[Horde] Chapter Five: Session Ninety-Seven
Characters
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December 31st
Lantresor followed up on the stunned Fereki, and he was able to finish off the wolf with a devastating strike, and then he rushed forward to pursue Gerrei. However, the wolf nabbed the blade in its teeth to prevent the strike.
The other wolves continued to howl and the chill of the sound washed over the group.
Sol focused on the groups of wolves and he blew the horn of blasting just as Zar’Kaa whipped through in a whirlwind of spears as he got his bearings. Some of the wolves lashed out at him, but Zar’Kaa conflagrated some of the wolves in a rebuke of emerald flame.
Arthak continued to focus on Gerrei, but a wolf managed to bite surprisingly deep, and the grasping vine that was keeping the larger wolf bound withered away. The massive orc was able to shove his blade through the beast’s mouth and pinned him to the ground, defeating him.
Nyxxa continued to focus on the swarm of wolves as Seria followed up with an exhalation of her acidic breath. As the wolves closed in on the groups, Symma released another strike of lightning, and wolves were sent flying across the battlefield. And then another strike slammed into the ground, devastating the group completely.
As the battlefield quieted, the group quickly tended to their wounds. Sol pulled out his Horn of Valhallas and asked if it was alright to use during the contest. Odyn asked if it was one of their warhorns, and a val’kyr confirmed. He sent a small squirrel to relay to Sol that the item wouldn’t even work as they were in Valhallas, but also, it was technically against the rules to summon more unrelated beings into the contest if they were not through their own power.
Nyxxa started to watch for sabotage as they returned to their hunt, and Arthak continued his pursuit after the other party in order to try and mess with them. However, it seemed they had become wise to his attempts, and it was a lot harder to find them.
Rak’Symma used [Wild Cunning] to call upon various bestial spirits to help follow some of the tracks. She then tried to use her magic to locate some of the powerful bears in the area. Seria was the first one to catch the scent, and she rushed forward and locked eyes with a massive bear.
She shifted into her bear form, which took the bear aback, and she then charged into the massive creature. Arthak arrived on the scene next, and he uprooted a tree and slammed it into the bear in a double-team attack.
They were all able to successfully overcome Arthfael the bear, and they continued to push forward in their pursuit of the largest targets in the fields. However, Nyxxa picked up that they were being led astray by the trail, and it was likely one of the enemy team had laid. Even so, they lost time in the process.
Arthak continued to try and find the enemy team, and he stumbled into them. Velhari looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and incredulousness.
Jubei’thos fixated on Arthak, and Fathnyr snarled as they passed by.
The rest of the group walked away as Jubei’thos trailed behind Arthak.
Arthak continued to wander again, but he ran into Skovald, and there was a grunt of disappointment.
Skovald held out his hands and a runic circle with deep violet runes erupted around Arthak. It was a shadowy cage, and Iskar stepped out of the shadows.
Sol, over a mental bond, suggested Arthak could comment on the fact Skovald’s son was in hel.
They turned away, but immediately after, Sol teleported Arthak out of the forcecage. Iskar informed Arthak he had one chance to walk away, and he said that he would ensure it didn’t disqualify him.
Arthak shrugged.
Iskar reached out and teleported Arthak back into the force cage. It severed his connection with Sol, and Iskar squatted down with a grin.
However, what Arthak did not see was the subtlest of incantations as, hidden from the eye, the real Iskar left via [Mislead].
Zar’Kaa and Sol continued to try and track more creatures, and Symma used her mimicry to try and mimic the call of a wounded animal.
They managed to track down the cat, Ketlingr, and they caught sight of the creature deftly stalking through the underbrush. It came rushing at Symma, but it was a counter ambush and Seria and Nyxxa and Ketlingr was successfully slain.
However, a mental force washed over them, and the corpse disappeared. It felt like they needed to find a way out of… something. There was a strange collective vision over all of them.
But they were able to escape, and they realized something had tried to deceive them with illusion magic to waste their time. It was a strange hallucinatory experience to make them think they were hunting some sort of game that they actually weren’t. They could only assume it was being conjured by Iskar.
However, it was too realistic, and they were able to hunt better and faster than they had before.
The group then focused on trying to get as much smaller game as possible.
Odyn announced the ending of the hunt, and they offered thanks to the great beasts of the hunt as they were restored to life on the respective sides of the competing teams to show the weight of each side’s glory. The warband had many notable hunts on their side.
It seems that the other team got Habrok the owl, Garos the worm, Hyrtir the stag, and Vetholnir the hawk, as well as a number of small game.
There was some cheering.
The cheering was louder, and a grin appeared on Odyn’s face.
January 1st
Odyn clapped his hands twice, and they were consumed in bright light. They were no longer in the elysian fields, but they were instead in an open-air arena. The sky glowed so brightly it became painful to look at as golden feathers drifted downward, and an immaculate, massive val’kyr materialized. She had skin of golden marble and wings of glowing gold in gilded armor.
Everyone nodded.
There was a pause.
A golden feather appeared in Skovald’s hand.
Eyir said she was correct, and they were presented with another feather.
She was correct, and they were presented with another feather.
The favor went to Iskar.
A feather appeared in Arthak’s hand.
Eyir awarded the feather to Jubei’thos.
A fourth favor was given to the other side.
She lifted off, and two doors manifested, inviting them to pass through.
There were none, and Eyir announced they could begin. They rushed through the door and before them were six banners. In front of each of them were stone slabs that awaited them.
They started to say runes, and slowly, words began to appear. One banner, however, burned.
Then a second banner burned.
Arthak realized the first phrase was Gungnir, Spear of the All Father, and the first gate lifted and allowed them through to another gate, which had another phrase on it.
They again began to guess runes. When they were compelled to guess the first phrase, the third banner burned. However, then Sol spoke up that it was Prime Designate of the Manifold, and the gate opened.
As they guessed runes, Lantresor stated the last word was Azeroth, and he was correct, though a banner burned because it wasn’t the full phrase.
Arthak guessed it was Surtr, Enemy of Azeroth, and they were able to complete the challenge with two banners remaining. The gate opened into a wide field that was filled with squares, and on the other side was a pedestal.
