Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-5543592-20150615234235/@comment-5583506-20150616233622

''Because of my earned moniker... I have a warpaint of it between my breasts. Want to see?''

"My last name", she replied enigmatically.



"My lord!" exclaimed Mystara as she came barging into his tent.

Don't call me that, he reflected.

"What is it?" he muttered as he was studying a map over the Reach.

If the Orcs intention was to push through the south-western regions of Skyrim there was little he could do about it, save for cutting off the path which would otherwise provide them with reinforcements. His force wasn't perhaps a large one, but over half of the men under his command were seasoned veterans from former wars. He himself had participated in the Civil War... and for his horrendous crimes of war against his opponents, he had been stripped of everything. Titles, lands, wealth... Only his moniker and name remained, and that was something which had served him well so far. Men obeyed him and fought for him just as soon as they learned of the name of Arngrim Bearsbane, the Bull of the North.

He had his own agenda for fighting Skyrim's wars now. If he did well in pushing the Orcs back, perhaps he would have his titles, lands and wealth restored to him. He would once again be a lord and prove the world that he was indeed worthy of that title, but now was not the time.

"Hm? What is it?" he repeated.

"It's... your men, my lord. They took some horses and left just a couple of hours ago."

Arngrim clenched his teeth hard together and made a grimace of disdain, but that was all there was. There were no harsh words spoken, no anger shown. Just an expression of contempt for disloyalty.

"How many?" he asked.

"All the mercenaries that we picked up in Windhelm. Over half of our force."

"Doesn't matter", said Arngrim and smacked with his lips. "Bloody sellswords, that's all they are."

"So... what do we do? If we are to continue to clean a path for the armies of Skyrim to fight against the Orcs and secure the borders we need more men."

"I know", said the Bull and scratched his bearded chin in indifference to the news. "But good men nowadays are rare assets to come by. Most of them have either tucked their tails and run further into the country to escape the greenskins, or they have fled the country entirely. Men are now as equally valuable as gold. Who would have thought?"

"Good. Then all we need to do is to stop by Falkreath and hire ourselves some more men and..."

"No", denied Arngrim. "No more sellswords. We need loyal men. Men who will fight for the cause of securing Skyrim's borders, not for shiny trinkets. Besides, we don't even have enough gold to buy ourselves a band of brigands."

Mystara swallowed hard. Any other man in the Bull's position would have gone mad from insecurity, but not Arngrim. In some miraculous way, he always managed to keep his head calm, no matter how dire the situation was. If he so was to stand and face the entire Orc legions himself, she strongly doubted that he would have hesitated from fighting them. He wouldn't even flinch. This was a man who probably had more bravery and a sense of duty in his body than he had personality.

"So, what do you propose then?" asked the Dunmer mage and crossed her arms. "I can't just summon loyal men out of nowhere."

Arngrim cleared his throat and tapped with his finger against some villages on the map surrounding the Reach. "If I push back the Forsworn in this area, these villages will thank me for it. Hell, if I ask for men perhaps they will happily lend me a good lot of them."

"The Forsworn?" asked Mystara with uncertainty. "They are skilled warriors. They will not give up easily. Why not... why not ask them to fight? The Orcs are as much threat to them as they are to anyone."

"I hope you are joking", said Arngrim sternly. "The men and women of the Reach doesn't fight for anyone but themselves. And if I come there as a Nord asking for their alliance they will spit in my face and probably have one of their Hagravens to burn me alive."

''I would rather let them flay me alive before it comes to that. No fire will ever touch my skin again...''

"It was just a suggestion", sighed Mystara.

"And it was a good one, just as it was a foolish one. No, we will go through Falkreath first and see if there are any men close by whom we could round up and recruit. And after that we will head straight to the Reach. I would rather set this whole land to the torch myself before I see it fall into the corruption which the greenskins will bring.