The Fallen Hold

Nobran stalked through the damp corridor, the aroma of mildew and squalor overbearing in the dark space, acrid smoke hung in the air made by the dim braziers that dotted the once ornate walls, grime now caked the impressive and continuous etchings that decorated the hold. In its heyday the hold was the pride of the local dwarf lord who owned the mines and trade of the region, now the mine was half filled with water and effluvia, the decaying scraps of those who fell victim to the current residents of the hold, two of those denizens straitened as they heard the approach of their master.

The bulky creatures clutched crude and menacing weapons, their beady eyes glinting in the dim as they spied Nobran, both bowed their heads and one made to speak, a voice like ripping cloth crawled from the crusted lips of the beastly guard.

"We have done as told, the thing is bound, weak it is and ready for breaking, master is pleased?"

Nobran nodded, his lackeys were strong and cruel as all of his ilk should be, but they knew his wrath and feared him as much as they obeyed him.

"Good," Nobran's voice reverberated like a distant avalanche, a thing filled with malice and promise of death, "I will see to the breaking, I will teach the creature fear and pain till it knows nothing else."

The two beasts opened the door they guarded and stepped aside for their master, beyond them in another squalid chamber was the subject of Nobran's attention. Almost twice as large as Nobran, the hill giant knelt between two stone columns, its arms bound by ropes that wrapped around the impressive structures of the room and anchored to iron rings in the floor. A brazier smoldered near the giant's face, a set of irons rested within the guttering flames, the fickle light danced on a crude table covered in the tools of a torturer.

A cruel smile split Nobran's face, his sharp and menacing teeth bared in a display that would curdle the blood of even a hardened warrior, he strode towards the table of implements, his clawed fingers finding purchase on the handles of a large set of pliers, his gaze shifted to the shaggy head of the bound giant, its head bowed and fists clenched, Nobran would see to that, soon it would know only to recoil at his presence, know only to cower at his voice and obey his command without hesitation for fear of his wrath.

The verdigris stained door to the chamber creaked shut, a sound soon forgotten among the muffled howls of a stubborn creature learning the proper order of things, an order ruled by a tyrant bugbear and his minions.