Chapter 2: The Good, the Bad, and the Orcs

[Taffimai]

Aksel

"We have to hurry back, there's more of them. You know what to do."

You're weaving in and out of consciousness. Your leg is throbbing. There are more voices, but you can't make out what they're saying. They sound rough, and quarrelsome. You black out again, and when you finally wake up, it is from landing ungently on your back after being tossed down some... pit?

There is very little light around, but while your eyes are adjusting to it, you explore your surroundings by touch. The floor is solid rock covered by dust and dirty straw. This place reeks, and you are surrounded by thick metal bars that are anchored into the floor. You have about four square meters of floor space to call your own. About half of the other cells are occupied as well, most likely with some of the kidnap victims you are looking for. They all appear to be adults, however, except for a whimpering girl huddled in an adjoining cell.

Harvest

The orcs must have found it difficult to get your friend out of his armour, as you've been in your cell for quite some time when they finally throw him in. Or perhaps they started fighting over his gear, who knows? They're everything you've come to believe of orcs: loud, belligerent, filthy. You've been listening in on their conversations, and apparently you were brought here by "the one with the red hair". The orcs also have a pool going on how many casualties Ankiel will take while capturing the other "invaders".

The way these cells were built is crude but effective. There are no locks to pick and bending the bars - if such is even possible - would only get you to another cell. The only way in or out is through the top. There are wooden beams lying on top that the orcs walk over to access the different cells, and they have long poles to fish people out - or push them back in. You figure that you could probably reach them by jumping and then pull yourself out, but there's no way to know whether anyone is watching, or where to go next.

The other prisoners are mostly humans, but there is at least one female elf, bound and gagged in a cell diagonally from Aksel's. They all share the same, malnourished look, and the man next to you has been badly beaten.

http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o540/nocluehere/CellsWhiterock.png

[MrE]

Aksel

Failure. He was used to struggling, used to disappointment. But this was worse than all of that. He lay back in his cell briefly and thought of Clara. His injuries were only a minor inconvenience compared to his despair at losing her. What would she do? What about the children?

But there were other children, that is why he had come on this mission. "Jae, Dalen, Ninia?" He hissed, calling out the names of the Porrell children, "It's Mr Jones." If he got no response, he would call the names of the Genth family, in case any of them were captured with him.

[Taffimai]

The small figure gulps and shivers. All others seem to hold their breath.

When a few moments have passed without orcish retribution, the woman next to you crawls closer and says in a low voice: "Yeh won't find 'em lad. Yer too late."

She glances up towards the wooden beams overhead before adding: "An' stop whisperin', dey hear that an' dey go ballistic. 'Specially after Huggin's last escape."

She jerks her head towards a figure slumped down in his cell a bit further down. When you look over, you notice that the man behind him looks suspiciously like Harvest.

[MrE]

Aksel

"You know them?" Aksel experienced an awful sinking feeling, but he was determined to find out if this was the truth, and to hell with the consequences.
"Harvest?"

[LuckyStrike]

Harvest Moon

Harvest doesnt respond for a good minute and even then his cracked deep voice replies with only a careful whisper.

"Here."

His disappointment about getting captured and the panic he felt from having his sapling taken away from him had replaced quickly with a fiery anger when he noticed the orks. With a brooding hate he sat slumped down studying their movements and listening to their infuriating conversations.

Bloody animals.. He thinks before putting his mind to constructive use.

He had taken note of the other captives and was keen to talk with them, but the risk was too great.

He looked around once more. We're they deep underground? Is it day, or night? He glanced at where Aksel is. If only he could find a way to get messages across to him.. Or perhaps just take the risk and try and grab one of the bastards.. The longer he waited the weaker they would become. Wouldn't be long before they looked like the rest of this sorry lot.

He looks at the bars. Maybe.. He waits until he is as sure as he can get that there are no captors nearby and puts his fists around the bars of the cell directly left to him and pulls them apart as hard as he can. He makes sure not to grunt or strain. Pure focus and energy.. He pulls until he feels his shoulder can't take any more and then sits down trying very hard not to pant and exhaling as evenly as possible.

If the bars do not budge, he tries again.. And again, each time waiting at least 5 minutes and only after making sure the guards aren't around.

He tries to bend the bars just enough to slip through. Should he succeed he will enter the cell to his left and try to force his way to the cell directly left of that one. Each time quietly hurrying back to his own cell in the hope the orks don't notice the widening of the bars. And each time risking getting noticed.

If this sort of works he will continue all the way to the cell above of Aksels cell, where he can perform a cure wounds spell on him.

Should the beaten up man make a problem of a half ork entering his cell Harvest is ready to knock him out cold pronto.

[Taffimai]

Aksel

"Keep. Yer voice. Down."

The anxious woman rolls away and keeps very still, like an animal playing dead. Sure enough, two orcs show up and lumber across the overhead beams. Their attention is wholly consumed by Harvest, however, who'd been trying to bend the bars. They seem to mock him for a while in orcish until they get fed up.

"You no damage bars! We beat you good!"

They demonstrate their intentions by plunging the end of a pole into the beaten man's stomach, then walk away laughing while he gasps for air.

The woman demonstratively remains where she is, clearly not intent on being the orcs' next example. The gagged and bound elf beside her, however, slowly slides over to the corner your cells share and manoeuvres her wrists as close to you as possible.

"Yer nuts," the first woman mutters under her breath.

Harvest

Interesting. Apparently the orcs do not expect you to understand what they are saying to each other. This could be a huge advantage. For now, however, it was just some inane merrymaking about how stupid and weak you are, and you are probably the offspring of a dimwit who confused a human and a goat.

Clearly, they did not notice that while unsuccessful for now, your efforts on the bars were not entirely wasted and given enough time, you should be able to bend them.

The roughed up man comes to the end of his coughing fit and looks up at you.

"Man that hurt. It was worth it, but it hurt. The name's Huggin, what's yours?"

[LuckyStrike]

Harvest Moon

Harvest stares at Huggin, amazed by his attitude after the brutal treatment he endured.

'Harvest Moon.' His eyes go up for a second indicating the beams overhead. 'Sorry about that Huggin, but I got some business I intend to see through.'

He sits down and keeps quiet for a long while. Waiting and listening.

When he feels absolutely sure they are no longer being watched he will continue creating gaps in the cells.

Should they come and taunt Harvest, poke and prod him and such.. if its not life threatening he will endure it silently and will try to make as little noise as possible. he hopes they will get bored sooner that way. If at any point he feels it becomes life threatening he will try to grab a pole and pull one of the orks down to break his neck.

[MrE]

Aksel froze when he thought he had been caught, and was soon ashamed by the wave of relief he felt when they descended on Harvest. He moved closer to the bars, not certain what he could do to protect his comrade. But the half-orc escaped further punishment, and seemed fine.

So he was in a prison run by orcs, and there was little chance that the incompetent commander Reddington or the brash Kareem would get here anytime to save them. So he had to save himself, and that needed a plan.

The butcher moved himself to the centre of the cell and closed his eyes. Harvest was much stronger than him, and seemed to have failed to bend the bars, so breaking out could be discounted. So too could diplomacy with these guards... But Aksel refused to let fear rise up inside him and continued to rack his brains looking for solutions.

I can't do this alone. The others won't come and Harvest will get himself killed: but they chose this path. The children, I'll have failed them. The Genth and Porrell families, and my own. I can't die here.

In the bleakest times, in the times of absolute dark, then even a candle would seem to be like a brilliant beacon, and so it was that Aksel thought he suddenly saw a light blossom in the darkness, and a voice filled with warmth and hope.

"You do not die here, Mr Jones."

Is it alright for Aksel to gain spells at this point, or should I wait for noon (which will be the point where he acquires new spells)?

[Taffimai]

Aksel

The female elf makes a few muffled sounds, then looks over her shoulder. When she notices that Aksel is making no move to free her, she rolls her eyes, lets out a frustrated sigh and turns back. The human woman snorts derisively, but otherwise keeps quiet.

On your opposite side, the small figure has shifted her position and is staring at you intently. She is no longer crying.

Harvest

As soon as the orcs' footsteps die out, Huggin leans in and starts speaking in a low voice.

"Harvest, ey? You from around The Hollow? You sound like you are, if you don't mind my saying so. I've been there once, passing through with a merchant caravan that had hired me. I'm a caravan guard. Was, really. Bloody good guard that can't prevent his caravan from getting enslaved. Anyway, you seem like the useful type. So how did you and your friend end up in the mines? Were you kidnapped like the rest of us, or part of some rescue party?"

"Don't worry about the orcs right now, I've been here three weeks now, or thereabouts, and I've come to know their ways. So long as we don't make too much noise they won't come here again till the next shift starts working. They run a mining operation, or at least they think they do. It's all brute force chopping away stone as far as I can tell, no sense of planning or anything. I've no idea how they sell the stuff or where they get their supplies."

"What I do know is that they're at war with some other orcs who live further down the mines. Our captors call themselves the White Talon Tribe, and those others had some sort of white bird on their gear. My guess is that they were one tribe that started infighting and then split not too long ago. I witnessed a fight once, down in the mines and I almost managed to run away towards the other orcs. Figured the enemy of my enemy might be willing to help me for information about this place, but they chased them off and caught me before I got very far."

"After that they beat me silly and took me to some dwarf who was none too pleased about it. Kept saying "rengtor" and "ul na book". He looked me over like I was a prize cow or something, even checked my teeth. Then they brought me back here. Told me I'd be taken downstairs along with her and haven't put me to work since."

At this point, he nods towards the gagged elf next to Aksel and briefly pauses his monologue.

"I'm fairly certain it won't spell much good for me, so I've been trying to get out every chance I get. Nothing left to lose, right? Going up this side of the wall is no good, you just end up in a corridor with a portcullis on both sides, so you're trapped. If you go up the far side over there, you end up right outside their barracks. Not a good idea either. I haven't tried your side yet, but I know there's a minotaur with one horn that lives that way. Oh, and the orcs have some kind of ... pets to help them chase you down. Trollhounds, I call them. Very nasty."

Gradually, as Huggin has been telling his story, the bars between your cells have given way to your efforts. At last, you have managed to bend them far enough that you could squeeze through into his cell.

"My, you really are strong! So what's next? If you plan to break my neck, please make it quick."

He gives you a lopsided smile and moves out of the way.

[MrE]

Aksel started at the flash and the voice, but no one else seemed to reacted except the small huddled figure nearby, who seemed to be approaching him. Feeling buoyed up by the strange energy, he turned to the woman and moved closer slowly. "Are you alright?" he whispered, "It's ok. I won't hurt you. People are coming to free us."

[Taffimai]

She moves closer to the bars and asks you something in an unknown language. When she sees that you don't understand, she looks away and stutters: "I don't want free. Orci take brother."

[MrE]

"What?" Aksel feels pity for girl initially, but that is soon replaced by frustration. Surely she would still want to leave? Staying here in this cell would not save her brother or help him gain his freedom.

Turning to the others in the cells near him, Aksel asked: "I think I can get out of this cell, but after that I need your help. Tell me everything you know about this prison, about the guards, and if any of you know where we are that would be appreciated."

[LuckyStrike]

Harvest Moon

Harvests jaw clenches tight when he hears the Hollow being mentioned. Huggin's words drown out for a second and he thinks he can feel the bars shift.
At Huggin's mention of the White Talon Orks the bars bend and Harvest sits down and exhales slowly while Huggin's finishes his story.

'Ill break your neck if you don't keep your trap shut and do as I say.' The words are spitted out angrily.

He looks up at the exits that were mentioned and back to his talkative neighbor. A bit of sadness fills Harvest as he looks upon Huggin. The man had no role in the destruction of the Hollow and did not deserve his anger.

'An angry past brought those words and I apologize.' His voice can barely be heard now.

He sits down and ponders Huggin's words and his current situation.


"I think I can get out of this cell, but after that I need your help. Tell me everything you know about this prison, about the guards, and if any of you know where we are that would be appreciated."

Harvest looks up and squints to find Aksel in the dark..

'You with us then, Huggin?..' He asks.