Test of the Gods

General Summary

To Ragnaros , it seemed but a moment, but perhaps he had been lost for a millennia, only to be brought back to the precipice of disaster as he woke up in the realm of the gods, looking upon a blue coloured sky. He stood up, meeting the three Passions in mortal forms that were to be his unlikely companions, Thystonius, Lochost and Garlen. A trio of witches soon came upon them, informing that Ragnaros had been chosen, as he had great potential, but for what, he did not know. What he did know was that he had three scenarios to complete. He and the three gods soon appeared in a farm field, the soft wind shushing in the wind as they stood there at high noon. Suddenly, it turned dark as a large skyship, bigger than anything he had seen before, swivelled into his view. It landed, as it had been flying above him, a platform folding out. In the shadow of the great airship, he saw Theran soldiers marching out. They waited, watching it dispense it's troops and then flying away. Soon, time passed quickly, the soldiers marched upon a nearby village, where they began attacking the villagers, setting houses and barns on fire. The squad of gods and mortal reacted quickly when time halted to a normal stance, leaping off headstrong towards the nearest house. Lochost leapt up to the second story where the villagers were inside, herding them out as the 3 remaining went in through the doors. They all made it up the stairs after a few fumbles and fiery entrances. Moving out onto the roof with all of the inhabitants, they went down, catching all of them with Lochost taking them to safety. The remaining three, once more, headed off, moving stealthily towards a barn that had been secured by troops. The Mother of Barsaive, Garlen, set up a trap of frost as Ragnaros lured the guards out. Two of them went out and froze solid, and were carried off quickly by Ragnaros. The mighty Thystonius boasted his strength and showed off, flexing his massive muscles with hostile intent raising fear in all that looked upon him inside the barn. They ceased their strife with the team, and willingly headed out, only to freeze once more in Garlen's trap. Ragnaros leapt inside, unlocking the doors and allowing the village people free passage out, informing them to escape with great haste. As the group left the barn, they noticed a name written on the barn entrance, but alas, Ragnaros has forgotten it by now. They went ahead to the centre of the village, where many a enemy had set ablaze various houses, huts and barns. Forming a plan to scour the vicinity for civilians, they made great haste. The quick one, Lochost, Passion of change, made it's way through the bushes at the back of a nearby house, leaping through the house and yanking one soldier though the window, slaying the warrior with little burden on it's now mortalized powers. As Lochost sped off, so did Thystonius, imbuing the onlookers his great pecs of steeled flesh. His adamantine abs making quick work of not one, but two soldiers as Ragnaros followed suit, cleaving one soldier in half with his great-sword. In the meantime, Garlen went off to another house. Checking inside and finding a little boy, scared, lost and without his parents. Garlen told took a hold of him, carrying him outside where a great bow formed in Garlen's hands. In quick succession, many an arrow were sent off in a flurry. As soldiers died, torches were extinguished being slumped into water pits and onto the ground here and there. Lochost followed up by doing another sneak attack on a nearby warrior of the sky brigade, as they all minced down one more opponent each. The three now mortal gods focused on the main force. Thystonius having rendered one group of them stricken with fear and awe, which were then compelled by Garlen to set out extinguishing the flames. Alas, a cadre of archers did not yield, as they fought the trio of mortal gods. Meanwhile, Ragnaros wandered into a empty house, lost in rage but still in control of the mission, to save the villagers. He found a kid hiding inside a cupboard, at which point he tried to reduce his bloodlust, but alas, he roared out in anger and hatred upon the poor child, all his teeth flecked out for all their glory as he bellowed. If there was anything inside the boy, it all crept out his bottom at astounding speed, marking the entire cupboard wall black and brown. The child cried out in pure, unhalted primal fear as he ran out, leaving a trail of brown matter out the house and forever a giant, raging troll in his memories and dreams. Ragnros took that as a win, saving this boy from a slow death of burning as he left the house, joining up with the others as they defeated the rest of the soldiers. The day had been saved, house fires put out and a invasion of Therans stopped. But Ragnaros was not to rest, as he soon was transposed into the heart of Bartertown, where a rowdy crowd had been silenced. Upon further notice, a funeral procession walked closer, showing off a beloved Dwarven king that had been slain. One of the public says he was poison, another that it was just natural. But Ragnaros did not belive as such, as the attack upon the nearby village he forgot the name off was only days off. He met up with Oergesol, a member of the Royal Expeditionary Force. Oergesol told them that the king had been poisoned, and the perpetrator had been caught by Ragnaros' old team. Ragnaros did miss his team, but alas they were nowhere in sight. But now was not the time for sadness. He had a scenario to win. They did eventually ask Oergesol if they could perhaps enter the meeting about the future of the dwarven city. To which he agreed, allowing them all to enter. Upon entering the great chamber where Dwarven kingdoms were forged, Kings and Queens were made, Ragnaros saw the already onset chaos of diplomacy, ruling and infighting between the dwarfs themselves. The four revealed to the prince, nobles and diplomats about the vicious attack upon the village earlier by the Therens and their great skyship. They then requested to have a look at the body of the assassin, who had been captured right after slaying the old king, but they had not gotten out any info as he had promptly killed himself with poison. The assassin was Theren, a government symbol prominent on his clothing. Thystonius began championing for a war, to fight the Therens head on. He would have fought with valour and strength, to show off his glorious muscles upon the battlefield. Garlen advocated for peace siding with the dwarf advising gaining allies among the people of Barsaive in order to keep the Therens at bay, and whispered to Ragnaros that that would be the best path to proceed, as he thought himself. Having seen enough bloodshed in the siege upon their city, he did not want any more than was needed. Ragnaros looked upon the dwarf that was arguing for approaching the Therens directly to seek a truce, who's plan also seemed to be a good choice. However, Lochost seemed to have taking a liking to him, inspecting him closely. Meanwhile, the assassin's body had been brought in and Garlen was inspecting it. It was clear to her that the assassin had not taken his own life, but had been murdered, and revealed this to the enclave. Soon after the dwarf that advocated for a Theran truce had his disguise struck, and Dis the Passion of chaos appeared, as Lochost "hugged" him from behind. Then Thystonius began bear hugging him as well, and they had a jolly great time. Meanwhile the other dwarfs in the room were struck with confusion and fear, guards were ordered and weapons had been unsheathed. Ragnaros then calmed them down with his growing voice of reason. Conspiracy theories were choked, war plans were thought into nothingness as they all agreed that both they and the Therens had been played, as the god of chaos was renowned for not being a one-sided team player. And upon that, they where once more transported back to the field that they had started in. Bloodshed, decay and war. They had entered a ravaged battle-zone where Theran and Dwarven bodies lay strewn about in the field, crows pecking and feasting upon them. Members of the Theran army came closer, wandering through the field, conversing about their recent victory and escalating warfare. The Dwarfs were losing, is the last they said before what appeared to be the general pointed out the team of four mortals to the Theran mage. The Therans concluded their business; the general left as the mage looked upon the group. And soon, Hell followed as the great horror corrupted dragon appeared in front of the group. All but Ragnaros looked upon it with indifference, as he cowered down and screamed in terror, a great being of pure terror corrupt had been shown to him, a mere mortal. The eldritch abomination frightened his very soul as he crouched there. Within a minute, he composed himself, as he could do nothing but fight now. Lochost noticed the great sword Ragnaros inherited from his master, and investigates it. It revealed that the sword could damage the dragon, but only at the roof of the mouth where dragons' are most vulnerable. Ragnaros looked upon the destruction around him and imagined the damage the dragon would do to the rest of the world. He became resolute in his intentions of keeping the world from that fate. Bolstered by the blessings of the Passions, Ragnaros leapt into the great dragons maw, stabbing upward as the dragon's teeth crash down over him. The chaos dragon is killed, evaporating into dark particles, but Ragnaros was close to death himself. Lochost stabalized him, and Garlen began healing his wounds. Once revived, the Passions transported Ragnaros back to their land and reveal that part of the reason for his being brought there was to see if he would make a good champion for one of them. While Thystonius thinks Ragnaros fought bravely, and appreciates a good set of muscles, he doesn't think Ragnaros' motivations align with his, those being challenge for challenges sake, rather than in aid of others. Lochost and Garlen both think Ragnaros aligns well with their values and asked him to join their ranks. Ragnaros took account of the trials he'd been put through, events that according to the witches are prophesied to come to fruition. He decided that the blessings Garlen can provide will best help him to fight those atrocities and swore an oath to her: I vow to protect others from harm with the fullness of my being
To offer compassion and healing
To drive out darkness wherever it resides
And to never fail to put the welfare of others above myself.
With a promise from Lochost that it will also aid him in a time of great need, the world of the Passions fades from Ragnaros' view.