak, Her voice as sharp as any blade.

“We split up the day before Taga’s findings, but I found an orc of the mountains carrying an injured Zruhk on his back. I tried to relieve him of our low born brother, but he wouldn’t allow it. Normally I would have taken him by force, but this orc was far beyond me in skill and experience.”

“What have I said about calling our kin low born?

“Apologies m-… Kulg,” Verra said. “It won’t happen again.”

“Very good. Now perhaps I’ll have a visit with the mountain clans about that,” Kulg said. “Gree, how about you? What have you found?”

“Magic,” she said, “these invaders wield magic of fire, although they try to hide it. The flames that burnt those villages were not made with any kind of spark, sulfur or flint. The flames do not spread from beyond the villages, once every last home is burned down the flames die out. They won’t even touch trees or bushes from within the villages, only buildings or structures made by those living there.”

Magic, Kulg thought surprised, I heard stories of magic not tied to the animal spirits, this is very unexpected. Perhaps this is how they can find our villages so easily.

Kulg looked at his subordinates as he thought. There had already been so many losses, regardless of birth status and he wanted to prevent more if possible. Perhaps he could use the other races to do the work for him. The mountain and river clans would never fall for his manipulation easily, and the swamp clans rarely left their home, nor were their methods particularly favorable to Kulg.

“What clans could we call our allies?” Kulg asked no one in particular.

Drik was the first to come forward with a response.

“As it stands, we have no true allies. The closest would be the island clans who rule the seas, but even then it would only be due to their lack of contact with the rest of the clans. So far it seems the invaders haven’t gone so far north.”

Kulg leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his temples.

“Then our only real choice would be those savages in the south,” he said. “They are dumb brutes who only know how to murder eat and fuck, but that might be all we need from them. We must find a way to bring both sides together, and hopefully, wipe each other out.”

The others seemed uneasy with this suggestion, but they were not ones to argue with their most favored leader.

“What if the savages are wiped out?” Drik asked.

“Then we’ll clean up what’s left, and like that we’ve killed two birds with one stone. The real issue is getting them to clash, to begin with. I’m open to suggestions.”

The room was quiet for a time as everyone thought about solutions. Occasional murmuring between the scouts and Drik muttering to himself, seeming to forget he was in a room with others.

“Come now,” Kulg said impatiently, “someone must have something?”

Once again Drik was the first to speak.

“With all due respect sir, because they are such brutes our options are limited. The savages can’t read or write, so we cannot send a message to them. Not to mention their speech is very basic, so sending a messenger may not do much outside of getting them killed.”

“Very good points, Drik,” Kulg said. “Those reasons do make this difficult, but I’m sure there’s something we can do. I hold all the wealth and power we need to make something happen, but I suppose that doesn’t matter when we have no options.”

Veera stood up and stared at Kulg intently.

“Perhaps we could lure one to the other?” She said with slight hesitation.

“How so?” Kulg asked.

“The invaders will most likely take the bait, since they’ll attack any orc they find, and since we’re females they may attempt to capture us.”

“Are you proposing that you three act as the bait?”

“Yes.”

Kulg wasn’t opposed to the idea, but he didn’t care for his top scouts being bait, especially not Gree.

“Is there no one else who could act as bait?” Kulg inquired, dreading the thought of losing his love. “I don’t care to waste my best on such a task.”

To Kulg’s surprise it wasn’t Veera who responded, but Gree herself.

“If we don’t then the chance of success is greatly diminished. We would rather risk ourselves for success than our subordinates for failure.”

This pleased Kulg, he was always proud to see his brothers and sisters give themselves to a cause so willingly. In this case, they knew they were the best at what they did, and Kulg could give no good reason for them to not go, much to his dismay.

“Very well then,” Kulg said. “You have three days to rest and prepare, use it wisely. Everyone is dismissed.”

With that the orcs left one by one starting with Drik, then Veera, then Taga. Gree stopped at the door, turning to Kulg.

“Will I see you tonight?” she asked with a lustful whisper.

Kulg smiled back, “of course my love, it will be a night to remember.”

She winked at him and after all had left Kulg stood up and walked to the oval-shaped window near his seat, gazing out on his city below.

I cannot let this city crumble like those villages. We must stop this threat before it can reach any major city.

A knock at the door interrupted Kulg’s thoughts.

“Come in,” he said annoyed.

“My apologies sir,” Drik’s voice came from behind him, “but I forgot to mention earlier, your uncle requests that you visit him in a week’s time to discuss something of great importance.”

“Does he now?” Kulg asked, “why couldn’t he say so himself while he was here?”

“I suspect he didn’t want the other leaders to know.”

Kulg chuckled, “that sounds like him. Like me, he has no love for the other lords. “I’ll arrive at the requested time. You may retire, Drik.”

“As you wish.”

“Oh, and Drik, prepare my horse and gather up a group of my finest hunters, we’ll be making a stop at one of the destroyed villages on the way, let everyone know we leave the day after tomorrow.”

“It shall be done sir,” Drik said, “Enjoy the rest of your day.”

“And you as well,” Kulg replied.

Kulg knew he’d enjoy the remainder of his day with the old fools now gone. He had a long week ahead of him, but for now, he could enjoy the remainder of his day. He was most excited for Gree’s visit to his chambers later in the night, and he couldn’t wait.