Tiger - Venture Co.

The speech

Zaigerne and Rafal ventured through the tunnel in utter silence. Rocky floor of the cave was cold and wet, and he needed to concentrate on walking, for he wished not to slip over for a second time, his backside still hurting from the first fall over. Even tho he mostly concentrated on keeping himself from falling Zaigerne knew, that they should make some plans about what they would do when they would arrive to the great hall. But he could not break the cave’s silence, for it felt almost holy, almost as the touch of the Earth Mother still rested upon there. He gazed quickly at Rafal, who’s eyes were closed. Meditating, he thought and turned his eyes back to the slippery floor.

Zaigerne grunted. The silence of the cave was no longer undisturbed, instead he could hear faint echoes of voices coming from behind an distant corner. He turned to look at Rafal, and their eyes met. He nodded to the young druid, and turned his gaze towards the corner.

“It seems they have started without us,” Rafal noted. A faint feeling of anger and frustration could be heard from his voice.

“It appears so,” the old shaman answered. “But after all, we are not important enough so they would wait for us. Let us make haste, I don’t want to miss Shadespear’s speech.”

Both taurens increased their pace, and soon they arrived at the corner and moved around it into a great, nature made hall that was filled with hundreds and hundreds of the members of the Horde. The distand voices became crystal clear, as they joined the mass, and above all the grunting and stomping a lone voice, filled with emotion, could be heard. His figure stood atop a great rock in the middle of the round cave, his bodyguard and lieutenants standing next to him. He was a tall man, for being an undead, or he would have been if he wouldn’t have stooped. He wore an black armor, and an long silk cloak. His massive axe laid next to him at the rock. There was no doupt that this was indeed the William Shadespear

“…so my brothers, as I’ve already said I’m proud to see so many members of our Horde here, for we have many matters to discuss. Now, as you know, the fragile truce between the weak Alliance and the Horde is failing. It appears to me, that the promises they made after we saved their puny kingdoms during the third war truly meant nothing to them. They have openly insulted our emissaries, they have slain our brethren, and now they think they could ask us to help them with the “menace” of Onyxia’s brood? Hah! The traitorous cowards just wish to see us fighting against THEIR enemies, dying for THEIR land, and when the battlefield would be clear from the living, when we would have emerged victorious, they would betray us and kill us and take the precious jewels we fought for. Believe me, this would occur if we are ever to trust the Alliance. Also, I wish to mention…”

Zaigerne stopped listening. He knew the people like Shadespear, their speeches filled with promises and hatred, with little if any true meaning. But Shadespear was clever, heh ad to admit. He closed to his main subject slowly, gaining the attention of the crowd while he did. Many of the members of the Horde he saw at the cavern were listening to Shadespear eagerly, nodding to his words. The old hatreds could be easily awoken by a person who knew what he was doing.

Suddenly Zaigerne felt someone touching his shoulder. Again he turned like an youngster, only to face an grin only undead can make.

“Tóuche,” the undead lady said and cackled. Not much could be said about her, for she wore full leather armor, so only her face could be seen. She had glowing yellow eyes, and her lower jaw had long since dropped from it’s place. All in all, Zaigerne could have imagined prettier sights to see.

“Mijo,” he said grimly. “I have told you over an hundred time that you should not try to pick me from behind.”

“Sorry boss, just an old habit. By the way, I have done the task you gave me. Wish to hear the results?” she said and grinned again (grinning without a lower jaw really has a striking effect).

“tell me,” Zaigerne said quickly, forgetting his anger. This was something he desperately needed to hear.

“Well, you gave me an order to check what people think about this Shadespear,” she spitted as he said the name. “And if there are any important persons around. To be honest, I think you ain’t liking the answer.”

“For some reason I’m not very surprised,” Zaigerne said coldly. “Give me the cruel facts.”

“Well, the atmosphere here is, that most of the crowd agree with Shadespear. They can’t just forget the first two wars they had with the Alliance. And about your other question, there are far too many here than I’ve imagined. For now I have spotted about 20 or so, most notable of them being Magatha Grimtotem. You may know her, I presume?” the little accent at the end of the sentence made it a clear question.

“Yes, I’ve heard of her,” Zaigerne muttered, but refused to say more. Magatha was indeed a powerful member of the Horde, and if she would give her aid to the Shadespear it would harm his efforts of keeping peace between Horde and the Alliance.

# posted by Officer @ 5:13 PM