Chapter 2 - Session 12

Waking up with the rain now pouring and anxious feelings lingering in the air. Fryn pulls Benjamin in with a possible plan to deal with the orc General. A plot to strip him of his power. The road leading up to the log spiked fence of Outpost Veil is just up the hill where their target lies.

The approach was quiet, using the beats of the rain to mask their movements. Steps away from the entrance a goblins perform a checkout with the guard post. After the all clear they board upon a heavily packed sled and slide down the hill towards the southern desert. The way is clear, time to step into enemy territory.

Rows of infantry tents fill their line of sight. Winding their way through the encampment, a set of canopies stand out from the almost endless sea of identical coverings. Here is where the true colors of the orcs are found. A warfare room filled with battle maps and plans. The second, a place of torture with a gruesome scene on display. The final is the home of General Hackhand who hides piles of dismembered bodies behind the tarp dwelling.

These horrifying images fuel their resolve, now is the time to fight. At the precipice of the ridge, the place where the Golden Dragon weapon threw fire and flames that melted Trisfal, Orc General Dumag Hackhand stands along the edge. His massive boot splashes the thick mud, he turns to face the group. Great axe in hand and the Everburn Bracers on his wrist. Dumag moves through the rain with incredible force, attacking with ferocity unmatched.

Fryn steps in to enact her plan. Cast Bane, then Command. Fryn's arm outstretched as she begins her spell. Dumag turns towards the cleric marking his target, the spell having no effect. Nite and Vlaliskia focus their efforts on dismantling the fire breathing weapon. Climbing up the wooden structure reveals the exposed beating heart of the Golden Dragon. Through claws and steel the heart continues pulsing. Dumag ignites the Everburn Bracers. The artifact grants the orc power from the god Moradin himself. With increasing fury the hulking green skinned combatant lays waste to his foes. Diana is immolated and collapses into soaked earth. Fyrn is thrown airborne and slides to the ledge where she hangs by her mere finger tips, Benjamin falls under the crimson soaked blade of Dumag's axe.

Yowtrude's breath becomes shallow, her and Braum are petrified. Nite uses every bit of her strength to bring Diana back. Her efforts are in vain as the liquid from her healing potion dribbles out from Diana's mouth. Nite's heart now engulfed in anger, her blade lashing out hoping to catch flesh. 

The mighty bear Bram shakes the terror that once gripped him. With his muscular jaws Braum bites down onto Dumag's arm, eventually severing the limb that had the Everburn Bracer. Fyrn recovers from the ledge and swiftly moves back in. Purple smoke begins to emanate from Dumag's weapon, with a guttural scream he aims to finish what he has started. The crashing of steel against armor, the rending of muscle, the chaos of battle all comes to a close. Nothing is left but the drops of rain, a sanguine hue left in the ground, and Dumag Hackhand standing victorious.

Our journey is not over.

Fyrn finds herself surrounded by the fires of Moradin's forge. The snap of a forger's hammer striking an anvil rings in her ears. A flash in her vision then brings her back to the battlefield. Her companions lay dead, the chills of water hitting her face, a trail of blood leading off deeper into the outpost, Dumag's blood. In the corner of her eye she spots a green severed arm where the golden fire of Moradin rests. She dons the Everburn Bracer and receives instructions by the goddess Maliclaine to use the dragon weapon one more time, with the power of the bracer to exterminate the orc invaders from within the now ruined city of Trisfal.

Nite’s eyes slowly open to find herself and the rest of her crew on top of a crested hill. No tents surrounding them, no screams from bloodshed, just a soft breeze passing her face. A pale yellow sky hovers over them as everyone slowly awakens and finds themselves in an eerie and unfamiliar land.