The Fur Trader by Sam Ferguson

“Think about it, had the orc not learned Common Tongue, they would not have sent a warning.”
    “You are saying they showed mercy?” William asked. “They sacked a great city.”
    Garrin held up a finger. “Ah, but if we read the history annals of that region, we discover that Oleant was originally an orcish city. It had been conquered only seventy years earlier. The orcs who attacked it were the grandchildren of those who had lost it. You see, there is always another side to the story.”
    “Doesn’t mean I like orcs,” William said. “They are even more savage than Tarthuns.”
    Garrin sighed. “Well, perhaps it would help if I explained that because Lazar was a slave to the orcs, he was able to study their culture and battle tactics first-hand. He is the same man who later became known as Lazar the Wise. He wrote a compendium on the orcs called Of Green Skin and Tusks. It is the definitive work on orcish culture, history, language, and warfare. Without that book, many cities would have been conquered by orcs over the years.
    “You know, centuries ago there were two thriving civilizations that controlled these mountains, long before the frost trolls and ice giants had managed to gain a foothold in the craggy mountaintops, and well before they ever set foot in Geberron Pass. Over the course of my trapping career I have run across a few of their ruins. I’ve heard from Orin and Enin that there came a time when the Kossins and Punjaks ceased cooperating.”
    William balked then, though Garrin wasn’t sure what he had said that upset the nobleman. The trapper continued on with his closing statement.
    “The exchange of ambassadors and representatives between the two nations ended abruptly, and the two peoples eventually destroyed each other. The way Brent Smygle puts it, it was the breakdown of communications that ultimately led to the end of two civilizations which had previously been renowned for their ingenuity and wisdom. So, I guess there is an example of when refusing to learn from others can actually create enemies where there were none.”
    “Have you ever come across a Kossin fortress up here in the mountains?” William asked.
    Garrin shook his head. “I have seen only ruins, but nothing a person could actually enter into if that’s what you are asking.”
    “Oh, I see,” William said quickly.
    “Brent Smygle once told me he had found something a couple of years ago. Said he saw some rubble with a few indecipherable runes remaining on scattered bits of rock in a cave somewhere. Said he was going to use the clues to look for more complete remains, but I never picked up on that conversation with him again.”
    William visibly softened and sighed with a slight smile. “I see,” he said.
    “In any case, I was just trying to say that learning from others is always a good thing, even if it’s a song from an enemy.”
    William nodded. “I get it, trapper. Forget I ever brought up the subject.”
    Garrin caught a look of surprise on Richard’s face that told the trapper that William did not apologize often. Garrin took it in stride with a simple nod of his head and a smile.
    “Probably time to turn in for the night,” William told Richard.
    Richard nodded and looked down to Kaspar. The white, furry creature seemed to understand William and leapt out of Richard’s lap to return to his canister. William and Richard bade Garrin goodnight and then went to their tent.
    Garrin was still sitting there long after dark. He looked up to the cloudless night sky and surveyed the bright stars he could see suspended in the heavens above the icy pond.
    This was one of his reasons for camping at this spot the first night of any trek out into the forest. It was the best vantage point for stargazing in the area that he was aware of. He watched for shooting stars as the fire started to die down and the night’s cold began to set in.
    He never heard Rux and Kiska return, but the horses whinnied nervously and Garrin