[Horde] Chapter Two: Session Fourteen
August 6th
0:00
The battle commences!
Zagarra runs forward and launches herself at the drift lurker, flipping off an icy boulder and slashing at the creature. Sadras follows suit, slamming her weapon into the ground twice before she runs forward, preparing to meet the creature.
The drift lurker slithers forward slowly, and its chest starts to compress. It ducks low to the ground and pulls its head back. There is a loud sucking noise, and it seems to be drawing the heat from the room into itself. The group braces itself as the frigid air washes over them.
Spinyl, Remnii, and Wintermaw immediately slump down as they experience what amounts to really fast onset hypothermia. The drift lurker screeches, and a piece of ice dislodges itself from the ceiling.
Kroll and Thura are knocked prone, pinned by the ice.
Azgadaan is forced off his magic hiatus, promptly enlarging both himself and Arthak. He also chugs his potion of cold resistance.
Samaara, meanwhile, was stunned by the sudden chill. However, she attempts to move into a better position, and takes a shot at the drift lurker. A bleeding wound opens on its body.
Spinyl, meanwhile, is on the ground, struggling to hang on.
Arthak, now large, charges in at the drift lurker. He is able to keep his balance, his giant burning blade streaking through the air, and he slices into the beast. The fire aspect of his sword carves through the beast, and it is seemingly vulnerable to it. However, he also gets the sense that its cone of cold attack had also been recharged by the searing heat as it pants faster.
Arthak swings into it again, and blood, melted ice, and water slicks off its form.
In retaliation, the beast swings at Arthak with its exceptionally sharp forelimbs.
Wintermaw, however, manages to shake the rime off his fur, and staggers back to his feet. Seeing his wolf is now fine, Sorak turns to Spinyl and shoves a potion down her throat, stabilizing her. With a flick of his wrist, Sorak then ignites the heat within the drift lurker’s own body, and fire catches on its scales, clearly wounding it.
However, vitalized by the sheer heat, it starts to thrash around, knocking both Arthak and Zagarra aside. It then skitters up and around, snarling as it comes up next to Sadras. Zagarra swings at it as it passes, but misses.
Kroll reaches out to Remnii’s unconscious form, touching her ankle and shamanic powers washes over her, bringing back to consciousness. Thura, meanwhile, strains beneath the ice boulder, and she is able to lift it up and off of both herself and Kroll.
Now up, a surge of healing energy emits from Remnii as she heals Thura, Spinyl, and herself. She also uses flash of light to heal Wintermaw, which also heals her as well. She then maneuvers behind the rock.
Mankrik runs in, brandishing his great axe. He brings his axe down, but it clatters off the beast’s armor.
Spinyl gets to her feet and gets behind the rock, and then peeks around the rock. She whispers and focuses on the drift lurker. It looks around, confused, and then moves back as the dissonant whispers take hold.
Mankrik manages to land an attack as it flees.
The creature starts to chew and burrow into the ice, however, Zagarra stops it in its tracks as she lands a blow on it.
Sadras laughs, racing after the drift lurker. She plunges into the creature’s back with her axe. There seems to be almost an after image of a wolf trotting after her as she went.
The drift lurker screeches, and several people throw their hands up to cover their ears, but some aren’t quick enough. The ringing in their ears deafens them. However, there is a cracking, and a splintering, and the ice block near Samaara shatters. Fortunately, she is able to duck out of the way.
Kroll casts war drums, and everyone feels a quickening in their hearts as the spell comes into effect.
Arthak closes with the beast, ready to assault it with another blow.
However, the drift lurker starts to thrash again. Sadras is knocked over, but Zagarra and Arthak are able to stay their feet. Zagarra lands an opportunity attack, as does Arthak. He slams the beast into the wall with a terrifying blow. It screeches, clearly in a great amount of pain, and clearly wounded. It’s a crit!
Mankrik follows up with a crit of his own, burying his axe in the creature’s side. He ends up on top of it, screaming a war cry.
The drift lurker rounds on Sadras, biting her. She fights and struggles against it, but her skin starts to grow more pale as her eyes flutter closed and her body goes limp on the ground.
Azgadaan hurls a chaos bolt at the drift lurker, and it ignites with more fire.
Zagarra slides under Arthak, and smashes the beast with her fist.
Remnii does more healing!
Sorak hurls a huge bolt of fire at the drift lurker, which congeals with the fire already licking at its scales, and it collapses in an inferno of fire.
0:59
Mankrik leaps off and runs to the frozen body of Mahka. Zagarra goes to Sadras, and Sorak also runs over.
Zagarra: “We have to act quickly. If we can’t save her soon, she may never wake.”
Sorak at least has an idea of how to heal it. If they can cure the poison, she has the chance of waking. Sorak starts shouting for Remnii. Remnii tries to cast lesser restoration on her, but the condition does not seem to be getting better.
She keeps trying. As Remnii continues to focus, she feels the poison start to leave Sadras’s body. The orc’s eyes flicker open.
Remnii breathes a sigh of relief as Sadras stirs, then goes to see to Mankrik’s wife.
Sorak immediately hugs his sister.
Sadras: “I’m happy to see you too, brother.”
She pats his back, and comments they took out the drift lurker.
Meanwhile, Remnii examines Mahka as they chip her out, and she determines Mahka is in the latter stages of the poison. Mankrik asks if she is alright.
Remnii: “She’s living, yes. But the poison acts quickly. I believe… if she recovers, then it will be by a month by month basis. I am sorry, Mankrik.”
Mankrik moves forward and runs a hand through Mahka’s hair.
Mankrik: “Mahka…”
He removes his cloak and wraps Mahka in it.
Meanwhile, Sorak is harvesting the venom-sac from the creature, as well as several teeth.
They take a brief rest, and then gather their things and start to move out. It’s about 11:30 at night. However, they decide to keep moving for another five hours or so before camping.
1:24
Mankrik approaches Remnii as they travel, expressing his thanks.
Mankrik: “I wish I could say this was a full victory. But instead, I will thank you for saving young Sadras. No one deserves to watch a loved one wither away and die.”
He walks off, still carrying his wife.
Sadras and Remnii also talk, and Sadras thanks her, realizing that Mahka could have possibly been her as well. The reflect on the fact that Geyah had ultimately woken up, and Remnii mentioned that, if anyone had the resilience to continue, it would have been Geyah. Sadras is surprised, but then remembers that draenei live much longer. She asks how old Remnii is, and Remnii said she was young by draenei standards--just shy of 300.
1:36
They camp, and set up watches for the night. However, in the distance, they hear a rumbling, and as they look closer, they see a herd of clefthoof charging, a force about 100 foot wide.
Thinking quickly, Azgadaan enlarges a rock to be about 15 foot by 15 foot. Kroll and Remnii both use spirit guardians independently. Kroll’s guardians, from a distance, look somewhat hazy, however, close up they are skeletal animals and carcasses.
Meanwhile, there are three pillars of white light materialize around Remnii’s point, and three images of naaru radiate out.
With such a display, most of the clefthooves divert off the rock, but one barrels straight through it. However, Arthak releases a battle cry, grabs the clefthoof by the shoulders, and wrestles it to the ground and forces it to become a shield for them again.
The charging clefthooves ram and bounce into their companion, and then Spinyl’s tiny hut erupts into existence, and the clefthooves leap harmly over it for the rest of the time.
Meanwhile, Thura, Sorak, and Sadras are trying to outpace the clefthooves as their mounts can’t fit under the hut. They effortlessly get ahead of the herd, and round about the outside as they get out of the way.
As they look ahead, they see what was probably the cause of the stampede. There is steam rising from ground, and the snow begins to fall and melt.
And then a massive creature erupts from the ground, grabbing the clefthoof that Arthak had just grappled. A second one erupts as well, and for a moment they fight with the clefthoof, before it gets ripped in half.
One of them, out of curiosity, bumps its nose against the dome upon noticing it, but then the other magma burster went for the first ones half, and they immediately round on each other again and fight for a bit before descending under the ground again.
Arthak knows that those particular worms were young, and chances are, if there are young ones, there is likely an adult one around.
Sorak, meanwhile, knows they are intending on passing through a clefthoof graveyard. The worms seemed to be heading back in that direction. Sorak suggests they go around, but Sadras eagerly suggests going and fighting the magma bursters.
Sorak counters they are carrying an injured person, and Sadras said they didn’t all have to go.
Arthak then counters they have a mission to focus on. Sadras sighs, relenting to the “boring way.”
Remnii comments to Spinyl she loves the boring way, and Spinyl agrees. Samaara mentions, in hushed tones, they would have been taking the boring way regardless.
2:04
Kroll gets Remnii’s attention as they are traveling, and (surprise!) he speaks to her in draenic. He mentions there is more going on than it seems.
Kroll mentions he is concerned, given how the Horde has been acting, and Remnii agrees that things will only escalate. She also mentions that Kroll is now traveling in the company of some that will be at the head of things. Kroll comments that “If someone is going to hold a wolf by the tail, they had best not let go.”
They then spend some time just catching up. Kroll has matured a lot since Remnii had previously known her, especially given his age, and Remnii also summarizes what they had been doing thusfar.
It turns out Kroll is actually from Ganondar, and clearly shamanic. Kroll asks Remnii if she feels the people they are with are trustworthy enough for him to reveal that, but Remnii suggests he wait until Go’el was present as well.
As they start to settle in, they note that Mankrik hasn’t unpacked his things, and he is clearly intending on setting off. Arthak says he shouldn’t go alone, and Mankrik retorts he isn’t alone (referring to Mahka) and sets off.
Arthak said that someone should follow him, and Azgadaan offers, but they are ultimately stopped as Mankrik obviously wants to be alone with his grief. Arthak, however, insists on going after him.
Mankrik growls when he picks up Arthak is following, and asks him why he was followed. Arthak repeats that he shouldn’t go alone--for both his, and Mahka’s sakes.
Mankrik asks Arthak what he knows about being alone.
Arthak: “Enough.”
He says that everyone needs someone at some point.
Mankrik: “I know. That’s why I’m grieving. Mahka was my comfort. The kindness. The consolation of loss. And now I couldn’t even protect her either. Why do I deserve to rest when she is in any danger? I deserve nothing.”
Arthak counters that the world is cruel, and it takes. The only way to prevent that is to hold together, and right now, Mankrik was wounded. He needed to let someone else help carry him.
Mankrik grits his teeth for a moment, but then the wind leaves his sails.
Mankrik: “She said the same to me… when I lost Olgra.”
Mankrik reflects a bit on Mahka’s words that she had shared with him in the past. Expressing how supportive she always was. Arthak mentioned she was wise.
Mankrik: “She was… no… is. She isn’t gone. And if I could do anything to save her, I would do it a thousand times.”
Arthak: “Then you have a beacon.”
Mankrik admits that Arthak is right.
They start to tredge ahead, and ultimately reach Wor’gol. When they reach Wor’gol, Mankrik offers Arthak to stay in his own home, as it was the least he could do given that Arthak showed him a beacon to follow.
It’s a humble, but cozy, home.
August 8th
2:39
The entire group reaches Wor’gol. The first thing they see is a small frost wolf running about. A young mag’har orc is chasing him, laughing before he tackles the wolf and they roll about in the snow.
They see a great malachite pillar with the symbol of the frostwolves on it jutting from the square. Huts and buildings are jutting out in every direction. Arthak is waiting for them. Mankrik is seeing to Mahka.
They then hear Go’el, and he approaches, greeting everyone and pulling Sorak and Sadras into a hug. He meets Kroll’s eyes, but does nothing more. Remnii thanks him for his hospitality of her people, and then Remnii hears Yrel shouting for her from across the village.
