Tower

Collect his thoughts, ha! Yeah, he is collecting his thoughts by throwing his friends onto me. The dasari, Impartis, or Imp as others call him, is a magic user and an insane one at that. The human, Adrian, is a warrior, I have actually taken a liking to his company, though he is mysterious in the sense that he avoids his past.

It all started shortly after my last entry, I was forcefully summoned into the Shadow World where, surprise surprise, my father greeted me and started making the demand that I assist my brother in his adventure. I took this opportunity to confirm with my father that there was no way to rid myself of this curse, since Grodak isn't the brightest and has been known to carry false information before. To my disappointment, he confirmed that there was no way I could rid myself of this curse… in retrospect, they did tell me as much when I first asked but I only heard what I wanted to hear.

Knowing that I am doomed to be the ancestral elders puppet for the remainder of my life, however long that will be, made me grieve. I could not control the overwhelming emotions that coursed through me and fell to the ground on my knees and almost begged my father to release me from this damn curse, but I did not. Not a single tear was shed, I'd be damned if I ever showed any emotions in front of that foolish old weak and pathetic goat.

I held what emotions I could back and the world began to toss and turn around me as I found myself kneeling in the sands as my mount that I rode ran off to Gods know where. I stayed kneeling in place for a long moment as I allowed my mind to process my emotions and slowly shut them down. If I will be cursed with life, then I need to put it to good use.

I stood up and began to make my way back to Whitewater. About halfway there, Imp and Adrian passed me, but we did not pay each other any mind. It would have been foolish to throw in with those that have a sense of familiarity with Grodak, I did not know how deep their connection to each other was nor did I plan to find out any time soon.

When I arrived at Whitewater, I immediately requested to speak with Tyril. I knew my own kind would not accept my help, they'd sooner die of starvation, so the only ones I could think of to help was the king who shared my sorrow.

Tyril welcomed me back and when I explained what had happened, he told me that what he is trying to do right now would save not just those in his kingdom, but those of every race and every kingdom, but he could not do it alone. He was busy with his kingly duties and gathering intel for those of us he had managed to recruit, so he had no choice but to pray that we were enough to get it done. I feel like applauding the boy king, as he had the guts to tell it how it is and had even admitted to signing on multiple others only to lose them in battle.

In my book, any man who can admit his faults deserve the bare minimum of respect, but those that not only admit their faults and work around and improve their lives where they are lacking deserves the utmost respect. From what I have seen of Tyril, he is of the latter and if I was to serve a leader of any kind, I would want it to be him.

A day went by before Adrian and Imp returned without Grodak. They said they found him attacking an enemy stronghold but, after they assisted him, he left enraged. I can only guess how they had assisted him, probably with the use of magic, but regardless of how, he was right to have been enraged by their help. Grodak is prideful, even more so than I or any other orc you may come across, and if he doesn't ask for assistance, then he doesn't want any.

After they explained the situation, Tyril summoned us and tasked us with taking over an ancient tower that some necromancers were using as a base. The mention of necromancers almost floored me as this was the first time I had heard who our enemy was. Apparently, a man, whom Tyril refuses to elaborate on, had managed to build up an army of men, orcs, elves, dasari, and Pyroniams, all necromancers and were trying to take over Whitewater.

I didn't ask for the reason, nor do I care, for them to aim solely at this single kingdom, but I had a hunch Tyril knew exactly why. In my personal opinion, it probably has something to do with the land, it originally being the land the orcs resided on, it has a difficult history. But, again, who am I to ask, a clanless destitute who would never be accepted back into their clan no matter what achievements I have.

The trip to the tower didn't take long and it was uneventful, though it did give me a chance to get to know these two and hear stories about what had transpired before my arrival. Apparently, they just met Grodak a few days before I arrived and Grodak, being the big dumb brute he is, had surprised them on the first day by not only providing them with exceptional weapons but also attacking the necromancers they had discovered head on. There was one thing Imp said that unnerved me, however, that Grodak had actually asked for his weapons to be given magical properties, which caused me to stop in my tracks for a moment before realizing he meant the weapons Grodak had forged for everyone.

As the tower came into view so did a horde of undead that were being taken out by what Imp had called a machine. Red hot light seemed to spring forth from its crevices burning the body of the undead into ash, sharp projectiles shot from its hands mowing down a large number, and a blue light seemed to emit from its mouth causing the land to reach up and swallow the undead. I'll admit, I found the foreign creature disturbing as I had never seen something quite like it, which made the coming battle even more exciting.

We came up with a plan on the spot, it wasn't anything difficult, in fact, at the time I felt it was too simple but I could not think of any other plans. As soon as the last of the undead were killed, I stepped into the machine's view and began attacking it. It was slow, just like how I had observed before, and made to deal with crowds rather than a one on one battle.

I began by attacking its left flank, trying to just draw its attention and keep it focused on me, then lured it away from the entrance and, while using my shadow to confuse it, continued to attack. As the battle went on, I noticed a gem embedded in its mouth that was only exposed when it attacked. I have been around golems before and theorized that this machine is like a golem, which would mean it needs a power source.

After a few more hits and dodging its attacks, it finally opened its maw to release the blue beam. I knew I could not get close enough to kill it, and if I could, the chance of causing damage to Oathkeeper was high. With this in mind, I sent forth my shadow to attack what I had assumed to be the machine's core. Upon impact, the core began to crack and a blinding light spread forth before it finally exploded, sending me to the ground and forcing the breath from my body.

Shrapnel fell from the sky burying several large chunks into the ground and causing the world to shake. For a moment, I had thought that maybe the machine had won, maybe it was able to shoot one last beam of light that hit the spot where I stood and the ground was slowly reaching up to swallow me whole just as it did with the undead, but, as luck would have it, it did not.

The ground's long dagger-like fingers never rose to claim its prize nor did it explode beneath me to create a cavern I would have to later escape from. The ground lay still beneath me, neither moving or being moved, as I slowly gasped for breath. I knew this would not kill me, nor would anything that the machine used to attack me, but the annoyance of having to deal with the ancestral elders would piss me off enough that I would want to kill it again.

I lay on the ground for a few minutes, desperately filling my lungs with air, before standing. When I stood, I approached the doors to the tower only to find them locked, whether it was on purpose or a defense mechanism, I do not know, what I did know was that I would not be left outside while they dealt with the battle inside.

I looked around and found a window nearby that had vines leading up to it. I climbed the vines and entered the window, finding myself in a small room filled with books. I quickly drew Oathkeeper in case any of the necromancers, undead, or another machine like the one I faced outside appeared, but I found none. I moved to exit the room only to find the structure outside the room to be a maze.

I wandered through the maze-like structure, searching each and every room for friend and foe but found none. Eventually, I found myself in what I can only describe as a mage workshop or that of a mad man for it contained many contraptions that, to me, seemed out of place and strange. At the center of the room, standing above a dias of sorts, was Imp. He had somehow found a hole in the dias and stuck his arm inside it and whatever it was, it was causing him immense pain.

I ran over and tried to place a hand on Imp's shoulder and pull him away from the contraption, attempting to save his life and, Gods willing, his arm but was stopped by a peculiar thing. It hovered off the ground and was metal all over, it looked just like the machine thing I destroyed outside but it spoke. In its voice, I could sense some sort of knowledge that lay deep in its mind and I wanted to, so desperately, take it and run from this place. To study it and possibly replicate it, but the thought was cut short as Imp let out a blood curdling scream that startled me and brought me back to my senses.

I turned to look at Imp in time to see him withdraw his arm, his new arm. Imp had, without consulting anyone, sacrificed his arm for that of a golems as a means to pilot, as the robot described it, the tower. At first I was relieved, that is until he used his new found powers to lift the tower out of the ground and fly it to Whitewater.

The flying tower did not unnerve me, I had already guessed it was magical in some sort by the challenges it put forth, as most mage towers will provide a clear path to the control room, it is only clear to those that know the tower. What had me unnerved was what happened when we reached Whitwater and gained a glimpse at what the tower could do. Two massive beams shot out from the sides of the tower, cutting down friend and foe alike instantly.

As soon as the beams stopped and I was able to witness the horrors that Imp had just inflicted on not just the enemy, but our allies as well, I began to distrust him. I could do nothing to stop him, however, not right now at least. So, making the quick decision to find those who were alive and assist them while I could, I left the control room and made way to the only exit I knew of, the window from which I had entered. Using some ingenuity, I cut the vines loose and used them to climb down from the tower.

Once my feet were on solid ground, I rushed into battle, quickly dispatching all of the enemy troops I came across and helped those who were struggling. As I made my way through the undead, I noticed Grodak being shielded by Tyril from a huge monster of a man. Words were spoken between them before Grodak turned and walked away, leaving Tyril to his death.

I grew angered at Grodak as I watched Tyril get cut down, there was no reason for him to leave Tyril, a man who probably barely understood the sword, to face such a giant, and gave chase after him. I caught up to him quicker than I had expected and demanded to know where he thinks he is heading when there is a battle to be fought.

"Home, brother, WE are going home." He said in a finite tone, challenging me to even try to talk back to him. "The battle is already lost and we have much work ahead of us."

"We? Us?" I replied incredulously, I almost laughed in his face. He could possibly get me into the Scar, he had most likely taken up the title of clan leader after my banishment, but there was no way he could talk all of the orcs in our tribe into giving me a warm greeting and not try to slip a dagger between my ribs. "Have you forgotten that I am banished? You yourself was the one who did the banishing."

"Never mind your banishment." Grodak growled as he cut down a single undead that crossed his path. "No one will lay a finger on you as long as I am the Tribal Leader."

For a moment, I wavered. I wanted to return to the place I was born from, to see all the familiar faces that I grew up with, but I knew, deep in my heart, that they would not feel the same way, but I followed him anyway.