The Harvest Moon Consortium

[Winterhawk99]

Gorag

The other young uruks had taken me - Gorag - and tied with a strong rope. What had started as a game, at one point took another direction. Now they were carrying me to the altar.
The anger had built up in them. The raids on the clan...most of the worthless bandits were humans. Humans who enjoyed killing brave uruks.
Now they suddenly blamed me, as if Gorag was human. Was it because they were stronger than me? Or were they envious because Gorag could think better than them? Right now Gorag felt like an idiot, an idiot that would soon be dead – sacrificed to a god Gorag could no longer feel the presence of.

We were there at the altar. Boshnak, the stronger of them, pulled his dagger. Gorag could feel the eyes of the others as Boshnak slowly moved the tip of his blade towards Gorag’s chest.

Gorag said desperately: “You can’t serve me like this!”
“Huh?” Boshnak answered. He never liked complications.
Gorag was quick to add: “The Mighty likes the meat fresh with herbs, to add divine flavour.”
“Huh? – Mighty eat grass?” Boshnak laughed, but started to look a little uncertain.
“You must tie the herbs to my limbs, or the Mighty will become angry” Gorag replied quickly.

They started to discuss among themselves. They knew my mother was Shaman. That added weight to my words.
Gorag told them to go down to the Cougar Clan and take some parsley from one of the farms nearby.
An hour later they were back. They were not quite so eager any more, but Boshnak was persistant. He wanted blood.

They undressed me, strapped the parsley to my naked body and pushed me back against the altar. Boshnak had pulled his blade once more.

“He wants me fresh” Gorag said “that means unspoiled”.
“What now?” asked Hroga, who stood next to Boshnak. “Let’s get this over with!”
Gorag looked him firmly in his eyes and continued: “The Mighty demands that the finest sacrifices still have the blood running in their bodies when he comes to collect them” “He wants to pull out the pounding heart himself.” Gorag added: “The Mighty comes at night and does not want to be disturbed”
Ulgar, the brightest of them looked suspicious. Gorag had to scare them before they had time to think any more.
“Then take out my heart now...” Gorag shouted “and see what happens tonight when the Mighty comes to you to take back the living heart you have stolen from him!”
They were quiet as they tied me to the altar before they left.



Later that evening mother came to the altar. She had prepared a sacrifice and was going to dance before the altar. She wondered where Gorag had gone and was hoping the Mighty could give her a vision in her dance.
She untied Gorag immedeatly and was told the whole story. She laughed when Gorag told her how the others had been fooled. She said: “Gorag, you remind me of your real father”.
She then told me for the first time about my father. And by doing that, she also explained why it now was time to leave the clan.
Gorag put the rope and the rest of the rags in front of the altar. Gorag cut open the wrist and poured blood all over the altar and the rags. Mother closed my wound with some herbs and gave me her cloak to wrap around me. That night Gorag left the Bloodbone Clan. The next morning everyone thought Gorag was dead.

Last night mother told me for the first time who my father was. Among uruk kin she has always claimed that Gorag is a gift from the Mighty one. No one dared question that. They feared her mystical gifts too much.
Gorag is her first kid. Gorag’s father was a human, a weakling. He came to the caves in the area to look for a passage to the dark people, the cousins of the “flower in blood” as we say.
He used strong mojo that made mother believe he was a strong and great hero. That’s why she slipped mojo mushrooms into his supper so he should like her better. Gorag is the offspring of their short romance. She never saw him after he went down to the underdark.
Gorag now can understand why some of the uruks see me as a human, and why Gorag no longer can stay. When it has come to this, there won’t be any place for me in the clan anymore. And now, this very morning, Gorag is dead to them.

Mother said Gorag should go to the humans. It will be dangerous, so Gorag must be smart. Few of them like uruks, and they will see me as one.
She told me to go to the human city. They know strong mojo, and she keeps telling me Gorag have a talent to learn.

Gorag went to the nearest tribe of humans, the ones that call themself cougars. They were surprisingly friendly. Maybe Gorag don't look that much like an uruk after all.
They pointed me in the direction of the human city.
On the way there, Gorag had to defend against a pack of wolves. A club in the head does the trick – “haha”. The rest of the trip went well.
Gorag passed through some rural areas with several farms and started to ask where the city was.

Gorag finally entered the city. It's a strange place made of stone, with many openings you can enter. But still not a cave.
Once inside the city, Gorag entered a stone building and came to a place with an old man and many books. Gorag found a book about the beginnings of magic. Gorag must read that book to understand more.
Next door is a place with a human that talks about Oghma, another god, and balance.
The city is a strange place, indeed.

Gorag has read many books on magic now. Gorag begins to understand how to make spells. Can make light so Gorag can sit and read in the night. Can also make small electrical shocks to start people. Read about a spell that makes your hands burn. Gorag likes to go in the library.
The Oghma people have become my friends. Many people come to visit their temple. Sometimes they have important visitors and then they play harp music.

The people in the city also try to teach Gorag common tongue. It’s easy to learn, but hard to get used to. They want me to say “I” instead of Gorag, but my name is Gorag and that doesn’t sound like “hai”.

Now Gorag has got many books on magic: The origin, the schools, different degrees of difficulty and so on. Gorag know how to use pure magic as a weapon and how to summon an assistant.
The Oghma people have given me some small jobs. That has made it possible to buy more books. They have asked me to do a job quite different from anything else so far...


Sierra Na under a Harvest Moon, is what they call this place. “Hai” (haha) don’t know what to say about it. Seems quite wild with tribes disturbing the peace. Forest everywhere. The people here seem nice though. Gorag hear rumors about an old city that once belonged to the flower people. Now they say it’s run by dragonkin.
How Gorag got here? That’s hard to say. Wonder if it has anything to do with this Oghma business.


Story by Mick Dagger