This is a storypost, which obviously means it's not a regular blog post. All storyposts will have the obvious tag "story-post" rather than a standard post tag.

This one is about my character Kalo, who was originally written and played out in AI Dungeon. I'm going to consider this chapter a deviation from the regular story, because the AI left little room for sub plots or alternate plots. I wanted to write some non-canon stuff or possibly just some unexplored arcs I had considered.

That means this post is just me, without the AI. This is just my pure writing ability.

The main story is over on AI Dungeon.

If you're interested in that, here's the link.

[This story will be written in third person]

Chapter 1:

Kalo found himself blinking the sleep out of his eyes the morning after the attempt on King Gruzub's life. There wasn't much that he felt he could say to the old orc, someone who he had become an unwitting ally to in his strange new life. The most they had agreed to in the meantime following the attack is that they would discuss the events and what it meant for the kingdom in the morning. Until that time, Gruzub would surround himself with his most loyal guards and refuse to meet with the citizens of the Orc Kingdom.

Kalo sat up with a start as he heard the door to his room being opened suddenly. "Boss wants to talk to ya. I mean er, the King," grumbled a tired orc guard from the entryway. Kalo brought his right hand to rub at both of his eyes in the adjustment to the light from the hallway. "Thanks. I'll be right there." The orc shut the door with more care and precision than he had bothered in opening it, but Kalo was simply grateful the orc had not ripped the old oak wood from it's hinges. Feeling slightly more energized, the protector started to open the drawers of his room dresser and started to change into a new outfit. He knew there was little time to freshen up more, and he did not want to test Gruzub's patience.

There was a sense of unease as Kalo started his walk towards the throne room. He knew exactly how orcs could get when they were sent into a blind rage, or really any situation where they might be irritable about things not going their way. He felt sure that King Gruzub was no different, despite Kalo's own treatment as an esteemed guest. He found himself temporarily barred from entry by two large orcs carrying spears, crossing their spears to deny the human entry to the throne chamber. "None may pass," they said in unison, as if practiced in execution.

"Let him in," bellowing from the inner throne room was enough to force the two green giants to look each other in the face. Then, they relented. Uncrossing their spears, Kalo nodded nervously as he pushed open the old doors. He was met with the bright light of a well furnished hall of royalty, once again reminded of his relatively unimportant position within the Orc Kingdom. A human, hundreds of miles from home, serving at the behest of his orcish allies. "You wanted to see me?" Kalo asked outright, walking over to and kneeling before Gruzub.

"Ah, I like that you recognize your place even when you ain't an orc," Gruzub commented. "You may rise. Time for us to talk about the goblin threat." Kalo brought himself to his feet and stood at attention, wanting to make sure he made no mistakes in the orders he was about to be given. Gruzub stroked his chin, though lacking any sort of facial hair, most likely in careful thought. The orc was a cut above standard orc intelligence to be sure, and he may as well have been openly posturing. "We got a lot of goblins living in this kingdom. They wouldn't all be traitors to the orcs, they know it would get them killed. We got at least 5 orcs for every goblin in most cities."

Kalo found himself waiting for Gruzub to make his point. "I want to know who might be paying these assassins. We track 'em down, we can maybe stop this before they take another shot at me. Something tells me they aren't too smart, because if they really wanted to mess with orcs, they could have killed one of my generals or a high commander. But they went straight for me. Bad, bad move."

Kalo felt gears turning in his head as he pondered what might be going through Gruzub's mind, starting to speak up. "Gruzub, are there citizens in the goblin kingdom who would have a reason to want to attack you?" The human paused as he continued to watch Gruzub rub his chin thoughtfully. The orc king was leaning on his right arm now, so deep in thought that it might as well have weighed down his entire body. "Yeh. I mean yes. One group did, sure. One comes to mind, anyway. Did you hear about the thieves guild from a month back?"

Kalo opened his mouth to speak, but realized he had nothing to say. He couldn't remember the actual details of the thieves guild, as they were elusive enough to cause the town guard a lot of problems. The human man started to share what little he knew about the finer details of the event. "I remember they had some bold aspirations, making themselves known enough to say they were planning to steal from the royal treasury. But you think they would go as far as trying to murder you?"

Gruzub rose himself from his slumped posture and gave a much more affirmative nod. "Yes. Why wouldn't it be? No king means they could have all the treasure; if they could manage to sneak it out of the castle." His brow seemed to further as he thought on it further. "Ungrateful goblins. I give them a safe place to live, makes sure they have plenty ta eat, and they still try and kill me for my riches?" Kalo could audibly hear King Gruzub slipping deeply into his orc slang and accent with his growing frustration. Then almost as suddenly as his anger seemed to build, he reclined in this throne with an irritated sigh. "I only got- have one man besides you that's good enough for a mission like this."

"Who might that be, Gruzub?" Kalo asked curiously, finding himself still ruminating the details of what he had heard so far. He saw the old orc shift forward in his seat with a small wry smile. "You ain't the only human living in the Orc Kingdom. Go and see a woman named Leeyan, she lives in the market district of the city. She's our best messenger, and she's real good at finding just about anyone."