[h2]Orc Camp[/h2]
[hr][@ERode][hr]
The orc captain raised an eyebrow as he listened to the Runt. Then he looked out over the throng of other brutes still vying for the cooked victuals. 

"Good, then." he growled to Esfir, taking the sausage she offered and holding it between his lips like it was a cigar. Despite talking out of the side of his mouth, he boomed his voice across the crowd.

"C'mon ya buncha mukhs, git lined up! Keep tings bidness like over here or I'll club ya worse'n I did that 'un!" He pointed at the orc still laid out cold by his punch. "It's us Orcs against da world! Don't fight over scraps like a buncha dogs!"

There was still plenty of pushing and shoving and cutting in line, but the little fire pit soon looked more like a proper breadline. Flipping his sausage over his tusks and chomping it down, the captain gave Esfir a nod of appreciation.

"Youse still a liddle'un, but dat's how ya get tings done around here--hand out da beatings all liberal-like! So make sure ya eat and fight enough to get big and strong, Runt, like ol' [b]Xolkug[/b] here!"

[quote=SYSTEM:Esfir]QUEST DETAILS HAVE BEEN ALTERED!
Quest Details: Fulfill Duties within the Tribe (3/2 Minimum!)[list]
[*]ALTERATION: Accept an Optional Quest from another Tribe Member[list][*]Get Ore for Bowbh
[*][b]Orcs Against The World[/b] - You have raised the Orc Tribe's understanding of [Food Preparation]. This unmarked quest will be counted towards your progress.[/list][/list][/quote]

Though she'd given her Harpy Meat to the blacksmith, preparing the sausages had made use of what would normally be enough scrap and offal to provide another meal. All that was left to fulfill on this Quest, according to her System, was to [b]find her own shelter[/b] and then be at Head Warrior Auguz's [b]Training Circle[/b] before sunrise the next day. Given the behavior she'd just seen before Xolkug enforced brutal order, not having a shelter might mean waking up without any belongings the next day...
[hr][@King Cosmos][hr]
The dusky, earth-toned orc woman scratched at the ochre-yellow facepaint covering her wrinkly, leather-faced skull as Akeno approached her. When the orc Runt spoke up, the half-smile broke into a full grin, which of course was missing several yellowed teeth.

"On gud day? Nuffin!" She answered Akeno with a cackle. After a moment she made a wheezing sound, then leaned forward in her seat. Her expression sobered.

"[b]Yambagorn[/b] has no letters, youngling, but she reads many tings. Read da clouds and da winds. Read an orc's soul in his eyes and his hands." She stared at Akeno meaningfully. "[b]When da Dwarves drove us out of da old home[/b], Yambagorn read da stars to find dis place." Her gnarled staff tapped the stone beneath their feet. Then she leaned back until her crooked spine straightened out against the rock wall of her cave and sighed, closing her eyes.

"And Yambagorn remembers tings. Remembers da old chief, aye, and da chief before him, and the one before dat. Remembers da ancestors dat have gone into the earth, the knowings of the shamans before me. [b]The makings of tings from da shrooms and da herbs[/b]. When it is needed, I remind all youse childrens of dese tings."

When she opened her eyes again, they were once more playful as she picked her round nose with a pinky finger.

"Or, did da youngling just want all Yambagorn's gossip? Keh heh heh!" Again her laugh turned to a wheeze. "Since ya's too scared to go near da Warchief, did ya want to know about his raiding plans? Or how to replace his bodyguards and captains?" Her nose-picking was apparently quite productive, and she scraped the juicy result against the cave wall. "Or are ya wantin' to know where the strongest critters be, for hunting and feasting? Where da Orc's enemies are? [b]How to do magic?[/b]" She snorted through the same nostril she'd just cleared, and tapped her staff on the ground again. 

"Ask yer questions, Akeno. Yambagorn gives what answers she has."
[hr][hr]
[h2]South Caves[/h2]
[hr][@Kazemitsu][hr]
As Grunthor...refueled...the torch, the grunt who'd never been asked his name managed to sit down and use both feet to leg-press the spider's head enough to turn it. With a cracking sound he managed to loosen his knife from the thing's exoskeleton and stood up, still breathing hard. 

"I don't have enough MP left for anymore spells, but if it's another spider we can't turn our backs and run---the webs'll get us." He turned towards Grunthor, who now held the renewed torch aloft. "We shou---Whoa, man, nice." He whistled through the side of his mouth while raising one hand. "I like ya cut, G--"

Before any slappage could take place, something in the darkness beyond the orc's corpse hissed. The torch's light had indeed revealed something.

[hider=Anthog][img]https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/059/952/722/large/lyh_et-b1a-2048.jpg?1677513211[/img][/hider]

Its body was perhaps six feet in height from tarsus-tip to the end of its antennae, but from the antennae to the tip of the stinger was probably eight feet in length. Its outer mandibles were wide enough to close down on either side of an adult Orc's head, and its long arms had reach equal to its own height yet folded in three joints. The creature recoiled from the light, sank one of its scythe-like forearms into the dead orc's legs, and started to drag the body back into the darkness...
[hr][hr]
[h2]Deep Forest[/h2]
[hr][@ReusableSword][hr]
Even before Agar whistled, his movement into the open space caused the wolf-like creature to suddenly go still, just as it was tearing a piece from the Tatzelwurm with its teeth. It turned towards him as the shrill sound broke the forest's silence, and growled as it exposed its bloodied fangs.

Staring intently at a wolf was indeed a form of challenge, but given the distance between them and the fact that Agar had announced his presence, it seemed that at the moment both of them were willing to let the stalemate lie. Still holding onto its kill, the other creature slowly began moving to one side, keeping its body low and its eyes on Agar...

When he pitched the Harpy meat over the grass, the wolf jumped back with another growl. But then its nose twitched, and its movement halted. For several moments...nothing.

Then the creature took an easy step towards the meat. Its body was still oriented in the other direction---if Agar made any sudden moves, it would most certainly bolt. But, if the orcling did nothing...closer and closer it came. Keeping its eyes on him, it would lower its head closer to the meat...then, in a blink, it let go of the Tatzelwurm and snapped up one piece of the grilled Harpy. Like a starving dog it tore at the meat, barely chewing before swallowing.

But it only ate what it could tear off in a single bite, then grabbed its kill and backed away again while giving off a low rumbling sound in its throat---not quite an open growl, but a warning nonetheless. It backed into the brush, trying to hide itself despite its coat's mismatched coloration...but seemed almost reluctant to leave...