Role

Chapter 4

Borkahd has recently completed reading a text on the use of chaos in war
written by a duergar Warlord. The text told of many different situations
where the Warlord had utilized the natural chaos brought about by
conflict to his advantage, using it as a weapon against his foes. One
such example sited a battle against a neighboring duergar clan where a
fire raged across the battlefield, from one end of the cavern to the
other. The Warlord utilized the way that the fire hindered the ability to
breath, see, and to send in reinforcements. Both sides experienced the
same initial effects of the fire but the difference was that the Warlord
was able to see a way to take advantage quickly.

Most people have a natural fear of fire, it causes panic and hesitation.
Both sides had a wall of flames between the main battle and their
reinforcing waves. Realizing this, the Warlord ordered all of his
reinforcements to move to the main battle, overwhelming the foes by sheer
number before the opposing duergar could even see enough through the
smoke to realize what had happened on the main battlefield. By the time
the opposing force sent in their own reinforcements, their initial troops
had been slaughtered. The text went on to explain how one can never truly
prepare for chaos but one could embrace it once it occurred through
knowledge, experience, and intuition. Borkahd plans to continue to study
the concepts and to try and find ways to not only embrace and utilize
chaos in combat but to be its source.

Borkahd has also begun to study the effects of psychological elements
introduced into the battlefield as presented by a drow mistress. He has
not yet completed the text but has already had a chance to experiment
with what he has learned so far. He was recently engaged in a
conversation by an old giant by the name of Humbert after forcing the
Maran to retreat from his attack, bloody and beaten.

Despite thinking the concepts of good and evil are pointless, he does
realize that there are others with a distorted perception of morals and
other such nonsense and decided to capitalize on the opportunity. He had
hoped to ingrain himself into the Marans mind and paint a picture of not
only a strong barbarian but also one that is capable of, what the Maran
would consider, great and specific evils. Borkahd is no longer just
another ebony giant, he is now a monster. Humbert appeared very disturbed
by their conversation and Borkahd will see if it caused any noticeable
effects the next time the Maran strikes out at him. He hopes that the
perception of the Maran coupled with Borkahds imposing presence,
confidence, and use of eye contact will make a noticeable difference.