Spitfire, Rainbow, Vytheril, and Scarlet followed the pair of ravens as they headed towards the area that the mysterious voice told them to head to, or at least that was what the group was assuming since they knew nothing about what was going on, where they walked over come wooden planks that formed a path over some stones as well, before they reached the start of the hill and started to head up it. There were some worgs and some bull-like creatures, the former on the right side of the path they were following and the latter on the left side, where they were surprised that none of the worgs were going at the bulls, but that meant they were able to make their way through the area without being bothered by any of the wildlife that were in the area and conserve their energy for the potential enemies that they might face. Something they discovered were a few posts with lanterns that lined their way, which had sharpened points near the bottom for some reason, though they were part of the vrykul style, according to what Vytheril said, and for some reason all of them were lit despite the fact that it was daytime out, but they paid it little mind while walking along the path the ravens were following. The only other thing the four of them noticed was the massive humanoid statue that was resting near their location, which appeared to be a warrior that was different from what the humans looked like, meaning it had to be a vrykul, though at least it gave them an idea as to what the ancient residents of this province looked like, or at least that was what Spitfire and Rainbow gained from staring at the statue for a few seconds. At the same time they realized that the statue had to be of some importance to the residents of Stormheim, because part of its exterior looked like it was cleaned to a degree while the upper reaches of it seemed to be out of their reach, though after staring at it for a few moments, and they were left alone by the animals that were resting near the area they were standing in, they continued down the path that they had been following and kept an eye out for whoever the ravens happened to be leading them to.
After a few more moments of walking the group paused as they finally reached an area where a cloth wearing vrykul, who was tending to what appeared to be a pot of food, happened to be standing, though it was what was beyond him that caused the group to pause as they stared out at the valley that was in front of them, one that had a number of camps set up and had three factions resting in front of what appeared to be an ancient stone vault that was underground, or at least part of it was anyway. One group of creatures happened to be a humanoid like all of the others they had seen, those these seemed to be more earthy than the others were and there were even fragments of stone growing out of their arms, legs, and the back of their heads, with some being even more brutish looking than the others did, though it was a race that none of them were at all familiar with and that meant they had to be on their guard when they approached them. Another camp contained what appeared to be tauren, though all of them seemed to have moose-like antlers for some odd reason, and they were armed as well, meaning they had come for the Aegis as well, just the like brutish stone creatures must have come for the relic as well. The third camp seemed to be made up of vrykul warriors, that much the four of them could see from where they were standing as they gazed out at the area around the vault, even though there were a number of them on top of the vault, doing who knew what since they were too far away to make anything out, but Spitfire and Rainbow could tell that there was more to these vrykul than what they happened to be seeing, as there was the taint of Fel magic in the air, meaning someone had sided with the Legion, and so far it was looking like the vrykul were prime suspects, which wasn't good for them and their mission.
"Gul'dan sure works fast. I had no idea he already had allies in Stormheim," Rainbow commented, referring to one of their enemies, the orc warlock that was behind the opening of the Felstorm and everything that they had learned about after Maiev had freed them from the Vault of the Wardens, though she was more amazed by the fact that their foe had allies in at least three provinces, those being the demons in Azsuna, the mass of demons Spitfire had seen while she was in Suramar, and now a force of vrykul in Stormheim.
"Indeed, though I believe its safe to say that he has allies in Val'sharah and Highmountain as well," Vytheril replied, as it was one thing to have allies in three of the five provinces of the Broken Isles, not counting the Broken Shore which was entirely dominated by the Legion, but given who they were talking about he was sure that the other two provinces were the same way, the problem was that they had no idea who those allies could be, "this is one of those times where I would like to be wrong, though we'll have to wait and see what the others tell us once we've recovered the four Pillars of Creation that we are currently seeking."
Spitfire said nothing to that, as she had the feeling that Vytheril was right about the Legion having a foothold in each of the five provinces of the Broken Isles, before she headed over to the camp that was near them, as it was time that they figured out what the scholar vrykul wanted to tell them, even though he did have a battleaxe or two leaning against the posts of his mostly open tent, but as they walked over to him he snapped his head up as the pair of ravens flew around the camp and settled down, both on top of the tent.
"I see that you got the letter my ravens delivered," the vrykul said, his voice matching the mysterious voice the group had heard earlier, meaning they had definitely found the person that wanted to talk with them, especially since he did just tell them that he was the one who sent the letter in the first place, which was when he gestured to himself, indicating that he was going to tell them who he was, "I am Havi, and I shall tell you what you need to know about the path that will lead you to your goal."
"That's right, we got the scroll you sent us, but how did you know we came for the Aegis of Aggramar?" Spitfire asked, because while it was nice to have allies in this land, which weren't trying to blow someone else up, she wanted to be sure that Havi was on their side and that this wasn't a trap set for them by Gul'dan, even though she and Rainbow didn't fell any Fel energy coming from the area they were in, while at the same time Vytheril and Scarlet stood at the ready, in case any of the enemies in the area below them tried to rush up to the area they were in.
"I could sense your power the moment you arrived in this land... besides, why else would you come to this land?" Havi replied, informing the group that the only reason Stormheim even got visitors was due to the Titan relic that was located here, or at least that was what Spitfire and Rainbow, at the very least, had been lead to believe from what Khadgar and the others had told them earlier, "The Aegis of Aggramar is what everyone seeks, and it rests in the High Hall of the All-Father, or the Halls of Valor, as they are more commonly called these days. How would a mortal claim it?"
Spitfire thought about it for a moment, as it sounded like Havi was suggesting that the Halls of Valor were a realm of some kind that they would need to find a portal or gateway to access, if her thoughts were correct, but before any of them could respond to what their ally said they heard an interesting noise, which happened to be Havi's stomach, which let out a loud growl to indicate that he was hungry, causing the four of them to stare at the vrykul for a moment, as it somewhat ruined the mood of the situation.
"Excuse me, that was inappropriate, but it does tie into your first test..." Havi stated, almost like he had planned all of this from the very beginning, which was totally possible since they knew nothing about him or the land of Stormheim, and that was when he turned for a moment and pointed at the cauldron that was currently resting over the campfire, though it was obvious as to what he was going to say next, or at least it was to Spitfire and Rainbow, after everything they had seen and learned from the rest of the Illidari, "Stir. That. Cookpot!"
Since neither Spitfire or Rainbow really had any idea on how to cook the food of this world, something that they were going to have to learn on their own at some point in the future, Scarlet stepped forward and took a look at the cookpot for a few seconds, stirring it to make sure none of it burned, before heading over to an area that some crabs were tied up in and brought one or two over to the cookpot, while adding some vegetables and some grains to the meal that Havi had been preparing before their arrival, even though their new ally spoke while she did that.
"The Vault that rests before you holds not glory, like many assume, rather is holds wisdom." Havi stated, though as he said that Spitfire, Rainbow, and Vytheril stood nearby and listened to what he had to say, while at the same time Scarlet did the same as she made sure the meal, which would be enough for one, was done and wasn't burned, as everyone was curious as to what they might learn, "Yotnar is the Vault's lock, and glory is the Vault's key... if you forge a key in the blood of champions, as in those that have come to best the trials, perhaps the lock will turn. Inside the Vault you will find paths... and possibly more... oh, that smells delicious."
"Thanks, I learned how to cook like this when I was alive, before I was revived as a death knight," Scarlet said, where she put the finishing touches on the meal that was inside the cookpot and made sure it was pulled out at the proper time, so all Havi had to do was wait for it to cool down a little before he dived into his crab stew, as that was all she was able to make with the ingredients that had been laying around the camp, though such a thing was likely due to this being a test for them and not an actual cooking requirement to move forward.
"Anyway, the Watcher Yotnar keeps the Vault, and he is, well, he's a fickle one." Havi continued, where he pulled out a bowl and served himself some of the crab stew Scarlet had made for him, something that he put off to the side so it could cool down a little before he ate it, allowing him to focus on the group once more so he could give them the final pieces of information that they needed to know, "Challengers come from far and wide, seeking the knowledge of the trials, but the Watcher chooses not to see them, silently declaring them to be unworthy of the trials... if you wish to catch his eye, all of you will have to show him that you are worth being seen. Some of these challengers I mentioned are waiting in the camps that rest throughout the Valley of the Sword, so I would suggest bringing their heads to Yotnar, so that he may see them, and, more importantly, the four of you."
"Okay, kill the champions and take their heads... one of those should be easy for us to take out, considering that the one in question is full of Fel energy." Rainbow commented, though instead of waiting for Havi to say anything the four of them started to head down the path that was near the camp and quickly headed down into the area that was outside the Vault of Aggramar, where they focused on the three types of enemies and wondered who would be the best one to take out first, even though she and Spitfire headed for the camp that was laced with Fel energy.
What was interesting was that they were able to reach the area that the Fel-corrupted vrykul warriors were camping in without being attacked by anyone else, as it appeared that the three camps were in different parts of the area and none of the challengers bothered to lash out at anyone that might be passing on the road that lead deeper into Stormheim, which allowed the group to lash out at their foes. Spitfire parried an attack with her warglaives and heard one of the vrykul say something about the Tideskorn being the ones to dominate the trials and that no one else would beat them, where she felt that these ones would be the Felskorn, due to their Fel nature, and lashed out at them with little remorse, as those that allied with the Legion deserved no mercy from her and her allies. Rainbow clearly felt the same way as she parried the attacks that were coming at her and then cut down the Felskorn that were in front of her, while Scarlet drew her blade and switched to the dual one-handed sword mode, allowing her to use two blades to parry a few attacks and cut down those that decided to challenge her, and Vytheril stayed at the back as he blasted some of their enemies with arcane magic so he could weaken them before they joined the battle. As it turned out the Felskorn were definitely stronger than what the group had been expecting, even though none of them had any idea as to how strong the Tideskorn vrykul actually were, but that didn't stop the group from forcing their way through their foes and smashed their way into the heart of the camp the Felskorn had been resting in, only to discover that whoever their champion was happened to be missing, something that one of their enemies mentioned before he hit the ground, dead from his wounds.
"Okay, so either the Felskorn champion hasn't arrived yet, or they've gone missing," Vytheril said, where the group spent the next few moments studying the camp that they had found and knew that whoever Havi wanted them to kill was nowhere to be seen, though at the same time Spitfire and Rainbow made sure to take the Fel-corrupted souls of the fallen so they could use their power to improve their weapons in the future, before he found a small handheld box that just so happened to have some treasure inside it, "Well now, this is interesting, it appears that the challengers are carrying some bits of treasure, potentially offerings for this Yotnar that Havi mentioned earlier... should we gather some of the boxes our enemies have brought, so we can offer them to the Watcher of the Vault?"
"Might as well." Spitfire replied, because there was no telling what the Watcher was expecting a worthy challenger to offer him, so they could learn about the trials that were necessary to locate and recover the Ageis, but if everyone that was in this area was carrying these boxes of treasure, despite their size, than it might be worth collecting a few of them so they could add them to their offering, once the other two champions were taken care of and their heads had been collected, just like Havi had told them to do.
Vytheril nodded and made sure to pick up the couple of boxes that the Felskorn had been carrying with them, even though all of them were amazed by the fact that none of the treasure had been corrupted by the Fel energy their foes had used to empower themselves, though as he did that Spitfire focused on the antlered tauren that were nearby, where there seemed to be an equal number of male and female members of the group. Fortunately one of their enemies mentioned that they were members of the Bloodtotem tribe, which sounded like a weird name when they considered it, and that they would crush the group like the Drogbar that were on the other side of the valley, meaning the earthen creatures the group had seen, the ones without an actual camp, since the earthern warriors had no tents and whatnot. Still, it appeared that all of their enemies were warriors and that there were no mages, shamans, or any of the other long ranged fighters, so that allowed Spitfire, Rainbow, and Scarlet to fight up close and personal while Vytheril stuck at whatever openings he could find as they moved towards the hill that the Bloodtotem champion happened to be standing in at the moment. The tauren in question clearly wasn't happy to see them and naturally assumed that they were here for his head, since they did take down the vast majority of the Felskorn vrykul that were across the way from where he and his tribe members were resting, so it was pretty much all out war between the group and the rest of the Bloodtotem that were in this area, where they had to hack and slash their way through the incoming attacks, while parrying a few every now and then, all while each of them focused on trying to take down the champion so they could put an end to this battle and move on to the last group that they needed to fight before they approached the Vault.
The Bloodtotem champion was a big fan of stomping his hooves on the ground, in an attempt to stun whoever was the closest to him, but that didn't stop Spitfire from jumping into the air to avoid the tactic and swing her warglaives down as she landed behind her target, where her foe's battleaxe fell to the ground not a few seconds later and was followed by his body doing the same, along with his head rolling to where her hooves were, though Rainbow, Scarlet, and Vytheril took care of the rest of the enemies before approaching her.
"Well, that's one confirmed kill and one missing in action," Spitfire remarked, where she banished her warglaives back to her horns for a moment and headed inside the tent that the Bloodtotem champion had been using before they arrived in the Valley of the Sword, where she looked around it for a few moments and found a couple of sacks that were definitely large enough for the head of her enemy, even though she went about her business quickly and didn't think about the head all that much, before putting it inside her pack, "Well then, I guess its time we sought out the last remaining champion and take them out as well, so we can see what we need to do to find and recover the Aegis."
Rainbow and the others headed over to the area that the Drogbar had made their camp in, where a number of them seemed to be hanging out in small groups around the various parts of the area they had claimed for the duration of their stay in the Valley of the Sword, but, interestingly enough, many of the groups were out of the way and that meant they didn't have to waste their time on the other warriors that were around the area. The champion noticed them coming and, instead of calling for the rest of his tribe to assist him or anything, swung his axe at them, showing that he had an actual weapon while some of the others carried tools that were made out of stone and wood, all while declaring that the Aegis belonged to him and that anyone that dared to oppose him would fall beneath his might. As such Spitfire, Rainbow, and Scarlet focused on fighting the Drogbar champion, as both his words and the finer area he was standing in confirmed who he was, while Vytheril made sure the rest of the tribe stayed away from them, even though it appeared that the rest of the Drogbar either didn't care about the individual that was their champion or this was a personal test of might and they weren't supposed to assist whoever was under attack. Basically that allowed him to make sure they had enough boxes of treasure while Spitfire dodged an incoming axe swing and slashed into the outstretched arm that held it, Rainbow swung at their foe's chest, and Scarlet hacked and slashed with the pair of blades that she was carrying, allowing them to deal a great deal of damage to their foe while he was unable to deal anything to them, allowing the trio to drop him in the next couple of moments so they could take his rather large head and carry it to the Vault, and Vytheril informed them that they had enough treasure as well, which was good to hear.
With the final champion taken care of the group headed towards the area that the Vault was resting in, though as they got close to it a tall vrykul, this one possessing an amount of Fel energy that was stronger than the Felskorn they had taken care of earlier, and there was evidence of that by the Fel cracks in his left arm and the majority of the left side of his body, and that included the curved demonic horns that were on top of his head and came out of his helmet, stepped out of the Vault, carrying a stone or metallic item that had to be the head of Yotnar, the Watcher of the Vault.
"Your ancient rites and rituals mean nothing to me, Yotnar! I will conquer your trials and take the Aegis for my own!" the vrykul stated, where he held the head up for a moment, to show that he was speaking to the Watcher that he fought and likely dismembered, considering the fact that there was no body attached to the head, before he hurled the stone head at the ground and it came to rest near a path that lead to the upper reaches of the Vault's exterior, not to mention the path that lead into the Vault itself, "Cower here in your cave, while it still stands!"
"The gods will not tolerate your actions, vrykul! You will answer for your heresy!" a voice declared, where it wasn't all that hard for the group to determine that it had come from the head that the vrykul had thrown to the ground, and all of them could tell that the Watcher, as the Fel-corrupted vrykul had confirmed who the head belonged to, was enraged about whatever had happened inside the Vault, but even as Yotnar said that statement the vrykul turned around and tore open a Fel portal behind him, which told the group that they had been right about Gul'dan allying himself with someone that lived in Stormheim, even if the corruption his body had endured was more than enough to tell them everything they needed to know, before their true foe escaped to wherever he wanted to hide.
As soon as Spitfire and Rainbow were sure that the vrykul was gone, and that he wasn't going to be returning to this area with a force of demons to break the entire area down, they beckoned for the others to follow them as they headed towards the Vault, as it was time to speak with Yotnar and see if he was willing to give them the knowledge that would lead them to the Aegis of Aggramar, or maybe give them a clue as to where the vrykul had teleported himself to, as the pair would take hunting the Fel-infused individual down first if that was what it took.
"It is a shame to see the first worthy challenger for the Aegis is treating the trials with such disrespect... such hubris cannot win the Aegis, for the gods will surely strike him down for his arrogance." Yotnar commented, where it was clear he was talking to himself, as if the group wasn't approaching the area his head was resting in, before his eyes darted to the group and he seemed to focus on them, which meant they might have taken the first step to learning what they needed to learn so they could recover one of the Pillars of Creation, and it was clear that he was staring at the sacks that contained the heads of the two champions they had taken out, "You four, however, seem different, even if two of you possess the Fel energy that vrykul used. You have shown that you are worthy challengers... and, unless I'm mistaken, it seems that you have brought a tribute as well, to honor our ways. I will allow you to begin the trials."
"I'm glad we've convinced you to allow us to take on the trials," Vytheril stated, as he and the others had been worried about their chances after seeing what the vrykul had done, because the Fel-corrupted warrior could have easily broken the trial that Havi had told them about, which would have made it incredibly hard for them to do anything or learn what they needed to learn for the future, but this meant they would be able to tackle the trials and figure out what was going on, even though he suspected they would be seeing that vrykul again in the near future, "So, what do we need to do so we can access the area that the Aegis of Aggramar is being held in?"
"To seek and claim Aggramar's Aegis, all challengers must complete three great battles before they are allowed to ride through the Gates of Valor," Votnar stated, informing the group that they needed to prove their worth by completing three trials, which were likely scattered across the whole of Stormheim, which would make sense in Spitfire's eyes since it would give the ones that were judging them time to observe them and either judge them worthy or deny them access to the area the Aegis was located in, before the head spoke up again and the group listened, though while he spoke the group made sure to place their offerings near him, "This Vault serves as the holding place for the knowledge all challengers need to know, if I deem them worthy to take on the trials, and it will allow you to learn about the first test you will face, though to learn about the Trial of Valor you must head to the central plateau and access the archive that is located up there. As for the Trial of Will, you will have to head to the highest point of this plateau and take in the knowledge that lies inside the archives, but be warned, the one known as Skovald, who I assume you saw as you approached the Vault, left behind some of his followers so they could destroy the Titan archives, to prevent anyone from following him, so be on your guard."
"Okay, so we'll explore the upper sections of the Vault, kill the Felskorn that Skovald left behind, and learn what we'll need to do to pass the Trials of Valor and Will," Spitfire remarked, as she was repeating what they had been told purely so they knew exactly what they would be doing for the next couple of minutes, so they could gain the information that would point them towards the other parts of Stormheim and what they needed to do to impress those that were part of the Trials, so they could gain access to the Halls of Valor, where the Aegis of Aggramar rested, "We can do that, but you said that there were three Trials and have only mentioned how to gain the knowledge of two of them to us, so what do we need to do to gain the knowledge of the third Trial?"
"I am the one who tests those who seek to complete the Trial of Might," Yotnar stated, informing the group that there was something they had missed, that Havi had been pointing towards the first of the three Trials that they needed to take on so they could access the Halls of Valor, though at the same time he didn't sound like he was annoyed, rather it was more like he was disappointed about something, which was Skovald breaking his body, "When Skovald bested me he used his ill-gotten powers to sunder my physical body, preventing me from allowing anyone to take on the Trial of Might, and I would have to wager that he tasked his forces with guarding the fragments of my body... if you can recover the fragments of my body, and allow me to put myself back together, I will allow you to take on the first of the three great trials that you are required to pass before you can ride through the Gates of Valor."
"Sounds easy enough, especially if these Felskorn are as strong as the others we fought," Rainbow stated, as she knew that there was a chance that the next group of enemies might be stronger than what they were used to fighting, especially since the vrykul in question were empowered by the Fel energies of the Legion and were definitely serving the demons, or at least that was what it seemed like since Skovald had shattered Yotnar to stop anyone from following him, but she was willing to figure that out as they reclaimed the fragments of the one that watched the Vault, "Don't worry, we'll be back soon enough with the rest of your body and the information that we need to know, and then we'll see what Skovald has done to the other Trials when we catch up to him."
Despite everything Spitfire found herself agreeing with Rainbow, as the Felskorn that were left to destroy the archives didn't seem all that powerful, at least from where they were standing right now, and she had the feeling that they would be back to the area that Yotnar was resting in within the next ten to twenty minutes, giving them plenty of time to clear the area of enemies, learn what they needed to know about the other two Trials, and then return with the rest of the pieces that went to the Watcher's body so they could complete the first Trial... and then, once all of that was done, they could head out and hunt Skovald down.