Durotar.
The red waste, red desert, red cracked clay and red windworn rocks.
For two weeks you put one foot in front of another till your boots were stained by the dust. Two weeks of monotony, walking from dawn till dusk.
You passed through the occasional village of pig farmers following their snuffling herds, past watchtowers built on one of the larger rises, past patches of great thorns thicker than your body and carefully around patrols of Quilboar.
Neither slow nor quick, just one boot in front of the other for miles and miles. The roads of Durotar were hardly developed and you had only a few crude signposts to go by as you stomped along, your pack heavy on your back, harsh sun beating down on you.
Occasionally you passed a caravan heading north, or one going south, it was all the same really. Sometimes warg riders would pass by kicking up more dust, sometimes trolls on raptors.
You sleep in hollows of rock or under withered trees. When you reach a village close to nightfall you're given hospitality though many times you stop only to refill your waterskin before pressing on for another few hours.
You'd marched before but hadn't walked this far for this long ever. Your feet hurt after the first day, then for the first week, then they stopped hurting, the same with your legs and back, though perhaps this was merely your own perception of the constant ache.
You ate and drank while you walked, chewing away at tough jerky or swigging from the waterskin, it was almost meditative, one foot after the other, your gaze fixed on the horizon.
Basic Physical Conditioning -> Physical Conditioning: From fighting, marching and training you're now as well conditioned as many warriors, though not as well conditioned as veterans or professional soldiers. +2 to rolls involving physical exertion and resisting tiredness.
The town emerged as a brief smudge at first against distant mountains. Then you saw roofs and walls, then closer you made out the banners, banners of the Horde. Razor Hill at last, might in the wilderness. It had been one of the first towns in Durotar after the Horde had landed under Thrall's leadership all along Kalimdor's coast and you knew many of the buildings were made of wood from the ships your people had sailed across the sea on. The walls were thick, the towers tall, the gates strong.
Everything you needed to become.
But before you could see to your goals and prevent your feared exile you had your duty to do.
By his harness and his metal Orgnil Soulscar is an orc of the Shattered Hand, though clearly one of the less traditional ones given his lack of visible mutilation. He sits at a desk rather than bestriding a battlefield and appraises you as you walk in. You're not sure exactly why you've been ordered to deliver your report to him given he's a member of a different clan, but then again the Shattered Hand and the Burning Blade share the Cleft of Shadow in Orgrimmar so evidently he's trusted.
"Report." he orders in tone that manages to sound both authoritative and bored.
For a moment you wonder whether he's asking for a verbal summary of your activities but decide you'll wait for him to ask for it, and instead hand over both of your reports.
Orgnil reads them swiftly and without comment, the image of an orc carefully examining the documents becoming rather farcical as you notice the various weapons mounted on the walls of Orgnil's office.
Valley of Trials report = 87
Burning Blade report = 65
"There are several of these renegade warlocks in Durotar." he remarks, settling them down after a while. "They cause trouble but aren't a serious threat, they kidnap travellers and sacrifice them and all we find are burnt bones. We'll crush them eventually, but for now there's much else to do…"
Orgnil looks up at you expectantly.
"Do you have orders for me?" you ask before the silence grows awkward, unsure what the orc wants of you.
"Do I have orders?" he scoffs, "No, but you do and you've ignored them to go play with the Trolls for half a year and get defeated by humans of all people. You shame your clan and our people, but… but you apparently haven't shamed them enough yet. You're expected in Orgrimmar, and expected soon. A few days ago I had a demon barge into my office and demand I send you directly on once you arrived. The sooner you're gone the better in my opinion, I'll let your father sort you out."
You bristle at Orgnil's words, you'd been defeated by the knights yes, but so would most orcs against armoured men in close quarters. It wasn't fair… But you put it aside for now, instead, "How do you know what I've been doing at Sen'jin?"
This time Orgnil's lip curls, "Don't be stupid. You can't afford to be in your position. Knowing things is my duty and I do it well, that's how I know." he idly reaches up to scratch his head under the cloth cap he wears. "Perhaps you'll make something of yourself, so for that reason alone I've not see you yet. In two week's I'll send a wolfrider to Orgrimmar telling your father you're going to arrive soon, let's hope you don't end up as more burnt bones."
Orgnil's smirk follows you out the door and into the street. You stand there in the crossroads, to your right the wastes of southern Durotar, to your left the canyon road north toward Orgrimmar. The first thing was to find lodging, which you acquired easily enough in the communal bunkhouse common to all orcish settlements.
You lay on one pallet, looking up at the rafters which to your mild interest seemed to have been carved with various initials, human sailors you assume.
The conversation revealed a few things. Firstly, that Orgnil apparently reported, or at least was influenced by the Burning Blade. Was this through favours or a deeper alliance between the Burning Blade and the Shattered Hand that you'd previously been unaware of? Secondly, your efforts would likely be known to your father already and he was calling you home, though you didn't know if this was good or bad. Thirdly, that Orgnil was willing to deceive your father a little, possibly to gain some future influence with you if you did succeed your father one day.
The orc had done you a favour, a small one to him no doubt but it gave you enough time to prepare for the return home. The feeling of obligation to a deceiver was… uncomfortable, but even if he forsook honour you wouldn't.
You don't have much time, certainly less than you'd like, but perhaps it was enough…
Turn 6
You've arrived at Razor Hill. I didn't bother including the travel rolls (19, so ouch) because I want to get on with the narrative.
Razor Hill is a reasonably large settlement with far more supporting structures and amenities than Sen'jin village. Furthermore, Razor Hill is a depot and military base foremost and there's a wide variety of individuals wandering, travelling and being ordered to and fro. These include several smiths, warg keepers, shaman, seers and warlocks as well as the usual bands of warriors and hunters common in all places.
You don't have time to embark on any serious projects and as you settle into the town you consider how best to impress your father on your return home. Firstly, you'll likely lose the Flamebender's Tome unless you prove you've used it well, and while gifting your father the magical Kul Tiran books will likely prevent exile, your small size and general weakness will still be enough of an embarrassment for your father to disinherit you, a fate almost as bad as exile.
Your father prizes strength like all orcs. He held a sword rather than a staff in his youth, but you know he turned to the Fel relatively early in life. He may have some residual respect for martial ability but he has dozens of grunts to order about and several (aging) blademasters in the clan if he needs them. You suspect he'll be most impressed by magical power and you happen to have gathered the ingredients for two Saptas, two potential elemental connections waiting in your pack. You guess you have just about enough time to bind two elementals into items in a similar manner as you sword, allowing you to use that elemental's power just as you did through Baneshadow's sword. You might also have enough time to gain some proficiency with the totems you create in your last days in the village and in your journey to Orgrimmar.
You wound will finally be healed by the time you leave Razor Hill, but you left Sen'jin earlier than you'd previously considered, giving you more time in the town now.
-1 Action for final wound healing.
+1 Action for early Sen'jin departure.
In thread and therefore in character the idea of a 6 action superplan has been proposed. This would include connecting with, binding and exploring the connection with Fire and Earth, for 3 actions per element. If you take this plan it'll be considered as a specific project with resulting efficiencies. If you do choose this superplan I'll have a small series of mini-turns about what elemental you connect with etc, as well as give 1 extra action to represent downtime. Let me know if this is unclear.
I've removed several usual actions because Grok'mash is concerned about the exile and isn't inclined to wander about socialising or learning a new skills that wouldn't help in the short term. If you really want to do something not listed you're still welcome to with the ever present write in option, though this would require specific reasoning.
Remember you can take actions multiple times, usually with diminishing returns. Also remember the reasoning along with the posts has narrative effects, if you reason 'we should try for some sort of stoneskin spell' then you'd be more inclined to try for a defensive totem. Questions and comments encouraged before voting, which is open. Initial plans without reasoning will be ignored. I encourage comments and reasoning when you vote for plans, but you don't have to include it if you don't have anything particular to say.
Choose 6 Actions
Communal actions: Perhaps your father would be impressed by your hunting down some of these renegade warlocks?
Hunt the Renegades: Speak with Soulscar again and request information on some of the renegade Burning Blade warlocks. You profited from Baneshadow's defeat, perhaps you'll do so here?
Other threats: Speak with Gar'thok, the town's commander and request orders.
[Write in] You think of another way you can contribute to the community. Note: Query the write in with me before putting it in a plan.
Personal Actions:
Social: You have much to do, but perhaps you could learn something from discussion with the others in the town? (Reasoning required for all of these)
[ ] Socialise with the Burning Blade clan members in Razor Hill.
[ ] Socialise with the warriors of Razor Hill.
[ ] Socialise with the trolls of Razor Hill.
[ ] Socialise with others, such as (write in).
Train: While it's important for a warrior to keep themselves well trained at all times to better serve clan and Horde and you're no exception, you're still recovering from a significant injury so you should probably not be doing anything strenuous.
[ ] Further study (write in from already investigated topics in the info post) in the Flamebender's Tome.
[ ] Train your skills as a warrior with the sword.
[Write in from existing skills] There are a few skills you can't think of an immediate way to train, such as your basic leadership skills as you aren't in command of anything currently. However, you could seek out ways to train your other skills. Note: Query the write in with me before putting it in a plan.
Learn: For other skills your understanding is too basic at the moment to learn independently.
[ ] Request combat training from the warlocks of Razor Hill.
[ ] Request non-combat training from the warlocks of Razor Hill.
[ ] Request combat training from the shaman of Razor Hill.
[ ] Request non-combat training from the shaman of Razor Hill.
[ ] Alchemy: There are few true alchemists among the Horde, but there's apparently a human alchemist at Razor Hill. More suprisingly he's a walking corpse, could this be one of the Forsaken you've heard about?
[ ] Riding: There are wolf riders in the town. Could they be persuaded to teach you how to ride such warbeasts?
[Write in a new skill]: You could also try and find a teacher for more fringe arts not immediately available to you. Note: Query the write in with me before putting it in a plan.
Elemental connection: You now have enough knowledge to seriously consider your connection with the Elements.
[ ] Connecting with the Spirit of Fire: Drink the Sapta and open your spirit to the Elements. You find a holy place and battle the Fire Elemental there to acquire a token. FIRE STEP 1
[ ] Connecting with the Spirit of Earth: Drink the Sapta and open your spirit to the Elements. You find a holy place and battle the Earth Elemental there acquire a token. EARTH STEP 1
[ ] Create a Fire Totem: You could perhaps strengthening your sword, or maybe using the proof of your victory over the Fire Elemental in some other fashion. FIRE STEP 2, REQUIRES STEP 1
[ ] Create an Earth Totem: You could perhaps strengthening your sword, or maybe using the proof of your victory over the Earth Elemental in some other fashion. EARTH STEP 2, REQUIRES STEP 1
[ ] Deepen your connection with the Fire Elemental bound in your totem, after all power is useless without control. FIRE STEP 3, REQUIRES STEP 2
[ ] Deepen your connection with the Earth Elemental bound in your totem, after all power is useless without control. EARTH STEP 3, REQUIRES STEP 2
Shamanism: There are other areas of shamanism you could explore.
[ ] Meditate: While you can try to strengthen your precognitive abilities, you felt much closer to the Spirit of the Wild when you were fighting against the Kul Tirans, and as such you aren't sure more time mediating on your own without a teacher will help.
[ ] Flameseeing: Meditate before a fire and try and strengthen your ability to see through the flames as you had when you looked into the Kul Tiran fort.
[Write in] You consider another area of shamanism to investigate.
Research: You've gained some proficiency in Scholarship and your father certainly values knowledge.
[ ] Further investigate the Flamebender's Tome, a book detailing some of the magical traditions of your clan. You've read through most of it and have a good idea of what it contains, you choose to look for [Write in]. ('Nothing specific' is a permissible write in, but looking for particular things would be more effective that paging through a massive book reading generally.)
[ ] Gather, create or barter for various materials you might find useful. Vark's bombs were essential to your success at the Kul Tiran tower, perhaps you can find something useful like [Write in required]
[ ] Investigate your Medallion more, you we're able to find anything on it in the Flamebender's Tome, but perhaps another search will help.
[Write in] You've experienced outside culture now and there are several things you can think about investigating from the Trolls' voodoo to the human gunpowder weapons. Note: Query the write in with me before putting it in a plan.
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