Vo and the few orc warriors that had run out to meet them guided Mercer through their village. The shocked faces of many orc women watched as a human was escorted into their village. He simply smiled and gave a small wave to try to reassure them, but their faces remained stoic and cold. The group arrived at the center of town where a large structure lined with tick furs and leathers insulated the inside. Stepping in, Mercer saw additional orc warriors and mages guarding the chief who noticed him instantly as well. In the center of the tent were a large pile of furs and the largest most heavily scarred orc that Mercer had ever seen. The Chief was in the middle of fucking one of an orc woman, a lighter-skinned redheaded who looked much younger than he did. His giant cock plowed in and out of her with rapid precision. Her tits bounced wildly under her as she rode the beast and she screamed in ecstasy. As soon as he noticed Mercer enter, the Chief turned to glare at him. This seemed to upset the redhead; she immediately stopped grinding into the Chief and stared angrily at Mercer.
"Do not worry, he won't hurt us," Vo whispered to Mercer. He could see why, the man was nearly all muscle, must have weighed nearly three hundred pounds and would be seven feet tall if he were standing. The Chief glared at both of them, then returned to pleasuring the young girl who in turn began moaning once more. Mercer averted his gaze and caught sight of Vo looking directly at him, clearly enjoying how uncomfortable this was making him before she returned her gaze to her chief. As he scanned the room it appeared no one seemed to be phased slightest by what was happening in front of them. Vo and the other scouts. simply waited for their chief to be done. His guard was watching Mercer with intense stares, those with weapons had a hand on them ready to unsheathe and charge at a moment's notice. Mercer wondered if the same thing happened every time a new person entered the village.
The Chief grunted as he finished cumming and lifted the still very large young orc off of his massive member and planted her beside him. He seemed barely out of breath from the encounter and sat down to face the group who had walked in. The girl whimpered softly in disappointment at their session ending. She moved back in to elicit a response from her lover, only for the Chief to roughly slap her across the face with the back of his hand. She cried out weakly as tears welled up in her eyes. The Chief grabbed her hair roughly and forced her head down onto his lap. The girl's pussy was soaked with his seed, which ran down her thighs.
"Speak," he commanded with a gravely baritone voice both plainly and assertively.

Mercer said nothing until Vo looked at him and nodded to indicate the Chief was talking to him. He had planned on simply charming the Chief as soon as he met him, but with all these warriors around he would most certainly be killed if he tried. His hand gripped the gemstone in his pocket tightly, making sure he still had it, hoping that it might miraculously save him.
Without further hesitation, Mercer spoke aloud. "My name is Mercer. You seem like a very nice fellow. Tell me, what can I call you?"
He expected the reply to be something along the lines of 'chief', or 'your highness'.
Instead, the huge orc replied calmly. "I am called Maldor. What do you want? Why are you here?"
Mercer cleared his throat and continued. "I heard tale of a mighty chief up here, who has kept the rulership of his people for a very long time. I am a scholar, and I traveled this way to, with your permission of course, learn of your culture and way of life to record them in a book. I ran into Vo'kala in the woods and she brought me here." Mercer explained with a smile and a nod.
Maldor looked over the young human from head to toe. "Why does a scholar carry such a weapon?" he asked, gesturing toward the glaive stowed on Mercer's back.
"Those that did not bring or know how to use a weapon simply did not survive the journey," he answered bluntly. It was true enough, though Mercer didn't necessarily care about not lying.
Maldor let out a small chuckle at the thought of this human being the only survivor of his band of humans. Some of the other orcs in the room laughed as well. He petted the girl on his lap's hair before this still very naked Chief stood up and towered over Mercer, offering to shake his hand in agreement. "Mercer, you make me laugh. You are welcome to stay for your writings."
Mercer was relieved. He made eye contact with the giant and shook his hand respectfully but made a mental note to wash it before he ate anything, and moved to pull away.
"However!" Maldor shouted and tightened his grip on Mercer, pulling him even closer than before. His expression was cold, the silence in the room was deafening. "You are not permitted to sleep inside of the village. I will have a shelter constructed for you outside of town. But the women of this village are my wives and daughters, and I will not permit you to be near them after dark. No exceptions." He commanded, a grave seriousness passing over his face.
Mercer gulped. "Of course, whatever I can do to help." He offered.
Maldor released his grip and gave another loud laugh. "We don't need any help." he jeered in a tone that felt very condescending, causing some of the other orcs to laugh again. The warriors that had escorted Mercer to the chief bowed before him before leaving to return to their posts, Vo bowed also, prompting Mercer to bow as well, which he did halfheartedly. He turned and left with his guard without another word.

"I think that went well." Mercer sighed and looked up at Vo, who nodded but still looked a little nervous. "I'm going to tell him eventually, I just need to earn his trust. To do that I think it's best if you show me around your village and let me meet some of your people."
She smiled warmly and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the chief's tent. As they walked through the doorway, Mercer could feel eyes upon him once more. This time however they were not hostile, but curious. They stopped walking and Vo motioned for two young curious girls to approach them. Both were wearing leather breeches, vests, and fur-trimmed hoods. One was a dirty blonde and the other brunette. They both had daggers on their belts and bucklers strapped across their backs.
"Well hello there, little ones," Mercer said, leaning down to them.
"They do not yet speak the common tongue," Vo explained before translating for him.
The little girls giggled and waved. The brunette reached out and touched his cheek, whispering something to the blonde. The blonde then placed her hands on either side of Mercer's head, pressing her forehead against his. Mercer froze, taken aback by the sudden gesture. The blonde whispered something to the brunette again, and the brunette responded, laughing. She pulled away from Mercer and skipped off toward the village. The blonde continued staring at Mercer until she too skipped off toward the village.
"What was that about?" Mercer asked, looking at Vo.
"She says you are handsome, and that she wishes to mate with you. Her sister has already chosen for the Chief, so she must wait until the boys her age become men so she can become a woman." She answered.
Mercer blushed slightly unable to deny that he found the blonde's actions flattering, even if she was barely more than a child. Continuing down the road, Mercer had the privilege of meeting some of the older women and learning about old stories and legends of the tribe, such as how the tribe came to be here and what happened during the last war with the humans. Mercer learned quickly that the orcs' history and culture revolved almost exclusively around fighting. It seemed like every legend told of bloodshed between the tribes and the other humanoids or sapient monsters. Even though many of these tales involved dead heroes, the orcs appeared to look back fondly on those times.
It was then that he saw, past these elders, an older woman tending to the red-headed girl he saw earlier. The older woman appeared to be her mother, and she was tending to the girl's bruise while the girl tried not to cry too loudly. Mercer approached slowly and gently laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, uh... Hi..." His voice trailed off awkwardly, unsure of how to address her.
She looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. She wiped them away hastily, sniffling. "Hello," she muttered quietly.
"Are you ok? Do you want to talk?" Mercer asked softly.
A look of genuine confusion washed over her sad face, and just for a moment, she stopped crying before shaking her head no.
'I guess the women are reserved here too.' Mercer thought to himself before he stood up and left the elder to her healing. It was right then and there that he first felt a genuine connection to this town and the people that lived in it. For just a moment, he fantasized about staying, maybe seeing if he couldn't help these women somehow.

Vo interrupted his daydream, "Mercer, let us get you some food before I show you to your shelter outside the village."
He followed her to the dining hall where several children sat eating bowls of stew. Mercer sat next to a small boy with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes who would not stop talking to Mercer in orc, even though Mercer understood none of it. Mercer had the opportunity to meet a lot of people actually which was surprising because the atmosphere of the dinner was quite rowdy, making it difficult to get a word in with anyone in general. The ones he took the time to remember were the personal guard of the Chief. Mercer figured if he could charm all of them, he'd have a decent shot at charming Maldor and getting out of there with his prize.
First, there was Rasha'kala, a mighty warrior that was almost as tall as the Chief was, with a bald head and lighter green skin that was pigmented in odd patterns all over her body. She wielded a greatsword and was the only person Mercer had seen in the whole village so far who wore metal armor.
Next was the Chief's mage Kotane'korta. She was the shortest of the guard, but still easily had four inches on Mercer. She had short brunette hair and had a wand in the holster at her waist you would expect a dagger to be. She just looked intelligent, and Mercer could tell she was the most curious one in the group.
His third guard was a gifted archer named Sorana'kala. Her hair was black and matted into dreads like Vo's but much shorter in length. The bow she had strapped across her back was the most massive man-powered bow he had ever seen. The arrows resting in her hip quiver were no less frightening as they were easily twice as thick as a typical arrow. Mercer did not dare ask what the broadheads looked like.
The final one was a healer and warrior named Elia'kortasha, whose red hair had started to grey in a few places. She carried an axe at her side and wore the skull of a griffin mounted on a leather strap around her shoulder. If she wasn't wearing her helmet, she would probably pass for a young woman by appearances alone.
When everyone was done, they walked through the village to find Mercer a bed for the night. They found him in a hut near the main gate, which was guarded by another pair of guards armed with spears. After a quick introduction, Mercer thanked them and went inside. He had to find a way to get each of them alone in a room with him. Then he would charm them into helping him as he had done to Vo. All he needed was a plan.

When the morning came, Mercer was awoken to the sound of a busy village that had already gotten up early to begin their work for the day; he had slept in. It wasn't all bad, however, because Mercer had finally thought of an idea for getting a member of the chief's guard alone. Now all he had to do was wait for Vo. Since Vo was the first to take notice of her good friend's absence around town. She made her way over to his hut and found him looking pale and sickly.
"Mercer! Are you alright?" she asked falling to his side and looking over him to see if there was something she could do.
"Get... Elia." Mercer croaked out before erupting into a fit of coughs. Vo nodded and wasted no time standing and bolting over to the Chief's tent. After explaining the situation to Elia, the both of them ran back toward Mercer's hut.
Mercer propped himself up against the wall when they arrived but he still looked like death, clutching at his side like he had been stabbed.
"What happened?!" Vo demanded looking around the room to gauge how much he had bled but didn't see a drop.
"I don't know..." Mercer replied weakly as Elia leaned down to look him over. "It hurts really bad right here," Mercer said, lifting his arm away from his side, and revealing his triangular gemstone to Elia. She locked her eyes on it instantly. Mercer watched her expression glaze over as Vo's did the day before. This close, however, Mercer swore he saw a purple light flash in the backs of her retinas.
Mercer dropped concentration on his illusory disguise spell, and suddenly he began to look more healthy by the second.
"Is that what I think it is?" Elia's eyes were still locked on the gemstone. "It must be." She stated flatly. "How long have you had this?" she asked.
"Since yesterday morning, right before I met Vo." Mercer explained, slipping the gemstone back into his pocket.
"This item is dangerous and forbidden, Mercer. I am your good friend, but you must let Vo return this to where it came from." Elia pleaded.
"But why? It isn't hurting anyone," Mercer argued. "And besides, you know that I'll be responsible with it. I just need time to convince Maldor of that." Elia let out a deep sigh. Of course, she trusted Mercer, but this seemed irresponsible.
"Fine, but please keep this to yourself, or Maldor would have your head on a spike." She whispered with genuine concern. Elia looked behind her at Vo, the only other person who knew of this secret.
"He won't tell anyone," Vo assured her. Elia took Mercer's hand and squeezed it affectionately before heading back to her duties.
Mercer stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm sorry I tricked you into thinking I was sick." he apologized. "I just wanted to make sure Elia knew, since the two of us are such good friends now."
Vo exhaled a sigh of relief. "It's okay, you just scared me. I am glad it went well." Vo leaned in to kiss Mercer on the cheek, causing him to blush. "I did not want you to die." She said, with a nod that conveyed way more affection than I think she intended before excusing herself from the hut.

Suddenly, the thought of Vo and him together filled his mind. It felt so natural, almost like it was meant to happen. He closed his eyes, imagining kissing her. He couldn't help himself as he began to imagine the feel and the taste of her. He imagined their tongues intertwining as they moaned softly into each other's mouths and their hands roaming over each other's bodies. He imagined her naked and on her knees, her long tongue wedged between her tusks as she eagerly awaited to receive his seed.
"What are you thinking, Mercer?" he asked allowed as he pulled himself back to reality, trying to purge the thought from his mind.

Unable to isolate another of the Chief's guards that day, Mercer spent most of his first official day going about the village and charming some women and other soldiers he could get alone here and there. It seemed that most of the women did not even know of this gemstone, save for those who had been trusted with such secrets, so it was far easier to corrupt them. You never know who might be useful later. As the day began to wind down and evening approached, a scene unfolded before him. After a lot of screaming coming out of one of the huts, Chief Maldor pulled a young orc man outside, lifting him by the wrist and holding him at arm's length. The young man was beating into Maldor's arm with all he could muster but it seemed to not affect the chief. The young redheaded orc from yesterday came stumbling out of the hut, completely naked, and following the two of them crying. Suddenly, the boy lifted a knife he had hidden in his tunic and stabbed Maldor in the arm. The chief paused only for a moment before raising his right fist and delivering a deadly blow to the boy's skull. The young orc was alive if only barely, coughing out teeth and blood onto the dirt.
"Get him out of the village." Maldor spat removing the blade from his arm and throwing it to the ground.
A couple of guards moved in to carry him out. The young woman ran after her wounded lover, but Maldor stopped her. He lifted her over one of his shoulders and carried her towards his tent in the center of town. The sight sickened Mercer, but unable to do anything about it he decided to excuse himself from the village and go to bed early.

His early night of rest served him well because, by the next morning, Mercer got up hours before dawn and waited for one of the gate guards who constantly watched his hut throughout the night was alone. As soon as one of them headed off to the bathroom, he waved the other down and walked over to where she was standing.
"The morning has not come yet, human. You cannot enter." She uttered, seemingly annoyed.
"That's okay," Mercer smiled, "I just wanted to show you something," he said, taking his gemstone out of his pocket and placing it right in front of her face. A look of shock crossed her features. Not knowing what to say, she merely stared at the gemstone. Eventually, hard blinked and shook her head slightly.
"What is your name?" Mercer asked.
She replied quickly. "My name is Yuna."
"And what is the name of the other soldier?" Mercer inquired.
Yuna turned red and stammered out the answer. "Her name is Lydia."
"Well, thank you for letting me show you my discovery." Mercer grinned. The two of them chatted for a bit while they waited for Lydia to return from the bathroom.
When she did, she noticed Mercer was with Yuna and quickly made her way over. "Everything alright?" she asked.
Mercer nodded. "Yes, everything's fine, I was just showing Yuna this gemstone I found." He quickly shoved the gemstone right before her face. Lydia flinched at first, but the early morning light danced in that purple amethyst so perfectly that she had no choice but to stare at it. In mere moments, she became entranced by the stone.
"Oh wow..." she murmured. "It... it looks really pretty."
"It does indeed!" Mercer agreed. "Now ladies, I was wondering if you would be willing to do me a favor." he began. "I need to get into town a bit early this morning. Even though I am an hour or so early, do you think you can trust me to quickly take care of something? I promise I will be right back."
Lydia and Yuna looked at each other. After a moment, Yuna nodded. "Alright, we'll let you pass through."
"Thank you both very much! I appreciate it!" Mercer exclaimed, giving each of them a quick peck on the cheek.

He made his way toward the Chief's tent as quickly and quietly as he could. He had a suspicion that one of the Chief's guards would be on night duty as well. Sure enough, his suspicions were confirmed when he rounded the corner and saw Rasha sharpening her greatsword to the sounds of screaming and sex coming from within the tent. She saw Mercer had emerged and looked at him curiously.
"It's a little early for you to be here, isn't it?" Rasha commented before standing up, lifting her sword with her. Mercer froze in place immediately. He knew exactly how dangerous a weapon like that was in the hands of someone like her. It took all of his courage to stand there still instead of bolting like every instinct in his body told him to. Mercer did not have much time, he could already hear some of the early risers of the settlement beginning to stir. Once she was close enough, he slowly took the gemstone out of his pocket and revealed it to her.
Rasha gasped upon seeing the gemstone and she glazed over just the same as Elia. This time, Mercer was sure he saw a purple light in her widening eyes. Her jaw dropped open and a bit of drool came out the side of her mouth. The sight of her turned him on, but he chose to ignore that feeling for now.
Just as suddenly as the light appeared, it vanished. Rasha snapped back to reality and gave Mercer a weird smile. "That... That's the forbidden stone from the Mountain, Mercer," she remarked before letting a wide smile cross her face. "Interesting... You're lucky I'm not going to kill you for having it." Mercer gulped nervously. "But I suppose I should hand it over now so Maldor doesn't either," she added.
"Rasha please listen to me..." Mercer slipped the stone back into his pocket and explained the situation over again to Rasha, as well as let her know that Vo and Elia also already knew. Rasha considered her best friend's plan while Mercer spoke.
Finally, after a minute of silence, Rasha spoke. "Alright my friend, but you better tell him soon. I am very bad at keeping secrets. So don't blame me if I accidentally let it slip."
'Fuck,' Mercer thought to himself. He would need to accelerate his plans for sure. The tent soon quieted and so did Mercer. From within, he could hear a girl weeping, followed quickly by a slap that caused her to yelp but the crying to stop.
Rasha noticed Mercer's angry expression and whispered to him. "It is our way. Has been for generations." She gave a halfhearted shrug. "Return to your tent, quickly." She gave him a shove, and he scurried away into the village before anyone could notice him, Yuna and Lydia looked relieved to have seen their trust rewarded as Mercer kept his word and returned.