[Alliance] Session Seventeen
The spiral on the ground doesn’t seem to fit anything that Vel has seen previously. It doesn’t seem to be a ritual that she has ever heard of, and the same goes for Rai. It has likely been here for a very long time.
There is just a dead body in the room near the chest, but Uther is unable to sense any form of undead. There are no murals in the room - just the slots and sarcophagi. Zap walks around the room, and he is able to tell the floor of the room is slightly slanted. The spiral does not seem to be on a singular plane. The center seems to divet down, and there is a tiny hole there - as if it serves to drain the room.
“We should figure out what it does before we start filling holes.”- Zap
“You know me. I just like filling holes with things.”- Gil
Vel sends her unseen servant to open the chest, and investigate what is inside of it. It comes back, and it does bring something over. Nothing happened as it reached into the chest. There are three items floating back: a strange totemic vial - carved into its side is the face of a voodoo mask, but it is full of some sort of liquid, a small pouch that contains a pinch of powder - not unlike the pinch they had previous seen (possibly dust of disappearance, but it could be dust of choking), and another filter that is filled with another liquid.
Seeing no traps were triggered, Vel goes to investigate the body. The man is clearly decayed. He has an average sword on the ground near him, and his chest is filled with poison darts that seemed to have come from the chest. He is wearing chain armor, and there is an interesting sigil: a green emblem with a golden anchor. The symbol of Kul Tiras. However, he does not look like a member of their marine corp despite what the chain shirt would me.
Vittoria commented that the man doesn’t look like anyone from Kul Tiras - more someone from Alterac. He may have been a bandit, or he may have been planted. However, he was clearly killed by the trap on the chest.
Vel asks for 10 minutes, where she casts “Detect Magic” on the shirt. As she does that, she senses extremely weak enchantment and transmutation magic on the shirt. Zap is able to tell that if this is a chain shirt from Kul Tiras, and he brainstorms some things. Vel’s memory is triggered, and she is able to recall special armor given to the navy. It’s a Mariner’s Chainshirt.
One potion is a potion of Greater Healing, and the last potion has pretty potent transmutation in it. It has a pungent odor. It reminds Vel of a sweaty tavern brawl. It’s a potion of Hill Giant strength. Your strength score changes to 21 for one hour.
However, the dust is still a mystery.
There is another archway to the northwest, and a doorway that leads down in addition to the doorway they entered through.
Zap is able to tell the northwest doorway just leads back to where they’ve been.
Gil suggests that they use the Decanter of Endless Water to see if the spiral does anything, but they opt not mess with it.
Gil decides to do his ranger-pulse to sense some humanoids in the area.The results are fairly sporadic. There is one deep, deep, deep underground kind of two the south and down. It’s separated from a lot of the other ones.
Vel suggests they just pick a path and go, and she decides to go south. However, the hall seems strange given the setup of the doors, and they decide to check the other pathway as well.
It’s an incredibly winding corridor filled with holes for caskets. However, about halfway through, there are no holes suddenly. Tess hears a click. And there is a rumbling. The ceiling is shaking.
As the ceiling collapses, the path is filled in. Tess is able to scramble out of the way, but Rai and Vel both get hit with some of the rubble - though Tess is able to drag Vel with her just enough that some of her damage can be halved.
Tess asks Rai if he’s okay, and he confirms.
Vel drops her mother’s engagement ring in the cave-in so that, if Zalazane is still tracking them, it appears they died in the trap.
As they round a corner, Gil sees corpses lining a wall with spears, axes, arrows, etc. pinning them against the wall. Most have long decayed. There are humans, elves, half-elves, even a few doors, and all of them have one arm extending down the hallway and pointing at a wall.
There is a troll face. Its mouth is open wide, and its eyes are stony pearls gazing down at them.
Rai: “It looks like some kind of door or something. Probably trapped though.”
The group agrees/
The one on the farthest end, his arm is pinned up so he has a single finger held up to his face in a shushing motion.
Vel suggests that approaching the door silently may avoid triggering something, but that’s a long-shot.
Zap is able to tell that the troll face is definitely a secret door, but opening it is still a mystery. However, before anyone could approach, Gil casts Silence on the door. The troll’s mouth closes, and the door opens.
Gil blinks. Vel looks vaguely impressed. He looks very surprised and walks through.
In the next room, they see the glinting of a LOT of coins. Shimmering brightly in the flickering light.
They found the treasure room. Ancient coins, current coins, gemstones.
Buried amidst the treasure are goblets and the like. However, Vel is able to sense some magic coming from the north, and one thing buried in the treasure room. The other magic sense seems to come somewhere from the north, but on the same plane.
The magic item in the room is a set of pipes with small rodents engraved into the pipes. It’s a Pipes of the Sewers. It’s an attuned item, but you must be able to play wind instruments to use it.
Vel raises her eyebrow, but hands the pipes to Gil.
Vittoria asks if they can take some of the gold and seems to be a bit insistent. Vel asks why she needs gold if she is royalty, and she gets rather embarrassed and admits that her kingdom is not exactly doing well financially. Tess puts a hand on her shoulder in understanding.
Zap investigates the stone (and trips over some of the treasure. Vittoria makes a comment that if they had picked up the treasure, he wouldn’t have tripped. Vel snorts), and he manages to find a small tri-cornered black hat. It’s on the ground, and the hat seems to be stuck to the ground. It’s missing a feather.
Zap struggles to pick it up, but fails.
Zap asks Vel if she has a quill, and she pulls out her quill. She puts it in place, and nothing happens. She changes the color to match the hat, and it is able to be moved. Tess kicks it aside.
Zap puts the hat on his head and a door opens in the wall.
“I’m psychic!” -Zap
Zap makes a bunch of quips with his psychic powers.
Vel glares at Zap, and then pokes into the room with Gil behind her. There is a body. It is very dead, and it is sitting at a table with a small letter penned in front of it. The body is cloaked in a deep black hue, and there are black feathers streaming along the edge of it. The feathers cloak most of its features.
Slung across its back is a bow and quiver with a single arrow, as well as a peculiar dagger that has a blackened edge to it, as long as some sort of magical bracers.
As Vel looks, the first thing that comes to her mind is when she was reading some histories of different elvish criminals. About 300-400 years ago there was a criminal called the Raven. He was never captured and never identified, and he just disappeared one day. Judging by the illustrations she saw, this body would fit that. She asks if Gil is familiar with the Raven.
“Ooooooh!”- Gil.
Gil asks her to check his equipment. The arrows, cloak and dagger he is wearing are all magical. She senses transmutation and illusion from the cloak, conjuration for the dagger and transmutation on the arrows.
Vel removes the cloak, and the body crumbles to dust.
However, as Gil moves forward to get the bracers, they hear a voice.
“To those who find the final resting place of the Raven, if you find yourself worthy enough to pick up my legacy. Then first you’ll have to prove yourself.”
A black-shrouded raven phases through the wall, and three ethereal figures step out of the wall and moan. They look vaguely like farstriders.
Gil fires at the wraith that is in the room with him and his sister. The arrow passes through it, but it seems to hurt it a little bit.
Gil: “Vel, have I ever told you I hate spirits?”
Vel: “No. I’m assuming you hate spirits?”
Gil: “I do. I hate anything I can’t shoot.”
Rai spins around and looks at the other spectres. Rai takes a deep breath and waves him arms in an esoteric way that he has never done before. There is a pulse of magical energy, and the three spectres look at the group. They have their bows drawn, but as the energy washes over them, realization washes over them as well.
Spectre: “That’s not the culprit. Where is the Raven?”
Rai looks back and then points at the door. The three spectres look in, and then try to assist them in bringing down the Raven.
Vittoria: “This is fucking weird.”
She strikes at the Raven, but misses. Tess goes to back her up. She lunges forward, and her weapon pierces through it.
When the ghosts had popped up, Zap shouted “OH NO!” and stumbled and the hat fell off. However, he quickly snatched it up again. He pops into the door, takes a shot, and pops out.
It connects. The Raven flickers out of existance, and then appears behind Gil. “Hahahaha. Much more talented Farstriders have tried to bring me in. You will not succeed.”
It reaches out with a talon, and connects. Shadowy energy courses through Gil, but he is able to shake it off.
Vel hurls a crackling streak of energy at the wraith who attacked her brother, and it seems to not be resistant to the damage. Seeing it was not quite as effective as she had wanted, she swoops down and grabs the dagger on the ground and slashes through the image.
Uther follows suit, and the image vanishes.
Raven: “Hahaha. Perhaps you are worthy after all.”
Vel looks down at the weapon. Dripping from it is a thick black poison, and it seems to burn the ground as it connects. It’s a Dagger of Venom.
They take a short rest. The arrow is a +1 arrow. The bracers are Bracers of Archery. Vel focuses on the cloak to figure out what it does. She goes to the darker areas of the room and seems to shimmer and become harder to see. In the shadows, there is a raven croon, and as long as she is in dim light or darkness she feels lighter on her feet. The ceiling doesn’t seem quite as far away. If she grips the edges of the cloak in darkness, she gets a glide speed, and if she swirls it around herself, she turned into a raven.
She throws it at Tess once she analyzes what it can do.
Vel: “I’m keeping the dagger.”
They regroup, and Gil goes to investigate one of the doors at the bottom, and walks through the top one. The bottom one hums with magic. He doesn’t touch that one.
They go back to the room the original pathway had lead to. As they open the door, Zap hears a strange sound and something shoots up from the ground underneath him. The spikes hit him, and he takes a decent amount of damage.
Zap: “Ooo. Holy smokes.”
Tess: “You okay there Zap?”
Zap: “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
Uther uses Lay on Hands to heal him.
As Zap turns around, he hears rattling from the room behind them. Like chains being moved. Guttural noises. The room is completely dim.
However, as he looks into the room all he sees are rough-hewn stone cages hung into the ceiling. All of them have skeletons in them. At least three quarters of the skeletons are moving - rattling the cages and hissing.
Zap: “Huh. I see. So this is where they keep the valet parking.”
Vittoria: “What kind of place is this?”
Vel: “The den of a necromancer.”
Zap lets Uther take the lead. Vel said that there may be a trap that drops them.
Zap gets really close to the floor and taps on a few tiles and sniffs, but says he was unable to find any traps.
Tess looks up beneath the light of the torch, and the hisses from the skeletons almost sounds like words. “Feed. KILL.”
There is a snap, and the upper portion of one of the skeleton’s arms skitters toward them. Uther stomps on it.
Not all of the skeletons are human. There are about four dwarf skeletons.
Gil approaches the center doorway, but there is nothing in there aside from some broken and ripped open cages.
They go to the far left door, and it is another airlocked hallway. Gil and Zap pass a few jokes between themselves, Vel just gets irritated and goes in.
Nothing happens.
The next room is a strange ceremonial chamber. There are rows upon rows of statues of witch doctors. All of them have voodoo masks - each one different and each one representing a different loa. However, they have all been desecrated. Ripped apart. Splattered with fecal matter.
One had half bitten off.
Not a single one isn’t desecrated.
Rai just kind of stares, eyes wide. Gil lays a hand on his shoulder.
Rai: “I knew that Zalazane had given up on the loa… but dis… dis is somethin’ else…”
Gil: “He’s just really trying to drive the point home.”
There is little else in this room but that.
Uther is able to tell with his Divine Sense that all the objects are actually desecrated. Beyond this chamber, he also reports that he senses undead in the same direction as that singular humanoid. However, none in this chamber.
Vittoria: “If there’s undead afoot, we should get ready for whatever we are about to face.”
Zap: “It troubles me. We haven’t seen many live trolls here.”
They discuss Zalazane’s potential strategy for a bit.
Gil asks Vel to make him invisible, but then stops and tells Tess to go and investigate given she now had the cloak to aid her as Vel’s resources were incredibly limited at this point.
Tess goes to the archway at the far left. Once again, there are more angling hallways, and at the end is an ornate statue. The creature is unlike anything she has seen before. It’s a strange winged serpent. It has the head of a lizard, but wide wings coming off to either side. Stone feathers jut out from its head, and two large scythes are held in its hands as its wings are spread out to either side.
There is an engraving in Zandali, and there is a spiral in a small basin at the foot of the door.
Tess goes and reports to the party, and Vel and Gil both go to examine it. This statue isn’t desecrated. They know it’s Hakkar.
The inscription says: “By the Blood of the First Enemy is the Door Closed.”
Vel comments that there is only one obvious answer, and then she slices her hand and drips some of her blood into the basin. The statue’s eyes light up with a red light.
There is another statue down the opposite hallway, also of Hakkar.
The inscription says: “By the Blood of the Second Enemy is the Door Locked.”
Vel says that is likely the humans, and Uther cuts open his hand and the eyes of the statue lights up.
The final hallway has the channels from the spiral continuing on, and there is an abrupt turn to the left. There is another statue in front of a door.
The inscription says: “By the Blood of Your Own is the Way Sealed.”
Everyone looks at Rai, and he cuts his hand. The eyes light up, the wings raise, and the statue sinks into the ground. The door then raises.
Uther drinks the potion of Hill Giant strength, and Vel uses her Scroll of Protection from Undead that she looted a while ago.
As they look into the room behind it, they don’t see any torches but the room is lit. The floor is made of hewn stone alternating between red and black. There are intricate patterns - spirals and other shapes - and divets that blood could flow through. As they look around, the walls are largely undecorated aside from inlaid carvings of Hakkar. However, to the south, there are two things.
An altar that is bathed in the aura of evil and desecration that Uther had discovered earlier. However, it is deeper and darker. On that altar is Arator. Clutched in Arator’s hands is an ovular stone. It is a smooth black with red dots. It looks kind of like an egg - a large egg.
He is very much unconscious.
Before him is a forest troll shaman. She is kneeling before the altar. Shadowy magic dancing with blood-colored energy is swirling around her hands.
As soon as the door opens, she stops and turns toward the group.
Shaman: “Greetin’s. He was wonderin’ how long it would be until ye came. He was so worried for ya, ye know. But don’t worry, I promised him I’d take good care of you. And who would I be if I lied to such an important piece of the grand design.”
The energy starts to course around her, and her skin starts to slough off. Her skeleton grows and expands, and breaking out of her back are massive boney wings. As her form shifts, a massive dragon-like serpent makes itself visible.
Tess immediately runs in and shoots at the creature, the bullet ricochets off the bone. It screeches. “YOU CANNOT STOP HIS ASCENSION.”
Zap also fires at the avatar with his gun. Hunks of bone break off as the shot connects. He is closely followed by Gil, who also fires off two quick rapid-fire attacks. It staggers backwards.
Rai blesses Tess, Zap, Gil, and Uther, and Vittoria starts to close the distance while maintaining a defensive stance.
The avatar flies up and lands between Uther, Zap, and Vittoria. It bites at Vittoria, but she is able to reflect the attack. Vel takes a step back and a ray of frost wraps crackles around its bones.
Uther strikes at the beast with a holy smite, and there is a look of rage on his face. With a guttural war cry, Uther raises his greatsword and a blinding light shoots through his blade. He impacts the wing, and the bones snap.
After he slices off the wing, Uther roars out: “IN THE NAME OF THE LIGHT I BANISH THEE!” And he severs the creature’s neck.
The bones break apart and shatter until all that is left is a mangled, skeleton of a troll.
As the fight concludes, the group rushes to Arator. The shadow energy dissipates.
Zap investigates the room.
Arator is still unconscious.. Uther and Gil begin to try and heal him.
The only other notable things Zap finds are some other sarcophagi in the other rooms. There are some phrases in Zandali, which are likely phrases.
However, as Uther and Gil try to heal Arator, their hands pass through his body. The image flickers and vanishes.
Where once was the body of Arator was a hand missing a ring finger and holding the black egg.
That’s when Zap sees an arm reaching out from one of the caskets. The arm itself is skeletal. Standing up from the sarcophagi is Zalazane.
Zalazane: “Ya see mon, thought you may want the rest to complete your collection. Though I gotta thank ya - not easy finding fresh human, elf, and troll blood all in one place mon. Especially if they are gonna be giving it willingly.”
He holds out a hand and the “egg” shoots to his hand.
Uther tries to bull rush him, and Gil tries to use silence, however, he just steps back and disappears into a grave and reappears.
Zalazane taunts them.
He mentions that the full moon is coming soon, and so is the feast. “Everyone is gonna be there.” He mentions that it’s best an old friend is the best valet to a new order. He then says he’ll be “Seeing ya.” and disappears through the grave.
And then three more hands come out from three separate sarcophagi. Two embalmed forest trolls, and a hand that is sickly blue. The embalmed corpse of a jungle troll.
Rai’s eyes widen.
Rai: “No. No dat can’t be, mon.”
It’s his father. Vol’jin.
The creature’s eyes flash, and they can all hear their hearts beat for a moment as the three mummies look at them.
Gil fires off into one of the mummies, and he manages to knock it over. Some of the embalming fluids start to leak out as it spills to the ground.
Rai takes a step backwards and hurls a flame at the mummy in the center - his father. As the fire hits, the mummy in the center doubles back, and locks its eyes on Rai.
Tess thrusts her rapier through the mummy Gil knocked over.
Vel twins a chromatic orb of blue fire. One towards Vol’jin, the other towards another mummy. “You shall be the first to pay. None can stop his ascension.” Vol’jin moans.
As Vel drains the cold from the air to hurl the icy fires, she almost seems to suck all of the heat from the air. As she does, she almost feels as if she blasted her own heat at the trolls. Her eyes shimmer with a glow, and everyone around her feels a chill. It doesn’t get warmer. Her hair flickers, and frost starts to kiss the tips of her hair.
Vol’jin points at Vel, and both of the other mummies start to shamble forward. One is unable to pass through her barrier, and instead attacks Tess. She dances around him, and knocks him prone again.
Zap: “Uther! Duck!”
And Zap throws a stick of dynamite between Vol’jin and one of the mummies.
However, as the blast goes off, Vol’jin vanishes in a swirling mist of sand. It whirls through the air, and reappears behind Vel.
The other mummy tries to claw at Vel, but is unable to break through her barrier, and it instead goes for Uther. Uther parries one blow, but it shifts its stance and catches Uther right in the jaw. It grabs onto his face. Uther drops immediately.
Meanwhile, Vol’jin passes right through Vel’s barrier and is able to strike against her, but she is able to duck out of the way. The mummy glares at her, and his eyes meet her’s. Her body is chilled to a degree.
Her body seizes up, and he grabs her by the throat and slams her to the ground. Vel’s body starts to rack a bit, and it looks as if life is getting drained from her.
Vittoria charges at Vol’jin, and she strikes the mummy. However, her sword clangs off of his flesh, and her eyes widen. Nonmagical weapons have no effect on Vol’jin.
Gil zephyr strikes over to Uther and uses Cure Wounds on him. As he does, Uther’s pulse is starting to return, but he is not quite stabilized.
Vittoria looks around in a panic, and her eyes fall on the greatsword Uther dropped. Vol’jin claws at her, but misses. However, as she swings back at Vol’jin, she misses again.
Tess thrusts her rapier into the mummy closest to her, however it still does not fall.
Zap quickly runs over and stabilizes Uther with his jumper cables. Uther’s eyes spring open, and the first things he sees are Gil and Zap.
Uther hurls a smite at the mummy closest to him as the holy energy licks around the undead creature.
The other mummy squares up with Tess and swings.The first strike hit, but the second rings true, and Tess staggers back. She feels herself transforming whether she likes it or not.
Her body grows and elongates as she shifts into her worgen form. Her eyes are wild and red.
The mummy swings at Uther, but fortunately both attacks miss. Rai rushes forward looking at Vel, and he does something stupid. He runs forward, drops down to his knees as he runs by the mummy, and the energy washes around him. The entire time he is looking at his father, and he manages to remove the curse from Vel.
However, Vol’jin swings and sends him sailing across the room - and he drops.
Vel fortunately passes her second death save. Gil runs to try and stabilize his sister, but in the process he is right next to worgen-Tess. Vol’jin swings at Vittoria, but he fortunately misses.
However, he strikes again as she tries to taunt him, and she drops.
Zap uses his discombobulation ray on one of the mummies. It fails.
Zap: “Uther! M’lord! I’m with ya all the way!”
The mummy steps away toward the other mummy, and Gil tosses Uther Arator’s sword. He grips it with both hands, and strikes at the mummy. It shambles toward its buddy, and smacks it - confused.
Uther holds out his hand and blasts a projectile of holy energy at Vol’jin. It connects, and he is illuminated by a holy light. As desperation grips Uther, he strikes at Vol’jin with Stalwart. His weapon bites into Vol’jin with the blade illuminating with holy fury. His body alights with holy fire.
Tess, meanwhile, as a worgen, claws at one of the mummies. It misses, and she then buries her fangs into the creature.
The mummy swings at Tess, but she grabs its hand and swings it into his friend. She continues to rip it apart.
Zap runs forward and uses his protoplazer on Vel. She feels the energy course through her, and she opens her eyes with a gasp.
The mummy swings in and drops worgen Tess. She drops, and transforms back.
Another mummy swings at Gil, but he round-house kicks the fist away. He puts an arrow in it, and it drops, and he runs at Rai is tries to heal him
Vel’s eyes open, and she immediately hurls a bright blue flame into Vol’jin’s face as she awakens. He staggers back, and then crumbles - but smashes into ice despite the fiery blow.
Uther swings his sword, and fells the final mummy in a conflagration of holy fire.
However, there are still lives to save. Zap works to stabilize Vittoria while Vel gets up and hurries to help her brother stabilize Rai. Gil does some chest compressions, and Rai’s eyes flicker open.
Rai (in Zandali): “Papa!”
He seems almost panicked as if awaking from a bad dream.
Uther tries to sabilize Vittoria as well.
Uther: “I don’t even know if you can hear me in this desolate place. I don’t care what you have to take from me, Light, please heal her.”
Vittoria’s eyes open with a large gasp to see Uther and Zap. She smiles.
Vittoria: “Uther. Are we…”
Uther: “It’s over. They’re gone.”
Vittoria: “Uther that… that sword o’ yers… it’s something else.”
She loses consciousness, but is still fine.
Rai looks at Gil with a look of “what do I do” but then rushes over to stabilize Tess with Vel’s help. Vel removes her jacket and puts it over Tess.
Rai surveys the situation, and then heals her further. She is conscious.
Now that everyone is safe, Rai walks to the dead body of Vol’jin. He just drops down to his knees and starts crying.
Vel follows him and gingerly attempts to comfort him, touching his back. He jumps. He tells her her hands are freezing. She turns away, but Rai asks her to stay. She stays. Eventually she does pat his back again and this time he doesn’t move.
Vittoria apologizes for taking Uther’s weapon, but he said that had she not he would likely not have been there to hear that apology. She also thanks Zap.
They try to figure out what to do next.
Uther: “I don’t know.”
Vittoria: “That bastard said the next full moon… that’s in what, the next two days?”
Uther: “And we don’t know where he is.”
Vittoria: “How are we gonna find him in two bloody days?”
Zap: “Well, he was popping out of sarcophogi this time. Lets check those.”
The sarcophogi are still crackling with faint magical energy. There is a lot more of the gravestriding magic here than previously. He calls for Vel, and she may be able to piece together the remnants of the spell.
Rai offers to help Vel, and he suggested that Arator’s hand may be of use.
Vel does her best working with Rai. It takes a bit. Several hours.
Gil says there are still trolls around, and they decide to set up a perimeter. Hopefully that would stave off an ambush.
Tess asks if she hurt anyone, and Gil just says she hit a mummy and they knocked her out. Uther spends the entire time in prayer. There is some half-hearted banter between Gil and Zap.
Zap asks if Alleria taught Gil that round-house kick by using it on him, and he confirms it. Zap suddenly respects elves more.
After about eight hours, Vel is able to crack what she can of the spell (with Rai’s input). She feels rather tuckered out by the end of it. She gets a small amount of sleep. Fatigue starts to set in. However, she is as finished as she is going to get, and she alerts the party.
She is pretty sure she can call for reinforcements once they arrive and know where they are at.
Uther gives them a small speech, and expresses that there is no one else he would rather have at his side than his friends. He gives Vel the all-clear.
Vel casts the spell, and the necrotic energies twist around them. The etchings on the tablet burn away as she feels the sarcophogus itself start to shift and twist around them. The energy starts to almost overwhelm her as she hears the scratching of claws trying to escape their grave. The heat of the area gets drawn away, and then suddenly it’s over.
Vittoria: “Now is our time. If we’re going to get through this, we need to go now.”
Uther gives them all a smile. “See you all on the other side.” He steps through.
Vittoria: “For Azeroth!”
Zap: “Well, one more step toward Uther’s coronation - and one more step away from my ex-wife.”
Rai gives a solemn glance back at the body of his father, and he mutters a small prayer in Zandali before he steps through.
Gil waits until it is just him and his sister.
Gil: “Vel. We’re going to find Arator and crush Zalazane’s skull under our boot.”
He steps through, and Vel follows with a faint smirk.
The ground is twisted and corrupted on the other side. Bodies are everywhere. Troll. Human. Elf. It’s like a mass grave. The air is humid, but it has an otherworldly chill about it. They see desiccated, palm-less trees, but they are very distinct.
Gil knows exactly where they are. There is broken down architecture - trollish in nature. Everything is seen through scars of battle. Ancient and far older. He remembers the stories his father told them - the stories of the troll wars. As he looks around, it’s obvious that they are in Zul’Gurub - the ruins where the final battle of the Second Troll Wars happened 20 years ago.
