[h2][color=662d91]The Mustaqilun Tribe [Turn 11][/color][/h2]

[h2][color=007236]Riverforge[/color][/h2]

The dark weapons that were employed by the zealous followers of the Dark One tended towards the metal, but Rukdug had asked for someone to recreate the soul destroying curses that the cult employed in its weapons and even if they were crafted from wood he had gotten the results he had wanted... and considering the words of the Butcher and the way that the axe that had actually worked looked after the test, there might have been more secrets to the cursed weapons then he had thought previously. 

However, this didn't relieve one of his newest concerns; While in their base form the wooden axes were beautiful to look at, without the cursed enchantments that were required of them they were next to worthless as far as he was concerned as a battlefield weapon. Not against enemies that were actually equipped for battle at any rate... and there weren't enough test subjects to try the weapons out on without risking starvation. Some brief counting however gave him a rather simple solution to his problem. 

Taking the working axe from the butcher and clearly claiming it for himself, he made his intentions clear "We can spare ten piglets. Alongside this axe, I want at least ten axes that are confirmed to be enchanted ready and waiting to be given out to people of my choosing. If an axe doesn't work, make a note of it and give it to the charcoalers. We'll figure out how many actually useful axes we've got when we've got the time and test subjects."

Alongside any axe that didn't work, he also made it clear that any 'scrap wood' from the shaman's practices was now free to be turned into charcoal as well. Waste not, want not after all. As for the shaman in question: Rukdug had promised rewards for his success and the orc had pulled through. The shaman would be promoted to the head of a small order of shamans for Riverforge that would be tasked with understanding and practicing the darker aspects of magic and shamanism; To ignore or remain ignorant of the darker powers invited those would didn't shy away from such things to have an advantage over Orcish kind, but not everyone had the mental fortitude to study such things... and even fewer not to be consumed by them. These shamans of shadow would have to be carefully tested and vetted.

The failure to find my resources to speed up production was annoying, but something that sadly could not be helped. If there was no coal, there was no coal. They did have the means to smelt and produce bronze goods through, but time and resources were factors that he needed to consider. He needed to arm and armor up a fighting force for war and he didn't know how long he had to that bloody bird and his wretched goblins started to lean on him to hurry up. 

Bronze was not a good choice for orcish weapons; Sure, bronze could easily be used to make sample weapons, it couldn't really be used to make the larger weapons of war that orcs could benefit from wielding in battle. Plus it helped that pretty much every orc in Riverforge already owned a weapon they could wield, even if it meant that they lacked uniformity in such a matter. So when Rukdug went to talk with the smiths, he made his order quite clear: Focus on crafting armor and shields. Bronze armor was better then no armor and enough properly made shields could develop an effective front line in a battle. Any basic maintenance they could do with the weapons that they currently had was also to be done. 

...........................................................................................

Pak was no fool. A bit too prideful for his own good maybe, but not a fool. 

After the bird and his followers had left them to their own devices, he had arranged their camp in such a way as to hide the insides of the tents away from the prying eyes of any scouts or the gathering throng of strangely well fed bandits. Most of his forces had been hidden in the tents to not only make it appear as if there were far less orcs at the camp then there actually were, but also to try and give them some degree of element of surprise when the battle started. 

They had even taken the time before the bandits had arrived to come up with a number of plans in the event of different situations. If the so called 'Bandit King' had failed to show... or if their 'allies' had pulled a disappearing act of their own. Granted these plans largely boiled down to 'kill 'em all', 'kill enough of them to make them run away or 'kill enough of them so [i]we[/i] can run away', but at least the plans were in place. 

There was also another aspect of the defile that they had discovered fairly quickly and in turn figured out how to use in their favor under certain situations; The defile had an echo to it. 

Soon through, the bandits arrived in force. Dozens upon dozens appearing and taking up positions so close but with enough command not to charge. The reason for their strangely good self discipline appeared even before the rest of his forces came in, easily standing at double the height of the bandits themselves as what could only have been the self proclaimed 'Bandit King' came forward to brag and bluster. 

He made his claims about slaying the bird, but Pak didn't seem all that heartbroken by the idea. In fact, he handed off the whistle to one of the few orcs that he had outside of the tents before taking several steps forward, absolutely no fear appearing on his face as he inspected the horde before him. "You know, I long had my doubts about that bird. But if he was blind and deaf enough to allow such a large, brightly colored tub of lard like yourself sneak up on him then he was a fairly shrak ally in the first place and won't be missed." 

Without missing a beat, he started to slowly stroll to the side, his stance and movement displaying what could only be called a confident, cocky swagger that easily bled into his voice as he took advantage of the acoustics of the defile to make his voice easy to hear without yelling "Through if there is one thing I can compliment you on, it's the fact that you clearly... humble enough to know when a foe is too much for you. I mean, you took all this time and effort to gather all of this-" He gestured at the army of bandits standing behind the Oni "- just to throw them at us to tire us out before risking a direct fight. It's a good idea honestly... unless..." 

Trailing off for a moment, he stopped his swaggering motions for a second before continuing "Unless... you actually look behind you and see an army?" An evil little smirk appeared on Pak's face as his tone lost all pretense of the jolly mocking that it had before. "Because all I see when I look behind you, 'Bandit King', is fear and dead men."

The speech and the grand standing had a couple of purposes to it; The first was to convey to the troops hidden in the tents what the situation was while delivering some chosen phases to let them know what the enemies layout was... as was as let them know that the Oni leader of this 'army' was front and center while secondly pumping them up for the fight that was about to happen. The third was to unnerve the human bandits since, while they clearly had numbers on their side... if the leader of the camp they were about to attack was this dismissive of them then clearly he knew something that they didn't... but that was an optional goal. 

The fourth and actually important goal was to put the Bandit King in a position where he could do only one of three things: 

1) He could let his anger get the better of him and charge right into a fight, hopefully his anger causing him to make mistakes in the melee while the orc that he had handed the whistle to would blow it and the orcs would spring into battle. 

2) The Bandit King would order his men to attack... thus proving that there was truth in Pak's words that he was [i]afraid[/i] to fight this camp upfront himself, thus weakening his authority in the eyes of his followers... at which point the whistle would be blown and the battle would begin proper. 

3) The Bandit King would leave his lines to challenge Pak to a one on one duel in order to answer the challenge to his authority and prove to his followers that he was still as powerful and fearless as their leader needed to be... at which point the whistle would be blown and the orcs would start the battle. 

1 and 3 had the benefit that the Oni would be away from his lines and thus be in the best possible position to be overwhelmed and killed by the orcs alone in the event that his claims about killing their 'allies' proved true; Even if death wasn't as large an issue for Oni as the goblins claimed, seeing their leader fall would still send a massive shock wave through his followers. Option 2 would result in a more drawn out, bloody fight but if their faith in their leader is shaken the bandits would be more inclined to break and flee. 

The dice was cast.. it was time to see where the numbers fell.


[hider=Summery]
Any 'scrap wood' left over after the Shaman's efforts to create the cursed axes are to be turned over to the charcoalers... alongside any cursed axes that fail to live up to the name. 

Taking into account how many pigs can be spared for testing purposes without risking the food stores, testing of the axes will continue until ten working cursed axes are found, giving Riverforge at least eleven axes that they know work for sure. 

The Shaman has been rewarded with a position as the head of a new circle of shaman that will be tasked with studying and mastering the darker aspects of magic. These Shaman of Shadows are to be carefully selected so that only those who have the mental strength and fortitude to study dark magic without being overwhelmed or consumed by it will become members. 

The forges have been given their orders: Riverforge needs bronze armor and shields produced to equip a fighting force.

Pak has laid his trap and it is about to be sprung. Only time will tell how it goes.
[/hider]