Apostles of Doom

“Greetings!” Tal Gor said. He had no idea who this orc was; presumably Beya’s apprentice, although the boy had greeted him as if they’d met before.

“I can hear him!” the other boy said, also sounding familiar.

“Relax your eyes; do not squeeze them so tight. Relax,” Beya advised.

“Okay, I will try. It’s just tricky to relax and still keep my form,” the second boy said. They waited a few moments in silence.

“Oh, there — I see you!” the second boy said, turning to face Tal Gor, his eyes shut. “Hey, Tal Gor! Good to see you again!”

“Again? I do not believe we’ve ever met,” Tal Gor told the boy.

Both boys broke into broad grins and started to laugh.

Beya squeezed their hands. “Stay calm; you will lose your trance state if you don’t relax!” she cautioned them.

“Sorry,” the first boy apologized to Beya. He grinned to Tal Gor. “It’s me, Rupert!”

“And I’m Fer-Rog!” the second, oddly familiar-looking boy said.

“What?” Tal Gor asked. He did a double take and had to glance at the glowing bowl to stabilize himself. The orc that had identified himself as Fer-Rog did look like Fer-Rog, the D’Orc boy from Mount Doom; that was why he looked familiar, Tal Gor suddenly realized. And the one claiming to be the son of Lord Tommus did sound like Rupert.

“How?” Tal Gor asked in surprise and shock.

“Skinwalking,” Beya Fei Geist said, smiling gently at Tal Gor.

“Skinwalking? D’Orcs and demons can skinwalk?” This was incredible, and more than a little disturbing.

Beya chuckled. “Of course, or at least some of them can. Do you not remember Lord Tommus masquerading as Edwyrd the human animage?”

Tal Gor shook his head in amazement. “Yes, but… well, he’s Lord Tommus, the Heir of Orcus. He can do whatever he pleases.”

Rupert chuckled. “He’s also my dad! I’ve got a human form as well; I thought it would be good to also have an orc form.”

“And Rupert taught me how to do it too!” Fer-Rog said excitedly.

“Interesting,” Farsooth Gore Tusk said, suddenly appearing sitting to Tal Gor’s left.

“Indeed,” Ragala-nargoloth snorted, also appearing in the circle on the other side of Farsooth. Is she smoking a cigar? Tal Gor wondered in shock, looking over at the shaman. How does one smoke an astral cigar?

“Ah, greetings!” Beya told the other shamans.

“Yes, as I was about to explain, Lord Tommus has asked me, and by extension the rest of you, to help train Fer-Rog and Rupert in the shamanic tradition. We will be needing more shamans; particularly on the Mount Doom side,” Beya told them.

Ragala-nargoloth nodded her head. “Excellent idea.”

“It should also be easier for them to blend in and learn orc traditions if they look normal. Demons and D’Orcs are more likely to provoke a violent response in those that are not familiar with them,” Farsooth commented.

“What is the other pillow for?” Ragala-nargoloth asked Beya.

“We have one more guest for this evening; one of us who was not able to attend the celebration,” Beya explained even as the pillow was filled by a new orc.

“That would be me,” the new orc said as he arrived. “My apologies for running late. I was detained on my shift, transcribing a very long-winded order from Admiral General Darth Nargolos’s second assistant deputy.”

Tal Gor and the rest nodded, not completely understanding what the very oddly dressed shaman was saying. Oddly dressed was perhaps an understatement, Tal Gor reflected.

The orc was wearing a sleeveless black silk vest-like tunic, trimmed in silver and belted at the waist with what appeared to be a woven metal belt about a claw’s length in width. He wore matching black silk pants that opened up wider at the ankle to cover very large boots made of some very unusual material. His wrists were encased in very odd gauntlets, each with a glass surface with glowing and blinking lights on it. His arms bore various tattoos, many of which were fairly traditional for a shaman, but some of which made no sense at all, at least not to Tal Gor.

He also wore a small coronet with a few gems mounted on the front, and metal strands or wires running down to his ears to join with an earring, at least on Tal Gor’s side. His head was shaven except for a very long ponytail from the rear crown of his head. Not a completely uncommon style, but the metal wires lacing it were quite unusual.

“I am Leftenant Trig Bioblast, Second Shaman of the OCSS Skull Crusher,” the newest orc introduced himself.

“Greetings, Leftenant.” Beya nodded at the shaman. “I am Beya Fei Geist, Shaman Mistress of the Olafa Horde on Ithgar. We Dream Spoke previously.”

“Indeed; a pleasure to astrascope you,” the leftenant said.

“Farsooth Goretusk, Vice Shaman of the Rockgut Horde on Romdan,” Farsooth introduced himself. “I must ask, what is an OCSS Skull Crusher?”

The leftenant grinned. “The Oak Clan Star Ship Skull Crusher.”

“Starship?” Rupert asked. “Sorry — I am Rupert, Lord Tommus’s son and apprentice to Beya Fei Geist.”