The Orc

Chapter 1 – The Beginning

A warm, dark glow of orange sunlight arched across the valley of trials when a young orc arrived at The Den. His name was Trotil, he was slightly nervous about entering The Den, so he hovered outside for a moment before he mustered up the courage to enter. Trotil was scared he knew that he was in for weeks of gruelling training to become a skilled shaman of the horde! He was there because he never knew who his parents were, as he was found by an old orc couple as a baby in the Southfury River. He wanted to become a powerful shaman so that he could search for his parents and help others who get an unfortunate start in life. He hadn’t been properly educated though and was therefore not very clever. When he entered The Den Trotil was confronted by two massive orcs that were suited in full battle armour! Trotil introduced himself and told them why he was there, one of them grunted at the other and one of the guards walked off. Trotil was left at the entrance with the other bored looking orc waiting nervously at what was about to happen. The guard came back with a troll following behind, he said to Trotil,

“How ya doin’ mon, I be Rin’jin, I’ll be a taking care o’ you while you train. Follow me ma brother, I be taking you to your room.” Rin’jin led Trotil down the torch lit chambers of The Den into a room with about 6 other orcs and trolls who were all getting into bed.

“Hey you lot, this be Trotil, he’s a new recruit, get him a bunk and go sleep, you be havin’ a hard day ahead of ya mon.”

The dawn broke over the valley of trials and Trotil was rudely awoken by another orc wearing some strange robes and muttering strange incantations. Trotil stared in awe as the orc finished his strange magic and a demonic imp appeared and was bound under his command. The orc looked over to where Trotil was lying and said,

“You better get up soon or the masters are going to punish you, umm... Trotil ...

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“Hey you lot, this be Trotil, he’s a new recruit, get him a bunk and go sleep, you be havin’ a hard day ahead of ya mon.”

“You better get up soon or the masters are going to punish you, umm... Trotil right?”

“Yes that’s me,” Trotil replied timidly.

“Right ok, I’m Neltar, get some clothes on and get ready, it’s a tough first day here but it gets easier as you learn more.” Trotil quickly grabbed some clothes and ran outside to try and find Rin’jin; he stepped outside and saw Rin’jin outside talking to another shaman. Trotil walked up slowly so that he didn’t interrupt their conversation, when Rin’jin was finished speaking with the other shaman he turned around to face Trotil.

“You be ready mon?” Rin’jin asked. “It’s time for you to learn about where shamans get their power from. We shamans get all our power from the four natural elements, air, fire, water, and earth. To help you focus these powers we have different tests to attune yourself with each element.”

“I’m not so sure I understand you Master Rin’jin,” Trotil said quietly.

“Ok young Trotil, I tell you what, take this earth totem and go into the wilderness and search within yourself for the power to call out to the earth spirits, speak with them and they will help you understand.”

“Yes master.”

Trotil went into The Den quickly before leaving to pick up his staff and travelling cloak, as he was leaving he saw Neltar talking to another training orc. Neltar walked over to Trotil when he saw him,

“Where are you off to Trotil?”

“Rin’jin has told me to go and summon the earth spirit and speak with him so that I may understand shamanistic powers better.”

“Well from what I’ve heard that is pretty easy so make sure you take your time if you’re feeling tired.”

“Ok thanks, I’ll see you later.”

Trotil continued out of enclave and headed east out into the wilderness, the sun was high in the sky and the baked, orange ground looked like it would crack apart at any moment. The intense heat Trotil experienced on his journey sapped him of strength. When he arrived he sat down in some shade and took the totem out of his bag, he looked at it for long time thinking about earth spirits. He tried placing it on the ground and asking the earth spirits to come forward, he tried shaking it and also tried making up his own rituals. Nothing was working and it seemed to Trotil that it was impossible or Rin’jin had given him a broken totem. Much time had passed since Trotil had arrived so he decided to return as he was in need of food and more water. When he returned at The Den Rin’jin came straight up to him and asked expectantly,

“How did it go mon, did you speak with the spirits?”

“No master, I tried for a long time but I don’t understand how.”

“This ain’t good Trotil, this is the most basic lesson I can teach ya. Go get some food and rest mon, we try again soon.”

Trotil dragged his heals slowly over to the campfire where all the trainees were lining up for their dinner feeling very upset and disheartened. He joined the back of the queue and trudged forwards slowly, a few minutes later Neltar tapped him on the shoulder,

“How did your first task go?” He asked.

“Badly, I couldn’t summon the earth spirits at all.”

Neltar laughed loudly, “You’re joking aren’t you Trotil?”

“No, I also can’t see how this is funny...”

“Well this was the easiest test you can do, all my shaman friends have done it and you can’t!”

Neltar walked off and started to have a loud conversation with his friends which Trotil could hear,

“He can’t even summon the earth spirits! Hahahaha!”

Trotil carried on walking forwards and got his food, he went into The Den and sat down on his bed with his food and ate slowly. He wondered to himself, “what am I going to do if I can’t even complete this simple task, all the other people are going to laugh and scorn me and Master Rin’jin will have to ask me to leave if I have no potential.” Trotil suddenly looked up as Neltar and about 6 other orcs walked in to the room.

“So Trotil, want to be a shaman? You need to have a brain that is bigger than a Gnome to stand a chance!” Taunted an orc.

“Leave him alone I’m sure it’s not all his fault, his parents were probably a cross between a Gnoll and a Gronn.” Neltar joked.

Trotil stood up and walked out as fast as he could without making it look like he was upset. He found a corner in The Den, sat down and cried until the dawn...