12-29-2005, 11:26 PM
(This is told through Veramorla.)
Some of the greatest battles are fought in far away and dangerous places, some of them I'd very much like to visit sometime in the future, whether it be slaying the foul orcs in Blackrock, or the crazed fanatics that plague Zul'Gurub. However, even at my season...there are great battles that are fought near and close to home. The Barrens, of course, is what I speak of. Having spent my time here honing my skills and growing stronger sometimes can be a bit of bore. The pigmen and dwarves that infest the Barrens offer little amusement to me anymore. Even the Kolkar are no longer an amusement, especially after I had slain all their leaders. However for the Kolkar, that all changed rather quickly. This morning, I strolled away from the Crossroads, weapons drawn, always remaining vigilant. The Grimtotem want me dead, ever since I abandoned them and cut them out of my life, but that is a story for another time. I reached the orc that I had conferred with that led me to the slaying of the Kolkar leaders. Their heads still were displayed quite nicely in the burrow, though they stank a bit. Bah, hard to tell if they ever had a good odor in the first place. Anyway, the orc brought me some news that sparked my interest.
Word of the deaths of the Kolkar leaders in the Barrens had travelled all the way to the Kolkar's main encampment in Desolace, which left them in a rather furious state. The had sent a large detachment of their warriors along with one of their most notorious warlords into the Barrens to crush the small outpost where we stood. A battle of such great numbers....how I longed for such a thing! I was beginning to think the Kolkar were no longer any fun. As they approached, the small number of defenders of the outpost fearlessly took up arms and charged into the fray. I, too, took up my weapons and shouted in my language at the top of my lungs, "TO THE DEATH!!" and charged in as well. How alive I felt! Slaying one Kolkar then the next. The defenders were outnumbered and many fell around me, but they continued to press on. Running back and forth on both fronts, felling one, then the next, one of our own falling, another one of theirs fell...how great it was to be in the midst of it all! Then their warlord appeared brandishing a mighty polearm. Many of the defenders attacked him at once, but even in great numbers, the defenders could not stand up to him. The Kolkar warlord was quite skilled in combat, a great opponent to kill at last!
The warlord had his attention on the smaller and unskilled defenders, a cowardly way to fight. I got his attention quickly though with a shot from my gun, which caught him neatly on his left side. Not exactly thrilled with that, the warlord charged at me immediately. I let him come, my sword in one hand, my ax in the other. Our weapons met and we clashed! How skilled! How powerful! The sound of battle around us as we fought! It was like a dream. Everyone around us was too busy fighting each other to realize that I was engaged in combat with the warlord. I fought, slashing and parrying his blows, he the same, neither of us backing down, throwing everything we could at each other!
And then, it was as if time itself seemed to stop. His polearm plunged into my lower left side of my torso, my sword and ax into his throat. I could feel it...the blood running down my leg...while his spilled forth as well. I could feel the cold shivers running up my spine as I glared at him in this locked positioned...and smiled. I could see it...the fear in his eyes as he knew his time in this world was finished. Our weapons bloodied, dropped to the ground from our hands. The warlord sank down, as did I begin to slowly. Before doing so, I grabbed the banner off of his back and waved it around triumphantly, and fell to the ground. One fell a hero, the other a villian. I could see the blurred images...the Kolkar taking flight, the surviving defenders cheering madly...and I lost sight. Was I dead? Perhaps for a time, I was.
I awoke in the burrow with the orc. He was tending my deep wound carefully. I had noticed that I was still gripping onto the banner I had ripped from the warlord's back. I gave it to the orc as a testament of the victory that we had won that day. Word of this, I was assured, would reach the warchief Thrall. This, however, is not the end. Some day, I will travel to Desolace and find this Kolkar encampment. And I swear I will kill their Kahn. That was one such thought on my mind as I travelled slowly back to the Crossroads. My other thought was this. Had I really died today, there is no greater way I would've wanted to. To fight a grand battle, to fight a mighty opponent....to die with honor as a hero. To the death, Ironsong.
Some of the greatest battles are fought in far away and dangerous places, some of them I'd very much like to visit sometime in the future, whether it be slaying the foul orcs in Blackrock, or the crazed fanatics that plague Zul'Gurub. However, even at my season...there are great battles that are fought near and close to home. The Barrens, of course, is what I speak of. Having spent my time here honing my skills and growing stronger sometimes can be a bit of bore. The pigmen and dwarves that infest the Barrens offer little amusement to me anymore. Even the Kolkar are no longer an amusement, especially after I had slain all their leaders. However for the Kolkar, that all changed rather quickly. This morning, I strolled away from the Crossroads, weapons drawn, always remaining vigilant. The Grimtotem want me dead, ever since I abandoned them and cut them out of my life, but that is a story for another time. I reached the orc that I had conferred with that led me to the slaying of the Kolkar leaders. Their heads still were displayed quite nicely in the burrow, though they stank a bit. Bah, hard to tell if they ever had a good odor in the first place. Anyway, the orc brought me some news that sparked my interest.
Word of the deaths of the Kolkar leaders in the Barrens had travelled all the way to the Kolkar's main encampment in Desolace, which left them in a rather furious state. The had sent a large detachment of their warriors along with one of their most notorious warlords into the Barrens to crush the small outpost where we stood. A battle of such great numbers....how I longed for such a thing! I was beginning to think the Kolkar were no longer any fun. As they approached, the small number of defenders of the outpost fearlessly took up arms and charged into the fray. I, too, took up my weapons and shouted in my language at the top of my lungs, "TO THE DEATH!!" and charged in as well. How alive I felt! Slaying one Kolkar then the next. The defenders were outnumbered and many fell around me, but they continued to press on. Running back and forth on both fronts, felling one, then the next, one of our own falling, another one of theirs fell...how great it was to be in the midst of it all! Then their warlord appeared brandishing a mighty polearm. Many of the defenders attacked him at once, but even in great numbers, the defenders could not stand up to him. The Kolkar warlord was quite skilled in combat, a great opponent to kill at last!
The warlord had his attention on the smaller and unskilled defenders, a cowardly way to fight. I got his attention quickly though with a shot from my gun, which caught him neatly on his left side. Not exactly thrilled with that, the warlord charged at me immediately. I let him come, my sword in one hand, my ax in the other. Our weapons met and we clashed! How skilled! How powerful! The sound of battle around us as we fought! It was like a dream. Everyone around us was too busy fighting each other to realize that I was engaged in combat with the warlord. I fought, slashing and parrying his blows, he the same, neither of us backing down, throwing everything we could at each other!
And then, it was as if time itself seemed to stop. His polearm plunged into my lower left side of my torso, my sword and ax into his throat. I could feel it...the blood running down my leg...while his spilled forth as well. I could feel the cold shivers running up my spine as I glared at him in this locked positioned...and smiled. I could see it...the fear in his eyes as he knew his time in this world was finished. Our weapons bloodied, dropped to the ground from our hands. The warlord sank down, as did I begin to slowly. Before doing so, I grabbed the banner off of his back and waved it around triumphantly, and fell to the ground. One fell a hero, the other a villian. I could see the blurred images...the Kolkar taking flight, the surviving defenders cheering madly...and I lost sight. Was I dead? Perhaps for a time, I was.
I awoke in the burrow with the orc. He was tending my deep wound carefully. I had noticed that I was still gripping onto the banner I had ripped from the warlord's back. I gave it to the orc as a testament of the victory that we had won that day. Word of this, I was assured, would reach the warchief Thrall. This, however, is not the end. Some day, I will travel to Desolace and find this Kolkar encampment. And I swear I will kill their Kahn. That was one such thought on my mind as I travelled slowly back to the Crossroads. My other thought was this. Had I really died today, there is no greater way I would've wanted to. To fight a grand battle, to fight a mighty opponent....to die with honor as a hero. To the death, Ironsong.