《Sands of Elstirr (Dropped)》Chapter 1 - Delinquents of Dao
Advertisement
"Dao, the city of a hundred races and a thousand cultures. Also known as the city of indulgence as its markets are the place to be for getting amazing and sometimes illegal goods."
- Landrach the World Walker on the markets of Dao.
"That little runt just robbed my store!" yelled a red faced merchant waving his arms about like a headless chicken. "Oi you, you're a gurdsman, catch the bastard. He just stole some of my best spices"
Harak chuckled under his breath as he watched the scene in front of him take place, he had been living in the city of Dao for nigh on 3 years now and the naivety of the cities merchants still managed to amaze him. You'd think living in a city with one of the highest population densities and gaps between rich and poor would make them more wary of bandits. But they seemed to think their city guardsman grown fat from years of bribes could protect them. And in all sincerity Harak had to observe that the guards here where some of the best trained in the free cities, but no matter of training could prepare them to run after a speeding, panicked goblin.
When Harak had first arrived in the city he was 14 summers old. One of the few ork survivers of the massacre of Blackhold 13 years earlier , he was from the new brood was smuggled away with the rest of the children and those not fit to fight. They stumbled throught the desert for days. Orks turning on each other like animals, fighting to survive. They were saved on the 12th day when they came across the ork border tribe of Dulgaresh.
It's called the ork border tribe but many different greenskin races resided there, it being the last well before the great grey wastes and all. Things were good for a time, Harak lived in peace and played and learned with the other orks, goblins and kobolds, races once warring now brought together under a common disaster.
Advertisement
But his one favourite memory was of the return of the survivers of Blackhold, of the thousands of ork soldiers defending a pitiful 5 made it back to the village, Harak didnt wait until they had finished desperately gulping down fresh water before launching an unrelenting barrage of questions at them.
He asked for news of the family he had never know, he had heard stories of his father and brother who had stayed behind, most ended in tears as the women remebered lost loved ones, the survivers told him they did not know of his father but that his brother had valiently defended the gatehouse till the end, even bringing down one of the revered human paladins.
After assuring him his brother would be remebered in song and revenge would be bought in the blood of a hundred human dogs, they left the young broodling to his grief.
Harak had always known in his heart of hearts that his family was dead, but the boy in him still held out hope that one day his father would return alive and well, with his brother in tow. He fell to his knees and wept.
Harak now seventeen watched the sprinting goblin deftly weave his way throught the pact crowd of humans and silently mused to himself, Tog is getting quite good at this, i will have to assign him more theft duties.
Harak, now assured in the fact that his subordinate could handle it himself, walked back to the arranged muster point for his "gang". Harak and the other members had taken to calling themselves "Green Fury" by popular vote, allthough "Head Stompers" was still thrown around by Thorik, the only half ork member of their group quite often, but it was the masters of the free cities who had given them the name they were most know by they called them "The Delinquents", they were but one of the many street gangs founded after the great crusade. Most run by the refugees and orphans of that war and as such the vast majority of them were populated by goblins kobolds and orks.
Advertisement
Harak's group consisted of himself, Tog, or Tog the Tog the Marvelous as he insisted on calling himself, Thorik their half ork member, it was rare to see a half ork engaged in a group with any but their own kind, poor things were shunned by both the world of man and ork, so it was quite a surprise to the rest of the group when Harak recruited their newest member. Meev, the kobold of the group was one of the best lookouts Harak had ever known, sadly though she was little better than useless in a straight up fight, The final member of their group was Ratcham one of the runtier goblins Harak had met but the boy knew his way around a knife and had a dexterity even Harak had to envy.
He walked up to the courtyard and even before he could see his gang he could hear them.
"Where in the nine hells are Tog and Harak!" exclaimed Meev in her shrill voice.
"Bet Tog got himself caught and Harak well, you know how he is, the bastard probably walked in front of a mirror and got caught up in a battle for supremacy against this new intruder." Replied Ratcham in a voice as heavily laden in sarcasm as the small goblin could manage.
That little bastard, it only happened once and that was when he was new to the city, how was he supposed to know humans had magical devices for seeing yourself.
"You shouldn'd be so hard on them they are probably on their way back here as we speak" no matter how many times Harak talked to Thorik he would never get over how nice the mountain of half ork muscle was it was well, weird to say the least.
"Your too nice Thorik, Harak is a great fighter ill give him that, and he has a head for strategy none of us could match, but he has a head thicker than a trolls..." Ratcham sentence was cut short as Harak's hand landed forcefully on the goblins shoulder.
"Thicker than a trolls what Ratcham, choose your next words carefully cause i may just show you what i would have done to that other ork."
"You heard that then huh?"
"Every word."
An awkward silence followed with all members of the group looking more than a little worried that Tog was so late.
"And your glorious leader has returned!" Triumphantly exclaimed Tog, at least Harak thought, he couldnt quite make the goblin out under the mountain of gold jewlery he was no covered in.
"We will have a talk about showing you who the real leader is later. but now, please tell me you didnt were all that jewlery here you glow the the fucking sun god!" Angrily spoke Harak as he rubbed his temples, and they called him stupid.
"Of course I didnt who do you think I am, Ratcham?"
"You cheeky bastard!" said a now redfaced Ratcham, "Ill get you for that mark my..." He was interupted again this time not by Harak but by a squad of city gurdsman burstin in on their little meeting.
"Stop! Feinds, In the name of High Consul Mazahigh, you are all under arrest!"
Advertisement
The McKenzie Files Books 1, 2 and novella
Ever wondered what would happen if a sarcastic, foul-mouthed ex-superhero found himself zapped across space and time to a world of swords and sorcery? So did I. Contains approx 5% swearing by volume. (Books one, two and the novella are finished; further stories coming soon. Long chapters: average chapter length is 6000 words).
8 202... And My Skillet
A long time ago, a child was born under the great blue sky. Many a Dwarf grumbled at the auspicious event, tugging furtively at their beards at this ill omen. A year later as the expedition had begun digging into the virgin hills of their new home, the grumbling of the doughty mountain people rose to a disbelieving furor when the yearling passed over the ritual offerings that would determine his lot in life. Instead, the as of yet unnamed child crawled over to a skillet fresh out of the fire and begun picking at the rock bread, unconcerned with the heat. Shouts turned into laughter, frowns lifted into craggy smiles. Upon placing a handful of the bread into his mouth, the infant’s face grew so grim and stony not even the eldest of the present Dwarves could match him. There was a durable ore within this babe, of that the Lore Keeper was sure. Yumly Ironhand was thus named, the beginning of his great tale immortalized on the rune walls of his clan’s history. “It’s pronounced Yoom Lee and no, rock bread isn’t a misnomer.”
8 264Conclave of Tyrants
[participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge] The Gutu Empire, a behemoth that stretched across the majority of the Western Continent, dominated all in its path. The Gutu themselves were a race of mighty beings, capable to destroying mountains and splitting oceans with a wave of their hands. A billionaire prodigy from Earth dies in his sleep and wakes up in the body of a child in a Gutu village. He quickly adjusts and slowly begins to formulate a plan to do what he had once done before. Take over the world! This time, not with money, nor with intellect, but pure might! In a world where demons, strange creatures, mages, vampires and all sorts of insanities run amok, Takunda keeps a calm mind, as his vision sees nothing but the top he desires! Watch the legend that swept the Western Continent of its feet, the story of the ultimate cultivator: The Smoke That Thunders! ____________ Will have at least 2000 chapters! At least 5 chapters a week! Please support my patreon, i really could use your support. Please also visit my facebook page. Follows and pledges will lead to more chapters guys. Thank you for reading my story so farhttps://patreon.com/theonionjunktionhttps://facebook.com/TheonionjunktionxComments and criticism are always welcome!
8 177Special Ops: The Schism
The next-generation Special Ops AR/VR simulator has been hacked by unknown forces with deadly results.A new breed of warriors steps into the fray. Can they learn to work together before the enemy tears them apart?+++Author Note+++This is an ongoing story with at least a standard trilogy plotted out and about 25% written at launch. Ongoing chapter uploads.Cover design: Jacqueline Sweet at https://www.jacqueline-sweet.com/premade-covers/
8 214From the Moon: Home
A daredevil performs his last jump: a leap into space. Everything has been planned out and prepped, but the universe has a way of waylaying us all.A geophysicist is winding up her last dig as part of a seismology and core-sampling project. So close to completion, she's ready to head home and build on the success of her trip.A vacationing moonborn is enjoying the absurdity of freedom on Earth. With just weeks left before returning home, they want one last chance to party and let loose. Updates weekly on Saturdays.
8 107The Crystal Dungeon
Trapped in a battle between the divine and demonic, a quick-witted, intelligent soul goes down a third path: reincarnation as a dungeon! Through a quirk of fate, he is able to choose a forgotten race that may one day lead him to great glory or a life of slavery.This is the story of a crystal dungeon.Hi! Author here! This will be my first attempt at writing a fiction so I'm really just going off of a little idea that took my fancy, some inspiration from other great books like "The Slime Dungeon" and "Lair", and a small skill with words to make what I hope will be an enjoyable story, for both you, my readers, and me the enigmatic, highly intelligent, devilishly handsome, and very humble ;D author. So just sit back and let me begin....
8 77