[Horde] Chapter Four: Session Twenty-Six

Appearing Characters: Altruis, Arthak Saurfang, Azgadaan, Azuka Stormbreaker, Gar'an, Go'el, Halno, Leoroxx, Nitrogg Thundertower, Nyxxa, Rexxar, Rorha Sundown, Sadras, Sorka, Thogar

Outland Day 36

In the excitement and collective exhaustion following the defeat of Gruul, Nyxxa pokes around to try and find supplies or arms that she can give to the slaves to help them get safely away. Nyxxa asks Sadras for some help to get to the rest of the slaves that Summerpaw had led away, and Sadras suggests speaking to Go’el as well--as he might be able to speed them along.

Nyxxa agrees, and she speaks to Go’el to arrange things with the slaves to potentially get them spirited away the next morning.

However, she veers over to speak with Azgadaan.

She smirks.

Azgadaan puts a hand on Nyxxa’s shoulder.

Azgadaan goes in for a hug as Nyxxa thanks him.

She withdraws.

Nyxxa then heads off to speak with the freed slaves. She notes a small collection of arakkoa that do not seem to have been the ones that were in the train, in addition to the other arakkoa, two krokul, a human, a saberon, and another elf in addition to Rorha.

Nyxxa quickly realizes she needs to use two different languages--and she opts to speak in orcish and then translate into common.

Nyxxa bites on her lip.

Nyxxa is a bit antsy, but she is able to draw that back and give a pretty impassioned explanation.

The nearby human nods.

The saberon had been quiet, poking at some food, but he says much the same.

The two krokul look to each other and speak briefly in draenic.

The female krokul holds a finger over her own mouth.

The krokul looks to the elves, human, and saberon.

She looks at the saberon.

The saberon snarls.

Nyxxa smiles at him, and also translates her farewell to the elves and humans as well.

As she heads back to the group, she sends Altruis.

Meanwhile, Arthak finds Nitrogg pulling things from the wreckage of the train--including more bodies that he and a still-standing sergeant are trying to identify. It’s one of the sergeants Arthak had fought, and she looks at him awkwardly.

He covers the mangled corpse with some furs from the ogre mound.

Nitrogg chuckles.

Nitrogg nods and hands over some tusks he had taken from some of the corpses to the sergeant.

Arthak looks after her as she turns to leave.

The sergeant freezes.

Arthak nods and then follows after Nitrogg as he leads Arthak to somewhere more private to chat. Nitrogg leans against the wall, his hands behind his head.

He gestures to his eye.

Nitrogg looks back to the train, and the bodies lined up next to it.

Nitrogg smirks.

Nitrogg nods.

He gestures to the runes on his armor and weaponry.

He gestures to the various gronn on the far side of the chamber.

He clasps Arthak’s arm.

Nitrogg smirks.

Nitrogg looks over Arthak’s shoulder and note’s Azuka.

They head back to the group just in time for Nyxxa to return, who flags Arthak aside for a moment.

Arthak nods.

There is some momentary banter between them as it dawns on Nyxxa that Arthak may create a train for the Broken Blade, much to her chagrin.

A bit later, Arthak starts to work on a brand using parts of Gruul, and he notes Azuka watching him.

Azuka clenches her fists.

Arthak reaches up and rests a hand briefly against his banner.

She looks at the brands, and the blood, and the pieces of Gruul around Arthak as his forging hammer strikes the hot iron.

Arthak pulls away some of his armor to show her the brand on his arm.

There is a moment of silence as Arthak continues to hammer on the brand he’s creating. Then he feels some weight against his back as Azuka presses her forehead against his back.

There’s more conviction in her voice than there has been.

She moves closer and starts to ask more questions about what he’s doing, and what she will have to do. It’s almost a mirror to the same questions Arthak had asked Gel’nok. And when it’s all done, she will need to make something herself.

Azuka swallows, as she doesn’t have experience in the forge.

Azuka nods.

Azuka looks at Arthak’s massive weapon, and there is some trepidation on her face.

He taps Quel’delar at his side.

Azuka smirks.

After some time, Arthak finishes up the brands, and he looks to Azuka. She nods, and she pulls up her sleeves. Quickly and firmly, and with as much care as Arthak can, he presses the brands into each of her wrists.

In giant, the runes say Solitude and Kinship.

Azuka winces slightly, but she didn’t make a peep. She looks down at the brands as he removes the brands, and they quickly heal into scar tissue.

She looks up at Arthak.

Meanwhile, Sadras had worked to prepare the heart of Gruul, and the two of them go together to feast upon it, along with the others that had participated in the Gruul fight, and other members of the Broken Blade and Leoroxx’s people.

Arthak recites the poem he had written in Gel’nok’s honor before everyone digs in.

He also digs in, as does Azgadaan and Nyxxa. Go’el holds off after a small slice, stating he would leave it to the rest as this was their conquest that he simply aided in.

Outland Day 37

The next morning, Arthak and Azuka opt to spar--which also gives Nyxxa a distraction for her to reconvene with the slaves.

She drops into her stance, and the vines that course around her arm dig into her flesh, causing the weapon to crackle with electricity as the vines now dig perfectly into the brands. She darts forward, and uses her blood curse of binding. Vines try to wrap around Arthak, and he breaks free, but Azuka is already on him. However, her first strike glances across his armor.

Arthak enters a rage, and starts to swing around with Quel’delar, clipping her. Azuka slides between his legs, and the rune for Kinship starts to glow. He suddenly finds himself suddenly back with the first spar with his daughter. However, everyone else sees his grip on his weapon slacken, and his eyes go foggy, as if he’s daydreaming.

Azuka opts to not attack, and she’s grinning as she watches the magic work as his rage falters. However, Arthak suddenly realizes that something had happened, and he comes to. Azuka is now behind him, ready to come at him again.

Arthak smirks, keeping his back to Azuka, and readying himself to grapple her if she darts forward. She runs forward, and Arthak whips around and grabs her.

Azuka’s blade flips into a reverse grip, and there is a spark of lightning in Azuka’s eyes. She releases a roar, and suddenly her body grows, and her hair shouts out backwards with a crackle of otherworldly energy, her tusks growing as she uses giant’s might.

She tries to go at Arthak once, and then twice, but she can’t land a solid hit. Arthak also uses giant’s might, now two large orcs sparing around each other. Arthak swings, and the blade passes directly through Azuka--a stone breaks about 20-30ft away, as if the force of the blade had been redirected to it.

Azuka finally manages to land a decent hit, and she tries to ensnare Arthak with vines, but Arthak breaks free. He manages to swing around and knock Azuka to the ground, her form shrinking as she is unable to continue fighting.

Arthak’s form shrinks as well.

She gets to her feet.

Azuka looks up to Arthak and then back down again.

Some of the orcs opt to stay behind to set up a salvage camp, while others prepare to head out. Go’el had spent some time talking to Leoroxx before rejoining Nyxxa and the slaves.

Sadras takes the opportunity to explain the entire situation to the freed slaves, and the group nods tentatively in understanding. Azgadaan, who had joined them with Nyxxa, casts [Enhance Ability] on four of them, while Go’el starts to cast [Wind Walk].

Summerpaw nods with a hanging tongue.

She gives the frostwolf pets.

She waves to Go’el, Sadras, and Azgadaan, and there are a few, cautious, wary nods from the freed sleeves. The group takes their cloud forms, and take off to the sky.

Nyxxa and the others take to the skies. Very quickly, they fly over the wasteland, and for the first two hours, nothing notable happens. Summerpaw takes the lead, leading them through the sulfur springs, and beyond the train tracks. Summerpaw heads toward a specific group of sulfurous springs and caverns, and they find what is left of the other freed slaves’ camp. They continue on, and see the traveling group, and they land nearby--shifting out of the wind walk forms.

Nyxxa gives Summerpaw a pat as she gets the attention of the group.

The wolf chuffs approvingly.

The other group regards her cautiously, hands on what weapons they have managed to scavenge, but the krokul seem to recognize each other. Nyxxa looks to the krokul in her group.

The krokul nod, and the groups start to converge and greet each other while Nyxxa looks to the mok’nathal.

The mok’nathal nods and explains his route, heading through the Gorgrond Pass and the low-hanging areas to avoid orcish settlements.

One of the humans approaches Nyxxa and thanks her for what she’s done.

The human looks to the elves.

The elves shrug.

She reaches into her satchel and pulls out 1000 gold, holding it out to the group.

One of the arakkoa steps forward and snags a coin. They bite it with its beak and crows, nodding to the rest that it’s real.

Nyxxa takes the opportunity to then send Altruis the landmarks, as well as a warning to give the dragons in the area a wide berth.

As the starts to head off, Nyxxa looks at Summerpaw.

Summerpaw looks confused, but nods, and the mok'nathal gets Nyxxa's attention one last time.

The mok’nathal looks to the group and points to himself.

The large group heads off, and disappears into the distance. Nyxxa takes the opportunity to frolic a bit on Summerpaw, who splashes through some water, before they do take their wind walk forms and start to head towards the Foundry--following the train tracks. She hears a very loud, strange sound, but she is unable to place what it is.

They manage to make it to Blackrock Foundry safely.

Meanwhile, with the rest of the group, they are wrapping up preparations to start to head towards the bridge landing where they left behind the other injured.

Azgadaan sends Khadgar at Honor Hold as he had promised Nyxxa.

However, he doesn’t get any response back.

There is a substantial number of ogres that had remained behind, now loyal to Arthak given his felling of their god, Gruul. Arthak formerly accepted them into the Broken Blade, and the ogres had taken to calling him “god-slayer” in their native language. A small percentage are also two-headed ogre magi, which Arthak had been coordinating with to direct them to Varok’mar in order to report in to Mother Kaza and explain what happened. He states she will likely not be surprised.

An ogre magi nods hurriedly, and informs him they had prepared something to ensure they would not be smitten down.

The ogre reveals a quickly made Broken Blade standard they intended to fly, and Arthak nods in approval.

He looks to Arthak and Go’el.

He turns around and gestures to Rexxar. Leoroxx chews on his tongue for a moment and growls.

Arthak opts to start to take his leave, and Rexxar looks at Arthak, and then to Leoroxx, who grunts.

Rexxar chuffs.

Rexxar glances over at Arthak, and then back to his father. Leoroxx nods.

Rexxar nods.

The two nod to each other, a begrudging respect shared.

A few of the mok’nathal laugh and chuckle. One puts a hand on Leoroxx’s shoulder, who shrugs it off and scowls.

The orcs, mok’nathal, and even a few wyrmtongues that had been in the crash listen, and there are some whispers. Leoroxx notices, and his brow furrows in contemplation.

He has obvious contempt for the word.

Leoroxx nods, and turns away again.

The group starts to head through the camp, and Rexxar flies down on Nisha, his dread raven. He trots next to Arthak for a moment.

Rexxar smirks.

Arthak waits, clearly paying attention.

Rexxar nods, indicating the end to his statement, and takes off on Nisha again.

After some time, the group approaches the camp that the orcs which had stayed at the bridge had made. They see what appears to be another train. This one is a mostly built, but not fully armored, engine, with a single car. Some of the orcs are in the process of moving stretchers of injured orcs to the train up above.

The mok’nathal leave with no ceremony, and Nitrogg checks in with the other orcs before returning to inform the group that they could likely fit on the passenger train--this time with no assassination attempts.

The group waits for about an hour or so and then cram into the train. Nitrogg looks to Azgadaan, Arthak, and Halno with a smirk.

Arthak raises an eyebrow and gives Nitrogg a look.

Halno, Arthak, and Azgadaan head into the main engine. One of the gan'arg recognizes Arthak, and immediately looks away.

He holds up his mechanical fist.

He reaches into one of his packs and pulls out steel wire with blackrock iron balls on it.

He refuses to look in Arthak’s direction for the entire rest of the time.

About an hour into the ride, they hear the sounds of a fel reaver--or a similar device. They glance out the viewports, and miles away, they can see a massive canyon that is clearly not natural. It’s almost 50 miles wide, and is a functional strip mine. There are carts and machinery moving up and down in this massive pit of activity, and they catch sight of one of the fel reavers. It moves forward, and with its massive arms, superheated fel energy blasts forth, breaking through an entire cliffside. Dots that are likely workers move in to start clearing the rubble.

Azgadaan is not an expert on fel reavers, but he knows basics and has seen them in action. He doesn’t know exact specifications of how they are commanded, but they are normally autonomous and are not piloted. His best guess is that there is likely an attuned device, or they are magically imbued to specific individuals.

In the distance, they can see the massive Blackrock Foundry. Jet black smoke is pouring out of the many chimneys of the edifice of orcish ingenuity that is built into the side of an entire mountain.

The train enters a tunnel, and before long they hear the grinding of wheels as the train comes to a stop.

Outside, there is a massive orc who has a topknot with a receding hairline, and a toolbelt around his waist.

Azgadaan gives Nitrogg a sympathetic look.

He puts his helmet on and heads out, followed by the others. Arthak had kept his banner away for the time being.

The orc sounds angry, and he is shaking an anchored slate of stone with a long piece of charcoal.

Thogar is unloading on Nitrogg.

Nitrogg looks relaxed.

Thogar starts to laugh, and goes to take a swig from a waterskin that is likely somewhat dubious.

He points at a peon.

Thogar pulls out a smoke and lights it up.

Thogar looks to Arthak, Azgadaan, and the rest of the group. Arthak nods, and Sadras reaches into the bag of colding to pull out the massive eye of Gruul. The operator sees his eye, and his face goes slack, his cigar falling from his mouth.

Nitrogg walks over to Arthak.

Arthak nods.

Arthak gives a grunt of acknowledgement. The group heads out, Arthak largely remembering much of the layout of the Foundry from his times there. The fortress seems to be built in, through, and around the entire mountain. There is a sense of oppressive heat, and they head to a place known as the Dread Grotto. The cave had once had an underground ocean, but now it is just open air that falls into nothingness. There is a small Legion vessel docked there, and it looks similar in make to the one Rakeesh had. It is unmarked.

There are two orcs speaking with some builders that seem to be the Maidens. Arthak recognizes one of them. She’s a rather high-ranking member of the Blackrock by the name of Gar'an. She is heavily armored, and has a harpoon-like weapon like Nitrogg’s. She is one of the few orcs within the Blackrock who is known to love the sea. She was actually able to campaign against the might of the ogre’s navies, and won a skirmish with much smaller nautical power against more advanced ogre sailors. She has bright crimson hair, and the orc she is speaking with has greying silver hair who seems to be Shattered Hand. She is more wiry, and her hair is in a mohawk of black and grey topknots that are framed with ritualistic bone piercings. There is a large device on her hand that seems to be more similar to those used by the gan’arg. Arthak recognizes her as a high-ranking and deadly enforcer of the Shattered Hand clan. She had been seen briefly in the company of Kargath before the invasion--her name is Sorka. She’s known to be a bit of a wild card. So, a Shattered Hand.

Arthak approaches, overhearing some discussion on expenditures, resources, and the like. The two of them glance over, and Gar’an stops and holds a hand up.

Arthak pulls out a sheet of paper and unfolds it, looking down, then rattles off the names of the gronn, the king of the ogres, and Gruul. He folds the piece of paper back up.

The two orcs blink, and look at each other, then look back at Arthak.

He pulls out an inventory list of the parts they harvested, and hands it over, as well as a list of witnesses who could confirm. Gar’an looks quite surprised, and then she smirks.

She shrugs.

Gar'an writes a signature on the inventory list and hands it back.

She looks at Sorka.

She looks back to Arthak.

Gar’an nods.

Azgadaan gets the sense that this is a warning more than a threat. There is a very good chance she knows about the same thing Nitrogg does, but also, Arthak now killed Gruul, and they would probably end poorly, and she doesn’t want to deal with that.

Arthak nods.

Sorka starts to cackle wildly.

Sorka chuckles and shrugs.

She rubs her metal bits on her other hand.

Arthak smiles.

Gar’an clears her throat.

The group heads down to the requisitions office to get their payment, in vouchers they can cash in at any point for iron coins. They find some lodgings without too much trouble.

Sadras takes a deep breath and sighs.

Sadras moves closer and puts her hands on the sides of Arthak’s head.

Sadras gives Arthak a playful jab on the arm.

Sadras gives Arthak a sad smile, and then turns and heads toward the entrance with Go’el.

His brow furrows.

Sadras chuckles.

She wipes her eye.

Go’el gives Sadras a comforting smile and puts a hand on her shoulder. A few hours later, Nyxxa arrives, and the two orcs start to get her inside.

Both Go’el and Sadras look concerned.

Her tail swishes back and forth happily.

Summerpaw jumps on Nyxxa happily, and Sadras starts to scratch her and tell her she was a good girl.

This page was last edited on August 07, 2021, at 08:51 PM

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"Go'el, you better find someone who can make you laugh, or you'll end up just like Arthak."

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