Chapter 29: Chapter 26 – Gal-Morogh, Jewel of the Plains

"Be aware of the seeds oneself sowed, lest one be caught unprepared by an unexpected harvest." - Elvish saying

Even from nearly a day's travel away, Gal-Morogh proved itself a very noticeable city. The many hectares of golden fields that surrounded the city, where wheat and barley are grown, made the place a stark contrast to the rolling greens of the plains around it, while the large forest - for the plains - that defined the city's north-western borders served as a punctuation mark.

 

The caravan itself did not head for the city proper, as they instead opted to stop at a caravanserai located past the fields, where most of the caravan would stay for the period, while a chosen group would travel with Bogdan to the gathering itself. Cal was given a woven bracelet to serve as an identifier that she would attend the gathering as a guest to clan Beastfang.

 

Along the path to the city proper, Cal observed that there seemed to be more non-orcish races amongst the populace than what she was used to - both Helga's Bronzemanes and Bogdan's Beastfangs counted a full-blooded orc for least two out of every three of their members -, whereas what she saw so far were closer to one orc in every two citizen. Of particular notice to her were the unusually large elven population, many of them amongst the farmers that tended to their fields, and the unusually large amounts of Orc-Elf mixed breeds present, a usually rare breed to find elsewhere.

 

Cal waved politely at an elven farmer who worked alongside an orc that she assumed was her spouse, since she had a toddler strapped to her back that showed clearly mixed ancestry, and looked at the city proper. Much like Paradise - and unlike most other cities -, Gal-Morogh was a city built without walls, the city itself mostly a collection of low single-story buildings made out of hardened soil and stones, with a very noticeable circular clearing in the middle of the city that measured at least a few hectares.

 

Now that she was closer, Cal could also spot treehouses built into many of the larger trees in the forest, and even some bridges built between the trees in the elven style. Bogdan had explained to her before that the city was nominally in the territory of clan Greentusk, which were noted for the multitude of elves they counted among their members, and their predisposition to druidism.

 

Cal understood why the elves and the orcs of the clans got along so well, since elves too tend to be predisposed to druidism, and the common interest helped bridge the gap between the races, which led to the harmonic society in which they coexisted nowadays.

 

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Once they were within the city proper, Bogdan had the group disperse into their own smaller groups, since they still had four days before the gathering commenced. Cal chose to get a good look around the city on her own, after she confirmed with Bogdan that she could either head back to the caravanserai to rest for the night, or rent a room at a local establishment, whichever she preferred. The chieftain himself does not look like he had any plans of returning for the night, not when one considered the wink and gestures traded between him and his wife.

 

Neither did Davor and Mira plan to return for the night, for a rented room at an inn would at least offer the newlywed couple more privacy than the wagons.

 

For her part, Cal went straight for the marketplace, where she both sampled the various foods peddled by the streetside and went on a hunt for souvenirs to send back to the Empire. Amongst her purchases were a set of woven bracelets she bought from an elderly elven woman near the end of her life who wove them herself - She had told Cal that her late husband was an Orc, and over the time they lived together she had fallen in love with the city, where she now has great-grandchildren still around.

 

She also bought a long shawl personally knitted by the old elf - the size and length of which would make it about right for a head covering for Xain once he grew up a bit - and traded some stories with the elderly woman before she bid her farewell.

 

Cal has just nibbled on a local snack which consisted of several fat, white grubs that were skewered and grilled - the grubs tasted not unlike juicy shrimps, and their sweet flavor was matched quite well by the sharp horseradish and garlic sauce the vendor had spread on them as they roasted -, when she noticed a middle-aged mixed-breed woman - one with more elven blood in her than orcish blood - walked by, then stopped and stared at her as her eyes widened.

 

"Can I do something for you?" Cal asked, somewhat perplexed since she was quite certain she never saw that particular woman before, who mostly looked like an elf with a slight green hue to her skin and small tusks that barely escaped her lips.

 

"Ah- Pardon my rudeness. May I ask if-..." The woman clearly had some trouble before she decided what she wanted to say. "May I ask if the name Calais Edrunviel meant anything to you?"

 

"He was my father." Cal admitted to the woman. "Let me guess, he lived here before?"

 

"Respected father-in-law was an honorary member of clan Greentusk, yes." Responded the woman. "I simply must offer you the hospitality of my home for this night, my husband would be thrilled to meet you!"

 

"Wait, wait, hold on a moment here. Father-in-law?" Cal asked.

 

"Why, yes. I believe my husband would be your half-brother by the same father."

 

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The residence of the woman - who introduced herself as Lorna of clan Greentusk - turned out to be a treehouse, done in a style that could be considered a fusion of elvish and orcish aesthetics. Cal also discovered that Lorna was one of the grandchildren of the elderly elf woman she bought her souvenirs from.

 

When Lorna introduced Cal to her husband - Cal's half-brother -, Cal instantly saw the family resemblance. The middle-aged man, a half-elf half-orc hybrid, had also inherited albinism from their mutual father. In his case, his skin looked as if it was made of jade gemstones, a light green hue that looked almost as if it would shine, and he kept his similarly snow-white hair in a severe ponytail, with orcish tusks prominent in his otherwise mostly elvish facial features.

 

He also affected a thin, pointed moustache and smooth, long beard that grew to his chest, a style Cal was quite familiar with as their father also wore his moustache and beard the same way.

 

"Khal-est of clan Greentusk" he introduced himself. From his name it was more obvious that their father had stuck to the old elven tradition of where they passed their names to their mixed-breed children, to aid such children where they might want to search for their brethren.

 

"Celeysria Ambervale, of Al-Shan." Cal's own name was given the same way, the female variant of her father's name. "So when did dad live here?"

 

"Father started living here around three centuries ago, and left after mother passed away two centuries ago."

 

"So he was here until two centuries ago, and spent a decade or two in the city-states, before the shipwreck brought him to Al-Shan then." Cal said as she nodded. "I guess you would be the closest sibling I have then, unless you have a little brother around, big brother."

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"Sadly, I'm an only child. And please, just call me Khal." He said with a shake of his head. "Does father still hail amongst the living?"

 

"He passed away half a century ago. He died peacefully, of natural causes, if it helps."

 

"It is fine… we have… long expected news of that kind considering his advanced age." Said Khal with a sad sigh. "How old are you, sister?"

 

"This is my one hundred and twenty-second year. You?"

 

"I will be two hundred sixty-four this winter. I wish my own descendants could meet you as well, but they had moved out and pursued a life of their own at Levain last I heard of them."

 

"Well, I do plan to travel the world, so when I go there I can always pass a message for you, if you'd like."

 

"That would be much appreciated. The last letter my son sent two years ago mentioned that his daughter just enrolled in the Levain Institute for Higher Learning as a student. When you get there, please check on Vark and Leila Greentusk for me."

 

"Sure thing." Cal said as she noted the names down. With his parents considered, Vark should not differ too much from his parents, which would make him easy to find since orc-elf hybrids are usually rare. His daughter was half-human however, so she made a note to check on her after she met her father. "Anything else I can help you with?"

 

"Tomorrow I shall have a small package for them readied, if you don't find it a burden to pass on to them." Khal said and smiled in relief as Cal nodded as his request. "For tonight though, allow me to offer you the hospitality of my home, sister."

 

"An offer I will gladly accept, brother."

 

"You must sample Lorna's cooking, she has been the acclaimed champion in the cooking contests for a decade running now."

 

"Oh, now you're speaking my language, dear brother!"

 

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Dinner proved to be bountiful, and as delicious as advertised. Lorna had only made a simple dish of a thick soup full of various kinds of vegetables boiled until tender and soaked with the broth, with slivers of transparent, thin, hair-like noodles in it - supposedly made from flour ground out of a certain type of beans. The flavor of the soup itself was rich, if simultaneously rather mild, that is until Lorna brought out the finishing touches to the dish with a generous sprinkle of what looked to Cal like thin slices of deep-fried onions and small cubes of animal fat, fried to a crisp. When those were mixed with the mild soup, somehow the flavor seemed to improve tenfold and danced a jig on her tongue.

 

The flatbreads served alongside were simple and buttery in flavor, and made excellent tools to sop up the last drops of the soup from the bowl. Normally one would feel sated quickly when they eat rich foods, yet the food Lorna made was rich, yet at the same time not as heavy on the stomach, and Cal happily went for seconds - and thirds later on, to the delight of the chef.

 

It was with a very full and satisfied stomach that she leaned on a woven rattan chair while she and her half-brother traded stories of their father and life so far. He was somewhat worried when she told tales of the civil war, although his worry was mostly placated when she learned that Cal was of the Blood affinity - an affinity well known to be the most capable of self-preservation amongst them all. Khal-Est himself was a senior druid and one of the shamans for the Greentusk tribe, and had mostly lived his life peacefully, without much wanderlust - he had his share of travels done when younger -, and relatively satisfied with his station in life.

 

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Cal naturally introduced her newfound half-brother to Bogdan the next day, and the two quickly settled into a civil discourse as befit a host and their invited guest, Lorna and Cal kept company by Davor and Mira as the other two busied themselves in discussion of the gathering set to take place in three days. It turned out even orcs needed to arrange things with the local higher-ups when they wanted to borrow a road to make their entrance on a wagon for the gathering.

 

For her part, Lorna brought Cal and the youngsters around to show them the city, places where she knew the fare was good and priced reasonably, others helmed by her extended family or friends, and even took the time to teasingly recommend some fertility idols to Davor and Mira after she learned that the two were newlyweds. What caught Cal’s eyes more however, was a store owned by one of Lorna’s cousins, where various woven tapestries of orcish design and make were sold. She found herself quite enchanted by the vibrant, bold strokes on the woven carpets, and bought several as souvenirs for people back in the empire.

 

They also watched as many younger orcs from different clans - as by that time many of the participants for the gathering had already made their way to Gal-Morogh - sparred with one another on an open field. Lorna explained that the orcs called the fighting techniques Buokhare, and that each clan typically had their own rendition of it, often based on their own tradition and preferences. Cal herself had seen youths of the Bronzemanes and Beastfangs do the same before, and noticed their differences, where the Beastfangs seem to focus more on close combat and grapples, and the Bronzemanes relied more on strikes delivered from a safe distance, often one hand kept in guard position at all times.

 

The two youths that sparred at the center of the fields were from clans unknown to her, though obviously from different clans. One of them had steady motions that seemed to flow into one another, and focused more on defense, with her occasional counter-attack attempts done when opportunities came. The other was light and seemed to almost bounce on his feet, focused more on fast strikes and the occasional low kick while he kept his distance from his opponent, who did not mind and waited patiently for him to come at her.

 

Eventually the male youth lost his patience and charged in, where he now brought a flurry of elbow and knee strikes into play as well, while his opponent kept her calm and deflected or dodged most of his attacks, before she in turn landed a straight punch to his abdomen that brought his flurry to a pause. In one smooth motion, she folded her arm and struck the same spot with her elbow, then rammed him with her shoulder, the impact of which sent her opponent sprawled on the grass while he clutched his stomach. She offered him a hand which he accepted to the applause of the spectators.

 

Mira chose to join in the spar next, and fought the previous orc woman to a draw, as she obviously found an opponent happy to grapple up close harder to deal with than one that focused on strikes alone like her previous opponent. The two young women ended up in a bruised, sweaty heap before they clasped one another’s hand and made a promise to fight again, once the gathering was over and done with.

 

The remaining days before the gathering thus passed uneventfully, and the night before the event itself, Cal found herself wondering what the festivities tomorrow would be like as she laid on the hammock that served as her bed in the room Khal-Est let her use for the duration of her stay in Gal-Morogh.

 

Deep inside she felt a kind of giddy excitement she had not felt often since she was in her childhood days.

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