Act 7: The Orcs and the Celestial Spire
Sail many miles West of the mainland. You think you’ve sailed far enough? Well just keep sailing! Once you start feeling like you’re going to reach the edge of the world, you’ll eventually see an island: Moritius.
An orc tribe lives here, once ruled by their chief, the honourable Urgos.
You might think at first glance that the idyllic village is a peaceful one. But the villagers are facing a nearly unsolvable situation: a great drought!
The fields have dried out so much that they can barely produce crops for the orcs. They’re even running out of clean drinking water.
Urgos decided to bring together every mage in the village to perform a ritual to save his people. It worked, and an unbelievable prophecy was heard:
‘Up high. Higher than the white mist in the sky. That’s where it must reach: a structure of clay and stone.’
Urgos ordered his people to build this Celestial Spire, regardless of the sacrifices and sadness it would bring them to do so. Many orcs starved from working too hard with too little to eat. Some of them fled across the sea. But Urgos did not back down from his plans. The tower must be completed – only then will everything be alright again, he thought.
That’s how things remained, year after year, until finally the tower stands in all its glory. At the same time, the first orc refugees arrive on the mainland.
The newcomers are treated as curiosities – after all, the adventurers on the mainland had never met orc tribespeople before.
Propga, the leader of the orc refugees, tells all the adventurers about the situation on Moritius, and asks them for their help.
And so, they all set sail for Moritius. On their journey they are met with dozens of monsters the likes of which they’ve never seen before. Even Propga can’t explain what’s going on, having not seen a single monster during their trip to the mainland.
They get to Moritius only to find even more merciless monsters, and the orc village abandoned.
Eventually they come across survivors, including Chief Tator who tells the adventurers about an unexpected catastrophe:
‘Once the tower was finally complete, Urgos climbed to the top of it with all his mages and warriors. I was there too. He thrust his spear skywards and with one great strike, tore a hole in the fabric of the very air itself. Suddenly all was darkness; thunder rumbled across the island. At first I thought we had just succeeded in bringing a storm to the island, and that the drought was finally over. But no one could have guessed what we actually brought here. Monsters – hundreds, thousands of them – came pouring through the tear in the sky. We couldn’t overcome them, so powerful were they, and in the end we were forced to retreat. I watched as Urgos, strong as ten orcs, fought with all his might against the onslaught. But it was all in vain. A demonic monstrosity appeared before him, and he cried tears of blood, such was his regret for what he’d done.
You are a mighty warrior. Be mine!
The creature bent over Urgos and transformed him into some evil abyssal thing. He no longer knew his own people, and attacked our warriors! I was the only one to survive the massacre, and I went and got everyone out of the village as quickly as I could. It wasn’t long afterwards that our home was overrun by those monsters.’
This story drives the adventurers to action. They are convinced that the wound in the sky is actually a time-space portal, which would mean the whole world is under threat.
The first step is certain: they have to seal the tear.
But even with the combined might of the orcs and the adventurers, they are still powerless against Urgos, who guards the top of the tower. Until they can find adventurers strong enough to defeat Urgos, they decide to seal the first floor of the tower.
Meanwhile, the orc tribe rebuilds their village, and welcomes all the adventurers from the mainland to their homes, hoping to find someone who can vanquish Urgos and close the portal.