Welcome to the Yellow Quarter. Part 4 and last

Posted by gotrek860 on February 9th, 2008 filed in Fan Fiction and tagged as , , , , .

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I know I’m about to die, because I can hear a familiar noise and it’s coming closer to the tent. It’s the noise of may powerful legs moving, a noise like 6 men in heavy armour pushing each other…it’s the Giant Spider! I can see it’s hair leg right in front of my tent. And that’s only one out of eight. Before I know it there is no tent the spider is chewing away at it. why me? why is it attacking my tent? Why is it even out of its tent! Oh I damn you Festog!! You and all your orcs! The spider looks down at me its huge head moving slowly , its many eyes staring at me and giving me the demultiplied image of a tiny man shaking …that man is me. I am on the menu. The scene is so terrifying I can’t move an inch. I see that head, the face of Death coming down on me. I don’t even try to protect myself, it would be like putting your hands out to stop a hail of arrows. It opens its mouth to spray me with its web , I’ll be eaten like a fly. some men get buried and are eaten by the maggots, I will not get a grave and die like a fly, how ironic. How do I even get the time to think of such stupid things? Time has slowed down, the last seconds of my life are the longest and most exciting I have ever had… A goblin flies through the air and hits the spider straight in the side of its enormous head. The goblin didn’t really mean to hit it…he was thrown there.

Thrown there? A troll with a club is tossing wolf riders like a farmer harvesting wheat. the spider is distracted for a moment. I run run for the wall, there I’ll be safer. Arrows , knives and all sorts of objects are flying in the air. I am at the market wall I hug the wall, all my senses are on full alert now. I see the spider now fighting a group of orcs and thieves, the city guard are nowhere to be seen , all that is left of them is a pile of corpses strewn around the pens and the market stalls. I’m walking in crab-like fashion the wall to my back, away from the fight. I spot my Ogre, he has picked up one of the butcher’s knives and is hacking at the spider while a group of orcs, covered in masks and what looks like strips of dark material, keep the spider at bay by throwing projectiles at it. My hand finds what I was looking for, a door knob. I open it and quickly sneak in. It’s dark … But I am not moving. I’ll wait for the fight to end. I hear hooves beating the pavement, the mercenaries must be arriving, maybe the bandits haven’t won after all. Then the screams of wounded men and falling horses, tells me there weren’t enough of them.

 

The cries of the wounded and dying were heard for hours after the fight. The victors had enough mercy to put an end to the crying animals’ miseries. But I don’t know what treatment the guards received…and I am not going to ask. All the merchants and non combatants are lined up in the market square. I was found in my hiding place, which turned out to be a storage room, by a couple of young thieves. They were in their teens their young faces surprised me, but I could tell they were thieves by their hair colour and the small knives they carried. I am next to Gweldyn, not many are missing.

“They didn’t do too much damage Marcellino. Only a couple of tents, and yours was destroyed by the spider…They came for a long term investment, I bet.”

I didn’t understand what he meant. Until a creature bigger than a goblin but smaller than an orc, who was going up the line with a roll of parchment and a quilt pen came to our level. He had the most bizarre appearance, carrying a large crossbow slung on his back, his face crossed with scars, he held the pen with dexterity, he clearly could read and write. He reminded me of a barbarian imitating a scholar.

“Oy, What’s yer name and ‘rade?”

“Me? Gweldyn I deal in furs my good sir.”

“Good bizness that. Loads of mooney in that.” The half-orc turned to his escorting goblin and added “I bet this geeza gets over 50 a week…”

“Surely not!” Interrupted Gweldyn, his courage suddenly appearing as he felt his money was at risk.

“You’ll pay 10 gold a week in protection money. And ‘hat’s Fes’og gold, not ‘hat half lead the Wesno’ians try to give us…”

He didn’t wait for a reply and moved on.

“Name and bizness.”

“Marcellino Di Pracia, I deal in fabrics and wool”I understated.

“Ah a silk trader! Plenty gold in that…”

That orc, is smart….I had been too brave, I just wish he doesn’t get angry…

“Skallcrusha, dat name reminds of something…” said the accompanying goblin.

“Hey! That’s Golrag’s mate innit?”

Golrag? Oh my ogre, so he had survived… The orc simply moved on without asking anything else. Gweldyn looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

It is still dawn when I enter my tent on the main Square. Today is the day my special delivery is arriving. Today is market day in the Yellow Quarter. As I open my tent’s flaps I notice the City guards patrolling along the rows of white neatly aligned tents. I’m used to the sight of these goblins now. I am even used to the new company we have, a few discreet men and orcs who just hang around the stalls and pens. picking at their nails with sharp knives or playing dice in the brew tents. Sometimes they come and visit me if a customer makes too much because isn’t too happy about the price or quality of my merchandise.

“Hey Marcellino! Special delivery today!”

“Yes, Gweldyn I get my annual delivery of Grappa, don’t worry you’ll be the first to have a sip.”

The northern man laughs raucously and returns into his tent. I walk to the entry of the Main Market Square where the guards are posted. The delivery cart, will be there any minute. A few of the city guards salute me, I wave to a couple of youths playing cards on a crate.The city of Festog has many exotic features but the Yellow Quarter is truly special, I’m starting to like it. I think I’ll never go back to my home town now. My name is Marcellino, merchant in the Yellow Quarter, but every one knows me as Golrag’s friend…

 

 

 

The End.