Orcs and fire

I have a small moment now to record what has transpired in this diary.  Orcs attacked -- destroying the forest and burning the vineyard near the Abbey.  And this cataclysm that Millie spoke of, what is it?  I feel as though there is a strange sort of gap in my memories.  I remember my parents, I remember being young, but these people speak so familiarly of what must have been an enormous event.  To be entitled "the cataclysm" as though there has only been one cataclysmic event in the last few years worthy of the name.  I must endeavor to study more the next time I am at the Abbey but how can I know what to read, what questions to ask, when I feel shamed at even having to ask about what is obviously such a ready part of the lives of everyone I meet?  It is a problem that I shall have to set aside for another time.

As I wrote earlier, orcs had attacked.  I was able to fight them off fairly easily -- they were hardly tougher than the small wargs I'd encountered earlier and I wonder if they are considered little more than pests.  Surely these cannot be what our army marches out to fight?  The war would be over in little more than a day were such the case.  There are several vendors who've set up shop near the Abbey, selling armor, weapons, and supplies to those such as myself who feel called to action.  There are several others running about -- some have large pets, more wolf than dog were I to be pressed to name a species.  One fellow, Illuminater, seemed somewhat shifty.  I thought of joining his company but then thought better of it.

Despite his appearance, I would have joined with him to fight these orcs, but I am almost ashamed to have another person see me in my new apparel.  It is stronger, better crafted, yet it leaves my skin so open, so exposed.  The armorer who sold me everything else assured me that it would better protect me, but although I bowed to his superior expertise in such matters I am not quite ready to talk with and fight in the company of others.

I have been told of an orc named Kurtok who led the swarm of verminous orcs.  I go now to seek his head.