Cycle 5, in the Month of Junctior, in the Season of Autumn,
Era II of the Celestine Mandate,
Era XIV Post Fractum
A month had come and gone and many of the garrison buildings were at last taking on a noticeable shape. The command bunker and garrison barracks were completed and were now housing as many orcs as could be squeezed into the structure. It was obvious that a second and maybe even a third barracks would have to be built. Under non-war times they might be able to get away with enough barracks space for 2000 orcs but they had over 10,000 in and around Autumnus at the moment that were using the one completed barracks in shifts. Some were sleeping out on the palisade wall or at other posts along the 10 mile Front. Work was started on the other two barracks side-by-side with the current completed one to house the eventual planned 2000 that would be permanently stationed here after the war.
The civilian structures had begun to be raised as well. The human slaves that were being used for the construction crew had been sleeping in tents or just out on the ground in the open all this time regardless of the weather. The civilian orcs and goblins that happened into Autumnus for what ever reason were always given tents even if it meant kicking slaves out of one to offer the tent to the visitor. No housing had been started yet and only various frames of a few civilian structures had been built at this point. It was still not clear what function they would eventually have.
All along the Autumnus Front the orcs in their daily routine made their works a little more permanent than they had initially built them. Trenches and temporary bunkers sprung up all along the line. This was mainly due to the fact that the orcs did not enjoy sitting out in the open in the middle of a sunny Autumn day. They preferred to hunker down inside their small bunkers out of the direct sun. The bunker door faced north toward the front thus the orcs inside never missed anything going on in their zone of control. These bunkers were topped with a funny shaped wooden pole with an odd looking symbol attached to it. They were instructed to place them all along the front and the shamen of the Horde told them that they were their "good luck charms". This gave the orcs some comfort as the Horde orcs were prone to superstitious beliefs such as charms and protective devices. Some of these symbols were used as sectional banners. As the orcs toiled for so long in their works, they tended to bond together into sections that would go out on patrols together, eat and sleep together, train together, and man their little section of the line together. The orcs would use the symbols on the poles to stake out their section of the line to keep other orc groups from moving into their little home away from home.
Making such a big deal out of a simple standard one would think was silly but anything that keeps the orcs busy and happy made one less thing the garrison commander had to worry about.