Message 30 : Diary of a curious orc *The Necromancer* (Imp)
Written on Tue Oct 29 01:33:12 1996
Our evening began early, just as the rays of the sun were
edging their way over the peaks of the Misties behind us. We
had quite an evening of chatter with some Trolls, who, by the
way, are quite hospitable. They had a fire going, and had
brought out some aged elfskin -- they had saved it for a
special occasion.
We bade farewell to the Trolls, gesturing -- it's simply not
worth the agonizing trouble of trying to understand each
other's words. Those Trolls can hardly even speak. In fact,
we spent nearly an hour trying to explain the expression,
"bob me".
So Shaddam, Pretoria, Bolg and I mounted our wargs and made
our way west down the Old East Road. We were watchful along
the way. Shaddam nervously checked for tracks periodically. I
watched in admiration, since I have never been taught in the
art of tracking and hunting.
Upon my suggestion we ventured over to the Priests hovel.
Shaddam was nervous about this, but I convinced him that the
Priest had some valuable things to teach us... and since we
weren't too far away....
I spent careful time learning about the art of sensing hidden
lifeforms, but it was frankly difficult to concentrate with
Shaddam constantly checking on whether I was done or not.
There was no time to practice much. We left quickly, and
thanked the old Priest, who certainly has seen his share of
white-pukes.
Our wargs were worn out by the time we turned off the road
towards the south. We had passed a bridge on the way, and
seen littered items from those miserable the roadside. We
rode hard -- so fast I wasn't able to take note of where we
were going. Finally, we decended... and trudged our way
through a thick mud.
Pretoria and I were left behind as the mud pulled at our
feet. We were leading our wargs, since they would never make
it through otherwise. But in the confusion and my desire to
live, I was forced to leave my warg behind to suffer the
effects of that sucking mud.
I was disoriented, but up ahead I heard Shaddam calling out,
"Head north by east" At last our group was united. I wasn't
sure how, but somehow Shaddam had acquired a key that let us
into a dark room.
The room's occupant was not happy with our arrival -- he kept
shutting the door every time we opened it. Finally, Bolg put
his foot in the door and insisted we be allowed to enter. To
the Necromancer's dismay, Bolg blinded him as soon as we
entered. Shaddam whacked him and his private guard of
skeletal warriors threw themselves at us to prevent us from
harming the old man.
We were forced to disengage the warriors and lunge at the
Necromancer, but the confusion of having so many of us in
that cramped room made it difficult to be effective. Finally,
I slammed by body into whoever was there, over and over
again.
But the most shocking thing was when the Necromancer conjured
up two more of those skeletons! Shaddam had taken two
powerful spells from the Necromancer, and he was forced to
back off... immediately Pretoria was targeted. Surprised, he
too fled out just as he slayed one of the warriors. Upon
Shaddam's suggestion we all backed off. Our strategy had
failed. I was steaming mad! I knew we were stronger than that
wimp!(Not you, papa)
After a brief rest, Shaddam said, "Alright, you take care of
those blasted skeletons. Bolg and I will take care of the
Necromancer."
We stood and unlocked the door. They were ready for us. But
we charged them with renewed fierceness. Quickly the
Skeletons fell to our blades, just as another one appeared.
But by then, Bolg and Shaddam had beaten back that old mage,
and soon it was all over. Shaddam worked quickly, searching
the corpse for that fabled amulet... ah yes, the amulet! I
didn't mention that, did I?
It is said that this red amulet has the power to call
strange beings that will come to your rescue, taking you to
safety, out of harm's way. For those of us who serve Sauron
(may he reign in the darkness of the skies) there's a small
defect in the amulet. It must be turned black. This is no
trivial matter. You must travel far to the south, close to
the edges of Moria itself.
There, in the mountains, is an old refuge where orcs once
roamed. There, in a cave, a black with his powerful
magic. This makes it possible to use the amulet to call a
monstrous beast to you. The beast will take you away to a
desired location. While I have never seen it done, I've heard
tales. And they are magnificent ones.
So Shaddam was quite disappointed when he found no red
amulet. We thought about waiting to see if we might find it
around somewhere. As we waited, we exchanged stories.
Shaddam told us about a dark knight's home where you can
only enter with the proper key on a night when there is a
full moon!
Bolg told stories about hunting an elf through the
Trollshaws.
But we were interrupted by an exclamation from Shaddam,
"Yikes! You see that!?!"
"What?" said Bolg
Shaddam stood.... "That.... that.... I just felt a strange
energy shoot thru -- Scry!!"
"Scry!" repeated Bolg almost instantly.
We jumped up gathering as much as we could from the corpses
and ran. Luckily, there was another exit and we didn't have
to trudge through the mud. But we had to make the long trip
east down the Old East Road on foot.
Once we were by the roadside, we hid in the brush until
night fell and we ran. Bolg hadn't waited. He was already a
mile ahead of us when we left.
We ran down the road, encoutering no white-scum along the
way. We got word from a messenger that the Trolls we had
visited a few days before we in trouble. A large group of
pukes had invaded the Warrens only hours ago. We kept
running. As we neared the Trollshaws, we ran into a band of
Elves and Hobbits. They were surprised to see us come from
the West so they weren't prepared. We ran past them, and
Rentera gave chase tossing a fireball that caught Pretoria by
surprise. It grazed me.
We scattered.
Bolg continued east, Shaddam practically disappeared... and
I ducked northward as the entire group searched for us. I was
already tired from our run... and I layed panting beside a
stream that fed into the Bruinen.
I rolled over and jumped up startled. A hideous face stared
at me! It was a Troll! The agony portrayed on his face was
disturbing.
The stories my Papa told me came to life, "Dawn take you all!
And to stone..."
To stone.
Fear gripped me. These white-scum are not civil. They come to
us to slay us. They come because they hate us. Their quaint
societies pretend to love everyone. Their eloquent justice
system prevents them from commiting crimes within their own
walls, so they come to *our* lands to exercise their hidden
desires to murder, torture, and drive us from our homes. The
believe themselves to be benevolent. But they are the real
haters. They aren't happy with their own homes. They want
ours as well.
This is why I've given my life to destroy them. Their
hypocrasy is abominable.
My thoughts were disturbed by a blade that caught my arm. A
Dwarf lunged at me. I ran northward. I fled into the forest
until I came at last to a hole. I jumped in... and nearly
fainted when I landed on someone!
I looked... Shaddam! I hugged him, and quickly backed off.
Such emotion wasn't right.
I knew that.
We headed deeper into the Warrens from a backdoor passage. We
heard screams and cries for help as the Trolls were
systematically slaughtered. We knew we couldn't help. But
honor demanded that we try.
It was brave. But stupid.
Thank Sauron for the Hall of Orcs.
Diary of a curious orc *The Necromancer and beyond*
- Imp
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