Next picture: I have an idea ! / J'ai une idee ! (https://www.renderosity.com/gallery/items/3082838/i-have-an-idea-jai-une-idee) Precedent scene: Jotnar ! (https://www.renderosity.com/gallery/items/3077565/jotnar) First scene of the story-arc: Chaos and Death (https://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/chaos-and-death/2889324/?p&ca) Texte en français ci-dessous ____________________________________________ Ermkarn was sitting in front of one of the fires of the camp. The "Orkresh", the chief of the orcs, was in bad mood. He was always in bad mood these days. The weather and the cold were making him irritable. Even the land itself got on his nerves. This damned continent with its never-ending winter. He was missing the Marches. Even if the winters could be harsh there, at least they knew when to end. Because of the weather conditions, several of his orcs had died during their trip to their current position, not far from the south-est shores of Hvittland. Some even had to be put out of their misery, because their limbs were rotting due to the bites of the frost. Despite his precautions, some of the prisoners had died too. The slavers would not be happy about that. He was missing his land, but also his wives and his children. Several of his wives must have gave birth during his absence and he was wondering what could be the sexe of the newborns and if they were healthy. One other thing that was not helping his mood, was his fear that, even if the Shaman was there to temper them, one of the young orcs tries to take over the tribe during his absence. Stealing his wives and killing his children. He would probably have to put everything in order when he will come back. If he and his warriors could ever come back, with this winter that seemed to never wanting to end. He was wondering if the slavers could ever dock in the near bay to take them all. It was actually not that rare for slavers to hire Orcs to raid towns and villages, to acquire their merchandise, in exchange of goods and products that the Orcs could not produce themselves. Doing that was allowing the slavers to stay discreet from the authorities. Orcs raiding to take slaves had always been a thing, so nobody would suspect them of hiring them and if the Orcs were catched, they were slaughtered before to be able to talk. If they would be ever tempted to talk, which was unlikely anyway. The Orcs of Hvittland were considered too wild and brutal to be hired, so the slavers were using the Orcs from the Eastern Marches, in Tyrnaelva and when they wanted slaves from the Northern Continent the were bringing them there by boat and taking them back few months later, once they did their harvest. Although, during the winter season, it was always uncertain of when they could be retrieved. Ermkarn was hoping the weather would get warmer soon, because the tension was becoming greater and greater everyday in the camp. Also, the food supplies were starting to get low and the wildlife was scarce in these lands, making hunting difficult. It would not take long before it will become difficult to feed everyone. In other cicumstancies, he would have let his orcs to have at least some fun with some of the women, to let the pressure down. But several prisoners had already died during their travel here and because human women were so fragile, he was afraid the slavers would refuse to pay them the agreed price if too much of them were in bad state or dead. He even had to kill himself two of his orcs who tried to take prisoners, despite him forbidding it. At least they served as example for the others. There was the "monstruosity", but few of the orcs were willing to touch it. He wished he could have left it in the Marches, its mere presence disgusting him. But it was the only one to speak the common language fluently, which was useful to negotiate with the slavers or to speak with the prisoners. But its eyes. He hated its eyes. Despite all the beatings, the humiliations and all the other degrading things they had made to it, it still had these ferocious eyes. It knew to be submissive, but it was not tamed and probably never will. And because of this and of its eyes, he knew that one day he will break the monstruosity's neck like a twig. Suddenly a strong wind put him out of his thoughts. He looked at the sky, a storm was approaching, coming from nowhere. It was strange. Another strange thing happened earlier in the day too. One of his orcs reported that he saw a white wolf leaving the camp. A white wolf leaving the camp and now the storm. Erkarn was wondering what kind of omen it foretold. ____________________________________________ Ermkarn était assis devant l'un des feux du camp. Le "Orkresh", le chef des orcs, était de mauvaise humeur. Il était toujours de mauvaise humeur ces jours-ci. Le temps et le froid le rendaient irritable. Le pays lui-même pesait sur ses nerfs. Ce satané continent avec son hiver sans fin. Les "Marches" lui manquait. Même si les hivers pouvaient être durs là-bas, au moins ils savaient quand finir. A cause des conditions climatiques, plusieurs de ses orcs étaient mort durant leur voyage pour leur position actuelle, près des côtes sud-est du Hvittland. Certains avaient même dû être achevé, à cause de leur membres qui avaient pourri à cause des morsures du gel. Malgré ses précautions, plusieurs prisonniers étaient morts aussi. Les esclavagistes ne seraient pas content. Son pays lui manquait, mais aussi ses femmes et ses enfants. Plusieurs de ses femmes devaient avoir donné naissance durant son absence et il se demandait quel pouvait être le sexe des nouveaux nés et s'ils étaient bien portant. Une autre chose qui n'aidait pas son humeur était la crainte que, même si la Chamane était là pour les tempérer, l'un des jeunes orcs essaye de prendre le contrôle de la tribu durant son absence. Lui volant ses femmes et tuant ses enfants. Il aurait probablement à remettre les choses en ordre quand il rentrerait. Si lui et ses guerriers rentraient jamais, avec cette hiver qui semblait ne jamais vouloir prendre fin. Il se demandait si les esclavagistes pourraient un jour s'amarrer près de la baie pour venir les chercher. Ce n'était en fait pas si rare pour les esclavagistes d'engager des Orcs pour faire des raids sur les villes et villages, pour acquérir leur marchandise, en échange de biens et de produits que les Orcs ne pouvaient par créer eux-mêmes. Faire cela leur permettaient de rester discret aux yeux des autorités. Les raids d'Orcs pour prendre des esclaves avaient toujours existé, donc personne ne les suspecterait de les engager. Et si les Orcs étaient attraper, ils étaient massacrés avant de pouvoir parler. S'ils voulaient jamais parler, ce qui était peu probable de toute façon. Les Orcs du Hvittland étaient considérés trop sauvages et brutaux pour être engagés, donc les esclavagistes utilisaient les Orcs des "Marches de l'Est", en Tyrnaelva et quand ils voulaient des esclaves venant du "Continent de nord, ils les amenaient en bateau et revenaient les chercher plusieurs mois après, une fois qu'ils avaient fini leur récolte. Cependant, durant la saison hivernale, il était toujours incertain de savoir quand ils pouvaient être récupéré. Ermkarn espérait que le temps allait se réchauffer bientôt, car de plus en plus de tension se faisait sentir dans le camp chaque jour. En plus, les réserves de nourritures commençaient à être basse et les animaux se faisaient rare dans ces terres, rendant la chasse difficile. Il ne faudrait pas longtemps avant qu'il devienne difficile de nourrir tout le monde. Dans d'autre circonstance, il aurait au moins laissé ses orcs s'amuser avec quelques unes des humaines, pour faire tomber la pression. Mais plusieurs prisonniers étaient déjà morts durant leur voyage et parce que les femmes humaines étaient si fragile, il craignait que les esclavagistes ne refusent de payer le prix convenu si trop d'entre elles étaient en mauvaises états ou mortes. Il avait même dû tuer lui-même deux de ses guerriers qui avaient essayé de prendre des prisonnières, malgré son interdiction. Au moins ils avaient servi d'exemple pour les autres. Il y avait bien la "monstruosité", mais peu d'orcs acceptaient de la toucher. Il aurait souhaité la laisser dans les "Marches", sa simple présence le dégoûtant. Mais elle était la seule à savoir parler le commun couramment, ce qui était utile pour négocier avec les esclavagistes ou pour parler aux prisonniers. Mais ses yeux. Il haïssait ses yeux. Malgré tout les coups, les humiliations et toutes les autres choses dégradantes qu'ils avaient pu lui faire, elle avait toujours ces yeux féroces. Elle savait se faire soumise, mais elle n'était pas dresser et ne le serait probablement jamais. C'est à cause de cela et de ces yeux, qu'il savait qu'un jour il briserait la cou de la monstruosité comme une brindille. Soudain, un fort vent se leva, le sortant de ses pensées. Il leva la tête au ciel, une tempête approchait, venant de nulle part. C'était étrange. Une autre chose étrange c'était aussi produit plus tôt dans la journée. L'un de ces orcs avait reporté avoir vu un loup blanc quitter le camp. Un loup quittant le camp et maintenant cette tempête. Ermkarn se demandait quel présage cela pouvait annoncer. ____________________________________________ New storyline picture and this time we finally met the Orcs ! I didn't plan this scene at first, it came to my mind only recently, but I have thought it was a good idea to see things from their side (well, from the side of Ermkarn, at least). This way I am avoiding a big exposition dump in a later picture and it gives me the occasion to give some lore about the Orcs, which I didn't do until now. If you remember the first picture (or else you can click on the link on the top of the description), Ermkarn is the orc who holds the severed head (head who is the one of Sven actually, Sigrid's husband). You can see his hair and beard have grow quite a lot. So you can see that a long time have past between the events of the first image and this scene. You know, there is at least two things I have thought recently that I should have done differently within the story. One thing that would demand just a small retcon, but who would be important in term of logic and another one that is not very important, but that would demand a big retcon. I'll keep these for me for now, even if it's nothing that would break the story. But I'll talk about it when this arc will be finish. The two next pictures should not be too hard to make and the texts should be easy too, so I hope I can do them quickly. :)