The Fellowship of the Fourth Age (Part 1): A New Beginning RPG

[Regin Hardhammer]

Ishkur stomped angrily toward Gwerr, who continued to rant and rave about the dangers of remaining near the slave camp. Ishkur simply could not control himself anymore and was determined to force his crazed comrade to stop his shouting and return to sanity. Ever since the orcs had arrived at the camp, Ishkur noticed that Gwerr had avoided him. On the rare occasions when the two made eye contact, Ishkur thought he saw a flame of jealously and contempt in the other’s stare. Gwerr was obviously very annoyed at him for something, and now Ishkur would find out out why. Plus all this shouting gave Ishkur a pounding headache at a time when he desperately wanted to fall asleep. For all of Gwerr’s contention that there was still enough darkness for them to flee this place, the morning had already come.

When Ishkur first approached, Gwerr didn't seem to notice him and continued giving his lecture to the group as if nothing had happened. Ishkur waited a few seconds for Gwerr to say something and, when he grew tired of standing there, slapped the other orc stiffly in the right shoulder to get his attention. Ishkur could see no reason why he shouldn’t get straight to the point.

After an annoyed snarl and mashing of his yellowing teeth, Gwerr turned and yelled at full volume, “What do you want?”

Ishkur stared coldly at Gwerr, considering whether to reward such a rude response with another swift punch, this time straight to his stomach. Then he growled at Gwerr, “Stop your belly-aching. Listen, we must not leave camp yet. The sun is up and we would not get far. The group doesn’t yet have enough supplies. When will we next be able to score fresh meals so easily? So quit whining, shut your mouth, and keep your opinions to yourself.”

Gwerr, who before had been extremely agitated, now looked as if he wanted to kill Ishkur. The two had known each other many years, and both had an extremely large and fragile pride. Pride was an orc’s most prized possession and he would kill to protect it. This time, Gwerr seemed truly to have had enough,

“Ishkur, I swear that I will not follow behind your shadow any longer. Your head has grown large and vacant with all of your great ideas. Maybe you've decided to serve the Uruk scum and forget your true orc brothers. You don’t care about the group at all. You just want to be leader. We must leave now,” bellowing the last sentence with such force that Ishkur recoiled in shock.

When Ishkur spoke again, he tried to sound less belligerent , “Listen, my friend, I hate the Uruks just like you. I saw Makdush parading his stolen sword around for everyone to feel jealous, bragging about it. And you, Gwerr, are worth a thousand Uruks! I know that!" Ishkur pounded his fist against his chain link coat to stress his point.

"But, as much as I hate that blowhard Makdush and his pals, my desire for a place of my own is even greater. I want to live in a land without bosses, where we answer only to ourselves. I want to be free to hunt and knock a few heads without always doing what someone else commands. Wehave no choice. To survive on this journey, we must work with the Uruks, all stay together, and see things through till the end. And you are right that the time draws near for us to leave, but not yet. Let us stay one more night and steal lots of food and then leave. We will be even more careful than before. Once we have all the supplies we need, we’ll be on our way.”

Gwerr grunted in response. Though still grim in visage, his anger had softened. Part of him was beginning to suspect that Ishkur might be right about needing to put up with the Uruks for a little while, but personally he couldn’t bring himself to do it. His personal hatred of them was just too intense. The orcs would stay another night and Gwerr would keep his complaints to himself, but he wouldn’t feel at ease until they were far away.

Ishkur turned and yelled at the other orcs. "Alright, we stay here another night. And we make one last raid after night falls. Now go find a hiding place for the day and meet here again when the first star comes out."