**[Aiden]**

The revelry went on for hours after the fight. The orc Rita had disgraced had been strung up on the wall as a living ornament. His mangled pelvis on prominent display. Rita herself was barely conscious for most of the night, but periodic cheers and toasts would rouse her for a few minutes at a time. Aiden was internally disgusted by the whole affair, and despite his normal enjoyment of social events, he found that he would like nothing more than to lay down somewhere alone.

That would not be possible for him tonight. Everyone wanted to talk with the ‘clever’ human; he had long since lost track of what he was saying, and his agenda was forgotten for the night. They had accomplished enough in his opinion since the prince had declared Rita an official orc mage for her impressive fight. It was almost completely honorary, yet the other orcs treated her more respectfully than any other orc besides prince La’Curk and Gar’ath his imposing bodyguard. Magic was apparently very rare in orcs, with only a few children born that could become shamans. This gave her inherent status that the prince's proclamation solidified. She was one of them now and Aiden could tell the orcs took that seriously.

As a magicless human and a male, he was treated as more of a passing fancy and given the status equal to how the young orcs were treated. Being crafty was good, but it was not true strength, which made him still weak in their eyes. “They’ll learn,” he thought smugly to himself. Each time the orcs gave him a once over and dismissed him as a threat, his confidence grew. Being strong would only help Horace and Rita. He needed to be able to mingle with the everyday orcs, and strength would draw attention he could not afford.

The certainty that was growing in his mind came undoubtedly from his skills and a lifetime of living in the city. People who stand out either die or become powerful. There is a risk. Good gossips and manipulators operate in the shadows and behind closed doors. He needed to turn this room slowly to his side while Rita kept their focus. Horace… Well, he was not sure what role the boy would play quite yet. Aiden had neither the strategic skill nor predictive ability to plan the best use for him since Horace right now lacked Rita's influence or his own people skills.

A passing thought made him wonder where Horace was at that moment, but when a nearby orc started a fistfight with his neighbor, it was all forgotten. The time passed slowly, only increasing ages later when the prince requested a meal. Everyone turned to look for the cook, so when they remembered the gory slaughter that had occurred earlier in the time and left the chef barely conscious, their heads turned to face him. He sighed at their expectant expressions. His limbs were heavy with exhaustion, mind cloudy, and throat dry, yet one look at the expression on Gar’ath’s face had him trudging diligently into the messy kitchen. "You do not mess with people like that," Aiden thought to himself.

Bloody carcasses littered the counters still, and blood stuck to his feet as he walked to the far end where he had hidden earlier. He wanted to check what food was available. He felt relieved to see that the body of the servant had been removed, “Hopefully, it was removed,” he prayed, looking towards the clumps of meat and the roasts still charing in the full oven. He decided not to eat anything in there just in case, but if the orcs did, well, that was their problem. No one followed him in which was not good. A kitchen this size with around a hundred hungry mouths to feed required a staff, not just a young human. Even back home with around half that number, his dad had him and a few local kids to help out. There is only so much one set of hands can do.

Breathing deeply to keep his emotions under control, he began to chop, dice, and sautee the scraps of edible food he could find into an aromatic mystery meat hash. It was hardly enough for a family, so when he paraded out of the kitchen with it held aloft in his clammy hands, the crowd got rowdy. He had made sure to ‘taste test’ the meal for quality, and what remained went straight to the prince and his attendant, who gobbled it up greedily. He stayed watching; hands clasped tightly against his bare stomach.

“That was a fine appetizer, but I fail to see why you needed to sit and watch me while my men stood hungry.” The long eyebrows accenting the Dungeon Lord’s face raised inquisitively in bored dismissal.

Aiden wished he could go back into the relative safety of the kitchen, yet he had to push the prince’s patience just a tad more.

“Your Majesty, I did not realize I was expected to be the cook for this whole dungeon all by myself. It was foolish of me to expect to be your personal chef, and I apologize profusely. “

He bowed his head low and held his breath as his inability to see the expressions of those around him filled his mind with doubt.

“What are you waiting for? Confirmation? Yes, you are to cook for everyone. Get to it.” Aiden waited, holding perfectly still in his submissive position.

“I think, milord, that he is hoping you will provide him with support.” The voice sounded like Gar’ath, yet Aiden refused to move to see for sure.

“Whatever,” the sound of loud slurping could be heard before the prince continued, “Give him a couple of the runts to make useful.”

Aiden finally rose his head, the small of his back burning from holding the position for so long, and looked towards the man who held his fate in his large hands. However, the Dungeon Lord was no longer interested in him and was busying himself with a cowering female orc. Gar’ath was the one to point at a few orcs in the crowd and shove them at him.

“These two are all you are getting. Be grateful and mind yourself from now on.”

Aiden murmured his thanks and appraised the two small males who looked barely any older than him. It was no wonder he had not noticed them in his observations earlier. The tallest of the two stood at just over four feet, with the other only a few inches shorter. Their bodies were slight, much like his own, with lithe musculature and what was probably a tan complexion. The multitude of bruises dappling their exposed skin gave them a sickly yellow coloration that made him wince in sympathy. He moved to grab their shoulders to guide them towards the open kitchen tunnel and was pleasantly surprised to finally have the size advantage in this crowd of monsters. He took the time to see his underlings' status, annoyed to find that they could probably pulverize him. He asked for their names to be able to easily discern who was who and was amazed at the in-depth information he had access to compared to the other orcs. “It must be because they were placed under my control.” The shorter of the two Kryan was who he appraised first.

[Kryan]

Age: 15

Level: 14

Class: Gofer

(+10% to Agility, +5% to Strength)

Skills:

Knives: Lvl 8

((bonus: “Concealed carry”: Opponents will have trouble seeing knives located on your body)

Load Bearer: Lvl 7

(bonus: “unencumbered”: movement speed not impeded by minor weight)

Pickpocket: Lvl 6

(bonus: “snack snatch”: when pickpocketing food, you will not be noticed as easily)

Unarmed Combat: Lvl 5

(bonus: “scrappy”: dodge ability increases by the strength differential between you and your opponent increases)

Scavenger: LvL 2

Butcher: 2

Status: Weak

Aiden took a long look at the face of his new gofer, he was not sure he knew what that was, but he would find a use for the boy. Kyran had a crooked nose and a scar running parallel to his nose on his left side. It gave him a wildly lopsided appearance. Then, Aiden moved to look at his other helper. Jin was the taller of the two with more appealing features, yet the bruises showed that looks had little impact on decreasing his beatings. Both had the dark brown eyes of all the orcs in the room and he failed to read the expressions held inside the dark recesses.

[Jin]

Age: 15

Level: 16

Class: Scout

(+10% to Agility, +5% to Intelligence)

Skills:

Knives: Lvl 9

((bonus: “spider grip”: can mentally adhere knives to hands to prevent slipping or dropping)

Cartographer: Lvl 7

(bonus: “Dungeon sense”: can feel where maps might not be accurate due to dungeon changes)

Pickpocket: Lvl 6

(bonus: “misdirection”: victims of pickpocketing will struggle to pinpoint what was taken or where it was put if they notice you)

Unarmed Combat: Lvl 4

Scavenger: LvL 4

Butcher: Lvl 2

Cooking: Lvl 1

Status: Hungry

Neither had skills making them perfect for working in a kitchen, but at least they both had the butchering skill already, and Jin had cooking. He would have to watch them like a hawk until he knew if they were trustworthy, but it was a start. They could, at the very least, chop vegetables and butcher the meat for him. With so many expectant mouths to feed, any assistance would be useful.

He began by placing them across from each other on the stone island in the middle of the room. He gave one a drop claw body and the other a sack of potatoes. Watching them work, he would stop them every few minutes to correct their form or advise them on how to do it properly. It took over an hour to get enough base prepared to start simmering the stew he had planned, but it was worth the shouts coming from the tunnel. They both had good reflexes and worked quickly once he began to feed them for each well-chopped batch. Jin would be his sous chef, while Kryan would handle the grunt tasks like the bloody job of dismantling the kills brought to them. He made sure to feed his workers first before sending them out with the large containers of the stew as he continuously made more until finally, the demand settled down. At long last, he, along with his new servants, settled onto the warm ground by the hearth to rest.