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Chapter 1: Part 1
GATE: Thus I was Reborn as a Half-Orc and Tried to Civilize a Savage Bunny Tribe
For many thousands of years, our home has been connected at times to a certain plane. An untamed and wild world, it is this place where the majority of the female dominated races originate from.
The mysterious and secretive Striped Lahmia who dwell deep in the jungles of the Dragon's Jaw Isles.
The capricious Sharp Toothed Merfolk who raid the southern shipping lanes for loot and plunder.
The soft spoken, but deadly Queen Cobra Gorgons of the eastern desert whose potent venom can turn a humanoid into stone.
And of course, the Head Hunting Rabbit tribes of the great eastern plains.
Dangerous races one and all with an ancient history of constant, bloody struggle, but among them, the Bunny tribes are without a doubt the most prolific and successful migrants.
It is said that their homeworld was one of scarcity. A place where the works of civilization and science had never passed the point where sticks and stones were the weapons they prized. That the most queenly accommodations were the upraised huts of mud and grass where tribal leaders resided with their carefully guarded breeding stock.
Be it a quirk of their formation or a safeguard made by their foreign gods, males of any race were a rare breed with every birth being a joyous occasion to a tribe blessed with such a gift. Regardless of whether they were born of the mother's or the father's race, they were a precious existence, kept safe by the blood of their mother's, sisters, and cousins against rival tribes and the many predators that roamed their home.
An often repeated tale, when the Gate opened for the first time fifteen hundred years ago, a small group of chosen heroes and priestesses were sent to this mysterious realm.
When they returned to their tribe, they did so not with stories of gods and demons, but with a gaggle of curious canine-like males who were hunting in the area. Soon more bunnies were sent along with their new 'companions' in order to further relations with these strange, curious wolf men.
It was unbelievable to the bunny people.
Never had so many males been seen together, and by their awkwardly burgeoning dialogue, that it was normal for so many to be part of a clan. It was unfathomable to them that they were even allowed to hunt and war!
Not only this, but the other world was a lush land, filled with game and vast areas filled with edible plants and grain. With such a welcoming land full of bounty, mystery, and willing flesh, it was no wonder that so many decided to leave their ancestral home.
And thus, the Warrior Bunny Tribes made a life here.
Savage, simple, pure.
But it was life all the same.
-Excerpt from High Elven Loremaster Salisbury's Humanoid Species Compendium, Volume 18-
Part 1: Fire and Frost
Prologue: Blessing
"He was quiet as an infant. There was none of the usual fuss that accompanies the rearing of humanoid pups, regardless of race. Even before he opened his eyes mere moments after his birth, I knew he was different. Blessed by the Gods."
-Layna Frostfang regarding her Blood Son, Khornami Frostfang during his infanthood-
1st Spring
Khor
As far as I could tell, it'd been roughly a month or so since I'd been born. My eyesight was rapidly getting better as were my other senses. Much faster than a normal human infant's would develop.
It was probably a perk of 'nudging' the feeling of what I somehow knew was my development mostly towards the physical. From what I could tell during the short bouts of consciousness that began occurring more frequently as what I assumed was my mother's heartbeat grew clearer, I was given the opportunity to hedge my body's growth in several paths.
To describe the innate feeling I had of this process, I'd started with a template with minimum and maximum thresholds I could slightly nudge this way and that as a baseline.
My race? Species? Whatever it was, I knew that the base template of the creature I was going to be reborn as something strong. Maybe I wouldn't be the smartest or fastest thing out there, but I was pretty sure I'd be strong enough to eventually take on an entire pro rugby team and have a good chance of bashing my way out. That same something told me that there'd be a limit however, with the tradeoff being an increased level of mental acuity compared to the 'standard' template.
The reverse also applied in this case.
I knew that I should've been able to go one way or the other if the template wasn't… meshed? But I was locked in. Could've been that I was a nonstandard… something or another.
Regardless, I'd noticed something very curious. The 'potential' of my old body had been added on top of the parameters of this new one on top of the baseline that was already there. With just this I knew that I'd be abnormally strong and smart when I finished maturing, something bordering the top 2% of what I was going to be born as. I'd be at least as intelligent as I was before and much stronger than I'd ever had the capability of being.
But more than this, there was yet another pool of completely unspent 'points' just waiting to be allocated. I knew it to be larger than what it should be, twice that of what would normally be allowed for a new soul. The personal instincts and desires of the unborn meant to 'customize' the body before birth.
I wondered for a long while whether I'd just bumped aside whoever it was that was originally supposed to be here, but a sense of urgency began to overtake me as 'time' passed. I didn't have to dawdle forever so I made my choice.
I was already going to be more than I was on every level. But given I didn't know what life was going to be like once I was breathing again, going a full physical build seemed like a better idea. Whatever was out there, I was going to survive long enough to enjoy my hopefully long next life.
With that thought I'd nudged my physical parameters far above what my new body would've normally been capable of and metaphorically closed my eyes to wait the death of my ego as the circle of reincarnation refreshed my mind and spirit.
Except that I didn't lose my sense of self or my memories of the life I'd had before I ended up here. The details of my original body's death were a little on the fuzzy side, but that's not really important.
What was were the blurred shapes that looked and felt like hands holding me close to a soft something followed by the voices of what sounded like speech.
That realization was relieving in more ways than one.
I was human. Or at least I thought I was.
So color me surprised when I saw the blurry, but still discernible, lightly furred face of a rabbit eared woman cooing over myself and several other bundles.
Given that was now several weeks ago, I got over the surprise. I had more pressing concerns at the moment.
Namely, I was moments away from soiling the cloth diaper wrapped around my bottom and all around me my… brothers? Sisters? Cousins-
Well, whatever their relation to myself, the babies were fast asleep.
There was finally a moment of peace where all the kids had nodded off and if I didn't think of something soon, nobody was going to be happy for the next hour or two.
Then a shadow slid past the light of the falling second moon, the first having set an hour ago.
"Khor? What are you doing awake?" The young woman who I believe to be my mother ghosts with silent footsteps towards the comfortable pen me and my fellow inmates were currently confined.
"Gu." Hello mother. You're up early as usual.
The brunette colored woman with blue eyes leaned over the small pen where we babies slept, playfully tapping a clawed fingertip against my nose with a loving, hooded gaze.
Behind her I could hear the beginnings of adults and older children stirring and getting ready for the day ahead. Given I'd been able to do nothing but look around in between long naps, I can't say that I was really bored.
Seriously, there was a lot of anthropological work and theorycrafting to be done!
Besides being stuck in a pre-industrial society, the first thing I'd noticed was that the majority of the people living here were long eared females first, non-bunny males second, and male rabbits being the rarest. And by rare I meant that of the hundred or so individuals I'd seen milling around the den, I'd only seen two.
I'd wondered at first about the impossibility given that my skin was currently a pale greenish color and that I lacked the fuzzy ears of my crib mates, but there had been other children in what I think is the extended family den. The majority of them had been furred in some shape or another with most of the non-bunnies being what I believe is some sort of canid.
A wolf? Maybe a fox? I'd seen older boys fitting those characteristics running around.
I hadn't seen another person with green skin like myself, but one of the boys sharing the crib area with me is a human, I think. There's enough children of what should be different races sleeping, crawling, playing, or bawling that I'm beginning to come up with a few theories.
Firstly I can probably nix the idea that the non long eared children are adopted. It's not like these bunny ladies are going out stealing babies or something either. I'd seen plenty of pregnant women on one day, the next there'd be a new bundle placed in the pen, and soon after the missing bunny would return haggard, but happy with obvious affection for the new neighbors.
So, from what I can observe either these rabbit women pop out non-bunny infants at random or they're one of those fantasy races that can magically be impregnated and carry to term children not of their own kind.
Without shame I can admit to wondering whether I'd landed in a hentai world. What with the number of objectively exotic and beautiful women walking about in the near nude, it didn't seem all that farfetched in reality.
Seems awesome in hindsight, but I'd rather not get NTR'd or do the NTRing. Or the raping.
Simulated non-con filled with fuzzy handcuffs, panda blindfolds, and plenty of giggle worthy one liners are totally cool, but uh… yeah.
If I end up being an orc or something I'd rather not go around furthering that specific stereotype thank you very much. I'm not that kind of orc.
Heh.
Urk, yeah gotta poo.
Ma!
Silently locking eyes with her, I raise my small, chubby arms with a real sense of desperation and communicate the universal baby body language of 'up'.
"Right, right, c'mon up you go~" Despite the bags underneath her eyes, the youthful woman gently picks me up with strong, calloused hands and presses me against her chest.
Ah no, I'm not hungry mother.
I turn my face away, pressing my cheek against a bountiful bosom whose cloth bindings were already halfway loosed in preparation when the bunny woman makes a small noise of confusion.
"What is it Khor? Aren't you hungry?" A sleepy, but indulging smile finds itself on her face as she lifts me higher to rub her nose against mine. "Do you want to spend time with your Blood Mother?"
"Nnnnngu." I grunt, scrunching my face up as best as I can in an attempt to get the message across.
"Oh. Oh. Wait just a moment child and let's save us both some time." She titters nervously as we make our way towards the slit trenches.
I like this one more than the others. She's quick on the uptake.
"He's a strange one, isn't he?" My mother spoke her nonsensical gibberish of a language while bouncing me up and down her lap.
I played along, using the opportunity to exercise my legs a bit as she chatted with a scarred woman of middle age who bore a strong resemblance to the younger bunny.
Said woman snorts softly to herself, using the remains of a mangled left hand missing its two last fingers to stroke a sharp steel dagger against a whetstone. "Of course he is different. Did you think a child blessed by the gods would be normal?"
It was a comforting noise. Something familiar that I'd grown used to in my last life whether it was preparing a blade for field use or kitchenwork.
"Of course not Blood Mother." Ma rolls her eyes, using the same title she uses to refer to herself to the person who I'm pretty sure is my grandmother. "He's just so quiet and measured in his actions. My first child he may be, but I've helped care for many of my clan cousins and children. He so rarely cries, and the way he watches those around him whenever he's awake. At first I'd worried he was slow of mind, but there is a deliberateness in everything he does that doesn't befit the actions of a babe."
Ma chews her lip lightly, tugging lightly at the thin fabric hugging her breasts with a raised brow before smiling ruefully when I turn my head with a noise she'd come to learn as 'no'. "You see?"
"Mayhaps he is an old spirit reborn. Or perhaps he is the sum of his unborn siblings together in one container? Only the gods know my child, and it is apparent that he's been blessed by them." Grandmother chuckles in an chiding tone before scooting over. "It is not so rare for orc-blooded to be born without siblings, but he has fire and water in his eyes, not like yours which has too much melted snow."
The elder bunny hovers over me at her daughter's side, presenting the dagger held by the guard so that I could equally grab the blade or the handle with my hands.
"Blood Mother! He's too young!" Ma attempts to interrupt, but doesn't move me from her lap.
Instead she bites her lip, but locks her eyes with mine with a sense of curiosity mixed with rightly felt dread.
"Well my youngest grandchild? Which do you choose?" Grandmother asks something with a fang filled smile, watching me carefully with her arms tensed as if ready to pull away the moment I went for the shiny, pointy end.
Wow. Yeah, you're a badass grandma, but pretty sure I'm not going to let you babysit my kids if I end up having any in the future.
Still, I get the idea well enough. While I'm not sure about our neighbors, but back in Korea we hold this ceremony for year old children where we give them a few toys prior to their formal naming. It's a type of fortune telling from the oldest days and the first time around I'd apparently grabbed the brush to signify that I'd become a scholar or writer of some sort.
Prophetic in some sense, but in the more immediate sense I guessed this was more along the lines of some kind of warrior tradition here.
Of course I'm going to mess with her a bit.
Regardless of her scars, Grandma was cute so I wanted to elicit a satisfactory reaction from the hardened and grinning woman.
"Blu Ma." I stated with all the poise and authority I could muster with my infantile body while firmly wrapping my small fingers around the single large digit of grandma's left middle finger.
I love you~
I giggled as a baby would, joyfully smiling and kicking my legs while my right hand reached to join my left around the frozen digit whose partner was still carefully lifting the blade away from my body.
Her middle finger separated slightly from her index, allowing me more room to hold on even as a small, soft breath left her lungs and her eyes widened minutely.
Ever so slowly did my mother's hand leave my side to snake to the side and gently pull the dagger my grandmother gently released to her daughter's grasp away with her own tinkling giggles and smile.
"Do you see Blood Mother? How different he is?" Mother whispers, rubbing her cheek against grandma's and knocking her out of the elder woman's reverie. "He is both sweet and intelligent beyond his years."
"He is odd indeed." Grandma speaks with hooded, warm eyes as she allows me to wrap my fingers around her mangled hand. The older woman leans in close, nuzzling the tip of her nose against my fingers ticklishly while humming to herself in a familiar tune Ma used when it was nap time.
"A loving heart." The mother of my mother soothingly whispered, stroking her thumb against my fingers. "And such strength already." She laughs softly when her two fingers and thumb flex lightly and I do so back with all of my insignificant baby power.
"Will he be a great warrior as well as a bridge to the gods?" Mother asks, bumping her shoulder against the other woman while stroking the hair lightly dusting my head. "He is growing so quickly…"
"Yes. He will be strong. Very strong." Grandma replies in a hushed tone, looking deeply into my eyes.
I stare back, wondering why she looks between my left and right as many others do before putting more points into the idea that I may have different eye colors.
"Blood of my Blood, Khornami Frostfang." Grandmother sighs, bringing her other, healthy hand around to lightly play with my own digits. "He will be great. Of this I have no doubt my little Layna."
"But I fear that his heart may be too large for the life that we lead." Grandma says with heavily closed eyes, brushing her nose against my mother's neck with a silent breath.
"Blood Mother?" Mother replies questioningly.
Her excitement mixed with the tangible and acrid taste of worry spreads through the countenance of her muscled form.
The slight hint of coppery tang that follows Ma seems to strengthen for a second before fading away into the air.
Like a warning set off by a prey animal that is anything but defenseless against anything that would dare to harm her.
"He will love you. And me. He will love us all." Grandmother laughs lightly, never looking away from me.
"He will shed blood, his and that of his foes without fear. But he will will harbor those in need and provide succor for those he wishes to protect."
"…"
"But I fear for a future where that love is taken from him." Grandma mutters softly, bringing her nose close with my own to nuzzle me before gently taking me from my mother's lap into her strong, warm arms. "He will take from the gods and goddesses all that they have to give my little Layna."
"And he will burn all who he believes to have wronged him and what is his."
My patrons desire, and so here we go :3
Let's worldbuild and setup things a little bit better this time around~