[Closed RP] Saving Gunslinger Thor

[dangelo37]

"Deathstalkers! Attack!" The senior Forsaken yelled out and the battle had begun. Oliver was in a state of shock. He had seen battle before, but only recently. The Frosaken troops were skillfully trained and were holding their ground quite well. After the initial shock Oliver got ahold of himself. "Walker? We are not mere walkers risen from the grave. We are Forsaken!" He reached into his satchel and pulled out a greenish-blue potion and quickly downed the vial. In mere moments he grew almost three times his size in height and in strength.

Oliver grabbed a nearby tentpole and began swinging it like a madman at the human contingent, laughing maniacally the whole time. "Hooahahhha!! You should have eaten the raptor meat! Your deaths here will be much more painful. Hahahhaha!!!" Oliver clipped the side of one of the humans and he went flying through the air, landing in a heap 30 paces away.
*GUNSHOT!*
One of the humans began firing a rifle at the Forsaken and caught one off guard. The shot took off part of his rotted, right shoulder. They were quickly being surrounded when the one that had originally spoken came forward again.

"Walker is right. You're just a mindless heap of bones walking around my lands. My name is Cullen and you'd do well to remember it." "You think that you're going to win this fight? HAhahah... You have idea who you are dealing with do you?" Oliver began to panic now. He had no plan after this. He thought this would have been an easy win but the humans were proving to be much more resourceful than he gave them credit for. Oliver could see in the men's eyes though that they were beginning to fear the Forsaken here. Maybe if I push my bluff a little more... "You thought you could spark a war here in Arathi with a tunnel explosion? We've known about this operation for some time now. My team and I were sent specifically to deal with you. We're having fun here!" Oliver smashed a crate with the pole. The men began to back off a bit. If I can get us out from being surrounded we can win this yet. Oliver began to cackle loudly. The Deathstalkers finally realized what was happening and joined in. The men were frozen in terror. Whispers went around, "Is this for real?" "I don't want to die like this." "What are they planning for us?"

The men regrouped around Cullen who began yelling at his subordinates, "You damned fools! What can four Walkers do to us? We outnumber and outgun them!" The fear was instilled in them though. All of a sudden, the senior Deathstalker grabbed his sword and shield and yelled at the top of his lungs. The others reacted in the same way and the assault had begun anew. Oliver smiled in anticipation. He dropped the tentpole and picked up a spear that was on the ground. With his free hand he reached into his satchel and withdrew a vial with a brown liquid inside. He drank the contents and then grabbed his leather pouch he kept near to his chest. The pouch glowed a bright blue and the potion began to take affect. His skin became hard as rock... impenetrable. Combined with his increased size and strength he ran straight into the center of the fight like an unstoppable Hulk. "Let us finish this!"

[The Madgod]

"Agreed." said the younger shaman, as they entered the cave. As they walked deeper and deeper into the earth, Drakgul began to rhythmically breathe. In. And out. In. And out. Though it was not part of any ritual, controlled breathing was a useful technique his master had taught him as a part of meditation; a way to calm the mind and be better attuned to the elements.

They were walking for a couple minutes when they heard a slight shuffling around a bend. Looks like they were about to have some company.

[Mengucekli]

Cullen ordered his men to flank the forsaken troops "Go through right and left! Surround them! Surround that monstrosity! Bring some ropes here!" and watched as his men do as he commanded. Meanwhile he turned to his second-in-command and gestured him. Masked man saluted and ran hastily towards the tunnel entrance, to bring forth the fuse so it could be ignited. "We do not need a full explosion, a partial cave-in is enough! Their corpses will be just what we need as proof! Kill them all!" he yelled as he skillfully parried a blow from Oliver's spear. "Hah! Pathetic walker! You need something better than that to beat me!" he taunted as Oliver grew more angry in his gigantic form. Soon, his second-in-command returned, dragging a long cable of fuse behind him. "Here sir, shall i ignite?" he asked as Oliver was engaging Cullen on an all-out assault: It was now or never. Two of his men on his right, and two other on the left, Oliver charged forward to see his enemy brought down, and his forsaken team made sure he was not tied down by ropes from the flanks or rear. They shielded him with themselves, cutting down any rope that was aimed at the hulking abomination Oliver was, and they threw themselves at any blunt strike againts him.

------*********--------*********-------

"You no enter cave!" a shrieking shout echoed through the cave, and a dim light appeared at a dark corner. Before the shamans could understand what was going on, bolts of frost started flying in the air towards them. A group of kobolds with flaring eyes and devout fervour jumped over from walls and holes around them, to quickly swarm the shamans and strike them down.

[The Madgod]

They were surrounded. Well, that wasn't really much a problem. These vermin would soon feel the wrath of the elements. Unstrapping his axe, a beautifully simple tool forged of adamantite in the old ways, the shaman gave a quick prayer to the spirit of fire.

"Spirit of fire, I humbly ask of you to bless my blade once more, so that I might pass by these creatures. The Elements cry in anguish, and I must reach the deepest part of the cavern to do my work."

"Little shaman, I grant your request." responded the spirit, and the blade of Drakgul's axe glowed bright as fire burst into being on its edge.

The orc smiled, pleased with his success. With an ear-piercing war-cry, he launched himself into battle.

[Khorianas]

The old shaman was surprised at first, but then he quickly grabbed his brass knuckles out of his bag, and prayed to the spirits. "Spirit of Air, hear the plea of your humble servant. I am investigating an unrest in brother earth, but these kobolds stand in my way, and a battle seems unavoidable. Grant me your boon so I can fulfil my task."
As Garom finshed his plea, he felt a slight breeze of air under his arms, and they seemed lighter. The shaman smiled slightly as he saw a gust of wind playing with his braids. Then the old shaman leaped at one of the kobolds, swifter than his age would allow to deliver a massive blow to the chest.

[The Madgod]

((Guess you won't be in control of the kobolds then, Meng, considering the lull?))

Drakgul took a running jump into a pack of kolbolds, bringing his axe down on one to carve a massive gash from the base of the neck down to the last two ribs. The wound spat blood for but a moment, until the wound was cauterized by the flames of the axe. Regardless, as the orc quickly wrenched his weapon from the body to quickly swing and catch another kobold in the head, it fell to the stone floor, lifeless.

The kobold were more cautious now. The orc fought with great inner fire as well as true fire. They were frightened of him, and though they were able to catch him with some of their weapons, it did little to stop the shaman, for he simply took a quick break when he had breathing room to hold his axe to the cuts and stop their bleeding, quick to rejoin the fight.

[Mengucekli]

(( Wreak havoc, i'll intervene if need be. As i do not know what you aim to learn by communing with the site, i will watch for a while. Waiting for dangelo to finish up the tunnel act, i'll move the story a bit after that. ))

[dangelo37]

((I'm still here. Just letting them catch up a bit.)

The Death Stalkers did not allow their group to be surrounded. They had been trained in combat tactics and had survived many battles themselves. Oliver was not a stranger to the principles of combat but did not have as much practice at it. They Death Stalkers threw themselves at attempts to pin down the giant Alchemist. Their were five humans left and one of them had brought with them the ignition for the explosives. "You've lost scum. This will start a war you Walkers and that banshee bitch will not recover from. Arathi will belong to it's rightful owners!" One of the Forsaken shot a bolt from his crossbow at the device and forced Cullen to drop it. "Good job. Now don't let him get it back." The Death Stalker Sergeant parried another blow intended for Oliver and threw a concealed dagger at man on the right.

Everyone stopped for a moment and stared at the controller on the ground. Immediately, everyone reacted in the same fashion and dove for it... everyone except the Forsaken Sergeant. He circled wide out of the group and headed into the mine. Weapons were all but forgotten as everyone grabbed at the ground hoping to find the device. One of the men grabbed it and cried out in joy. Oliver immediately tugged at the man's arm, ripping it right off his shoulder, "Thanks for the hand! HAHAhahahaha!!!!" The device flew through the air and landed with a thud against a nearby rock. The groups focused again on fighting each other. Swords clashed and shields blocked. The Forsaken were gaining the upper hand.

Cullen slinked out of sight for a moment and suddenly appeared again with the controller in hand. "I've done it! Today will be the first in many victories for The Syndicate!" The Forsaken watched in horror as Cullen pressed the button. The men ducked for cover expecting a large blast to come from the cave. Instead, the explosion came from their own caravan parked just outside. "NOOO!!!!" "What in samhill just happened? Where did you put those explosives men?" "They were inside boss. I promise!"

Out from the cave, the Forsaken Sergeant strode whistling a happy tune. He had disabled all but one of the charges and moved the remaining one. The Death Stalkers all laughed out loud and quickly overtook the Syndicate members. Oliver's growth potion finally wore out and he returned to his normal size. He glared over at Cullen who was on his knees with Forsaken swords at his throat. "Please... I'll.. I'll surrender! You want information? I've got dates, names, locations, whatever you need. Please don't kill me. I'm more valuable alive!" The Death Stalkers glanced at Oliver awaiting his command. "Sergeant. What are your orders concerning prisoners?" "Prisoners? What are those?" The Forsaken Sergeant unsheathed his cutlass and buried into the screaming throat of the man once known as Cullen. "I like you Sergeant. I'm promoting you to Captain. And I'll be whatever is above that. We'll wait here for Galen's message. In the mean time let's search the cave a bit."

[Mengucekli]

Soldiers laughed at Oliver's self promotion, and Sergeant saluted him with a smile "By your orders, Major!".

As the forsaken troops burned the evidence, and dispersed the explosives, Prince Galen descended down at the tunnel entrance atop a giant bat. "I'm glad you succeeded. It seems i was not wrong about you after all." he told Oliver, without dismounting his bat. "What now?" asked Oliver with a monotonous voice. "I'll grab that human commander you slain and i will make sure that he will be raised to undeath. His knowledge will be invaluable for our cause.." he pointed at two of the soldiers, and they placed the body on his bat's back. "And as for you, i am afraid we can not afford any more bats at the moment. I could barely slip past their rifleman while flying here. A huge contingent of Syndicate forces are converging on this location at the moment." he replied with a grim tone. Men were shocked and they looked at each other with questioning eyes. "As far as i could see, they are coming from west and south. I would advise moving towards east, and retreating to Hammerfall. Take the ridge north of Dabyrie Farmstead to sneak past from above, it is highly populated with Alliance farmers and guards and any direct engagement would be suicide. From there, you should be able to reach the old stone cairn that is located just west of Hammerfall without much of a problem. It is a long walk so you better get your legs working, if you know what is good for you." Galen explained. Oliver was surprised to see Galen in such a hurry, almost rushing or more like panicking, instead of coming with the reinforcements he promised he would bring. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked but Galen was in no mood to talk further, "You have your orders Alchemist, if you want to stay alive, follow them." then he stood there for a moment and thought They have no idea what kind of a beehive they have just stirred. then he ordered the giant beast to move. With a few wing flaps the bat took off and carried its master and the dead body of Cullen towards the darkening sky.

Sergeant spat on the ground with his half decayed chin "To the hell with this! Where is our support? What do we do now?". Oliver turned back at the handful of men and said "You heard the man. Let's get the hell out of here.".

(( Ok now if you follow the path, you should stumble upon the Ralof's group at the cairn that are conducting the ritual. Make your entry as you see fit. ))


****************---**

As kobolds slowly realised that the younger orc was too much for them to handle, they started focusing on the older one. In an instant they swarmed him, striking from all directions, and meanwhile their surveyors tried to pin the younger shaman with frost bolts.

[Mengucekli]

(( Almost 10 days since anyone posted. Are you guys okay? ))

[The Madgod]

((Well I'm waiting on Khor. Looks like he went AWOL.))

[Mengucekli]

(( I believe it is time that i take matters in my hands. ))

After a few hours of walk, and careful sneaking past the crowded farm house, group of forsaken troops reached the vicinity of the stone carin that was called 'Circle of Eastern Binding'. No one uttered a single word in the group, like they were all muted at the same time. Thoughts of being chased fell heavily to the minds of even most careless ones, and Oliver was no exception. Soldiers knew few about what they were told to do, as expected from a typical soldier, but the Alchemist was no mere soldier. He was there, trying to clear his name of those accusations about 'treason', but things seemed to be far more complicated then he first anticipated when this mission was offered. Thoughts littered his mind as he walked after the first scout, then suddenly the entire group came to an halt at the mark. They were a few steps away from the stone cairns and the ground was covered with destroyed elemental rock pieces. There was a strange glow just ahead, but high bushes obscured their view. Sergeant knelt right next to Oliver and asked with a hushing voice "What do we do Captain?". Oliver looked around, he was not the sort of guy to lead a military group. He was a scholar, used to work in laboratories and desks, not in open environment that needed certain tactical skills. He cursed Galen for sending him in such a situation, then ordered the men to form up a line and advance slowly, carefully.

A few moments later as they moved few meters away, a man shouted "Forsaken scum! To arms!". Their scout turned at the contingent and yelled "Alliance rascals!". All of a sudden the group of Cornwall man-at-arms was stationed right in front of Oliver's group. They were equal in numbers and hatred. Oliver looked at the adversary and said "We need to reach Hammerfall, and if that means we have to get past you, we will. Nothing can stop us." then laughed hysterically. Faolan growled at the over-confident forsaken and yelled "You will not get past us, forsaken scum! True sons of Arathor never back down!", swords drawn. Suddenly, Milly jumped in the frame, her two handed axe glowing with holy wrath, and yelled "And who ever comes close to-" but suddenly she realized that she knew Oliver. Groups were right about to clash at each other but Milly shouted "Hey! Wait a moment! I know him!" pointing at the Alchemist. Oliver looked at her and remembered the moment she pleaded for a health poultice for Ralof. "Oh, it's such a small world." he giggled at the occasion, then immediately realised that this group of people had something to do with Ralof.. "Then he must be closeby.." he thought and looking past Faolan, he saw him: Under a glowing object, there lied Ralof, the Wyrmslayer. The druid from before was also there, concentrated on what seemed to be a kind of ritual. He was confused, what the hell are they doing here?. Milly pleaded Faolan "Please Sir Ignaeus, he saved your brother's life. He was the one that gave me the poultice. He is also with Argent Crusade-" but Faolan objected "Can't you see Lady Gladwyn? He is with the Forsaken, doing Light-knows-what at such an hour in darkness. No agent of Argent's would be in league with Dark Lady's troops. He must have fooled you, maybe even poisoned my brother with his foul gift!". He was ready to strike them down but Mildred insisted that they stayed their hands. Oliver was upset at the baseless accusations "I did nothing but help your brother, human. On the other hand, quite contrarily, he is the reason i am here, being chased by bandits and what-not..". Tension rose between them, and Mildred felt that something unwanted may broke any moment when...

"Sir Cornwall, are you alright- What the?! Forsaken scum! Men, to arms!" Radulf Leder shouted, with a contingent of riders from Refugee Pointe on tow. It was obvious that Captain Nials told them about the situation and they wanted to check on them, but things seemed even more complicated now. Milly facepalmed as she saw them drawing their swords and preparing to charge Oliver's band. But right before they could do anything, a shrieking, disturbing female voice filled the air "Ah, what a nice view! And there i was standing, not believing the scouts report of a group of humans at this bunch of old rocks. Why would anyone be interested in them, i asked.. Does not matter now, does it? Defilers! In formation!" The Black Bride yelled, with a group of elite Defilers troops behind her. Leder turned his attention towards the Defilers that entered the frame, and yelled "Those are sacred sites, you scum! Shut your vulgar mouth or i'll rip your chin out!". "Why don't you try lapdog? So i can color those dull stones with your blood!" she answered, holding the veins of her dead charger tightly, ready to charge any moment.

Mildred was stunned at the fact that this was going to end in a bloodshed.. For a simple ritual, half of the Arathi were about to grab each other's throat in a moment, and there was nothing she could do about it. She was worried that the conflict may interrupt the ritual, which was their only hope of saving Ralof. She tried to reason with them, but old hatred seemed to run deep in them and no body would listen. Meanwhile, Teledor began to feel a dark energy rising from the ground. It felt flickering first, then grew stronger by each passing moment, and reached at the climate as Faolan shouted "What are you waiting for? For Arathi! For Cornwall!" and rushed towards the Forsaken sergeant. Battle cries filled the site and horses galloped at each other, riders for riders, soldiers for soldiers, and steel clashed, shields shattered.. Mildred positioned herself behind Teledor in a defensive stance, she was going to protect him at all costs. All of a sudden, Teledor broke off from his meditation and fell behind, tossing at Mildred. "No! That can't happen! I should have- Watch out!" he yelled as he hugged Mildred from behind, jumping towards a stone block. Dark tendrils erupted from ground and foul magic filled the air. Fighting men stopped all of a sudden, in a shock they looked at the floating body of Ralof. It raised from the ground and dark tendrils impaled his body, little seed glowed ever brightly with a green glow then exploded into tiny pieces.. An evil cackle could be heard, then a booming voice covered the site "Ah! At last! Thank you, little ones, for this body! Ever since that band of fools destroyed my old self, i was plotting for a way to get out! Thank you, i will grant you a swift death for this!" then a huge roar echoed through the cairns "DIE!". "Fend for yourselves!" cried one of the men as Ralof's body grew bigger and bigger, then started smashing around. Teledor and Mildred watched with terrified eyes, as Teledor thought "What have i done?". "Hmm, i can feel it, this is your brother? I will kill him fast, mortal, don't worry.." what seemed to be a monologue transpired, but Teledor understood that it was actually talking to Ralof's subconcious. A smash came, breaking some stone pillars, and Faolan merely could escape the deadly blow. Another smash landed on the contingent of death stalkers, unfortunate troopers from Oliver's band were either squashed or sent flying towards a stone formation, crashing their bones. Sergeant jumped and saved Oliver from a swing. Terrified horsemen from both factions rode away, retreating back to their base's safety.

After trashing and crushing for a few minutes, giant moved towards east, yelling "I will kill those vermins!". Survivors gathered at the center of the circle. From his group, only Oliver and Sergeant made it out alive. Faolan had two man-at-arms with him, two others were wounded and one was completely smashed. There was a dead rider from each party, lying under their horses. Teledor and Mildred crawled out of the stone pieces. "What the hell was that? What happened to my brother?!" yelled Faolan at Teledor. He bowed his head, answering "I.. I do not know. There was something wrong about this site, i just don't know.." he murmured in a bitter tone. "What are we going to do now?" asked Faolan, almost crying. Mildred just stood there, and in total shock, looked at the direction it went.

(( So sorry for the wall of text, but it was meant to be split in between a few posts from you guys. It may feel like i pushed things up a bit but i had to get this thing going. ))

[dangelo37]

((Meng, check your inbox ))

Oliver couldn't believe all that had happened. He took a moment to absorb it all in. Arrested for treason. Recruited for a last chance at proving innocence. Leading a party of seasoned Death Stalkers into successful battles. Seeing the man who made his life miserable. Seeing that same man turn into some kind of giant.

Now, only he and the Sergeant were left from their original group. New soldiers could be recruited at any time, but these were Death Stalkers. They were the elite of the Forsaken. The developments were very interesting to Oliver. He reached into his satchel and jotted a few notes down: Size of the Giant, Direction it was going in, everything it had said, and apparent battle prowess. Oliver did a few calculations in his head and realized that there were no conceivable ways to put this thing down. It had to be done though.

He turned towards the Paladin he recognized from before, "You, Paladin. What in the world did you do to Wyrmslayer? I only gave you a chance at giving him back his life so I could take it myself." Oliver immediately recognized the rage growing in the man called Faolan. A relative? In any case they were outnumbered and in no position to fight these Alliance. That's when Oliver came up with a plan. He gave a quick glance at Sergeant to follow along and he put his hands out in front of him apologetically. "I did not mean what I said. We have been dealing with a common enemy and we have lost a few in our party already. Wyrmslayer has caused me great personal pain, but I am willing to put it all behind me. He saved my ass in Lordaeron on more than one occasion. Let us go together and follow the giant. He mentioned vermin. There is a cave east of Hammerfell that has vermin that live there seasonally. It's got to be where he is headed. If you wish to save his life, then we must do this as a team." Then, when this all gets sorted out I'll finally get my revenge.

Oliver kept his hollow eyes locked on the Paladin. She was the only connection to their group other than Thor and Oliver's only chance to live. She would have to convince Faolan to stand down.

[Mengucekli]

"That's it! I'm going to gut that thing!" yelled Faolan at Oliver's careless statements, and his men readied their swords to engage the forsaken. But Milly raised her hand as a gesture to stop them. "Hold your blades, there is no need for unnecessary bloodshed." she told, then they listened to Oliver's reasons. Faolan relaxed a bit after his speech and sheated his blade. After listening to Oliver, Milly agreed "I agree with you Alchemist, that we need to give chase to whatever Sir Thoradin has become. We caused this mess and it is our honorable duty to put an end to all this.". Faolan raised his voice again "What do you mean by putting an end to this? We are talking about my brother here! No one is doing any harm to him, not unless i have a say in it!". Milly turned towards Faolan with furious eyes "Do you think i would agree with anything that involves harming him? He saved me from certain death. Honor compels me to put even my own life in line to save such an individual. Yet, he may not be who he was, anymore.". Teledor objected "That may not be totally true. I believe i heard whatever the thing that possessed him speak to itself, probably with Ralof. He must still be in there somewhere. Although we can not be sure, that is the only chance of saving Ralof from that situation, so we better hope for it..". He gave an hesitating look at the Alchemist and added "So i agree with the forsaken. We must follow him. And we must find someone specialised in elements and spirits. It seems like we have awakened something we could not understand, maybe if we can find someone who can tell us something about it we may find a solution.". Faolan was nowhere near 'convinced', but he felt that he had to comply. "We still need to get past Hammerfall, and i don't think they will just let us walk by." said Mildred, pointing at her colorful Stormwind Tabard, but Teledor did not like the idea of loitering "We must make haste. We will figure out how to get past the Hammerfall when we reach there.".

Faolan ordered the men to drag the wounded towards Refugee Pointe for medical attention, and gathered his remaining two men-at-arms with him. As they started marching east, he slowly came close to Milly and whispered "I still don't see why we bring those forsaken with us. I don't trust them, i don't see how they will help us in anyway, and i don't like the idea of having him anywhere near my brother.". Milly looked at him and said "I agree with you. I am a Paladin of Stormwind, and i serve his majesty the King above else. Duty dictates me to engage them with lethal intent. But he seems to have a past with your brother, and he is an Alchemist. He may yet prove useful for our quest. Also, i do not think his real intentions are lying in Ralof's death. If it would be so, he would not give me that poultice back in Tyr's Hand. He had nothing to force him to do so, yet he did it. Keep that in mind that if your brother is still alive, that is because of him. Try to set aside your prejudices and tag along. We shall see how this all ends.". Faolan was relieved to hear that their opinions were not so different after all.

[Khorianas]

While Garoms fists crushed the first Kobold's ribcage, He felt like something happened. But he could not really point a finger towards it. The energies of the elements felt somewhat empty. The old shaman was snapped out of his contemplations as the kobolds started swarming him. He made a quick step over the one he just sent down to get a bit of distance between him and the attackers. As another one attacked, jumping over the body of his comrade, the shaman swiftly sent him down with a series of quick jabs.

[The Madgod]

The fighting lasted little longer. The two orcs were too powerful for the kobolds. After the vermin had retreated, Drakgul placed his axe on his back and began to take long breaths. The fighting, while fairly easy, had kindled his inner fire. It would not do to be riled in the face of the elements. Calm was key to communing with the spirits.

The pair eventually made their way to the deepest end of the cavern. "Well," said Drakgul, "it looks like we're here."

((Sorry Meng for kinda taking over there, thought that you'd like it if we went forward))

[Mengucekli]

(( It is totally okay ))

"I will be your DOOM!" a hoarse sound echoed through the cavern..

"YOUR DOOM!" for the second time the echo came, now stronger and much clearer..

"I have come to get rid of your pesky kind! You lizard lapdogs! You pests!" the voice yelled once more, and the light that entered from the cave mouth dimmed, something was shadowing the entrance.. And it was filled with hatred and rage. Some crashing sounds came through the cavern and ground trembled as the giant moved in clumsily, destroying tighter parts of the ceiling and moving at a slow pace, proceeding towards the depths of the cave. Shamans heard the sounds it made and a chill rolled down their spines. All of the kobolds surged out of their hiding places and rushed for the entrance, ignoring the two shamans, to devoutly engage their ancient enemy.

Realization stroke the duo: They were trapped in that cave, with a furious giant coming their way.

(( Ok guys, you may try to avoid confrontration with him and use the side tunnels/passages to sneak past, or take your chances and face him to fight back, but do not expect any benefiting outcome from fighting. Eventually you are supposed to get out of the cave and cause a cave-in at the entrance, leaving Ralof temporarily trapped in there. You may use your ability to commune the elements to cause that or any other way you see fitting. Good luck. ))

[Mengucekli]

(( Guys, please, i am putting a tremendous amount of effort into this so it can work out, but i can not do everything all by myself. If you are too busy to continue, let me know, if you are absent, then leave a comment in the absence thread so i can know. I can just round this up if you lost your interest or do not want to continue for whatever reasons you may have. I'm still here. ))

[dangelo37]

((Been gone for a bit. Let's get this going again!))

Oliver listened intently to the man named Faolan argue with Milly. I will help them as far as I see fit to help my own ends... but the time will come. "Well my new close friends, we need to get past Hammerfell. Our supreme overlord Garrosh has placed many Orc guards there in recent times and they will not simply let you past... they may even kill me if they think they can get away with it. We need to sneak past without getting noticed. I have just the way to do that too..." Oliver dropped his satchel to the ground and brought out three small vials all with a blueish liquid inside.

Oliver grinned from ear to ear and said, "These will ensure we get past without being seen. Since there are so many of us there will be some limitations so listen carefully." Oliver explained that the only way to share three potions with such a large group would be to breathe the poultice in rather than drink. It would react faster but at the cost of having a shorter duration. "I have added a few special ingredients to all of my potions to have this ability, but only my stone can activate the properties. We will have 10 minutes to get the far east side and hide among the rocky outcroppings. Elf, you will need to be a bird and keep an eye on us from above. Give us the signal when the coast is clear. Everyone else gather closely together. We're only gonna have one attempt as these are my last three bottles."

There was much disagreement among the alliance members but Milly ultimately calmed them down and convinced them it was the best... well ONLY choice they had.

A wicked grin appeared across Oliver's mouth as he thought about what he could do now... all of his enemies were gathered into one spot and were ready to inhale whatever he decided to throw at them. There was a new plague he had been working on before his incarceration that needed testing done.... Flashbacks came to him all of a sudden. He remembered being branded a traitor, thrown into prison, put on death row... He needed these people to get close to Wyrmslayer. He had to make them believe he wanted to help.

Oliver gripped the leather pouch that hung around his neck closely and a flash of blue light exploded from it. The bottles in his opposite hand began to bubble and roil. Oliver tossed the bottles at the party's feet. The liquid splashed onto the ground and almost instantly became gaseous. In unison, everyone inhaled. Oliver quickly gave everyone a length of a long rope he had prepared. "Don't drop this or you could end up lost.." In a manner of seconds everyone had become completely invisible. The Sergeant Death Guard led the group knowing the area the best.

The druid did an aerial backflip and the party began to move towards the mountains. They were able to move safely past Hammerfell and barely made it to the rocks before the potion began to wear off. "That was amazing! We made it here alive! Now we must find Sir Thoradin." As the group moved east, Oliver was quiet with his own thoughts. What were they going to do when the found the giant? Faolan and Milly had already decided to not kill the monster. That was good though... Oliver wanted that pleasure for himself...

[Mengucekli]

Nimar moved his hand closely to the scars on his long face. He growled with fury as his hand found the blade mark. The old witch doctor came through the door of the tent he was in, and said "It be de time.". Nimar's face was covered with an evilish grin the moment he heard the words. "Finally.." he murmured, then turned over to the head hunter who was standing right next to him and shouted "Begin de attack! Burn dem all!". Nimar the Slayer and his warband of Witherbark trolls began their march towards Hammerfall, where they occasionally sought the destruction of their old enemies, the new Horde. But this time was different, scouts reported of a great giant striking the palisades of Hammerfall momentarily, destroying it at two locations and damaging some buildings as it passed. Zalas Witherbark, the other warband leader of their primitive troll community, nearly killed the scouts for lying. What they told was unbelievable, but Nimar sought for an oppurtunity for a while already. He considered the event as a sign of gratitude from their Loa, whom they worshipped without a question. There would be a time that he would also settle his grudge with Zalas, but that was not the time.. Not yet.. If only they could breach the walls of Hammerfall and slaughter them all green skinned orcs and walking corpses.. Then his leadership would have been unquestionable. He brought the matter to the witch doctor to decide, who gave permission to strike, despite Zalas' objections. Now, to reach his goals and his dreams, Nimar lead his warband to the walls where they would exploit the damage the giant caused, with deadly cunning and brute strenght.

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The group of adventureres reached the cave entrance, where they faced a wall of rocks that blocked the passage. A thumping sound came from the otherside. "I wonder who or what caused the cave in." said Teledor with a concerned voice. "It matters not. The important thing is that he seems to be trapped in there." said Milly. Faolan said "It seems like he is trapped in there, but i don't think that formation of rocks can hold out for too long. Anyway, that will definitely buy us some time to solve the problem that caused this mess. I hope my brother does not die because of strangulation in there.". Teledor replied "I doubt that is the only entrance to the cave, it sure would have ventilation of sorts. In any way, considering his brute force, he will find a way out long before the air in that cave expires. We need to think of a solution now.". Suddenly party's attention moved elsewhere as forsaken sergeant called at them "Hey! There is something here!". Group rushed there. It was the upper half of a kobold. It was trapped under the falling rocks. "Misfortunate." said Milly, looking at the poor creature with pity. "It seems to be still alive." said Teledor as he crouched down near the body and moved his elven ears closely. Vermin hoovered his head and looked around him, then mumbled something. "Hush! It speaks! Says something!" said Teledor with excitement. Silence fell on the group in an instant and everyone held their breath. Teledor moved closer, and could hear only hissing. Then, he understood some words "Enemy.. Find.. Fozruk..". It then squeked and died. "Who is Fozruk?" he rose up, sounding that question. Everybody looked at each other, like they had no clue. But Faolan broke the silence "I know that will sound stupid but.. I think i know him.". Teledor was impatient "Speak then!". Faolan felt a bit shy, hesitated for a moment, then shared his knowledge "When i was but a boy, i ran away to the wilderness with two others. We saw some raptors, huge spiders and other creatures of the plains. Then, atop a rocky formation, a giant stood. My friends told me 'Look! That is Fozruk!'. We threw some stones at it, but it did not move. It seems like it was an earth giant, roaming the highlands with a couple of kobolds. I did not know this by then. We heard a thundering moan, and we ran away back to Stromgarde without looking behind. I have never seen him again. But the folks told tales of it. Seems like a harmless elemental giant, but obviously it has some connections to those kobolds.". Teledor listened carefully then stated "Then we must seek his counsel. Earth giants are protectors of the land, created and left by the Titans. He must know the connection between this cave and the evil that befallen on our comrade.". Milly looked confused "How will we find that giant? I mean, i know it is a giant and it should be hard to miss but we may not have enough time to search the entire Highlands. That is too much land to cover for such a small band like ours.". Faolan spoke once more "I might have an idea. You see, my brother's incident and this giant somehow seems connected to the stone cairns of the Highlands, right? Then i suggest we start looking for him at those sites first. That is our best bet. It is highly likely that he will be somewhere close to those cairns. Now, as we have come from the eastern circle, and he was not present there as you all may have observed, that leaves only three sites left: There is one very close to Refugee Pointe but i highly doubt that the scouts would not report a giant coming that close to the refuge so we can simply skip that, there is one a bit east of Stromgarde and another one west of Northfold Manor. We may start looking at those areas first.". Teledor said "Sounds logical. Then we should start with the closer one, which is east of Stromgarde, i guess?". Milly added "And pray that he does not get out of this cave sooner.", then she turned to Oliver and asked "What do you think alchemist? Are you content with the plan? Or do you have any suggestions? Also, we will need a way to get past by the Hammerfall again. Do you have any of those potions left? Otherwise we may need to-" but before she could finish her sentence, a sound echoed behind her. Everyone turned back and saw a huge group of trolls begin their attack on the Hammerfall, with their war drums echoing through the valley.