Leaving the renowned archaeologist alone with the former hostage who was still talking, the party proceeded out of the temple. The last of the animal-infused priests had been taken down but they still needed to deal with whoever that mysterious voice who kept taunting them.
Speaking of the voice, they decided to taunt the party again as they left the temple, “Ya may have stopped de ritual, but none of ya gonna leave Zul’Aman alive! I be cookin’ sometin’ up dat will bring an end to ya strugglin’.”
Thanatas had enough of the annoying chatter of the troll. Using some banshee magic, she amplified her voice before she called out, “You can stop with the taunting now, Malacrass. We are coming for you. That one-armed chieftain of yours will soon follow.”
“Wait, Malacrass?” Groun asked. “Wasn’t he the guy that treasure hunter told us to look out for?”
Returning her voice to normal, Thanatas addressed the tauren’s question, “That was Malacrass and despite how that fool downplayed his capabilities he can be a tough adversary if you underestimate him. He is a powerful voodoo master with the rank of Hex Lord. Over the years he has brainwashed a number of unfortunate victims to obey his every whim. He will also try to steal power from you to bolster his own.”
Thanatas led the party back to the central path and pointed them eastward where they climbed a set of broken stairs. Past a doorway they found the entrance to a large building that was guarded by a pair of dire trolls at the bottom of the entrance stairs and a group of fighters at the top of the stairs. Lokosh and Flutashe each faced a dire troll and two guards while the others blasted them until they stopped moving.
They headed into the building where they found two more dire trolls along with a large group in the back. Nine creatures of different races and species all stood in the back of the room. From left to right they spotted an ogre in some armor, a blood elf in dark crimson robes, a red dragonspawn, a large serpent, a troll garbed in dark green, purple and yellow robes, a purple imp, a green bog beast with brown limbs, a ghostly wraith and a hulking pale zombie that Thanatas referred to as a wight. It wasn’t hard to figure that the troll in the center was Malacrass.
“So, ya come to face ol’ Malacrass. But if ya wanna face me, ya gotta face all me servants as well. We gonna break ya souls real good,” Malacrass cackled. “And don’t think ya can bend some a’ me servants to ya will, night elf, dese fools be under me spell.”
The party ignored the hex lord and proceeded to take down the two dire trolls before turning their attention toward Malacrass’ gang. Malacrass didn’t wait for the party to come to him before he ordered his minions to attack.
To the hex lord’s surprise and frustration, Farra’jin placed a hex on the ogre and blood elf, turning them into frogs. Groun let the dragonspawn and serpent walk near a flower that he planted that sprayed a pollen into their faces that quickly made them drowsy until they fell into a deep sleep. Talia banished the imp and swamp beast to another plane and Feloma lured the two undead into a pair of enchanted traps that flash froze them in blocks of ice.
Malacrass clicked his tongue, “Tch, worthless servants. No matter, ya gonna die horribly either way, mon.”
Malacrass stuck to casting his dark magic on the party by unleashing waves of spirits at them which the party was forced to endure since they didn’t have a party member who could protect them from the dark magic. It was still nothing that Groun or Farra’jin couldn’t heal through.
The party counterattacked with Talia’s demons and magic alongside Farra’jin’s elementals and Feloma’s pets. Malacrass raised a spiritual barrier to protect him from the assault though it only mitigated any harm inflicted upon him.
Malacrass decided to start fighting seriously as he began to drain the party of their strength to bolster his own dark power. He also began to drain Lokosh’s spirit which gave him ephemeral knowledge of his abilities. He then began to spin around with his staff which struck the demons, pets, elementals, Lokosh and Flutashe. The warrior, druid and the pets were forced to back away while he was spinning. He placed a defensive aura around himself at one point which sent one of Talia’s spells flying back at her which caused her to stagger from the impact. It wasn’t long before the draining spell wore off and Malacrass lost the knowledge of Lokosh’s abilities.
As the fight progressed, Malacrass continued draining more of their power while briefly utilizing the abilities of the party. From Talia he gained Rain of Fire, Curse of Doom and Unstable Affliction. From Farra’jin he gained Fire totems, Chain Lightning and Healing Wave which had to be interrupted by Talia’s felhound. From Feloma he gained knowledge of using various traps which were easily avoided by a party who had to remain aware of their presence. From Groun he gained the ability to sprout thorns from his body, Moonfire, and a healing spell that had to be devoured by the felhound.
Malacrass was surprised that he couldn’t use Flutashe’s spirit, even if it would have been the same result with Groun. For some reason, he found his power blocked as images of a bat, a spider, a tiger, a snake and a panther entered his mind. It vexed him that the Loa would defend someone who didn’t even worship them.
He then tried using his power on the death knight who had been staying at the entrance. He reeled in shock as Thanatas’ eyes glowed red for a brief moment before he found himself in agony. It was as if his insides had caught fire for a moment. “Argh!” he shouted as he clutched his chest.
This left him open to a full assault by the party as Flutashe took advantage of his weakness to steal Malacrass’ staff and smash it against a pillar. It left the hex lord shocked long enough for the others to move in and deal the final blow. “Dis not…da end of me…” he croaked before he collapsed.
While everyone thought that was the last of the hex lord, Malacrass gave them one last surprise as his spirit rose from his corpse. His ghost glared at the party, “Ya think this be over but ya be wrong, mon. I’ll be back one day and ya will know true pain!” The spirit then faded away.
The party was not really sure what to make of Malacrass’ threat, even less about the fact that he just manifested his spirit like he did. “Are all trolls capable of dat?” Farra’jin asked.
“Only the most spiritually attuned,” Thanatas answered. “This usually applies to powerful spiritbinders and voodoo masters. It’s a way to help them resist the compulsion to journey to the Loa of Death where he would usher them to the afterlife.”
“I’d prefer to know why the trolls are abusing the Loa like they are,” Flutashe thought aloud. “First the Gurubashi and now the Amani. Why are they stealing their powers?”
“Desperation mostly. The tribes that splintered off from the Zandalari want to bring the world back to ancient times when they practically ruled the world. However, the Loa weren’t willing to allow them such power that would potentially disrupt the world order. This is coupled with the fact that their civilizations are on the brink of collapse and their final bid for prosperity lay in their twisted belief that if they could harness the Loas’ power for themselves that they would have the means to conquer the world.”
“That’s terrible!” Flutashe exclaimed. “Why don’t the Loa flee from these places?”
“Because they are Wild Gods and their power is dependent on their followers. Since their followers are the same trolls who want to conquer the world it leaves them between a rock and a hard place: either get harvested by their own followers or flee and lose whatever power they have.”
Deciding to leave the matter for the time being, the party addressed the victims of Malacrass who should now be free of his control. Since they weren’t certain how each would react, they decided to undo their bindings one at a time.
Starting with the hexed people, Farra’jin undid his spell. The blood elf was grateful to be freed from the spell though embarrassed that she fell into it in the first place. Her pride was wounded but she would live. The ogre was confused about where he was and didn’t recall much about how he got here. It was still normal for an ogre so they figured he would be fine…as long as he didn’t go around smashing people.
Groun awoke the dragonspawn and serpent from his hibernation spell. The serpent lowered his head toward Flutashe as if bowing to her before he slithered away. The dragonspawn had no idea how he got here, only that he needed to report his status to his kin. He had no idea how he was going to get back to his fellow red dragonkin but he would figure it out along the way.
Next came the imp and the swamp beast. Since Talia had no use for the demon she undid the banishment, subjugated it and then ordered it to self-destruct to send it back to the Nether. Groun’s control over plants allowed him to calm the swamp creature and have him take residence in the nearby lake.
The two frozen undead were next. This was handled by Thanatas who shattered the enchanted ice with her sword before she bound the wraith and wight to her will. She then sent them into the Realm of Shadows where she would find some use for them later.
With the matter of the liberated servants resolved, the party readied themselves as they opened the back doors to see what else was ahead.
Upon opening the door, a voice rang out from not far ahead. “Dis was our land. Troll land. We Amani was here before anyone! Da elves and dere Alliance came to drive us out. But we never gave up. We never forget…”
Suddenly a large number of trolls ran across the bridge to attack them. However, they weren’t as well trained as the warriors and spellcasters. Their strength was in their numbers and the fact that they were coming across a wooden bridge meant that they had to be careful not to burn the bridge down. Instead they let the trolls come into the doorway before Talia rained fire on them while Farra’jin caused small tremors at the burning area. His fire and earth elementals made sure to block the trolls from entering the building.
Of course, this caused a large pile up of bodies which they had to remove by hand since they didn’t want to risk burning the bridge. Once they cleared a way onto the bridge, the voice spoke again, “Da elves took my eye. I cut off my own arm to escape dem…and now, dey fight alongside da Horde!? I spit on da Horde! I hate you, I hate you all!”
The party advanced across the bridge to another altar where they saw four animals: an eagle, a bear, a dragonhawk and a lynx. Flutashe could feel the power within them. They were the Loa that the Amani had captured. They appeared to be bound by totems
At the other end of the platform were a small group of trolls like the ones they killed a minute ago kneeling before a white-haired troll with his left arm missing and his right eye closed. He wore a deep purple mantle that covered his stump arm along with a pair of brown pants with purple markings. The same markings were seen on his good arm which was wielding a backhanded arm blade. This troll matched the description of the Amani chieftain, Zul’jin.
Zul’jin continued his monologue, “De Amani never give up! We never forget. We never die. Dis is our land, anybody who gets in our way…gonna drown in their own blood. De Amani Empire be back now…seekin’ vengeance. And we gonna start…with you! We gonna bury you here!”
“Are you done with your monologue, Zul’jin?” Thanatas asked. “Your sob story nearly bored me to sleep and I was a few words away from personally ending you just to shut you up.”
“Fine den, kill dem all!”
With that command, Zul’jin and the remaining reservists attacked the party. However what was once seven turned to one in a few seconds after Talia burned the others alive. Lokosh slammed his shield on Zul’jin and gained his attention. Despite having only one arm, the chieftain was still pressing the warrior hard.
The chieftain had to jump back to avoid a few shots from the blood elf hunter before he glared at her and tossed his blade at her. Feloma managed to duck and Flutashe made sure she stayed down long enough to see the flying blade return to Zul’jin’s hand.
“Careful, that blade is shaped like it’s made to fly back to its owner,” Flutashe warned.
Heeding her warning, the rest of the party stayed wary of Zul’jin’s weapon. They made sure to avoid it completely when he threw it though the chieftain also performed a whirlwind technique to try and overpower Lokosh. The warrior decided not to test his luck and back away when the troll spun around.
Seeing as he wasn’t getting anywhere with his weapon alone, Zul’jin decided to use the totems binding the loa to give himself an edge. “Got me some new tricks…like me bruddah bear!” he said before he activated the totem binding Nalorakk the Bear Loa. The bear Loa roared in pain as his power was being drained from him. The power turned Zul’jin into a copy of Nalorakk.
Flutashe couldn’t stand seeing the Bear Loa in pain so she moved to try to destroy the totem. Zul’jin saw what she was trying and unleashed a powerful roar that was infused with some of Nalorakk’s power. The roar inflicted a magical affliction on everyone. The party soon realized that their muscles were cramping and they would soon face paralysis.
Talia’s felhound noticed the magic and began devouring the affliction from everyone. He started with Talia who ordered him to eat the magic afflicting Lokosh and Groun. This would allow the warrior to continue while still being supported by the druid.
Paralysis soon kicked in and everyone found themselves unable to move for a brief time. The demon was still feeding on the magic. Once the spell wore off, Flutashe resumed her work on the totem.
Zul’jin repeated this process which was slowing Flutashe’s progress with the totem so she turned to the warlock. “Umm, Talia, would you please have your felhound remove the affliction from me, if you don’t mind.”
Talia rolled her eyes but decided to accept her request, especially since the paralysis was dragging the fight out.
With the paralysis no longer a concern, Flutashe was able to make progress on dismantling the totem. It wasn’t long before she destroyed the totem and allowed the Bear Loa’s power to return to him. However, a portion of that power entered Flutashe’s body; as if the Loa had done so on purpose.
“That is my blessing to you,” Nalorakk said. “Now, free the others while I recover from my imprisonment.”
Flutashe nodded and turned back to Zul’jin who, back in his troll form, gave the druid a baleful glare. “Dere be no hidin’ from de eagle!” He then began draining power from Akil’zon the Eagle Loa. He transformed into his likeness.
The powers that Zul’jin took make the battle more chaotic as he conjured storms around him that took the form of a series of energized tornadoes that drifted around the area. The winds ended up knocking everyone around and giving them a few zaps of electricity. Unfortunately for Farra’jin, Groun and Talia, the storms were reacting to their magic which caused them to receive an extra shock. This made healing a struggle since the shaman and druid had to pay a toll for each healing spell they cast.
Flutashe quickly got to work on freeing Akil’zon. However, with the winds giving her trouble, she was struggling to get near it. She decided to see if she received anything she might be able to use in this fight from Nalorakk. She shifted into her bear form which she quickly noticed had darker fur than she remembered. She delivered a powerful roar while focusing on Zul’jin.
The effect worked as the chieftain was beginning to slow down and the winds were weakening. With Zul’jin temporarily incapacitated, she began slashing her claws against the totem. The brief paralysis also gave the Horde party a chance to get a few hits on the troll.
Just as Zul’jin recovered, Flutashe succeeded in destroying the totem, freeing Akil’zon who gave her a portion of his power.
Zul’jin reverted back to his original form once the flow of power was cut off again. “Ya beginnin’ to become a real threat to da Troll Empire, night elf. So let me introduce ya to my new bruddahs: fang and claw.” He began drawing from Halazzi the Lynx Loa and turned into a lynx.
Zul’jin wasn’t taking any chances this time. He was keeping a close eye on Flutashe’s movements and did his best to protect the totem draining Halazzi. With his new form, he moved very fast across the arena and picked targets to pounce on to mercilessly slash at with his claws. However, he had to stop his assault early whenever Flutashe went for the totem to stop her.
Since Zul’jin was being protective of the totem binding Halazzi, Flutashe decided to try attacking the totem binding Jan’alai the Dragonhawk Loa instead. Zul’jin really didn’t want her destroying any totems but protecting both of them would mean overextending himself.
The chieftain instead tried to pounce on Flutashe but she was ready for that as she used her anthro cat form for that extra strength to throw him off of her.
With Zul’jin recovering from the throw, Flutashe went for Halazzi’s totem again. The chieftain quickly readied himself to pounce again but Talia placed a curse on him that overwhelmed him with a sense of exhaustion which greatly slowed him down. With his energy being drained by the curse he could only watch helplessly as the druid destroyed the third totem and forced him back into his troll form.
Just like the last two, Flutashe received a portion of the lynx’s power which applied to her already strong cat form.
Curse or no curse, Zul’jin was beginning to waver from the battle and the shifting between his prisoners. He began to draw in the powers of Jan’alai, hoping that the dragonhawk form would turn his enemies to ash.
He never got the opportunity to use the powers of that form as he was pounced on by Flutashe the moment he transformed before she applied pressure to his throat to keep him from breathing fire. She then picked him up and held him in a stranglehold.
“Your oppression of these poor Loa ends now, Zul’jin!” she shouted before she pointed his head at the final totem and slammed his head into the totem, shattering it. Zul’jin reverted to his original form again and Jan’alai gave her a portion of her power.
With the four Loa freed, the party stood back while four very angry Loa stared down at the battered Amani chieftain. “Go on den, finish me and see who be worshippin’ ya now,” he said.
Jan’alai gave a mischievous giggle before she lowered her beak to his ear and whispered something to him that none in the party heard, not even Flutashe. Zul’jin gasped as his eyes shrank in horror. “No! Impossible! Dis can’t be!” Before he could voice what he was just told Jan’alai engulfed him in a torrent of flames that caused the troll to scream and writhe in agony before his skin blackened and his form curled up into something resembling a large piece of charcoal.
“What did you tell him?” Flutashe asked.
“You will find out as you continue your journey to gain the Loas’ blessings,” Akil’zon said.
“Though I fear for the future of these tribes if they cannot let go of their past,” Halazzi said.
“You have our gratitude and our blessings, now we must leave these lands before the Amani regroup and use us for their gain once again,” Nalorakk said.
The four Loa began their departure from the Amani lands, leaving the party with the charred remains of Zul’jin. With the winds picking up, the remains were being blown away. Thanatas collected a vial of the chieftain’s ashes, thinking about a minor event she would soon set into motion. The others looked at her in confusion but she remained silent on the matter.
The party soon returned to the Budd’s camp where she handed him the ashes of the Amani chieftain. Budd bragged that he could have taken on Zul’jin all by himself and that their assistance was completely unnecessary so he felt no need to reward them.
The party was getting fed up with the petulant man’s behavior and were about to give him a piece of their minds but Thanatas held them back, telling them to watch.
Budd ended up tossing the vial of ashes into a burning hut while bragging that he was the one who killed Zul’jin. A group of misinformed spirits took their anger out on Budd who was magically pulled into the burning hut where he caught fire. He screamed that it was all the party’s idea and that his best friends were trolls while he jumped into a nearby stream. While Thanatas knew he would survive, the treasure hunter would suffer a worse fate for the rest of his life.
“Are we done here?” Talia asked. “I’d like to do things that don’t involve death herself breathing down my neck.”
Thanatas ignored the attitude, “Yeah, you’re free to go until it’s time to attack the Isle of Quel’danas.”
The Horde party left while Flutashe shifted into her bird form and began her long flight south back to Stormwind.
As Thanatas watched the party leave, her thoughts turned to her daughter who she instructed to set certain major events into motion before she left for Zul’Aman. She figured that Violetta should be working on that right about now.
In the central chamber of the temple of the now desolate city of Ahn’Qiraj, a certain two-headed ogre with a huge cross-shaped scar on his chest along with a few of his cultists were inspecting the chamber, looking for something, anything, that they were losing hope on locating.
The ogre was Cho’gall, leader of the Twilight’s Hammer cult, and he was not having a good day. He figured that his master was killed by adventurers but he never expected for C’thun to be killed to the point that the whispers were silenced.
The cult had been investigating the ruins for months after the Horde and Alliance collaboration had cleared the ruins. They couldn’t keep too many troops at the ruins though so they established a small garrison at the ruins. However, not long after the garrison had been established, the Twilight’s Hammer moved in and wiped them out to reclaim the city in the name of the Old Gods.
Unfortunately, their efforts may be in vain as he couldn’t sense the presence of his master at all and they were at their wits end.
“It’s no use, I cannot feel his presence at all. (The master is gone! His power, his glory, his words become silence!)”
“What do we do, master?” one of the cultists asked.
“We have no choice, we must abandon this city. (No reason to be in a place the master isn’t.) Leave us.”
The cultists did as Cho’gall commanded. The ogre-mage stood before the decaying husk of what had once been their master. Every ritual he attempted, every spell to try to raise him, the results were the same. All that was left was a dried lump of flesh. It was devoid of C’thun’s presence.
Out of options, Cho’gall had given up any attempts to revive his master. He would have to find another way to bring about the Hour of Twilight that would end the world.
Just as he was leaving, Cho’gall suddenly felt the familiar presence of his master. Except there was something different about it. He turned around and spotted a small puddle of inky blackness expanding slowly until he spotted a figure rising from it. She appeared as a human with purple hair that seemed to move independently. She also appeared to be wearing an inky black, form-fitting jumpsuit. Cho’gall also noticed parts of the suit appeared to be slowly growing a segmented crustacean shell.
“Who are you? (Why do I sense the master’s presence within you?)” the ogre asked.
Violetta giggled, “The name’s Violetta. Are either of you aware of Skeram’s final prophecy?”
“The final prophecy speaks of one who shall consume the void and conquer its lords. (The Huntress of the Void!)”
A cheerful smile graced Violetta’s face. “Then you can take a wild guess as to who I am, which would explain why you can feel C’thun’s presence within me.”
Cho’gall began channeling dark magic as he prepared to attack the horror. “We will make you release him. (Nothing will remain!)”
“You can try…and fail. Or you can choose the more enticing option two.”
“What option would that be?” Cho’gall asked.
“I want you to head to Northrend and infiltrate the titan city of Ulduar. I heard that another of your masters is chained there. I want you to weaken his prison. Look for the keeper named Loken, he will aid you.”
The ogre stopped channeling his magic and stared at the horror in confusion. “Why would you wish for us to release one of the four destined to annihilate this world? (Your deal seems most intriguing.)”
“My benefit is that Yogg-Saron will be in a state where I will be able to devour him like C’thun. I am destined to consume the four. In exchange, I will bestow upon you a gift of great power for you to use as you see fit.”
Before Cho’gall could say anything, Violetta had already struck him with an orb of void energy which phased into his body. Almost immediately, the ogre cried in agony as his flesh began to shift and roil like water. The energy twisted his body in horrific ways while the pain associated with such a transformation continued to worsen. There were moments where the ogre felt like he was going to die and moments where he wished for it. He couldn’t even fall unconscious from the pain because the energy was keeping him awake.
He grew to almost twice his original size and his trademark ogre gut shifted to become bulkier and muscular. Black claws ripped through the tips of his fingers and toes. Black spikes ripped from his back to where it almost seemed like his back was covered by a dragon turtle shell. Slits on his chest, shoulders and arms opened up to reveal slitted eyes.
After what felt like an eternity, Cho’gall finally felt the pain begin to subside as his body stabilized. Once he was able to think through the pain again, he felt the incredible power within him. He laughed maniacally as he blasted the chamber and the empty husk of C’thun with his new dark power. “Yes! With this power, I will finally bring about the Hour of Twilight. (...)” Cho was too impressed with his new power to concern himself with the pause his brother made.
Cho had plans for this new power and the glorious annihilation that it would soon bring. Gall had other ideas as his thoughts turned to Violetta and wondered if it should be the Old Gods he should be worshiping…or her.
Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months. Summer gave way to fall and it was by the middle of fall that trouble reared its ugly head in Silvermoon.
What was supposed to be a triumphant return turned to tragedy which began as their prince, Kael’thas Sunstrider, kidnapping the embodiment of the Sunwell, Anveena Teague from Silvermoon’s protection. This was followed by the mad prince launching an attack on his own city with a force of strange-looking blood elves who had unusual skin colors that had cracks that glowed green. The elves also had unusual hair colors along with runic tattoos, horns and small black feathered wings. They also had fangs protruding from their upper lips.
However, Kael’s attack would not come without casualties as he found himself being beset upon by the Illidari who cut down a large number of his forces. Despite this surprising turn of events, he and his forces still made it to the chamber where the blood knights had kept their naaru captive. He then teleported away with M’uru along with the rest of his forces.
Lor’themar knew that if the Illidari hadn’t stepped in the potential loss of life from this cowardly attack would have been much greater, solidifying his belief that the demon hunters would be a strong addition to the Horde.
Needless to say, Lor’themar and the citizens of Quel’thalas were shocked in utter disbelief that their beloved prince would betray them like this. However, what was seen could not be forgotten. He sent the blood knight matriarch, Lady Liadrin, to Shattrath to inform A’dal of what had happened.
A’dal knew this day would come. He had made preparations for the coming battle. Among these preparations was the unification of the Aldor and the Scryers into a force who could work together to assault and reclaim Kael’s stronghold, the Isle of Quel’danas. He helped these two bitter rivals to reconcile their differences in favor of preventing Kael’thas from summoning the Left Hand of Sargeras, Kil’jaeden, to Azeroth.
Today marked the dawn of the Shattered Sun Offensive.