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"...Emmeg Gro-Kayra was the bastard son of a young maiden who was killed in childbirth. He was raised by the shaman of his tribe, the Grilikamaug in the peaks of what we now call Normar Heights. Late in his fifteenth year, Emmeg forged by hand an ornate suit of scaled armor, a rite of ascension among his tribe. On a blustery day, he pounded the final rivet, and draping a heavy cloak over the bulky mantle, Emmeg set out from his village for the last time. Word of his exploits always returned home, whether defending merchant caravans from brigands or liberating enslaved beast folk. News of the noble Orc crusader began to grace even the lips of Bretons, often with a tinge of fear.

Less than two years after ascending to maturity, Gro-Kayra was making camp when a thin voice called out from the thickening night. He was surprised to hear the language of his people spoken by a tongue that obviously did not belong to an Orc.

'Lord Kayra', said the voice, 'tales of your deeds have crossed the lips of many, and have reached my ears.' Peering into the murk, Emmeg made out the silhouette of a cloaked figure, made wavy and ephemeral by the hazy campfire. From the voice alone he had thought the interloper an old hag, but he now decided that he was in the presence of a man of slight and lanky build, though he could discern no further detail.

'Perhaps,' the wary Orc began, 'but I seek no glory. Who are you?'

Ignoring the question, the stranger continued, 'Despite that, Orsimer, glory finds you, and I bear a gift worthy of it.' The visitor's cloak parted slightly, revealing nothing but faintly glinting buttons in the pale moonlight, and a bundle was withdrawn and tossed to the side of the fire between the two. Emmeg cautiously removed the rags in which the object was swathed, and was dazzled to discover the item to be a wide, curved blade with ornately decorated handle. The weapon had heft, and Emmeg realized on brandishing it that the elaborate pommel disguised the more practical purpose of balancing the considerable weight of the blade itself. It was nothing much to look at in its present condition, thought the Orc, but once the tarnish was cleaned away and a few missing jewels restored, it would indeed be a blade worthy of a champion ten times his own worth.

'Her name is Neb-Crescen' spoke the thin stranger, seeing the appreciation lighting Gro-Kayra's face. 'I got her for a horse and a secret in warmer climes, but in my old age I'd be lucky to even lift such a weapon. It's only proper that I pass her on to one such as yourself. To possess her is to change your life, forever..."

Sixteen Accords of Madness
Volume XII

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July 2, 2011
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:iconthe-exiled-muse:
Very nicely done!
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:iconsasorixthexpuppet:
I really like the crueltry that Sheo shows in the this story, especially since I think it's an Oblivion book and not just from the lore rich Daggerfall era, they actually made a point of showing us that Sheos isn't good. He's just as much of a dick as all the other princes, we were just on his good side.
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:iconamerime:
Lovely illustration! <3
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:iconcanaur:
Это ж Майкл Джексон!!
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:iconduskhaze:
This story made me so sad when I read it.-The poor guy had done nothing but be decent and what a fate! Makes me wonder if it's linked to the Orcs 'Berserk' ability as a cause or something in the past.
Lovin this artwork though, the scene with the mist and trees closing in looks foreboding and he looks both kinda bloodthirsty and innocent at the same time. Even got that 'hurt' facial expression they seem to have in game too.
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:iconquilsnap:
*Quilsnap Jul 8, 2011   General Artist
Its tusky, nice touch :)
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:iconprocul-harunc:
Finally an Oblivion orc who looks like an orc, not like a nord with green skin and elven ears.
Nice background!
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:iconlolmanic45:
~LOLMANIC45 May 19, 2012  Student Writer
Well, considering that Oblivion was made in 2006 they didn't have the graphics of today.
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:iconprocul-harunc:
Considering that Morrowind was made in 2002, they didn't have the graphics of today as well. But Orcs looked like Orcs then ;)
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:iconchopsticks-84:
Beautiful!
This episode show us Malacath's rare side.
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