Manus' Tale, Part 1: The Palladium Wars (Done)

[EnheilRas]

This is the republishing of my Epic Story "Manus' Tale;" I started writing this in August, and finished just last week. It is very very long.

This explains, in first-person, Manus' history through all three WarCraft series, his history on Draenor, as well as the attack on Theramore Keep, to his arrival at the VAlley of Trials (where the Game Begins).

Because it spans over three decades, it is broken into three major phases: The Palladium Wars, the Orcish Wars, the Kalimdor Wars. These three parts shall be treated as separate stories.

As to alleviate the problem of pasting the giant text in one day, they have been broken up in "Modules" of text (akin to chapters) of varying length, separated by quotes of movies, music, and books that will deeply relate to the following part.

I present to you my story.

[EnheilRas]

“In the beginning, there was nothing, a void of darkness; of cold eternity. When the perfect void was corrupted by light, a great reeling was heard, and all the brethren fled in terror.”
--The Satyr Lord, Darkness

I remember being told that most of the original races grew from a combination of the elements. As we all know, elemental forces are inherently chaotic, and to put two of the four greatest chaotic energies together to somehow create life is simply an amazing event. However, to expect beings that have been twisted and given breathe due to a random assortment of entropy to act with any sort of true civility or inner order is ridiculous. To make things worse, since elements are drastically polar in nature, each is trying to destroy the other, perhaps not actively, but the sheer presence of one inhibits the growth and prosperity of the other. This could help explain why the driving force of every race has ever been complete domination over the others, even passively. By helping one’s people gather strength, you then take it away from other people, as there is always the same amount of energy existent in this universe.

The powers of Fire, Earth, Water, and Air have said to be at the core of every living sentient race. The simplest only need one, and are called Elementals. They are the base beings, and infused with the raw power and chaos that are exhibited in the great Elemental Planes, like miniature fragments of the great Elemental Intelligences. The most dominant in the age are said to be a random combination of two elementals. Great Demons and Supernatural Creatures and Beings of Magic contain the essence of three Elementals; Divine Entities and Demi-Gods are said to hold power over all the Elements.

The human race is made of Earth and Air, which could explain their lack of endurance and fleshy build, much how arrogating the soil makes the dirt soft. The humans are quick builders and surprisingly fast to evolve, like how fresh top soil encourages the growth of nature. The Elves are told to be the convergence of Air and Water, two of the most serene and stable elements. They are slow flowing, much like the two, and are said to be interbreeding in their inner species, like bubbles in the pond. Their powers directly stream from the waters of the world, and much like how every animal must depend on water or air just for life, the elves have a strong regard for all life, as long as they consider it sentient. The Gnomes, an odd race indeed, are like Fire and Water, two elements that, most notably, cancel each other out. They are full of eccentricities and are whimsical to the core. They are self-destructive in their great plights in industrialization of their people. The stout dwarves are carved of Earth and Water. The water fuels their forges, and the great rock fuels their blood. This elemental bond links them both to the elves and the humans, which strengthens the reasoning for the well-being of the Alliance that is formally built between the Elves, Humans, and Dwarves.

But Orcs, my people, have always been the offspring of Earth and Fire. We have been grown from the grounds of the planet for eons, and the fire of conquest has run through the veins of my people since the very first snort of our tusked snouts. We rise from the bowels of the deepest, darkest pits, and have always been the first to leave to see the sun, and take what is ours to have, rightfully and justly. Every Orc, no matter the race or species, knows that war is not only the way of life; it’s the way to freedom. Our people simply knew no other way to obtain it than to earn it from others. It’s power, the epitome of power, in taking what is yours without meaningful repercussions. Be we War-Hungry or War-torn, or it’s so imbedded in our heritage that we no longer know any better, we’re bred to fight for our lives every single day in every single way. As such, we’re known to be savage creatures, and any traces of civility are merely a passing of clarity in our nature of brutality. However, it’s not always like this. It never even used to be like this… or wasn’t it?

Throughout the realms, the Orcs have been the most common of the ‘sub-human’ races. We’ve had the reputation as being dull-witted, muscle-bound brutes with a wicked disposition, given to us by the most dominant of races, the humans, because of their base interactions with out kind, normally at the end of a blade. We’ve been regarded as stupid, greedy creatures with delicate egos that make us somewhat vulnerable to all manners of deception and trickery, yet that would only scar the weakest of wills. My people have proved to be almost outrageously haughty and brazen fighters, especially when in numbers under the control of a strong leader. Our anger is infamous, and knows no bounds. When truly outraged, a single Orc will leap into the fray of a dozen opponents, be they fleshy humans of the greatest demons of the void. We do not fear death, and are born predators and merciless warriors who, as a matter of fact, genuinely enjoy combat.

On the other hand, my people are fiercely loyal, heroic, and courageous as any of the noblest warriors to ever live. An overwhelming majority of Orcs will never betray his people, his friends, or his alliances. A racial flaw in our society is due to the tendency of a “herd mentality,” that scars us emotionally, that is to say that we follow the crowd. Thus, if a majority of Orcs are scared and retreat, then the Orcs involved with them will run away too. However, this can be tempered into a powerful weapon, allowing my people the courage to face down Gods and Demon Lords with the rest of his group if they show no signs of fear. My people have lacked powerful leaders, and often times look to those strong, charismatic and powerful warriors in their enclave from whom they take their lead; respecting physical strength, agility, and combat skills above all else. Orcs have a right to fear magic and supernatural powers because it’s quite difficult to understand them and what is represented by them. The problem for Non-Orcs is that utilizing Orcs in an army or any large group is that there are too many distractions and people to look at for their cues in the fight. Large groups tend to be unorganized, unfocused, and easily confused. A small group of half a dozen to twenty with a strong leader can be devastating, something truly feared across the battlefield.

[Laron]

/SALUTE
Well done.

[EnheilRas]

“…and as the dusk of the war approached, when the sky was ablaze with fire and the rivers had been run red, a new warrior strode forth onto the battlefield. They bore the features of the rugged Orcs, yet weren’t touched by the Orcish hideousness, but instead the grace of the Elves. When the trumpets sounded, these warriors flew into battle with rage and skill to match the gods. But their page in the book of history would soon be crumpled, as fate had allotted that their time would be short…”
--History of Strange Races

My life on Draenor is and has always been a lie. My name is Manus Trebelium, and I am what was known on my homeworld, Palladium, as a High Orc. In my world, in its very early stages, the two major powers – the elves and dwarves – had built empires in the world after the Age of Darkness had ended. The Dragons and Angels had left the world when the defeat and chaining of the Old Ones had been completed, and the clash of the two penultimate mortal races had erupted into a 2,000 year long war that consumed tens of millions on each side. The dwarves, armed with dark Magicks of Bio-wizardry and established pacts with demons and devils of two planes of Hell, ferociously battled against the haughty elves who had instigated the conflict with their elitism and brash attitudes towards all other mortal races. Yet, due battle against overwhelming odds, the Elves enlisted, or some say enslaved, the monster races of Orcs, Ogres, and Goblins to fight for them. Yet, unless the elf is a very powerful mage, the monster races will not respect them, because elves simply are not powerful or strong. To that extant, we appeared. No one can really say where the High Orcs came from, whether we were created for the purpose of the elves, or merely out of pity from the gods to set the people free to fight a war that was not theirs; it was on the battlefield that our presence came to be felt. There are even foolish accounts that the High Orcs are a hybrid race of the elves and orcs that served them in the war! Whatever the reason, we had arrived, and dutifully served the Elves are their military leaders and soldiers in their army against the dwarves. We were the natural leaders and fighters, and the enslaved monster races listened to us, respected us, and coordinated with us, as we respected them, not as slaved, but as equals. The ‘lesser races’ flocked to us, and followed our lead unquestionably, and the Elves were suited rather well with our success. We were deployed as their elite warriors, and faced the dwarves and their demons on several fronts, above and below ground, on mounts and through magic. It was a true travesty that we arrived too late in the war, and the tide had already favored an Elfish victory. We served several centuries under Elven slavery, and did not rise against them due to the great battles we looked forward to.

My DanRas, Ignex Max of the Jagged Crown, was the last EnheilRas of the 13 Clans. We had developed clans almost instinctually, as there were thirteen ‘generals’ – even though they weren’t given the status of true generals by the elves – who were the primary leaders. Each had his own strengths and primary duty, and the orcs that flocked to them tended to follow in the generals’ footsteps, adopting and pursuing their aptitudes. They mutated, due to the strong genetic adaptability and quickened evolution of our species, in specializing in what their clans did. During the war, these thirteen factions operated co-dependently. The coordination of abilities is, in part, just what made us so deadly. Before our introduction into the world, the strategy most applied by orcs is simply throwing themselves at their foes in mass numbers. We used strategy to pit the Orcs against the enemy to the best of their individual abilities. We made superb use of siege weaponry, ranged suppression, cavalry tactics, and skilled weaponry. Orcs are hard workers who do not flinch from heavy, difficult or repugnant labor. We High Orcs know this, and know best how to manipulate it into making them excellent craftsman, devout farmers, and diggers.

When the war was over, the recuperating Elves quickly rejected us, and our people, and sent us on our way. Yet the many centuries had stifled any sense of humility my people would have had, and we High Orcs were more than indignant about being forced to serve other races. We developed racial pride, and it is now inbred in us. When we were being used as soldiers, this was fine, but when the war was over, my people wanted nothing more than to continue warring. This was the last thing on the minds of everyone else, who had finished an Age of conflict and so few were left of what was in the beginning, so the Orcs were exiled into the newly born wastelands of the major battlefields to fend for ourselves. Had those foolhardy elves been weak enough, then the EnheilRas would have simply ordered a slave revolt against them and taken the Elven Empire right there and then. However, their depleted army was still a force to be reckoned with, so we left, and took a sizeable force of the ‘lesser orcs’ with us into the wastelands. Life is harsh there, twice as bad as the area called Kargath in the Eastern Kingdoms region known as the Badlands, but we managed well. Under the guidance of the young and unimpressionable EnheilRas Ignex Max, my people were led bravely, and after only a few centuries, we had developed a small kingdom that was flourishing rapidly. Yet, it was only a biding of time, as our people did not want to sit peacefully minding our crops. We desired conquest. The Elven nation had used us and rejected us, and soon they and everyone else would regret that they’d ever heard the word “Orc” before in their lives. After building up our resources, we set to conquering the Old Kingdom.

[EnheilRas]

“Gihæl Orka æ ChumRas Orka!”
--Orcish Warcry

Before the time of my people, the Orcs didn’t really have too strict a code of beliefs. Natural followers, they spent so much time enslaved that they had simply adopted the beliefs of their masters. When we High Orcs arrived, a general philosophy was adopted by the Orcs. Some of the general attitudes had already been there, but it took our masterful intelligence and ingenuity to awaken these inner instincts. Despite our passing in the world, some of the attitudes are still held onto what remains of my people in Palladium. These bi-laws were collected into the first major document my people ever scripted, and are known as The Orcish Doctrine:

• Might makes Right – The Law of Chuma Tuncha.
• The weak exist only to serve the Strong.
• There is no good or evil; there is only the will of those strong enough to rule.
• Orcs are among the noblest of races, such as the Elves and the great Titans.
• No Orc shall ever bow his head before any other, save another Orc.
• There is no honor in cowardice and weakness.
• The will of all Orcs shall be the will of every Orc.
• The leaders of the clans shall speak the word of the clans, and their word shall be law.
• Peace and harmony are weakness; conquest is the only true existence.

Much like the Draenei Orcs, our society was developed by Clans. Though I cannot be certain as to why the Draenei Orcs developed clans, ours was due to specialization in how an army must act. Coincidently, both the High Orcs, led by the 13 Orcish Lords, and the Horde, developed the same number of clans, that being thirteen. It concerns me that the fate is so similar and I am quipped over the number 13 and how it has had some manner of fate when dealing with my people. The horde of Draenei was composed of the Blackrock, Stormreaver, Twilight’s Hammer, Black Tooth Grin, Bleeding Hallow, Dragonmaw, Burning Blade, Shadow Moon, Warsong, Shattered Hand, Thunderlord, Laughing Skull, and Bonechewer Clans, with the Frostwolf Clan long being exiled out of the horde and no longer being a political body within the Horde. The leadership of the clans was to the loyalty of a single one. At first, it was to a spiritual clan, the Shadow Moon Clan, then it became the Blackrock during the Horde’s war, and then back to the Shadow Moon. Now it is the Frostwolf. However, my people always were lead by a single clan; leadership was not fluid, it was absolute. Our clans went as followed:

• The High Fist Clan: The greatest strategists, and primary military leaders.
• The Dorn Riders Clan: Specialization in the master of the Dorn mounts, and was, for the most part, made of cavalry units.
• The Blazing Hammer Clan: Craftsman of the High Orcs. Their weapons exceeding those of kobold build and easily rivaled dwarven work.
• The Clan of the Dark Circle: Mysterious Clan, lead by Dorin the Darkweaver, composed of magic users. 70% were mages, and 30% were warlocks; all were High Orcs (‘lesser’ Orcs could only serve as assistants). It was the smallest clan, but one of the most powerful.
• The Clan of the Red Blade: A clan made up of priests, Paladins, Knights, and Holy Crusaders of the God Lopnel, lead by High Inquisitor Riga. The majority of Orcs in our clans claimed allegiance to Lopnel, and this clan served as our spiritual leaders.
• The Dripping Fang Clan: An odd clan that was second smallest, and served a wide variety of purposes, that were united by their worship to the Spider Goddess Tark. Tark symbolized treachery, but these Orcs were very loyal and centered on their disdain for other races. They glorified themselves as the poison that would destroy the world.
• The Clan of the Jagged Crown: These Orcs were of the noblest and oldest blood of the Clans history. Led by the previous EnheilRas, Ignex Max of the High Fist, they were the traditional and hierarchical leaders of the clans.
• The Blue Hair Clan: A clan of fierce, yet madly inventive warriors. They were known for many unexpected victories whenever in tight situations. Their namesake came from a tradition of all members dying their hair a deep azure blue.
• The Clan of Tunnel Crawlers: The members of this clan lived primarily underground, and they inherited many of the attributed of the other subterranean races. In the war against the dwarves, they were a prime asset, and were neigh unstoppable against the bearded enemy.
• The High Step Clan: This clan gains its namesake for living in the higher, hillier regions of the High Orcs’ occupied territory. This clan was responsible for civil duties and agriculture.
• The Clan of the Flaming Skull: This clan was very small and featured the most elite of Orcish warriors. All were maniacs, and all were unstoppable in battle. Lead by the Soulpyre Gulen, these Blade magi worshipped an ethereal plume deep in the cave of the Flaming Pit.
• The Clan of the Golden Sky: The members of this strange clan were primarily Druids, with a few Beastmasters and Warlocks mixed in. Despite their reverence for nature, these were known as one of the most vicious clans in battle.
• The Raging Bear Clan: This huge clan revered physical strength more than any other clans. Their most open attitude towards clan membership allowed for the most non-Orcs to gain entry into clan status of the Orcish society.

All High Orcs follow a strange sort of honor, whereby strength and all things Orcish are respected above all else. Although we were divided into clans, our society was truly a communal one. Clan membership is based on an individual’s strengths and aptitudes, and membership was fluid, so one could switch clans if necessary. This divided everyone up properly and put them to use to the best of their abilities, making the Orcish nation powerful and dynamic as a whole. Women served as equals to the men in clan status. Though they seldom served in leadership positions (this was political more than sexist), they could do just about anything else. They could become soldiers, even the elite Orcish Knights, and were at the front lines charging alongside the men in most battles. Despite our racial pride, we held a certain degree of tolerance for other strong races, such as trolls, ogres, and giants, and monster races such as goblins.

As barbaric as my people may seem, what is usually overlooked is that male and female orcs are surprisingly caring nurturing parents and very protective of our young. Orc parents will fight to the death to defend their mate and their children. Raiders who slay or kidnap an Orc child will be hunted down by the parents, and sometimes the family members and friends, or entire tribes or clans, and brutally slain. My people have been known to spend years, if necessary, to avenge the slaughter of their offspring. For this reason, many slavers and plunderers will leave orc children behind and untouched, even if they are reasonably certain all the adults have been captured or killed. Most surviving adults will stay with the orphaned children to protect and raise them, even if their mate has been killed. Even orcs not related to the abandoned child will usually take it in as if it were their own. Each orc child is taken care of by a network of their extended family and tribe, with each member donating some small portion of their labor towards their care and education. Those who excel with weapons will lead the instruction of young warriors, trackers will take them on hunting excursions, and the priest will teach them the lore of the tribe while looking them over for apprentices. Young orc-women are kept at home, learning the tasks of a woman from all the females in the tribe, with their oldest direct female relative taking the lead in all things. Most orcs can recite their parentage back three of four generations beyond their oldest living relative, and will show respect to those with well-known or regarded ancestors. It is a well-known fact amongst slavers or raiders that, no matter what else one does, one never harms the orc children in any way, because to do so is to make an enemy of every orc who hears of the deed.

The Orcish Knights were among the fiercest warriors to ever stalk the Palladium world. The training to Knighthood was only available to my people, the High Orcs, and denied to all others, even our ‘lesser’ orc brothers. The raw fighting ability of the High Orc was tremendous enough to begin with, but when tempered with the proper training, it became something to truly be afraid of. During the Elf-Dwarf War, my people developed a rigid system of combat, which utilized a special style that exploited all of our strengths, and compensated for any of our so-called weaknesses. It revolved around the master of a single weapon, called a Skell, a sort of buckler-lance hybrid weapon that has yet to be invented on Draenor or Azeroth, and the master of mounted combat atop a beast known as a Dorn, which is somewhat related to the wolves or worgs of this planet. Though termed ‘Knights,’ by our people, they did not act as true Knights in the conventional human sense. There was no special code of conduct to which only the Orcish Knights adhered. Instead, the Orcish Knights were the ultimate enforcers of the Orcish Philosophy. In particular, our two primary doctrines were Might (Chuma) and Conquest (Ras), both of which we pursued hungrily. All other Orcs looked up to the Brotherhood of the Orcish Knights as the noblest and most courageous members of our race. The Knights were used extensively by the elves as their Special Forces fighters during the end of the Elf-Dwarf war, and it was their strength and grace that won my people so many battles.

When the dawn to arise the ChumRas Orka came, the mighty EnheilRas Ignex Max of the High Fist had reached the twilight of his life, and a conclave of the 13 Chieftains met, and named myself, Manus Trebelium of the High Fist to be the new EnheilRas. As leader of the High Fist Clan and Warmaster of the dozen others before me, I elected my council to achieve the ChumRas Orka. For lead tactician, I chose the most brilliant Orc I had ever known, the Fire Warlock Trabian Riil of the Golden Sky. My best friend and superior Teel Ikorum as the Honorary Father of the Knights to lead the High Fist’s Orcish Knights into battle was selected, and the Pointblade Belca Bristleback, the most daring ‘lesser orc’ that the realms had ever seen was given title to join the Clan of the Flaming Skull. The Leader of the Clan of the Red Blade, the High Inquisitor named Riga, had become a brash and arrogant Crusader, a warrior priest of the Red God of Conquest Lopnel, and had befriended me quite swiftly. Riga had gone into deep meditation with the rest of his clan in this new era of Orcish prosperity and divined that my rise to EnheilRas was a mandate from Lopnel that I was chosen to be the one to bring ChumRas Orka at hand. The entire world of Palladium was to be ours. We had tens of thousands of High Orcs and armies numbering in the tens of thousands all across the Barren Wastes of the Old Kingdom. They were mobilized and ready, having trained for decades for this very moment, and it was my duty to bring it to them.

[EnheilRas]

“I am the warrior’s Fate.
I raise him above his brethren.
I amplify his deeds.
He becomes scornful, where once he had respect.
He becomes a giant, where once he was a man.

Yet I lack proper honor – raise me up in glory.
Through the chronicles of my deeds, pride shall be honored.
Through the passing of knowledge, my sword shall display its glory.
Then you shall know that I am pleased.”
--The Annals of Pride

When we marched forward into the Old Kingdom, just centuries after the end of the two millennia war, we were unstoppable. My forces, the great army of the High Orcs, trampled all who would resist the rule of the Orcs, the great calling of ChumRas Orka. The conquest of the world of Palladium went very smoothly. I personally lead the forces of the High Fist into the fray every time, as I insisted, as EnheilRas, that I be the first into the battle, and the last to leave. However, the first to charge was the Pointblade, Belca Bristleback, a ‘lesser Orc’ that is the mightiest orc I have ever seen in battle. He lead Dorn charges into the front lines of the enemy in every battle, and never once was he harmed. With Dorin the Darkweaver overlooking magical support and the unmatched cavalry of the Dorn Riders, the main lines of my people’s army conquered a large portion of the Old Kingdom, and within only a year, it was completely under the Orcish Flag. The ‘higher’ races, such as the elves and dwarves, simply fled or hid from us, leaving those that depended on them to our war. Their deserters stood little chance, as their superiors were too busy rebuilding their fallen empires to even consider trying to fight the massive army of the Orcs that they had enslaved and thrown aside like toys.

The long-ears and the stubble-faced ones were in permanent retreat, and the largest part of Palladium was soon ours. There was simply no resistance, not serious resistance anyway. With that that we had, that I had lead my people to gain from nothing in just two hundred years, we hungered for more. The humanoid races were conquered, but there was more than just the continent of the Old Kingdom. There were the Giants of Baalgor. They were monstrous humanoid creatures 12-20 feet tall, and from basic reconnaissance and espionage reports that for the past half millennia or more, they had be trying to do the same as my people, but clearly lacked the organization and manpower to see it happen as swiftly as I lead the Orcish Lords to attain. Much like the elves before us, the Giants had enslaved many monster races, including Orcs among the trolls, ogres, goblins and so on, themselves and were prepared to give a stiff defense against my Orcs to steal ‘their’ empire. Nevertheless, Riga issued forth the call of Lopnel, and into the Wastelands of Baalgor the Orcish Armies went, feeling quite miniscule against the Giants three to five times our size and strength.

The war got quite nasty. Thousands were lost on both sides. The Giants held a large and formidable force, but underestimate my people due to our size and the fact that we lacked numerical superiority due to the overwhelming number of enslaved soldiers the Giant Empire had. My Tactician, Trabian Riil, and the best strategists of the High Fist were able to keep the invasion of Baalgor at a stalemate despite such disadvantages. Even more, with the Darkweaver’s enchantments and masterful use of magic, we were able to edge a slight favor against the Giants’ armies and shatter through their Bulwarks. The Giant front lines buckled and they ordered a full retreat to their capital city: Balraga. All 13 Clans, every single High Orc, feeling this moment of truth that the Mighty Giants and Titans would fall before us in such a small stature, came to fight and siege the great monument that would topple the Giant Empire, and give us the world of Palladium for ChumRas Orka. Trabian assured me this: With the combined power of the 13 Clans, my people would certainly win the day, as the Giants were beaten back in their hasty fallback.

Our lines marched to Balraga, and there the Giants used their greatest fortification, marching out in massive bolts of enslaved attacks. Using the Soulpyre’s Flaming Skull Clan and the Blue Hairs to slay anything coming out of the great Fortress, the Darkweaver’s Dark Circle Clan and the Golden Sky’s Warlocks enraged the elements and send massive arcane attacks flail against them, and enchanting the mighty ballistae of the Raging Bear to crumple the walls of the Fortress. From the torn castle walls came thousands of the Giants from there city, every citizen being inscripted into the fight. I called for every clan that the time to storm the city of Balraga, and we all pushed forward… all except for the Raging Bear, which fled when the offensive of the Giants issued from their castle. I saw the Troll, Xersus, calling for a full retreat from the fray, and carrying a chieftain’s banner. The cowardly troll had somehow gained clan leadership. Without the effort and numbers of the largest clan of fighters, the Giants found themselves lustful and frenzied with chance. Chaos had erupted from the sight of the Raging Bears fleeing, with the horrified gaze of absolute terror filling in the eyes of their non-orc leader. I had no choice but to sound the retreat, with Riga and Trabian on my side issuing the call for the other leaders. But the other Clans had already fought too deeply inside Balraga that they could not hear the trumpets of defeat. The giants had trapped my people inside their city, and there was no hope for them.

A large contingent force had left to track down the Raging Bear. For all intensive purposes, every High Orc was killed that day, with Xersus being the only true casualty. We found him as we were retreating, with hundreds of Giants on our tail, and Teel Ikorum, the Father of the Knights, personally skewered the Troll, and flayed his flesh off, skinning him, and Trabian set it flame after turning it into a flag. His innards were left in a piling heap of dung for his crime. However, there were too many generals left un-accounted for. We didn’t really know who was left. In fact, I could see no survivors from any of the 12 other clans, just my High Fist Clan. We re-deployed to our Command Station, only 300 of the 10,000 High Orcs with me, and found our reserve force of 1000 or so. We knew that the retaliatory force the Baalgor Giants had sent would be here to raze our Stronghold within a day, so I commanded that we seek out a new area to re-plan the invasion. There was no sign of Dorin the Darkweaver, or the Druids or Warlocks of the Golden Sky to send us any messages. Dorin was right near us when I sounded the call, so I was unaware that he had separated.

Riga announced that, although our people had been nearly genocidally massacred within the near 4-month long siege of Balraga, now was not the end, and ChumRas Orka was still at hand. Lopnel had not forsaken his chosen, the Orcs, to achieve the Red God’s Conquest. We all believed Riga. The High Inquisitor looked to me to lead our fledging survivors to safety back to the Old Kingdom, where we could recuperate and re-plan the invasion against the Giants. I remember it being the deepest night, and the stars of the Palladium Sky were absent in our defeat that day. It had to be night, because the brightest of lights flashed in front us of and a creature, a sphinx, appeared, decorated ostentatiously, with braided tassels and covered in strange tribal designs. It eyed the rest of my army and spoke to us words I can never forget:

“The cord of your fate has been cut. Time has deemed an end to the noble race of High Orcs and the ChumRas Orka. Your battle has been lost, your war come to an end. Beyond these woods lies your doom.”

The Sphinx motioned with its jeweled paw to the damp forest behind him, and before my eyes it changed! It became grim and uninviting, as it foretelling the death that would wait within. The creature motioned to the path that I was to lead my people back to the Old Kingdom and sat down to the entrance. He waved once more, and a large glowing door, a portal to another realm, appeared. He spoke once more:

“Fate has decided your end, but Fate is a gambler. And where there are gamblers, there are cheaters. I am Raat, the Riddle Weaver, and I have come to set you free. Two fates lie before you --- one that has been cast for you, and one that shall be determined by yourselves. Choose that which you wish.”

Phrased this way, it wasn’t hard to imagine which path I chose for the Fate of my people. With Teel, Riga, and Trabian behind me, we marched fearlessly into the portal.

[Fallacy]

((I remember reading this whole thing back in the early days of the server, and it's still as amazing as far as the amount of detail.))

[EnheilRas]

“And the Red God did bellow his frustration, and tears tan down from his eyes in torrents. “Are there no more to take up the challenge? I am wounded and tired, surely you can defeat me. Come. Come show me your rage. Smite me down for I am your enemy. Come!” But none came, for there were none left to fight. And when one of his lieutenants came to console the Red God, the god cleaved him in two and wept. The tears were not for the senseless murder of his lieutenant, nor for the multitude that laid dead and dying before him, but because the battle was ended, and now was a time for peace.”
--The Tristine Chronicles

It only seemed like a moment, but over 7,000 years had passed in Palladium. The Age of Elves had come and gone. The wastelands of the Old Kingdom still lay before us. The surroundings had not changed, but had become drastically weathered. The forest had disappeared, and a burnt waste had taken its place, with the rest of the landscape appearing rocky and barren. We did not know exactly what had taken place, whether we were still in Palladium or not, but we could not sit around and think about what had happened. We wasted no time, and I commanded that we quickly establish a command post and begin preparing to secure the area. We had been given another chance to gain ChumRas Orka, to conquer the world of Palladium and subdue all under the rule of Orcs. We would take it and be much more careful. Riga mentioned that being spared from our previous fate can only be a sign that ChumRas Orka is meant to be.

I had to take the present situation in stride. Although I had just witnessed my entire army fall in battle, the majority of my people slaughtered before my eyes, and the fact that I had been magically whisked away to an unknown place and time without any rhyme or reason, it was really only a setback. The fact that nearly ten thousand high orcs, and five times that many ‘lesser’ orcs and other loyal peoples have been slaughtered didn’t really matter to me. As long as blood pumped into my veins and a single Orc will follow, I would keep fighting. My one objective was ChumRas Orka. Until I had accomplished this, I would stop at nothing, and let absolutely nothing get in my way or hold me back. It was the task of the EnheilRas, the life goal of my title, and the right of my people to attain.

I was the first to recognize that I and my troops were in the same place where we had left by the signs of the sky and the smell of it, but I knew that things had changed drastically, so didn’t know exactly what to make of it. I knew protocol suggested that we establish a firm base of operation, prospect for more troops, and then establish a solid plan for conquest. With the right deck of cards and a few good hands, then things should go very smoothly. We had 322 High Orc survivors, with 200 of those being trained Orcish Knights. 1,232 ‘lesser’ Orcs were still with us, and 405 trolls, ogres, and goblins were in reserve from the portal. So altogether, I had nearly 2,000 men under my initial command. We all still had our equipment, but needed some time to rest and recuperate from our wounds. Trabian Riil, the DanRas Ignex Max, Teel Ikorum, Riga and his Juggernauts, my PunRas Delgon Trebelium, and Belca Bristleback were still with me, as well as my concubine Arana. I needed to know if any survivors still lived from Balraga, so I sent scouts to all the old Orcish camps: the Shrine of Lopnel, the Dark Circle, the Golden Grove, the Hall of Blazing Hammers, The Blue Cave, the Cave of the Flaming Pit, the Dorn Forest, and our Capital, Orca itself.

A week had passed, and the scouts reported that there were no bodies, remains, or documents left over at any of our camps. The Orcish Hieroglyphs in the Shrine had aged millennia, and from the archeology, we were able to gauge the time dilation that the Sphinx had arranged. All artifacts, in fact, all traces that my people had ever existed had been wiped out by the giants, and the existence of our use swept under the proverbial rug by the elves. However, the Scouts to the Dorn Forest had rustled up 200 of the animals for arming and training, and the one sent to Orca came back with a Giant from the south, one that asked to meet with me. He had the name of Bilrik, and was a Jotan Giant of Gurthasi Tor. The last thing my people wanted to see was a Giant with their hearts still heavy with the sorrow of Balraga, but Bilrik was cunning, and offered allegiance to the High Fist Clan. He offered his siege engines for our use if we were to agree, and that got my advisors in quite the pinch. His deal was that I could use his engines and even gain some troops from his tribe, in turn for some support for him later on. Our choice was clear, and we accepted the deal with the Jotan Bilrik.

The Giant informed us of the nearest Kingdom called Aieer to the Southeast, inhabited by creatures called Humans, which were a fleshier version of elves with smaller ears and a lot more hair. They had appeared some 2,000 years ago, and quickly became the dominant life-form in Palladium, signaling a phasing out of the Elf and Dwarf population, and driving the Giants, Titans, and Trolls to a near extinction. The only thing it did not phase in terms of population were the ‘lesser’ Orcs, which had now become a standardized slave labor force for most of the world. Without their true leaders, The High Orcs, to guide them, the Palladium Orcs fell into depressing disarray, and meandered through their existence in a pathetic life of slavery, never knowing of their true heritage of ChumRas Orka.

Aieer was a small Kingdom, with only a single town paying homage to it. This town, called Eldenhill, was our first target, as it would severe communication from the land of the South-Winds to Aieer, ensuring their isolation. Belca and Riga took charge of this task personally. With Riga’s Juggernauts, an elite faction of warriors and priests under Lopnel, operating with the Pointblade, Eldenhill was ripped from the parchment of Palladium in a single night. The women and children were marched out into the wastelands and given over to Bilrik’s Kingdom. The buildings of the town were unscathed, and were a fine resource in managing our first base camp. From Eldenhill, we managed to move the Jotan’s siege engines into a few hours from the Castle Walls of Aieer. We had residential houses for beds, and forges and anvils to re-temper our skells and shields. With further maps, Bilrik had informed us that if we were to take Aieer fairly quick, we could use the Kingdom as a new staging point to direct attacks and eventually, an invasion, into the Land of South-Winds, an area that has many magical artifacts as it is ruled by a mageocracy. With the power of the South-Winds, we could easily stage a second takeover of the Baalgor Wastelands.

From Eldenhill, the quickness of the High Fist’s raiding parties was like chain lightning against the countryside of Aieer. Small towns were driven out over-night, and the citizens of Aieer, and their bumpkin army, were recalled to Aieer. The onslaughts of my people were already too much for these human beings. Our first encounters taught them that, although they thought themselves rulers of Palladium, they were still weak, and easily rended by superior skill in combat and battle. The human ruler, King Aeolius, a regent Lord of Aieer, knew blatantly of our presence, and we left him no time to gather any sort of forces. With Bilrik’s siege weaponry in tow, Aieer would quickly fall. The human was growing desperate, the Bilrik’s infiltration team, a quartet of changeling rogues called the Black Four, had captured an Elf Emissary called Morgan from the Lands of the South-Winds. It seemed that the Warlocks of the Southern Consortium from the Lands of the South-Winds were using our invasion as a political entrapment to lure Aieer under a trade agreement that would take its sovereignty and force its subservience, and under the circumstances, Aeolius was considering just that. Bilrik kept the Emissary as a Prisoner of War, as he figured that Aieer would be pivotal in the incursion of the nation, and such an agreement would mean little when both lands were under our control.

Under the great flag of the High Fist, I marched with my army of 2500, and another 2000 from Bilrik’s Kingdom, as well as dozens of Siege Engines and headed to Aieer. For its age and time, it was quite the sturdy stronghold. Under Orcish supervision, it would be certainly a fortress of fear. Teel and Riga approached the great drawbridge of Aieer, and Aeolius’ best troops marched out for parlay. They drew their weapons, and the Skells of the High Inquisitor and the Father of Orcish Knighthood flawlessly slain them in their stance. Their corpses were tossed on catapults, and thrown above the masts of the city as a warning of such foolhardy tricks. I was somewhat pleased with the encounter that was to follow, and just before Dusk hit, the great siege took place, and true to his word, the Jotan’s engines launched an assault upon the defenses of Aieer as the walls began to break way. The High Fist’s best held their shields to fend off the ranged attacks of Aieer’s bowmen. Aieer’s own King aided his doomed soldiers with his Earth Elemental Magicks, but even his own potent abilities with stone could not repair the walls fast enough as the Giant’s siege weaponry tore them down. It only bought them time, and when Aeolius’ supply of the arcane ran out, so did the hope of Aieer. To give the human his due, the siege lasted two entire days, fully dependant on that Warlock to repair the walls with his Elementalism, and when the walls fell down, Belca Bristleback was the first to leap through, launching into the affray. The humans poured out of their houses and their barracks, with all manners of blades and farming tools to attempt to beat the Orcish Knights of the High Fist from the pierced walls of their Kingdom and were subsequently cut down in reapings of harvest by the Juggernauts of Lopnel upon their Dorn mounts as they drove towards the Keep to take the Inner Sanctum of Aieer. Victory was at hand, it only needed time for them to surrender. However, the final card in the Deck of Fate had yet to be dealt, and it was quite the joker.

It seems that Aieer had been built since my time, during the Elf-Dwarf War, which is why we were coincidently drawn to it at first. We knew the lay-out, as it had been built for a mad Elf Warlock, whose sanity had been lost in the years of living alone. This nameless elf was so dedicated to the effort of the Elves, spending decades researching to improve his abilities of summoning greater elementals to do the deeds of the war to help the fight against the Dwarves. The thing is, that this Elf actually managed to summon an entire Earth Elemental Intelligence into the realm – not just the minor fragments that we see rumbling across the Badlands, or the Princess of Maraudon; more or less like the Gods that Theradras would worship as her creator. Unfortunately, the Elemental Intelligences are nowhere as docile and cooperative as the Shaman fresh out of the Valley of Trials would say they are. They are horrible, raging beasts, and as this had lost its ability to return to its home dimension, the Elemental Plane of Earth, and had been trapped for millennia after its initial rampage called for entire circles of warlocks to subdue it. It had been locked deep in the catacombs under the Castle since that day, and when the war ended, Aieer had been abandoned and forgotten until Aeolius discovered it and rebuilt a Kingdom upon it. The Sovereign King of Aieer had known about the Prisoner all along, and had been in long communication with the monster and cooperated with it to gain prosperity. However, the Intelligence’s goal had always been one thing: release. The King was desperate when we came knocking on the door, bashing rather, and fled into the Catacombs.

As the Kingdom of Aieer lay burning to rubble, its citizens rounded up and taken away, we stepped back to watch it burn, unaware that its last citizen, King Aeolius, was performing the ritual of release. Dawn was just rising as the earthquake occurred, and all went silent as the energy spirit of the Intelligence enveloped the entire Kingdom, and as if from an act of God, the entire castle rose to 100 feet in the air, its entire self breaking and molding into an obscure humanoid form. The Elemental actually ripped the Castle Aieer to pieces and used it to form its body. We can only assume that Aeolius was crushed in the process, as I never witnessed him in the battle, or its aftermath. The Great Elemental roared, and for the first time, we were somewhat awe-struck at the 300 ton menace before us. It was once more a raging, illogical monstrosity that would destroy all in an effort to return home, and it wanted to start with my people.

Bilrik had fled from the sight of it, but I would not lead my Clan to a second retreat. I stood against this God, as did my brothers in War. I raised the banner of the High Fist and echoed the War cry of my [i]DanRas[i]. The siege catapults turned towards the new trajectory and the Crusaders of Lopnel rallied the blessings of the Red God. On that morning, 3000 Orcs fought the God of the Planet. Rivers of Molten Lava spewed beneath our feet, sinking hundreds into a fiery death. Volcanoes rose from the mud of war and exploded around it, dousing our ranks in flaming boulders and poisonous ash. The very rain was ignited and burnt us with each drop through our plated armor, and yet, we charged forth. Soldiers were crisped to cinders in droves, and Riga himself scaled the very creature after his Dorn had been killed in the charge. The Earth shook violently, and the wasteland was made as if quicksand and throngs were swallowed by the ground. Ballistae and siege cannons fired off non-stop, breaking entire pieces off the great Elemental. Trabian himself had managed to summon a Major Fire Elemental to aid in combat, melting the many pieces of the Castle to burn its body. Brick by brick, piece by piece, the Orcs of the High Fist put forth their most valiant ability, and as the last rock crumbled, the Earth Elemental lay broken, in a weakened spiritual form, having consumed more than two and a half thousand of the Aieer survivors.

In the aftermath, we had saved the entire planet from its destruction with our sacrifice. Yet, it would rebuild itself within six hours if the Intelligence were not completely destroyed. The Pointblade chose to be the one to do it, and under Trabian’s instruction, wielded a silver rune weapon and drove it deeply into the Intelligence’s ethereal form. The entire world moaned the energy form crushed in on itself, releasing an explosion of energy that enveloped everything in a 1000 foot radius, and a second concussion wave that pieced a second 1000 feet beyond that. All I remember was the light, shielding my eyes with my beloved friends and allies, and then the great fire that surrounded us, and everything in my life melted away.

[EnheilRas]

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Epilogue

Quotation Credits:

Part 1: "Legend" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089469/

Quoted from "Darkness," Tim Curry's Character.

Part 2: History of Strange Races, a Fanatsy Book written by XKlyssen, Gromek Scholar in the Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying Game Medium

Part 3: Orcish WarCry using High Orcish language in PFRPG to mean "Glory to the Orcish Empire!"

Part 4: "The Book of Pride" found in Baldur's Gate 1 before the confrontation with Sarevok.

Part 5: The Tristine Chroncles, the Historical Manifest which outlines the complete mythological history of the World of Palladium in the PFRPG.

----

Evaluation:

Part 1 is mainly considered to be a Prologue to Manus' adventures in Draenor. In terms of Pure Roleplaying, it is usually left out and never told to anyone, as it turns the character into something non-canon. That's not to say that it would erase the character, as one will see in Part 2 where he begins playing a part in the Horde.

Manus' origins came from the Rifter #13, a quarter-annual sourcebook for the Palladium Megaverse I subscribed to for quite a while. Volume 13 exposed supplemental campaigns for a new race called the High Orcs, and brought a lot of the philosophies of Conquest of Existence to the surface. As a perveyor of all things Orcish, I enjoyed playing with this idea (Even though I GM a Rifts campaign for 7 years almost and it was in PFRPG).

I picked it up further in the game NationStates (www.nationstates.net), where I developed not only Manus, but the cast of characters that came with him: The Ruthless Teel Ikorum, The Sarcastic and Witty Riga, the quiet and intelligent Trabian Riil, and the Wise and Fatherly Ignex Max. I developed these characters for over a year in the virtual medium of forum-based RP, and invented and wrote a lot of content for the High orcs, including further fleshing their Philosophy, as well as finishing the Clans, per se. I illustrated how their territory would work, and even created my own Video Game RPG (Using RPGMaker 2k3) where you play a visitor going through their lands, complete with all villages, major cities, and clan leaders to speak to.

Part 1 is meant to really just say, "Hey, I brought this guy in from somewhere else that I roleplayed him, and he has a hell of an RP Backstory going into this." It brings light to little nuances in the character, such as his brash and impulsive behavior, as well as his stubbornness to ever quit in the face of adversity, no matter if the thing he's fighting for is actually wrong. It tends to give light on the reasons that he's a blatant racist, prejudice against almost all "pretty" races, and why he is always willing to work with the "monster" races, as long as he, and his kind, are given the upper hand on the deal.

Part II will be started tomorrow, and I'll make one last post for that. Other than that, this thread is now open for criticism, but save the "TLDR" comments to yourself.

[Mortica]

save the "TLDR" comments to yourself.

((If anyone ever did that on these forums, I'd have to pull out a can of Moderator whoopAss. The Xtra Large, Industrial-Size variety. Ahem. ))

[EnheilRas]

Continued at: http://tn.yzeens.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=581

[EnheilRas]

Part 3: http://tn.yzeens.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=7238#7238