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Message: <blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 4725129" data-attributes="member: 3285">Sibling Rivalry: Part 15 – The Tomb of the Frozen GodsThe sound of ice being struck and chipped echoed just above that of falling water in the distance. A sudden crack of a whip punctuated the intensity of the incessant groans and whimpers indicative of those forced into labor. There were a dozen pale white goblins being forced to chip into the northern ice wall by a strange-looking beast. It had a long nose like a troll, but that was where the similarities ended. It was over seven feet tall, almost as wide, and had a stony gray carapace that covered its shoulders, back, outside of its arms and legs, its chest, and the back and top of its head. Its hands ended in four thick talons, also covered in the same hard carapace. Its broad face was slashed open by its toothy maw with a large nose topped by two piercing orbs, denoting a cunning mind and completing its menacing countenance. It was dressed in leather boots and a gold and mauve tabard cinched at its thick waist by a broad metallic belt. “Singarthan trolls,” whispered Ilmarė.  “I’ve never seen one before.” Inside the far wall were scores of skeletal remains dressed in the armored regalia of legionnaires of the First Imperium. “The artifacts!” shouted Quintus, betraying their position.The goblins shrieked as the Singarthan turned to face them. They fled in a panic.The troll dropped its whip and drew a huge blade. Vlad dropped Quintus unceremoniously to the ground. “I know how to deal with the likes of you,” said Beldin a little forcefully.  He hefted Windcutter in one hand. “Come on!”The troll roared and hacked downwards with such force that it knocked Beldin’s shield out of his hand.  Vlad came up behind it, but it backhanded him with one stony fist. He fell to the ground with a grunt.Sebastian pointed a finger at the troll. “Radius Incensio!” Searing trails of flame spiraled towards the troll.The Singarthan extended one palm and the fire dissipated harmlessly in an arc before it. “What are these things made of?” Sebastian shouted in disbelief.“It is a Singarthan of the warrior caste,” said Ilmarė.  She fired two arrows, but they bounced right off of the troll’s carapace.  “It is bred for battle.”Vlad rose to one knee just as the troll struck again.  The sound of metal on metal reverberated throughout the chamber from the impact.  Vlad flew upwards and back, landing near Quintus.  Blood trickled from his nose, ears, and mouth.“Quintus!” Ilmarė fired two arrows, but they ricocheted off of the troll’s carapace.  “Help Vlad!”“I can’t!  I can heal no one, not even myself!”“Have you ever considered that the valinor was false?” shouted Ilmarė. “That the reason Illiir took away your spells is because you followed the Emperor’s orders?  Think!  Duty and allegiance aren’t everything!”The troll turned to face Vlad’s unconscious body.  Quintus crawled over to him.“It was Umor, Quintus!  Umor is manipulating everything!  The Unspeakable One wants a war, he wants Arcanis weakened so he can invade!”“Illiir,” whispered Quintus, “I know that you have forsaken me, but Vlad is a good and noble man.  Let your will be done through me.” He put his hands on Vlad.  The Milandisian’s eyes fluttered opened.  “You…healed me?”“Not a moment too soon!” shouted Quintus.  “Look out!”Vlad grabbed Quintus and rolled to the side as the Singarthan troll’s blade rent the ice floor.  It turned to finish them off…Only to fall backward, Windcutter buried to the hilt in its skull.“They have a weakness at the back of the neck,” sneered Beldin.  He yanked the axe out before the troll had even fallen to the ground.  “It’s the only way to kill them.”“This is the place.”  Quintus pointed at the artifacts entombed in the ice.  “We must start digging immediately.”“Let’s make sure there aren’t any others like these,” said Ilmarė.  She disappeared around the corner.  When she returned, the elorii was ashen-faced.“What?” asked Vlad.“Three more. The only reason they didn’t come in already is because there’s a waterfall between us and them.  It drowns out all noise.”“Speaking of not being interrupted,” Sebastian pointed in the direction where the goblins fled. “Incendiares globus!”The tunnel collapsed on the muffled screams of the goblins. “We can’t handle three!” said Vlad.  “We could barely kill one of them!”“But we have the element of surprise,” said Quintus.  “Gather round: I have a plan.”</blockquote>

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