[Horde] Chapter Four: Session Forty-One
Appearing Characters: Arthak Saurfang, Azgadaan, Azuka Stormbreaker, Go'el, Halno, Lantresor, Levia Blackflight, Mannoroth, Nitrogg Thundertower, No'Rash, Nyxxa, Rexxar, Sadras
Outland Day 57
That morning, Levia and Azgadaan woke up completely naked next to each other. Levia stands up and immediately starts to put her clothes and armor on, repeating “shit” over and over and over again.
Azgadaan gets up and starts to put his own things on.
Levia continues to curse in several different languages.
Levia puts the last straps on and continues to curse. She storms out, and then comes back in and retrieves her weapon, and exits again with more cursing.
The rest of the group has a fairly normal time waking up. Azgadaan starts to spam [Prestidigitation] over the inside of the tank as Nitrogg slips in.
He elbows Azgadaan.
Nitrogg gets into position to help man the tank.
Arthak, meanwhile, woke up with the distinct sense that Sinestra had tried to invade his dreams the night prior, but was unsuccessful in doing so due to his mind-shielding tattoo. Arthak chuckles to himself about it.
Nyxxa and Lantresor also wake up together and head back into the core of the bustling action. Nyxxa notes Levia storming towards their meeting place--still fixing her armor.
Nyxxa puts a hand on her shoulder, and Levia sighs.
Before too long, the column begins to march with the Broken Blade and company with it. It is a swarm of orcs, demons, and machinery that pierces the heart of Ashran. It’s not even a half-day’s travel before the rumbling of combat could be heard.
Through scouting, No’Rash and Nyxxa are able to discover some traps and ambushes and scatter them along with other orcish and demonic scouts. Arthak, meanwhile, is roaming with the vanguard--taking out enemies up front with cover fire from Azgadaan’s tank. However, they see a small calvary of strange creatures--dragonspawn. But they are different. They don’t have black scales. They have strange, scintillating magenta-purple scales. A nearby warlock casts a fireball that explodes on the creatures, and their scales and eyes change color--as if the spell shifted its physiology. With some observations from Halno, he notes Sinestra’s forces are trying to harry the group and slow them down--not all out engage.
Outland Day 58
The next day they arrive at the Road of Glory, which has since been rent asunder by the breaking of the world. The road leaves them open to attack, but the column of forces are confident, and march down it.
No’Rash joins the vanguard where he has the opportunity to encounter more of the scintillating draconic entities. The first time he strikes one of them, the lightning on his club seems to hurt it. However, when he hits it again, the lightning seems to do nothing to it. It also seems that their breath weapons are determined by the type of damage they take. After the fact, a warlock blasted the creature with a shadow bolt, which warped through its entire body and slew it with severe damage--more than it had taken before.
It seems very few of the groups they were encountering had direct commanders. However, they were able to blind her forces enough to ensure Sinestra couldn’t try to counter their movements. Nyxxa continued to scout and get a read on the situation, locating spies and traps and also ensuring Mannoroth and Sinestra’s forces work on depleting each other while the allied forces conserve their strength.
Halno is able to do some quick field tests and he noted one of the draconic creatures struck with arcane energy--which caused a similar adaptation to the lightning. A [Shadow Bolt] hit this one as well, but it seemed to do a normal amount of damage. However, it was resistant to arcane energy afterwards--but not immune.
That night, Nyxxa checks in with Levia again--who had been completely avoiding Azgadaan. The felblood elf is quite steely and focused on the fights to come.
In the dim light they can see the mountain chain that makes up the floating island of Ashran, as well as the ruined Gorian structures that lay hidden within them.
Go’el approaches Arthak as they are walking.
Go’el’s eyes glance down to the hidden Doomhammer.
Go’el chuffs, puts a hand on Arthak’s shoulder and gives him a firm shake before he heads off to check in with everyone else.
No’Rash, meanwhile, finds Azuka, who is steely, alert, and moving forward while following orders and ensuring everything will be ready when the time comes. She nods at No’Rash, but continues to walk forward, and No’Rash nods back.
Arthak, however, seeks out Mannoroth as he pushes forward with the vanguard. It doesn’t take much to find the massive pit lord.
Each of the giant demon’s footfalls crack the stone underfoot as he starts to approach. He sets a nearby shrub on fire as he passes.
Mannoroth laughs
Mannoroth laughs again and offers a sharp, toothy grin.
Mannoroth doesn’t look down to Arthak, but his maw splits into a wider grin. Fire leaks beneath his sharpened teeth.
Mannoroth starts to head away, his long crag-like tail slithering across the broken stone he leaves in his wake.
Azgadaan sets up the mansion so they have a safe place to sleep that night. He then produces a chalice made from gemstones so that Levia could cast [Heroes’ Feast]. White fire spreads across the table as a spread is conjured--the bowls filled with strange things like small pieces of taffy, cookies, sweet breads and rolls, ice cream, and similar foods. There are several bottles of alcohol, and as Levia opens her eyes again she rolls them.
She’s definitely lying.
She grabs some ice cream.
Levia snaps to get Arthak’s attention, who is looking at the spread somewhat reluctantly, and she points to some cinnamon rolls.
He turns around, and there’s a 4-foot-tall gronn behind him which hands him a pot of coffee. It has a coffee-stirrer on its hand instead of a hook like Gruul. Arthak sighs.
No’Rash rolls his eyes.
Nitrogg is piling food into his mouth, enjoying every moment of it. Azuka retrieves a single cookie and retreats to a corner to nibble on it. She returns a few times. No’Rash investigates some of the cotton candy.
Rexxar is looking at a bowl of water.
No’Rash pats him on the shoulder as Rexxar takes a sip of his water and then his eyes go wide, as it's very sweet.
He grins.
No’Rash scoffs and takes a sip of the very sweet water.
The night winds down, and with it, any semblance of peace and tranquility disappears as they prepare themselves for the long, battle-strewn day ahead. Several people are unable to sleep.
Late in the night, Go’el visits with Arthak.
Go’el gestures to the ground next to him and he unfolds something from a hide pouch. Inside is a small wooden carving that was blackened by fire. It looks like an anvil.
Arthak takes the anvil carving.
Arthak starts to focus, and Go’el closes his eyes and starts to mutter something in primordial. They sit like that for about 10 minutes, and then something starts to smoke on the flat part of the wooden anvil. Runes start to engrave themselves on it--the runes of Arthak’s name.
Go’el opens his eyes.
Arthak tucks the totem away.
He smiles.
He chuckles, and Arthak gives him an irritated look.
Outland Day 59
Before they go off the next morning, Nyxxa asks the Wisdomball if this fight is a good idea.
Khadgar’s face winks, and there is a sparkle in his smile, and the image fades. Nyxxa laughs nervously as the group convenes.
Sadras casts [Gift of Alacrity] over most of the group. Halno, meanwhile, casts [Fortune's Favor] on himself, Azgadaan, and Arthak. Arthak, meanwhile, uses the gift from the fury of wind--he doesn’t need to breathe and now has a hover speed.
Levia casts [Death Ward] on Nyxxa and Azgadaan.
No’Rash pounds on the ground of the mansion with his club.
Nitrogg and Sadras shout out some howls, and Lantresor gives a stoic nod. Halno offers a golf clap.
They step out of the manor, and already orc and Legion forces have started to spill towards the Seat of Sinestra. Mannoroth is already far in the distance, and the battle proper has officially begun. Nitrogg and a few others pile into Azgadaan’s tank and start to roll in. The group presses into the outskirts of the former ogre metropolis, seeing the ruins of ogrish hubris built into the side of an active volcano. Waterfalls spill off a ruined palace, and the group charges forward--running through the broken roads and streets.
A series of high towers rise before them, and Go’el shouts out.
A series of arrows and sling bolts come flying out of the towers. Nyxxa slashes an arrow out of the sky, and Lantresor grabs another one that was headed towards Arthak--hurling it back and piercing it through the shoulder of a skarvyn on one of the towers. There is a hissing roar along with an orcish battle roar as a contingent of orcs and draconic warriors start to surge forward. A rylak rider swoops down, but the tank canon goes off--shooting the rider off its back.
There are three black dragonspawn and a chromatic dragonspawn, as well as a horde of orcs and skarvyn. No’Rash charges for the nearest black dragonspawn with a battle roar, activating his crimson rite. However, a Dragonmaw fel striker falls victim first as he slams his club into the orcish woman. He hears her bones crack, but she snarls, still ready to fight. No’Rash swings again, but the other orc bobs out of the way of the club.
Sadras follows suit on Summerpaw, attacking one of the Dragonmaw magma guards. Her club strikes the fel orc as Summerpaw bowls her to the ground. Azuka also runs forward, activating her giant’s might. A dragonmaw grunt tries to go for Summerpaw, but Sadras takes the brunt of the attack.
Nyxxa zooms under No’Rash and slices into the throat of the fel striker with two deft strikes, and the fel orc drops the ground gurgling as blood spurts from the wound.
No’Rash nods.
An arrow flies down at Sadras, glancing off her armor, and the chromatic dragonspawn’s scales glow a burnished copper. It hurls a blast of poison of the group, but everyone except Summerpaw is completely immune.
Halno casts a necrotic [Gravity Sinkhole] over the skarvyn on the tower, and they promptly get dragged into a screaming void of death energy. No skarvyn remain where the spell had manifested--leaving a sole survivor that the spell had missed. There are screams, and then nothing but a rain of bones clattering to the ground.
Sinestra’s forces continue to surge, more and more of her servants racing to the field. The initial vanguard seems to have been paused by the sudden influx of draconic forces.
Arthak enters a rage and swings at the the Dragonmaw fel grun that was on Sadras. He just barely blocks it as Arthak runs by, his eye honed on the dragonspawn that he dives into the center of. He swings at the chromatic dragonspawn, but it blocks the blade aside with its glaive.
The sole remaining skarvyn on the tower looks in horror at the rain of bones, but steels himself, and starts to shoot down at Halno. However, its bowstring snaps, and it ducks behind the far side of the tower. More ranged skarvyn rain cover fire on the group. A rock gets Arthak right in the side of the head, but he shakes it off.
One of the black dragonspawn shoots a fire breath at the same impact point as the poison breath while another fel striker runs for Sadras.
Azgadaan casts [Hypnotic Pattern] over a group of enemies. However, the skarvyn chitter at each other, and they start to shoot at the dragonspawn to knock them out of the stupor.
A black dragonspawn charges Arthak and bites harmlessly on his blade. Meanwhile, a skarvyn manages to knock the chromatic dragonspawn out of his stupor and they start to cheer.
A Dragonmaw magma rager roars and runs for Azuka, slamming his weapon into her with a critical hit--but her eyes flash and she triggers her cloud rune, which instead causes the attack to slice into the fel grunt. The magma rager growls and swings at Azuka twice more, managing to scrape her.
Nyxxa manages to finish off the magma rager at her side with a flurry of fearsome strikes.
A black dragonspawn launches a flaming ball of phlegm at the main group, which bursts into a blast of fire. It then backs away from Arthak and prepares itself to charge again.
Another rylak comes sailing down from the sky, and a demolisher canon strike goes flying through the air and shoots the rylak out of flight. It slams into the ground, and on Azgadaan. He manages to just barely hold onto the hypnotic pattern.
No’Rash runs by the incapacitated enemies to the chromatic dragonspawn and hits it with his club. He hits it again, and the weight of the club knocks the wind out of it, blood and scales sloughing off it.
A black dragonspawn shoots fire at Azgadaan as it starts to stalk to him, and several skarvyn scurry down the stairs to get a better view of the fight.
Halno casts another necrotic [Gravity Sinkhole], dragging two skarvyn, a fel grunt, and the chromatic dragonsworn into the death hole. The skarvyn and dragonsworn are eviscerated, but the Dragonmaw orc survives--buried by a pile of bones. An arrow is fired at Halno by a skarvyn, which nicks his shoulder.
Azuka restrains the Dragonmaw magma rager with thorny vines. She runs to back up Sadras, and the magma rager flails at her, but misses. She smirks.
The battle continues to rage on, and the allied forces are drawn further away--making it hard for them to back up the group. Summerpaw grabs a fel orc by the leg and starts to shake it back and forth.
One of the black dragonspawn looks at Arthak, but then looks at Azuka--whose back is turned. It grins, and then runs for her. It pierces into her with its glaive, and then bites her arm. Azuka grunts in pain, and her spell starts to falter, but she holds onto it just barely. An arrow plinks against Azgadaan’s armor, and he drops his concentration on the hypnotic pattern.
Arthak glowers at the dragonspawn that had attacked his daughter and starts to run for it. Both of the nearby fel orcs slash at him, but they stumble over the swings and miss. Arthak drives Champion’s Forge through the dragonspawn’s gut, pinning it against the leaning tower, where he then rips the blade out again. He then looks back at the fel orcs and runs back to them, slashing into one of the orcs without a word.
One of the remaining dragonspawn roars, awakened from its hypnosis, and shoots a blast of fire right into the midst of the core group--including its allies. Azuka just barely manages to stay up from the blast of fire. The dragonspawn’s eyes lock on Azgadaan and it starts to move towards him. A fel orc swings at No’Rash, but he just grabs the axe.
Nyxxa slays a magma guard with another flurry of blows and flipping over Sadras to the fel striker, cutting her down as well. Nyxxa looks up at Azuka.
Azuka nods, winded. However, the magma rager that was restrained manages to break free of Azuka’s spell and runs for her. No’Rash ignores the fel grunt in front of him, which swings at him as he runs to Azuka and tosses her a potion. Azuka drinks it, and then casts [Ensnaring Strike] on the magma rager as she hits it--once more restraining it. The fel orc struggles as Azuka backs up.
Azuka smirks.
Azgadaan casts [Mind Sear] on the two remaining dragonspawn and a fel stalker. He pushes the spell, trying to get one of the dragonspawn to fail. The force of the magic pushes true, and there is a pulse of painful mental magic which causes all of them to stagger.
He then runs to back up Nyxxa and Sadras.
He pats Halno on the back as he leaves him to the two dragonspawn and an angry fel striker that ran for him. Halno casts a 7th-level necrotic [Gravity Sinkhole] again. They all resist, but Halno pushes the spell--forcing the fel striker to fail. The spell collapses on the three enemies, and drags the fel striker straight to the center and away from him.
The skarvyn, seeing the battle turning, start to retreat. However, one of the dragonspawn charges Halno in a rage--its glaive deflecting off an arcane [Shield]. No’Rash strikes the dragonspawn in the jaw with his club, breaking its neck and causing it to slump to the ground. He then rounds back on the magma rager. Nyxxa strikes in with her glaives, and finishes him off as the vines constrict. She then dances around to the nearby fel grunt, her glaives leaving open wounds in his flesh.
Arthak regrips his sword and swings into one of the fel grunts flanking him, slicing through the other orc and carrying his strike to the second one--which just barely holds on. However, it gets finished off by an arcane missile from Azgadaan’s wand of arcane missiles--which also kills the fel striker. The last of them strike into the remaining dragonspawn. Sadras finishes off the dragonspawn with a crack of her club, which sends dragon teeth flying.
As Arthak brings his blade down on the last fel orc’s axe, the axe breaks beneath Champion’s Forge, and Nyxxa finishes off the orc with a strike of her glaive.
Nyxxa looks at the retreating skarvyn.
Azuka shrinks down to her normal sides.
Sadras nods as Azuka starts to tend to her wounds, and Sadras looks to the rest of the group.
