The Orc Innkeeper

[2] Surprising Encounter

Kiru looks up, brushing himself off as he tries to regain his composure. A bull, larger than any he'd ever seen before towered over him. Kiru's face is blasted with steam from the animal's snout. A gruff but distinctly female voice booms from above above him, "Oh Gods, you alright down there? Ya ain't dead are ya?" The voice says in a somewhat worried tone. "Yeah I'm fine, just a bit shaken," Kiru says, squinting his eyes in the morning light, attempting to see the source of the voice. His question was answered almost instantaneously as the speaker jumped down from her mount and reached a hand out to help him up. She was an Orc, likely from a mountain region due to her distinct dark green skin. She pulled Kiru off the ground with a tremendous strength, shaking him up even more in the process.

Before Kiru could say anything she started showering him with questions "So, how is it an Orc like you is this far away from any of our cities? Did your battalion leave you behind? Oh you poor poor thing, it's a wonder you weren't killed, out here without a weapon." Kiru raises an eyebrow, "I'm sorry, can you repeat that, I'm a bit confused as to what you mean." The Orc woman looks on in disbelief, "The war, the great war? It's the reason I've come down from my distant village, to fight for our people. You really must've been hit over the head pretty hard huh?"

Kiru laughs, "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the war ended almost 5 years ago. There's peace between our people's, and we haven't had any conflicts in ages." The Orc woman can barely speak, "w-w-whaaaat?!" She suddenly looks troubled, "what are warriors like me supposed to do if there's no war? Are they gonna turn me into soup?" Kiru looks confused, "turn you into what now..? But anyways, there's plenty to do. For example, I'm the keeper of this here inn, and I'm damn good at it too."

The Orc woman suddenly perks up, "does yer Inn have a tavern?" Kiru laughs, "yeah, it's nothing much but we have the basics." Without another word she starts marching towards the Inn, she suddenly turns shouting back, "tha name's Gobby, Gobby Axefang. The Bull's Luxo, he's harmless." Kiru smiles faintly, "um, it's great to meet you, I'm Kiru." With that Kiru follows Gobby towards the Inn, questioning in his mind if perhaps giving alcohol to an Orc Warrior was a bad idea...