Ember Wind: Corrupted

To the North

The next morning came around as it usually did. The window had a thin layer of snow glued to it from the night before and the light that passed through was scattered and weak. It barely lit the room. Tangurple was among the first to wake up. He sat up in his bedroll and surveyed the sea of sleeping bodies for a clear path to the door. Plotting a carefully constructed route, he tiptoed his way across the room. He exited the room and down the stairs only to bump into Yagash.

Yagash looked up at him with a tired smile. "Good morning Tangurple. Sleep well?"

Tangurple replied with a bit of uncertainty. "Uh, yeah... I rested well."

The female orc rubbed her eyes and yawned. "That is good to hear. Where are you heading?"

"Out. I have other things I need to collect."

"Is that so? Why not take me with you?"

Tangurple blinked in rapid succession and tilted his head in a curious manner. "Pardon?"

Yagash grabbed the soft fabric of his shirt sleeves. "Take me with you, please. I cannot stand it here. Gober and the others are nuts, and to make it worse, they do nothing all day but laze around."

Tangurple was taken back briefly by the sudden change in Yagash. "Why not leave and go on your own?"

"You don't think I've tried that? Tangurple, please." Yagash nearly fell to her knees begging him.

Tangurple shrugged. "Sure I guess?" he said questioningly.

Yagash's face lit up with excitement and she made a mad dash to the back and returned only seconds later in full combat gear. "Let's go, before they wake up."

It had been an hour since the gates of Jonkas faded into the distance behind them. To the north, they traveled in search of the spectral mammoths; in which Tangurple had begun to doubt the existence of. Tangurple frequently but subtly had been checking on the orc to make sure she hadn't gone mad or something. She seemed relatively normal, no bug eyes or red irises. She was just a giddy orc.

Tangurple finally broke the silence. "I've never seen anyone get so excited about leaving their comrades."

Yagash turned to him with a hearty smile. "I have just been getting bored of them. Since the rise of vampirism, Gober has not been wanting to do anything and he is been denying contracts left and right while adventurers have been picking them up."

"Other adventurers? I'm not the only one?"

"Uh, yeah. A few passed through Jonkas about two days before you did. Why? Is that an issue?"

"Not really no, I just didn't expect people to move in so quickly considering the drop off point being so far away from either city."

"Drop off point?"

"There's no direct route here. Uskor, along with the other zones are cut off from Ashua and the portal is the only way here. I figured the guilds would've prevented anyone from going through. What were they wearing?"