The Prison Realm

Chapter 1: It Takes a Village

One year later...

Garin'thar: 

 "Women!" shouted a stranger that Garin'thar had never seen before. He took Garin'thar by the shoulders and shook him. Garin'thar had not imbibed nearly as much as the others had when Khagra had broken the news, so he took it upon himself to stead his fellow tribesman as Garin'thar took a few steps backward. "Can you believe it? We're all getting women!"

"Yes," Garin'thar said slowly and tried to step around him. "Now if you do not mind. I need to speak about this with the chief."

The drunk orc did not release Garin'thar, probably because the other orc would surely fall over if he tried. Garin'thar tried again to gently pry his brethren loose while he tried to remember the stranger's name. Turnover was rampant in a prison that was also a desert hell plane. Troublemakers were executed quickly, and the weak usually died in the sands before they ever got a chance to join Khagra's tribe.

Khagra's tribe was by far the largest of the orc tribes that had formed under mass exile from their world. This was mainly because Khagra had long ago discovered a coveted source of water and created the only well to be found in the endless desert. He was a great leader who had his pick of the strongest prisoners to forge his own personal warriors who were more than happy to serve him and enjoy the luxuries of his camp. Most of these luxuries could be considered necessities. Healing potions, shelter, meat, and an endless supply of water in a world where there should be none. The realm was still a punishment, but the tribe had found a way to make it liveable.

"What will you do with your woman? Will she be your slave or your wife?" the stranger slurred.

Garin'thar lost his patience. He peeled the orc loose and let him fall. He had no patience for those who would keep women as slaves. It was also what he needed to talk to Khagra about. The orc fell over his feet as predicted, and Garin'thar strode past him to reach his chief at the head of the bonfire.

Khagra was seated at the only piece of furniture in the common area of the camp, a giant throne made of wood from the asylum trees. He was flanked by his own personal guard, three orcs just as old as Khagra.

The chief was as a large male, his green skin lined from the sun. He was smiling, happy as yet another one of Garin'thar's tribesmen gave him another bellowing toast, earning about a dozen cheers that drowned out the voice of every other orc nearby.

Khagra immediately noticed Garin'thar and straightened in his throne, his pointed smile widening even more.

"Just the male I needed to see," Khagra said.

Garin'thar refused to let himself be taken in by the tribe's good mood. He needed his answers first.

"What is this?" Garin'thar said, his tone dark and severe. Accusing.

Khagra's men straightened at once. Khagra's personal guards were not fans of Garin'thar. He'd been in the prison realm for nearly as long as they had, but Garin'thar had been a child at the time of his sentencing. Khagra should have walked away when he'd found Garin'thar as a dehydrated, nearly dead teenager wandering in the sands. Such a young, untrained orc had almost nothing to offer Khagra's still very young tribe of warriors. They'd only just found the well and spent nearly every day defending it from the nomadic prisoners desperate enough to try and take the water for themselves.

Khagra had taken the time to save and train him to fight, and Garin'thar spent every minute since then ensuring he was worthy of the mercy. That didn't mean that Garin'thar would blindly follow the male without questioning something so important.

"Did you mean what you said? We're going to raid the slave camp and take the women?" Garin'thar asked his chief.

Orcs were not the only exiles in the realm. Maybe five years before others began arriving, including the cultists known as the Paragons, mages that followed a malevolent god and exchanged the use of divine magic for the occasional sacrifice. The Paragons had no means of surviving in the desert outside their summoning magic. They had only survived so long in this realm because they began to summon human females and trade them for supplies.