The Champion of Gnoriath...

Outside the mekillot slave wagon one of the guards left her post to step into the darkness behind a jumble of rocks. She wanted a moment of privacy away from the usual jeers of her male colleagues while she relieved herself. But the moment never came. As soon as she stepped into the moon shadow cast by the boulders she locked eyes with someone in the dark, and before she could scream an alarm an iron hard fist had broken her jaw and knocked her unconscious. Inside the mekillot slave wagon the old ashik continued to tell his tale, waiting for the signal that he hoped would be coming.

The nimble Balboa dives to one side as the iron blade slashes downwards from the ceiling of the passageway, he avoids the worst of the blow but is still slashed across his arm. Scar rushes to his side and drags him backwards before first aiding his wound, while Kank steps forwards and examines the floor of the passage. Seeing nothing, Kank steps forwards and peeks around the corner of the junction and can see stairs leading upwards. The big Mul skirts around the mouth of the corridor, expecting any minute an iron blade to spin from the ceiling, and he isn’t disappointed as a blade slashes downwards and caves in his chest. Kank collapses to the floor unconscious. Once again it is Scar that drags him out and first aids him, but when he fails come round, Balboa calls upon the Gnomes of the earth and heals his wounds.

Having learnt his lesson the hard way, Kank belly crawls beyond the trap and the junction, triggering one of the blades to again slash out of the ceiling but missing him by a foot, until he reaches the stairs leading further down into the tomb complex. He descends the stairs and can see a larger staircase sweeping downwards to another statue flanked tomb. He calls forwards the rest of the Company and then Scar takes point and moves forwards to check the southern corridor. While she is searching the corridor, Arthur takes the time to search behind the giant statues of Hrothgurtun, but he finds nothing of interest. Kank searches the east wall of the massive black cube and at one point he feels an inner warmth wash over him. He calls over Balboa, who experiences a similar sensation.

When Scar and Arthur return they follow Kank's instructions, but neither of them experience the same feeling. Knowing that he should trust this feeling, Kank starts to slowly search the wall with his fingertips. Arthur looks down the wide sweeping staircase and says;

I bet that tomb down there is nothing but a decoy! Meant to make you go that way and be attacked by those two statues!

The rest of the Company nod in agreement, but also head down the stairs to test the theory. when they reach the bottom of the staircase they find a wide curving corridor running off into the dark in both directions. Kank shouts down to the others that he has found something, and when they return to him he points out a barely visible depression in the surface of the stone that marks out an archway. The Company agree that the black block must be the tomb of Hrothgurtun and so Kank borrows Balboa's symbol of Gnoriath, utters a prayer to the long forgotten goddess, and closes his eyes while Balboa uses the clay tablet to cast the spell that will allow the Mul to enter the tomb. As the last syllables of the spell leave Balboa's lips the clay tablet crumbles into dust and Kank steps forwards into the black stone wall and disappears.

Feeling fatigued from casting such a powerful spell, Balboa sits down with his back to the jet black wall and rests. The other members of the Company keep watch on the numerous passageways that lead to the entrance to Hrothgurtun's tomb, while keeping watch Arthur and Scar examine the magical crystal and bracelet discovered in the triple tomb above. After ninety minutes, when Kank has not reappeared, Ferulah begins to get agitated and starts to pace back and forth in front of the invisible entrance to the tomb. Once two hours have past, Balboa starts to utter a prayer to Gnoriath under his breath.

Two hours earlier, Kank walks forwards unable to see anything, but feeling the sense of warmth drawing him forwards. After fifteen paces he finds himself stood at the edge of a twenty foot perfectly square room, in the centre of the room is a three foot tall grey stone column, and atop the column is an urn emanating a dark green luminescence. At the base of the column sits a grey stone chest carved with whorls and spirals. The big Mul bends down and, emulating the pious Balboa, draws an earth rune in the sand in front of him. Kank then steps forwards and circles the column, as he gets closer he can see that the urn has a golden band running around the top of it, Kank steps back into the earth rune and calls;

HROTHGURTUN!

Slowly, very slowly, a green yellow mist starts to form above the urn and take the shape of a stocky humanoid as the temperature within the tomb starts to drop. Kank drops to one knee in respect and watches as the mist solidifies into the form of a heavily bearded Dwarf draped in the skin of some unknown animal, with a circlet of metal around his brow, and holding a massive greathammer in one hand. It is the spirit of Hrothgurtun, Champion of Gnoriath. Eventually, as if slowly remembering how to speak, the figure in front of Kank says;

Why do you disturb my rest? You are here to steal from me!

Kank remains supplicant and says;

No! We are here to seek your help. Nurkel-Malia mistress of disease is once again released onto the world and the Trolls of Uzgurth, lord of shadow, advised that only with your greathammer Earthshaker could we hope to vanquish her high priest.

The spirit of Hrothgurtun remained silent and stared at the big Mul, his eyes boring into the soul of Kank. After what seemed like minutes the spirit said;

You carry the Greathammer of Galaxyl!

Kank quickly relayed that the spirit of Galaxyl had gifted the Company his weapon to aid in their fight. Yet again the spirit of Hrothgurtun remained silent for long minutes, staring deep into Kank's heart before saying;

You are not worthy of carrying Earthshaker. Let us see if you will ever be!

With that the spirit of Hrothgurtun drifts forwards and reaches out with a single misty finger until he touches Kank's forehead. The stoic Mul remains still and awaits his fate, and as soon as the ghostly digit touches him he finds out what it is. The floor of the tomb turns to quicksand and the big Mul is sucked down into the floor. Painfully slowly the quicksand rises until it covers Kank's head and he starts to drown.

Outside the large black cube, four hours have passed and all of the Company are dis-quietened. Balboa stands and suggests that the Company search the rest of the tombs to see if Kank has emerged elsewhere within the complex. Ferulah refuses to leave the hidden entrance and so they leave her pacing and head for the northern staircase. They avoid the trapped blades and discover at the top of the stairs a tomb room lined with burial niches, Balboa finds that each niche contains a shroud wrapped body with a gold coin resting upon each eye. Balboa tells the others and Arthur fights with his inner voice, but eventually he manages to leave them untouched.

The Company move to the southern passage and find a wide corridor lined with seven statues, each statue is marked with a name plaque. The brave Balboa crawls forwards and passes the statues of a male Half-elf, a female Dwarf, a male Dwarf, a short humanoid that he does not recognize, another male Dwarf, a male Human, and finally a female Elf. Balboa finds that the statue lined corridor curves to a flight of stairs leading down to another burial chamber. Balboa descends the stairs and inspects the shroud wrapped bodies. He spots that the last body looks bigger than the others, it is roughly the same size as Kank but as he draws closer he can see that, although it is younger than those around it, it is still skeletal and so cannot be his friend.

Another staircase exits the burial chamber and leads down to the large circular corridor, Balboa calls the rest of the Company forwards and Arthur suggests that Balboa read the metal name plaque of the last corpse, the educated Mul steps forwards and tells Arthur that it says;

Brugaden

Arthur nods and steps forwards with his iron dagger and starts to pry the name plaque off of the tomb niche. Balboa stops him, and Arthur says;

How are we meant to pay the skimmer sailors for the extra days?

Balboa looks him in the eye and responds;

We will find a way!

The Company circumvent the circular corridor and find that it leads to stairs that drop down to two rooms one of which contains another shaft going both up and down, and the other holds a ritual sand bowl. They return to Ferulah, and as they go, Balboa calls upon the Gnomes of the earth to help him detect magic. He notes several sources of magic within the tombs and upon the shroud wrapped bodies but the Company are respectful of the earth tombs and leave them undisturbed. Six hours have passed since Kank entered the tomb of Hrothgurtun.

Kank opens his eyes and finds that he is stood on the side of a mountain and realises that it is Ledo, he is dazzled by how green the world is. It is resplendent with life and more verdant than anything that the Mul has ever seen. Stood not far from him is a very alive Hrothgurtun and it is then that he catches sight of his own reflection in a pool of water. He realises that he is in the body of a young bearded Dwarf, and as this settles in Hrothgutun walks over to him and says;

How are you Jorkan?

The young Dwarf answers, and Kank realises that his spirit is just a passenger within this body and he can do nothing but watch and learn. It transpires that Jorkan is a trainee priest of Gnoriath and is apprenticed to Hrothgurtun. Kank spends three months travelling within Jorkan's body, he learns much and experiences many things, including Jorkan making his pact with the earth and becoming an initiate of Gnoriath. One night, as Jorkan sleeps, Kank feels his spirit sucked back into the quicksand and a disembodied voice utters;

DO YOU ACCEPT THE PACT OF EARTH?

Without a heartbeats hesitation, Kank declares his faith and accepts the pact. Slowly the quicksand spits the body of the big Mul back out into the twenty foot perfectly square tomb. Kank drops once more to one knee and bows before the spirit of Hrothgurtun. The spirit looks on silently, but eventually says;

It would appear that you are to be the next Champion of Gnoriath, and you will unite the elements and free the gods!

The spirit then gestures to the chest and Kank moves forwards and opens it, inside he finds a platinum ring, a sheepskin cloak, an iron circlet studded with a single ruby, and a large greathammer head carved with similar whorls and spirals as seen on the chest. Kank reverently removes all of the items and stands. The spirit looks at him and says;

You will need to reassemble the three parts of the greathammer to awaken Earthshaker.

Kank looks confused and concerned and quickly blurts;

Where will we find the other two pieces of the greathammer?

The spirit of Hrothgurtun just smiles and utters the words of the spell that will allow Kank to leave the tomb. Once completed, the spirit fades out of existence.

Outside the tomb of Hrothgurtun Miloch suggests that the Company search back the way that they entered the earth tomb just in case Kank has appeared that way, but their search proves fruitless. Starting to get desperate Balboa steps towards the hidden arch and attempts to mold the black stone away to allow him entrance. The power of the spell appears to reflect back onto the novice of earth and he clutches at his head in pain as his nose starts to bleed. It has been seven hours since Kank entered the tomb of Hrothgurtun and the Company are running out of time before their skimmer leaves without them.

Arthur decides to head back to the skimmer and get them to agree to wait, he heads back to the entrance of the tomb and then, after spending a few moments memorizing the area, disappears. He reappears a heartbeat later on the ledge overlooking the skimmer. Using his telescope to view the deck of the skimmer he then disappears once more and reappears stood on deck, much to the surprise of the crew. He gets them to agree to wait a further two days and then stops to eat a meal with them and tell them what has occurred.

Eight hours after first stepping into the black wall of Hrothgurtun's tomb, Kank steps back out much to the relief of Ferulah. The big mountain lioness leaps on the stocky Mul and licks his face. When he finally extracts himself from beneath Ferulah he tells them all what has happened and that their quest is not over as they need to find the remaining two parts of the greathammer. As Kank relays the tale, the bright Balboa suddenly has a flash of inspiration and looks down at his iron banded mace and then at the gold ring encircling Kank's meaty finger. He tells Kank of his idea and so they invert the iron banded mace and place the greathammer head on it's handle, Kank then removes his ring and places it atop the greathammer head and utters the words that make the ring shrink to size. The generous Balboa hands the Earthshaker to Kank and the big Mul hears a voice inside his head;

I AM GRANEGGADON, SPIRIT OF EARTHSHAKER. HAIL CHAMPION OF GNORIATH!

The spirit's voice rumbles like boulders crashing together and in a matter of minutes he tells Kank of the power of Earthshaker, the spirit then tells Kank to dress the part. Kank picks up the iron circlet and places it upon his brow, instantly Balboa can see sees Kank in a different light as the confidence pours out of him. Next, Kank throws the sheepskin cloak over his shoulders and he hears a quiet voice whisper in his head;

give me power and I will heal you!

Kank finally places the platinum ring upon his finger, and the voice of Graneggadon tells him that it will allow him to phase through the earth. As a sign of respect, Kank removes the ring and hands it to his spiritual guide Balboa as a sign of his thanks. Kank looks around at the rest of the Company of the Cloaked Inix and says;

I think that we should leave.

They leave via the southern corridor and Kank spots the seven statues, he walks along the statue lined corridor and tells the others about each in turn. He points out Galaxyl the Half-elf, Theryn and Adorak the Dwarves, Bentham the Human, Eltharianne the Elf, and then Dunadash who he describes as a Gnome. Finally Kank stares into the likeness of the face that he wore for three months, that of Jorkan the Dwarf. Kank then visits the lower burial tomb where the descendants of Hrothgurtun were entombed, he pays his respects and finally stops in front of the body of the Mul, Bruganden, the last of the line of Hrothgurtun.

They head back towards the tomb entrance and meet Arthur coming in the opposite direction. The big Dwarf looks at Kank and nods at him. The Company retrace their steps, and after several hours they step back out on to the ledge overlooking the skimmer, The Tattered Gull. The Company head to the Kenku cave and find it a hive of activity as the avian people are packing up their belongings. Reechet comes forwards and greets them, he tells them that one of their scouts was spotted when he was spying on the fat men conducting some kind of ceremony with one of the younger Giants. And the Kenku have decided to hide in case of repercussions.

Graneggadon says in Kank's head;

We never run from chaos!