The Rape of the Reach, or the Myth of Red-Eagle, Chapter IV: Orcí Tells of the Reach

Orcí Tells of the Reach is the third chapter of the epic Rape of the Reach. This chapter revolves around Orcí, an exile from the Reach finding shelter with the Empire, who tells queen Héstram (empress Hestra) of the Reach, and its inhabitants.

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Héstram Uí Aledb returned from her inspection of the army, and put down her armament in her tent. Next to her were Tulír and Orcí, who accompanied the queen in her everything. Héstram said: "Tell me, Orcí, of the lands I will conquer and rule, which will be mine in the coming months. How are these lands, what roams there, and who are the men I will be about to meet?" Orcí replied: "Do not fear, my queen, for I know these lands well, and are familiar with what roams there and who you will be about to meet." "Know that these lands are rocky and rugged and barely forested. They are unlike anything you will know; not like the plains and meadows and glens of Coloviagh; not like the jungles and the wealds and the forests of Nibhenn; not like the water and the city and the White-Gold of Seshach. The Reach is a land not fit for foreigners. Be careful where you step, O queen, for every rock and mountain can shift in an instance, especially for outlanders." Héstram said: "I'm am not afraid of nature, for my people have a long history of changing it, as we will have in the future. Ever since the Demon-Elves build their idolatry to their ancestors, the lands of the Círoid have been changing to the whim of its inhabitants. No mountain will stop me and my legions, just as no river will." "Tell me, Orcí, of what roams in these lands" Orcí answered: "Know that the creatures in these lands are different from anything in your own lands. There are bears taller than mountains, wolfs that can bite through a solid iron sword, and cats with tusks the size of a full-grown man's arm. Killing any of these is worthy of a king. But these are not the most dangerous creatures. There are spirits and creatures some say are divine. They command the air, or the water, or the animals, or dark forces all together. We are safe from them because we pay tribute to their mothers and fathers, but I do not know if this will be enough for the Círoid, for these lands or not yet yours." "Tell me, Orcí, what kind of people live in these lands" Orcí answered: "Know that these men are the most dangerous thing in the Reach. They are a proud people, and will not bow down easily. No men of the Reach is willing to give up his house when he is alive. You will not get these lands to bow down with diplomacy. Every boy in the Reach has been taught in the sword-feat and the shield-feat and the javelin-feat when they were old enough to walk, for it is part of their games. Any Reachman would be the better of a Círoid." Héstram said: "I have more men than they. I do not fear them, for they should fear me and my might army, which is bigger than any amassed yet. I have sworn to slay them eightfold for any men that is slain of me, for this is a holy number to the Círoid." Orcí replied: "Those are big words, my queen. I know that their kings have sworn to slay your men nine fold for any that is slain of them, for that is a holy number to the Reachmen. There men might fall easily, but the kings won't, for they are stronger than any mortal [and some even say they are divine]. They love the trust of their men, and will act accordingly." Tulír joined in: "They are heathens, every last one of them! They still hang on to the old belief of the One, while we know that missing deity is no other than Kai himself. They are stuck in their ways, and they will need the Order to bring them sense. If this is to be done by my Song, Héstram's Sword, or Orcí's Venom, so be it." Orcí said: "Still, it is best to be careful with them. Even in my current state, crippled that I am, and having nothing more than a wooden sword, I am still able to beat at least one battalion of thousand and eight men, sustaining as many wounds so that not a surface the size of a spear point will not be covered by bruises and cuts and blood, and live. I can guarantee that every single Reachmen that will take up arms will be able of the same feats, and especially their kings, who will be able to beat nine battalions of thousand and eight without as much as a scratch." Héstram became mad with Orcí, and she exclaimed, in a voice that some said was that of a Dragon, and made the mountains from the Dark lands in the East to those of the Divided West tremble, and made the Seas of the Ice in the North and those of the Sun in the South rise and swell, and return back again: "My armies are not the same men as you Reach-scorn fight! They are not merely Nede or Nord or Kothri or Men-of-Ge or Mer, but are something else entirely! They are the result of Tamhréal, the people of the Heart of it, the most exalted and revered of all! Their swearing on their gods will be their undoing, for our gods or mightier!"