**Brog’s Journal, Entry #248**

  " Life good now. Better than before. Better since necromancer show up. Azrath, they call him. Big name, big magic. Orcs used to fight all time—humans, elves, dwarves, each other. Always fight, always bleed. But now? Now we have different life. Easier life. Funny life. Orcs laugh more. Orcs eat more. Orcs... less stabbed."

  **249**

  "When Azrath first come to continent, we orcs worried. Necromancer usually bad news. They bring skeleton armies, ghosts, curses—scary stuff. But Azrath? Different. He don’t curse orcs. He don’t raise orc ancestors to haunt us. No, no. He too busy scaring humans and crusaders. Orcs watch from hills as his zombie horses stampede fancy knights. Very funny. Orcs cheer. Orcs laugh. Crusaders run to coast. Ha!"

  **250**

  "Azrath not just scary; he clever. He build big shiny black castle out of rock that bite your eyes when sun hit it. Call it Grin Hollow. Orcs think he maybe try to conquer everything, but no. He just sit in his castle, make strange things. Zombie trees! Glow plants! Skeleton drummers! Orcs watch from far away. Then, one day, his friend—funny human called Potabeau—visit orc camp. Potabeau say:

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  'Why orcs so angry all the time? Relax! Life too short for punching everything!'

  Then he teach orcs how to play dice. Now orcs gamble instead of fight. Safer. More fun. Orcs like Potabeau."

  **252**

  "Later, Azrath make deal with orc chieftains. He say, 'No fight me. No fight my friends. Instead, we trade.' Orcs suspicious, but deal good. He give us glow mushrooms, strong metal tools, even zombie pigs for farms. Zombie pigs don’t get sick. Don’t run away. Easy to herd. Orcs call them 'oinkers of no death.' Very useful."

  "In return, Azrath ask for things orcs have plenty of: strong wood, rare herbs, and big, heavy rocks for his experiments. Fair trade. No backstabbing. Orcs respect that."

  **253**

  "Now orcs have time for other things. Learn skills. Make art. One orc named Grag carve big statue of Azrath out of tree trunk. Statue ugly, but orcs proud. Another orc, Zorka, write songs about Potabeau. One goes like this:

  'Potabeau funny, Potabeau smart,

  He teach orcs to gamble, not tear apart.'

  Even orc kids happy. They play with glowing saplings Azrath send. Sometimes saplings chase kids, but only a little. Kids laugh. Parents laugh. Everyone laugh."

  **254**

  "Orcs wonder what Azrath do next. Maybe build floating castle. Maybe make giant zombie bird to carry orcs around. Whatever he do, orcs ready. Orcs not fear him anymore. Orcs call him 'Dark Builder,' but not in bad way. More like nickname. Friendly."

  **255**

  "Azrath make continent strange place, but better place. Orcs not sure why he help so much, but we not complain. Life good now. Better than before. Orcs hope it stay this way."