Journal #27 - The Battle For The Ru’steppes

Jherginga passed us on a steam locomotive mine cart. We quickly rigged up another to pursue him. Esmerelda fell into shadow, deep into the chasm. I feared she was lost for good.

We were joined by a man named Roric. He was apparently a member of Overwatch, some Nothric auditor. He had a murderous-looking heavy crossbow. I hoped he could use it. Merrys also accompanied us, and we raced after the goblin.
 
We were on a locomotive, there were four tracks spiraling down into the mines, a shaft 600 feet in diameter, spiraling ever down. We were able to strike levers from a distance to cause track mergers, and eventually managed to get the trains side-by-side.
 
I took my chance, and leapt the great distance between them. Ghiravont and Merrys followed – she nearly fell, but I reached out my hand, and when she was holding on, swung her like a weapon into a goblin, knocking it off the cart. There were goblins everywhere, a whole squad rushing at us - onto our train, and defending Jherginga on his.
 
I slew the remaining goblins on our car, and then crossed to the next. At the head of this train was the goblin king, and I had several cars to go. As I approached, he animated figures of my past… Oshrjad my father, Artok, and Yolmar my kin. Was I supposed to break down weeping? I did not.
 
The corpse of Oshrjad still wielded his weapon, my familial weapon. I chopped off its wrist and took it from him, and then decapitated him with it. Legend has it that it was carried by the first chief of the Bonebreakers and when it shattered against dragonscales, he used the jagged remnant to break through its ribcage and pierce its heart. It was the Bonebreaker Axe, and I used it to break bones indeed. I locked eyes with Jherginga, and struck down the bones of my father.
 
He fled, opening a dimension door off the train as it approached a sheer cliff. We had no choice but to jump through it ourselves. Roric was yet on the other train and had no choice but to jump upon a passing boulder.
 
He had taken us to the Dorndepths, and claimed here we would have a front row seat to the evolution brought about by the Witch’s ritual. He chugged an alchemical concoction, given to him by Madam Farosia, and his wounds began to animate and knit themselves back together… for a moment. We were trapped in a forcefield at this point, but I broke through it. The goblin “king” screeched that he would strike me down as his new power was great, but at the same time his newly grown arm petrified upon itself. He cursed Farosia, and we dueled.
 
I struck him down with my father’s axe, and he melted from the crushed vials on his belt which broke as he fell upon them. There were two remaining goblin guards who escaped with us through the portal. I turned to them, and they lay down their arms.
 
I bid them to join us, in this newly liberated Ru’steppes. I told them they must swear fealty to Merrys. But she in turn told them to be free, no more loyalty, we were all equal. They fled.
 
Domino whispered in our ears from afar - Magdalena was defeated, and Dhuraam is liberated. The Red Witch is no more - Alastar defeated her, at the cost of his own life. We were deep in the depths, in Madam Farosia’s lab; there was no sign of her.
 
I took the goblin’s crown, and smote it in two. We could feel it, the first blow dealt to the shadow.
 
Farosia’s greatest strength was trust, Madaldena’s was power, the Red Witch’s was influence. They were together conquered. The Ru’steppes were free.
 
We emerged from the shadow, and found Roric and Esmerelda together on the surface. I didn’t know how she’d made it, but Roric had handed her orders. I was far too preoccupied for Nothric bureaucracy. We had a victory feast!
 
The following days were ones of celebration, but also of sorrow. The Seer had died, found by Mortana when they first went to him as we parted ways. We are unsure what to do with the Brittle Blade at this point, but we have the two additional Vaporidian blades, as well as it. Alastar’s light had diminished, and Tanabraya now keeps his staff. Speaking of staves, Lug had that of the Goblin King. We presented it to Valos.
 
I suggested we look into the Vault of Voladyin housed here, but it was decided that it was safest for it to remain shut, given the motivations of those wanting to see it opened.
 
Valos broke the staff, and announced the end of the reign of evil within the Sunken Summits.
 
Roric also delivered a letter to Ghiravont – he was summoned back to the home office for some tribunal. I inquired for news from him – how stood Nerekhall? Apparently, we utterly defeated their uprising.
 
Mortana departed on a quest to reach Castle Talon, the last location of Malastar. After that she wanted to pursue Mar, on the whisper of prophecy, seeking far lands on the western shores.
 
We celebrated in the great hall of Dhuraam, fuller than ever before. The chieftain gave a rousing speech, of strangers who inspired them to action. But one error remained to undo; for long, too long, goliath clans had ruled as the Primal Alghadan. It was time for an orc clan to take its seat as well. Dhuraam would step aside, for without the Bonebreaker and his hands, we would not have a city left to man.
 
I was touched deeply. The weight of my past was unburdened, my wildest dreams achieved. And yet, a new weight soon found its place instead. The weight of my duty to the future.
 
We celebrated for days, and began the labor of rebuilding the city. The goliath’s masterworked much of our equipment for us, and I formally took a clan seat for the Bonebreakers of Alghada, one of twelve. I was presented with a Rune Shard, one of just twelve, a piece of the Sunbrace, a Phoenix Jewel, a Shard of Timarand, the symbol of chiefdom in the Ru’steppes. It is a powerful piece of magic, and of history. I have yet to determine how to harness it.
 
Many farewells, the Applewood sisters depart. Merrys joins us as a member of Nothric, and we begin our journey back to Forge, accompanied by Esmerelda and Roric. I have a duty here in the Sunken Summits, but I also have a duty to the realm. I feel I must continue on in our battle against the Black Kings, and perhaps I can spread the news of the return of honor to the Summits, and reclaim orcs to my homeland.
 
We set off, and I began working on an appropriate song to mark the occasion.