Flight of the Gryphonclaw Brigade
Part 3: Briefing
Zifu slapped another mosquito that buzzed too close to his face, though he was a troll, he still hated the thick jungle of Stranglethorn Vale. He was more accustomed to the barren and rocky desert of Durotaur where he and the rest of his kin had taken refuge with the orcs. He stood there hunched, leaning on his wooden staff. His knees buckled from his years of bad posture. He wiped the sweat from his patch of blue hair, matted and unkempt from over the years, and slapped away a fly that landed on the end of one of his long tusks.
"Why be me here..." He wondered. "Me be a shaman, one attuned to speaking wit da eart mother, not wit de combat and de fightin."
"What's da matter Zifu? I tought ye be likin' to be wit da eart mother and being one wit da nature. Yet here ye be slappin yer face o'er a little bugs." Piped in Zifu's "loving" wife Priska, whom he had been "happily" married to for a mere two years, though in Zifu's mind it was more like two-hundred years.
"Bah," Zifu snorted. "Me dun tink da skeetos be one wit da eart mother, dey be blood sucking pests, feeding off de creatures o'de eart mother but giving noting back to her. Like some troll me happin to know." He glared at Priska.
Priska being much younger than Zifu by troll standards had a full mow hawk of red hair and braids trailing down past her shoulders. Her yellow pet raptor, Chomper, stood next to her glaring hungrily at Zifu, just waiting for a chance to pounce on and devour the loud mouthed troll. Priska was wed to Zifu out of sheer family influence, her family having no one of magical influence wanted her to court with a wise and all knowing shaman for her to balance with. Though the more she had to put up with Zifu, the more tempting it was for her to just feed him to Chomper and be rid of him.
"Wise and all knowing me tusks" she mumbled to herself, stringing her bow.
Keshick, an orc comrade of the two bickering trolls, sat at the base of a tree not heeding a word of the trolls nor the pesky mosquitoes that buzzed about the place. Though he was a full grown orc, he was still young and still considered a whelp to his brethren. He had a wild mane of red hair and a short beard that was barely long enough to be braided. Like most of the orcs who weren't gifted with the grasp of nature like the shamans nor the arcane influence like the magic users, Keshick spent from the moment he could walk and carry an axe training in the art of combat. He had two one handed battle axes strapped to his belt, a massive two handed double bladed axe leaned against the tree he was sitting under, and a string of throwing axes strapped to a sash across his chest. Keshick calmly sat there, preparing his mind for the battle ahead of them, tuning out all of his surroundings, including the two arguing trolls, and let his mind focus.
"Alright maggots, fall in! It's time." Came the raspy voice of their undead field commander Vorzana. Vorzana being a rouge in her former life crept from the shadows of the trees around the campsite. She was considered beautiful by undead terms, and by beautiful meaning she was the most intact and least decomposed that a Forsaken could get. Her purple hair came just past her ears, and her eyes, if they were still present, were covered by a pair of green goggles, which she claimed now and again helped her see hidden things better. She had many throwing daggers strapped to her belt, in her pouch she carried many other hidden surprises, like the occasional bomb she'd throw into battle for confusion, and more desirable, horrific dismemberment. Her two main weapons being a pair of wicked looking daggers, which were known to be coated in various poisons, always a surprise as to which one she was using that day.
"Here are your orders." She started as the two trolls the orc and the other two Forsaken in the small raid group fell into line. "You're to tromp through the jungle to get to the human settlement in the middle of Duskwood, keep the path in your sight but keep yourself out of the watchmen's. Once you reach the village feel free to kill, pillage and plunder your hearts out. I'll award extra for any body parts you bring back, no cheating though and have them be from the same person, believe me I can tell the difference." She grinned wickedly smacking her lips, the other two Forsaken, one a mage and the other a "priest" rubbed their hands together nodding their heads in agreeance with their commander.
Moments later the five Horde trainees set out to the small town, moving swiftly through the jungle. This was always a traditional test for horde recruits, those that returned alive and with spoils were given special privileges and granted the right to serve in the Horde raiding army.
Keshick however did not see the point of it all. He had already proven himself worthy to fight, he was the best warrior in his training group and even was complemented by Thrall himself when he sat in and watched the sparing tournament the trainees held. Since he was young he idolized Grom Hellscream and the Warsong Clan. He had always dreamt of one day leading his own troop of orc brethren into battle to save his people and protect the way of the Horde and of the orc.
"This is a waste of my skills." He thought to himself as they walked through the brush along a stone path through the middle of Duskwood. "Here we are heading to a small little human town with little defenses and no worthy warriors. There is no glory nor honor in doing this."
It was at that time that Keshick made up his mind and walked out of the cover of the trees and began walking out in the middle of the road.
"Ey mon!" Cried Zifu from the trees. "Da unnatural leader be sayin dat we be needin to stay in da cover o'da trees."
"I do not care for those orders," Keshick replied, "this is already going to be easy, least we could do is give them a warning that we're coming so they'll be ready and give us a bit of a challenge." The two other Forsaken in the group gave Zifu a withering glance at the "unnatural" quip, but nodded in agreeance to the orc's statement.
Without another word, one by one the five of them came out of the woods and walked together down the middle of the road. Keshick in the lead followed by Zifu hobbling behind him. Chomper came up, nipping at his heels with Priska in hot pursuit and the two Forsaken taking up the rear. An hour later they came across two patrol men carrying torches. They caught a glimpse of the raid group and immediately turned to run back to Darkshire to raise the alarm. Priska caught one of them in the back with an arrow...they let the other one get away to deliver the message.
...The Horde were coming.
