The Road from Whitefall to Revalia (Closed for Emstar303)

[Nouh_Bdee]

The mage’s Tower in Whitefall was quiet in the early hours of the morning, and the library was especially so. It was a place for study and reflection, and the few mages who could ever be found among its shelves before dawn were individuals who valued the quiet pursuit of knowledge. This particular morning, Binhagan Blackstone was the only such mage there. At least, he was the only one there until Master Ekron threw open the door, shouting for him and completely ruining the peaceful solitude he’d found.

“Binn! Binn!”

As much as Binn was annoyed by Master Ekron’s always boisterous nature, as the youngest and lowest-ranking mage in the Tower, he held his tongue. It wouldn’t do to create trouble for himself. He scooted back in his chair before standing, softly closing the copy of The Effects of Various Focusing Gems on Conjuration Spells that he’d been reading. He stood up, the sleeves of his loose, deep blue robes falling from his bony elbows to his slender wrists. With his rather low opinion of the older mage, Binn had a hard time not looking down on the man figuratively just as much as the gawky young man looked down at the dwarf physically.

“What is it, Master Ekron?”

The squat, bearded man rubbed his hands together nervously. “Well, Binn, you, see, I...um,”

The caramel-skinned Binhagan raised his eyebrows, wishing he could just ask him to hurry without being rude.

“I may have volunteered you.”

A new voice came from the doorway. “You were going to have to go, anyway, Binhagan.”

Binn looked over to see Master Idelis standing there with an apologetic smile on her face. “This is just much more rushed than we would’ve preferred.”

Master Ekron looked up at the tall, graceful woman sheepishly. “My apologies again, Idelis… I didn’t consider how it might disrupt your plans.”

Master Idelis raised her slender, dark-skinned hand. “We’ll continue our discussion once the young man is on his way, Ekron.”

The rotund old dwarf just nodded at the regal dark elf, who then turned to Binn. “Young mister Blackstone, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I have been conducting research into the lost artifacts of the Ben’lari. I believe I have located one of their staffs, a powerful relic that I’ve been planning an expedition to retrieve.”

Master Ekron blushed, eyes downcast, as Master Idelis continued. “Last night the King became aware of my plans, and he agrees with my assessment about the necessity of retrieving this artifact. Unfortunately, he disagrees with my timetable.” The dark elf sighed, heavily. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to send you, Binhagan. I argued with him more than I felt comfortable, and the conversation got quite out of hand, and now you’re traveling with one of his knights.” She paused, a sympathetic look on her face. “I’m sorry, Binn. You’re one of the only young, fit mages we have, and the only one who could make this journey right now.”

Binhagan was torn. Exploring the world was something he wanted to do, but he didn’t feel ready. He also didn’t want to be saddled with a knight for who knows how long. Binn preferred to work and travel alone.

“Master Idelis, where is the staff?”

The elf woman winced. “A group of ruins that I believe to be in Revalia.”

“Revalia!?” Binn’s dark brown eyes were wide with shock. Revalia was on the other end of the continent. It could be years before he returned to Whitefall. He ran his slender fingers through his dark, curly hair.

“I know, Binn, I’m sorry. You can understand why I wanted to prepare more.”

Master Ekron had disappeared while they were talking, slinking out of the library unnoticed.

Master Idelis put a hand on his shoulder. “Let me go over all my research with you, and then you’re to meet the knight at the gatehouse in the morning.

Resigned to his fate, Binhagan nodded, sitting back down in his chair. He hoped the knight was pleasant company and a competent traveler.

The night passed quickly, despite Binhagan’s nerves. The morning was mostly the same routine as every day, other than packing some field gear. Binhagan planned to travel light. So, it was just after breakfast when he walked toward the gatehouse...

 

[Emstar303]

Gara Marbong was an orc woman in the prime of life. She was strong and beautiful, could be as fearsome as a storm and as dazzling as the sky after it, well, by orc standards. Her breasts were average for an orc, but to the human men her tits were huge. Luckily, most of those human men were too intimidated by her size to harass her… and those who were stupid enough to do so quickly came to regret it! An orc of her age would have bore many babies by now back home. Had she stayed with her tribe, she likely would have as well.

The orcs were a proud people, but had never settled very large kingdoms due to in-fighting, resulting in numerous tribes spread throughout the region. Gara belonged, well, had belonged to one such tribe. Once you left you could visit, but you were no longer considered a member of the tribe. Most who left the tribe didn’t return often, for the resentment from their past tribe mates often turned to anger.

Her people lived in the mountains, off the hardy trail one had to take to get across the continent. They traded with travelers on pilgrimage up the mountain, but sometimes, and she was not proud of this, she’d participated in raids on travelers and adventurers alike in her teenage years. They’d never killed anyone, intentionally, that is, but merely stole their goods. She’d stopped that after a while though, but still felt guilty anytime she realized she was benefiting from something her brethren had stolen. Most of the orcs told her she shouldn’t feel sympathy for the humans and other smaller races (which just so happened to be most of them), but she could not shake the guilt, for over time she watched how they interacted and grew more and more curious about the gentler, soft and squishy races.

So one day she set out to the nearest Kingdom and had been there ever since. She’d started doing odd jobs at first, tracking down criminals on wanted posters and killing rats in grandmas’ cellars. But eventually she found a job that wasn’t just pest control. While at the local tavern searching for her next job, she found a tiny human woman being harassed by a group of human men. Even in the human world, with their social graces and snide smiles, there was barbarity. Gara would not stand for it. She protected the young maiden. Later, she would learn that the girl she saved was actually the King’s daughter. He hired her on as the princess’s personal knight, and she’d been working for the man ever since. But now that the Princess was married and living in an adjacent kingdom, he had her running more odd jobs like searching for artifacts in nearby rins. He was an eccentric and odd man, but he paid well.

Work for King Merric was consistent and not shady, and it took her to many different places. This particular request of the King would take her the farthest of all! He insisted she had to escort some human mage on a trek across the whole damn continent, to receive some staff of which he would not tell her why it was so special. She was used to escort missions, but never ones that could potentially last months or years. She hoped this person was at the very least tolerable.

She waited for the mage by the gatehouse, sure he would show up soon.

Gara had packed light, assuming the mage tower would have prepared the mage with everything they needed.Gara knew nothing about this person she was supposed to protect! But the king said he needed someone he could trust, and apparently that was her, an orc who’d abandoned her tribe.

When he finally arrived she looked the man up and down. He was of a dark tan complexion, like a warm caramel. “You must be the scrawny mage I’m supposed to protect,” she said. It was not said with any hostility. She was merely stating a fact. He was a scrawny mage after all, and she was sent to protect him. No matter how long Gara lived among the humans, she still hadn’t adopted their pleasant, oft time fake way of speaking. The orcish language was short and simple. Why say many words when you could say less to convey the same point? Because the orc language was so abrupt, Gara often said untactful things, but she had worked hard to speak even this well! She looked the human up and down. He didn’t seem to have much. She knew humans were weak, but surely he could carry more than that?

“Is that all you’re bringing?” Gara asked. She herself had a large backpack strapped to her, with a sleeping bag rolled up on top of it. She was equipped with an axe and adragon scale shield all knights of King Merric wore.

 

[Nouh_Bdee]

Binn saw the knight standing by the gatehouse, facing away, long dark hair falling down an armored back. Hair that long was unfashionable on men, but not so much that it occurred to Binn that Gara was a woman, especially given that she was nearly as tall as he was. It wasn’t until he got close and she turned around that he was struck by both her sex and her race. An orc! The Kingdom had very few orcs living in it, and he’d never seen one in person, only in sketches in the library.

His eyes were wide, his feet frozen to the spot. The size of members of the orc race had not been exaggerated. While he was slightly taller, he was skin and bones compared to this muscular woman. Her neck and arms were each as big around as his thighs! Three of him could’ve fit into her traveling clothes, with room to spare! And her chestpiece was clearly a custom work, sticking out much further forward than what the male knights wore, certainly to account for–

Don’t visualize her breasts. Don’t visualize her breasts.

Wait, what had she said? Something about his pack?

“Er…” He frown-smiled sheepishly. He’d assumed that the knight would have gear for both of them. At least a tent and whatever they would need for food. “I wasn’t aware of what I would need to provide, beyond of course my sleeping bag and a change of traveling clothes. Oh! And a canteen. Should I have packed…umm…” He couldn’t even think what else they needed. He brought a few books for taking down any observations on the Ben’lari ruins in Revalia, but he doubted that was what the knight was referring to. A tent? He didn’t have one to bring. He had a bit of spending coin if there was something they needed.

“I apologize. I…is there anything you would recommend I purchase for us?” He jerked his thumb back toward the market stalls lining the courtyard. “I could run back?” He shook his head, suddenly realizing he’d forgotten his manners in the shock of meeting the knight.

He held his hand out. “Oh, I’m Binhagan Blackstone, by the way. Feel free to call me Binn.”