Part 6: Return of the Wolf9th June 2019
The afternoon sun started to disappear as the orcs remained upbeat, Xuja had been defeated and Sharguul returned, albeit wounded. The last few days the orcs had started to prepare for what Sharguul called, the Blood Moon ritual. They had to restore what he had lost over the last few months! Gashuk had been studying the blades, scrolls and crystals they had picked up on their travels and he finally figured out the way to conjure this Blood Moon ritual. Sharguul then began whispering to him from his sleep, informing the sorcerer of the location on where it would all go down. The wolf spirit had been asleep since his rescue but he finally arose. “It is time! Kargnar have the orcs ready, the ritual will lure in those that crave blood or power! The one called Gashuk, I trust you listened to this ones words and have the ritual prepared?” Gashuk nodded, he had everything ready. “The Blood Moon will be performed on a ancient site in these swamps, that is where this one senses the blood magic is strongest! I warn you, this place won’t be for the faint of heart!” Sharguul said with a stern look. The orcs were handed their last task, the task that would see the Dark Fang restored. They all walked with purpose, a day of change awaited them. They could not fail now, or could they?
Upon them was the site, the orcs looked disgusted, bones and corpses by the thousands. The blood trolls had use this site to perform their very own rituals, harnessing the power of the dead. Sharguul’s narrowed his eyes and the orcs sensed he felt uncomfortable but this had to be done. It was obvious to even the most uneducated in the magical arts where this would all go down, at the highest point among the largest pile of the corpses. Sharguul got in to position and addressed the Redblade clan. “When the ritual starts it will lure in those that have a taste for blood. Spirits of the dead that haven’t crossed over will try and prevent this one from recovering, you must be prepared. Before I call the one known as Gashuk to start, organise yourselves, lay traps for any who dare to interrupt us. You have a short while to do so!” The orcs frantically got together creating traps, the demon hunter Vin’scardial placed down fel-fire sigils of flame whereas Zi’tani with the aid of the other shamans called to the elements and formed a earthen spike trap. Brusa on the other had focused her energies on the spirits, if any evil spirits would dare harm them her sigil would banish them! Time was now up, Sharguul let out a howl getting the orcs attention, “You’ve done well oathbound orcs, this one is proud to have you helping him. The one called Gashuk. You may begin!”
Gashuk was chosen by Sharguul to lead the ritual because of the sorcerer's knowledge with blood magic. Gashuk picked three others to help him with this undertaking, Srelok Grimtide, Zi’tani Steelstorm and Rhonya Steelheart, he would then tell them what needed to be done. Gashuk, with his three acolytes in place began to enact the ancient ritual of the Blood Moon, raising his blood-crystal high above his head Gashuk incants in an old tongue. Words of power, words of blood. Before long his crystal began to glow a harsh red and the other three mimic the enchantment; he drove his crystal into the opened jug of blood beside him whilst commanding the other ritualists to follow suit. As the blood-drenched stones were withdrawn from the jugs, intertwining beams of blood shoot forth from them into the sky above, and as all four beams connected, a giant sphere of blood formed bathing Sharguul in it’s blood-moonlight. It had started!
Everything went dark, strange noises could be heard all around the ritual site. The power that were being conjured here had disturbed the rest of many who called Nazmir home. It didn’t take long before blood troll drudges came pouring out of the wood work. Saliva dripping from their mouths, they were in a frenzy, even climbing and pushing over each other to reach the Blood Moon! Unfortunately for them they had stepped on Vin’scardial’s sigil of fel-flame, instantaneously they all fell to the floor burning to a crisp. This gave a advantage to the orcs, it had created a wall of burning corpses! But it did not deter the blood addicted trolls, more and more drudges appeared, climbing over the fel fire corpses of their fallen kin desperately trying to get to the Blood Moon! So many drudges came that eventually the flaming wall was pushed aside, when they climbed the hill they met steel. The orcs made light work of the drudges, but they were just the cannon fodder. Blood singers, deadly blood trolls who twisted their tongues to create harsh songs woven with blood magic!
They sang in unison and a globule of blood was thrown at Dhak which exploded causing light damage to the orcs nearby. Determined to see this day out, the orcs managed to silence the singing pests quickly. Those of the mortal realm were not the only one’s to show a interest in the Blood Moon, the dead arrived. Blood trolls spirits started attacking the orcs but in the chaos of combat the orcs heard more footsteps coming there way at a steady pace. Ten? Twenty? Thirty? It was hard to tell. Soon it all became clear. A rain of technicolour spells fell upon the risen spirits, spells of nature, arcane, holy, shadow, fire, ice and all that was in-between. From the smoke and dust kicked up by the spells came those footsteps, footsteps belonging to a group of tortollan spirits with a single living one at their centre. Roji and his family! “I've done some things that cannot be forgiven!” Roji yells. “But I had a choice if I wanted to try and pay you all back for what I did! To try and make things right. So here I am! ...With help.” Roji and the spirits of his family walked up to the orcs. The spirits were a pale blue, not the silvery light of the projection. They give a determined look! Roji and the spirits nodded at the orcs before joining them in defiance against those that would attempt to disrupt the ritual.
Fortunately for the clan, Brusa’s sigil activated. A blinding light shot around all the orcs, their eyes would take a while to recover and when they did the spirits were gone. Banished back from where they came, Brusa had a shocked look on her face not thinking she was capable of it. She was and she did! The spirits didn’t end there though, the biggest crawg the orcs would ever see had returnedm, be it in spirit form! Glob the Great Horns had arrived for a second time as he charged at the orcs! The orcs managed to slow him down when the earthern spike trap activated, impaling the beast like he impaled Madeye in life. It was then left up to Rrosh’tul Nosh’marek to finish off the crawg and did he ever? With grace that even Madeye would of been proud off, he jumped on the back of the beast and with his ironclaw, drove it through it’s spiritual back. Glob had been beaten a second time. The orcs may of thought they would get some rest bite, they wouldn’t. Xuja the Bloodgiver had risen from the dead, she was a hollow spirit of her former self! “You think dis is ova? Tis nevah be over! Ya going ta all pay and G’huun will rise! It’s not ova yet Red Blades, it’s not ova yet!” the spirit of Xuja said defiantly. A voice then suddenly rattled around the orcs and Xuja, they may have heard it before?
"Well, well, Xuja. Ya ain't got ya fancy little soulstone anymore, do ya?" The voice's laughter echoed around them all, "Ya be thinkin' ya could could pull da wool over de eyes of a Loa, eh? Not without that ya ain't." With a flash of blue spectral energy Bwonsamdi appeared, floating in the air with a large grin. He looked over the orcs. "As I said, I be keepin' to our little... deal." Xuja’s face was a picture, she was in shock! “Ya made a deal with.. Bwo..Bwo.. Bwomsamdi? No..!” The spirit of Xuja said as she’s forcefully was being sucked towards the Necropolis. “Nooooooooo!” she screamed as she disappeared out of sight.
"Ya soul be mine now! And what a mighty strong soul it is! Oho! Ol' Bwonsamdi be feelin' a bit spry now!" The Loa laughed to himself, seemingly dealing with the orcs greatest threat with no effort at all. Bwomsamdi looked at the orcs once again. "She won't be worrying ya no more. I'll be enjoying spendin' some... quality time wit' dat one on de Other Side. You, oh so mighty orcs... Ya can be on ya way now, eh? Our deal be complete. But... If any others of ya be lookin' to make a deal... I'll be waitin'. Ya know where ta find dis lonely Loa, eh?" Bwonsamdi grinned widely. He looks over to Dhak, giving him a bit of a knowing look before turning his gaze back to the orcs at large. “I'll be seein' ya soon..." The Loa seemed to look around for a specific orc. He gave up, giving a overly dramatic shrug. "Not 'ere, eh? No matter. Sooner or later, sooner or later." Bwonsamdi said laughing to himself. As suddenly as he appeared, the Loa of Death disappeared in a flash of ghostly blue, his laughter fading away.
The Blood Moon had been completed, the blood was transfused in to Sharguul’s body as he was restored! The unborn wolf’s booming voice spread across Nazmir, “THIS ONE IS RESTORED!” as a tremendous magical force shot out from him destroying many a foe with it’s spiritual energy, they didn’t stand a chance from it’s beyond the grave effects! “BE GONE OR FALL BEFORE THIS ONE’S WRATH!” The remaining spirits and blood trolls were quick to turn tail and run, Sharguul was fighting fit again and now they wouldn’t stand a chance against this greater wolf spirit. “The Redblade clan, this one is in your debt. We should head back to your camp, we have much to discuss. The future of your clan needs addressing.” With that Sharguul and the orcs began the walk back to camp, along the way they saw Roji and his family in the distance. They seem to exchange words, before the tortollan spirits slowly faded away in twinkling blue light. Roji, now on his own glanced to the departing orcs and raised his one hand signalling farewell to them. He turned around and started the long walk back to Gloom Hollow.
Sharguul lead the Redblade clan back through the swamps of Nazmir, the orcs had never felt safer. Sharguul, the protector of Akashok’s pack was with them. They finally had returned to the Red Blade camp, it had been a long few weeks and it served them well. Through the good and the bad it’s remained intact. Sharguul positioned himself and addressed the orcs so they can all hear. “There is much to discuss but before we do.” Sharguul shifted out of the mortal realm as a shadow lingered where he once was. Moments later he returned like he had never left in the first place! “This one had to correct a fault in the world, a fault that you’ve seen since you started down this journey. The faceless ghost, the faceless one existed because of this one’s neglect, duties this one could not complete!” The faceless ghost reappears in front of Sharguul, “The faceless one has been watching you, guiding you, protecting you! The will of the faceless one to carry on, it was love! Reaching out for help I shattered a soul with my deathly claws. It was all this one could do, he could not put the fate of Akashok’s pack in danger! Now the shattered soul becomes one as the shepherd of the dead lures this one not from death, but back to life!” The faceless ghost lays down, Sharguul closing his eyes moves the body of Madeye, it’s weaved in to place with the faceless ghost. “The one known as Razaron Madeye did not deserve death, he fell because of my wrongdoings. Now he will live once more as the first disciple of Sharguul. Rise!” The body of Razaron fuses in to place with the faceless ghost, it fits like the last piece in a jigsaw. The spiritual energies surrounding the body close the fatal wound as Madeye opens his eye and gasps for air. “…the…blood!”
Razaron slowly gets to his feet, he looks down at at where he was impaled. There was no sign of a wound, he then looks at his back. The mark of the blessing of Sharguul appeared on his back. The orcs of the Red Blade were over the moon to see their Varog’gor, Urzoga and Zi’tani even wanting to do him physical damage because of the emotional roller-coaster he put them through. Razaron addressed the orcs, “…All the whispers had stopped, silence was all I knew, lost between life and death. Sharguul is right, I looked deep within my soul, what drove me? Love, I searched for what I cared for deeply. My family. I watched you all before I died and after, my soul shattered. I called out to you all to no response. I followed you all blindly. Now with Sharguul restored he lead me back, back to the living! I have returned, the future is now unknown to me.” Razaron smirks despite the oddity of the situation, he then taps his eye patch! “I saw my death before and now I’ve gone past it. What will I do from here? I will live. I will just live!”
Sharguul nodded and started to speak again, “The one known as Razaron Madeye made the ultimate sacrifice for the clan and pack. Now he will learn from the Dark Fang. Now this one’s presence is known to the Redblade clan I will take my place a long side Akashok’s pack, despite being unborn.” Sharguul grimaces as he says that last word. “Dangers lurk through this world and the next, dangers this one can not understand. We must learn together or fail trying. The Redblade clan once held a path that upheld the safety of the clan. It shall be remade by Akashok’s will. The Path of Cunning lead by your Varog’gor. I shall instruct the first disciple of Sharguul with how it will be formed in this ever changing world. Give him time to recover and to learn from me.” Sharguul’s eyes then focused on to Gashuk, “Now on to something else, I trust you have this one’s fangs?” Gashuk would feel like the wolf was staring in to his soul. Gashuk held out the four blades, “The black fangs of Sharguul, The Fangs of the Unborn. I do not know why they were placed in this mortal world. This is a mystery, but for now each Varog’gor will have one. They aided you in Xuja’s defeat, may they aid you again!” The Fangs of the Unborn would shoot out of Gashuk’s possession and find there home with the Varog’gor. “It will be up to the Varog’gor now to discover their powers, this will be a test for the new leaders of the Path of Cunning.”
The great wolf then pointed his black paw at Gashuk, “Gashuk, step forward! You’ve proved yourself throughout this whole ordeal. Your knowledge has proven invaluable as this one may not have existed without your aid. Kneel!” Sharguul walked around the sorcerer and gave him a good smell, his eyes looking down at the sorcerer as if he was inspecting him. “From this day forward, the one known as Gashuk does not exist! He shall now be known as Gashuk Bloodmoon! You may rise Gashuk Bloodmoon, take your place with your family, I shall watch your progress intently!” Gashuk had been honoured for his actions by the great wolf spirit! “Now It is time for Sharguul to leave, but this one will never fully be gone. The Dark Fang will be watching, this one will be here for each of you in death. We will meet again. Goodbye and… Thank you!” Sharguul once again shifted in to another domain leaving behind a lingering shadow that disappeared after a few moments.
The Whispers in the Shadows had ended, for now!