Completed In the depths of a mine...

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Nosdyn lost track of the days by that point in his life...it no longer mattered.

He was working a standard shift that day when it all started to change for him. A crew of about fifty slaves and foreman style workers were around including the standard shift leader. Cerak was regimented with their rank and file, and they were always making sure everything was situated in a very specific sort of way. Nosdyn was just one of the many victim of circumstances. There were many that day in various places of the mines working day in and day out...Nosdyn never complained once for it. His lot was a lot of worker, but right there it began for him. One of the foreman nearby started to yell very loudly at a female worker.

The others tried very hard to ignore what was happening, but Nosdyn could not. He'd seen it thousands of times before in his life, slaves were beaten and left for dead more often than not. But it was there, something troubled Nosdyn's heart when he saw the event happening before him. She was a broken girl, working the mines most of her life and had no more resistance for the slave master who was attempting to break her just a little more. Nosdyn acted. To the present day, he didn't know why he acted the way he had. "Enough!" Nosdyn yelled and grabbed the slave driver's hand before he could beat her once more.

All eyes in that were present turned to look towards the unfolding event. "You!" The slave driver yelled angrily, there was a hint of fear in the burly man's voice. For a moment or two...all matters paused as they all attempted to figure out what to do.

"All you do is take and take, she's already broken and just doing her work, leave her alone." Nosdyn suddenly yelled. Nosdyn showed a tremendous showing of physical strength stopping the slaver's hand. The girl stared at the unfolding scene incredulously.

The slaver carefully withdrew from Nosdyn and looked at him coldly. "You are going to regret involving yourself in this."

"No I am not. There is nothing more you can take from me." Nosdyn said angrily and the slave driver left. He knelt down towards the girl, the female miner. "Don't cry." Nosdyn said calmly to her. "We are all going to have our day someday." Nosdyn spoke very little, but that day he said words that would move the celestial pillars themselves. He gently moved her hair out of her face as she cried. At that point, the miners stopped their work and began to gather around Nosdyn. Without realizing...Nosdyn lit a spark within the miners that would lead to a revolution.
 
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It wasn't long before a new addition to the group was brought in, a feisty woman with long black hair and a thin but fit physique. She bore a few scars, which appeared to be from blades not whips. She had a wide stance and was obviously light on her feet. One thing was clear, she was not going to be broken easily or soon if ever. She had to be dragged in by three men, all of which were bleeding and one was limping thanks to a strong kick to the knee. She was thrown forward, but instead of landing on her face she rolled to her feet and stood defiantly.

"Ooooh, tough guys? I promise you this, I'll peel your flesh from your bones, and hang your friends by their intestines." She says with a smile that had no cheer in it, it actually made her look kind of crazy.

"Why you little..." One slave driver swore, throwing a punch, only to be grapple-thrown to the ground and his arm broken at the elbow. His comrades came to his aid and seized the woman by her hair and arms before she could turn her attention to them. Then she was struck viciously across the face.

"Work or be flogged whore!"

She spat blood, and laughed, "if that's your only threat, I have nothing to worry about. Even with a whip, my grandmother hits harder than you do, and she died twelve years ago."

She was thrown to the ground again, this time to land on her face. The handlers brought their injured comrade away, "You had best pray to your God that he save you."

She stood up and dusted herself off, "yeah yeah."

Then she looked at the group, and a cheerful smile split her face, "Sorry about that, the name's Anya, I wish we all met under different circumstances. I hope you can ignore what just happened."
 
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Nosdyn looked at the newcomer for a moment, it happened often. People were just thrust into that life and never understanding the why of it. Nosdyn frowned and nodded with a surprising amount of understanding towards her. It had been the only life he had ever known. Nosdyn ripped the sleeve off of his own tunic like shirt and handed her the the sleeve. "To clean yourself with." He didn't know why he was helping them...at all...but it was there a need to rise above their station.

"Nosdyn, they'll be back with greater numbers...what are we going to do?" They were all looking at Nosdyn for a long moment, looking for something, waiting for something.


For a long moment he stood in silence for as he considered their situation. "If we don't do something this is never going to change." Nosdyn suddenly said. He looked at the first girl, the miner he'd intervened to save. "Can you stand? We're all going to need our strength if we're going to survive what happens next..." There were screams from further ahead, a chamber beyond. One of the miners came running towards Nosdyn and Anya's positions.


"Nosdyn, we got trouble...the drivers are back and they are being a lot harsher than normal." The miner said he was flustered.

What do I do...I am not a leader but this is as much my battle as it is theirs... Nosdyn's chest rose up and down in nervousness as he stood there his fists clenching tightly. He wasn't sure what he was feeling...he'd felt his rage a few other times in his life before. He looked at Anya. "When you clean yourself up we will go...we have to put an end to this." But now, Nosdyn knew...it was only the beginning.
 
"Thank you friend for your kindness." She says, wiping the blood from her face gratefully, "it's a pleasure to meet you Nosdyn, though I wish it were under better circumstances."

Then the two miners came in, and she immediately knew that things were about to get bloody. But she also knew that leading untrained, unprepared men and women into battle was to throw their lives away. So no, they couldn't fight, not yet, so she had to buy them time. "No, not yet, if you try something now you will loose, Boone here is ready to fight, and no one is organized, no, I'll make sure to buy you time and to take the heat from them, meanwhile you get the word spread, quietly. Subtlety and subterfuge are going to be our most important tools if we are to overthrow these pestilent swine. Keep them calm, spread the word and keep it quiet. I'm going to buy you a little more time."

And so she did, grabbing a hammer from the ground she charged in where the two miners had come from and began to make herself a problem for the handlers, killing two of them and maiming three others. She handled the hammer impressively, though clearly not accustomed to heavier weapons. Pretty soon, all of the handlers were focused on her. She didn't last much longer after that, but she was the only one bothered after that, so she did indeed but them time.
 
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What do we do...? If it were just Nosdyn he wouldn't have minded and may have even surrounded by now there was the rest of them and the girl with the hammer. He placed a large hand on her shoulder as if to stop her quickly. "I know one of them. I can buy us the time that is needed, to stall them as well. If you few come with me maybe this can work out without a bloodshed." He looked at the girl he saved earlier. "Be strong stay with them." Nosdyn told her calmly, a quiet but honest order. "The rest of you, and you as well my friend, come with me. I think I have an idea."

***

In the adjacent chamber, there were several of the drivers beating and hitting whoever they came across. Nosdyn came into the chamber with several people behind him. immediately, the men from earlier noticed Nosdyn and his cohorts. "So...you're back for more?!" The driver said incredulously. He'd been hoping to lure out Nosdyn out in the open to make the Orc an example to the others.

"No. I've come to barter." Nosdyn suddenly said, he knew the ways of the drivers, their lashes of the whips. How they operated...but there was an honour code involved there too. "I've come to surrender to you, and stop this from getting any worse." Nosdyn suddenly said out loud, he was buying them the time they needed to do...something. Nosdyn looked at Anya there was an incredible understanding in his fierce eyes. One life in exchange for many...i think you will understand why I'm doing this. This isn't about us...not this time. We will have another tomorrow. He whispered to her gently. Keep them safe for me until I return. He walked over towards the slave drivers, primarily the one who was hitting him earlier. "I am offering myself in exchange for their safety. I will make sure that this all stops if you honour this one thing." Nosdyn said calmly, there was no fear in his voice. Only a very real bravery there.

There were lives on the line...no longer just his own.

Then it happened...the driver signaled towards his companion. "There will be no revolution or freedom for you, slave. Remember your place." The driver said coldly and proceeded to attempt to knock out Nosdyn. But at that point...Nosdyn could not feel the blows of the slave driver. He merely looked at him. Eye to eye...man to man.

"Why must it be this way?" Nosdyn needed an answer, in his logical mind it was a fair trade. His own safety and well being for the lives of the others...why would they not honour him? He cried as he stood there getting hit over and over, not of pain or fear...but of confusion and sadness. "I don't want to fight you." Nosdyn finally said, the truth falling on all of their lap. "I will ask you once more...is this not a fair trade? One life in exchange for many?" He needed an answer and would not give up until he had an answer.
 
Anya hated this, she was impatient and she wanted nothing more than to clobber them, but she was also smart, and she kept her anger in check. So she did as Nosdyn asked, and let him do it, gathering the slaves together in one room and taking note of how many there were and what shape they were in, many were like Nosdyn, underfed but strong, which was needed for mining. Others were weak, usually old or young. She took note of the tools, hammers, chisels and pickaxes, as well as scaffolding and platforms of wood that were used for lifting and transport. She saw weapons and shields then. She wasn't much of a crafter, but she could probably piece together a plan for making shields from scaffolding and rope. Planning was what would be needed most.

So, with strong miners, and some weak ones, she began to formulate. The weaker ones were more likely to be water-carriers as opposed to miners, perfect for carrying messages. The stronger ones would fight. So, scaffolding and platforms for big shields, and hammers and pickaxes as weapons, they could also fashion slings from clothing for hurling rocks at high speeds, the kind that was swung about the head a few times before releasing one string to let the rock fly. They might also be able to make spears, by shaping rock with chisels and hammers and using some of the scaffolding poles as shafts. And the hammers could be secondary weapons.

So she already had a bit of a plan put together, now they only needed to execute it, and they would have to wait for Nosdyn to return to put it into motion.
 
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He took every single hit the driver was sending him...he was crying but something else happened just then. Something in his cerebral cortex clicked like a light bulb and flared on. His eyes opened wide at that point and the tears changed to tears of rage and anger. He'd gotten the timing of his attacker's swings down by that point and then he reacted. Almost on impulse and without thinking on what he'd just done...he caught the man's fist and knocked him down to the ground in one swift movement.

Nosdyn looked at the man as he recovered from the counter maneuver. Nosdyn was a brawler through and through and had learned survival tactics in the mines, from the effects of the lashing of the whips. Nosdyn carefully looked at the man before him. "You didn't accept my offer." Nosdyn said calmly. "You didn't even offer a reason why. All our lives...you'd lead us to believe all of your bullshit we work hard, you would protect us, you would give us work. This is all bullshit. All of us were forced into this by you." Nosdyn was angry by that point. "You are going to go back to your masters and you are going to tell this for me. We are not working for YOU lot any longer." Nosdyn spat on the ground at that moment, there was Orc blood in the spit.

He looked at the driver, who was terrified at that point. "You're all talk, I have learned how you all operate now you have no power here anymore. The next time you come back and attempt to hurt any of us there will be a revolution on your hands." Nosdyn turned around and began to walk back towards Anya and his friends, they were waiting for him in the other chamber.

***

He looked at Anya and the other girl he'd saved earlier. "I bought us the time we needed to prepare." He told Anya, who was far more sociable than he was. When he got back the other miners were different somehow, they were more determined to fight for their freedom.

The girl he saved earlier saw it first.

"You're hurt Nosdyn." She said calmly and walked over towards him.

"It will be all right. I'm used to pain anyway." Nosdyn said calmly. He looked at Anya at that point. "Hopefully they get the message we're serious now."
 
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"Oh they get the message, first two guys with broken bones and one bearing a warning all in the same day? That can't be ignored, but there's no turning back now, and we need to get to work immediately. Have the strongest of the miners watching the entrance with hammers and stones for throwing. Everyone else, he have work to do." She began to direct people of various strengths to various jobs, taking apart scaffolding and platforms while others made them into spears and shields with the salvaged nails and the chisels for sharpening the tips. The showed were narrow and tall, covering just over half of the weilder, reaching from his knees to above his head. She directed the weaker people to carry water as they did before, and to cut slings from sleeves. She herself directed the hasty training of the militia.

The strategy was simple, two rows of people with the tall shields were in front, armed with hammers and one handed weapons. Behind them were the spear users, which would stay past the shield bearers. Behind them, on a raised platform would be the slingers, pelting rocks into the enemy. It was simple and it was effective. She herself helped with the crafting of the spears and shields.

She turned to Nosdyn as they worked, "this is your revolt, I know how to do things, but you're in charge. So we follow you where you lead."
 
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He narrowed his eyes for a long moment seeing that it was all really happening. For a moment or two, there was a doubt in his heart. But he remembered the girl he'd freed earlier...he saw he could change things as well. He looked at Anya as she spoke and absorbed all she had to say. His revolution...no their revolution... He thought but decided to keep his thoughts to himself. "We must train." Nosdyn began. "I have some martial prowess, but I cannot take them all by myself." Nosdyn explained. "The one I confronted...he was hurt by my hands. They know we can harm them now." Nosdyn said. "There is no going back as our friend here has stated."

Nosdyn knew he was the most unlikely leader for the job...but maybe with hims as a wild card element of sorts...they might just stand a chance of winning. "I'm as afraid as all of you are." Nosdyn told the gathered. "Make no mistake about that. But because of that fear, I was able to fight for you all. Now...I am asking you all to fight with me and the good lady here. I know it's a lot to ask...but we can't be prisoners to these peopel any longer." They were humble words, but honest words. He was a man who spoke very little...but he always made sure his words and gestures mattered.

They all looked around for a little bit as Nosdyn held his hand towards them, an offer to ask them to join him in the unlikely revolution. "We have to fight for our freedom now." Nosdyn explained to them all. They were scared, but so was he, he knew they were scared but maybe there was a chance at victory there for them all. The girl he'd saved earlier in the day walked up to Nosdyn and placed her hand on his hand.

"You saved my life, without hesitation in exchange I offer you my own." She said boldly.

One by one, the gathered miners began to place there hands as a show of unity on Nosdyn's own hand. They were united for the cause of freedom. Nosdyn nodded and he turned to look at Anya. "It is done now, we will lead these people together and win our freedom. This is OUR revolution." Nosdyn said quietly, his chest was rising up and down with excitement.
 
"Perhaps. Let's hope that we have enough brains to outthink this Arschlochen. (Assholes)" She says with a grin, "I already have some form of formations planned that should work. We could just plug the entrance of the cave and kill them as they come at us. Or we can let them come in, fight them in here, or we can go out. A lot of things determine which is best. Which do you think would be best for the "Soldiers" we're training now?"

She, having been the daughter of a duke in a duchy ravaged by war, she knew a bit about how to handle this kind of thing. And she was prepared to step in with this experience should it be necessary, but she didn't like the pressure of being in charge, being a commander who took orders from someone else she was okay with, but she didn't want to be in charge. So she would give him the chance to do so.

"I hope that this goes well, because even if we do win, we might not have a lot of people left afterwards if we aren't smart about what we do and how we do it."
 
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Nosdyn frowned a moment as they all gathered around Anya and he.

There was a matter that troubled him. "They lack honour." Nosdyn suddenly told them all. "I was prepared to offer myself in exchange for all of your safety. They refused to accept my offer and would not even give me a why." The thought of the driver's fists and hits haunted him for a moment, but he needed to be strong for them all. "I was hoping to avoid any needless bloodshed." Nosdyn explained as they all trained with another, he showed them his martial prowess. Armed he was deadly, as he was deadly unarmed as well.

He took special care in training the female miner he'd saved earlier that day too. He wanted to be certain they could all defend themselves when the hour was upon them.

With her, and the finest other students he trained them in the lethal killing arts of his people. He was no longer afraid by the tenth hour. He mainly doubted his own capacity. He was afraid for the sudden mantle that had been thrust on his shoulders...he knew Anya would help. There was a small comfort in that from the woman. She was strong, that strength would guide them all.

That night...

They were all resting, but Nosdyn never slept. He never liked to, he had to keep his eyes open at all times. He observed Anya who had also similar habits to himself. They'd all learned a lot from one another. Mainly, Nosdyn had learned a lot about his own leadership capacity. He sat on the ground with his friends nearby, and there was a small comfort in that. He saw Anya near and he spoke to her. "I'm scared." Nosdyn said to Anya so they could all hear. "For me...it would not matter, but I know I cannot afford to fail in this. If we fall when the fighting starts, I will fall with everyone else." Nosdyn said. "it is not for death that I am afraid, it is for the suffering everyone will have to endure if I fail." He told Anya. He looked down towards the ground of the mine for a moment or two, thinking of how far they'd all come working together, as a team...they were ready.

But always, he had doubt. Fortune and fate were oft not kind companion to gamble lives with.

He knew he was being tested, perhaps by the gods that his people worshiped. He never thought about faith up until that point in his life. He looked at Anya. "What do your people, your tribe believe in?" He asked of her. "Maybe it is a cause I can also fight for. A reason to be strong other than just for strength."
 
"I'm scared." Nosdyn said to Anya so they could all hear. "For me...it would not matter, but I know I cannot afford to fail in this. If we fall when the fighting starts, I will fall with everyone else." Nosdyn said. "it is not for death that I am afraid, it is for the suffering everyone will have to endure if I fail." He told Anya. He looked down towards the ground of the mine for a moment or two, thinking of how far they'd all come working together, as a team...they were ready.

But always, he had doubt. Fortune and fate were oft not kind companion to gamble lives with.

He knew he was being tested, perhaps by the gods that his people worshiped. He never thought about faith up until that point in his life. He looked at Anya. "What do your people, your tribe believe in?" He asked of her. "Maybe it is a cause I can also fight for. A reason to be strong other than just for strength."

Afraid, good, fear was something that he could use, turn into fuel for his fight. If fear was controlled and channeled, then it was useful, if let loose it was a problem. His confession wasn't surprising, but she wondered why he was telling her. They barely knew each other, so why tell her? Oh well, she wanted to earn his trust so she'd prove trustworthy. Then he asked about her people, her home, the Kinniger Duchy.

"My people? My people fight to prevent and end suffering. If someone is suffering, and it cannot be ended, then we kill them quickly. If someone suffers and we can end it, we do everything we can to end it. Right now, my people struggle against armies of vampire slaves, thralls who's minds have been taken from them. And we fight because we know that we will suffer if we fail. I suppose that the same thing can be said here."

She was silent for a moment, "You should get some sleep. We need our commander to be well rested if we are to stand a chance tomorrow."
 
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Nosdyn nodded when he heard her speak of Vampires. "Some of the miners have stories about the Noferatu type. They can seduce you with their sanguimancy." Nosdyn knew only a little of their Diablerie style magics. He narrowed his eyes when she asked him about sleep. "I can't. I have not slept since...as far back as I can remember. It is part of my own people I think. I just don't sleep." Nosdyn nodded hearing her explanation of her people...they sounded heroic in a way that he immediately admired.

"Your people sound very brave to fight things that dwell in the darkness, like the Nosferatu." Nosdyn liked her, he appreciated her strength her and her desire to do right in their world. "I am wondering, if we can make it out alive of this mess...how does one join your tribe? I have no tribe." Nosdyn was trying to tell her what he knew about himself. "I was sold into slavery very early in my life."

"I have no memories of where I came from...or what life was life before this. This is all I know. I want to help you fight your way out of this mess too, we earn our freedom. Maybe I can join your people as well in your own struggles against the Vampires." Nosdyn said in a very brave and very humble sort of way. It was difficult to explain his sleep situation to her, but he was trying. He simply never slept...there was no need to and it was a waste of precious time and bodily energy.

There were more effective ways to recover's one's strength anyway. Nosdyn studied her facial features as she spoke, she had interesting features. He knew she would never withhold information from him, and that was a friendship worth fighting for. His eyes remained narrowed as he considered. "When the slave drivers come tomorrow...we engage them directly. We have to be far more brutal in our tactics than they can come up with...they only know their own way of doing things. In that we can defeat them, but it must be a sound victory. They have to KNOW that we are determined to win our freedom from them. They are holding all of the keys."
 
"Your people sound very brave to fight things that dwell in the darkness, like the Nosferatu." Nosdyn liked her, he appreciated her strength her and her desire to do right in their world. "I am wondering, if we can make it out alive of this mess...how does one join your tribe? I have no tribe." Nosdyn was trying to tell her what he knew about himself. "I was sold into slavery very early in my life."

She chuckled. "They are. I was sent away, so that I didn't have to fight. I felt like it was cowardly, but I wasn't going to directly disobey my father, so I left. As for how to join it, I don't know if you can. All of our soldiers are trained from the moment they can stand, and are only allowed to retire once they reach the age of fifty. They're given three month breaks, but other than that they're always in a training camp or a fort. Even with all of your strength and capability, you simply don't have the training and experience to be included, so I don't think that you can. But that's not to say that you and all these people can become a tribe of your own. You've been together for a long time, and now you're fighting together, you might as well just build your own village and build it up as a part of a new tribe. That, and I doubt that tomorrow will be the end of this. Slave enterprises tend to have several bases, so we might just go out and free more people from their bondage, and hunt these slaver scum to the last of them."

There were more effective ways to recover's one's strength anyway. Nosdyn studied her facial features as she spoke, she had interesting features. He knew she would never withhold information from him, and that was a friendship worth fighting for. His eyes remained narrowed as he considered. "When the slave drivers come tomorrow...we engage them directly. We have to be far more brutal in our tactics than they can come up with...they only know their own way of doing things. In that we can defeat them, but it must be a sound victory. They have to KNOW that we are determined to win our freedom from them. They are holding all of the keys."

"A sound strategy. But you are clearly lacking in experience. Five things are needed for observation, the way, the weather, the terrain, the leadership and the discipline. With one day of training, discipline is going to be low, very low. The leadership, you, is inexperienced but capable, so good. The terrain is rocky and sloped, so take to the high ground, make the enemy work hard just to get close to you. The weather looks to be rainy, so we can use that to hide, and the soft earth will hinder movement, so stay as stationary as possible. And the way, the goal, the goal is to kill them off, every last one, so in order to do this, we must give them no opportunity or opening to run. Now, with that information think, how can we accomplish the Way with this knowledge?
 
"There are ways we can use the terrain to our advantages." He said. "We, the miners, we know how to move in and out of the adjacent passageways and hallways. We can use that knowledge to our advantage, strike from afar." Nosdyn blinked for a moment. The strategy was sound, as miner, they had knowledge of the terrain that the slave drivers would not have thought of. There are descent points. We can literally bury those fucks alive." Nosdyn was angry by that point, but not at her, at the masters. There was a tactical flaw in the way the masters thought in allowing them the chance to learn the terrain.

At that point, Nosdyn began to draw on the ground with his fingertip for her a basic rough lay out of the mine and it's adjacent chamber. "They will come in from this point here." Nosdyn began. "If we must kill them all, and likely you are correct here, this is where we will have our biggest advantage. This point here. We swarm them as they enter. I can lead our troops from this point and you lead another group from that point we bottleneck them. They won't know what hit them or why. I wasn't given an answer as to why my barter attempt was not enough to satiate them. They also won't be given a why."

Nosdyn considered what he was saying. He didn't want to do any of this...but as she had said, he was an inexperienced leader. This was a situation that was no longer about him, but them all. Fate forced their hands at the same time. Nodyn drew an X on the ground by the entrance. "If they follow protocol they will sent in their leaders last to get killed." Nosdyn, having spent years getting tortured by them knew their leadership procedures by that point. There was a pecking order, not that much different from local kingdom's own military structure. But it was disorganized....there were flaws.

Nosdyn was a very smart Orc by that point. They had let him learn their tactics and strategies. That would become their own undoing. "A bottleneck strategy is likely the best chance we have if all of us perform our duties well." After listening to the other part of her story...he knew he was more like Anya than even he had considered. Nosdyn had been exiled but under far different and darker circumstances. He nodded. "A pity, I would have liked to learn from your instructors." Nosdyn said to her calmly. He smiled softly. At that point he noticed many of the fellow miners were looking at the tactical plan by that point and had awakened the others. They were talking with one another, everyone was scared. Nosdyn turned his attention to his friends for just a moment. "Today we will win our freedom." Nosdyn explained to them all. "No longer will we be mere servants."
 
This point here. We swarm them as they enter.

"But that will give them an opportunity and an opening to retreat, we will want to surround them completely, or bottleneck them on their way out if we want to ensure that all of them are killed. Or their leaders are more likely to run before they even get inside. We can lure them all the way into the caves, then trap them inside and starve them out if they aren't willing to fight us to escape, or kill them at the entrance as they come at us."

Nosdyn was a very smart Orc by that point. They had let him learn their tactics and strategies. That would become their own undoing. "A bottleneck strategy is likely the best chance we have if all of us perform our duties well." After listening to the other part of her story...he knew he was more like Anya than even he had considered. Nosdyn had been exiled but under far different and darker circumstances. He nodded. "A pity, I would have liked to learn from your instructors." Nosdyn said to her calmly. He smiled softly. At that point he noticed many of the fellow miners were looking at the tactical plan by that point and had awakened the others. They were talking with one another, everyone was scared. Nosdyn turned his attention to his friends for just a moment. "Today we will win our freedom." Nosdyn explained to them all. "No longer will we be mere servants."

"Servants is a kind word for what they've done to you. After what they have put you through, abuse, overwork, starvation, are you just going to lay over and let them win? Or, are you going to stand here, and make them suffer as you have, to take from them what they have taken from you? Stand here and live, or lay here and die. The choice seems obvious to me. They have taken everything from you, your freedoms, your lives, your families. If you fail here, you have nothing to lose, so you have nothing to fear, and that is what makes you dangerous. I haven't even been here a day, so I know nothing of what happened to you here, so I have yet to earn the right to be considered one of you, allow me to earn that right by helping you here. Let me fight with you so that we may all be free, and see these scum to the depth of hell where they belong!"
 
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Nosdyn nodded listening to what she said when she spoke.

He was a fast learner, and he knew where he was open to suggestions. He did not want them to loose anymore needless losses. There was too much on the line...he wasn't one to allow certain words and heightened emotions to hurt his feelings. Another might have found her words harsh, but not he, he understood WHY she was saying what she told him. He was green, there was that nature of him for sure. But his willingness to learn, would see them through the battle ahead. There were flaws in his strategy, but at least he was offering one up. It was difficult to explain the situation to Anya, he wanted to say more to her, but they were not alone. He wasn't angry...there was no reason to be. She spoke the truth and Nosdyn accepted it for what it was.

Nosdyn looked down for a moment. He suddenly felt the weight of what they had all gone through. "Perhaps...I know it is difficult to explain the respect I have for them. I know they MUST be defeated...but there is more to this than that. Friends lives are on the line. It is hard burden of a decision to make, to accept but I know it must be done." Nosdyn paused for a moment. "I am willing to adapt my strategies, and adapt tactics to insure that we win tomorrow." Nosdyn took a deep breath a moment, the still air of the mine shaft was calm at that point. Tomorrow it wouldn't be the same way there would be the severe tension of battle the next day. "I know some of what I am saying will be difficult for you to understand, Anya." He looked at her for a long moment as he spoke. "This is the only life we have ever known...but those events yesterday are no longer about how I feel. It is about winning our freedom." Nosdyn nodded to reassure himself almost. He was just as scared as they all were. He didn't want to needlessly throw away lives.

"I understand what is at stake, my words I choose to call them does not matter. Though they have treated us really terribly over the years, for us, this is the only life we know. Please understand what I am saying here." Nosdyn looked at her, hoping for something...an answer perhaps that would be far more suitable than the Slave Driver's refusal to accept his bargain request. "Yesterday I was ready to give my life for you all." He told Anya and his friends. "I am ready to continue to take the risk, freedom is far too important now given what has happened. They will grow desperate and their tactics against us will get worse and worse." Nosdyn sighed. He knew of what he spoke, perhaps, to an outsider...it would seem as though he knew a little TOO MUCH of how their enemy operated. But the point was, years of torture under the Slave Driver's beatings made him observant...he'd learned how they operated. What drove THE MASTERS.

He went silent at that point. He knew he'd just given them all a difficult piece of information to swallow, and perhaps they'd be right. He looked at Anya at that point. "I am like you. I am not originally from Cerak herself." Nosdyn suddenly said. "I am from elsewhere, that much I do know. This life is all I have ever known. I want to show my friends and my extended family, and you as well, something nice after this. Something that we all make with our own hands. I don't want to think the story MIGHT end for us tomorrow. I am trying to believe that we have a sincere shot here. If you tell me we can win, I am willing to fight until I can fight no longer. Until my heart of war stops beating." He pounded his own chest a couple of times for a moment to put emphasis on what he was saying. He was a good, kind Orc, but the fates were not kind and thrust them all into that messed up situation. He wanted to believe they could change fate itself, and challenge it they would.
 
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Anya had nothing to add. He knew this place and these people better, which is what made him better suited to lead these people than she. She did catch on to one particular pair of words, his Heart of War. It brought a new perception to her mind, made her think differently. She couldn't hope to understand them or everything that they went through, so she wasn't going to pretend like she did, but she knew that they needed help, and a Heart of War sounded like exactly what they needed.

She couldn't say anything else, she didn't know what to. So she remained silent.
 
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(Note feel free to make this battle as long and epic as you need/want to this is your thread to. I'm making sure I Just set up the scene for both of us so I was certain to give Anya plenty to do as well)

The day of the battle...

Nosdyn and his team of miners were looking at the entrance of the cavernous reach. He looked at Anya and nodded towards her. They must fall to the man... The previous night had been training and discussing strategy and the like. His eyes narrowed at that point. He considered carefully what to do. As he stared his previous observations were accurate, they sent underlings first and it went on exactly as Nosdyn said it would...perhaps he knew too much. That was a tactical advantage for the miner's side. Nosdyn already had first hand experience fighting the masters from the previous falling out they'd had.

Nosdyn was at the front of the group, he would lead his warriors to their freedom. He walked over towards the first of the slave drivers. "You still never gave me an answer why." Nosdyn said to the man who looked up at the blue orc confused. "You will get the same treatment, no why for you either."

Nosdyn was deadly with his hands. He was armed with a single mining pick, and physically threw the mining pick at the chest of the man, striking him with it. The bladed portion of the pick struck the man's chest dead on. He fell down, dying.

Nosdyn walked over towards the stricken man, and stomped his boot down on the mining pick, making sure the man died. Several slave drivers were arriving by that point, and they were stunned to see the revolt occurring. By that point, the other miners were already fighting in the ways Anya and Nosdyn taught them all, the ones who were willing to fight. The rest watched with a tension and fear.

The first wave of the slave drivers was soundly killed.

Nosdyn looked at the man he'd fought a few days earlier, the man walked over towards Nosdyn directly. Nosdyn kept his eyes locked on the drivers that came, and were killed off, as Anya and Nosdyn had taught them to do. It was a brutal, savage sort of siege tactics. "You didn't give me a why." Nosdyn said, that part had hurt him, more than he would ever let on. Nosdyn struck the man's chest quickly. It was a flurry of punches, by that point he noticed everyone was fighting that could fight. The man Nosdyn was fighting was one of the leaders in the pecking order. They were targets and all had to horribly die. Nosdyn carefully was dismantling the man's combat tactics, and had overwhelmed him with a series of strikes.

"You won't go home today." Nosdyn snarled towards the man.
 
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Anya was armed with one of the wooden spears, since she preferred to stab more than anything, and she stood up front. In front of the wall of spears and shield with the skirmishers behind, launching stones into the enemy, while Anya was absolutely delighted to be fighting again. Stabbing, grappling and breaking her enemies all while laughing delightedly. She seemed way to happy to be in a fight, and her laughing unnerved most of the people there. Meanwhile the miners were doing very well in slaughtering the lackeys like pigs.

Anya would have tried to back Nosdyn up but he looked good, that and they would have to spread out for their maximum effectiveness.
 
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If the Gods themselves came manifested before them, Nosdyn would have cut them as well.

He was in a battle frenzy using his martial tactics to kill in the defense of his companions. The battle became heated and hectic. It was difficult to keep track of everybody's position. Anya was armed, she could hold her own. The one other person he truly cared about was Ellsa the girl he'd saved the other day. His eyes were frantically darting to find her position in the crowd of fighters, but he found her after a few moments, and moved physically towards her position.

He noticed it before anybody else did.

A third slave driver was heading towards her with intent to kill. Nosdyn would not allow needless loss of life in the battle. He moved to save his friend. And save her, he did with his own well being on the line. The man was physically preparing to back stab Ellsa but Nosdyn intervened in time.

He was in right in front of the man when it mattered for them all. Nosdyn didn't even feel the pain when the man's blade struck his face hard. Blood, Orc blood, spilled everywhere from the gushing injury. The blade had not hit it's intended target...but rather a very angry Blue Orc. Blood streamed down his face and he noticed very quickly the eye that had been struck was useless to him now. The injury would likely be permanent in nature. The man quickly removed his sword from Nosdyn.

Ellsa realized all too quickly what had just happened. He'd saved them all risking his life for them once more.

The fighting around Nosdyn paused for a moment or two. That was all that the Blue Orc needed. He grabbed the man's head suddenly and snapped the pig's neck with his own two hands. He was trying to remember why they were all fighting, for their own freedom and well being. He felt Ellsa's hand touch his shoulder. Nosdyn nodded. "Later." He promised her. There would be time for reward if they made it out alive of that mess. Nosydn's eye searched for Anya at that point, she would have been the most aggressive fighter of the bunch aside from Nosdyn himself.

"Come." Nosdyn said to Ellsa. "We must protect Anya. On that all depends." He took Ellsa's hand and moved with her towards Anya's position he made sure there would be no more failed backstabbing attempts. As he moved, Ellsa ripped off the sleeve of her own shirt and handed it to him. Nosdyn understood the gesture and wrapped it around the side of his face that was permanently injured. It hurt, but he was trying to focus on the task at hand. Healing would come later, regrets would also come later.
 
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Oh she was aggressive alright, very very aggressive. Her spear had broken so she picked up one of the actually good ones dropped by one of the dead slavers, and she was having even more fun with this one than the other one, which meant she was laughing gleefully as she carved a bloody murder canyon through the slaver forces, if they could be called a force. Even the vampires in her home hade more organization in their armies than these slavers had. And she was letting them receive her disapproval of their horde tactics in full force.

When she saw Nosdyn with his injured eye she stopped laughing momentarily. “Oh dear,” she said with genuine concern, “are you okay?” This question was punctuated this sentence with stabbing another slaver in the throat.
 
Nosdyn was thankful that Anya was well.

She fought with tremendous ferocity and skill, his skill set was much more defined but had equal fervor and rage behind it. The desire for freedom. Her laughter unsettled many, but didn't bother the Blue Orc. Nosdyn nodded at her question. "Saved my friend is what matters. The other guy looks worse." Nosdyn promised Anya. Ella was standing near to Nosdyn and Anya.

"The fighting has stopped." Ellsa said calmly.

"Look!" A nearby miner turned warrior yelled.

One of the remaining slave drivers dropped walked over towars the group of freedom fighters and knelt down in defeat. "We have lost." The slave driver said after hours of pointless fighting. At that point the remaining slave drivers knelt before Nosdyn and his companions.

But then, Nosdyn, missing one eye, looked at Anya. "I know what must be done my lady." Nosdyn said calmly to her.

***

An hour later it was done. The entire group of slave drivers had just been massacred by Anya and Nosdyn working together with their team of miners. Nosdyn snapped the neck of the last slave driver just to be certain he'd done it himself. There were many injured. But they were all looking at Anya and Nosdyn at that point, primarily Ellsa looked at Nosdyn.

"We fought and won our freedom." Nosdyn said calmly. At that point, a guard from Cerak At'Thul who approached them and saluted.

"Cease your fighting miners." The soldier from the empire said calmly.

Nosdyn nodded towards the soldier. "Why have you come?"

"To declare your freedom." The soldier said calmly. "We will remove the drivers from your mine shaft and treat the injured. You've won the day, you've fought like warrior poets. Your people and your ancestors would have been proud of you Nosdyn." The soldier saluted and they started to gather the bodies of the fallen for their final rites.

Nosdyn looked at Anya and Ellsa, he nodded towards his friends. "I promised I would show you two something nice after this was all done, if we ended up living. I had my doubts, but we made it through the day's fighting." Nosdyn said carefully. He looked at Anya and nodded. "i lost an eye, but the masters lost more than us...they know we can hurt them now. They will leave us alone after." Nosdyn promised. "Tomorrow I want to take you too to a pub in the city and get a proper hot meal. That will be an offer to all of us by the way, we've earned a hot meal."

Nosdyn looked at Ellsa at that point, she hugged him and he was caught off guard. He tensed for a moment and was unsure of how to react.

"Twice now you've saved my life." She said to him.

Nosdyn nodded in response. "I will continue to protect you all." He promised. It was his nature, the ways of someone strong like he was. He pounded his chest with his left fist as emphasis that he was serious.
 
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they know we can hurt them now. They will leave us alone after." Nosdyn promised.

“That is something that I doubt. They have friends most certainly, and probably a boss of some sort, who is most likely going to want vengeance and to send warnings to other miners. I say we need to be prepared for real war. Which means we need to be prepared for it. Let’s gather their weapons, and their armor, and keep ourselves armed and ready.”

The following day, Anya showed up in her recovered full plate armor of black steel with her red open-front surcoat, her estoc and smallsword at her left hip, her buckler with her smallsword. Her helmet was under her arm as she waited for Nosdyn. If they were attacked, she’d be ready.
 
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Meanwhile...

"This uprising in the mines must stop." A shadowy figure looked at his companions in a nearby structure outside of the mine.

"The Blue Orc is leading them." A second figure responded.

The first man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Nosdyn. So...the hour has come."

"My lord? What would you have us do?" The second man asked.

"Kill them all." Their leader said. "They must not allowed to be freed."

The second figure saluted and looked at his leader for a moment, then the other figures and himself walked out of the structure.

The leader looked off into the darkness towards another that was hidden in the shadows.

"Don't fail me." The other figure said coldly.

"Nosdyn..." The first man said calmly to his hidden master.

***

He looked at Anya carefully she was prepared, they all were. They looted what they could off the fallen who were left behind. The events were unfolding well, Nosdyn almost wanted to believe that they could win but he always had his doubts. He was an inexperienced leader. But he had a focused point in his companions, in Anya who had already taught him so much.

He looked at Any for that long moment.

"Tell me we can win." Nosdyn asked of her. He would fight until the very end, if he had even one iota of hope and possibility of victory. The enemy was already entering the chamber, they looked different from the slave drivers from before. "These are mercenaries...they aren't the same group we fought yesterday."

He looked at his friend Ellsa at that point. "I will protect you. I promise."