[Alliance] Chapter Three: Session Thirty-Four
Appearing Characters: Alestrasz, Alexstrasza, Daval Prestor, Dawn Brightstar, Elissa Cross, Falstad Wildhammer, Gahz'rilla, Galia, Gilveradin Windrunner, Jammal'an, Krasus/Korialstrasz, Meridiastrasz, Nazmin Farram, Remnii, Rhonin Windrunner, Riff, Seria, Shimaa Farram, Telagos, Thal'ena Dawnseeker, Theocritus, Uther Menethil, Vaelastrasz, Velameestra Windrunner, Victor Prestor, Yrdenastrasz
January 4th
As Gil sprinted away from the chaos behind him, leaving his friends and sister behind, he frantically sought a place to hide both himself and the Demon Soul. The earth is quaking, stones falling to the ground, and massive chunks of rock crashing into the lava lake. He sprints past the massive, egg-like stones they had seen previously, and he finds a hidden corner. With his options rapidly faltering, he squeezes into the cavern.
He sees a figure emerge from the lava, and as the lava drifts from him, he sees the form of Daval Prestor. However, he’s different. He has a tail whipping behind him, and his bright orange eyes burn as he searches for Gil. His great warhammer also drips with lava, and there are two large, black horns that emerge out from his dark hair.
Instinctively, Gil backs himself against the wall and quiets his breath. A stone slams into the ground, and Daval is gone from sight, but his voice echoes through the cavern.
More stones crumble and fall apart.
His voice starts to get closer, and then farther away, and then closer again. Gil gets a sinking suspicion that if he keeps looking he might find him, but if he moves, he WILL find him.
Breathing draws closer. And closer.
The rumbling stops, though stones continue to fall and collapse. And it almost seems as if the stones are whispering hints to where Gil is hiding. But then there’s another voice. Victor’s.
Daval’s approach stops.
Daval growls.
Daval growls and begins to walk away, but Victor remains behind for a moment.
And then Victor starts to walk away as well.
Gil loses track of how long he waits, and eventually the aftershocks and tremors come to a stop. The dark cavern comes to an eerie. Gil looks up, and the dragonleaf tree above him is almost a beacon of companionship in this dark moment. He looks around and surveys the damage, and it seems the chamber he’s in has been almost completely blocked off. He could potentially dig out, but it would take time.
Gil looks around again, and he goes under the tree and waits to consider what he can do. Luckily, the rubble doesn’t seem to be tight enough to prevent air from getting into the cave. The Demon Soul weighs heavily on his chest as he drifts off from exhaustion.
And then he hears the sound of movement and scratching on the far side of the stones. He isn’t sure how long he was sleeping, but there is movement beyond the rocks. Through his darkvision, he can see the rock crumble away, and there’s breathing of a large creature on the other side.
Then a large, webbed claw pulls the rocks away, and a snout of a large, reptilian creature appears. It’s the creature that had slipped beneath the magma--the ancient female incendosaur. The frills on its back provide light, and it blinks at Gil. A moment later, it backs away slightly, and there’s a familiar voice.
Not long after, a smaller creature climbs through the stone. It’s Alestrasz.
Gil peeks his head out, and Alestrasz’s mouth opens in relief as he runs into the cavern. He nearly plows into Gil, but one of his claws touches the disk and it sparks.
Krasus ducks his way in through the same cavern, and he sighs in relief.
Krasus makes his way over to Gil and puts a hand on his shoulder.
Krasus’s hand glows, and his magic starts to wash over Gil. Wounds start to knit together.
He gestures to the Demon Soul.
He holds a hand out to Gil, and Gil grabs the hand. Krasus pulls him up. While he still looks like Krasus, he still has more draconic features. There are a pair of horns sprouting from his head, and he has a pair of red wings. His eyes are also more draconic, and there are patches of scales across his body.
With his help, they are able to backtrack out of the decimated caverns. He holds a hand out and places it on the chin of the ancient incendosaur.
The creature nods slowly and then disappears into the lava. Krasus heads to the shattered stone bridge, and he holds a hand out--forming a bridge of hardened magma across the lake. Alestrasz takes a cautious step onto it, before he scampers across.
Gil and Krasus follow, and the illusion fades behind them. Before long, they arrive at the mouth of the cave, which is also partially collapsed. As Gil looks out, in the plateau below where Telagos had created the temporary sanctuary, is Telagos himself. But sitting in the center of the plateau is a massive red wyrm. Its size is comparable to Tyranastrasz, but only a slight hair smaller. Her wings are folded behind her, but her horns are adorned with bright golden jewelry, and similar jewelry covers much of her body.
As the trio emerges, the two large wyrms behind her, which are slightly smaller, turn toward them. One is a deep red crimson, and the other looks like the color of a crackling fire--much like Rhonin’s hair.
The large, adorned wyrm turns toward the group. Her eyes look first to Krasus, and then to Gil, and her eyes are impossibly gentle for a creature this large. As Gil looks up, there are dozens of other red dragons flying around overhead.
Krasus immediately bows his head, as does Alestrasz.
Her eyes go to Gil.
Gil nods weakly.
Alexstrasza smiles a bit and chuckles quietly.
He holds out the Demon Soul. Alexstrasza gets up and steps closer to the ledge. She reaches out a claw, and her form begins to transform into a brilliant emerald mist as she shifts into a humanoid form, stepping onto the edge of the cliff and closer to Gil. She looks like a beautiful, elven woman, but her hand passes the Dragon Soul.
Her hand touches Gil’s cheek.
She smiles down at Alestrasz.
Alexstrasza takes a step back and bows her head deeply before Gil. The dragons behind her also follow her lead after a moment of shock, and bow their heads to Gil.
Gil’s jaw drops, as does Krasus’s, but he also bows, as does Alestrasz. Ara'shel also manifests himself and joins the unanimous bow.
He closes his hand around the Demon Soul and pulls it back to his chest. His eyes flicker toward the metal, and in its depths, for the hint of a moment, he almost feels like he saw someone looking back out of it. But it’s gone in an instant.
Alexstrasza brings her eyes back to Gil with a soft and gentle smile.
She turns and looks tot he two dragons that were flanking her.
The two dragons also transform, one becoming a tall and regal half-elf with red hair.
The second figure is in the form of a heavily-tattooed dwarf with flaming red hair.
The pair look to Gil as they pass, and the half-elf touches Alestrasz’s head.
Yrdenastrasz looks up at Krasus.
Krasus nods as the two other consorts disappear into the cave.
Another dragon swoops down, and lands, giving Gil a nod to get on.
He smiles and glances over to Krasus. They share a look before Alexstrasza leaps off the cliff face and transforms back into a dragon to take to the air. Krasus puts a hand on Gil’s shoulder.
She looks at Alestrasz, and holds out a claw. He leaps into the claw and she puts him on his back before she joins her flight.
The draconic host takes to the skies, and the dragon introduces himself.
Vaelastrasz then goes into an explanation that he heard from his own father. In the distance, they can see Korialstrasz, who is quite a large dragon, but is still dwarfed by Alexstrasza.
Vaelastrasz explains the disc was once called the Dragon Soul and was forged by Neltharion, the Earth Warder. It had taken countless lives. It was taken from Neltharion and was sealed so it couldn’t be used against the flights again. When it was empowered, it was empowered by all the aspects and some of the most powerful dragons amongst them, including the consorts. So it technically has a piece of all the Aspects and their consorts. Or so it’s believed.
Gil listens aptly to the explanation.
Several Days Later
It takes several days of flying, during which they take some time to rest between days. Alestrasz finds Gil every night to curl up with him.
Eventually, they come upon a reclusive chain of mountains in the Lordaeron highlands--where Grim Batol was. As they crest over the mountains, Gil can see a field of green and red. A literal forest of dozens and dozens of dragonleaf trees. Flying among them are red dragons of all shapes and sizes, and prowling beneath the forests are creatures and dragonspawn alike, as well as drakonids guarding certain areas. As the host flies in, they make their way for the largest tree at the heart of the grove.
As Vaelastrasz lands, Gil can see a few other humanoids. The first one is Falstad, who is standing and watching with his arms crossed. Next to him is a figure that Gil had not seen for many months. Her hair is longer than it was, and her dress is still as immaculate, but there seems to be a few additions. It seems she is wearing a cloak of red dragonleaf tree leaves. It’s Thal’ena Dawnseeker, who smiles up and waves up at Gil.
She immediately runs to the host as they land. As Gil disembarks, Thal’ena throws her arms around Gil, and Gil hugs her back.
Gil's face drops.
She hugs Gil again.
Thal'ena is clutching as tightly as she can, and her shoulders are trembling. Gil hugs her tighter and also starts to cry.
Korialstrasz and Alexstrasza share words quietly for a moment, and the pair of them shift into their humanoid forms. They share a brief kiss and nod, and Alexstrasza disappears into her lair. Krasus, however, shifts back into his dragon form, and curls himself around the pair of the crying elves. Krasus makes eye contact with Gil and there is infinite sorrow in it as he offers the protective circle around the pair of mortals that have already lost so much.
Planar Timestream
Meanwhile, with the rest of the party. The magics that had transported the group fade away. The wounds in the earth almost look like a scar beneath them. They are in a twilit jungle with the blood moon overhead, which casts the entire strange scape in a crimson, ominous light. From the mouth of the great serpentine statue that is curled around the mountain in the distance is a river of iridescent magma that looks more like blood. The air is hot and thick with an oppressive humidity in the air, like a sauna, but much worse.
The air tastes of copper, and their bodies feel sluggish, with the oppressive heat compounded with the distinct awareness of the blood beating through every vein in their bodies. Every step feels like a hundred.
What wounds the group have start to bleed again. They are able to stem the bleeding, fortunately.
And Riff had taken the form of a troll, and had pulled Seria into a hug. The breath is knocked out of her.
Riff looks to the rest of the group.
Seria is looking around, and between everything here, and the warnings she had growing up… all of it is enough to piece together that this may be a realm that has something to do with the blood god Hakkar, the soulflayer.
Seria goes pale as she reaches this realization.
Remnii starts to heal the group a bit.
Vel looks at Seria, who is looking scared and uncomfortable--emotions that are not ever seen on the half-troll.
The group stays together to get a lay of the land. They are in the middle of a jungle, and they can hear the sounds of things in the wilderness, and there is the sound of water nearby. The group heads toward the water, and after the better part of an hour, they find a river. However, it’s not water. It’s blood.
Every fiber of Seria is screaming out to not be here, and she and Elissa both are struggling a great deal. It’s almost like their own blood is revolting against moving.
Seria shakes her head.
At that moment, Vel gets a sending from Rhonin.
Vel bites her lip, looking notably pained, but doesn’t respond.
As she starts to cast the spell, another sending comes through.
Vel doesn’t respond again, but tears start to drip down her face. It’s physically painful to do so, and she realizes she’s crying blood.
However, she is able to erect the barricade, which is the same, bright red as the blood moon no matter what she tries to do.
Seria continues to think about where they are, and she knows that finding sources of fresh water will be one of their greatest challenges. She also knows the Realm of the Blood God is said to have a river, and it can change from swamp, to marsh, to jungle, and back again with no rhyme or reason. The ruins of ancient empires can also supposedly be found in this realm.
Seria also provides the information she knows, and the way that they are feeling here reminds Vel of the way they felt during Zalazane’s ritual. Theoretically, some places are tied to certain laws, and the laws of this place are very different. Vel is able to tell that, firstly, this place rejects people it doesn’t want here. As long as they are not ready to succumb to the beliefs that Hakkar represents, this place will swallow them whole. This place is infectious, and the longer they stay, the better chance they can’t leave.
Riff smiles.
Riff cocks his head.
Riff looks over at Seria, confused.
Elissa chuckles.
Riff nods.
He looks at Elissa. Elissa chuckles and looks at Seria.
Seria stares blankly.
Remnii smiles.
Vel looks pained.
Within the first hour of the watch, something begins to shamble out of the jungle. There’s one creature, then another, and then another. They are drawn seemingly by the light of the dome of force. The creatures are horrific and range in size. They look like they may have been trolls, but now their bodies are jumbled and misshapen, their bodies warped. One of their arms has swollen fingers, while another arm has an appendage that ends in a mawed tusk. Another one has three other mouths that are spitting bile. Their words are nonsensical, and the creatures strike at the sphere with curiosity.
Near the end of the watch, they see some bright eyes watching from the far jungle. There is laughter and speech in a language they can’t understand.
The creatures wander around for a bit, but then they lumber into the jungle. The eyes periodically appear and disappear. And then second watch comes around.
Right between the two watches, there is a shrill scream, and there’s laughter, louder this time. The three fleshy creatures head toward the scream.
During Remnii and Elissa’s watch, nothing seemingly happens. However, the eyes continue to appear.
As the third watch comes, Seria and Riff keep an eye on everything. Seria sees the eyes again on the embankment, but there are far more this time. She can understand the whispers. They seem to be discussing things in druidic.
Near the end of the watch, Seria hears sounds from behind, and she can see figures down the way crawling from the lake. They are drawn by the light of the sphere. The entities are clearly undead, and they start to climb on top of the dome, leaving bloody streaks in their wake. They lick the outside of the dome with long tongues, hissing and growling.
The creatures are still prowling when the rest of the group begins to awake.
Suddenly, the area around the sphere ignites in a blaze. The grass is on fire, and the river boils. The two ghouls look around before they flee from the fire.
Striding through the blaze at the edge are three female figures. They look like elves, but their garb is more like a troll. They have five fingers, but their fingers are long and distended, but they are not that comely. The one at the front seems to be the most comely, and they have long pointed ears. Their features are vaguely deer-like, but humanoid still, and they appear to have two horns on each of their heads. The one in the front is the only one whose horns are not broken, and are instead stained with blood.
A staff floats nearby, a humanoid skull in the center of it.
She even senses Vel.
Uther gives Vel a look, wordlessly asking if it’s okay to give the creature the information.
The woman steps closer and a clawed hand runs along the edge of the dome, making a scraping sound.
The woman laughs.
The dome comes to an end and disappears, and the fire still does not enter the area of the party. With a wave of the woman’s hand, the fire disappears. There was no heat as it vanished.
Vel’s eyes widen.
Uther starts to laugh.
The woman’s eyebrow raises.
The woman smiles.
For a normal person, that would be completely lethal. It’s theoretically possible, but even if he does alright, he’ll be severely diminished. But some magic Remnii knows might help him.
The woman nods.
Remnii puts a hand on Uther’s shoulder.
The two other sylvari are talking and laughing and giggling. They seem to be conversing what each of the individual’s blood would be best used for, and they are intrigued by the situation.
Seria can tell there are more people in the woods. More sylvari, and a good deal of undead creatures.
The woman smiles, her tongue touching her fangs in contemplation.
Vel nods and she looks around as well. She can see about a dozen undead creatures, and two more of the faun-like humanoids.
The woman takes Uther’s hand, and she digs her claws into his wrist. There is a shock of pain, and blood is drawn up into her arm and upon her fur. Her eyes dilate, but she stops herself from taking too much, motes of Uther’s blood floating around her hand.
She licks her lips again, and she smiles as she brushes a strand of hair from Uther’s face.
Remnii approaches Uther’s side and uses a greater restoration.
The magic washes over Uther, and the pain doesn’t go away, but the fatigue does. Remnii then also heals him.
The undead also fall into step behind the group. The woman moves with no small amount of speed. She isn’t stopped by any of the difficult terrain, and the party quickly finds themselves in the midst of the wandering individuals. The undead creatures are all humanoids. Their eyes are sunken and full of malice, but they seem to be completely sentient. Some are speaking to each other. Almost all are trolls, however. Only a few are not trolls. Interestingly enough, there is one human, and six orcs.
Remnii is able to tell that the orcs were slain by powerful shadow magic. On multiple occasions, Remnii makes eye contact, and one of them has scarification on his neck and chest--which sometimes manifests in the later stages of the red pox.
One of the other sylvar slips through the crowd and slips her arm around Uther’s.
Another slips next to Seria and wraps her arm around her waist.
Seria swats the sylvar away from her, and she scowls.
The matriarch shoots her a look, and she backs off. Two others are watching Riff intently.
For the first hour, it is tiring, but the group is able to navigate the way through the jungle. Then, suddenly, the matriarch stops.
There is a single figure standing at the edge of the clearing. They are clearly a troll, or rather, he was. He has long red robes and a staff, but he has no flesh. In lieu of his skin there is a skeleton covered in a layer of muscle. He slides off the fallen tree he was sitting on, taking another bite from a still-beating heart.
Her staff spins and points at him.
The troll looks to the party.
Jammal'an is the name of the troll who was responsible for summoning Hakkar during the Second Troll Wars. He was cursed by the Gurubashi and by the Alliance. He was one of the most dangerous leaders, and the trolls' worst traitors.
Jammal'an laughs.
Galia smirks at Uther.
Galia’s hands glow.
He reaches over his back and pulls out a blood bone dagger, and the cloudless sky begins to rain blood.
The other sylvari fan out to follow their matriarch’s orders.
Galia holds a hand out to the sky and the sky begins to ripple as she casts call lightning. Her staff points to the prophet, and a bolt of crimson lightning strikes the ground in front of Jammal'an.
Remnii starts to prepare a spell, and Jammallan laughs.
Elissa looks to Uther for confirmation.
Elissa nods and charges for Jammal'an after blessing everyone. Seria barkskins herself and stays put.
Vel activates bladesong and then casts slow, the spectral, icy chains wrapping around Jammal'an. Jammal'an starts to try and cast finger of death, but Vel slices her hand through the air and successfully counters it.
Riff casts protection from evil and good on Seria and hides behind her.
Jammal'an lets out a call of exaltation.
Seizing control of the bolts of lightning that the matriarch had summoned, the lightning rains down back on Galia. She drops to her knees for a second.
He casts confusion, but Uther, Vel, and Galia succeed on the save, and Jammal'an uses a legendary resistance to overcome the slow upon him.
Uther runs forward to close on Jammal'an and slams into him with Light’s Vengeance. However, it seems like the holy magic is less effective against Jammal'an than it should be. He swings again, blood caking onto Light’s Vengeance.
Remnii plants her staff and extends a hand out, summoning a guardian of faith near Jammal'an. In response, Jammal'an reaches a hand out to Uther. However, as he places a palm on Uther’s armor, Uther is able to smack him away.
Riff changes back to his true form and flies away.
Jammal'an starts to laugh.
He snaps his fingers, and suddenly blood from the mud swoops up and everyone except Vel and Seria are in different locations--and they all look like Matriarch Galia.
That was the illusion in Remnii’s spot.
Seria pulls out the dragonstaff and uses it to cast truesight. A berry on the side of the staff sprouts and she crushes it, wiping across her eyes like glowing warpaint--revealing exactly who is who.
Seria points at the one that had just spoken.
Jammal'an cranes his neck around to look at Seria, his bones cracking.
His arm snaps backwards, and he casts chill touch on Seria. A spectral hand starts to grip Seria around the neck. However, as Seria looks up, thanks to truesight, she can see wailing spirits of elves and other humanoids. It’s like a cloud cover, but instead it’s wailing souls.
Elissa charges for the one Seria identified, swinging her sword around as she uses a smite. Unfortunately, the second strike is evaded.
Jammal'an backs up, and Elissa hits him again. He looks at Seria.
He raises his hands around him, and four orbs of crimson energy fly for Seria as he casts eldritch blast.
Vel runs for Jammal'an, frigid energy crackling around her sword as she uses mana break, and then lurches at the troll with a frigid strike. As she drives her blade into his gut, the sword sparks with frigid, arcane energy, bursting in his chest.
Jammal'an scowls and reaches for her face, but Vel is able to dance away from his hand.
Uther disappears as he uses blink to close on Jammal'an, swinging Light’s Vengeance around. Light and frigid energy explode
Remnii reaches out to heal Seria, but is unable to due to chill touch. Vel reaches a hand to Uther, and casts haste on him.
Another bolt of lightning, which Seria sees as a pillar of tormented souls, strikes Seria. The agony of a thousand tormented souls reach her ears, and she could swear she heard her mother’s voice, but she is holding herself up on the staff.
Remnii moves to get closer to Seria, getting ready to heal as soon as the skeletal hand drops away.
Riff uses mind sliver on Jammal’an, but the troll is able to resist.
Uther swings at Jamma’lan, his movements sped up by Vel's magic, and the troll’s muscles start to tear away.
Burning blood rips out of his body as he uses hellish rebuke on Uther, and Uther responds with a green flame blade. Unfortunately, Jammal'an is just barely able to block it as it shatters one of the skulls adorning his robes.
Seria casts wrath on Jammal'an, and the spell turns bright red as it connects.
Jammal'an tries to grab Uther, but the chill touch is deflected.
Galia continues to summon her lightning down on Jammal'an. He looks at Vel.
He tries to cast hold monster as blood starts to pour from his eyes, but she is able to resist the spell at the last second.
Elissa closes and strikes, but Jammal'an is able to bend and twist his body around the blows. He reaches for Vel with his maddening touch, but an arcane shield deflects the attack away.
The matriarch continues to use call lightning on Jammal'an.
Riff continues to try and ping Jammal'an with mind sliver, but the troll is able to continue resisting.
Uther, still hasted, continues to swing into Jammal'an. The troll’s arm sloughs off, and he laughs. He grabs Uther’s maul on the second swing.
As Uther swings again, the dismembered arm jerks Uther’s arm.
Vel’s sword starts to crackle with arcane energy again as he focuses on Uther, and she drives her sword into Jammal'an's back, the arcane energy once again exploding as his body starts to fail.
Jammal'an laughs.
And he crumbles to dust, leaving the dagger he was wielding. Vel goes to scoop that dagger up, but Galia’s hoof lands on it.
Vel looks at her for a moment, but then backs off.
They continue through some ruins, and the next hour of travel is thankfully uneventful in comparison. As is the second hour, though Seria and Vel are starting to get worn down. As they travel, after about 2.5 hours, they stumble across another figure in the woods. He seems to be wandering somewhat, and he looks vaguely like an elf, but his long white hair is thin and his skin is grey.
The figure seems to be well-dressed in dark clothing.
Galia pulls out the dagger.
The mysterious figure takes over the lead, and they come to a clearing with a small pond. The pond is crystal clear, unlike everything else in the land.
Galia looks at Uther.
He extends his hand, and Galia smiles. She takes out what appears to be a bright white horn. She pulls it up to her wrist and draws something into. The same marking appear on Uther’s own wrist as the blood floats up and floats toward Galia, while her own floats toward Uther.
She turns to the pale, dark robed figure.
The pair leave, leaving the group at the peculiar pool.
Vel goes to examine the pool, but before she can get a good look, Uther runs by and cannonballs into the pool.
They are all splashed with icy cold, refreshing water. Vel grumbles to herself and then dives in after Uther.
Elissa runs forward, and Remnii puts a hoof in before immersing herself, looking back at Seria with a shrug.
They note that the pool goes a lot deeper than the group would expect. Uther starts to sink, and keeps sinking. As he goes deeper and deeper, there is almost a current that pulls them deeper down. They can’t breathe the water. They swim for nearly two minutes, and the deeper they get, the more normal their bodies return, minus the frigid chill of the water. Then there’s a crossroads. There is a current that is pulling them into five or six directions. It’s complete blackness.
The water seems colder straight forward. It’s pulling stronger to the left. The southern side is pushing against him, and the water is thicker to the right.
Uther goes for the cold water. As they swim as hard as they can, the frigid waters begin to pull them. Suddenly, their bodies stretch, and the pain becomes nearly unbearable as the two minutes end. And then light reaches their eyes. It appears they are in the bottom of a rocky basin, and there are smooth pathways that lead up toward the light, rocky ice on the ground beneath them.
Something splashes into the water from up above. And three figures start to descend into the water.
The group starts to scramble for the light. The three figures sinking down into the depths of the pond are human corpses. Their throats are slit, and blood trails up to the surface. The corpses are nearly naked, and their flesh has been grafted with runes in the trollish language.
Seria hears something rumbling in the pool below, and bubbles start to rise. Seria takes a look, and there are six, large, bright white eyes looking at them. Rocky icy chunks move, and three long and sinuous necks reach out.
Vel and Remnii break the surface at the last second, and they find themselves in the middle of a pool. The icy water is frigid, but there is bright golden sand everywhere else. Up above the pool are two figures standing on a sandstone bridgeway. There’s another human that is on his knees at the edge of the bridge, and there are two female trolls that are looking down in complete and utter confusion.
Then the rest of the group surfaces, and they can feel the water churning beneath them.
There are other trolls standing around the pond. There are four lizards with long sinuous necks also there, and they have the same color of scale as whatever Seria had seen below. The trolls appear to be sand trolls, and a hot desert wind strikes the group.
Then the pool water begins to bubble.
He clambers out of the water, quickly followed by Vel. One of the creatures runs for Vel, swiping at her. They appear to be in some sort of canyon. There is a large ziggurat in the distance, and bones and skeletons in the corner. Vel is able to dive out of the way of the creature’s claws.
Uther pulls Remnii out of the water, and they start to flee.
The large, three headed creature starts to writhe and it releases a horrifying roar before three streams of icy energy are released from its maws. One of the beams hits some of the smaller drakes, and they start to turn on the nearest individuals to them.
Horns start to blow as they draw the city to attention.
One of the of the smaller drakes breathes out a stream of icy energy as well, clipping Vel with the brunt of the damage.
She starts to cast hold monster, and Vel hurls an icicle of arcane energy, countering the spell.
However, as she says that and Vel starts to bolt, the great beast’s tail lashes around, and Vel erects a wall of force to cut off the pursuit. The high priestess is hit by the flailing tail, and goes sailing through the air, hitting the wall of force.
Remnii uses mass cure wounds as she runs, and one of the patrolling trolls tries to intercept her. Riff changes into his true form and takes to the air, trying to fly overhead to get to safety.
The patrolling troll takes a swing at Seria, and Vel follows up, swinging back at him as she runs by. He tries to strike in retribution, but the attack goes wide.
Everyone continues to book it as fast as they can. Uther looks forward, and one of the nearby sand trolls hurls something through the air at him. It’s an urn or something. It shatters on Uther’s gauntlet, and the troll disappears back into the growing crowd.
Uther casts bless on his compatriots as he runs.
Remnii passes through the markets and into a long strip of market with even more people. As soon as she rounds the corner, she sees two large scorpion-like creatures with what appears to be a slain animal between them. Remnii runs almost directly into them, and as she skirts around, one of their stingers lashes out and strikes her.
Riff soars overhead and casts flash of light on her.
Remnii casts sanctuary on herself as she continues to run, and then heals herself with her channel divinity. As she starts to move through the markets, there is a large arch up ahead. There are a few guards trying to roll a stone in front of the gate.
Vel puts on a burst of speed, and a massive creature with a heavy laden package goes right in front of her. She instinctively freezes the surface at her feet and power slides beneath the creature and keeps going.
As Seria runs, a young troll points her out. Suddenly a bunch of things start to rain down on her. She avoids some of it, but the mother hands the child a pan, which he hurls down at her and she is knocked off her feet.
Uther blinks past the troll that had tried to stop his run. As he dashes, an interceptor tries to stop him, and he books past Vel and catches up to Remnii.
Uther blinks up ahead and runs at the trolls trying to close the gate. He swings into one of them, startling one of the trolls into screaming. The hammer catches two of the guards on the upswing, and sends them hurling over his shoulder--dropping them unconscious. The two remaining guards scream and run away.
Vel continues her sprint to catch up to Uther, and the sounds of the guards screaming alerts a pack of furred creatures that starts to chase after the guards. Vel deftly dances around them.
The interceptor catches up to Seria and stabs at her. As she’s twisting around, she changes into a dragonhawk and takes to the air with Riff.
As Remnii runs forward, a woman with a basket is barreled over by the fleeing guards. Remnii grabs the woman before she falls. They share a moment as they exchange a look, and Remnii hands the basket back and starts sprinting again. The troll woman is very confused.
Elissa starts to sprint forward, and the troll woman Remnii is chasing steps to the side to let her pass, and then drops her basket, causing the guard chasing Elissa to fall. The troll woman then disappears into an alley.
The group runs the last put and slide through the gate to the city. As they exit, they find themselves looking out at an endless desert. Dotting from it are watchtowers of trollish origin in the afternoon sun.
They are uncertain how they managed to get into the desert in the first place, but for the time being, it seems they lost their pursuers.
Once they appear to be safe, Uther starts laughing.
Remnii also starts to laugh, but also cries at the same time.
The sun is starting to set, and they can see the twin moons of Azeroth appear overhead. There is nothing but expanses of sand.
In the distance, there are torches being lit.
Riff transforms back into his troll form.
He starts to cry as he’s really scared, and Seria hugs him. He’s a blubbering mess.
Riff shakes his head.
He puzzles for a moment seeking a deeper meaning.
Seria continues to comfort Riff and Seria makes some water. While meditating, Remnii tries to call upon the naaru for guidance.
However, as she prays, she can feel the presence of the naaru. They are on Azeroth, but the naaru don’t answer directly.
Seria uses scrying to try and scry on Gil. The water fogs up, and then it becomes clouded and murky. There are streaks of green electricity coursing between the clouds, and then the water erupts from the bowl and splashes out.
They are startled by bolts of viridian lightning.
It was familiar to Remnii. It was what happened when they tried to scry Velen in Jaina’s study.
Seria nods.
Sensing no argument, Vel starts to teleportation circle back to Theocritus’s tower.
A response comes back, but it’s like trying to hear over the sound of rippling thunder.
Remnii looks back at the group.
Remnii relays the information.
They can see lights bobbing in the distance.
Vel is clearly distressed, but she takes a moment to try and calm herself and sort out possible routes they can use to get back from wherever it is they turned up.
Remnii contacts Dawn one more time, telling her not to tell anyone.
There is a word of acknowledgement.
The group sets up camp, keeping the same watches as in the Shadowlands. The night gets cold, but the sky is beautiful. The group keeps an eye on the individuals in the distance--the lights. Thankfully, it seems they kept to themselves.
Seria, meanwhile, tries to dream Victor. As she falls into her trance, she awakens in the Dream, and she’s not in a desert. In fact, she’s in a lush and beautiful oasis. There is still sand, but it is much more lush here. However, as she turns towards Victor, the sky starts to darken, and it gets darker and darker. Seria continues to try.
As she pulls him closer, she can almost sense him, but the clouds get more and more severe. Finally, as bolts of viridian lightning strike the ground, one of them strikes near Seria, and her eyes open. She is kicked out of the dream spell and she looks around the camp. It’s still first watch. Her heart races for a moment, and then slows.
Seria gets up and goes over to Uther and Vel.
May 7th
The next morning comes, and now that it’s light out, they can see the other camp in the distance. There are a number of steeds around with humanoid-shaped riders. They can’t make out anything else.
The group packs up and Remnii tries to pray for guidance again, asking where they are at. There is no response. Eventually the campers continue to move.
There is desert as far as the eye can see.
Vel casts invisibility on Seria and she takes to the sky to scope things out. She starts to hear music as she draws closer. The vocalizations are not in a language Seria can recognize, but there are two female humanoids harmonizing. The creatures appear to be humans. There are a few more than a dozen, and they seem to be decently well armed and armored, and are heavily garbed with light cloths that are draped around their heads. Most seem to have curved weapons. There are carts draped with thick cloths, being pulled by some of the strange pack creatures.
Seria flies back to relay the information, while Remnii uses commune.
She begins to commune.
The answer is more or less “not here, not now”
The answer is “yes” but there is familiarity in the chimes. It could be dangerous, but maybe not for the group.
The answer is “yes”
Remnii makes a noise, and she relays the information.
Seria returns with the information of what she saw, and Remnii uses tongues while Vel uses comprehend languages. Seria suggests Riff and her stay back.
His form shifts around, and he turns into one of the dogs they had seen inside the troll city.
The group makes their way over. As they get closer, they note that two of the riders break off and start heading in their direction. As they meet them halfway, they ask a question in their language.
The woman then switches to common.
The pair flanks the group and ushers them ahead. One of the curtains has been drawn, and there are two women looking out of it. The one with the violet clothing gets out and squints at the group before starting to laugh.
She reaches up and removes the mask. She looks familiar.
Peeking out from behind her is the other woman. They recognize them.
They were performing in a tavern in Dalaran.
