Cyclone

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

It took me a year, but I did it. Timeline restrictions be damned, I finally got around to writing that Realta attack on Vetros. Hopefully in time for @Kho to have something to go by for Yara's perspective on it

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Prince Heru
Scion of the Firewind, Eran Ambaragbed, Grand General of Vetros
Heir to the Sands beneath the Stars

&

His brother,

Y'Qar
Scion of Vetros, Exile, Wanderer

Year of the Realta

The desert sands beneath their feet had long since given way to rocky soil, but the sands' familiar burning had not left them. It had merely taken residence in every sinew of their muscles, and still they pressed on. Their charge was sacred and the fate of the kingdom and the Holy Land rested depended on what they did now. The King's Law was gone, and Prince Heru would stop at nothing to reclaim it even if that meant trekking to the very edge of Galbar.

Here, they were surely coming close to that edge. The flatlands were giving way to rolling hillocks and rocky craglands, and life here was limited to whatever shrubs stubbornly grew from rocks. They had followed the Mahd upriver until it gave way to a thousand forks, then followed one of the smaller streams until it too gave way to tributaries. The muddy creek that they followed had little more than gravel on the bleak banks astride it. If the water was not fit for even plants to drink, then Heru and his men knew better than to drink from it either, no matter how parched their throats.

"Master, I pray to you and all your djinn for salvation."

"My prince," panted his cousin and bodyguard Dorias, as if he had heard Heru's hoarse and half-silent prayer, "Here, the last of the water we brought."

The man handed him a bronze helmet turned upside down, filled with perhaps a single gulp of water. Heru saw his wretched reflection in the metal's sheen as he looked longingly at the water. But then he raised his vision to his men and looked upon their weary faces. There was a splash as the water was poured out onto the ground. "We walk, fight, and suffer as one. For my father, the Priest-King! For the Master and Vetros!"

There was a cheer, and with renewed morale and vigor they marched on. Another day passed and by now desperation began to overpower reason. They stooped down to drink from the creek, but the muddy water refused to enter their mouths or be cupped by their hands. Despite prayer and righteous cause, the faceless, unseen djinn of the creek condemned them to die.

Yet Zephyrion was merciful, and by his grace a Stormlord passed overhead that night. They opened their mouths greedily and felt heavy raindrops sweet as honey fall upon their dried tongues.

Early in the next morning, they saw the silhouette of a lone building rising on the horizon. Heru knew that this is where he needed to go; the Golden Djinni had told him as much when it had appeared, though it spoke in tongues. The Prince knew also that he would find his brother at that temple, if the coward had not fled. Even now Y'Qar probably knew of their impending arrival, for Heru and his party had done nothing to anger the creek's djinn and yet they had been spurned; the only explanation was that Y'Qar had whispered poison into the spiryts' ears in hopes of hindering their journey.

The thought made Heru's blood boil. His brother had been showered with kindness and wealth, and yet his envy and selfishness were so great that he had spat upon it all and left. He would spurn family, abandon country, and defy God simply so that he could leave and be a king of the dirt out here rather than settle for being the prince of the Holy Land, second only to God and his own brother. Even so, some part of Heru had still longed for his brother's return; that was, until he had stolen the King's Law. Now Y'Qar was nothing.

---

The morning's breeze rustled the exile's long hair. Between his waving dark locks, an eddy danced and whispered, 'Your brother is not far from here, now.'

Y'Qar clenched his jaw and balled his fists. He had hoped that the local djinn would be able to impede Heru progress such that he would turn around long before coming here to make a fool of himself. But Heru had never been anything but persistent, and the King's Law had a way of exposing the greed in men and the jealousy in family.

"Then I must stand before him. How I had hoped and prayed that it would not come to this."

He turned back to one of his disciples. "Have everyone inside the temple's walls, for I know not what my brother and his men would do to them. I will meet with Heru outside the gate."

The robed man hurried off at once. Y'Qar gazed to the horizon and saw a few lonely shadows in the golden morning's sun. They were small figures, following the stream below. It would be perhaps two hours before they trekked up the hill and were upon the small temple at the end of the world.

Y'Qar sat upon the rocky soil and meditated.

---

From the river gully below, it was a slow trek up a winding dirt path. At the end was a small stone complex, placed strategically atop the highest hill in the area such that one could look down and witness all approaches. Fittingly, it was reminiscent of a crow's nest.

Though it felt like an eternity for the men as they climbed upwards and steeled their resolve, eventually that afternoon they crested the hill. Beyond that was only a short path, and at its end was a lone man sitting before the temple's great door. Upon his lap was a staff that shone with the glory of a thousand jewels and suns. It was Y'Qar and his stolen prize.

"Though you have followed me to the end of the world and I would trade your companionship for nothing, you must stand back. As he is alone, I face him alone; for I know not what my brother and his men would do to you."

There was a soft murmur of agreement; the very sight of the King's Law plunged icy daggers of fear into the mens' hearts, for they knew of its power. Only one of the purest soul and royal bloodline was exempt from the staff's sacred magic, so only Heru dared face his brother who wielded the scepter.

Their swords already drawn, they advanced forwards with Heru a good ways ahead of his fellows. Y'Qar remained stoic as a statue, eyes closed and as peaceful as death. In contrast, from the windows of the temple their peered timid faces.

Only when Heru was a mere ten yards away did Y'Qar rise.

"Y'Qar, I-"

"Brother, you have come to here to the last hearth, the end of civilization and the edge of the world. There can be only one reason that would drive you this far, so I know your purpose. How I had hoped and prayed that this journey would be too arduous for you."

"No suffering is too great if it is taken in the name of god, kingdom, family, and duty. My cause is righteous! You should have known that there was no place far enough to escape from your crime."

Y'Qar softly laughed.

"You still think yourself just when the King's Law chose me? It flew all this way to me, of its own volition, so there can be no doubt of its choice. You think yourself wiser or more fit to judge than this staff and the Master? You think yourself righteous when you go to the end of the world to steal from your own brother? I prayed that you would never come not because I feared you, but because I know you too well. I knew that you wou-"

"Enough! You a blasphemous thief that wielded black magic against your father's kingdom in some ill attempt to seize power, and here with the Master to witness, you dare preach to be in the right. How could you be the one that the staff chose? You, who has never known anything but envy and contempt, who abandoned his own people, and who would cower in the wilds with the King's Law whilst Vetros is left exposed to the vultures and barbarians?

By the order of mine father the Priest-King and the sacred charge of God, I demand thee surrender the King's Law!"

A soft scowl crept onto Y'Qar's face. The hatred in Heru's eyes, too, was echoed. "Never," he whispered.

With a roar, Heru charged forward with a scimitar in each hand.

"Winds!" Y'Qar pointed forward, and at his command unseen windjinn surged forwards and created a gale the likes of which were seen in only the most horrific of hurricanes. It slammed into Heru, breaking charge in an instant and sending him tumbling backwards. But he drove his curved blades into the ground, and gripping them to stabilize himself, he rose to his feet and slowly pressed forward even in the face of that mighty wind.

Y'Qar watched his brother struggle forward, exhausted step by step, for a long minute. When he had made it nearly back to where he had been at first, Y'Qar threw a hand forward and battered his brother back onto the ground with another gust of wind. The gales then finally died down, the windjinn having exhausted their strength.

Heru still had not given up. Ragged and covered in dirt from having been thrown to the ground, he nonetheless charged forward with fury in his eyes.

This time Heru called upon water. From an aquifer far below the parched soil, water emerged and near instantly turned the dirt path beneath Heru's feet into a pool of mud. Submerged down to his waist, Heru nonetheless kept on, half trudging and half swimming. Y'Qar commanded the water back to the depths and left his brother suddenly stuck in hardened dirt from the ribs down.

He then walked towards his trapped brother.

"Are you blind to the truth, or just in denial? Do you not see how your efforts are in vain? You may have been better than me, once upon a time, but you will never surpass me now! You are the finest swordsman in the Firewind, but that means nothing here! When will you give up, brother?"

Y'Qar was now so close that Heru was quite literally in his brother's shadow. With a howl, Heru broke one of his arms free from the dried earth and swung at his brother's waist. With a start, Y'Qar blocked the wild swing with the King's Law; the bronze scimitar bent when it struck the golden scepter, but the King's Law was not even scratched.

Overcome by a second wind brought forth by anger, Heru scrambled halfway out of his earthen prison and used swiped again at Y'Qar, this time aiming for the ankles. The exile jumped back in time to avoid the attack, and before Heru could fully break free he called upon the power of earth.

A great hand of stone erupted from the ground and closed around Heru's torso, holding his triumphantly three yards above the ground. The prince flailed helplessly, utter trapped in that grip of stone; each finger of the mighty hand was as wide as one of his arms.

At that point, some of Heru's more fiery bodyguards ignored their prince's earlier command and charged forward to their prince's aid. "No!" Dorias shouted as he grabbed at one and pulled him back, but for the others it was too late.

Y'Qar's eyes shot to the swordsmen charging forwards. "You dare bear those arms against me here? You take up weapon against your rightful prince and the one chosen by the staff?!"

They ignored his enraged shouting and run forwards, almost upon him.

"BY THE POWER OF THE KING'S LAW, I CLAIM ALL YOUR LIVES."

A rain of blood droplets fell upon Heru, even as he was suspended ten feet in the air. He twisted his neck to look back, then recoiled in horror and fear; Y'Qar had merely raised the King's Law and in an instant six great spikes of stone had erupted from the ground and impaled the six soldiers that had come forwards. They had all died in the time that it would have taken to blink.

"Yes, look at them, brother," Y'Qar whispered. "Look at what you have done! They were good men, our countrymen! They had families and they had lives, and look at them now. You brought them here to their deaths. They died because of your greed, your envy, and your hatred. You killed them all."

Heru looked back to his brother. "No, you mad fool...you killed them. You are no brother of mine! You're nothing!"

"And you're no kin of mine either! So if I am nothing, what does make you, you helpless, useless, wretched fool? You, who would bear sword against your own brother even as he tries to spare your life and turn you away? Perhaps it is best if I strike you down now; Vetros deserves better than your ilk!"

Seizing upon the distraction, Dorias had crept forward. In Y'Qar's ultimate moment of vulnerability, Heru's cousin and best warrior made his move. He threw a bronze dagger that whistled through the air as it spun, and as Y'Qar turned to face the sound it buried itself into his abdomen. He clutched his bleeding stomach and fell to the ground heaving.

The great hand of stone that held Heru in its grasp suddenly became nought but sand and gravel. The prince fell back to ground with some semblance of dignity, landing upon his feet mostly intact. But he was already wounded and battered enough.

Sensing Heru's fatigue, it was Dorias who stepped forward to claim what they had come for. "And you too, cousin?" the other prince choked. Dorias spat down beside the one who had slain six of his men, then wrenched the King's Law from Y'Qar's weakened grasp. "No! No...!" the prince tried to yell, but his lungs lacked the strength and his words devolved into coughs of blood.

Dragging Heru to his feet, with one hand Dorias carried his prince and in the other he held the King's Law. Without a moment of further hesitation, they all fled back to the lands from which they had come.

As in for Y'Qar, from the moment that he fell all chaos was unleashed. The djinn bound to him and his disciples alike panicked and flocked to him, trying to save his life. It was many days before his peoples' bandages and the healing waters of the local djinn saw him to a full recovery, but in that time he had little to do but brood. And brood he did: how he hated Heru and ruminated over every memory, swearing that he would have vengeance for each and every one of the countless slights (be they real or imagined!) inflicted by his brother's hand. And there would be vengeance against Dorias, too!

Y'Qar had been prepared for Heru, had known what to expect from his brother. But Dorias, his younger cousin, had never shown him anything but warmth. For what reason had his cousin betrayed him? It mattered not, in the end; they were all nought but dust now. He was alone, or soon enough would be, for all of his kindred died in his heart that day.

---

They ran all the way back to the desert, fearing vengeance at the hands of Y'Qar's followers or the djinn that he commanded. But no such retribution ever came; Zephyrion's protective hand was over them. That was how they knew that they had been right.

Still, with every fleet footstep an increasingly exhausted Heru dreaded his arrival back in Vetros. They would expect a triumphant parade of some sort, no doubt. But this had barely been a victory; he had lost his brother. Or perhaps Y'Qar that he knew had died long ago. Either way, he prayed that there would be no parade, that he would be able to return quietly and mourn with his father in peace.

But unfortunately, his prayer was answered. As they neared Vetros, there were embers and smoke upon the wind that boded horribly; for though the desert was called the Firewind, its burning winds were always pure and never tainted by any smell like smoke.

He feared for the worst; perhaps in the mere weeks that they had been gone, a great host of Horse People had amassed in the steppes and stormed through the hinterlands to sack Vetros. But what terrible times were these? Never had the heretic Rukbans been so bold before!

It turned out that that there was something worse than the worst. There were no Rukbans to be seen in the streets or around the city; only screaming and fleeing Vetruvians, some of whom were aflame. Ashes choked the Mahd river, for the shipyard was burning with a particularly intense fury as the epicenter of the sky's fiery wrath. In the center of the city the Great Temple that was also the Royal Palace had caught aflame.

They were under attack from some unseen assailants in the sky, great gleaming winged figures that called down the fury of the sun. At first Heru was overcome by despair, thinking that this was the scourge of god, that perhaps Y'Qar had been right and this was a punishment sent by the Master himself. But then a strange thought entered his mind: none of the holy texts were djinn of that sort mentioned. These were demons, the vile spawn of Y'Vahn or some other monstrosity. The King's Law would punish them!

Heru was called a prince but in heart was only a man, a simple warrior. In truth, he had never been been possessed of any particular affinity for theology despite the attempts of his father and many priests; he could not remember all the stories of arcane history and the names of all the thousands of spiryts and various lesser gods, and his prayers were rarely answered, and even more rarely in the way that he had hoped them to be. So he knew not how to wield the King's Law, nor fully understood just what power he wielded against his enemies now. But he hurled all of it at them all the same.

He lifted the scepter and commanded the desert sands to strike down the unholy invaders.

The sands answered, and in the distance there was suddenly a sandstorm so mighty that it blocked the sun. It approached the city.

When the Realta witnessed divine retribution approaching with the speed of the wind, they turned their backs to it and began to flee the other way, towards the poisoned Mahd. Heru called upon the power of the djinn to smite the fleeing demons before they could escape justice.

He had expected a great djinni lord and his army to come forth as a righteous gale. But instead, over the horizon there loomed a grand palace of white built atop a field of clouds. The Master himself had come!

From the top of the Celestial Citadel there was a great storm the size of a village, with two crackling eyes of lightning. Heru beheld that sight, even from miles away, and finally understood what Primus had felt when he faced the Master. The Master himself raised a great hand and hurled a javelin of lightning. It raced from the horizon, covering miles in an instant even as it coiled and forked, and struck one of the Realta square in the chest. The raw power shattered the demon and sent its molten pieces raining down.

And then the Master hurled another lightning bolt. And another. And even as he raised his hands to smite those that dared assault his chosen people, the djinn flew through the air. They were legion. The Realta stood no chance against so many djinni lords, and in the heavens above there was a glorious massacre. Heru looked up and witnessed an entire patch of the sky tremble and oscillate as if it were a desert mirage, and then his eyes discerned the sound of a thousand thunderous booms. It was the great djinni lord of thunder, Mamoor!

He watched as Mamoor raced across the sky, his mere touch blasting apart the demons disintegrating their pieces into sand. By the time that the sandstorm neared the city, the Realta were all but destroyed; the sands engulfed the last few stragglers, and then the storm settled and died before so much as touching the city itself. With his people, who still streamed out of the burning city, Heru fell to the ground and wept.

The stormlords above wept too, once the short-lived battle was over, and their rain extinguished the flames and washed away the ash. The Celestial Citadel was born away upon the wind, off to deal with some sort of crystalline menace according to the diviners and priests.

Heru and the Vetruvians were left with their ruined city. When they found Akthanos' body, they wept once again. But then they crowned Heru as the new Priest-King, and under his rule they rebuilt. With time, their pride and their resolve came back as well.

Brotherly Love

Recap since this plotline is picking up from posts that were literally about a year ago:

Characters & the King's Law

The King's Law is a sacred staff that is the symbol of the Vetruvian Priest-King's power. It's a 10MP artifact created by Zephyrion that ranks up there as one of the most powerful on Galbar. It is a conscious object and refuses to be touched by one without the blood of the prophet Primus, grants its wielder the ability to summon and communicate with even the most powerful of djinn, and holds great power over the very Firewind Desert and Mahd River.

Akthanos is the current Priest-King of Vetros. His elder son Heru is general and heir, but his younger one Y'Qar is in self-imposed exile because he hated primogeniture and always being second to his brother. Y'Qar notably became the first and most powerful human shaman, having been taught the art by Vizier Ventus himself. He found some happiness and purpose in teaching shamanism to others, although most of his original friends ended up leaving his following after he taught them and he's still somewhat bitter about that. But he has a new crowd that he hangs with now, composed mostly out of loyal disciples rather than "friends".

---

Plot Recap

Shortly before the Realta attack on Vetros, Akthanos went to speak to Yara. While he was in her temple, he fell down because he's literally like 100 years old. He was hurt and blacked out, but not before willing the King's Law to leave and go to "his son" lest it fall into Yara's hands. The scepter transforms into a bird and flies away, apparently to Y'Qar instead of Heru as Akthanos had intended. Yara isn't an evil witch like Akthanos suspected so she heals him; nonetheless, when Akthanos realizes the King's Law is missing, he freaks out and sends Heru to go find it.

Heru goes north in search of Y'Qar. Y'Qar has established himself in the hilly, uncharted wilderness just south of the Venomweald. Out there he has a temple/school complex built by some loyal disciples that decided to follow him as a prophet after seeing him perform acts of shamanistic magic.

---

Summary of this post

Begins with Heru and his guys having a rough time on their journey. There is a vague reference to Aihtiraq having appeared to Heru, telling him where he'd find Y'Qar and then saying a bunch of other nonsense before departing.

But anyways, the local djinn are opposing Heru and Co. at Y'Qar's behest. They're hiking through a wilderness where the streams themselves refuse to let their waters be drank and the wind is never at their backs.

But Heru is stubborn as hell and leads his men to Y'Qar's temple. Y'Qar chooses to come out and face his brother rather than just send out a bunch of disciples or angry elementals.

Heru asks for the King's Law and Y'Qar says no. After all, it just randomly flew all the way to HIM, so surely it chose HIM. He was always more deserving than his older brother anyways.

Heru is really pissed because clearly Y'Qar is a practitioner of black magic, a blasphemer, and now a lying thief that would leave all of Vetros at risk.

Fighting words go down, they both disown one another, and violence breaks out.

At first it's one on one, but when things go badly for Heru several of his men try to intervene. Y'Qar barely even knows how to wield the King's Law, but still uses it to effortlessly conjure spikes of stone to erupt from the ground and brutally impale those who stepped forward.

Y'Qar is shown to have already become quite a dangerous adversary in his own right, although he's still using restraint against his brother. Heru isn't.

Y'Qar ends up pretty easily defeating Heru because even his shamanistic magic is more potent than a scimitar. The stubborn prince Heru can't see how outmatched he is and refuses to surrender. The thought of killing him starts to actually cross Y'Qar's mind, but in that moment of distraction he's taken by surprise. Dorias, one of the men with Heru, throws a knife and it buries itself into Y'Qar. He falls to the ground seemingly mortally wounded because he doesn't do anything to resist when Dorias snatches up the King's Law (he can touch it, as Heru's cousin and therefore one of the royal bloodline) and passes it to Heru. Heru and Co. book it out of there while Y'Qar's disciples drag him away and tend to him and his djinni minions panic.

Y'Qar curses his kin and swears to one day have his vengeance.

By the time Heru has hurried back to Vetros, the Mahd is choking with ash and the Realta are razing everything. The shipyard and docks are burning with particular intensity, presumably because the Realta sensed Heartworm's involvement there in influencing Vetruvian shipbuilders.

Heru invokes the power of the King's Law to summon a gigantic sandstorm to knock down the Realta. Then he summons a horde of djinn. The Celestial Citadel itself appears over Vetros, and the Zephyrean Skywatch and Vizier Ventus (who gets mistaken for Zephyrion himself) fend off the Realta and then go to deal with the local outbreaks of Acayla crystal.

Akthanos had fallen, because without the King's Law he was just an old man helpless to do anything against the attackers. Heru is therefore crowned Priest-King pretty quickly. He spends the next years using his power to help rebuild the city and strengthen his people's resolve.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Meanwhile, in wherever the fuck I am r/n...

I GOT A NOVEL

FUCK YEA

@Antarctic Termite

o sht what is it about? is it safe to read?

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Ah, exams. That could do it.

@BBeast

Yeah I was hiking out in the Discord National Forest and found Kho in his cabin. Bears haven't found him yet. He said not to worry ;p

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Kho seems like a much better student than I am. This is final exam season for most of us, so my instinct is that Kho just retreated out into the woods for a massive study marathon. And that he had to do it cold turkey, otherwise we'd pull him back in with all the memes and distract him.

Of course, this theory about Kho retreating into the woods doesn't preclude the ever real possibility of him having been eaten by a bear.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

What queer times are these when my friends list says dear Kho has vanished for nigh two weeks and a wild Hael was detected recently

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Aihtiraq? A wanderer just looking for interaction?

How dare you. He's a benevolent, quasi-omniscient god that just so happens to prioritize fulfilling the foolish wishes of seemingly random individuals over actually helping civilization as a whole.

But yes, I'm down for Tira to encounter him.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Cyclone Do Zephyrion's wiki page.

@BBeast

*wipes dirt off hands*

Now that there's a half-assed, half-complete wiki article that explains nothing about Xos or Aihtiraq, it's time for more posts with Xos and Aihtiraq.

Does anybody want to mess around with Aihtiraq? It's been a while since someone called on the Djinni Lord of Sugar Daddies and these days I've got piles of Might to spend.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Do any of you all have a preference for Xos stuff, ogre stuff, Vetros stuff, random djinni stuff, or me actually writing wiki articles for the aforementioned things?

So many miscellaneous ideas for posts are flying through my head :$

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

The Jungle's King

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.

One barely-lit wall even had a crude map.

Hider

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.

Ommok. 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, "Speak."

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."

"East? Away from the fertile grasslands ripe for picking, into the savage and worthless mountains?"

"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. "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?"

"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.

"I have not been idle in these past moons," 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.

"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."

"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?"

"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."

"A show of power?"

"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."

"A fine plan," Dargok admitted. "Shall I begin making the preparations for your escort?"

"That is already done," the king answered. "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."

---

The Venomweald Expedition
As recorded by Dargok
Written in simplistic ogre cuneiform using charcoal and ochre, upon a series of cumbersome stone tablets

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.

Pretty sure we lost.

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.

They still fighting and we worried if Ommok gonna win.

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.

---

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.

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 his appearance in the collab with the ogres fighting urtelem.

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.