[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/0R5Xujs.png[/img] The Jungle's King[/center] Though the night was a dark and cold one, the land was alight with sounds. There was the chirping of a million different breeds of strange insects, and the rustling of worse things moving through the trees. Even here, in the hills a good ways from the true depths of the Venomweald, the land wanted to kill you. Fortunately for the one who trekked down the path so early in the morning, there were few things in these tamer parts that would challenge an ogre. He climbed over one last wild, wooded hillock before nature's dominion suddenly gave way to a crude civilization. A sliver of burning orange sunrise illuminated the scene: there was an entire glade that had been felled. Amidst the forest of stumps there was Omokog in the distance. It wasn't particularly impressive; it was a sprawling, ramshackle cluster of hovels. There were low huts of wood and mud that rose from the ground like ugly scars, and between them were holes gouged into the ground. Some of the caves were natural, and some had been dug out by the ogres for living or storage space. Omokog was a city of many thousands, yet there was utter chaos. With no urban planning whatsoever, the streets around the huts and holes and hills created a labyrinth of winding dirt paths. It was a regular sight to see ogres brawling out in the open, and one could hardly move without trodding over a pile of rubbish, rot, or shit. It seemed as though a cloud of flies perpetually loomed over the city, yet the ogres paid this no heed; their skins were too thick to suffer at the hands of any bugs, and most had never known anything but this manner of filth. To the slaves, it was damnation upon Galbar. With their recent excursions having been so successful and warbands pushing ever farther south, some enslaved hain were finding their way back to the ogres' capital. Dargok passed by two or three of the wretched creatures as he navigated his way towards Ommok's fortress. The king made his lair in a discreet hole in the wall of a hillock, but nonetheless that bare hill amidst the conurbation seemed to loom over all else. At the cave's entrance were an assembly of a half dozen guards standing abreast to block the way. They were bulky, brutish oafs even by ogre standards, with a glazed look in their eyes. The king's servants all had that dumb look about them whilst they were under the sway of his Stone. Though they might have looked foolish, they stood with a silence and stoicism unbecoming of ogres; Ommok's thralls were absolute in their loyalty and discipline. Recognizing Dargok as one of the sorcerers that served as the king's lieutenants, they silently parted to allow his entry. The cave-fortress was even more labyrinthine than the city outside, for at least the sun's light shone outside. Down here, there was only the glow of a few braziers to light the otherwise pitch-black tunnels. The shadowy walls were covered in ogre glyphs and crude ochre paintings that made a record of all things from history to arcane rituals and spells. [center][i]One barely-lit wall even had a crude map.[/i] [hider][img]http://i.imgur.com/akMLDXx.png[/img][/hider][/center] Dargok heavy footsteps echoed loudly upon the stone floor. It was quiet here; there were only about a dozen sorcerers that dwelled in the lair with Ommok, and the bulk of them were on campaign in the south or otherwise dispatched. For company, those that remained had only the king, a few mindless servants, and Flayr. Even now the scheming flamedjinni was hiding in some brazier, no doubt smugly thinking himself clever and unseen. At Slag's behest Flayr had taught all the sorcerers the secrets of shamanism, yet perhaps in the ogres Flayr had found surprisingly worthy disciples. They had all learned his teaching quickly, and perhaps become better than he had wanted. At the very least, their skill was better than he realized. Dargok longed for the day that Flayr would whisper the wrong word in the king's ear and draw out Ommok's wrath. [i]Ommok.[/i] The mighty king, great and powerful in figure, rested on his throne snoring. Even in his sleep, he clutched his Stone. Before Dargok could debate the merits of waking his master so as to deliver his report, there was a stirring in the corner of the room. Gormon, the king's hulking yet half-witted ancient, groggily rose up, noticing Dargok with a start. Always one for ceremony, he bellowed his line, "Enter! Da great an' powerful king will hear you beg now." As the proclamation had Ommok bolt awake, Gormon laid back down in the corner and tried to sleep once again. The king's voice cut through the air, [color=sienna][b]"Speak."[/b][/color] Dargok lowered his gaze down to his master's feet in respect. "I come bearing news from the campaign in the south. Another nine settlements have been taken in the past two fortnights. Most were empty when we got there; the Heen that remained were all resettled farther north and the villages burned. Most of the Heen are fleeing south now, and Stog leads his rabble after their heels like a mad dog, but Skagoth has turned east." [color=sienna][b]"East? Away from the fertile grasslands ripe for picking, into the savage and worthless mountains?"[/b][/color] "We've encountered a few wandering bands of creatures called Rovik. Big things, almost as big as ogres. They fight well and always carry treasures, and the Heen tell rumors of great Rovik hoards hidden deep in the mountains to the east." The avarice gleamed in Ommok's eyes brighter than the faint reflection of torchlight. [color=sienna][b]"Then Stog is a fool for chasing after the Heen vermin when there are riper fruit. Has Grekogork led his band to Skagoth's aid?"[/b][/color] "No, Grekogork and those that followed him have ventured in the opposite direction. They press west into the wild lands, searching for treasures or worthy foes." Ommok gave a derisive snort. Silence followed, broken apart only by Gormon's hacking snores. [color=sienna][b]"I have not been idle in these past moons,"[/b][/color] he declared. With one gargantuan hand he reached to the side of his throne and lifted a stone tablet, upon which there was drawn the likeness of the land. Only the map was centered upon the nightmarish jungles to the north of Omokog, and in the Venomweald were the marked locations of many places and rough drawings of many of the jungle's twisted creatures. [color=sienna][b]"We lost many scouting parties in expeditions into the jungle, but now we know what lies just beyond our reach. There are several tribes of ogres there, living like filthy animals. They must be brought under my reign, and then all of our kind would be united as one empire."[/b][/color] "There are warriors enough left in the city, even with the hundreds of them gone south. I take it you have already given the orders to assemble another horde and have them conquer these stray tribes?" [color=sienna][b]"No, I do not intend to bring them under my heel by brute force. A horde would not fare well marching through the Venomweald. Even finding these tribes will be difficult; only one of the three was found by our scouts. We know of the other two only from what was told to us by the first; they might be only rumors. An army would fall apart trekking through the jungle looking for hidden tribes, but a small expedition and a show of power might succeed where brute force would fail."[/b][/color] "A show of power?" [color=sienna][b]"I will go myself, and they will witness their king and the power of my Stone. If they are too foolish to submit of their own free will, then with the Stone's power I will subjugate them."[/b][/color] "A fine plan," Dargok admitted. "Shall I begin making the preparations for your escort?" [color=sienna][b]"That is already done,"[/b][/color] the king answered. [color=sienna][b]"I simply awaited the return of one of my apprentices to accompany me and document the journey. With your timely arrival, the journey may begin."[/b][/color] [hr] [center][b]The Venomweald Expedition[/b] As recorded by Dargok [i]Written in simplistic ogre cuneiform using charcoal and ochre, upon a series of cumbersome stone tablets[/i][/center] There about ten of us with king Ommok. We going into jungle. We leave Omokog when sun beats on heads. Sun no beat on heads in jungle. Dark in here. Hard to see and hard to walk with plants always in way. Mean plants. Some got poison and try make us sick. Some try eat us. We set those on fire. Ommok uses magic Stone to keep bugs and beasties away. We still hear and see them though. Good thing Ommok is here or we have to kill lots of beasties and swat lots of bugs. We walk for lots of days. Hard to keep track. Hard to follow map because everything look the same. [s]Pretty sure we lost.[/s] We start running out of food. That bad because the berries here no good for eating. Rocks taste better and not make our bellies sick so we eat rocks and meat from the beasties we can catch. Argue over whether split up. Decide to stay together. Nobody want to go without Ommok's Stone keeping beasties away. While we argue we yell and make noise. Other ogres hear noise and come. They from one of the lost tribes, so we find what we came for. Not lost. Never was lost. We go to their village. They all live in caves under jungle. Nice caves, all close together. Wet and dark holes in ground, very nice caves. Nicer than most caves in Omokog. We call them cave ogres since they all live in nice caves. They talk really funny. Funny faces. All look the same and act kinda dumb. Not too many of them. Have a boss called Clem. Grow mushrooms in their cave for eating. Drink a funny juice that taste weird and makes us dizzy. Cave ogres nice and let us stay in their caves. Don't want to be ruled by Ommok because they think they have the best cave. But Ommok tells him how his cave is better, so then they okay with serving him. Me not sure if Ommok's fort bigger or better than this huge cave but me not say that because cave ogres seem to only care about size of cave. Bigger cave means better ogre. Dumb idea. Only bigger or stronger or more magical ogre means better ogre. Clem swear loyalty to Ommok. Ommok asks Clem about other ogre tribes since Clem was that ogre that told the first scouts about the other tribes. Clem kinda dumb because he not know much about other ogre tribes. It like he stay in a cave all day. Not know the other ogres just know where they live. So we leave looking for the other ogre tribes and not knowing what to expect. But Clem does tell us about jogres. The jogres used to be ogres but then they got messed up by the jungle. Now they not ogres, they jogres. You can tell they not ogres because they run around on hands and feet like doggies, got big teeth, and also because they always hungry and usually try to eat you. Jogres are mean and dumb. They no talk. We find some and capture them. Gonna take them to Omokog and use them as war beasts since they too dumb to do anything other than eat things, but at least they fast and good at eating things that try to run. After we got the jogres we go to a little river that Clem tells us to follow and we follow it deeper into the jungle. We walk in the river because there so many trees that it hard to walk beside the river. Feet are wet and annoying and sharp rocks in bottom of river are annoying. Some mean fishies try to bite toes so we stomp on them. Eventually we find a dead jogre with its head smashed. We think that the ogres we looking for killed that jogre so we keep going that way. We see two dumb looking gits with big clubs. They see us and look at us funny. Probably think about beating us with those clubs but Ommok is big and scary so they act nice when he steps out of trees. Ommok tells them hello and that he is the true ogre king. They pretty dumb because they not know what hello mean or what king is. They also dumb because they talk even more funny than cave ogres and use strange words. Hard to understand them but they say that their names are Twig and Pretty Fing. They brother and sister. We laugh because we think they make funny joke. Twig is big like boulder not little like twig, and Pretty Fing has face that like mushroom. So it funny since their names are dumb. We laugh and ask their names again. They no laugh. They look at us like we dumb and say their names Twig and Pretty Fing. Must just have dumb names that are bad. Ask about their boss and they not really know what a boss is. Dumb. After lot of talk they say they bring us to Mum. Maybe their mum not dumb. We go to their village and see a lot of huts. They have wall and fires and stuff around the village to keep jungle beasties away from huts. Place stinks worse than Omokok and they all look dirty and mean. Their mum must be boss because they take us to biggest hut. Inside hut is really big ogre. Biggest ogre ever if Ommok not ogre. They call that ogre mum and we really confused because he not a mum. We know because these ogres not wear anything. Maybe they just too dumb to know what a mum is. Mum is really mean his ogres and his house got lots of smashed skulls in it. Mum also yells a lot and keep talking about how he want to fight something. They all scared of Mum but we not because Ommok is bigger and he protect us. Some dumb ogre with us asks Mum why they all think he a Mum, and Mum gets really mad. Wants to know what that ogre's name is and he says Azog. Mum asks what a zog is. We all confused and Mum says it probably something puny and dumb like a rock or a bug. Makes fun of Azog for eating zogs. We confused but then we get it! They all named after first thing they try to eat. Or maybe favorite thing to eat. Not sure but now we more scared of Mum. He getting really angry for no reason and wants fight. I sense Ommok try use Stone but it not work. Some ogres not feel magic and Mum probably one of those. Pretty bad! No magic from Ommok's Stone means no way to make Mum stop yelling and throwing things. So Ommok take the fight because he bigger and they wrestle. They wrestle for long time and lots of big punches. Mum really strong even though he smaller because he all strong but Ommok kinda fat. [s]They still fighting and we worried if Ommok gonna win.[/s] Ommok won like we knew he would. Mum looks like little girl. Says first time anybody ever beat him in wrestle. Likes us now. I kinda think we shoulda bashed Mum's head in and put some other ogre in charge but Ommok lets Mum live. Mum swear serve Ommok and join kingdom and those things. Other dumb ogres swear too. Some gonna go back to Omokog with us and some ogres from Omokog gonna come here to keep an eye on the place but first we gotta go back into jungle. One more lost tribe out there and Mum knows where it is because Mum not like that tribe. That tribe bad because they like Jok Funk and their boss kinda messed up. Mum tells his dumb ogres show us the other tribe and when we get there we see a big temple built into hill. Most of tribe lives inside hill in big cave but the temple on top keeps jungle beasties and things from getting into cave. These ogres really funny. Always talking quiet even when nobody around to listen. Got funny marks on their skin too. Some of the marks just paint but others carved into skin or burned on forever. Their boss is Glutton and he even more messed up than Mum said. Glutton really fat and has no legs. Slithers around looking kinda like slug. Nobody sure if Jok Funk messed him up or if he just eat way too much. Glutton is high priest and rest of tribe worship him and Jok Funk like some kinda cult. Kinda want to bash all their heads in but Ommok talk to Glutton and thinks Glutton smart and maybe useful. So no head bashing. Glutton is chef. Really funny chef. Likes to cook more than Mum likes to fight. Cooks everything and makes really funny food. Mum's tribe mad at him because they think he cooked and ate some of Mum's dumb ogres. He cook us lots of food from funny jungle things and some is tasty but most is really bad and make us feel sick. Ommok and Glutton talk while eat. Ommok tries to make Glutton swear to serve and join kingdom but Glutton talk back about how he doing fine in jungle and not want trouble but also not want be bossed around. Lot of talk back and forth in circle where Ommok tries tell Glutton he better off in kingdom so he better join. Glutton not really listen until Ommok tell him about how much new stuff he could get for cooking if he join kingdom and trade his yummy food for new cooking stuff. Then Glutton swear fealty pretty quick and his cult go along with it. We make long trip back to Omokog. Pretty tired because we been stuck in jungle for lots of days. Not long after Ommok gets tribute sent from the three tribes. Big feast at Omokog when we get back. Clem send mushroom juice. Mum send big but really dumb ogre named My Fist to fight for Ommok. Not sure what Glutton sent but nobody want to eat it. Trophies also come from hordes down south. Stog send thousands of the little heen slaves back. They all starving and weak but they said to be the strongest so they what we get. Stog killed the weak and the disobedient and built pile of skulls that like a hill. From Skagoth there lots of weapons and things made from strange shiny rock. Really hard and sharp. Taken from some rovik. A few rovik slaves sent too. They much stronger and better than the little heen. Nothing from Grekogork! Not know what he thinking but he always been funny in the head. [hr] They all looked around nervously, feeling oddly exposed in the barren grasslands. The land was so flat that everything within a league could see the ogres, and that made them uncomfortable even though there was ostensibly nothing here that could truly threaten such a large group of ogres. Low to the ground, Grekogork crouched and quickly tore up tufts of grass with his hands. Then he laid on his belly and pressed an ear to the exposed dirt. "Da groun's whisperin' to me," Grekogork muttered. Most of the ogres looked at each other and wondered aloud how this 'magic' and 'shamanism' stuff could make dirt talk. "SO SHUT UP SO THAT I CAN HEAR IT!" Their chatter died instantly, replaced only with the sound of the grass rustling in the wind. Grekogork laid down for a long time. When he finally rose, he pointed west. "That way!" They marched two leagues without a single halt, Grekogork only granting them a short respite in exchange for a grueling march until nightfall. Fortunately, they arrived at their destination long before then. At a first glance it seemed to be little more than a tiny hole in the ground that could barely be seen on the flatlands until you nearly fell into it. Upon closer inspection, the warband saw that they had come across the opening of a larger ravine gouged deep into the earth. Though the wound had scarred and the top of the ravine had been covered in soil, the opening was still large enough to allow them entry. Their feeling of unease had only grown as they had approached this place, so they were more than happy to wait on the surface when Grekogork insisted that he enter alone with only the djinni bound to him for protection. It was not long after their warboss entered the cave that they heard horrifying roars, a shout of surprise, and then the sound of earth sundering. The sounds quieted down as quickly as they had began. The bravest of the ogres ran into the cave to come to their warboss' aid, but they found him as he had been ascending back to the surface. "Herag den," the sorcerer explained. "They tried to eat me, but I smash them with magic. No treasure down in there, just a buncha bones." They looked at the the Grekogork's stonedjinn and saw spattering of blood upon the minions' earthen fists. Grekogork spat on the ground and looked at something in his hand. His bodyguards followed his gaze into the empty eye sockets of a strange, jet-black skull, but then the shaman tucked the skull away into his loot sack. [hider=Summary] An opener with some worldbuilding about the ogre society and Omokog, their city in the Venomweald. This is from the perspective of Dargok, one of the some dozen ogre sorcerers, and takes place before [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4351108]his appearance in the collab with the ogres fighting urtelem.[/url] Dargok reports to Ommok on what has been going on with Stog, Skagoth, and Grekogork's rampaging hordes of conquerors. Ommok then updates Dargok on what he was doing whilst all his minions were away. Seeking to expand deeper into the Venomweald to create new settlements and search for new resources, Ommok had sent out many scouts. They returned with strange tales about lost tribes of ogres that wandered away in times past and do not live as a part of Ommok's kingdom. Naturally, Ommok and Dargok go on to seek out these lost tribes. Dargok records the events in a long journal of broken speech because the ogres' written language is primitive and lacking. The going through the Venomweald is hard, but it's made a lot easier by the fact that most monsters don't mess with ogres and the few that might are for the most part repelled by the power of Ommok's Stone. Ommok expects to find little more than a few savage brutes cowering in caves, so it is to his surprise that he finds the tribe of cave ogres have a civilization of their own. They live in nice caves. By the way, their caves are nice, because nice caves are nice and they live in nice caves. They grow fungi, have an appreciation for alcohol, are likely inbred, and are really redneck. Clem, the chieftain of the cave ogres, eventually swears allegiance to Ommok because Ommok lives in a bigger cave. He tells them about the jogres: feral descendants of ogres that don't speak, usually run on all fours, and have devolved into mere beasts. They're known for being perpetually ravenous, vicious and fast, so Ommok captures many of them to be trained and bred as warbeasts. As they hunt for jogres, they eventually encounter two savage ogres that don't belong to Clem's tribe. Though they have a strange dialect, the two groups can communicate and the savages introduce themselves as Twig and Pretty Fing; they are brother and sister, respectively. But Twig is really fat and Pretty Fing isn't very pretty, so the nicknames seem odd. When asked about their leader, the two take Ommok's party to see Mum. They expected to find the pair's mother, but instead Mum turned out to be the chieftain of yet another lost tribe. Mum is gigantic even by ogre standards, and he's definitely male. It eventually becomes apparent that this particular tribe derives their names from the first thing that they try to eat. Mum is really belligerent and cocky, and even though Ommok is also huge, he challenges the king to a wrestling match. As luck would have it, Mum is one of the magicbreaker ogres that are born resistant to magic, so Ommok can't simply just use his Stone to easily put Mum in his place. Ommok has to fight fair and he wins (albeit barely, and possibly with the help of the Astartian magic that ogre sorcerers use to strengthen themselves) and Mum reluctantly offers his tribe's fealty to Ommok. The final tribe is a small, reclusive cult of Jvan worshipers that have been feuding with Mum's tribe. They are led by an ogre sculptor by the name of Glutton. True to his name, Glutton is corpulent beyond belief and looks something like a gigantic slug. Imagine Jabba the Hutt. Ommok enters a philosophical debate with Glutton, and after much talk a diplomatic arrangement is reached and Glutton peacefully swears fealty. It's unclear whether Ommok is actually a good talker or if he just used his mind-control Stone. Or both. In any case, Ommok heads back home to his fortress in Omokok. Miscellaneous tribute arrives from all three of the lost tribes, but Stog sends Hain slaves by the thousand and Skagoth sends metal tools and weapons somehow acquired from the Rovaick. In a brief section at the end, Grekogork stumbles upon a strange hole in the ground that's filled with dead things and a Herakati den.[/hider]