04-18-2016, 02:25 AM
The first time Raal had ever seen Venjo’s village, the troll stronghold had a special architecture that Raal had always admired.
It lacked walls in an open space to the outside eye, until one looked closer. The well-crafted longhouses, tents, armories, and huts were all arranged in a deceptively confusing way. Shorter walls of hard brick jutted between different buildings, making the village as a whole very hard to navigate without familiarity. Walls that didn’t look like walls, and a village that seemed more like bait than a trap.
This time, however, Raal looked down at a broken and bleeding shadow of that very village. Fire still blazed like an oversized chimney from the main armory, entire buildings had been reduced to scraps of wood, boulders and cannonballs littered the area, along with dozens of corpses - troll and dwarf alike.
Raal didn’t say anything to Zul’kis as he charged forward. He didn’t have to. The sound of roaring flame and the stench of violent death spurred him onward faster than Raal could ever manage.
The tears sparkling down the young trolls’ cheeks were a problem, of course. But for now, there was precious little he could do about them. Such was the nature of youth. Instead, Raal spurred his deathcharger forward with a simple hand gesture forward, directing the creature to Venjo’s estate.
Whatever had happened before, it was clear to see that it was long finished. And while this was definitely an unprecedented cut into troll territory, the idea of the crafty troll leader dying in such a single-minded scheme was complete absurdity.
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It took Raal only a minute to reach Venjo’s hut, entering without bothering to knock.
His indiscretion lead to the uncomfortable feeling of metal scraping his ribs, as a pair of spears rested an inch away from piercing his robed figure upon entering.
In a different universe, Raal would have raised his hands, and the pair would have been screaming on the ground for this indiscretion. Instead, Raal merely glared, a pair of telekinetic pushes smacking the spearheads into the oaken wall.
“Perhaps one of these days, we’ll have a meeting without my life being put into imminent danger, Venjo.” Raal stated with a hint of amusement, as he scanned the ornate room. The first, most obvious thing he noted was Venjo himself. His face was grinning, his mohawk seemed even better groomed than before…
And his bandaged body was short an entire arm.
“What in the hells happened here?” Raal asked, his expression one of shock.
“Ayy, don’ be so melodramatic, mon. I be a troll, remember? Dey grow back. It do be a shame, though. I rather liked that one.” Venjo responded with a lighter tone. He seemed rather unfazed by this situation to Raal’s eyes. Rather surprising, given the losses Raal had counted off.
“That doesn’t answer my question, Venjo.” Was Raal’s only response. He didn’t feel like playing games with the troll at the moment.
“Your question be an easy one to answer. ‘Twas the dwarves. They attacked quickly, without even a trace o’ warning. Thrice our number. ‘Course… they weren’t prepared to attack a troll town properly.” Zul’kis Responded with a chuckle. “On even ground, or in th’ mountains… they mighta been trouble. With the hardware they ended up bringin’, they still were. But we tore ‘em limb from limb. Doubt they’ll try an’ attack on our home turf so quick in da future.” the troll chuckled. We lost dozens a’ trolls. They lost hundreds o’ dwarves. And they didn’t even manage to get what they wanted.”
Raal paused at this. “What they wanted.”
“The reason I called ya here, mon. Somethin’ happened in the fields recently. Well… somethin’ happened everywhere recently. Or rather, something happened a long time ago.”
Raal let out an exasperated sigh, brushing his forehead with one skeletal hand in annoyance. “Venjo, if your tongue continues to twist so rapidly, I’m afraid I’ll finally decay before your story ends. Would it be so much for you to ask to straighten it.”
Venjo chuckled at that, “To be honest, I just wanted to see how long it’d take ya to ask. I was hopin’ to say a little more before ya finally lost patience. Isn’t it the way of the magician to speak forever, and say nothin’?” Venjo asked.
“A magician without a timetable, perhaps.” Raal replied. Venjo merely nodded at that, finally losing his customary grin as he took a more serious tone.
“‘Bout a few years ago, a meteor fell in the fields, a streaking, emerald light, fallin’ from the heavens. Some claimed the legion’d found this world, but no army of demons came. Most of us wrote it off as just some legend, a fable.”
Raal merely nodded at this.
“But… as it turns out, these meteors fell in at least one other place. Camelot. ‘Dey extracted whatever was in there, and while details have been kept rather… short, I be one of the few on Zul’jin’s shortlist that gets told about things. So, I found out they extracted what they called a “star piece.” Venjo continued. “A blue artifact with a lot of power. We don’t know anythin’ about them beyond that, but one landed in the fields too.”
“A… star piece?” Raal nearly stuttered, the implications nearly causing him to shake. “You did not misspeak, Venjo? It was a star piece!” Raal muttered with a voice bordering on excitement.
“Aye. It be what they called it, at least.”
“And the one here… does it match the color of the meteor?” Raal asked with a voice bordering on excitement.
“What part of “we don’t know anything more” don’t ya get, Deathwind?” Venjo asked with incredulity. “...What’s wrong with ya?”
Raal’s smile grew broad as he spoke. “What’s wrong with me? Nothing at all. We may just reclaim one of the horde’s original prizes of conquest.”
“Explain ya babble, man.”
“Long ago, the orcs fought the draenei. It was the first birth-cries of the horde, and we slaughtered the wretched creatures to a one. True genocide.” Raal explained with his hands shaking. “One major discovery we had found were artifacts that the Draenei had kept with them all these years. They each had different powers. One would give a warrior the strength of ten men, another would give so much clarity of thought that even the weakest shaman or warlock could cast the most powerful spells, and another…” Raal’s voice got higher and higher, before he seemed to catch himself.
“...the point.” Raal continued after a few seconds of silence. “is that these might be ancient artifacts of great power… and yet, you stated you have no information on them. What, then, is the point of telling me all this?”
Venjo’s smirk returned slightly. “I can’t tell ya anymore about the green star… but there be an astronomer here, from Dalaran. He’s more than equipped to do exactly that. Willing? Not so much. Even gettin’ his location was quite th’ feat. Bruenor seems to be tryin’ to keep him quite protected. Not that it’s gonna help. We ain’t gonna sit here an’ let the bastard use that artifact to empower his dwarves.’ Venjo said with a vicious grin. Or rather…”
Raal cut the schemer off. “Or rather, I’m not gonna sit here… this is exactly why you called me here, isn’t it?” Raal asked with a roll of his eyes.
Venjo merely shrugged. “Well… somethin’ like that. Ya wouldn’t be going alone, of course. I’m a little… disarmed at the moment, so odds are I ain’t gonna be able to help ya, but I got some boys to send with ya. Veterans. Berserkers. An’ smart, too. They’ll be joinin’ ya on your little raid. The man you be after be called Brandon Marshall. Kill ‘im, and steal his work.” Venjo said quietly. “If you do this, and manage to find the damn thing too, and then bring it to Zul’jin… I imagine you’ll be more than able to get that audience you been wantin’.” Venjo said with a grin.
Raal paused to think about that. “...Very well.” he stated finally. “But you’ve yet to tell me where the man’s located in the first place. It’s rather essential information, I’d imagine.” Raal stated, trying and failing to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
Venjo’s voice took on a more serious tone. “It be Dwarveholm. Bruenor’s capital… You’ll have to be careful, Deathwind. This ain’t some village to be smashed to bits by a naive giant. This be a fortress that could withstand thousands.”
“...Hmph.” Raal grunted, thinking this fact through. “ Worry not, Venjo. I’ll get in quietly. They won’t even know I was there… at least, until long after I’ve left.” Raal added with a wicked smile.
It lacked walls in an open space to the outside eye, until one looked closer. The well-crafted longhouses, tents, armories, and huts were all arranged in a deceptively confusing way. Shorter walls of hard brick jutted between different buildings, making the village as a whole very hard to navigate without familiarity. Walls that didn’t look like walls, and a village that seemed more like bait than a trap.
This time, however, Raal looked down at a broken and bleeding shadow of that very village. Fire still blazed like an oversized chimney from the main armory, entire buildings had been reduced to scraps of wood, boulders and cannonballs littered the area, along with dozens of corpses - troll and dwarf alike.
Raal didn’t say anything to Zul’kis as he charged forward. He didn’t have to. The sound of roaring flame and the stench of violent death spurred him onward faster than Raal could ever manage.
The tears sparkling down the young trolls’ cheeks were a problem, of course. But for now, there was precious little he could do about them. Such was the nature of youth. Instead, Raal spurred his deathcharger forward with a simple hand gesture forward, directing the creature to Venjo’s estate.
Whatever had happened before, it was clear to see that it was long finished. And while this was definitely an unprecedented cut into troll territory, the idea of the crafty troll leader dying in such a single-minded scheme was complete absurdity.
--------------------------------------------------------
It took Raal only a minute to reach Venjo’s hut, entering without bothering to knock.
His indiscretion lead to the uncomfortable feeling of metal scraping his ribs, as a pair of spears rested an inch away from piercing his robed figure upon entering.
In a different universe, Raal would have raised his hands, and the pair would have been screaming on the ground for this indiscretion. Instead, Raal merely glared, a pair of telekinetic pushes smacking the spearheads into the oaken wall.
“Perhaps one of these days, we’ll have a meeting without my life being put into imminent danger, Venjo.” Raal stated with a hint of amusement, as he scanned the ornate room. The first, most obvious thing he noted was Venjo himself. His face was grinning, his mohawk seemed even better groomed than before…
And his bandaged body was short an entire arm.
“What in the hells happened here?” Raal asked, his expression one of shock.
“Ayy, don’ be so melodramatic, mon. I be a troll, remember? Dey grow back. It do be a shame, though. I rather liked that one.” Venjo responded with a lighter tone. He seemed rather unfazed by this situation to Raal’s eyes. Rather surprising, given the losses Raal had counted off.
“That doesn’t answer my question, Venjo.” Was Raal’s only response. He didn’t feel like playing games with the troll at the moment.
“Your question be an easy one to answer. ‘Twas the dwarves. They attacked quickly, without even a trace o’ warning. Thrice our number. ‘Course… they weren’t prepared to attack a troll town properly.” Zul’kis Responded with a chuckle. “On even ground, or in th’ mountains… they mighta been trouble. With the hardware they ended up bringin’, they still were. But we tore ‘em limb from limb. Doubt they’ll try an’ attack on our home turf so quick in da future.” the troll chuckled. We lost dozens a’ trolls. They lost hundreds o’ dwarves. And they didn’t even manage to get what they wanted.”
Raal paused at this. “What they wanted.”
“The reason I called ya here, mon. Somethin’ happened in the fields recently. Well… somethin’ happened everywhere recently. Or rather, something happened a long time ago.”
Raal let out an exasperated sigh, brushing his forehead with one skeletal hand in annoyance. “Venjo, if your tongue continues to twist so rapidly, I’m afraid I’ll finally decay before your story ends. Would it be so much for you to ask to straighten it.”
Venjo chuckled at that, “To be honest, I just wanted to see how long it’d take ya to ask. I was hopin’ to say a little more before ya finally lost patience. Isn’t it the way of the magician to speak forever, and say nothin’?” Venjo asked.
“A magician without a timetable, perhaps.” Raal replied. Venjo merely nodded at that, finally losing his customary grin as he took a more serious tone.
“‘Bout a few years ago, a meteor fell in the fields, a streaking, emerald light, fallin’ from the heavens. Some claimed the legion’d found this world, but no army of demons came. Most of us wrote it off as just some legend, a fable.”
Raal merely nodded at this.
“But… as it turns out, these meteors fell in at least one other place. Camelot. ‘Dey extracted whatever was in there, and while details have been kept rather… short, I be one of the few on Zul’jin’s shortlist that gets told about things. So, I found out they extracted what they called a “star piece.” Venjo continued. “A blue artifact with a lot of power. We don’t know anythin’ about them beyond that, but one landed in the fields too.”
“A… star piece?” Raal nearly stuttered, the implications nearly causing him to shake. “You did not misspeak, Venjo? It was a star piece!” Raal muttered with a voice bordering on excitement.
“Aye. It be what they called it, at least.”
“And the one here… does it match the color of the meteor?” Raal asked with a voice bordering on excitement.
“What part of “we don’t know anything more” don’t ya get, Deathwind?” Venjo asked with incredulity. “...What’s wrong with ya?”
Raal’s smile grew broad as he spoke. “What’s wrong with me? Nothing at all. We may just reclaim one of the horde’s original prizes of conquest.”
“Explain ya babble, man.”
“Long ago, the orcs fought the draenei. It was the first birth-cries of the horde, and we slaughtered the wretched creatures to a one. True genocide.” Raal explained with his hands shaking. “One major discovery we had found were artifacts that the Draenei had kept with them all these years. They each had different powers. One would give a warrior the strength of ten men, another would give so much clarity of thought that even the weakest shaman or warlock could cast the most powerful spells, and another…” Raal’s voice got higher and higher, before he seemed to catch himself.
“...the point.” Raal continued after a few seconds of silence. “is that these might be ancient artifacts of great power… and yet, you stated you have no information on them. What, then, is the point of telling me all this?”
Venjo’s smirk returned slightly. “I can’t tell ya anymore about the green star… but there be an astronomer here, from Dalaran. He’s more than equipped to do exactly that. Willing? Not so much. Even gettin’ his location was quite th’ feat. Bruenor seems to be tryin’ to keep him quite protected. Not that it’s gonna help. We ain’t gonna sit here an’ let the bastard use that artifact to empower his dwarves.’ Venjo said with a vicious grin. Or rather…”
Raal cut the schemer off. “Or rather, I’m not gonna sit here… this is exactly why you called me here, isn’t it?” Raal asked with a roll of his eyes.
Venjo merely shrugged. “Well… somethin’ like that. Ya wouldn’t be going alone, of course. I’m a little… disarmed at the moment, so odds are I ain’t gonna be able to help ya, but I got some boys to send with ya. Veterans. Berserkers. An’ smart, too. They’ll be joinin’ ya on your little raid. The man you be after be called Brandon Marshall. Kill ‘im, and steal his work.” Venjo said quietly. “If you do this, and manage to find the damn thing too, and then bring it to Zul’jin… I imagine you’ll be more than able to get that audience you been wantin’.” Venjo said with a grin.
Raal paused to think about that. “...Very well.” he stated finally. “But you’ve yet to tell me where the man’s located in the first place. It’s rather essential information, I’d imagine.” Raal stated, trying and failing to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
Venjo’s voice took on a more serious tone. “It be Dwarveholm. Bruenor’s capital… You’ll have to be careful, Deathwind. This ain’t some village to be smashed to bits by a naive giant. This be a fortress that could withstand thousands.”
“...Hmph.” Raal grunted, thinking this fact through. “ Worry not, Venjo. I’ll get in quietly. They won’t even know I was there… at least, until long after I’ve left.” Raal added with a wicked smile.