Silgrad Tower from the Ashes

Long ago, a clan by the name of Favala was raided by some mountain orcs. The Favala Clan was ready and the men arrayed in a line, carrying bows, and fired volley after volley while their children and wives fed them quivers of more arrows. The orcs fled, but one neither killed nor cowardly, was injured and could not leave. The orc begged for mercy in his guttural speech. One of the warriors was about to kill the hurt enemy, but the Clan-headman stepped between them, and proclaimed the orc his slave. The orc was captured and the clan set it to work plowing the fields, harvesting the crops, repairing the warriors' armor, and carrying the goods when the Master went on trips to Andasreth to trade. Years went by. The Orc made and repaired the armors. He saved the children's lives when they fell into Ouada Samsi. He drove the guar hard and gathered much grain. The Clan began to appreciate his servivtude, but he was a slave, and no more. One day, he told his master, the Clan-headman, that he too was a chief, and it was humbling for him to serve the Favala, but that if the headman needed reinforcements for his warriors, his orcs could be of service. The master thanked him and told him he could have some respite as he plotted an attack on a local Ashlander tribe, for they had been at war, and the Favala had started it.
One day, Master Favala became very ill. None of the clansmen knew what sort of disease this was, and they were not about to go seek the Ashlander wise-woman for aid. The orc suggested that eating the feces of an ill person could help the taster determine the type of disease. He offered, and the clan allowed him to. He tasted some of the uncleanliness and said that it was possibly a corrupted alcohol. Lo and behold the clan found that scribs had gotten into their barrel of sujamma, which was reserved for the Master and times of celebration. The Orc then prescribed an antidote and it worked. The Master, amazed at the loyalty of his orc, announced that the Clan was to give it their full trust.
That night, a guar was stolen by some Ashlander youth and the Master was furious. He asked the orc, as orcs are often good architects, to make him a castle. And the Orc did. Great stone walls, too high to see over, surrounding the estate were made and a tower was made next to the Velothi manor. A 'killing-alley' was made by a double row of walls, that would entrap the enemy. He readied the Favala warriors' armors and polished their swords. They would be ready.
One day while out in the field, the Orc ran inside and told his Master that Ashlanders were seen on the horizon. The Master of the Favala gathered his warriors and they rushed to heed their Headman and stood ready by the second wall. The Orc pleaded to his master to call to the Malak-Orcs for the Ashlanders were many. The Master consented and the Orc blew on his horn. Immediately Orcs could be seen coming out of the hills. However, when they reached the first wall, instead of going into the gaps (into the killing-alley) they began putting up large wooden beams against it and breaking it at certain points. The outer wall fell and crashed into the inner wall, breaking it. The walls fell and crushed all the Favala warriors. The remaining clansmen fled with their women and children and the Orcs killed the House-thanes and took the slaves as their own. The Master stood at the doorway of his house and realized he was beaten. Master Favala begged for mercy, retelling how he had saved the orc's life many years ago. The Orc simply shook his head and raised his ax.

Know your enemies before you make friends.

Those orcish pigs! Always knew you can't trust a filthy orc...

Excellently done, somehow even after reading the title i was suprised by the ending, and it was a pretty enjoyable read. A nice fable that people who aren't lore-freaks can enjoy

Wow, guess turning the other cheek doesn't work all the time, does it?

Some nice morals to be found in that story, and also learning the fact that Orcs don't come to love their old enemies after spnding years with them, raising their children, and being respected among them.

A better ending would have been the orcs coming, then they were placed in the ranks, and then a sign was given by the other Orc there and they killed all the Dunmer. Then they get a castle with fortified walls and everything, so none of it is destroyed.

yeap, I tried to keep things simple and understandable, yet a nice twist despite the seemingly obvious title. I wanted it to be a surprise even more cause the reader would expect something other than what happened. Plus, I had to make sure that a few points were made... the message to the Dunmer is to know their enemies well before making friends, who could be their enemies. By the way, I was inspired to write this story from an old Chinese proverb.

Quote:Originally posted by IAMTHEEMPEROR
A better ending would have been the orcs coming, then they were placed in the ranks, and then a sign was given by the other Orc there and they killed all the Dunmer. Then they get a castle with fortified walls and everything, so none of it is destroyed.

I thought of writing that, but I had written a story long ago when I was younger and something of that sort happened, so for my own sake I wanted to be more original...

Fear of plagerizing yourself?? Well it's a good story. of course those barbarians would destroy the castle, they're uncivilized brutes! It does do a nice job of a) teaching a lesson in war and trusting the enemy, and b) reinforce the dunmer's prejudice against the orcs.

Done with only a couple of minor alterations to the grammar.