Conscripts

Avalia

Time: One Week After Human Arrival
Location: Seaside Park
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Vasco @JJ Doe
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

From that point on, Barrock was on autopilot. He was acting completely on instinct, wherever Kelvara was, he followed, and destruction behind him. The unrelenting aggression, complete lack of regards for his own well-being. It ironically yielded better results than when he was calm. The tsunami of rage had worn Kelvara down and forced her to fight on his term rather than hers. It was only a matter of time until something in her breaks.

It did come, though crafty as ever, the dark elf managed to minimize the damage. But she still broke, kneeling in front of him.

Various visions crossed his minds of what Barrock was about to do to her, as he gripped his sword tighter. But alas, it was not meant to be. She was bailed out in the most cowardly of trickery. By the time he swung his sword, she was gone. Just like that, his hard-earned kill slipped from his finger.

His anger meter continued to rise as it slowly dawned on Barrock of that fact. He continued swinging wildly at his surrounding, obliterating several barrels and boxes in an instant, without regards for friends or foes. It took a good minute until calm tides came back, and he accepted reality laughing at his face at his failure.

The orc took out his remaining anger with gritted teeth, and a crushed wooden pole.

Avalia

Time: One Week After Human Arrival
Location: Seaside Park
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Vasco @JJ Doe
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

The feint didn't work, and Barrock's work against Grimjaw was not as effective as he had hoped. Now he would pay for both of that. Now they inched closer to a different kind of monster.

When his hands and legs were bent and widened, a familiar feeling returned with a vengeance. The feeling of helplessness, when a thousand chains held him on his knees until his bones grew weary, and along with it: Anger. And as he looked Kelvara in the eyes, that arrogant look of hers, it only reinforced that innate desire every orc had inside.

He wanted them to feel pain. It didn't matter the wounds.

The veins popped in all four limbs and on his head. The other orc would begin to feel a loss of control, as Barrock began to overpower him. Try as he may, Dugmahord orcs were the physically strongest of all orcs, and he only needed one limb to break free. His left arm did, and he soon had enough just enough control to divert death onto his armor. Kelvara's blade only managed to cut a bit of his neck. Just a flesh wound for any orc.

Barrock swung with his freed arm to get Kelvara away from him, then turned his attention to Grimjaw. That orc had lived too long, he will now die. Screaming.

Grimjaw's table was turned, as his arm was held tightly, then twisted to an impossible angle. Barrock would let the orc go, let him stumble ahead of him, before grabbing his head from above. Relinquished the moment Barrock plunged his sword into Grimjaw's back, as he moved it back and forth, letting the blade ravage his insides. And then, as if his merciful side resurfaced in the waves of utmost brutality, Barrock retracted his sword and, in one single swing, decapitated the orc alive. Without a command center, Grimjaw's body fell like a sack of rice.

Barrock could only saw blood in front of him, figuratively and literally.

"Come here!" He roared, as all his anger pointed at the dark elf.

Avalia

Time: One Week After Human Arrival
Location: Seaside Park
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Vasco @JJ Doe
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

When Barrock returned to his sword, the adrenaline was at a high. And so, he fell into the simple feint, resulting in a stab in the back of his leg by Kelvara, which led to the follow up by the orc. But luckily the orc hit on the same spot the warforged did earlier, which while still hurt, it wasn't nearly as devastating as slicing an open wound. In fact, it only flinched him slightly and forced a grunt out of Barrock.

This was fine for him. They inflicted wounds but not enough to stun him, which resulted in Barrock violently pushing Kelvara away, giving him some time to deal with Grimjaw. Thinking quickly, Barrock released his longsword, grabbed a nearby shortsword from a deceased fighter and engaged him. Grimjaw's response was seen by Barrock's slowed vision, and he proceeded to swat his attack away, and delivered a stab with the short sword to the back of the orc's knee, sinking deep into it. A very deliberate and precise motion to stagger his opponents for a little bit. Barrock didn't need them to die, he just needed some time while he dealt with Kelvara. This elf seemed to enjoy the danger and the difficult opponent, let's see how much she would enjoy it when all her teeth fall out.

With one more punch to knock the wounded orc over, Kelvara now had Barrock's full attention, with his longsword back in hand. Wasting no time, he lunged forward with an overhead downward swing. If she was paying attention, his left hand wasn't holding onto the hilt of the sword, only pretending to.

Avalia

Time: One Week After Human Arrival
Location: Seaside Park
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Vasco @JJ Doe
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

By its nature, every orc are able to inject an extra set of abilities rivaling that of magic of the elves directly into their veins, one while weaker in power, were completely innate. No need for any mana headaches. But orcs often squandered it as the urge to resist something as weak as a fly was way too hard to resist for many. Barrock was one of those stupid orcs. But he soon grew to appreciate such stupidity, and got to not understand why the orcs thought that was such a bad thing. As he was about to be reminded why.

As Barrock heard the dark elf readied themselves to attack (as if he wouldn't be listening), his movement slowed. The moment he heard the rumbling footsteps, his hand tightened on the grip. Within a fraction of a second, the sword was off its sheath. His vision slowed, he could already see the orc attacking him with his mace from his left, and the dark elf from behind, long before they made contact. Since they attacked at the same time, he couldn't be spending too much time brutalizing them and terrorizing others. He switched mode to being quick this time.

With his sword on his right hand, he swung his whole body to get the strongest thrust against Grimjaw. The long sword had longer reach, so slammed into the orc's armor, albeit without any notable damage. It only stopped the orc's attack for just a bit, which was enough for Barrock to turn his attention to Kelvara. Her blade aiming for his head was the most dangerous, so he spent the most effort on her. The slowed vision allowed him to weave the movement of his left arm guard so as to deflect the blade upward, while his sword swung sideways at her torso area. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be going down yet, as she ducked to avoid it.

However, he couldn't avoid the attack of the third, the warforged Steelchain. His metal fist slammed into his armor, sending a shockwave directly to his brain. It hurt quite a bit. His armor was even dented in a little. If this had been an elf, that could have been catastrophic.

It seemed like three competent enemies was his limit. And so one had to go.

While the warforged reeled from the attack, Barrock's left hand grabbed its arm and held it in place. His other arm let go of his sword and shot straight at its elbow joint. The two opposing motions overcame the material holding it together, breaking its elbow and leaving it dangling. The warforged could barely register pain when Barrock grabbed its head and, with his massive thumbs, brutally gorged its eyes. Warforged may be less resistant to pain and damage, but without an arm and vision, it was as good as out of the battle.

Now for the other two. Barrock reached for his sword again, continuing to be completely silent in combat.

Avalia

Time: One Week After Human Arrival
Location: Seaside Park
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Vasco @JJ Doe
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

Few found the courage to attack Barrock, and with each brave soul charging in only to have their skulls and chests caved in, it only dwindled. Soon, the creatures around him grew wiser and began to use numbers against him, avoiding his attempts to force a fight, running around the storehouse. And elsewhere, things weren't shaping up well. Barrock didn't notice Aurora being knocked out of action, but he definitely noticed Vasco, by the merit of more Black Maws suddenly showed up around Barrock. Trust him, he could count.

This was also the moment he got quiet. His internal grunting diluted away, the only sound he made were flesh against metal.

Orcs often viewed this avoidance behavior as cowardice, and would often lash out, and this was exactly what they wanted. Orcs were hunted and killed this way, like a bull in a cage. No, they would not have that satisfaction of torturing another orc like that. They were going to be tortured by him instead.

Barrock proceeded to sheathe his sword and turned toward Vasco, Aurora and Rowan. It was as if his enemies weren't there. But one hand of his still had a hand on the hilt.

The daring move had a touch of irony. The Black Maw goons were flabbergasted. Two took offense to being sleighted, and charged when Barrock's back was against them. The orc waited an extra second to tighten that jaw around their fates.

The world slowed around him, as the orc's rite of a fly swatter rolled into his senses - lensed his eyes, covered his ears, and enhanced his sixth. In less than a blink of an eye, Barrock's blade has left the sheath, and it found its flesh in a dark elf's hip, cutting straight into her spinal cord. The momentum carried the elf into a werewolf, who both slammed into a nearby cart.

Another dark elf stepped forward, likely because his mind still lived two seconds in the past. It was already too late. Barrock's sword slammed into his head. He fell to the ground in a pool of blood.

The rest recoiled in shock. They hesitated again, Barrock could see their hands shaking. He raised his sword up tauntingly before sheathing it back. What were they going to do about it?

Avalia

Time: One Week After Human Arrival
Location: Seaside Park
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Vasco @JJ Doe
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

Multiple clangs of steel, wood, and a myriad of other materials could be heard. No indication of the plan falling apart. Shouts of confusion and aggression made it seemed like it was going as expected. Barrock continued to wait vigilantly for around a minute, until a shout instantly heightened all his senses.

"Grab the elf!"

Barrock barely had time to consider if they were referring to Aurora or Rowan, because the next thing he heard were footsteps coming towards him. Right after that, the sound of the door unlocking, behind it, a very clueless fished-scaled creature.

Said clueless creature didn't even get the chance to see the orc, as his chest almost caved in from a force of a living battering ram. His body flew a significant distance back into the storehouse, alerting the other fighters to his arrival. Indeed, the die had been cast, landed unexpectedly, but he played with the numbers he got.

He could tell his presence really threw the temporary inhabitants into chaos. His menacing bloodshot eyes peering down from monstrous height got several nearby combatants stumbling in terror, whilst one who mustered the delusion to fight him was met with an instant disarm of his puny short sword and then a bash to the skull with its hilt. He ought to consider himself lucky Barrock didn't impale him with his own sword. That death would have been agonizing.

The target that managed a hit on Vasco were caught aback, and those planning to take Rowan away were also dazed. This was a chance for Vasco and Aurora to do something.

Avalia

Time: One Week After Human Arrival
Location: Seaside Park
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Vasco @JJ Doe
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

With all the time in the world, he chose to approach this fight like that. Oh well, whatever, what sophistication would Barrock expect out of this empty-headed buffoon?

"Do what you need to. Cover him or get Rowan." He instructed Aurora. "Shout if you need help."

The chaos Vasco would unleash on the storehouse would likely end up with him dead or the kidnappers being forced to flee. And if they possessed even a concept of a functioning brain, they wouldn't be relying on only one exit in case their little scheme here get busted. And if they possessed only that concept of a functioning brain, they would be using that back door. Which was why Barrock would end up on that side of the building, right after checking for any other exits out there. He really didn't want to screw up and be a laughing stock to that human bastard.

Other than self-assigning him, the limped orc, to coward-catchers, Barrock kept a close ear on what was going to transpire in that wooden storehouse. If Aurora gave the signal or any other signs that things weren't going well showed up, this storehouse is gonna go down in dusts.

Barrock quietly unsheathed his blade and stood in position. The die now is cast.

Avalia

Time: One Week After Human Arrival
Location: Seaside Park
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Vasco @JJ Doe
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

"You seem like the kind who'd enjoy fight and torture." Barrock returned the knife to Vasco with a thud of the blade's flat side on his palm. Whether Vasco believed this was an act of sarcastic and malicious compliance or just an orc being himself, it was down to him. "If he comes again, you'll have both."

By God, he would've sounded like a sociopath if he wasn't being so sarcastic. But whatever, he wasn't going to get worked up for this bastard.

Barrock looked back at Aurora for a second with watchful eyes, seeing if she had any signs of harm done to her by Vasco. She seemed okay, per usual looking up to him, but still shell-shocked from what he could tell. While expectations were certainly a bit too high for her to move on, Barrock was to some extent ticked off by her doormat behavior. He really wished she would stand up for herself more. Rowan wouldn't be around forever and all the time. Such a headache having to balance being compassionate and not spoiling her rotten like her brother did.

The three of them continued on. At certain junctions or landmarks, Barrock would point towards the direction they were supposed to go, even though he had to play catch up a lot of the times due to his limp. He did feel a bit like a leader in the absence of Rowan. It was still strange going from a man scrambling to live to a de facto leader of a dysfunctional rebel group. Not exactly a big jump but it was something.

He is a man with a cause now.

"Do not be hasty with your fun." Barrock warned Vasco as he noticed the storehouse's roof from the distance. "Plan our moves accordingly."

Avalia

Time: One Week After Human Arrival
Location: Seaside Park
Interactions: Aurora @mole, Vasco @JJ Doe
Mentions: None
Equipment: Longsword and Plate Armor

---

Barrock stood aside and watched the torture continued. He wasn't going to lie, the orc was quite surprised at the bastard's cold-bloodedness. Orcs his kind often torture and kill, but there was a certain crude barbarity to it; their victims often left in confusing messes. But Vasco was precise, calculated, a level of sadism not birthed out of impetuous passion. He really seemed to enjoy this. Barrock stood ready to intervene if he came close to killing the lizardman, but he didn't need to worry at all.

Once Zarnak spat out the location, Barrock took out the city map and reviewed the location. He then walked over, took the knife from Vasco and shove its handle into Zarnak's mouth. Then he hovered the map at his face level.

"Point." Barrock stated very tersely, and the lizardman complied. The knife pierced ever so slightly on the paper map.

The orc immediately grabbed the rest of his stuff, not that he set them down that long ago, but before that, he looked over the lizardman one last time. What exactly should he do with him? The easiest was just to kill him, but that would cross a line that could leave a permanent mark on all four. He was, after all, likely just a lowly thug employed for cheap. Didn't make him any less despicable but to slaughter him for this transgression reminded Barrock of a time he'd like to forget.

"Go, I will deal with him."

Aurora was definitely not going to ensure a proper 'disposal', and Vasco would likely just kill him. So he volunteered to play catch up, despite his mobility issues.

As soon as the two of them left, Barrock cut the ropes holding Zarnak in place. He lifted the battered, broken lizardman by his chest with one arm and pinned him against the wall. His blood-red eyes locked with Zarnak's like a stake impaling through a dead body.

"If I see you against us again, you will wander the underworld deaf mute and blind." He stated, never needing to raise his voice. The terror in his eyes spoke for itself.

Now it was time to save that elf.

🗡 Roses and Daggers 🎕

Time: Sola 28th Late Morning
Location: Edin Theatre
Interactions:
Mentions: Anastasia @princess, Kazumin @samreaper, Lorenzo @FunnyGuy

---

Laced inbetween the degenerate behavior from the Caesonian public and its head of state were not so bad performances. Kazumin's puppet show was clever. A typical tale of a woman's friendship with an inanimate object with a dark and sad twist. John wondered if it was something of a personal story to this otherwise goofy jokester he remembered. It was not a sad twist for the sake of a twist. It was handled well and beautifully, he found it hard to believe the dance of emotions were just pure inventiveness. But whatever the case was, he gave the man a clap. He deserved it. Hopefully the guy wouldn't get himself killed in the king's court.

He didn't know what to think about Lorenzo's performance. The Duke did put his heart into it, but it came off as a bit cheesy for John's taste. He tried to overlook it and find empathy, and the result was somewhat middling. Perhaps he was biased against Lorenzo due to his theatrics before the performance, or his nonsense John had to deal with the other day. John remained quiet like most of the crowd, simply choosing to blend into the background.

John suddenly felt an itch. A sixth sense, if he were to describe it. He glanced back and forth around the theatre to nothing unusual. Everyone was just enjoying the show in their own way. But he couldn't shake off that feeling that something bad might happen. He comforted himself with the fact that it wasn't the first time he felt this, and most of the times nothing happened. He hoped the only drama here would just be Anastasia's gripping cello performance.

Speaking of, John could felt her performance to the very bone. This wasn't just music. This was a story, told without a single spoken word, and it was a sad one. He could also feel his own story, his own feeling of loss and grief emerging from within, entangling with her own in a empathetic dance. They said last but not least, but this was certainly the most he felt in this event so far. It made all the trouble, the annoyances he had earlier in the day all worth it.

By the performance's end, John was among the applauders. Solemn just like everybody else, but one of the loudest.