Awakening

[Chloe Price]

The battle, for Grothnar, was almost over. But there was still one more to deal with - the leader. Approaching, the Dwarf holds his axe in both hands. The weapon has blood spots on it from the bandit's fallen friends, but otherwise retains it's steel, metallic shine.

"D'you want to surrender, or are ya' ready to say goodbye?" the Dwarf asks. The voice of the Bloodlust Ring speaks in his mind again: 

Give him no mercy. Give none of them mercy.

He ignores it, waiting to see the leader's response - which turns out to be in the form of a pair of daggers, swinging for his throat. Diving to the ground, the dwarf drops his weapon, and gets back up. Noting his weapon on the ground, he goes to swipe it, before being met with a boot to the head from the thief. In anger, he charges the legs of his taller opponent, sending him to the ground. He then swipes his axe again.

"Ya've made yer' choice." the Ironfist warrior states, gripping his hands tight around his double bladed weapon. He charges, letting out a battle-cry. The knife-wielding rogue performs a similar charge. Bringing the battle-axe down, the dwarf manages to hit the thief's foot...

But fails to notice the knives, which make their mark in a killing blow.

Dropping his weapon, the dwarf clutches his chest, feeling the wound. How did this one thief, an untrained crook, manage to fell a professional warrior trained among the top of his clan? He slowly falls back, his vision going dark as death consumes him.

***

He awakens to a voice he's never heard before, in a world of pitch blackness. A white-skinned figure stands before him with a grin, seemingly being the one talking.

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse."

Groaning, the Dwarf stumbles back to his feet to find his wounds have recovered. Had it been true? Was he really slain, and he found himself among the gods? Before he could figure that out for himself, he found his question answered for him.

"You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.” 

He nods, and pays attention. While not normally one to listen to many, he may be in the presence of a god. Then, a shimmering orb, all colors visible to man, is handed to him. As he touches it, the substance is absorbed into him, making him jump.

 “This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most."

Sounds good to me!

The Dwarf smiles, understanding the words said by the smiling god. A substance that can form the desires of the user? What could be better than such a supply of Dwarven ale at his fingertips - and better, equipment for any adventures?

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn."

Well, uh, I had a feeling about that last part, since ya' kinda brought me back from tha' dead.

“That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

As the last line is stated, the area around him turns to white, as he appears near a fountain. The god disappears - or possibly, is hiding in the scenery. The dwarf walks a few feet from the fountain, looking around. There are objects of some variety in the distance, though just what they are is unknown to him. However, the dwarf's mind wanders to other subjects of importance.
"Where tha' fook is my axe?"

He thinks back on Omni's speech for a minute, and begins to focus, picturing his battle-axe in his head. The Omnilium emerges, and begins to form. He slowly begins to grip a handle, and finds the Omnilium has formed into his old weapon.

"Now, uh...I might want ta' focus on tha' things in the distance."

Holding his weapon in both hands, the dwarven warrior begins to move towards one of the objects.

[Chloe Price]

Arriving at one of the objects after...An hour? Two hours? He never keeps track...Grothnar came across some sort of portal. Almost as tall as three Dwarves combined, and almost as wide. It's formed of ice, and appears to have snow on some of it. Upon placing his hand on the ice, he found it seemingly self-maintaining it's cold temperature. He can see the snowy wasteland of the Frozen Fields on the other side.

"Reminds me o' home."

Oh yeah...Home...And just then, he realizes; He has no clue how the adventurers he left behind are doing without him.

"Well...Might be best not to dwell on it fer' too long." the dwarf states. Then, he sees someone on the other side; big, burly, and carrying a large hammer, a green-skinned humanoid approaches.

"...Well, I guess I'm not getting a warm welcome."

And neither is he.

Focusing his battle-axe in the troll's direction, the Ironfist waits - though he doesn't have to wait long, as the troll goes into a full-on charge. Raising his weapon, he brings it down to meet the troll's warhammer, sidestepping the green man slamming down it's weapon. He then lifts it up, and attempts an attack to the rival's side. It dodges the assault, and swings for the dwarf's head. He avoids it, and performs a slash on his legs. Down he fell to the ground, though his injuries likely won't prevent him from getting back up. The warrior raises his weapon again, but is met with a warhammer to the side. Groaning, Grothnar lowers his weapon to his side, and instead performs a left-to-right slash, which is met with the warhammer, metal hitting metal with a loud clank.

"Time to end this!"

Separating from his foe, Ironfist slides back a bit, and then jumps forward as the troll scrambles to his feet. A double bladed axe meets the troll's side, creating a large gnash. Not done yet, he pulls the weapon out, a blood stain forming on the ground and the weapon, before slamming it down, the green-skinned humanoid narrowly avoiding the blow as the red liquid continues to seep out of his open wound.

The dwarf lets out a battle cry, charging again and performing a diagonal slash, both hands on the weapon. The troll narrowly avoids it. However, what he does not avoid is the warrior arcing the weapon downward once again, Omnilium formed into bladed steel planting in the humanoid's skull. He pulls the weapon out once again, and lets the troll collapse.

"...There are probably more of the things on the other side." the warrior says to himself. "Besides that, who knows what's on the other side? There's probably plenty of adventure to be had...If this place is anything like home."

Preparing for what is likely to be a long trip ahead of him, the dwarf enters the frozen portal.