TCoT: Sacking of Orsinium

  • The Chronicles of Theryn

    Sacking of Orsinium

     

    It was the year 4E 15, the Empire was slowly collapsing on itself and the provinces slowly mobilized their army's. It was a perfect time for mercenaries like me. I was payed to take a very old warhammer from an Ayleid ruin to the King of Orsinium. They say that it belonged to his grandfather.

     

    I made my way towards Wrothgar mountains. I crossed the border of High Rock and went north.

     

    After a few days of travel, I came upon an Orc that was trying to fix his wagon.

     

    "Do you need some help with that?" I asked.

     

    The Orc turned around. "If you're willing to help me." he said.

     

    "No problem." I said and approached the wagon.

     

    The Orc lifted the wagon and I've put the wheel into place. The Orc lowered the wagon.

     

    "Thank you. Were are you traveling to?" the Orc asked.

     

    "Orsinium. I've got something to deliver to the king." I said.

     

    "You're here to visit the king? May I travel with you?" he asked.

     

    "I could use the company. The road can be a lonely place." I said.

     

    We traveled to Orsinium together. As we reached the gates of Orsinium, I saw a giant statue of an Orc wielding a warhammer. The warhammer looked like the one I was carrying. I hoped that no one would notice. I wanted to go through this as fast as possible.

     

    I went up the village and into the castle, passing by several more statues showing the former kings of Orsinium, like Torug gro - Igron and Kurog gro - Orsinium. I made my way into the palace and saw the King sitting on his throne. I got to the throne and kneeled.

     

    "Your highness. I bring you the warhammer you have hired me to find." I showed him the weapon.

     

    He stood up and went down the few steps in front of the throne.

     

    "I gave you a job and you did it. I am an Orc of my words." he turned to his servant. "Pay the mer."

     

    I got my septims and the king told me to go to the inn near the entrance to the village. I forgot the kings name by now so I'll just call him King.

     

    I got to the inn and said that the King sent me. "Ah, you must be the mer he sent for the warhammer." the innkepper said.

     

    "Yes, I am. The name's Theryn Elinos." I said and shook his hand.

     

    "The King has ordered us to give you a room, food and drink for the night." the innkepper said.

     

    What followed next was probably the craziest wake up I ever experienced.

     

    "GET UP!" the Orc soldier yelled and dragged me out of the bed.

     

    "What is it?" I asked, confused.

     

    "The army's of Wayrest are laying siege to the city!" the Orc said.

     

    "WHAT!?" I yelled. I knew that I should have left yesterday.

     

    "How did you not see them?" I asked as I grabbed my sword.

     

    "They must have marched to the east during the night. That would explain why our sentries didn't spot them." the Orc said.

     

    "And why is that?" I asked.

     

    "There is a small ridge 15 minutes to the southwest." he said.

     

    "Which protects you but hides your enemies." I said.

     

    "Exactly." said the soldier. "Now go to the King. He has asked for you."

     

    I got out of the inn and set my eyes upon the burning village below the fortress. Villagers were trying to put out the flames but the fire spells just made the flames grow larger.

     

    I got up to the throne hall and met the King. He was now wearing a full set of heavy orcish armor.

     

    "Finally you're here." said the King. "I'll pay you double the amount of your last pay if you help us in this battle."

     

    I knew that I would die if I tried to leave the city during the siege. The Bretons would cut me down in seconds. And so I got myself into a stupid situation for a merc. I ended up fighting for the city of my employer. A chance to live and tell the tale was a good prize. I nodded.

     

    "I had hoped you would join us." the King said and nodded towards the doors.

     

    We went outside, across the village and to the main wall. As we got up to the bowmen standing on the walls, I finally laid my eyes upon the Breton army. I saw an army of 10 000 men. The first row was made of mages that were placed there because the Bretons lacked in bowmen.

     

    "They will try to hit us with their spells to soften us up for the main attack. They will use a frontal attack." the King smiled with his soldiers. "They never learn."

     

    The mages started to move forward. They were about to cast their fireballs when the King yelled. "NOW!"

     

    Giant arrows fired from ballistas hidden inside the walls flied towards the Breton mages. They were slaughtered by the giant arrows as several of them were pierced by one arrow. The first line broke and the Bretons had to pull up their catapults. The catapults threw their ammo and some parts of the walls came crashing down. The Bretons now had a way in.

     

    The Breton warriors charged into the holes where they met cold orcish steel. A fight started in the village as 10 000 Breton crossed swords with 3 500 Orc defenders. As most Bretons were bogged down in the holes in the wall, the Orcs had a better fighting chance and after a while, they started to push the Bretons back into the field.

     

    The Breton general realized that he can't win like that and he retreated a few hundred feat away.

     

    We taught that we had won when all of a sudden a scout ran up to us with terrifying news.

     

    "I saw the army of Hammerfell marching towards us. They're with the Bretons." said the scout.

     

    A few minutes later, his news were confirmed as the Bretons started moving towards the wall again with the sound of Redguard war drums behind them. We saw the elite Al'ikir in the front row, armed with their iconic curwed swords.

     

    "We're going to have to retreat." said the King. There was only silence. I couldn't believe it. The mighty King of Orsinium was going to retreat.

     

    He turned to his defenders. "We have been attacked by man for centuries. We had always rebuilt our city and we will rebuild it again. Grab the women and children and go east to the border with Skyrim." He gave a map to his general. "This will lead you to our new home." he said and turned to me.

     

    "You have done well." he threw me a bag of septims. "Help my people get to safety." he nodded towards a small canyon behind the throne hall.

     

    The King and 200 of his best Orcs stayed behind. They formed a single circle and got surrounded by the Breton army.

     

    "The Bretons came here to spill our blood!" said the King. "But, obviously, they do not know how to do that! So, I beg you brothers, take your weapons and show them how!"

     

    And with that, they let themselves get charged by the Bretons. They managed to slaughter half of their forces before before they were cut down. Before he died, the King managed to yell one final. "FOR ORSINIUM!"

     

    We made our way to the canyon as the Redguards went into pursuit. I started firing arrows at them, cuting down several dozen of them before moving towards the other side.

     

    "Go forward. I have a plan to stop them." said the Orcish general and climbed up the walls of the canyon. He struck his sword into the ground and with a hard push, he moved a boulder which fell down and blocked the Redguards.

     

    We managed to get out of the canyon. The general thanked me for the help and left with the rest of the Orcs. I went south. I had some bussines down in Sentinel, and to get there, I had to get across the mighty Al'ikir Desert.

     

     

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    Author's Note: I hope that you liked the second story of The Chronicles of Theryn as I had a lot of fun writing it. I would also want to dedicate this story to one of our dear Hosts, Karver the Lorc.

Comments

2 Comments   |   Kopo Copo Qopi and 3 others like this.
  • Tenebrous
    Tenebrous   ·  March 29, 2017
    A story set during the sacking of Orsinium? Genius! And I love the references to former notable kings of the Orcish captial. Nice work!
    • DeltaFox
      DeltaFox
      Tenebrous
      Tenebrous
      Tenebrous
      A story set during the sacking of Orsinium? Genius! And I love the references to former notable kings of the Orcish captial. Nice work!
        ·  March 29, 2017
      I'm glad you like it. :)
      At first I wanted to do a crime story about the assassination of Potentate Ocato by the Thalmor but I'm not that good at writing crime stories, so I went with this. :D
      Also I was inspired by the Orsinium DLC for ESO.