By the time the last Orc had fallen, Avingard was completely exhausted, and he then dropped to the floor of the tower and began to catch his breath. He began to wonder how he was going to survive the heat of a battle if he barely survived fighting 4 Orcs. Granted he wouldn’t be alone, hopefully, but he was sure there would be more than Stormcloaks he would need to battle at any one time.
Looking over the courtyard of the fort he spotted the entrance into the fort’s keep. After battling the Orcs Avingard thought he deserved to see what was hidden within the keep of the fort, especially since the Orcs seemed so desperate to prevent him from entering.
Using his sword as a crutch, Avingard struggled to his feet and placed his sword by his side. He quickly search the Orc archer, taking his bow and arrows as well as some small items, and then proceeded down the tower. After searching the corpse of each Orc, Avingard had accumulated some small items, as well as some studded leather armor, but it appeared too worn to really use.
Walking to the large door of the keep he stopped to ensure no traps were placed on the door. Not seeing anything that looked like it could do him harm, he slowly opened the large door and entered the keep.
Avingard had entered a rather small room with storage area to the left and a second level above looking down into the room. As he turned to the right he noticed an Orc, with a large two-handed axe strapped to his back, looking down at a counter that contained food. The Orc hadn’t taken notice of Avingard, probably thinking that another Orc had entered the keep.
Slowly wielding his sword, Avingard crept towards the Orc, hoping to surpise the beast before it had time to wield the large axe. The Orc looked up and directly at Avingard, and then quickly brought the axe into a ready stance. Before the Orc could life the axe, Avingard lunged forward and plunged his sword into the belly of the Orc.
The large axe dropped to the floor with a large clang, and the Orc fell onto the counter and then to the floor. The noise from the axe hitting the floor alerted a second Orc on the second level. Soon an arrow came piercing towards Avingard, just missing his arm and getting stuck in the counter.
Taking cover behind a pillar to the left of the stairs leading up to the second level, Avingard began to think of a plan. The second Orc became quiet, and Avingard slowly stepped out from behind the pillar to try and spot his foe. As he looked up he realized he was staring directly at the Orc, who had his bow aimed directly at the Breton.
Reacting quickly, Avingard jumped back behind the pillar just as the Orc released the arrow. Once the arrow fell harmlessly to the ground Avingard made a quick dash towards the Orc to try and invite a melee battle. The Orc complied – putting away his bow and wielding his dagger.
Avingard lunged towards the Orc, missing with his sword and causing him to go off balance. The Orc, spotting the opening, slashed his dagger into the arm of Avingard, causing a large scratch that quickly started to drip blood. Avingard screamed in pain as the dagger struck him, and then fell to the ground.
The Orc charged at Avingard to keep the situation in his favor, but Avingard rolled out of the way of another slash from the Orc. Scrambling to his feet, with the help of a large table that was in the middle of the room, Avingard readied his sword in a defensive position, to attempt to block an onslaught of slashes and thrusts by the Orc.
Since the Orc was an archer, with a bow being his weapon of choice, all the melee combat with his dagger began to take its toll on the Orc, and he quickly became exhausted as Avingard blocked all his offensive attacks. Realizing this, Avingard began to go on the offensive, first slashing at various spots on the Orc, and then following it up with a thrust into the chest of the tired Orc.
The Orc slowly fell to the ground as the last bit of life drained from his body. After determining that his adversary was dead, Avingard looted both Orcs for anything of value, and also collected some food that was lying around. The Orcs appeared to be well stocked with food. After grabbing a bit to eat and drink, Avingard continued forward into the keep through a large door.