Saur's Way Back to Power

Saur was once a powerful chieftain, but he was growing old. He didn’t participate as much in raids, and often let the village sort itself out. A strong, young orc grew tired of this, and challenged him at a feast. There was no way for Saur to back down, even though he wanted to, because not just his body but even his spirit had become weak.

The battle was intense, but Saur was not the orc he had been and found himself defeated. He lived, but was wounded. The chieftain’s tattoo on his nose almost destroyed. The villagers didn’t take care of his bleedings, that he had to do by himself by the river, because now he did not even have a cave. No one seemed angered at his defeat, and no one helped him with his wounds. The next day he went back to the village to gather his things from his cave. At least he could build a hut and still live with the others. When he walked through the village no one looked his way. He had been chieftain for many years, but no one glanced his way. He met the young orc on the way to the cave, and got permission to get his things and then stay in a hut that he had to build himself.

There he stayed for two days, and each day he felt the pressure of the others for him to leave. He who had been feared and respected was now neither. His fellow orcs wanted him gone, maybe they had hoped the challenger would have killed him. The next day he took the things he could carry and left the village, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of him slipping away during darkness.

He travelled south, far into the forest. He didn’t want to be near the village that had thrown him away, but he couldn’t bear to be too far away. The rest of the summer he spent in a hollow tree by a river, living day by day. One day, he thinks again of the young orc and his village. He drew his fingers over his damaged tattoo. Once the village had been proud of having him as a chieftain, now he had become someone they barely respected.

That was not godd enough.

He had grown weak in both body and spirit, but with this resolution he felt his spirit growing stronger. Saur went down to the river and picked the biggest rock he could find, but he couldn’t lift it. With an annoyed grunt he went to the second biggest, this one he could only lift a bit over the ground. The third biggest rock by the river he could lift above his head, but it took much effort.

For the next year, Saur strengthened his body, and by mid-winter he cold already lift the biggest rock by the river without trouble. This wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to go back to his village and crush the young orc into the dust as easily as he could lift the rocks. So he put the two biggest rocks on each other and continued to lift them. This was not all he did, Saur also trained in several ways which he never revealed to anyone.

When summer came again, he was stronger than he had been even in his youth. Saur collected the few things he had brought, and went back. Nothing had changed in the village over the year, but as he walked through it everyone looked his way. When he got to the big fire he shouted out his challenge. The young orc came at once, and they stared each other in the eye, with the rest of the village already talking about who would win. They were surprised to see their old chieftain again. Especially now when he was bigger and stronger than he had been in many years.

The battle began and while the young orc remembered Saur’s defeat, no one would think to approach and orc that looked like Saur looked now. His arms were like logs, and his legs equally powerful. They circled around each other, the young being careful. Saur sensed his advantage and took control. He hammered his fists over the young orc, who could do little but defend. Soon, Saur stopped. It was pointless and stupid to kill such a strong villager, and so the young orc was allowed to live.

The ink crafter filled in his chieftain tattoo, and Saur continued to hold the position for many more years.