Date in Real Life: Sunday, 29 January, 2023
In Game Day: Sheva, the 18th of Sawol
Overnight, Peggy was sent for further reconnaissance. She was able to map out the area for the war council. After spying, she came back with the barge, speeding it along under water to buy more time for the attack on the orc docks.
“They’re coming,” Warheart whispered.
Edward quietly drew his swords. A moment later, the barge drew up alongside the dwarven docks. Warheart and Battlemaker stepped back away from the edge and ducked behind the crates. The orcs looked confused.
“Yah!” Edward yelled, leaping out of hiding, onto the deck of the barge. He felt his swords slashing faster than he thought possible. In a second, a dead orc lay at his feet. Philip was standing on the deck beside him, two other orcs slain. A fourth lay on its back, an arrow protruding from its chest.
“That went well,” Philip commented.
“Let’s put the dead orcs on poles like scarecrows,” Leja suggested. “That way it will look like they’re still on the ship.”
This was quickly done. Edward, Philip, William, Starflower, Regulus and Bill loaded up on the barge with the dwarves Warheart, Battlemaker, and Earthdelver. Leja and Hector stayed behind with the rest of the dwarves, as there wasn’t room for them.
Peggy filled them in on what to expect. The docks had crates that could be used for cover. There were four orcs and three slaves on the docks. The chambers split in two directions: one for imports and an orc barracks, and the other for exports and a granog office.
“We need to draw them to the edge of the dock,” Edward said. “The crates might be cover for us, but they would be cover for the orcs as well. They will be killed faster in the open.”
“We’ll be praying for you,” Leja promised.
Peggy silently pushed the barge back up the river. They hoped the added speed would lend to the element of surprise, since the barge should not be expected back so soon.
As they approached the orc docks, Starflower held her breath. An orc spotted the barge, and moved to the edge of the dock, holding his spear. Was he suspicious?
“Hey! Come help us unload these crates!” Edward called out in a gruff voice. Starflower hoped they would fall for it. If all they could see were the orcs on the poles when they heard the voice...
The orc on the dock turned and called to some others. Other orcs started pushing slaves towards the dock. Two humans and a dwarf.
Ack! The slaves! We’ll have to strike carefully so they don’t get hurt!
At last the barge drew up alongside the dock. From where Starflower was crouched behind a crate, she could see that three out of four orcs were at the edge, waiting for them, along with the three slaves. A fourth was further back on their left.
Regulus, she thought to her lion, Take out that straggler on the left before he can get help. Starflower readied an arrow.
Starflower looked at Philip. Philip had his hand up. Wait.
“Well?” an orc pushed a slave forward towards the barge.
Philip’s hand snapped down in a quick gesture. Now.
Starflower stood up quickly and took aim at the closest orc. She fired her arrow. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Philip and Edward leap over the crate onto the dock, blades slashing. Regulus bounded onto the dock and charged at the straggler orc. Warheart and Battlemaker rose out of the crates they were hiding in, but both hesitated at the confusion they saw.
Philip heavily injured one orc, then spun and went after another. Warheart saw an opening and hurled a hand axe at the orc, but missed.
“S’Okay, try again!” Starflower called out as she readied her next arrow. Warheart grabbed another axe and threw it at the same orc at the same time that Starflower fired an arrow, and Battlemaker threw a hammer. The creature fell and did not rise.
Battlemaker and Warheart leaped onto the dock, yelling a war cry. “Let’s go get the rest of them!”
“Whoa, hold on there,” Edward grabbed Battlemaker by his sleeve. Philip grabbed Warheart by both arms and lifted him into the air.
“We have to avenge the slaves for their poor treatment!” Warheart kicked his legs.
“Revenge sin enchantment,” Starflower remarked.
William stood in front of Battlemaker. “The Sacred Scrolls say, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord,’ you see, it is not our job to take revenge. Settle down or you’ll get yourselves killed.”
Once the dwarves calmed down, everyone caught their breath.
“Good work, everyone,” Philip said. “We’ve secured the dock. Okay, Peggy said the main threat is through that door to the left. Starflower, Edward, Bill, you’re with me. Warheart and Battlemaker, stay here and stand ready. Eathdelver, Regulus, William, to the right. Peggy, take the slaves back to Brazenthrone.”
Edward approached the door on the left. He glanced back to see that everyone was ready. Starflower was ready with another arrow. She nodded to Edward.
“Peggy said this room had a few orcs and some crates,” Philip reminded them, “and that there was a further chamber with an orc barracks on the other side. Ready? Now!”
Edward pushed the door open and burst into the room, with Philip and Bill close behind. Starflower went in last, ready to add support. “Hey, we’re the new slaves, where do you want these crates?” Edward called loudly. Starflower hoped it would cause at least a moment of confusion.
The room was dimly lit with a couple of torches, but she could see there were crates haphazardly placed, and there were orcs. Starflower picked a target and shot it as the others rushed forward with their weapons swinging. The creature bellowed and charged towards her. She saw Philip leap up on top of a crate and swing his axe down at two orcs that were slashing at his legs.
“Stop him! He’s going to get reinforcements!” Edward yelled.
Starflower was still getting her next arrow ready when the orc was upon her. She aimed a savage kick at the beast, knocking it backwards. She saw Philip dive off the crate, avoiding the spears of the orcs attacking him. Philip rolled quickly to his feet and threw his battle axe across the room, knocking down an orc near the back of the chamber who was running for the door to the orc barracks.
She heard Bill roar, but her attention was back on the orc in front of her. She kicked it again, then sent an arrow into its skull as it staggered back.
The noise stopped a few seconds later.
“Let’s push some of these crates in front of those doors,” Philip said.
“Why, you don’t want to fight them?” Edward teased.
Philip shrugged. “Twelve orcs and their chief? It could be fun, but I’m not completely reckless. Let’s get Battlemaker in here and see if he can collapse this chamber, then we won’t have to worry about those orcs at all.”
William looked at Eathdelver. “You ready to pray that WordRune we taught you?” he asked.
Earthdelver nodded nervously. He glanced at Regulus, then back at William. “And if it doesn’t work?”
“We’ll cover you. Have your dagger ready anyway, but we’ll try to keep them away from you.”
Earthdelver took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”
William pushed the door open and stepped inside. Sure enough, there were three orcs in the room, and a number of slaves, human and dwarf.
“Psalm 24:1, The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord; Psalm 24:1.”
William was ready to throw a dagger, but the WordRune worked, and the three orcs turned to stone and crumbled to rubble.
“Good job,” he clapped Earthdelver on the back.
“Who are you?” one of the humans stood up from where he had been working on some animal hide.
“I’m a Lightraider, sent by the Overlord to rescue you,” William said, grinning.
“The Overlord?” someone echoed.
William nodded and began sharing the Great Rescue with the slaves. Regulus kept his eye on the door, while Earthdelver listened carefully to how William explained things.
“What about the Holy Spirit?” someone piped up. “How big of a piece of the Holy Spirit do we get, and what if the Holy Spirit runs out of pieces?”
“Pieces?” William asked. “What do you mean?”
“Yeah, Hebrews 6 says ‘It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, etc.’ when we share a meal like a loaf of bread, we each get a piece of it. How many pieces does the Holy Spirit have?”
Dragon lies, William thought bitterly.
“Does it say that?” Earthdelver asked.
“Yes, it says that, but you misunderstand,” William said. He racked his brain. How to explain?
At that moment Starflower came in the room. “Regulus told me to come,” she explained. William quickly repeated the question for Starflower.
“If you divide infinity, it’s still infinity,” Starflower said quickly. “You get all of the Holy Spirit. God is not divided.”
This seemed to satisfy them. All seven decided they wanted to put their faith in the Overlord, and William led them in prayer.
“There’s more slaves!” one of them said.
“Where?”
“We don’t know. In the kitchens, I think. Food usually comes from there,” he pointed to the granog’s office.
“We’ve collapsed the room sealing in the orcs. All that’s left is the Granog office,” Philip said. By this time, the barge had returned with Hector and Leja and some more dwarves.
“This would be a good time to experiment with that polymorph potion,” Hector pointed out.
“Okay, so we’re not looking to kill. Let’s overpower it and force some potion down its throat and see what it does,” Philip said.
The team burst into the office. The granog was behind a desk and looked up in surprise. It recovered its composure quickly as the team warily approached, rope in hand.
“Ah, yes, welcome, you have an appointment, I presume?” the granog spoke.
“No, but you have an appointment with us!” Edward said icily.
“Indeed? You wish to sell that rope and those weapons you’re carrying? You’d probably get a good price!”
“It’s trying to enchant us! Don’t listen!” Starflower cried.
“Nice try, buster,” Philip said. He and Edward jumped on the creature and wrestled it to the ground. After a brief struggle that resulted in a scratch to Edward’s face, the granog had been tied up, its arms and wings pinned to its sides. Bill sat on its legs. It wasn’t going anywhere.
“You know what this is?” Philip asked, pulling a bottle of metamorph potion from his pack.
The granog glared at him.
Hector and Edward forced its mouth open while Philip poured the contents of the bottle down its throat.
The creature convulsed a moment, then changed appearance. It then looked like Philip.
“Interesting,” the real Philip said. “William, you try this time.” Philip forced the granogs head to look at William. William came closer and poured the next potion. The granog then changed to resemble William.
“Okay, so you seem to need to be in close contact,” Hector observed. “How long does it last?”
“I guess we wait,” Philip said.
After several moments, Leja approached the granog. “Have a cinnamon bun!” Leja said, offering a treat to the creature.
“What are you doing?” William asked.
“Loving my enemies,” Leja said.
The granog ate the cinnamon bun. “That was good. You should try selling those,” he said.
Philip punched the creature in the face to make it stop talking.
“You’re right!” Leja brightened. “I could make a fortune selling these.”
“Too late,” Edward said to Philip.
“Not again,” Starflower slapped her forehead. “Leja, we need to be about the Overlord’s business. We’re not here for our own gain.”
Leja was counselled out of her business venture, and they gagged the granog. After about a tick of waiting he convulsed and took on the appearance of a granog again.
“There’s a secret door here,” Peggy reported from the back wall.
“How do you open the door?” Philip asked, taking the gag off the granog. The granog spit in his face. Philip responded with a savage punch to the head.
“Just kill it,” Starflower suggested.
“Gladly,” Philip said, punching it again.
“Whoa, what are you doing?” Edward asked. “Just slit its throat or something. There’s no reason to beat it to a pulp with your bare hands.”
Philip threw another punch.
William drew a dagger and plunged it into the creature’s chest.
“Hey!” Philip said.
“You looked like you were enjoying that a little too much,” William said.
“Search the body and the desk,” Leja said. “Peggy found a notch that might take a key of some sort.”
A moment later, they found the key. Hector inserted it into a slot to reveal an elevator. He peered up at the ropes and pulleys. “Looks solid. I guess we’re going up!”
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