In the northlands, long after the comforts of civilization have ended and where monsters roam the land, Mercer, a cleric of a mysterious dark deity, left home in search of an ancient gemstone that would cause any who stared into its center to become charmed by its wielder. This sort of power was barely more than a legend, but Mercer was determined to find it. He had been traveling in this cold wasteland for weeks in search of a long abandoned alter built into a mountainside. All Mercer had were legends, but the price of such an item was too great to pass up. He could charm a king into giving him wealth and titles, or or a powerful wizard into working for him. The altar he sought is supposedly in dedication to the same god he worships, a god of lies, and he hoped that might give him some advantages in finding it. These last weeks of searching had left Mercer tired, having had to defend himself from the occasional band of goblins or an owlbear. He knew he wound be tested in this quest, the stories spoke as much, so he took every trial as a measure of worth to see if he was fit to receive such a prize. He was determined to acquire it by any means necessary despite his exhaustion. The quest made infinitely harder by the fact he sought to accomplish this feat alone. A group would've been better, but even if he had the money to hire an adventuring party there is no way he would have risked his prize falling into the wrong hands.

Mercer continued walking through a snowy forest when suddenly there came rushing out towards him what appeared like two huge wolves, one being incredibly large dwarfing the other full-grown wolf. Their thick fur coats stood at attention making their bodies look even larger than they were. Mercer instinctually drew his weapon in defense, and backed himself up against the nearest tree in preparation for their assault, that was until the larger wolf began to whisper in an all too humanoid tongue. Before he could react, a sudden odor filled the air, causing Mercer to stumble and his vision to blur. A beast that casts spells means only one thing: a druid. "Who are you?" asked Mercer looking dazed, and a little scared as he tried in vain to keep his weapon at the ready.
"What do you seek in these woods?" The wolf spoke, a feminine voice was detectable beneath the throaty growl that followed every word. A rough bark came from behind him as the smaller wolf began to move closer to him. His heart raced faster, he tried one more to resist the spell but found it only made him more tired.
"Allow me to pass, I mean you no harm to you or these lands!" He shouted, managing to get back to his feet and steady himself, if only barely. Both beasts stopped moving forward and slowly sniffed the air before turning away without another word. Mercer was relieved they deemed him not to be a threat. Soon after their departure, the scent left his nostrils and slowly he regained his senses.
"I'll have to be more careful in this area." Mercer thought to himself. "Who knows how many druids there are in these woods? Maybe the next group won't be so lenient." He said to himself, hoping the beast's departure had also taken its warning with it.

Nonetheless, he knew he needed to find shelter soon. Once the sun began to set in these lands, a deadly chill would take any mortal without protection within an hour. As darkness fell upon the land, he found a cave entrance up ahead, with only a narrow fissure in the back. It wasn't much, but it was enough to offer some protection against the harsh elements. The chilling winter air had transformed into the bitter and deadly cold as anticipated. Gathering some wood and a collection of branches, Mercer made camp and started a fire. The fire and makeshift shelter did protect him and his fire from any winds that might make their way inside, if only just. Whatever it wouldn't catch, hopefully, his sleeping bag and thick wool blanket would. When everything was ready, he lay down and closed his eyes. Despite the howling wind outside, and the loud crackle of the fire, he managed to fall asleep quickly after a few short minutes.

Mercer woke up with a start to the sound of a voice nearby. At first, he tried to remain still hoping he wouldn't be noticed. He peered into the dark woods and saw nothing. Listening out, he heard the voice once more, closer and louder than before and coming from deeper in the cave. He quickly sprang to his feet and grabbed his glaive, ready to face whatever this may be. Walking toward the fissure, Mercer focused fully upon where exactly said voices seemed coming from. He could only make out hushed whispers, coming from beyond the crack in the stone. He quickly gathered his things and slipped on his boots before squeezing through the narrow fissure and moving toward the source of the noise. The passage widened not too far in, and he followed this tunnel for a few minutes.
When he reached what he thought was the source, he found only a dead end. Feeling paranoid and frustrated, he went to lean against the rock wall to evaluate his life choices. Instead, he simply fell through the illusory wall onto the other side. Mercer yelped as he stumbled forward and nearly fell right on his face.
"Very clever." He smiled, taking the discovery as a very good sign that he was closer than he thought. This chamber revealed another tunnel, it was warmer than the previous ones but just as dark. He took the time to light a torch before heading deeper inside the cave.

After a few minutes of walking, he finally arrived at what appeared to be an entrance to a large chamber. Just beyond that, a makeshift archway, covered in runes as if to greet him to this new but alien place. Passing under the archway, he noted a strange glowing symbol of an inverted triangle with a swirl in the center carved at its top. After crossing over, he saw a pale woman with wavy dark hair in a long black dress at the edge of his torchlight. He was certain she must have heard him before now, yet she just stood waiting patiently. Mercer moved close enough to the woman that they could talk at a normal volume.
"And who might you be?" he inquired.
"I am she who sets the path, yet I am before it. However, this is not about me, Mercer. Is it?" She turned around to reveal that she had some sort of mask over her face completely covering every feature. "You have done well to not trust your eyes, but can you trust yourself? You have arrived but your trial is not yet over. Turn back, move forward, alone neither direction will get you my prize." She replied sternly.
"There is not but the way forward or the way back." Mercer sighed. "Please, show me what else I must do," he asked sincerely.
"I have spoken, young acolyte. Now, you must choose." She said assertively before disappearing into the darkness of the cave, leaving Mercer alone again. How could he turn back now? Mercer shouted in frustration and paced around this chamber, thinking about how best to continue and unsuccessfully attempting to locate any more illusory walls. He knew this was just another test, perhaps even from his goddess directly, but after weeks of travel the last thing he wanted to do was solve a damn riddle! He couldn't imagine going back without losing everything he had worked so hard for. As he sat down and tried to think, his eyes once more caught the only structure in the room, that archway he had to pass under to enter this chamber, and an idea struck him. Heading back to the gate, he walked through it once more. Looking back into the chamber, it appeared as if nothing had changed. Taking steps to the side, Mercer attempted to squeeze along its side, going around it rather than under it. This path was even more narrow than the fissure at the entrance, but after one final determined push, he made it through to the other side. This chamber was completely different, smaller, and dimly lit by candles on a stone altar. Atop the altar, a statuette of the woman he had just encountered, carved out of black granite with shining purple veins of amethyst running throughout it. At the base of this altar, was a triangular-looking gemstone with swirling grey colors as if smoke had been frozen inside it. In the center of the triangle, glowing purple amethyst was set into it, creating a spiral pattern that immediately caught and held his attention. Mercer shook himself from the trance and swore he could hear distant laughter from behind him.

He quickly grabbed the gemstone and turned around only to find the gateway no longer stood before the long tunnel he walked to get to this space, but instead the mouth of the cave and his campsite illuminated by the morning light. Walking through the arch once more, Mercer noticed that the cave had closed behind him and was now a solid stone wall. He wondered how much of that was real or imagined, and if the woman he had encountered was the deity he worships. He did not have long to dwell on it before seeing something far larger standing directly ahead, the wolves from yesterday, baring their teeth and preparing to attack. The larger she-wolf who had spoken to him previously shifted out of her animal form and into that of a large warrior woman, a six-and-a-half-foot tall orc woman with green skin and black hair that was put into messy dreads that fell down to her ass.
"What have you done?" the orc demanded angrily, her voice deep and powerful sounding and her hands white knuckling her staff.
"I acquired exactly what I came here for," Mercer said honestly.
"This mountain is forbidden," she spat at him, "you are no longer welcome here. She and her wolf companion stomped forward toward him but she paused when she realized what he was holding; an object that had only been described to her in stories by her tribe's Guardians, a triangular grey gemstone. She thought about turning to run, dreading the power of this object, but she was inexplicably paralyzed with fear, her legs refused to move. A devilish smirk crossed Mercer's face as he lifted the gemstone to meet her horrified gaze, and its magic took hold of her mind. The last thought she had before succumbing to its magic was the realization that she had failed in her duties as Guardian of her tribe.

And then, those thoughts seemed rather silly as she remembered her very good friend (whose name she had suddenly forgotten) was never a threat to begin with. She smiled and commanded her wolf to stand down. The beast slowly lowered itself into the snow and its snarl calmed. "Sorry about her. Gets territorial." She let out a chuckle before clearing her throat and steeling herself. "Forgive me, my Common is not great. I also forget your name friend." Her face went red with embarrassment, even against her green skin.
"My name is Mercer," he replied lowering his gemstone, "and there is no need to apologize, for I have forgotten your name as well my dear."
His smile made her feel warm on this cold winter morning. "I am Vo'kalasha, but call me Vo.", she said, smiling again.
"Vo is a very pretty name." flirted Mercer before shaking her hand. "Tell me Vo, why were you out here following me?"
"I protect this land," Vo explained "the mountain is filled with dangerous lies and forbidden items. We must keep people out to survive." Her eye returned to the gem he was holding. "To stop them from getting that." She gestured toward what he was holding.
"Oh, I see." Mercer chuckled "Well you won't mind if I take this, do you, Vo? You can trust me with it, we are such good friends after all." His voice fell to a husky tone as he went on.
"Of course." Vo smiled. She did trust him, "But there is a problem. I am sorry friend, I would let you take it, but our Chief. He does not know you. You will have to speak with him." She gave Mercer an apologetic look.
A frown crossed Mercer's face. He raised the gemstone to her face once more, and once more her eyes glazed over.
"You will let me leave with this item," he commanded. "and you will not tell anyone I have taken it." He let the message sink into her mind before lowering it once more.
Vo blinked out of her trance, still looking apologetic. "As I said, it is not possible. We must go to my village first."
"Fantastic..' He thought to himself. This stone was not a powerful mind controller like the legends seemed to indicate. While Vo seemed to be endeared towards him, she would not abandon her principles. Looking her and her wolf up and down it was clear there was no way he could slip past her, and there were certainly other orc's guarding these woods as well. He let out a long sigh, before finally speaking. "Alright Vo, how about you take me to your tribe, so I can speak with your chief."
Vo nodded and gestured to the southwest. "It is not far, we should be there before last meal. I will show you the way" And without another word, she turned and began walking through the trees. Mercer followed close behind her as they made their trek further into the forest.

As the two continued their journey, their conversation came again to life once more.
"So Vo, tell me about your chief." Mercer inquired, hoping to learn more about what he was getting into.
"He is father and husband to the entire tribe," Vo said very nonchalantly, but the answer took Mercer off guard.
"Wait- what??" he exclaimed. She paused their walk briefly to explain.
"The orc value strength above all else. Our Chief is the strongest orc of the land, a mighty warrior, and a smart leader. If a new chief took his place, all of the women become his wives and will have his children. Every boy is raised until after they become a man and have bred some less desirable of the women. Then they are sent off to grow strong or die. Every woman is his wife, but daughters of the chief often become warriors and healers to protect and serve him." She stopped to look at Mercer briefly. "I am one of his daughters."
"Does that mean you-" Mercer felt awkward asking the question.
"He has not taken me into his bed yet, but when he does I will be honored to serve him," Vo explained confidently, not helping Mercer in the slightest but Vo did find his bashfulness to be adorable.
"What if you were to get pregnant?" he asked sheepishly.
"Blood relatives are not permitted to have children, just as it is in your culture. Those children are killed before they are ever born with medicines." Mercer took as much of that in as he could before just nodding to free Vo from his line of questioning. Satisfied she had explained herself thoroughly, she continued their walk.
"I hope this doesn't sound judgmental Vo, but that sort of culture is a bit strange to humans. Though I'm sure if I were to talk about my ways you would also find it strange."
"Yes, we encounter you, humans, on occasion and your ways are strange." She admitted. "Such as your big fires."
Mercer was confused by this statement, so Vo elaborated. "The big fires? Way too much wood used, more than you need."
"Ah," he nodded in understanding, "yes we do make large fires sometimes."
"Every time." Vo corrected. "It's how I found you after all."

They continued for the rest of the day, making good time, especially after dropping enough in elevation that the snow became less of an obstacle. After several hours of walking, they crested over a hill and saw the orc village nestled at the bottom of a large valley. Several orc women spotted them and began making their way over to meet them.
Thinking of his plan on the way here, Mercer stopped Vo once again. "Before we go in, I need a favor from you."
She looked at him and smiled. "Of course, what can I do?"
"I need you to not tell anyone about the gemstone. Not yet anyway." A worried look crossed her face. Mercer elaborated before she could object. "You said yourself, your chief doesn't know me as you do. I promised you I will not leave with the stone without your chief's permission. I would just like to allow him to realize I can be trusted." She paused to consider it.
"What will we say to him?" Vo asked, still looking a little uneasy at the prospect of lying to her Chief.
"Just tell him I am from the south, here to observe and learn about orc culture so I can write a book about it." She grunted and continued walking toward the village without agreeing to his terms.
"Vo, please! I need this!" he shouted as a cold sweat began to form.
Vo sighed but did not break her stride. "I will not tell anyone for a while, but you owe me!" She laughed, with a hint of nervousness still present.
"I will return the favor, I promise." He smiled through his lie. It may not be easy, but charming the Chief would finally be his ticket out of there.