Now that Kalam and his subordinates had arrived, the annual chief gathering could begin. The main topic of this cycle's gathering... War. Although, war was essentially the main topic in every gathering they held, it had never been as serious as this one.
Kalam boisterously walked over to the final table and directly sat down. Only after sitting did he nod vaguely at Shaman Bones and ignored everyone else. His vice chief, Zerath and blood chief's nodded at Shaman Bones before sitting, also ignoring everyone else.
No one uttered a fart, not even Shaman Bones said anything. Everyone was used to Kalam's overbearingly arrogant behaviour and they also feared his strength. Indeed, he was the most powerful orc in Ruvion. Zerath his vice chief was no pushover either. Even his blood chiefs were stronger than the other tribes blood chiefs.
Although Kalam was arrogant, he was still reasonable in the way he dealt with his people, which was why they also earned his respect. Another reason why they respected him was because of his bloodline power. He was the only orc of this generation to unlock his fourth bloodline seal, which was a particularly difficult thing to achieve.
What were bloodline seals? It was a limiter that was naturally placed upon their bloodline power. Through various arduous means, the seal could be broken, advancing their bloodline power to new heights. This allowed them to execute greater magic and more powerful skills.
Shaman Bones cleared his throat. "Ah- ehm" Then he walked over to stand at the center of the table setting. He glanced over everyone, and began speaking. "I declare this annual Chieftain gathering officially begins, now. Let the ancestors bear witness to the decisions of the future leaders of our race. Let us lead our people to further prosperity and development."
"Hoorah!"
The orcs said in unison, slamming their fists once onto the tables altogether.
Shaman Bones continued. "Our main discussion for this gathering is whether or not we will be going to war against the humans and the elves." He spun around as he spoke, stopping his gaze on Zogriff. "Chieftain Zogriff, since you were the first to arrive how about you initiate."
Zogriff nodded with a serious expression on his face. His cheery attitude when facing Shaman Bones earlier was gone. He started with, "As you all know, the land of Terramis has been in a state of peace for a long time. All races have been keeping to themselves in an attempt to avoid conflict because of a simple legend- The Nightmare Legend."
"We've been through this several times already. The legend of the blood dragon Venox, who is capable of being resurrected from chaos and the blood of the dead. Our ancestors believed it to be true and so did the ancestors of all the other races. As a result they made alliances and signed treaties with each other to maintain peace."
Everyone listened attentively to Zogriff's words even if they all already knew their history. A good speech never lacked some good story telling after all.
Zogriff continued enthusiastically. "In my opinion... The great war was terrible. So terrible that too many lives were lost. I'm uncertain as to whether Venox truly existed, but I am certain of one thing. What's dead is dead. It can never return to the living. Our predecessors decided that they didn't want another war like that to occur, so they made up a story and passed it down through generations. The idea of what Venox is supposedly capable of put together with the idea that he can be resurrected is terrifying. And so, everyone who believed it remained as such-- terrified." He glanced at Zenif and Borg as he said that final sentence. It was obvious what he was implying through that gaze.
All the blood chief's nodded in agreement with Zogriff's words. The other Chief's simply listened quietly.
Zenif however, had something to Interject. "In that case, you're once again implying that nothing will happen if we go to war and countless lives are sacrificed. That Venox is a myth and we are simply living in pointless apprehension."
Zogriff did not respond. His gaze said "Wasn't that obvious?"
Zenif smirked with mirth. "Every gathering we discuss this very thing, only to end up doing nothing in the end. Tell me, Zogriff, what makes this gathering different?"
Zogriff chuckled, which evolved into laughter. "The difference this time? Fine then. Let me explain the difference so you understand our predicament." He exclaimed. "The humans are increasing in numbers and growing ever stronger. They pretend to be intending to continue to uphold peace but their weapons grow more powerful by the day. What happens when they become capable of wiping us out in the blink of an eye. Do you think they'll be thinking of any mythical dragons then?"
His face hardened. "Then there's the elves. They're allied with the dwarves who constantly supply them with weapons. Even if the dwarves claim to be peaceful-- are weapons made for peace? NO! They're made for war. The elves aren't preparing to slaughter fowls and pigeons, that you can bet on." He paused, glancing over everyone. "There's also this-- Listen well to what I'm about to say, and this isn't a joke. I believe the elves may have found The Forbidden Index!"
The moment Zogriff mentioned The Forbidden Index, the faces of nearly everyone present either turned shocked, complicated or blank. Those who knew what it was were either shocked or perplexed and those who didn't were blank and lost.
Shaman Bones was the only one who remained practically indifferent, with a vague smile on his face.
Zamash and Kalam had even bolted up to their feet with concerned expressions on their faces. This was a very serious matter to them.
"Why do you believe this Zogriff. Do you have proof or something?" Kalam asked in a grave tone.
"Well?" Zamash said afterward, looking at him.
Zogriff's eyes narrowed as he cast a glance at Dyn and then at Gulmorn. The two of them looked at each other, and then nodded at him. His gaze leveled again, "There was an incident with the elves recently in which one of them were able to summon a quiver of ten spirit arrows."
Ten spirit arrows?
Everyone was visibly shocked by the revelation. They all knew how difficult it was to train in Elven Spirit Archery. Those who were considered extremely skilled could at most summon four to five arrows. What kind of talent would it take to summon ten arrows?
"As you know, Spirit Archery is unique to the elves and also very difficult to train. Summoning three arrows is already asking the heavens for too much. What would ten arrows signify? A blessing from some Celestial emperor beyond the reach of time." He exclaimed in exaggeration. "There is no proof to show that it is the forbidden index, however for those of you who know what it is capable of... you should understand."
"Hmmm." All the chief's had entered deep apprehensive thought, including even Zenif. They each had a certain level of understanding towards the Forbidden Index.
Shaman Bones spoke up at this moment. "For those who do not know what The Forbidden Index is, allow me to point out a few things. It is a lost relic from some unknown civilization that appeared during the great war. In fact, the primary war wasn't the entire cause of the bloodshed that ensued back then. If it had to be explained in finer detail, there were in fact three wars that happened simultaneously and consecutively.
Three wars simultaneously?
Not many of the orcs knew the fine details pertaining to the great war. In fact out of everyone present, only Shaman Bones, Kalam, Zogriff, Zamash, Zenif and a few others knew that there were three wars. Majority of people assumed that it was only a single war due to its name. However the name Great war was meant to signify how expansive it was.
Shaman Bones continued with his explanation. "One war was between ourselves, the humans, the elves, dwarves and dragons. This was the initial war with the soul purpose of eradicating the dragons. We all know the details of this one very much, save for the fact that it did not yet include everyone."
"The second war which was taking place simultaneously, was between the argonians and Saurians. They were having a territorial dispute, when the argonians discovered that the Saurians had strange power never seen before. It was later discovered that they had trained using a mysterious book that granted them enhanced control over magic and mind boggling abilities." Shaman Bones poured out this new unknown side of the story to those who were clueless. "The argonians gathered even more forces at that point in order to force the Saurians to cough up the source of their mysterious power. The conflict intensified and both sides lost countless lives. Eventually the argonians, through interrogation learned of the Forbidden Index."
"Then, somehow, the humans, as well as ourselves and the others also found out that the Saurians were in possession of the forbidden Index. I assume it was a strategic tactic by the argonians to get help dealing with the Saurians. And so, forces from the other races joined in the war against the Saurians. They wanted the power of the Forbidden Index to deal with the dragons. Thus two wars took place simultaneously, one with the dragons and one with the Saurians."
Shaman Bones smiled a strange looking smile after reaching this point. He specifically looked at Zogriff. "This was when the third war was set into motion." He exclaimed.
The third war?
Everyone continued to listen attentively to Shaman Bones's amazing story. He was the Shaman after all. The one who had access to all kinds of knowledge and knew the strangest things. In their history, they regarded Shaman Bones as the most well versed shaman ever.
"All of the bloodshed and chaos from the two occurring wars caused the resurrection of the blood dragon, Venox." Shaman Bones eyed everyone present with a light smile.
Everyone suddenly had perplexed expressions on their faces. The reason for that was because Shaman Bones always insisted that the blood dragon was real. As the shaman, his insight was invaluable. Every gathering he would be the main one to convince everyone that it wasn't time for war. Not by stating it directly, but through his belief in The Nightmare Legend. It would always force them to reconsider whether they wanted to take the risk. After all, it hadn't been five thousand cycles as yet. Potentially, Venox could still be resurrected.
Everyone knew the rest of the story from this point. A large black dragon filled with energy of corruption was resurrected, forcing all the races, including even the dragons, to unite to face off against it. Apart from Venox itself, there were leagues of possessed animals used as minions through mind control. Thousands of lives were lost before Venox was eventually slain. Then during his final moments he claimed that once there was enough bloodshed and chaos within five thousand cycles, he would return once again for revenge.
"Everyone should know what happened afterward. The known Great War took place between all the races and Venox claimed his return upon his death." Shaman Bones quickly summarised. "The argonians and Saurians were wiped out during the war and all traces of the forbidden index was lost." Shaman Bones grinned. "Or so everyone else thought." He glanced around at the quiet crowd of orcs. "The truth is that, one of us had stolen the Forbidden Index underneath all the chaos and kept it to himself. It wasn't until generations later, when Oxhorn, our honourable chief overload revealed the matter that we knew we were in possession of it."
Everyone's gazes turned toward the overlord statue with awe in their eyes. They had no idea that their chief overlord had such a history. It was no wonder he had been so powerful that he could unite all tribes under his rule.
"Ah-em." Shaman Bones cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "I've said all of this to make two points." He paused. "One is that whether you believe it or not, The Nightmare Legend is true."
"Secondly, think about the Forbidden Index. Do you know why it is considered to be so powerful other than its impact on history? It is because that was how Honourable Chief Oxhorn was able to unlock our hidden bloodline power and pass it on through generations. The Forbidden Index is capable of unlocking Talent."