The battle of The Weeping Valley...

The old ashik, although the sibling herders were far from convinced that the old man was what he seemed, paused in his tale to take a large drink of water to ease his dust dried throat. He looked around and reaffirmed that his tale was almost at and end, and that the people of the small village beside the muddy oasis would soon understand. And with that he continued to tell his tale.

Having left the room dedicated to the worship of Gnoriath, Kank edged towards the uninvestigated corridors of the ancient complex and peaked around the next corridor on the left only to find that it ended in a cave in, but also seeing that there were a couple of other passages running off of it. The Company split up and search the passages quickly sure that there will be an exit into the Weeping Valley behind the watchtower allowing for a surprise attack. Having found nothing but the remnants of stone furniture and the time reduced dust of anything else that might have been, they eventually discover a large room with a domed ceiling and a human sized statue standing guard in each corner, and at the foot of each statue is a kidney shaped bowl holding fine red sand.

The room has three entrances leading into it, one in the centre of each of three walls, and the fourth wall is covered in a huge mosaic. The tiles of the mosaic are so fine that the effect is that the whole thing looks more like a painting. The mosaic depicts Gnoriath in all of her verdant glory, and while the others watch on, Balboa and Kank perform the veneration ceremony drawing the earth rune in the middle of the room with the red sand whilst uttering a prayer to the Earth Mother. Having completed the ritual, Balboa uses his lodestone to get a sense of the complexes orientation and he discovers that the passage opposite the mosaic runs back in the direction of the Weeping Valley.

The Company of the Cloaked Inix quickly follow Balboa's lead and head in that direction. They are disappointed to find that the passageway ends at yet another cave in, but when Scar investigates the small room just before the rock fall she discovers a familiar looking alcove with writing above a pedestal. The writing says;

The bigger I am, the less you see me!

Scar calls in the others and then confidently steps forwards, places her hand in the indentation atop the pedestal and says aloud:

Darkness!

As soon as the words have left her lips the pedestal starts to descend into the floor revealing a dark opening. Scar steps through and finds beyond the portal five Trolls stood in a half circle. Four of them are male and in the centre of the line is a large female. Scar exclaims;

I am Scar White of the wastes and I come bearing greetings from High Priestess Chalazak of Trollhaven!

The large female Troll steps forwards, and in a voice that rumbles like rocks grinding together replies;

I HERTHA MOG! CAPTAIN OF GUARD! WHY YOU HERE?

Scar, taking the lead in what she knows is a matriarchal society replies;

We are here to cleanse chaos from this land and we are on a quest for another haven of the Uz!

The female Troll nods and gestures towards the others of the Company;

BRING FRIENDS!

With a smile, Scar says;

You mean my subjects!

Once the Company have entered the Trolls realm the pedestal rises and seals them in. The female Troll leaves them being guarded by the four male Trolls and returns a short while later with a more ancient female Troll. The older female spreads her arms wide;

WELCOME TO SHADINOK! LAST HAVEN OF THE TROLLS!

Scar thanks her and then surprises the old Troll by saying;

You are not the last of your kind. You are not alone!

Scar removes the twin stones given to her by the matriarch Chalazak and hands them to the ancient female Troll, she takes them and inspects them briefly before uttering a word that sounds more like an avalanche and twisting the stones together. Instantly a shadowy archway ripples into existence like oil moving on water and the ancient female looks at Scar and says;

SHALL WE?

Scar and the ancient female Troll step through the shadow and disappear. It is a couple of hours before they return, and they do not come back alone. When Scar steps out of the shadow arch she is followed by twenty Dark Trolls, Five Great Trolls, and two Mistress Race Trolls. Seeing the surprise on the rest of the Company's faces Scar explains that High Priestess Chalazak had sent reinforcements to assist in the raid on the chaos stronghold. And that the Trolls of Shadinok know of a secret route into the inner halls of the chaos forces, and are willing to lead the Company there. With the odds now looking far more promising the Company agree to rest up for a day and prepare for the raid. Knowing that their armour requires repairing Kank takes time to attune to the magical matrix within his new iron crown, the one given to him by Sabertine that she had engraved with a repair spell.

Feeling completely safe for the first time in a very long while, the Company all settle down to sleep at the same time and do not set a watch. At some point Kank is woken by a quiet noise, he sits up and looks around and by the low luminescence of the lichen he can see Balboa laying on his bedroll clutching the Heart of Gnoriath to his chest. Knowing that he must have just grabbed the gem, and that movement was what had awoken him, Kank moves towards the sleeping Mul to check if he is ok. But as he is looking on the fist sized gem glows and starts to sink into Balboa's chest, instinctively Kank grabs Earthshaker and hears the voice of Graneggadon in his mind;

THE HEART HAS CHOSEN!

Balboa sits bolt upright and starts to babble incoherently. As Kank looks on Balboa's skin seems to darken and become slightly grey and there is no sign of the gem stone. After a few minutes the incoherent Mul finally regains his senses and stares at Kank, the bigger of the two Muls explains what has happened and the newly knowledgeable Balboa then explains in detail the attunement of the Heart of Gnoriath, something that before the gem had sunk into his flesh he would have been unable to do.

Having rested and prepared the Company of the Cloaked Inix are led by the Trolls through a complex network of interlocking tunnels, at one point they are asked to wear blindfolds and they feel themselves being led into a vast open space full of damp air and the constant sound of dripping water. They are positioned on a moving floor and told to stand still, but they can all feel the air passing them as if they are moving forwards. Eventually they are returned to more solid ground and begin to climb upwards through more tunnels, these tunnels end at the foot of a staircase that climbs up into a thirty foot square room that has the obvious back of a secret door located in one wall.

Kank stands against the back of the door but cannot feel the presence of chaos nearby and so they open the secret door and find that it is blocked by stacks of barrels, wood, and debris. Scar cocks her head to one side and says that she can hear the sound of raised voices in the distance but the warrior woman cannot make out what, or who, is making all of the noise. The Trolls slowly and quietly clear the blockage, and once cleared the Company step out into what looks like a store room. The room has a single exit which leads into a wide tunnel, caved in at one end and narrowed at the other by large boulders that have fallen from a collapsed roof. When they step out into the corridor the sound of rhythmic chanting can be clearly heard, and beyond the boulders it is obvious that there is a large fire lit room at the end of the corridor. And judging by the shapes moving in front of the fire light some creatures are dancing with wild abandon within the room.

Kank turns to Ferulah and asks her to sneak along the corridor to get a better look, for one the feline in Human form looks reluctant at first, but when Kank points out that he only wishes her to get as far as the large boulders she finally agrees and disappears into the dark. After several long minutes Ferulah reappears and informs the Company what lays ahead, they listen closely as she describes a large room with a makeshift altar at one end. Around the room stand Human guards, and a cavern below the floor level is full of chaos crazed Beastmen. Upon the altar is a Human sacrifice and positioned around the altar watching on are four obese priests of Nurkel-Malia mistress of Disease, towering above it all is a vision of horror. What once was Kalak's high priest Velatash is now an eight foot tall creature in the tattered rags of his former Templar uniform, the creatures skin is a sickly green pallor and shards of obsidian jut from his body. The creatures head is adorned by four huge goat like horns in mockery of a crown.

Knowing that this is the battle that they have been working towards, the Company of the Cloaked Inix call upon their various powers to prepare. As the naked Human upon the altar screams and starts to undergo some kind of transformation Kank uses his ring to cast phase earth and steps into the wall.

A minute later and Kank steps out of the wall in the corner of the altar room, as the big Mul emerges from the wall he draws Earthshaker back above his head in a two handed grip and hurls the artefact of Gnoriath at the transformed Velatash. The greathammer flies true but at the last minute it deflects off of an invisible shield surrounding the altar, the heads of Valatash and the priests of Nurkel-Malia snap around and look straight at Kank as Earthshaker flies back to his hand. The Human guards rush to defend the room the one nearest Kank frustrated as the Champion of Gnoriath steps back into the solid wall.

Seeing Earthshaker deflecting off of the invisible shield Ferulah charges into the room, closely followed by Arthur and Scar. Two of the Human guards step across the corridor attempting to block the feline in Human form but Ferulah flexes her powerful leg muscles and leaps clear over the heads of the pair. The two guards just have enough time to see Ferulah sail over them before the mighty Dwarf and the warrior woman from the wastes crash into them. Balboa pulls a clay tablet from one of his pouches and reads aloud the spell engraved upon it. As the tablet crumbles into dust Miloch's battleaxe blade is wreathed in flame and the Human charges to join the fray.

In Miloch's wake follow the Trolls of Trollhaven, they rush to the edge of the Beastman pit and without stopping they leap into it. As they land an impenetrable darkness springs into existence around them. Arthur dodges a blow from an obsidian greataxe and finds his Troll maul dodged by his Human opponent. Scar and her foe strike and feint and then Miloch crashes into Arthur's opponent, his flaming battleaxe slashes into the greataxe wielding Mul's right arm forcing the Mul to drop his weapon. Ferulah lands and rolls at another of the Human guards, she punches her cestus into the guards left arm and there is the sound of shattering bone. The guards sword falls from his nerveless hand.

Having seen Earthshaker repelled by the invisible shield, Balboa pulls yet another clay tablet from his pouch and reads the spell engraved aloud. The powerful magics held within the tablet are channeled and directed by the wiley Balboa and are hurled at the invisible shield, shattering the powerful protection. Ferulah swings with her cestus covered left fist and her Human opponent drops to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut. Arthur takes a glancing blow to his right arm and his counter strike is dodged. Scar sweeps the Sword of Kemalok in a wide arc and the Dwarven blade slices clean through the torso of the Human guard, and the dead guards falls in two different directions to the floor.

The pit of Beastmen gets darker as more and more Trolls pile into it. From the unnatural blackout can be heard the sounds of an immense fight and the crazed braying of Beastmen. The altar room is suddenly drowned in the sound of thousands of flies buzzing and swarming around Velatash and the four priests of Nurkel-Malia. Miloch sweeps his flaming battleaxe at another of the rushing guards and once again cripples the unfortunate guard. Ferulah leaps at yet another of the guards and with a double handed slam cracks several ribs and drops him unconscious to the floor. Kank steps back out of the wall and raising Earthshaker above his head calls;

Basaltir aid us!

The rubble around the room starts to draw together and form into the shape of the mighty earth elemental. Arthur slams his Troll maul into his opponent and the guard drops dead to the floor. With the guards thinned, Ferulah and Scar charge at the obese priests of Nurkel-Malia. As she rushes in two more Human guards intercept Ferulah, the feline in Human form smashes one of them in the leg, breaking it, but the other guard lands a mighty blow in Ferulah's midriff forcing her to stagger backwards. Scar stabs with the Sword of Kemalok and the point of it sinks deep into one of the obese priests chests, but the chaos worshiper stays on his feet. Arthur then disappears into thin air, only to appear moments later standing behind the priest fighting Scar.

Kank points at the creature that once was Velatash and instructs Basaltir to attack, the big Mul then rushes to assist Miloch who is just engaging two of the obese chaos priests. Arthur swings his Troll maul in an overhead attack and strikes the obese priest in the centre of it's back, the fat chaos worshiper staggers forwards a pace despite being hammered with a blow that would kill a normal man. Scar slashes the Sword of Kemalok across the massive gut of the priest, but she is unable to breach his thick armour. Miloch dodges one of the fat priests but is caught by the attack of the other, but he is fortunate to see most of the attack glance off of his armour. Kank attacks one of the priests fighting Miloch and smashes Earthshaker into it's left arm. The blow is greeted with the sound of breaking bones and Kank has gained the priests attention.

The creature that was Velatash starts to spin it's spear in a wide circular motion, as it does so a dark tear in reality opens up in front of Basaltir. Ferulah smashes her fist into one of the guards attacking her, shattering his skull and dropping him where he stood. But the other guard lands a blow on the fighting feline, slamming his weapon into her head and staggering her once again. Balboa enters the room and casually smashes his mace into the head of one of the downed guards killing him outright. Ferulah catches the second guard with her left fist, breaking his leg and forcing him to drop to one knee.

A pair of plague demons claw their way out of the tear in reality and attack Basaltir, both both of them miss. The earth elemental retaliates with a missive punch and one of the plague demon's arms hangs limp at it's side. Arthur swings again with his Troll maul and smashes one of the obese chaos priests in the fat guts, the chaos worshiper doubles over and collapses to the floor. Scar slashes with the Sword of Kemalok and manages to draw blood from another of the priests of Nurkel-Malia, as Ferulah slays the last of the guards. The high priest of Nurkel-Malia stabs Arthur in his left leg with his huge spear. The mighty Dwarf is forced to his knees.

The mighty Balboa rushes into the melee and smashes one of the fat priests in the right arm, he breaks the bones of the chaos worshipers arm and screams;

GET OUT OF GNORIATH'S HOUSE!

Ferulah attacks the chaos priest battling Scar and physically rips his right arm off in a rage. Scar stabs at the priest with the Sword of Kemalok but it glances off of the fat man's armour, but the attack does knock the chaos priest backwards into Ferulah's second attack and the feline in Human form smashes the priest in the small of his back, shattering his spine and dropping him dead to the floor. Kank slams Earthshaker into the chaos priest that he is fighting and the obese man drops unconscious to the ground. The pair of plague demons fall upon Basaltir and injure the resilient elemental massively, the huge Basaltir strikes back with a powerful punch and one of the plague demons dissipates in a stinking cloud of sulphur.

Seeing Velatash standing tall above him ready to thrust his vicious spear, Arthur attempts to teleport away but his power fails him and there is nothing that he can do as the creature that was Velatash skewers him. Arthur collapses backwards to lay still upon the ground. Scar trying to assist Arthur launches a thrust at the obese priest assisting Valatash to attack Arthur, but the Sword of Kemalok deflects from the chaos worshipers armour. Ferulah, following Scar's lead, also leaps at the priest but as she lands she slips in the pool of blood flowing from the downed Arthur and drops one of her cestuses. Miloch slashes his flaming battleaxe across the face of one of the priests but it merely scratches him.

Kank pulls Earthshaker over his head and hurls it straight at Velatash's back, but somehow the high priest of Nurkel-Malia supernaturally sidesteps the artefact of Gnoriath. The creature that was once Velatash turns his head quickly and locks eyes with the champion of Gnoriath. Kank sticks his hand out and catches Earthshaker and starts to charge at Velatash. Velatash spins his spear and leaps at the big Mul, a smile forming on the chaos high priests face.

Kank dodges the spear thrust of Velatash, and then the chaos high priest is slammed in the back by a ferocious Ferulah, but the powerful feline in Human form just bounces off of the creature that once was Velatash. Kank sweeps Earthshaker around in a full arc and the head of the artefact of Gnoriath smashes into Velatash's right arm, the arm drops limp to his side and his spear rattles off of the ground. The remaining plague demon hits Basaltir with it's obsidian bastard sword and the mighty earth elemental crumbles into a pile of boulders. Miloch slashes his flaming battleaxe into the chest of the obese chaos priest that he is fighting and the man finally dies on his knees.

The bodies of the dead chaos priests begin to putrefy at an alarming rate and as their chests cave in plague demons begin to claw their way out of the dead priests. Balboa's eyes are drawn to the drop into the Beastman pit as a massive example of the creatures pulls itself up one of the ladders and brays loudly in challenge. Scar sidesteps the attack of the last remaining obese chaos priest and then plunges the Sword of Kemalok into his chest, but the resilient chaos worshiper remains on his feet. Miloch charges to Scar side and slashes his flaming battleaxe at the remaining priest, the magic fire sears through the priests armour and the Human finally drops dead to the ground.

Ferulah attacks Velatash once again, but again sees her powerful blow bounce off of the high priests armour almost as if the powerful feline in Human form is unable to harm the high priest of Nurkel-Malia. Having lost his spear, Velatash punches Kank but the attack glances off of the big Muls armour. Seeing both the huge Beastman and one of the plague demons moving to attack the backs of Ferulah and Kank, the heroic Balboa steps in the way to intercept them. But the unlucky Mul slips in a pool of bodily fluids and drops his mace. The plague demon hits Balboa with it's obsidian bastard sword but it glances from his magically enhanced armour. Next the Beastman lowers its head and butts Balboa, but again his armour protects him.

Kank dodges a strike from Velatash's fist and counters with a slam of Earthshaker into Velatash's guts, but the high priest of Nurkel-Malia remains on his feet. The electrical discharge from Earthshaker is magically reflected by Velatash and strikes Kank instead causing the Mul to stagger. One of the newly arrived plague demons attacks Miloch and hits him in the left arm, but the Human warrior continues to battle. Scar disengages from the fight and steps to Arthur's side, she pulls a Troll healing stone from her pouch and hits Arthur in the chest with it. The big Dwarf sits bolt upright, but one of his arms is still hanging limp by his side.

Realising that she cannot injure the high priest, Ferulah spins and attacks one of the plague demons. Miloch hits another of the plague demons and manages to sever one of its arms, which just disappears in a puff of sulphurous smoke. The Beastman headbutts Balboa, but the chosen of Gnoriath sees most of the attack glance off of his armour. But he is not as fortunate when the Beastman strikes a second time, hitting Balboa in the head and dropping him like a stone. As Balboa's unconscious body hits the floor yet another plague demon claws its way out of the chest of the last obese chaos priest to die.