"You've got to be kidding me!" Magnar bellowed as his laughs reverberated off the deep canyon walls. "Where is the rest of it? I can't believe you chose to show this to world willingly!" Magnar ran his finger mockingly down Magnus' exposed, bare chest. The humidity and heat of Mhistana Detritus had become too much for Magnus to withstand any longer. So he made the worst decision of his life, opening the front of his robe. This allowed his brother to see that even after ten years, the wizard still only had a small single line of chest hair.
"Can't you conjure up the illusion of manhood Mags?" Magnar continued laughing and making jokes at Magnus' expense as the party walked. After leaving Sioch's Temple Magnus and the rest had been following a well-worn path that led them to this canyon. They had been walking for several monotonous hours as the tan rock of the jagged canyon walls towered over them. No breeze could breach the walls to provide relief from the heavy, suffocating humidity. The wizard had thought to speak an incantation that would produce a block of ice for him to strap his chest. However, he wanted to save all his strength, both physical and arcanite, for whatever unknown lay ahead. If even half the stories of Mhistana Detritus were true, he would need all of it.
Magnus looked to Kel'dhos who seemed to be staring at nothing a thousand miles away. The half-elf's jet black hair was stuck to his forehead and dripping down the front of his armor. All of his companions, Magnus realized, were still donning their armor in spite of the climate. They fear this place as much as I, even if they don't say it aloud.
The path suddenly began to rise steadily and the party emerged from the canyon. Magnus took in a deep breath as a strong refreshing breeze washed over him. His breath caught suddenly at the scene laid out in front of them. The breeze twisted into revolting the smell of rot and death. An army of dead orcs littered the fields of the rolling hills before him and dried blood had turned the once brown dirt ground black. The only signs of life were from the carrion birds as they feasted on the banquet of bloated, stinking corpses. The scene extended out of Magnus' sight and he heard Kel'dhos retch behind him.
"What happened here?" Telerek asked, finally breaking the collectively stunned silence. Magnus pulled his eyes from the gore and looked at his brother. Magnar's face was hardened and solemn as his eyes darted back and forth. "War," the dwarf finally said.
The party briefly discussed how to navigate through the battlefield, with the consensus being to continue on the worn path. Magnar pointed out that judging by the decomposition of the bodies, the battle had been over a week ago. Whatever fighting was going on now, wasn't happening here. Val attempted to shift into her falcon form and survey the area, however, when she did so, she was beset upon by no less than twenty carrion birds.
"Wow, those guys are really, really mean. I told them I wasn't going to take any of their food but they still threatened to tear me from the sky and do some pretty horrible things to my mother. I told them she was already dead, but they just didn't want to listen," Val said, shifting back to her elven form.
The party spaced out, with Magnar leading the procession and Beltayne taking the position of rear guard. Wordlessly, they made their way across the hilly plain, all eyes scanning the horizon for the seemingly inevitable trap to be sprung. All eyes, except Magnus'. The wizard's mind's eye was far busier than either of the two on his face. He figured Telerek would spot danger long before he, so he dove into all he could remember about this cursed place.
The name Mhistana Detritus, derived from the arcane language, translated to "Domain of Mhistana." Mhistana was one of the seven dragon emperors that had ruled over Eridan for thousands of years in the time period known as the "Ashen Empires." The dragons arrived from the Arcanite realm, claiming to be fleeing the constant cycle of war and destruction of their home world. It was now widely accepted by scholars, however, that the seven had either been exiled from or were fugitives of their native lands. Not long after arriving in a primitive Eridan, the dragons set about dividing the lands evenly amongst themselves and enslaving the populations. Although this area did not constitute all of Mhistana's land, the dragon emperor's capital had been here.
This portion of the world that belonged to Mhistana was said to be a thriving area with rich soil and lush rainforests. Magnus crested a large hill and saw only the barren and blasted remains of a once bountiful landscape stretching out in every direction. After the dragon emperors were finally overthrown at the end of the War of Broken Wings, the now free peoples of Eridan began the slow process of self rule. Several decades of strife and war followed until governments, courts, systems and borders were established. Of course there had been small pockets, like Graliel's Bulwark, that had always been free from the Ashen Empires. The elves say that when the dragons first began their conquest of Eridan, a Wylde Spirit deity named Graliel called her people to her forest. She sacrificed herself on the shores of a lake within her domain. Her sacrifice created a magical barrier around the forest, and none could enter or leave. Magnus had even heard that the people of the Bulwark believe Graliel is reincarnate and each reincarnation ascends to become their queen. Apparently, they have a very convoluted ritual and process for how this reincarnated heir is chosen, but the wood elves of the Bulwark believe it is infallible.
During this transition from enslavement to civilization, a powerful warlock had set up in Mhistana's former capital. He declared himself the Necromancer King and created a kingdom in service of some demon or another. Several paladins and clerics declared a holy war and besieged Mhistana Detritus for a decade. After the Necromancer King's armies were defeated and his death was imminent, he released a powerful spell which killed every living thing within leagues. The spell blasted the landscape and even shattered parts of the land, creating several islands on the southern coast. The land became completely inhospitable for most and stories of vanishing settlements and thirty foot tall monsters became widespread. As such, it became a haven for thieves, cutthroats and unsurprisingly, slavers. Several races that were brought from the Arcane realm by the Ashen Emperors to Eridan, such as orcs and goblins, slowly began migrating to Mhistana as the newly established polite societies rejected them.
Dwarves were also brought to Eridan by the dragons. However, unlike the orcs and goblins who served and worshipped the dragons willingly, dwarves were brought as slave labor. Magnus' ancestors took up arms against their masters in the War of Broken Wings, while the orcs fought for their overlords. When the war was over and the Empires toppled, dwarves were accepted by the burgeoning kingdoms and even given their own land, The Bronze Hills. This was why Magnus' study of the arcane was vilified by his own people and raised eyebrows amongst others. The dwarven people viewed the Arcane as the tool of their oppressors and Magnus a traitor for his earnest attempt at mastering it. Magnus saw it more as an insult to the dragon emperors. That he was spitting in the face of his people's former masters by taking control of their tools of power. Other dwarves did not see it that way. The wounds of subjugation cut deep and take generations to heal.
Magnus brought his mind back to the present and surveyed his surroundings. They had thankfully passed the final remnants of the battle and the air, while still foul and sulfuric, had cleared from the stench of rotting and sunbaked flesh. The sun began to set, and with it, the heat slowly dissipated as Magnus clutched his robe around himself.
Up ahead, Telerek increased his pace until he reached Magnar at the front. The elf seemed to whisper something into Magnar's ear, to which the dwarf nodded. Telerek then fell back and spoke to Val, then Kel'dhos who was directly in front of Magnus.
Kel'dhos jogged back to Magnus and matched his pace while continuing to look straight ahead. "We are being followed. Do not set your gaze in that direction, but to our west I have seen a band of creatures keeping pace with us. They haven't gotten any closer, which makes me think this path of ours turns inland. I have instructed Magnar to exit the path when the road turns and there, we will wait."
Magnus lay flat on his back staring at the stars and whispering an incantation. Their cookfire crackled at the center of the small circular alcove north of the path. It had taken Telerek and Beltayne about an hour after the course changed directions to find the location. Large boulders surrounded them on all sides, as black smoke rose into the moonlit night. The orange glow of the fire bounced off the boulders and illuminated the six bed rolls. Magnus had raided the storeroom of the repurposed Sioch Temple before their departure and collected a large amount of vegetables and dried meats. Beltayne prepared a large pot of a surprisingly delicious carrot and herb soup. The boasts of his cooking prowess being second only to his skill in battle lasted the length of the meal. Magnus had to admit the snow elf was becoming much more adept in a fight, they all were.
The wizard was, unfortunately, becoming far more accustomed to fighting. Part of him was beginning to enjoy it, as much as he hated admitting that to himself. When he set out to gain a more practical skillset with the arcane, he never imagined it would lead him to this. Laying on his back in one of the most cursed places in the world, whispering spells as enemies crept toward him in the night. Magnar had told him that surviving a close battle was an exhilaration that nothing else could match. Magnus was not quite sure he felt the exact same, but he could agree that there was something intoxicating in the immediate aftermath. However, waiting for a fight to potentially find its way to him felt more like the morning after intoxication occurred. Every horrible outcome and possibility went through his head and into his knotted stomach, while any positive result seemed like a distant dream.
The stars above him were suddenly obscured as a translucent purple shield flashed. Multiple arrows, hatchets and javelins stuck into his arcane ward as he rose to his feet. He kept the protection spell domed around their campsite using only slight hand movements and concentration. Concurrently he was whispering a secondary illusion that made the barrier invisible. Several goblins had taken up position on top of the large boulders surrounding their campsite. Several more were crowding against the edge of his ward in the space between boulders. Magnus smiled as Kel'dhos also rose from his bedroll, fully armored with mace and shield in hand.
Shrieking could be heard from on high as panther-formed Val leapt from the shadows outside the ward. She savaged the pint-sized ambushers, biting one in half while a single swipe of her paws ripped through three at a time. Beltayne emerged from behind a crowd of the goblins accompanied by a bare-chested Magnar. Telerek climbed onto the rocks directly above a line of enemies now trapped between Magnus' ward and his brother's maul. The result was a slaughter. Magnar and Beltayne cut through the pressed goblins, while Telerek rained arrows down from above. Val bounded after any that attempted to escape.
The battle was over in minutes, Telerek's plan had worked flawlessly. Val continued stalking the shadows long after the enemies were dead, cautious that this may have just been the first of many.
"See Mags, this is what a man's chest looks like!" Magnar bellowed as he walked back into the camp, running his free hand through the mane on his breast.
"I don't understand why you needed to take off your armor to begin with," Magnus replied.
"Subterfuge brother, I left it on my bedroll so that the little shits would think I was sleeping."
"Nobody else did that, they aren't that smart."
Magnar just laughed and took a drink from a wine skin he'd pilfered from the temple. Telerek and Beltayne emerged into the firelight a short time later, with two goblins bound and gagged. Telerek walked up to Kel'dhos and said, "you might want to take a walk." Kel'dhos nodded and began to walk towards the road, Magnus decided to follow him.
The pair walked wordlessly until the road was in sight and Kel'dhos sat on a large smooth rock. Magnus sat beside him and they stared at the stars in silence. Magnus had been to remote places before and although this land was said to be cursed, it felt oddly peaceful at that moment. The wide open plains of rock and nothingness backdropped by the vast ocean of stars and cosmos was breathtaking. The only sound Magnus could hear was the gentle breeze and Kel'dhos soft, rhythmic breathing. Well, and a very distant scream of a goblin as Telerek tortured him.
"You doing okay?" Magnus finally asked.
"No," Kel'dhos responded, staring up to the sky.
Magnus let the conversation die there. He hadn't been through the grief his friend was experiencing. He just didn't want the half-elf to be alone. After a long while, Magnus pulled a pipe from his bag, packed it with tobacco which he'd taken from the temple. The wizard snapped his fingers over the bowl of the pipe and a small flame appeared, lighting the tobacco. After two long drags, Magnus offered it to Kel'dhos. Surprisingly, the cleric took the pipe and inhaled. He held the smoke in his lungs for several moments before breathing out a large cloud. Kel'dhos then handed the pipe back to Magnus who almost dropped it from the sheer astonishment.
Kel'dhos allowed himself a brief smile. "Why is it that dwarves think they are the only ones in all of Eridan who can skillfully drink or smoke in excess?" Kel'dhos said, still looking at the sky. "How do you think clerics keep from losing their minds?"
Magnus and Kel'dhos sat and smoked the entire pipe together in silence. After a long while Kel'dhos stood up. "I suppose we should get back to camp."
The two returned as the rest of the party, minus Beltayne, were asleep in their bedrolls. Only one of the goblins remained and he too slept, hands and feet bound. "I have the watch for the night, my brave companions. Rest now and I will guard the remaining stunted beast," Beltayne said as they arrived.
Magnus laid face up on his bed roll and drifted to sleep.
The next morning the party ate a quick breakfast of dried beef, cheese and apples. Magnus opined to himself that the odd combination was actually quite palatable. Telerek gathered the party around himself at the remains of the now doused fire.
"So our new guide here tells me the slaves always get led down this path, which eventually leads to some old fortress. Stonecrest Keep, he called it. He said it would be suicide for us to stay on the path any longer and has provided me a rough map on how to reach the keep by a more conspicuous means," Telerek said, pulling a small parchment from his bag.
"A dumb runt little goblin told you all that?" Magnar responded.
"Yes, the goblins here aren't like the ones you are probably use to fighting. Living out here for generations has forced them to develop different skills than the mindless grunts we find near the shore. They had to adapt to survive."
"Did he say what all those orc bodies were from?" Magnus asked.
"He did. Apparently there is some orc war happening. Sounds like several clans have consolidated and formed alliances and that there are now two main factions. These factions are now fighting a prolonged war with one another."
Magnar laughed and said, "sounds like regular orc business if you ask me."
"Agreed," said Telerek, before adding, "However, the goblin added that both sides are being armed and funded by parties from outside of Mhistana Detritus. He's seen human and dwarf mercenaries delivering weapons and slaves."
"Magnar," Beltayne asked. "In your time with the cutthroats, did you ever engage in barbery such as this?"
"No," Magnar replied with a seriousness Magnus did not often see from his brother. "The Red Suns weren't always the most honorable of fighters true, but we were usually hired to fight in border skirmishes. We might help besiege a small fort, but for the most part we didn't take contracts for any lengthy campaign. And we definitely wouldn't take one that would bring us to this cursed place."
"Ah, a verifiable strike force then. Get in, disembowel a few enemies and leave with your pockets a little heavier. Yes, I believe that I agree with you Magnar, not honorable indeed." Beltayne said nodding.
Magnar waved dismissively and turned his attention back to Telerek. "So, did the little shit tell ya anything else?"
"No, he said they try not to venture too close to the orcs. Apparently the new factions aren't above enslaving the goblins."
"Does nothing else happen here but slavery and slaughter?" Kel'dhos asked, staring at the ashen remains of the cookfire.
Telerek shrugged and said "He did mention something about some mines far to the south that are currently being worked."
Their goblin guide led them southwest slowly through Mhistana's vast open wilderness. He told Telerek that the roads weren't safe. That mercenaries and orcs were constantly patrolling, but he knew a path to Stonecrest Keep where they would avoid those hazards. Magnus was taken aback at how clear and articulate the goblin was. He still spoke with the characteristic squeaking, nasally tone that all goblins did. But he spoke with a much larger vocabulary and where most goblins Magnus had met before spoke in one or two word phrases, this one used full sentences. They were blunt and short sentences, but the difference between this goblin and the ones from the mine in Praldosta was jarring.
Telerek had tied a rope around the goblins neck with a slipknot. If he attempted to run a tug on the rope would strangle the small creature. To ensure that they were not being led into a trap, Val took the form of a small wolf and stalked ahead.
The sun blasted down on the party and heat radiated off the tan rocks that surrounded them. Magnus initially moved to open the front of his robe again, however, a sideways glance from a smirking Magnar stopped that. Kel'dhos remained silent throughout the sweltering journey. Beltayne had exclaimed loudly soon after leaving camp that he and Winter's Bite were currently arguing and he would not be speaking to the sword for the remainder of the day. Magnar was scanning every nook, cranny and horizon. His usual jovial brother was tense, his hands gripped tightly on the handle of his hammer.
When the sky began to change to the dark, burnt orange of sunset, the party halted, gigantic boulders surrounding them all as wolf-formed Val had returned.
She changed back to her elven form and said, "there are a lot of orcs up there. There are some tents, a few dozen campfires and yeah, more orcs than I could count."
Telerek narrowed his eyes at their guide and drew his dagger. "I warned you about leading us into a trap."
"No trap! We are at the fort. Ask the she-elf." The goblin squealed, raising his arms to his face.
"Oh, yeah. There was a fort too. Big stone fort on top of a bluff and it even looked like there was some grass! How could I forget the grass? Must be awfully lonely to be the only grass for miles."
"These orcs you saw, were they inside the fort?" Telerek asked his cousin.
"Some were, but most of them were on the outside all around it."
"Damn, the fort must be under siege. Getting in just got a lot harder." Magnar grumbled.
"No. Orcs always inside and outside. They always be fighting at fort. It is not problem. Me and my friends still go and take food. I know a way into dungeon." The goblin said.
Telerek sheathed his dagger and took the rope tied around the goblin's neck from Beltayne. "Val, you come with me. The rest of you stay here," he said before turning to the goblin. "Show us."
"I said the guide showed us a way into the fortress. I never said it was going to be enjoyable," Telerek said to Magnus.
"There has to be another way," the dwarf continued to protest. Telerek, Val and the goblin had been gone about an hour before Val returned and guided the group to her cousin. The goblin was nowhere to be found as the party arrived at the base of the bluff, Stonecrest Keep looming far overhead. Telerek told Kel'dhos that he let the goblin flee after showing a way inside the fortress, but Magnus doubted that was true. He was certain he would find the guide's corpse behind one of the nearby rock formations if he looked. Magnus gazed up the steep cliff walls leading to Stonecrest and lamented potentially having to scale them. The reality of what they had to do made climbing the bluff seem the far preferrable option.
In the near dusk light, the small opening Telerek was standing near looked to be just a split in the stone. When Magnus examined it, it was actually smooth and worked stone. As he approached, the stench filled his nostrils, almost causing the wizard to vomit. In fact, he probably would have if he hadn't instinctively cast his stomach settling spell. A dark sludge oozed from the opening and Magnus realized what the tunnel's true purpose. For a moment, he was shocked that such a modern sewer system would be found in this primitive, barbaric land. However, he had to remind himself that this land was once prosperous and populated.
"Well, it won't be the first river of shit I have crawled through," Magnus said, wrapping a linen around his nose and mouth. "I'd take those robes off completely brother, that smooth chest should let you glide through easily."
Magnus sighed as he began peeling off his robes to place in his bag. Although he was wearing a mask, he could see his brother smile through the covering.