The future of the Ironhide Tribe

The mountains surrounding the valley that held the mine were jagged and seemingly impossible to climb. They cast a perpetual shadow on the valley they hid, only broken during the few hours of the day when the sun stood highest. Few trees dared to grow inside and the grass seemed sickly with a distinct brown coloring. The dwarves had built a large gate, guarding the only exit of the valley which was manned by the elves. Their camp, made up of strong wooden buildings, was built inside the valley right up to the gate. The entrance of the mine was located on the edge of their camp, which is also where the orc 'camp' begun. Their conditions were poor, many just sleeping on the ground or in makeshift tents.

Ever day they went into the mine and spent the day working to complete exhaustion. The strenght and endurance that orcs prided themselves on had been diminished by their bindings and curse. The commander of the elves, a tall raven haired woman named Athrain, insisted on nailing the body of the fallen Ironhide tribe leader to a cross and displaying it in the center of what was essentially the town square. It wasn't a square, it was a circle of trampled dirt where orcs lined up every morning to get their pickaxe and lantern to go work and every evening to get their ration of stale bread. At least water was plentiful, as a clear river flowed from the mountains through the valley.

At first the orcs resisted. A group of brave young orcs tried to take the body of their leader down during the night, but were caught and hung above the mine entrance. When they collectively refused to work, the human paladins stationed at the camp took a group of orc children hostage to force the orcs into compliance. Every bit of resistance was met with a disproportionately harsh punishment. Over months and months the orcs resolve was broken. By the end of the first year of what the elves called "The era of plenty", any spark of rebellion had been stomped out beneath ruthless elven boots. Punishments were handed out by guards for slow work, wrong looks or just out of boredom. The elves reveled in the power they had over the defeated orcs. There were even rumors of elven guards taking orcs to their huts for sexual service.

This went on for a decade. The depravity of the elves rising in concert with their boredom. Sexual punishments and humiliation were a daily occurrence and severe whippings took place almost every week, whether there was a reason for them or not was unimportant. Athrain and her group of officers were the worst offenders, often placing orcs in a pillory on the town square and forcing other orcs to fuck them under threat of whip and blade. What happened in their private houses was never talked about by the orcs who returned.

Eventually the elves forbid the use of the word orc, referring to the now grey skinned race simply as "curses". They also took the time to brand a number on every orc and disallowed the use of names. Even newborn orcs were branded and shackled as soon as they were eight years old, which was almost adult age for an orc.

Hope had crumbled under a decade of slavery, humiliation and death.