You’ll probably never get used to the sound of orc cries after a
won battle. Every time after their victory, a group of orc warriors
would come to the tavern to celebrate, while whooping and giving out
long roars filled with joy. You felt he sound echoing deep in your
chest as you walked pass them, carrying a tray with beer mugs
to the next table.
You worked at the tavern since a few years, earning good coin from
the regular patrons, often very drunk ones. It wasn’t unusual that
after a fat tip, you’d get offers from drunk man, who either wanted
to bed, or marry you, or just couldn’t stop staring at your
cleavage, exposed by the ridiculous dress you were required to wear
at work. You always rebuffed them and seen that they get home before
turning more insistent. You didn’t care much for them but you knew
other working girls sometimes didn’t mind disappearing in the back
with the more handsome patrons. But short, drunken squeezes behind a
curtain, between barrels of beer wasn’t what you were after, so
mostly you just answered their offers with a smile, while shaking
your head.
On that evening the orc horde who came in to celebrate was one of
the most regular ones around here. They were mercenary warriors, who
were often hired by nobility that were at war with someone. No one
who hired orcs for their armies, ever lost a battle. They were fierce
warriors, strong as four men in one, hard to kill, fast, skilled,
with weapons that could split the skull of a dragon.
One of the greatest of them was Gunnar. You knew he was in more
battles than others, judging by all the scars that covered his
muscular arms and shoulders you once saw bare after they stumbled
into the tavern right after battle, where he lost his armor, and by
the respect the other orcs showed him. He also had an impressive
amount of beads in his hair, that you once overheard were like
insignia for orcs. He wasn’t taller or broader that others in his
group, but he was more composed, stoic, at least when he was in the
village. While his companions celebrated and shouted, he only laughed
and drank, and never failed to leave some more coins for you at the
table when they left.
Monsters and Villains 