[Horde] Chapter Four: Session Twenty-Nine
Appearing Characters: Arthak Saurfang, Azgadaan, Azuka Stormbreaker, Blackhand (Echo), Gel'nok (Echo), Gelnar Doomhammer (Echo), Go'el, Halno, Lantresor, Levia Blackflight, Nalga Doomhammer (Echo), Nyxxa, Orgrim Doomhammer (Echo), Rexxar, Sadras, Telkar Doomhammer (Echo)
Outland Day 38
The group catches their breath for a brief second, and Azgadaan focuses on Levia’s magics--realizing he is able to copy the techniques she is using. He holds his hand out, and magic extends from his hand as he also uses [Mass Cure Wounds].
Azgadaan winks at her.
It does not appear as if the salamanders had sought to pursue them, and Sadras looks to Arthak.
The group continues in, and the path inclines downward. It’s exhausting, and Arthak and Azgadaan help to brace Go’el and Sadras a bit. The path gets wider, and they note that two echoes had appeared: Telkar and a young Orgrim that is no more than 10-12 years old.
There is a pressure on the group that seems to weigh on their shoulders, as if gravity is a bit heavier--though not as bad as it was in the Chamber of Earth. It’s hard to tell if it’s a physical pressure or a spiritual one. The echoes fade away, and the group starts to feel an acute heat once more as they enter another open chamber. They find themselves 50-70 feet above a drop off where streams of lava cascade into bigger pools below.
They also see something curious: at the edge of the precipice is a circle that is about 15 feet in diameter. It seems to be similar to the ones that had been centered around the key runes. There are two pillars of stone to either side, and there are two more obsidian daises upon them.
The one closest to the group has molten rock surrounding it as well as a few rubies inlaid into the obsidian.
Sadras, Go’el, and Arthak exchange looks and step forward. Then the magma around the dais starts to glow. The other two daises also glow, and the debris starts to roil. Then, hovering above the daises appears three humanoid, elemental creatures. One is wielding a blade of solidified magma, one has electricity coursing through its body, and the third’s form is made of solid obsidian with a massive, obsidian sword.
The guardians stand upon each dais, ready to strike.
However, across the way, they see two humanoid figures about 7 feet tall climb up from the lava. They are coated with fel armor, and a fel canon is also raised between them. The guardians don’t seem to have noticed--or if they do, they don’t care.
There is a horrible, wailing scream, and more sentinels starts to climb onto the precipices and quickly surround the group. Summerpaw’s ears flatten against her head.
Azuka and Levia nod, and Lantresor ignites his blade as they prepare to contend with the reinforcements that had arrived.
Azgadaan also notices two other fel canons that had arrived alongside other felforged sentinels.
He points at the furthest fel canon.
A small brown owl had also popped into existence next to Azgadaan as he summons the familiar he had conjured after leaving Ini behind. As the battle commences, Azgadaan casts [Dimension Door] and teleports himself and Nyxxa across the pools of lava and reappears behind the canon. There is another ear-piercing screech, as if it's’ the crying of tormented spirits. As she appears, Nyxxa carves into the closest felforged sentinel--sending sparks flying as she glances off the fel steel. The other sentinel turns around, a blade bursting from its hand. Parts of its armor starts to dent and fragment as bolts and shrapnel fires off at Azgadaan and Nyxxa.
It then sweeps around with its necrotic blade, an arcane shield deflecting the first blow aside, but the second attack bursts through the defense, deathly energies washing over Azgadaan.
A rogue sentinel takes a swing at Arthak before Rexxar shoves it aside, but Arthak is able to block the blow.
The Guardian of Earth holds its hammer up and slams its hammer down. The earth around the group on the main precipice erupts in a blast of earth. The owl familiar immediately vanishes in a puff of magical feathers as rocky stones are upended.
Halno summons an [Arcane Hand] and it slams into one of the closest sentinels, and the Guardian of Fire wreaths himself in molten armor before taking a stance to protect its dais.
The second sentinel near Azgadaan and Nyxxa sends off a barrage of shrapnel before swinging at Nyxxa, but she is able to deflect the two blows aside.
Arthak enters a battle rage and then rushes at the Guardian of Fire. shoving it backwards. Arthak gets onto the dais and tries to drive the hand with the rune into the center of the dais. There is a sharp pain as he feels his body burn, but then it leaves him.
The Guardian of Flame looks at Arthak and bows, then dissipates.
There is a rumbling sound, and a large stone rises from the magma and stops right in the center of the battle field.
Sadras whistles.
She clambers onto Summerpaw’s back, getting ready to ride her across the make-shift bridge. Meanwhile, the felforged sentinel turns toward the arcane hand that had attacked it, driving its blade into the magical hand.
The Guardian of Storms also hovers forward, and a barrier of wind starts to swirl around it.
Summerpaw dashes, leaping across to the platform that had just risen. However, as she reaches the edge, she starts to slip and starts to plummet down below to the lower platform. Sadras manages to grab onto the edge with one hand as her other hand closes around Summerpaw’s paw. She grunts, trying to hold on for dear life.
Go’el runs forward and he plants his feet on the ground and casts [Gust], managing to push Summerpaw and Sadras up enough to get them over the edge.
Nyxxa swings into one of the felforged sentinels with a flurry of flaming strikes, sparks and flames flying off its armor as plates start to fall off it. It’s hollow inside, and the screaming starts to get louder.
The Guardian of Storm fires a [Jolt] at Go’el who manages to deflect it with his axe. Summerpaw gets to her feet and looks at the gap between the platform and the earth dais. She whines.
Another sentinel continues to try and fight the arcane hand, parts of its armor starting to fall apart as it continues to rain shrapnel on the hand.
A felforged sentinel is able to break away from Rexxar and enters the combat with Arthak and the others while the Guardian of Earth floats over to Sadras. It swings into her with its massive sword, thunderous energy exploding from it.
One of the felforged sentinels explodes with shrapnel and connects with Azgadaan again, widening the bleeding wound it had opened on Azgadaan.
Sadras enters a rage and swings her club at the Guardian of Earth, connecting twice. The guardian is tossed backwards, but it continues to hover above the ground.
The felforged sentinel that had been left unaccosted fires its fel canon at Nyxxa, which explodes a few feet away--but she is able to dodge.
Halno’s arcane hand shoves the felforged sentinel off the cliff and down onto the lava below. It starts to sink into the lava, the molten rock starting to melt its armor.
The hand then starts to fade as Halno casts [Wall of Stone], creating a bridge so that Sadras can get to the earth dais.
Go’el looks at Halno with a smile and nods.
Azgadaan also casts [Arcane Hand] and shoves one of his own felforged sentinels over the side and down into the lava.
Arthak uses giant’s might and runs for the newly arrived sentinel as he gets large. He shoves the sentinel back and it starts to teeter on the edge. He shoves it again, and the sentinel drops into the lava below.
He then runs and jumps across the gap, grabbing onto the ledge and pulling himself up onto the lower platform beneath the now-abandoned fel canon.
Go’el casts [Thunder Step] and teleports over to the storm dais. He thrusts his hand to the dais, and the rune transforms into it. The Guardian of Storms turns to him, nods, and then dissipates.
Nyxxa manages to finish off the still-standing sentinel, and soul energy starts to waft from its neck with a wailing scream. The hollow body collapses to the ground.
A piece of rock starts to break off and fall, and collapses onto the firing fel canon and its felforged sentinel.
The Guardian of Earth connects with Sadras again, buffeting her again with its massive sword.
Azgadaan moves his arcane hand and shoves the remaining guardian off the side of the platform--clearing the path for Sadras. Summerpaw dashes across the stone bridge and Sadras plants her hand onto the dais, transferring the rune into it. The Guardian of Earth acknowledges the victor, and its body crumbles into the lava.
Arthak clambers up to the fel canon and he sees one sole sentinel clambering out of the lava. Arthak aims and then shoots, exploding the sentinel as it is consumed by the molten rock.
Everyone reconvenes on the far side.
Azgadaan and Levia cast [Mass Cure Wounds] and Halno lets his wall of stone crumble.
He looks around and it seems Halno is now the most wounded out of the group, but almost on cue, Halno uses a healing surge from his scepter to mend some of the damage to his body. They look towards a door on the far side which has three glyphs blazing above it, and they approach. The door opens, revealing pitch black nothing side.
Even inside, the darkness is impermeable to everyone but Nyxxa--whose sight is not affected by it. Halno tries to cast the [Light] spell, but its not strong enough to pierce through.
They travel for one or two minutes, and the pathway seems to be going deeper, but then it straightens out. They travel for another three minutes, Arthak’s hand on Nyxxa’s shoulder and Levia’s hand in her’s. Arthak and Go’el are clasping forearms, and Azgadaan is holding onto Levia and Sadras. Halno is holding onto Azuka’s hand.
There is the sound of the group moving through the darkness.
They don’t know when it happened, but the sounds start to fade, and the hands and arms of their companions slip from their grasp as if they were never there to begin with.
Azgadaan keeps walking. He reaches out to try and find a wall, but there are no walls.
Arthak calls out to Go’el and Nyxxa, and his voice echoes, but there is no response
Arthak sits down and takes a meditative stance. He waits.
Halno continues walking forward with a shrug.
Nyxxa was at the front of the pack, and the passage starts to get blurry. Then the hands slip from her grasp. She didn’t hear them disappear, and she looks around and sees nothing but the ground. It’s just a stone floor for as far as she can see, with no ceiling or walls. She calls out to Arthak and Levia and starts to panic, searching for them. She starts to run, and she finds herself running through walls and a narrow chasm. There is a door on the far side, and she races through it.
But something strange is occurring. When she exits, she finds herself in a deep, overgrown cave. Her head starts to pulse with pain, and there are bone trophies and fetishes all around her. It’s familiar. There’s a dagger slick with mortal blood--her blood. She sees a desecrated moonwell, the water within polluted. It was the moonwell where she was transformed into a satyr.
There is no one else there, but she could still hear Vaerux’s laughter in the back of her mind--even though she suspiciously doesn’t hear him right now. Nyxxa stares. She remembers the pain as her body was literally twisted from the inside out. She starts to hear questions burned into her mind.
Not to this place and the moonwell, but to the Heart of the World. Why did she? There was no truth for lying to herself.
Another question comes to her mind as she wanders around the site.
Nyxxa takes a deep breath.
She instinctively closes her eyes and comes to terms with the answer she had given. But when she opens them again, she finds herself in a thicket that is vaguely familiar but also not. It’s some sort of conglomerate, but it’s evocative of places that had impacted her. She can still see the grass matted down where she and the only other satyr that understood her plight had lain. On the other side of the grove is a circle with arcane runes scratched upon it, and there is mortal blood and fel blood and bones in a font of gore and carnage that she had once knelt before as she tore into the body and soul of Vaerux and took back what he took from her--when she saw the vision of a thousand worlds burning and tore her own eyes out. The dagger she used was there, as well as the needle that had carved tattoos into her skin.
Another thought comes to her mind.
Her eyes flicker over to where she consumed Vaerux.
The Burning Legion and anyone else… but…
Nyxxa has no answer. She grits her teeth, realizing she doesn’t have all the answers. She understands that’s an answer in itself, and she turns to look at the imprint in the grass, but finds it replaced by an overgrown garden. She is atop a manse in the heart of Silvermoon. The decrepit fountain is there where she and Caria had once spoken. She can see the sprawling city, but not a soul is there. The palace is there--Stormreaver Spire it is now, but Sunstrider Spire it was once before. She sees the manor that belonged to Kilnar. She sees the street where she first saw Levia, and the street where Levia struck down one of her tormentors in front of Nyxx and Caria.
The memories flood her mind, and another thought comes forward.
Her long nails dig into the balcony of the stonework, and she stares for a long time until she grows tired of the view. She descends back down out of the building and into the ruined depths of the city, but she finds herself in darkness once again.
Meanwhile, as Halno moves through the darkness--unflappable--he sees a light in his eyes. His sight starts to return to him, and he feels a wind blowing his cloak, and he finds himself on top of a tall peak. Somewhere within the Spires of Arak, a place he had not been to for a long time. The place is familiar. He looks down to his feet and he sees a small shard of crystal. It’s the apexis crystal he first discovered, back when he was a younger orc. He looks over the ruins, and then he looks down to the crystal again--the thing that opened his eyes to the secrets of the universe. A thought comes to his mind:
Not to this place, but to the Heart of the World with Arthak, Go’el, and the others.
Halno is trying to ignore the entire world, and he leaves the apexis crystal. He walks down the mountain and finds himself passing into a cavern. He feels heat on his face, and he exits into the ruins of a still-burning Sun’s Reach. The palisades that he and the rest of the Broken Blade had built are long gone, and there are fires all around--fires that took Halno from his flesh, and Sylvos from his. He sees no people here, but weapons are strewn about. It’s a strange combination of the scars of battle from when the Horde first left the portal, and the battle where the orcs defended it from the elves. Another thought comes to his mind:
He continues to wander through Sun’s Reach--still ablaze--and as he leaves the town. The forests shift, and he sees a tower. He recognizes the tower. It’s a strange amalgamation of orcish and elvish construction. It’s reminiscent of the tower he had seen so many other death knights created in, and the same place he had seen Maim Blackhand brought back. He can still see the power pulsing from it.
He refuses to answer any more questions and dismisses the tower. He turns from it and starts to walk away and steps into darkness.
Azgadaan is whistling as he is walking through the darkness, drinking from his alchemist’s jug. He finds himself no longer in a dark, endless tunnel, but rather in a place that has haunted his dreams for most of his life--ever since that day. He finds the walkway where he saw his mother take her last steps, the dark below churning, but the seats are empty. The chairs and railings are there, but there are no demons. It’s quiet, and empty. His mother is not there either.
Azgadaan looks to the dais, and then looks to where he and his father had been seated. Then he walks over to dais, and a thought comes to his mind:
Not to this place, not to this forum, but to the Heart of the World.
He looks about the forum, and he thinks once more.
He then thinks, his heart stopping:
He looks about and stays there for a while, looking out defiantly to where everyone had watched his mother die. His attention is then drawn downwards to where he saw his mother cast into the black abyss. He takes a deep breath and throws himself off the side of dais--prepared to follow in his mother’s footsteps. He splashes into the darkness and shadow beneath him. It draws him in.
Then he hits the ground again, and he lands on a different metal floor. He sees a console--twisted and covered in vines and roots with a massive, golden crystal embedded within it. He is on the bridge of Tempest Keep--the last place he heard his mother’s voice in the recording they had discovered.
He gets to his hooves and looks at the crystal that was A’dal before they sent it to the world the Horde had invaded because of the machinations of the Legion. Another thought comes to his mind:
Azgadaan puts his hand on the crystal and says a quick prayer.
He hits the button that sent A’dal’s crystal away, and he watches it as it disappears. He feels a bit of the hope that he wished to create, and his vision follows the crystal and becomes a star in the distant sky. The star expands into a thousand stars across the sky, and he blinks, and finds himself standing in the middle of a lake. The lake he and Aracyra had spent a night, where she had shared with him some of her most intimate vulnerabilities.
Aracyra isn’t here, but this place was where they were--their hooves dancing across the water’s surface.
Azgadaan pulls out his cittern and starts to play the song he had written for her. He sings one of the best songs he had sang in his life. He almost feels like he hears her laughter. A weight comes to him. Another thought reaches his mind:
The burdens of what he’s done and what he is--a demon that wants to create hope. His heart grows cold.
Whether or not he realized it, he starts to take a seat on the water’s surface at the exact spot where he and Aracyra had spent the night, and one last thought comes forward:
He leans back, thinking about what that may mean. He feels the tension on the water break, and he sinks into the water. It doesn’t fill his lungs. It’s more like an embrace of sorts as the darkness closes in around him, and he sinks into the oblivion below.
Arthak is seated in meditation and waits for a few moments, but he determines he has waited long enough. He opens his eyes and sees a camp with a crackling fire. He sees caves deep within the Tanaan Jungle,--the site of a battle, and where he had first met Remnii. He stands and looks around the battlefield, then begins to retrace his steps. He sees the blaze of fire, and splatters of blood from where the draenei were cut down, but no people. He remembers seeing Remnii and Yrel stepping out defiantly, surrounded by broken draenei, and other orcs coming to take their prize. He remembers where he first saw Spinyl as the fireball revealed her for what she was. Go’el’s declaration to protect her, as well as his own promise to protect her, and what that means now that she was gone. The mental images go through his mind, and a thought comes to him:
Not to this cave, but to the Heart of the World, to the last resting place of the Doomhammer.
He considers the question.
That truth comes to his mind, and is spoken to his heart nonetheless. His greaves disturb the dust as he walks across it and another question comes forward:
Arthak continues down the path, strolling through the caverns. It ends in a dead end and a tent--a familiar one. The one of his uncle Varok. It was never here before, but that doesn’t matter as he steps through the threshold. It’s empty of people, but full of life. He spent time there. Dranosh spent time there. Dranosh died there. There was still the spot on the ground where he collapsed, and the cage that Karand was kept in. It’s empty, but filled with scraps of foot and water. There are maps that Varok had abandoned when he saw the body of his son--lifeless on the floor. That weight touches his heart, and another thought comes forward:
Arthak stands in the tent for a long time, and eventually he turns and exits the tent and find himself in the mustering grounds of Hellfire Citadel and the arena where so many orcs died. The tent is gone, and now it’s replaced with 100 blades with various sizes and shapes, their blades buried into the dirt and sand. He sees the blade that was wielded by Azuka Bladefury and her father before her, and his father before him, and now it’s in the hands of Jubei’thos after he gifted it to him. He sees Varg--a blade that doesn’t exist anymore, one that he forged alongside Samuro, Kaylaan, and Lantresor, and that was shattered by one of the hands that helped build it. He sees Champion’s Forge, Traitor’s Gift, Kargath’s blade, Socrethar’s blade… every blade ever wielded by someone he crossed his own with, and so many more.
The steel buries itself into the earth, and so to into Arthak’s flesh, and with it, one final thought:
Perhaps both. But regardless, Arthak finds himself here. He walks around the rows of swords of those he had killed, and he sees the gate of Hellfire is now open. He sees his mother’s blade. And the blade his father had wielded in the vision where he tore out the eye of Sargeras.
Arthak approaches Samuro’s blade and puts his back against it as he sits and looks around at all the swords. He meditates on the people who carried them. His mind goes to their faces, and their names, and their souls. Eventually, as his mind rolls back through all this weight he carries, he opens his eyes, and he isn’t where he was. He is in a magma chamber sitting on a piece of black rock. Magma is far below, and a massive chain connects the piece of stone he’s on and extends up to another one. There is a cave entrance against the wall on the opposite side of the chain where there is a pervasive darkness.
Then he sees several figures emerge from the shadows. Azgadaan. Halno. Nyxxa. Rexxar. Sadras. Summerpaw. Go’el. Rexxar’s beasts. They walk out at about the same time, and they see Arthak seated in the center of the small platform.
They look about, and they notice Azuka, Lantresor, and Levia are not there. Nor is Veena.
They are worried for a moment, but the worry is assuaged as they feel reassurance and confidence. They know those who are not present are not in danger, they just aren’t here.
They can focus on their task at hand, and they look to the upper platform.
The group climbs up the chain that leads to the next platform. The first thing they notice is an anvil no more than 20 feet away. Upon it, lying lengthwise on the massive anvil, is the Doomhammer. There is armor and weapons hanging on chains--all expertly crafted. They hear the rhythmic pounding of metal shaping metal.
A figure appears--Gelnar--and he has another hammer that he is bringing down on the anvil. The hammer seems to striking upon the physical Doomhammer. He sweats, his face flush with effort and determination, as he forges the Doomhammer.
The echo flickers, and then he appears again. He is older this time, and to his sides are two young children: Nalga and Telar.
The echoes flicker, and Gelnar is very old this time. His flesh is wrinkled, and his back is bent. He carries the Doomhammer as if it weighs nothing. He walks to the anvil.
He offers a sad smile and lays the Doomhammer down on the anvil, and then leans against the anvil. The echo fades, but there is the faintest image of where a skeleton may have once been--fragments of the pieces of Gelnar that had remained.
Another echo appears, and this time it’s Nalga--a grown woman and alone. She steps up to where the Doomhammer was laid.
She picks up the hammer, a spectral image falling into her hand. She looks to where the body of her father was, and places a hand on his shoulder.
The echo disappears, leaving the group with the hammer, and silence.
Go’el looks to Arthak, and then back to the hammer. He takes a step closer to it, showing deference and reverence with every step. He reaches his hand out to, and then there is a loud noise--metal grinding on metal.
They look in the direction of the noise, and metal starts to rain down from the ceiling. Massive chunks of armor slam into the earth. A huge figure--easily 15-20 feet tall strikes into the platform. Go’el lunges toward the hammer to claim it, but the figure holds its massive hand out. The hammer whips through the air and lands--heavy--in the suit of armor that had appeared. It looks down at the group, flames steaming from the hole where a helmet should have been. It spins the hammer around, and slams it into the ground.
Rexxar and Puffer charges onto the larger platform, as does Nyxxa. Summerpaw howls and follows after Puffer and Rexxar to try and outflank the massive golem.
Sadras runs in and enters a battle rage, closing in on the construct. Azgadaan uses an upcasted [Arcane Hand], which decks the golem with its fist.
Arthak also closes on the golem using giant’s might and getting large as he uses his action surge to swing into the armor. Quel’delar scrapes across the metal, sending sparks flying. Arthak sends the Doomhammer flying out of the construct’s hand for a moment, but there is a hum and the weapon is drawn forcefully back to its hand. There is also a tug on Quel’delar, but Arthak holds strong.
Halno also casts [Arcane Hand], which also punches the golem. However, the construct has not slowed down at all.
The Last Resort swings around with the hammer and its massive fists. It strikes into Sadras, knocking her back before also impacting Arthak. Nyxxa tries to slash into the construct, but her glaives clatter off the armor. Summerpaw uses the distraction as an opening for her fangs to scrape against the armor--harmlessly.
Sadras swings, and her club hits harmlessly off the armor.
She swings again, but this time the attack rang true as she leaves a dent in the armor. Azgadaan’s arcane hand punches the armor, and Arthak activates his frost rune as he grabs onto the armor and beats his blade off the armored construct. He tries to bind it with his fire rune, but the armor breaks free only to get punched by Halno’s arcane hand.
Halno fires off a [Jolt], which courses through the Last Resort. It seems to be slowing down.
Rexxar hurls one of his axes, but it clangs harmlessly off the armor.
Azgadaan holds out his great maul, and Rexxar looks at.
He takes the maul.
Puffer squeals and starts to flank around the armor. Go’el plants his windfury totem, and then action surges to plant a skyfury totem.
A compartment on the armor’s chest opens, venting a cone of heat outward. Heat washes over Arthak and Sadras’s faces, and Sadras ducks out of the way, but Arthak takes it straight to his face.
Nyxxa uses [Hunter's Mark] and swings into the Last Resort, opening a gap in its armor plates. She tries to stun it, but it is able to resist the stun. Sadras manages to get in one hit, but her second strikes harmlessly against the armor.
Summerpaw grabs onto the armor’s leg and tries to pull it out from beneath it, but is unable to do so. Meanwhile, Azgadaan requests the blessing of the Lightning’s Blade to enhance his [Jolt], and he feels the ancestors relent at the expense of the full blessing. A bolt of lightning surges through the armor.
He then has his hand punch the armor in the head.
Halno enhances [Inflict Wounds] to be able to attack at range and then converts the damage to arcane as he supercharges energy inside the armor and turns it into an explosive. Arthak tries to dive on top of the armor. The mechanisms inside it starts to churn, and Arthak disarms the Doomhammer from the construct’s hand. The armor wrenches and twists, and the earth starts to shudder. Go’el and Sadras are knocked backwards. Azgadaan and Nyxxa lose concentration on their spells, but Halno is able to hang onto his.
The ground starts to rupture and fall apart, and the ground opens up. Arthak starts to fall, and the Doomhammer starts to fall as well. Arthak grabs onto the edge, but the Doomhammer starts to plummet--and a hand made of pure fire reaches up and grabs the Doomhammer.
The Doomhammer then begins to glow as the metal starts to spark with electricity, and a massive fire elemental emerges from the lava. It floats into the air, and its eyes spark. Fragments of armor that were on the golem wrench out of the mangled pile and assemble around the fire elemental.
It shouts something in the language of the elementals, and the armor on it starts to superheat.
Halno moves his arcane hand over to the new threat and punches it, causing flames to lick back over the hand. The creature starts to superheat, but Arthak hurls Champion’s Forge at the creature--jamming the chest compartment that had opened.
Rexxar grumbles and leaves over the chasm that had opened before him as he moves to engage with Azgadaan’s maul. He swings against the armor, the weapon clanking off.
Go’el drops his elemental resistance totem as Last Resort raises the fully-operational Doomhammer. The power of storm, earth, and fire strike into Halno with the force of the hammer, and then swings into Azgadaan with equal force.
Arthak runs under Halno’s arcane hand and sheathes Quel’delar to instead try and shove Champion’s Forge further into the chest cavity of the elemental. The heat is almost unbearable, however, he grabs onto the super-heated elemental and grapples it.
Part of the ceiling starts to collapse, but Arthak is able to avoid the falling rubble. However, the Last Resort hones in on Arthak for a moment. It says something in a language he doesn’t understand, but the meaning comes to him in his mind.
Fire gouts over Rexxar, Azgadaan, Nyxxa, Go’el, and Sadras, the flames seemingly healing the elemental in the process as some of its metal plates fold back into place.
Halno holds his hand out and blasts the elemental with [Inflict Wounds] using his scepter, but his arcane hand bounces harmlessly off. Nyxxa cuts solidly into the elemental with her glaives. She tries to charge it full of energy to stun it, but it is able to resist.
Azgadaan uses [Crusader's Mantle], expending what remains of his mana. Sadras drinks a potion and flanks Last Resort, who swings the Doomhammer into Arthak and carries through to Nyxxa. Rexxar swings the maul into Last Resort.
Arthak releases Last Resort and shoves in with Champion’s Forge, shoving his arms into the body of the elemental and driving the blade through its back. The fire elemental’s spirit erupts from the armor, and the Doomhammer sails into the lava. The elemental fades into ephemeral heat.
Go’el casts [Chain Heal], causing it to bounce to Sadras and then back to Arthak, bringing him back to consciousness.
Go’el looks towards the pit of lava.
Another echo flickers into existence: Orgrim Doomhammer holding the Doomhammer.
He raises the hammer, but it is torn from his hand.
The echo flickers away, and then reappears on the far side. Blackhand is with him.
Blackhand reaches into the lava and grabs the hammer, his skin blackening. The echo flickers again, and this time Blackhand is standing near the edge with the Doomhammer not in his presence. He coughs, hoisting something with a heavy chain.
The echo fades, and then Gel’nok appears, reaching his hand into the lava. His hand is burned away as the hammer rejects him. Arthak could swear the echo stared right through him before it fades away.
No more echoes appear, and they can see the hammer half-sunk into the lava, the handle inches away from the molten rock.
Arthak steps forward. Go’el puts a hand on his shoulder.
Azgadaan pulls out a scroll and casts [Catapult] from it, targeting the hammer, but it does not budge from the lava.
Arthak pats Go’el’s hand and starts to climb down. It gets hotter and hotter, inching closer and closer. It’s hard to breathe. It’s hard to move, his armor heating up. He can see the Doomhammer. He’s within feet of being able to reach it. He inches closer and closer. It’s just out of his reach.
He reaches, stretching as far as he can. The heat is nearly unbearable, and he feels the cloth on his armor light up. He grabs the hilt, the sheer heat completely overwhelming, but the hammer comes loose, and he falls backwards. Lava coats his hand, but the hammer flickered with a flash of light. Go’el immediately grabs Arthak and drags him back with Azgadaan’s aid. Azgadaan is trying his best to tend to the burns, and Halno starts to cast [Spare the Dying] from the Shadowmoon gift, but Arthak’s eyes flicker open.
Go’el is holding the Doomhammer, and he smiles down at him.
He points at Arthak’s hand--the one with which he had grabbed the Doomhammer--and the gauntlet he was wearing stings as pulls it away. His hand is now covered in thick, dark, magmatic rock--his missing fingers are now there and seemingly made of the same rock that extends up to his elbow.
It’s a hand of black rock.
