[Horde] Chapter Four: Session Forty-Two
Appearing Characters: Arthak Saurfang, Azgadaan, Go'el, Gyth, Halno, Lantresor, Levia Blackflight, Mannoroth, Mor'ghor, No'Rash, Nyxxa, Rexxar
Outland Day 59
The rush of combat continues as Mannoroth surges forward, diving deeper into the onslaught of Sinestra’s forces. The warband also cleaves down enemies as they go. An orc warlock lays in their path, and Arthak charges him--but he releases a blast of frigid air. The orc has scaled patterns on his body, indicating he may have been subject to some sort of experiment. As Arthak’s blade slides through him, Azgadaan and Lantresor rush forward and they are blasted with the sub-zero air. Lantresor tries to evade the cold air, but he takes the full brunt while Azgadaan manages to dodge to the side.
Lantresor nods and makes a hmph of acknowledgement as he pushes forward. No’Rash charges another massive creature, a rylak, plummets to the ground. He tries to shove it aside. There is a flash, and No’Rash’s eyes flicker red and his muscles bulge. As he releases a blood-curdling roar, he tears the creature partially in half. Blood and gore goes flying, and No’Rash realizes his heart is pounding. The corpse he had thrown, however, barrels into Azgadaan.
Go’el casts [Chain Heal], and the spell bounces between Azgadaan, Nyxxa, and Lantresor after Azgadaan casts [Beacon of Hope]. No one seems to have noticed Azgadaan casting the spell in the midst of the raging battle.
As they continue forward, they see more dragonspawn with draconic entities riding on their backs. They have large, vicious glaive-like weapons, and their heads are elongated into draconic faces with horns and frills. They’re vaguely humanoid, and they hiss out a war cry in orcish--and Azgadaan disappears as he uses [Invisibility].
There are also some fel orcs and a less-armored dragonspawn that has a long staff with charred marks. Two more drakonids stand near the war mage, ready to battle, and there are a few more skarvyn with deep brands across the sides of their faces as well as larger skarvyn that are bigger than even some of the drakonids.
Nyxxa readies herself to attack and slips behind a large rock to ambush an approaching enemy. Arthak charges at the nearest chromatic dragonspawn and swings into it. However, the drakonid mounted on his back intercedes, forcing Arthak to attack him with the second swing.
Azgadaan creeps along the rock rubble and calls out words of encouragement to Nyxxa. One of the skarvyn bruisers starts to creep up the wall after the noise from Azgadaan, and Nyxxa emerges with a devastating strike to the creature’s side. The skarvyn grunts and turns his attention to Nyxxa as he swings a massive arm in the satyr’s direction--who ducks out of the way.
No’Rash looks at Lantresor.
He then starts to sprint towards one of the other mounted drakonids. The dragonspawn’s scales shift to a bright blue and it breathes a blast of frigid air. A fel orc follows suit, slicing down with his axe. Halno casts [Chill Touch] on one of the drakonids. Another chromatic dragonspawn closes on No’Rash, biting him as the drakonid on its back strikes down with his glaive
Lantresor ignores No’Rash’s request to help Arthak and instead goes to help No'Rash, who is getting dogpiled. The drakonid forces Lantresor to attack him instead of the dragonspawn, and he assaults with a flurry of blows.
Another fel orc grunt charges at Nyxxa but she misses, instead burying her axe in the wall behind the satyr. The orc growls angrily while another orc runs for Lantresor, trying to disarm him. Another skarvyn fires of a scorching ray at Halno, which shatters one of the bones swirling around the undead wizard.
The dragonspawn warmage casts [Blur] on itself while another skarvyn hurls a [Chromatic Orb] in Azgadaan’s direction--though it goes wide. Levia casts [Sleep] and a skarvyn bruiser and skarvyn spellcaster drops to the ground in a deep slumber.
A skarvyn bruiser manages to grapple No’Rash while the nearby drakonid slayer drives his glaive into the no-compromised orc. More skarvyn continue to rush at Lantresor. A drakonid wyrmguard fires its shorbow at Nyxxa, knocking her to the ground as another fel ground closes on her and drives her axe downward. Nyxxa scrambles back to her feet and slashes into one of the fel guards--who just barely resists falling into unconsciousness. Nyxxa cracks her in the head and she drops to the ground while the demon hunter then kicks the other fel orc grunt in the face.
No’Rash enters his fel transformation and he rounds on the bruiser that is grappling him, struggling to attack the creature. He manages to grab the large creature and clubs it in the jaw.
Azgadaan casts [Mind Sear] over the cluster of enemies around No’Rash and Lantresor, appearing from invisibility as he enhances it to exclude his allies. One of the fel grunts shrieks and falls to the ground, dead.
Arthak slams into the drakonid he is engaged with, and it snarls angrily.
As the blast of magic from the mind sear ripples through the air, the ruins of the wall Azgadaan is perched on starts to quiver and crumble. The tumbling rocks wakens the skarvyn bruiser, and Azgadaan tumbles to the ground.
The skarvyn bruiser gets on Azgadaan and tries to crush him, but Azgadaan deflects the attack with shield. The black dragonspawn warmage hurls a [Fireball] at Azgadaan, Nyxxa, Halno, and the fel orc and skarvyn that are attacking them.
A Dragonmaw magma guard slashes at Lantresor and they clash swords. Lantresor is forced back into a vulnerable stance, and the fel orc manages to send his sword flying out of his hands. The fel orc kicks her blade behind her, and she grinds wildly.
He drops into a combat stance. Levia’s eyes burn with white fire, and she casts [Sunfire] A column of bright white light sears through the group around No’Rash and Lantresor. Meanwhile, the black drakonid engaged with Arthak breathes a gout of fire.
One of the other drakonids moves forward and stabs at Lantresor. The battle continues to rage on and Arthak breaks away from the drakonid and dragonspawn he was engaged with and gets large using giant’s might as he moves to back up Lantresor. He slices into the enemy that had manages to get Lantresor grappled. He then action surges to get into the face of the warmage.
Suddenly, behind Halno, there was a cry of “For the dreadwyrm!” and reinforcements charge in. One of them runs for Halno, but Halno is able to back off and the swing goes wide--shattering several more bones on the bone shield. Nyxxa, however, closes on two of the arriving fel orcs and promptly cuts them down.
The skarvyn Sinestra-sworn fires off a series of scorching rays at Azgadaan as it starts to retreat.
Meanwhile, the warmage casts [Thunder Step] and disappears from Arthak’s side, reappearing next to Azgadaan. It barks at the fleeing Sinestra-sworn before turning his malevolent orange eyes on Azgadaan.
Lantresor cracks his fist into the nearby skarvyn bruiser, breaking its trachea before he whirls around and punches the magma guard in the face--stunning her. He reclaims his sword.
Halno casts [Jolt] on the fel orc that had closed on him, and electrocutes the orc. Levia casts [Mass Cure Wounds], healing her allies. Meanwhile, a drakonid closes on No’Rash, slashing him twice with his glaive. A nearby chromatic dragonspawn breathes a gout of fire, which washes over No’Rash, Lantresor, and the magma guard.
Azgadaan attempts to convince the Sinestra-sworn to join them, but it responds with a blast of fire. The drakonid and dragonspawn that Arthak had left to pursue the warmage opts to charge Nyxxa. However, another dragonspawn charges Arthak.
No’Rash enters a fel rage and attacks the chromatic dragonspawn nearby with a wild swing. He knocks the creature to the ground and smashes its skull. Then he swings wildly at the stunned Dragonmaw magma guard.
The sinestra-sworn hurls a [Chromatic Orb] at Azgadaan, but it does not connect. Nyxxa spins around and with two deft attacks, finishes off the fel orc grunt engaged with Halno. One of the black drakonids forces No’Rash to surrender his ground with a savage strike of his glaive, shoving him back.
Levia snaps her fingers and another column of fire erupts under the engaged fel orc as well as the drakonid and dragonspawn he is riding. The drakonid falls dead.
Arthak is able to finish off both a dragonspawn and its rider, cleaving right through the pair of them. The sole remaining non-warmage dragonspawn chomps at Nyxxa, but she leaps out of the way.
Azgadaan steps toward the warmage.
He pulls out his horn of blasting and blows. The warmage casts [Absorb Elements] to resist some of the damage, but one of the Sinestra-sworn is immediately blasted back and falls dead.
He looks over at the approaching, large orc before closing in on the warmage. The warmage responds with a snap of its jaws and a cantrip, but it completely misses him.
Halno casts [Jolt] at the remaining chromatic dragonspawn, and the magma guard swings at Lantresor in frustration--missing both times.
Arthak closes on the warmage, and it manages to shield against the first attack, but the second attack is devastating as Arthak rips through the creature’s armor. With another strike, Arthak drives Champion’s Forge through the dragonspawn’s chest.
The remaining chromatic dragonspawn slashes Nyxxa with its glaive, but Nyxxa ignores it as she instead targets the fel orc that had attacked Levia. With two strikes, Nyxxa drops the orc to the ground before she spirals around and slashes into the dragonspawn. Lantresor finishes off the magma guard.
No’Rash continues to fall into his fel rage, attacking one of the drakonids. With a barrage of attacks, he brings the drakonid low.
The remaining Sinestra-sworn tries to flee, but Azgadaan opts to not give him another shot at mercy as he swings around with his maul.
However, the Sinestra-sworn skarvyn casts [Expeditious Retreat] and immediately scampers off.
Levia casts [Holy Light] on No’Rash, healing him. Nyxxa, meanwhile, finishes off the final dragonspawn. She then closes on the last drakonid with another deft strike.She then ducks behind the drakonid to hide herself from No’Rash.
Azgadaan uses [Beacon of Hope] again, trying to aid in healing. Go’el once again uses a [Chain Heal], and Levia and Lantresor cover their retreat as the rest of the group presses forward.
Battle is growing in intensity, reaching a fever pitch as allies and enemies alike are being tossed from bridges into the waterfalls that tumble down from Sinestra’s Seat. An errant [Fireball] hurls out and strikes into the side of a mountain, sending rocks tumbling down on the group. They are able to pull themselves out of the rubble.
He whistles, and his boar, Puffer, helps finish unburying them as they continue to rush forward.
A small chromatic dragon starts soaring down towards the group, and it breathes a swath of fire on Halno. Moments later, a flash of lightning shoots off of Go’el’s axe--blasting the creature out of the sky.
Azgadaan glimpses a wizard casting [Stinking Cloud], but it doesn’t affect him at all. Meanwhile, Nyxxa and Go’el get blasted with a surge of pain that ripples through their minds. They instinctively grab their heads, and seconds later there is a cry of “FIRE” from down below and the tank Nitrogg is manning shoots off a round that drops the responsible dragonspawn into the waterfall as it blows the bridge out from under them.
There is suddenly a draconic roar, and they look up and see a horrifying creature. It’s a quadrupedal, draconic creature with three heads--each with a different horn structure. It howls and leaps to the ground behind the group, releasing a blood-rending roar. Its scales scintillate in the same way as the other chromatic monstrosities. To their left, they hear another roar, and overtop the destroyed bridge is another draconic creature--a drake that is easily 20 feet long, with a drakonid atop it that has chromatic scales.
It seems to be Mor’ghor.
Arthak enters a rage and then immediately charges at Mor’ghor, taking off into the air using the fly speed given to him by the gift from the air fury. He promptly swings once, and then twice, but Mor’ghor was ready and deflects the attacks aside with his greataxe.
The tank fires another round, but the shot goes wide as the chromatic drake bobs in the air.
No’Rash points at the massive creature, Chromaggus, and uses his curse of the marked. He then charges the creature, striking a massive blow to one of the creature’s three jaws. Its scales shift, adapting to the crackling lightning.
Azgadaan runs to the side of the cliff and starts to climb it. He gets to the top and crouches down. Halno casts an acidic [Chromatic Orb] at Chromaggus, and his scales shift into a green color. Nyxxa then closes on Chromaggus but her glaives glance off his scales. However her second and third strikes connect.
One of the beast’s heads rolls back and it roars, belching forth a gout of shadowy flame.
Mor’ghor glowers at Arthak.
Mor’ghor swings his axe around, but both strikes clash off Arthak’s sword. The chromatic drake, Gyth, skirts around Arthak and breathes a gout of frigid arcane air down on Arthak’s allies below. The supernatural breath stings, and some of Halno’s magic is sapped away. Go’el slashes at Gyth with a booming blade, and there is an additional shock of energy that causes the dragon to release a pained howl as he swoops higher into the air.
Go’el casts [Earthbind] on Gyth, dragging the dragon to the ground.
He plants a totem and Nyxxa dives below Chromaggus, working to get to the other side of him.
Puffer charges Gyth, scraping his tusks across the drake’s scales. Rexxar hurls several axes at the drake, all of them planting into the drake’s side. Gyth releases a piercing scream.
Filled with rage, he snarls, elemental energy dripping from his maw.
Nyxxa casts [Hunter's Mark] on Chromaggus and slices into the large creature. She tries to get on his back, but the beast flips her off his tail. She instead slices into him again. No’Rash busts several teeth out of Chromaggus’s jaws, and then he uses action surge, swinging again and again. He smashes one of the heads into the ground and bullrushes the second head, knocking it into the third head. He rips out one of the creature’s teeth and beats his club through its skull. He then runs over to Gyth, but the drake’s tail smacks him aside before he can get a good hit.
Azgadaan uses [Jolt] on Mor’ghor, the electricity crackling around him. Arthak flies down and swings a heavy blow into Mor’ghor, and then a second one--activating his fire rune to wrap around Mor’ghor. However, as the chains wrap around him, he shatters them.
Arthak swings one final time, but Mor’ghor deflects the blow aside. A shadow starts to wash over the drakonid, and Gyth backs up away from the group. No’Rash, Rexxar, Go’el, and Puffer connect with his scaly hide, but then Mor’ghor and Gyth release their breath weapons at the same time. With a crackle of electricity from Gyth, Halno is blasted to the ground. Meanwhile, Mor’ghor exhales a deep, voidal, black shadow, which washes over the group. However, Halno is immediately back on his feet, and he hurls a [Death Coil] at Gyth--healing from some of his life force.
Rexxar withdraws two axes that drip with elemental energy as he casts [Chimera Shot] and then hurls them at both Mor’ghor and Gyth. The axe at Mor’ghor goes wide, but the one at Gyth strikes true. He then moves to protect Puffer.
The earthbind on Gyth had faded as Go’el fell stunned, and Gyth took off into the air. Arthak strikes into Gyth, but the drake remains conscious.
