Zensuon: Crystal Age

Into Redriver we Ride

Where we follow our two orcs rushing ever closer into battle, and their destiny.

The journey would usually take two weeks, but on boars, it took one.

They managed to cut through the plains and avoid the main roads filled with humans. The humans seemed to start putting up barricades as if in anticipation of something. Neither Nuraka nor Gurog heeded any mind to what humans did in their land, but it was not time to battle them, thus they diverted their path to the border of the human lands to the south.

Redriver came from a large mountain of stone from the east, where the humanlands were, and flowed down southwest. Redriver moved directly south from some large human city, then curved almost directly west, creating the border between the humanlands to the southern territories of the other races. Redriver had more than a few break-off streams that became their own rivers going down southward, while the main stream spilled out into the Inner Sea all the way west.

However, for the sake of simplicity, the orcs called one of the break-off streams of Redriver: Redriver.

It entered orc territory and bordered un-conquered orc land (or as it was known to anyone else- elven land).

The two orcs rode across the southern part of the main Redriver stream. Going from the Inner Sea where they came by boat, toward the split of the 'real' Redriver (that is, the orc Redriver). So they might reach orc territory while being outside of humanland territory. They were moving as close as possible to the river itself, even though it was technically elven territory.

Elven territory is closer to the Inner Sea - westward, and orc territory is more eastward. However, it was mostly half-elves on the northern side of the elven territory, and they usually didn't seek out combat but rather trade with humans.

Orcs preferred not to attack this side, as half-elves were usually stronger, and while a more equal battle is exhilarating, what all orcs really wanted was to win. That was the important part of fighting, after all.

Gurog explained all of this to Nuraka between stopping to drink at the river and foraging for food. Knowing the territory was, after all, important in battle, and battle was the most important thing. Battle was how you won, after all.

They were close now to the break between the orc-elven territory, but something struck them as odd.

First, it was the lack of animals to hunt, forcing them to wander deeper into the elven territory each time.

Second was the agitation that Tusk carried. Gurog knew his boar long enough to notice his unusual mood. The final sign they got nearly upon the border was weapons, broken weapons, strewn about the ground.

There were elven arrows and elven weaponry alongside debris. Gurog knew that this was one of the orc tribes fighting the half-elves near the humanland border.

Just because most orcs deemed not fighting the half-elves as a reasonable course of action, it didn't mean all orcs followed the reasonable course of action.

Some orcs believe the other orc tribes are just weak, and try to attack the half-elves themselves, then die out. And once enough orcs die and everyone forgets the failure of those attacks on the half-elves, another tribe of orcs believes they can win, and they die out. Thus the vicious cycle continues.

As for the weapons, Gurog knew that just because only elven weapons were at the scene, it didn't mean orcs weren't involved.

Orcs don't usually fashion their weapons, they use what they can: fists, claws (if they are birthed with them), rocks, clubs (large branches), sharp animal parts and of course- their own enemy's weapons.