The wetlands had always been largely avoided by the orcs, and for good reason. The entire region was covered with shallow, brackish water; many of the flora and fauna were poisonous if not properly prepared; and many of the larger wetland creatures would eat anything that did not eat them first. As Nobundo navigated several towering giant mushrooms, he heard raised voices: a commotion near the edge of camp. He hurried to see what was happening. Three battered draenei, two male and one female, were being assisted by camp members past the perimeter guards. Another, unconscious, was carried behind them. Nobundo shot a questioning glance to one of the guards, who responded to the unspoken enquiry: “Survivors from Shattrath.â€
Galvanized, Nobundo followed the party back to the caves, where the survivors were carefully laid down on blankets. Rolc laid his hands on the unconscious one first, but was unable to awaken him. Rolc came and shushed her. “Just relax. You are among friends now. Everything is going to be fine.†Nobundo wondered. Would everything be fine? Orcish hunting parties had already discovered one camp and wiped it out. And these four, how had they survived? What horrors had the female witnessed? What had driven the unconscious one to his catatonic state? Even more, the way they looked and behaved… Nobundo wondered if their injuries went beyond the physical: they appeared drained, dispirited. They looked the way he felt.
Several days later the survivors had recovered sufficiently for Nobund
o to feel comfortable asking them about Shattrath. The female, Korin, spoke first. Her voice broke as she recounted the experience. “We were lucky. We stayed deep in the mountain, in one of the few hiding places that remained undiscovered… at least for the most part.†Nobundo looked puzzled. “At one point a band of the green-skinned monsters found us. The battle that followed was… I have never seen such things. Four of the men who had volunteered to defend our group were slaughtered, but they killed many of the orcs as well. Finally only Herac and Estes were left. They killed the brutal creatures that remained. They were savage beasts. And those eyes, those terrible eyes…†Korin shuddered at the memory.
