Araia's Dilenma 1

Araia had become a place where the travelers gather to wait out the orc Warband. People had this tendency to gather around with a lot of people to avoid disaster.

I became part of this crowd. We stayed here for a week already that it doesn't me. Thought that it was smarter for us to wait out the storm than dive into it.

Yesterday I saw the Jakian Cavalry rushing to battle. Some of them have familiar banners. Four banners that were mostly noble houses with Knights on their banners. The situation is largely because no four banners and more would come to this place unless it was a Chieftain that had united an entire tribe.

My companions are apathetic to this. I am interested in it because I was still the 'Archduke' that my interest was in this matter. From what I heard from the travelers who were telling what they saw. It seems that the banners of the Jakian Noble Houses were going to directly interfere.

It was because of how effective this raiding party was in taking the spoils of wars. There have been villagers that were wounded, but not dead, forcing the soldiers to take the villagers, tiring them out. Those who resisted were brutally killed and the rest were taken as slaves.

Even Araia had started to become a place where refugees gathered outside of the cobblestone walls. I got inside with my companions so we were allowed to come in and out unlike the refugees. Also helps that we had brought them favor once in a while when Orc Scouts would somehow jump over the walls.

It was terrible even outside where there might be some of them waiting in the bushes. To say that the outside was dangerous is an understatement, knowing that there are creatures trying to murder them. If it's this bad then I couldn't imagine the rest of the villages that have been affected.

We as a race were not alone and even though we share the same race. There are days where we simply could not understand each other. It's only when there is greater interest and merit to such action that they would follow through. I understood this well in my time as the Archduke for over thirty years. That people don't move unless you give them reason and benefit from doing so.

The same principle applies to confronting the orc Warband. There was simply no merit in doing so unless you want to be hired by the Noble Banners and Houses. But even then are you willing to hand over your life to these nobles? If you take away the fact that they are willing to give up the money, are you willing to face the orcs who stood tall and strong?

It requires courage to do so. It was troublesome to deal with so most of the mercenaries were keeping away after resting in Araia. The rest were heading to the Capital and the others were planning to take another route.

Meris, Bren, and Shanie actually told me that if conditions here get worse. We would take another route and go northwest instead. This means that instead of heading west, we would have to go North, cross the borders, and avoid the orc Warband.

For now, we decided to stay in the town and observe what will happen. Only through observation can we somehow guess what will happen.

Later on, we heard the news of the noble banners forcing the orc Warband back to the forests. As they tried to retreat another orc raiding party caught them by surprise, trapping them inside the forest, burning about a hundred men. When panic came in the orcs came to the open, hunting them down.

But the noble banners apparently were not helpless. A great wizard brought down a rainstorm on the forest and used his prana to give the forces a chance to retreat and keep their heads clear. However, the mercenaries who fought did not do well. The most professional ones fought as a group and held down the orc horde. After four hours of fierce battle, the orc horde retreated. The battered, injured, and tired knights retreated from the scene and carried themselves to a captured fortress.

They couldn't even rest as another orc raiding party gave siege. According to the scouts who had passed through Araia, they wore down the forces at the captured fortress, giving them no time to take a rest. The Mages who stood with the noble banners did not hesitate to bring down a firestorm on the orcs, but it seems that the orc came prepared as they had their shamans repel the prana with their own disturbing magic which hindered the forming of some of the spells. With the prana not working, the battle became a melee. What the Knights had was the strength of their armor. They matched the orcs blow for blow and started ravaging the land.

One of the scouts then told us that they came from the mountains northwest of the Jakian Empire after hearing the stockpiles of food that the humans have. They were not stupid enough to deal with a Kingdom that houses the Wizards and the Weavers so they pointed their intention to the Empire instead. It seems that the orc chieftain had started to hunt down the monsters first, but in the end, it became a Warband where they had to raid towns and villages to feed the gluttonous orc war band. It was a headache no matter how much he thought about it.

Although everything had been fun and exciting. The prospect of facing the orcs was something that I do not want to happen. I admit that though there is a part of me that wants to face the orc in battle because of the wraith's essence. The rational side of me wanted nothing to do with the orc, but with how widespread this orc Warband and how many raiding parties are trying to hunt down their enemies. It won't be long until Araia gets involved.