On the western border of what was until very recently The Landis Kingdom a mighty army is assembling. The Green Orcs have assembled their largest ever raiding force from a dozen different clans.
The humans have been attacking into Orcish territory for almost a month now, and the chiefs have decided that it's their turn to go on the offensive. The goal is simple, conquer ten times the land that the humans did, to prove Orcish superiority. Now, the humans only got thirty square Kilometers, so that should be pretty easy, but it's possible that they might fight tooth and nail to hold their lands.
One thing sets this force apart from any other though, the members of this raid are not all Orcs. Tens of thousands of Beastkin have formed their own Clan and are fighting at the Orcs side, and one lone Elf stands beside the daughter of the Yellow Tusk Clan's leader.
He's a level 116 War Priest named Nathaniel, and the Clan has welcomed him as one of their own. At first the others doubted his worthiness, but his wife is mighty, and his healing is reliable, so the complaints ended as quickly as they started.
"Morgan, what is everyone waiting for?" Nathaniel asks, looking out over the assembled army.
"It's good luck to start a Raid as the sun comes up, so we won't leave our territory until then." She explains, leaning up against his side.
She's right, the moment the sun breaks the horizon, the horns start and the Raiding force moves into Landis, Beastkin first, looking forward to the impending retribution they're going to exact from these evil humans.
They were driven from their homes and many of them lost their families or children. No Beastkin of Landis escaped without paying a price and it's time for the humans to pay up.
The defense force at the first village they reach is woefully understaffed, not even attempting to mount a defense before they simply flee the village. But to the raiding force, that just makes them a moving target.
A strong Orcish or Wolf Kin warrior can run just as fast as the horses that the frontier guards use, and often for much longer. Today, they have a great motivation, and the guards are caught within the hour, the first sounds of battle filling the air as the clans spread out to capture new villages.
The Orcs have a simple rule, they don't attack those who won't fight. If the farmers and villagers don't take up weapons and willingly agree to be under Orcish Rule, they will let them live. That is what the first village decided, that the leaders didn't matter, but their lives did.
After all, they had once been a mostly Beastkin territory, and the survivors of their former neighbors are with this raiding force.
The second village they reach is full of Human Liberation Front zealots, and even the children take up weapons to fight. They're the Yellow Tusk Clan's first target of the day, and Ghaz sends his warriors forward into combat, while the archers and mages set fire to the village.
They learned long ago that human villages are filthy, and full of disease, so when they conquer one for themselves, they traditionally burn everything and rebuild from a clean surface. Nathaniel and Morgan are charging with the second rank of fighters, right in behind the tank classes who have just reached the village defenses.
Only a few hastily erected barriers slow their advance, with heavy Orcish Axes meeting Landis steel swords and pitchforks with a harsh clang that the Elven Healer isn't sure he will ever get used to. But he raises his shield and mace, swinging down hard onto the head of a zealot with tattoos covering his whole body.
The damage causes a healing effect, the specialty of his class, using attacks to trigger healing spells, and the Orcish front lines are pushed back towards full health.
With his wife to his left and his brother in law on his right, Nathaniel is quite confident in his safety. The fact he's half the size of the Orcs around him doesn't hurt either. He's very hard to target.
The zealots have started getting organized now and Nathaniel backs up a little to heal the group without being interrupted. He can do a lot with his combat heals, but when things get really intense it's best that he just focuses on healing.
Morgan has a green glowing Axe that she recently purchased from Dimnys of the Darklight Host that seems to intimidate the human defenders. It's not poisoned, as they seem to think by the glow, it's actually a fire type enchantment with the flame modified to glow the same color as Orcish skin.
In this situation the intimidation is more effective then the one more Axe would be, keeping the defenders paranoid about being poisoned while the Orcs are targeting their healers.
A barbarian manages to get behind Morgan, swinging a brutal two handed sword at the back of her head and Nathaniel cancels his next healing spell to crush the man's knee with his mace. The barbarian never noticed the small man among the crowd, and the blow sends him to the ground with one limp leg. Nathaniel adds a bow to the back of the man's head and sees his body go limp.
He's only unconscious, Nathaniel doesn't deal enough damage to kill him in two hits, but that's enough for now. He returns to his healing, bringing their tank classes back up to full health while the Orcs finish off the downed soldier.
The defenders have been pushed back into the village limits now, but they don't show any sign of intending to retreat or surrender, it looks more like every able body is already in combat.
His brother in law Ghaz is having the time of his life here, and they've now been joined by Gillian and Ghaz Senior, Nathaniel's in laws, and the leaders of the Yellow Tusk Clan.
"We've got them surrounded now. Once the village falls the Yellow Tusk Clan will officially be the first Clan to have claimed a village in battle this expedition. It's a glorious day for us." The big woman laughs, proud of her people's accomplishments.
But this is only the first of many battles to come. The Orcs won't stop advancing until they've reached the sea or someone manages to stop them by force.
