The disappearal of Grazgorn... Part 1 (the other parts will follow here also)

[Grazgorn]

6 months ago

Grazgorn left Erik's training outrageous because he had been the only one playing by the rules. It had been a kind of training-hunt-session. Down in Cave with earth elementals alongside ettins. The goal was to get as much gold as you could and it was possible to knock friends and steal their gold. Hard not to play by the rules then Grazgorn thought. Another rule that applied was to help your friend up after giving them a good old bashing. Grazgorn had found himself knocked several times. Often by plenty of people byt never helped up.

So pissed of he was...

Despite this he stayed until the event was over, should he only had stayed a little bit longer he maybe wouldn't have disappeared.
Furious, as said, he went towards his home beset on an isle not far from the jungles. As closed in to the location he could hear screams and see smoke coming from the island...

When he arrived he saw the ophidians raiding houses and taking people from the small island. Grazgorn quickly realized the danger and sent away his pigeon with a message to his fellows in Cove to reinforcements. He then moved away from the tree he had been hiding behind and towards the houses to see if he could get a better overview. Unluckily the ophidians managed to see Grazgorn and they charged towards him...

Without any other option Grazgorn charged the ophidians but he was outmanned and outflanked. The fight were a short one and he was struck to the ground. The ophidians around him then continued the raid, but one of them stayed to drag Grazgorn away.

As he was being dragged away he could see his house burning down. He turned his face to the other side as if to ease the pain but he quickly regret that he did. Because not far from him lied his pigeon... Pierced by an arrow... He realized that no help would come for his aid...

[Grazgorn]

Part II

Grazgorn woke up. It was dark. Of the damp smell and the complete darkness, he were in a cave of some sort. He could hear the hissing of the creatures that had taken him away. But he could not see them. Moving somewhere could prove fatal so he decided to stay put.

Several hours later...
Still it was completely dark but now he could hear voices. Not only from the snake people but also from humanoids.

"They came for us... They came...", he could hear one of the voices silently chanting...

Another disturbing voice came from another direction... "They will make us feed... They will make us feed...

Another few hours passed of crazed chantings and moanings...
Suddenly Grazgorn could see light coming from somewhere. Torches by the glow of it. Almost blinding him. He regained focus and now suddenly saw the extreme mass of people lying around him all moaning and chanting the same words They... They... The hissing came closer and closer. He could see their faces. They were throwing picks of different sizes in a pile and pointed into the depths of the cave and said the following words...

Slavesss, worksss

There was only one who refused to pick up a pick and start moving down. He cried that he wouldnt, he demanded that he would be set free. The snake-people stared furiously upon this man and then all out of sudden one of them attacked rapidly and what Grazgorn and the others could see was blood spraying all over them. He knew they were in no position to refuse these creatures and that most of them would probably die down here. But for what purpose...?

[Grazgorn]

Part III

Days had gone without food now. Grazgorn soon could barely stand up, and he had seen how the ophidians had slain other people that couldn't without hesitating.

They are coming... They are coming..., he heard a voice utter from the dark.

And soon Grazgorn could hear them, the crawling in the tunnels. Their torches lit up the chamber they were in. The ophidians were dragging huge bags behind them. A dark haired very skinny man crawled to Grazgorns side telling him:

Ju-just eat, b-but don't look... Don't look! Just e-eat, you w-will need the energy...

The man started sobbing, but he kept it silently has he held his life dear even now. The ophidians emptied the bag on the floor, and Grazgorn saw how everyone closed their eyes and began crawling towards the pile of grey meat. Grazgorn follow their example and began crawling to but still with his eyes open.

As he closed in he saw the grey coloured meat, looking like half rotten, half-boiled skinny pieces. Looking for a healthier looking piece he suddenly saw a human head. A boiled wrinkly grey face. Probably the cooking of these human body parts made the skin grey, if it hasn't already turned grey by putrefaction. He started throwing up, mostly just stomach acids and the pain it caused to his throat was immense, made him start to cough and leading attraction to himself.

The ophidians quickly crawled towards him and one of them took a steady grip of his throat and threw him against the wall. A loud crack could be heard from Grazgorns leg has he landed on the stone floor. He started screaming in pain. The ophidians surrounded him. One of them started talking to him...

Sooo, oursss food not good enough for yousssss...
Eat and your life will be spared, please just do it, a human voice could be heard.
Silencesss, one of the snake people hissed.

Grazgorn reluctantly began crawling towards the pile and grabbed a piece that seemed to have been an arm, at a closer look he could even see the small straws of hair that has covered the arm before the death of this person...
He closed his eyes and bit a clean chunk of that very arm...

[Grazgorn]

Part IV

4 months had now passed down in the caves...

Everything the ophidians did to the prisoners, or slaves if you may, either killed them or made them insane. Grazgorn had gone towards the state of insanity. A little piece of his mind was still concious. And that part had been using a stone to carve in the amount of days that had passed.

Not much had changed down there. People died, or went crazy. Those who were to crazy was killed and made food out of. Grazgorn was on that brink of being killed. What actually kept him alive was his working abilities. He never stopped working, perhaps that kept him from falling of that brink down to his doom.

If the ophidians suspected that someone was becoming a threat to them. They would also kill them. Grazgorn's working morale was worrying them it seemed. And they were beginning to think that this was not a good sign... He was working too hard, too willingly. After all, the ophidians had given their slaves mining picks...

So suddenly one day. Grazgorn was talking to five fellow slaves down in the mines
to persuade them into making a run for it down the caverns and to find another exit. He had noticed the torches down in the caves flickering... Further down into the cave, that must mean that there is another exit, he thought. He managed to talk them into it. But... The ophidians were watching them constantly. But they were also patrolling in odd shifts. And sometimes there were only one of them guarding. This moment Grazgorn waited for.

And then it happened! Grazgorn ordered his fellow kin to take a torch each and begin running, telling them that he would catch up with them. The ophidian noticed that five men were running away down into the depths. Instead of calling for backup it charged. Suddenly it stopped. Without a sound. Grazgorn smiled as he removed the pick from it's pierced throat. He went down also but striking at the tunnels wall making it collapse. He smiled as he runned after his fellows.

Now you might wonder what they were going to eat down there if it would take days to find that exit. The ophidians had taught him something that a human never could. There was a reason for bringing these five men down when he could have made it out all by himself...

[Grazgorn]

Part V

The five men were wondering where Grazgorn had gone. They had heard a rumble from where they came. They felt a relief and at the same time very uncertain. They knew that the ophidians wouldn't get after them in a while. But they had to find the exit before the torches faded away. The torches worked not only as a light source but also as a guide to the exit as they where flickering in the direction the exit was in. But it was a maze of tunnels, and they couldn't see any light from any exit yet.

One of them suggested that they should split up, there were most likely nothing down there that could kill them anymore. They thought about it. But if one of the groups found the exit they had to go find the others going in another direction and take them to the exit and then get out of there. It felt unwise. But they came to a conclusion. It would be smart if only one torch were lit, that way they would have reserves to use if the one lit would burn out. This to be sure to always have light if it took longer to find the exit than they had thought.

On they went, hungry, uncertain. Suddenly they heard footsteps behind them. It must be that man who helped them escape. Suddenly it went silent...
They decided to continue. They went on for awhile, and then stopped to see if they could hear any footsteps. They suddenly realized that they only were four...

Grazgorn had silently snuck up behind them, syncronising his steps with theirs then quickly taken a steady grip around the last man's throat and mouth and dragging him into the darkness. Once he felt he and his victim were safe he threw him at the floor. Grazgorn's eyes had become so used to the darkness that he could see. Not much, but a little. His victim sobbed out of fear, wetting his pants. And as all of the man's dignity ran away in that very moment, Grazgorn realized what he was doing.

"No...", he thought to himself, "... I must not give in to the hunger"...

Grazgorn helped the man up. Telling him that it was him. But the damage had already been done. The man started screaming for help.

"No, you must be quiet", he said, "I never meant to harm you, please be silent".

The man screamed out of fear. Grazgorn realized what he had to do. He took the pick that he had brought with him and took a swing at the crying man. For a moment it was silent. But then suddenly. He could hear several footsteps. And by the sound of it they were closing in quickly...