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[Talon Lord Othrim]

High winds whip and bite with a bitter chill carrying with it the sting of ice crystals. The War band had been camped here in the Gorge of Khar for nearly 4 weeks. The WarLord Thraxis had been moving the band south to warmer lands for the summer raids as usuall however they had been entrenched here in the gorge and stayed. Many dark whisperings had begun to surface amongst the other worriors. Some said that they had set off too early and the southern Aesir pass was still frozen closed. Others hinted that the Warmaster had changed his mind and grown fearfull of battle. Fights often broke out and the camp enforcers had to lay the whip and boot in to bring back order.

The Warlord rarely emerged from his command tent and resources were becoming short. The youngest of the band. A worrior named Slaught found himself stood outside the command tent........

From this point on your story unfolds......

[Iron K]

Slaught stood outside the tent in silence. He felt the arctic winds blow against his armored form. His armor passed on the sense of the wind, for it was not a normal armor. It was a part of him, like his second skin. But even though he could sense the change in the air, the cold did not touch him.

Behind him, the camp spread out. He could feel the unrest among the warriors of the camp. He could feel the unrest in himself. Slaught remained in silence with his eyes closed, and let his thoughts roam:

*What was WarLord Thraxis doing..? This was not how it was meant to be...
How long had it been since he joined these warriors? Impossible to know.. What he did know was that he himself had grown in strength, improved, and received the favor of The Gods during the time. "WarLord" Thraxis, on the other hand. Had he improved? Had he become stronger? Had The Gods favored him? No... So was he still worthy of the title "WarLord"..?*

Now certain of what course must be taken, and what course that The Gods would favor the most, Slaught opened his eyes, and entered the tent...

[Talon Lord Othrim]

The scent of burning incense clawed at his throat and it's thick smoke filled the tent. The Warlord could be seen sat on a pile of wolf and bear furs whilst a slave maid fed a cooked haunch of meat to him. To his right sat a shambling mound of cloth that was Xinear his Sorcerer. His archaic staff in hand, Xinear was in mid conversation with the Lord, when Slaught entered.

Garrion, one of the Lords Guard stepped forward dominating Slaught's view and placed a gauntleted hand on Slaught's breast plate.

"What's it your business here?" he asked

He could still here the wheezing murmurs of the sorcerer's voice in the background.

[Iron K]

Standing in silence and staring at the hand placed upon his breast plate, a flare of blind rage lit inside of Slaught. He quenched it with an effort of his willpower. He had offered up a good plenty of skulls to the Skull Throne, but he was better than the blind Berserkers of Khorne.

But still, it offended him that Garrion, a glorified guard dog, dared lay a hand on him, a true warrior. For a second he thought about breaking the mans fingers, hand and arm, just to prove the point, but decided to not do it. For now...

After a moment, Slaught broke the silence. He spoke with a deep metallic voice, which resonated from deep within his armor, his words heavy with unspoken threats:

"Get your paws of me, whelp.. I shall trade words with Thraxis."

[Talon Lord Othrim]

"Let him enter." The deep voice of Thraxis calls out. Garrion stands back to one side to allow you passed. Both WarMaster and Sorcerer look to you.
"As I told you my lord" Xinear's wheezing voice commented.

"Slaught, what brings you here?"

[Iron K]

Slaught gave the Sorcerer a look. Had the Gods gifted Xinear with a vision of Slaught's intentions?
No.. If they had, then Thraxis would have killed Slaught when he got the chance. Either way, it mattered little. Even if Thraxis knew the future, he could still do nothing to avoid it...

Slaught stepped forward to stand in front of Thraxis, and met his gaze with his own.

"Four weeks we have camped here.. Four weeks we have waited... All because you ordered it.. And for what?! The warriors grow restless, and we have less resources for each day..

One might think you have grown weak.. One might think you are not worthy of leading the band anymore...
One might even think it is time for you to step down!"

He says, every word heavy with meaning. While he speaks, he stands completely still, not moving a muscle, but still meeting the gaze of the "WarLord" without hesitation..

[Talon Lord Othrim]

The WarLord smiles, evil and cruel, then whilst keeping his eyes on the worrior before him speaks to the sorcerer.
" What you said Xinear has come to pass. Tho I am surprised that it would be Slaught here to be the one." He then speaks to Slaught, " You see my lack of action as a sign of weakness and therefore challenge me for power. What then would you say if I told you I saught a champion, one brave enough and strong enough to take actions into their own hands. One with the strength of mind and not just of muscle."

[Iron K]

Slaught gritted his teeth as Thraxis spoke. He spoke in the same way now, as when they had first met. Slaught hated it.. When he spoke to the Sorcerer, it confirmed Slaught's suspicion that Thraxis would be blind without his pet gifted with divination.

Slaught listened patiently to what was said, then stood a moment in thoughtful silence.

"I would say that if you're looking for a Champion, it means you are to weak to do it yourself. If not, what could you gain by finding a Champion?

If you would tell me that you are looking for a pawn to do your bidding, I would be more incline to believe you..."

He spoke with a low voice, and a criticizing tone.

[Talon Lord Othrim]

Thraxis rises quickly and stands before Slaught.
" You will speak to me with the respect I deserve or by the will of the gods or not, I will feed you your own eyes!"
He draws himself up to his full height. Even without his battle armour he is an imposing worrior.

[Iron K]

As Thraxis rose, Slaught stood his ground.
He already knew that Thraxis was a capable warrior. But not invincible.. If that had been the case, Slaught would not be standing here.

He cared little for the threat issued towards him. A sentence without a well placed threat, would not be heard amongst the members of the War-band..

"I will only show respect to those who returns it, or takes it with their own might.. Just like all the other members of the Band!" Slaught says and points out the tent opening, towards the War-Band camp.

"I'm no fool Thraxis! If you want my respect, then show me the same, and give me an explanation about this 'Waiting for a Champion' talk... You will have my ear, for now.."

[Talon Lord Othrim]

Yes, all of them out there are capable worriors but none of them had the balls to come and question me. You did. It shows me you not only have strength in body but also strength of mind. You don't just follow blindly. You think for yourself. Thats what I need. One of my bastard worriors capable of working independantly of the warband. I knew one of you would come. I did not expect it to be you.
Tomorrow we shall pack up and move through the pass. I need you to split off from the group once we are through and go South to Praag. Apparently.." He looks distainfully at the Sorcerer, The Blood God has use for a Champion of my warband who will make their presance known."

[Iron K]

Slaught stands patiently listening as Thraxis speaks.

"Why is it so surprising that I was the one who stepped forth..?" Slaught asked with a mild annoyance in his voice. Not waiting for an answer, nor expecting one, he continued:
"Do we have any presage of what the great Blood God wishes of the Champion? For if one of the Great Chaos Gods asks this of me, I shall answer, and do their bidding with pleasure.."

[Talon Lord Othrim]

" I have no idea and what displeases me is why I was not chosen to go." He spits those last words towards the sorcerer. "My Warmaster your duties as....."
"I know my duties wretch!" he storms over and kicks the robed creature in the face knocking it flat."This honour sould be mine! I am Warmaster here."
He stands fists cleanshed with bearly contained anger. He looks over to you. "It seemed you, of all my men heard the calling of the gods. Do you take this..... honour?"

[Iron K]

As he saw the Sorcerer get a taste of Thraxis boot, Slaught felt a small sense of pleasure. He did not despise the Sorcerer for his magic gifts. Not at all. Actually, he envied the Sorcerer for that. It was truly a useful weapon to have. No, he despised the Sorcerer because he was weak. A weakness that had turned him into a thrall for Thraxis..

It was a good thing that Slaught's face was hidden behind his helmet. Otherwise, Thraxis barley controlled anger would have grown into a berserk rage when he had seen the grin on Slaught's lips.

Slaught held in his reply for a while. Not because he hesitated, but because it amused him to see Thraxis in this state. Finally, when he felt that he had kept him waiting long enough, he gave his answer:

"As I said.. If the Gods call upon me, I shall answer.. So yes. I will claim this honor!"

[Talon Lord Othrim]

"Then once we leave the pass and enter troll country you shall continue south to Praag whilst we turn west and head for the coastal towns." He turns and looks to Slaught. "Blood for the Blood God."

[Iron K]

"All to Chaos, and Chaos to all.." Slaught answers before he turns around and exited the tent.

As he stepped outside, he stood and looked out over the encampment. Taking a deep breath, he sensed the change that was in the air. That Khorn himself had taken an interest in him.. The thought was thrilling. Even though Slaught had offered up many skulls to the Skull Throne, he had not sacrificed more to the Blood God, than to any of the other Gods. So it was still unclear to why he had been chosen.

But he needed to be careful. The Blood God was strong, and granted great gifts, but one could easy loose himself in the service of the Skull Throne. That was not something Slaught was interested in doing.. But that was a problem he would solve when he came to it.

He started to walk down towards the camp. They would move out soon, and he needed to make sure that all was ready for the journey to come.

[Talon Lord Othrim]

A short time later word spreads that the warband is to move out and make way for the southen pass. By dawn as the sun begins to crest the mountain range the warband moves.

The pass a mountain trail snakes through the freezing heights. A scout can be seen running back from ahead.

"Orgres ahead!" he calls out.

"Well boys! time to get warmed up. Advance and leave nothing standing!" Thraxis roars.

[Iron K]

Slaught laughed lightly and shook his head. How very like Thraxis to order a frontal assault. But this was Ogres.. Their strength and martial prowess was well known, as well as their not so sharp intellect. It would have been preferable to approach this with a little tactical sense. But in truth, Slaught did not complain. Slaught had more than a couple of frustrations that he needed to vent, and what better way to do it, than in the heat of battle?

Slaught took his axe in his hand, and sett of towards the Ogres. But he was no fool, and made sure that there were enough of warriors in front of him, to soak up the first brutal attack from the Ogres...

[Talon Lord Othrim]

As predicted the first charge saw two of his brother worriors fall. The Ogres now had stalled and were outnumbered 3 to one. One Ogre with a crude spiked club advanced on Slaught and swung his mighty club at him.

[spoiler=Attack]1d100 rolled for a total of: 35 (35)[/spoiler]

[Iron K]

[spoiler=Defend]
1d100 rolled for a total of: 19 (19)
[/spoiler] 
Even though Slaught saw the attack coming, he was still caught of guard by the surprising speed. The spiked club impacted upon Slaught's rib cage, and he was sent tumbling to the side. His armor had protected him good, and the spikes had not penetrated. But the blow had emptied all the air from his lungs, so he greedily gasped for air as he tried to get back on his feet.