"First, they are a race used to hardship. They live in the places we would not care to visit. This means a nick here or a cut there, a lost finger or two, means little to them. With such injuries, a man or dwarf might well think it better to run away, heal his wounds, and come back to fight later -- for an orc, such thoughts only go through his mind if he's been struck with a blow that really hurts. A broken nose or foot, or a wound to the sensitive parts of the neck and upper back -- these will make an orc stop and think.

"Also, they are used to running away. Fight them in the open field, or in the sunlight, and they have a sense that this is not where they belong. There's a little technique the Stone Brothers use, in any fight in any sort of light...typically, there are all sorts of bits of shiny metal around -- your shield, your armor, your helmet, your axe -- so there are lots of dim glitters and reflections. If, right when you're going to strike, you can manage to aim some glint at the orc's eyes, they'll flinch, just a bit. It's not enough to really distract them, but when you get a blow in right at that little quailing, it'll do far more damage than if they steel themselves for it.

"Also, they are a short-lived, fast-breeding race. An orc who can't father children is worthless in his society. Striking at their eyes is no good -- they worship a half-blind god, after all -- but threaten to unman an orc, and he'll practically cut off his own leg rather than let your blade get near there. Heh.

"Perhaps most important, many orcs are slaughtered because they underestimate the dwarves they face -- but the reverse is also true. Orcs are a plague, but among them are powerful wizards, and fierce barbarians, and crafty assassins. Where a human or dwarf community has artists and entertainers and craftsmen, orc society is almost exclusively centered on warmaking, and every talent is used toward that end. The chaos of a battlefield in disarray is an orc's true home, and he is more comfortable there than any other place. If one were to impose order on the battlefield, the orc would be out of place, but that is not always possible.

"It is pride and laziness that have led us to this peril -- starting with Kray's overconfidence and Little John's poor discipline, and most recently with Drusilla's inability to control how much she drinks. In between, we've had arguments for no reason but arrogance, and fought battles poorly that should have gone well, because we assumed we faced `just a hobgoblin,' for instance. I worry that if we do not accept the humility we have so painfully earned, our quest will go awry ere we see Taur'egk's stronghold."

[Ya like the little back-foreshadowing? :) ]

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