“Ok, Verlbog, seriously; I’m going to explain this ONE more time before I just tell you to do as I say and let us worry about the rest”, said a frustrated Moopy Morkyfeet.
The celebration was over and the Goblin shaman had spent all morning briefing the assembled commanders on his plan for getting back home.
“Now, pay attention, buddy. Looking over the intelligence my spider riders brought back, I’ve gathered that the whole of Lustria is connected by magical waypoints which the Lizarmen call the 'geomantic web'. This web extends to other parts of the world where magic is strong, including back to the Old World. These waypoints were put in place a really long time ago by beings that even the Slann barely remember. What we need to do is gather three artifacts – a key, a catalyst, and a guide. All three are extremely powerful magical items and absolutely necessary to travel the geomantic web. Following so far, pal?”
“Ah fink so, Moops, yeh, keep goin” replied Verlbog, sporting an uncharacteristically serious look across his leathery face.
“Okay. So this is where you come in. Each one of you will need to retrieve one of these powerful items,” Moopy motioned to Loggor Banemane, the leader of the Beastmen, “Our new pal Loggor will go looking for the guide artifact – the Lizardmen call it the Star Stela. It’s been stolen before and the Lizardmen were quick and brutal in retrieving it. It’s currently hidden in a temple dangerously close to the Chaos camp.”
The massive Loggor nodded, “I will lead a war party to get it for you, it’s the least we can do after you freed my herd. Consider this Star Stela yours. The humans may worship our gods, but they are no herd-brothers to us.”
“Now, Mire has agreed to get the second item, the catalyst – for a moderate fee, of course – the closest magical artifact powerful enough to serve our purposes is the death mask of Kroak, a long mummified Slann. Thankfully, my scouts say his skink attendants have made preparations to move the mummy, which is still inhabited by Kroak’s spirit and could literally destroy us all, but his Golden Death Mask is being left behind under heavy guard at this temple,” Moopy pointed to a triangular spot on his map.
“Don’t worry, mate. With all the gold ye gave us, I’ve had no problem motivatin’ the boys to sharpen their swords and strap on their gut plates. We’ll get that mask for ya.” The Ogre pirate passed a jug of rum to Loggor, who drank heartily.
“Ok, now, Verlbog, your job is to reach the key – it’s a plaque deep underground in this temple here,” Moopy pointed at another triangle on his map, “The Skinks call it the ‘Testament of Sotek’ and the temple it’s housed in is where we will work the magic to travel the magical lay-lines, so all you have to do is clear it out and wait.”
“Clear da lizzie temple of what, Moops?” asked Verlbog.
“The plaques detailing the loss of the Testament of Sotek say the temple was infested by rat-men and abandoned after a war long ago which the Skinks refer to as the ‘War of The Serpent and the Rat’. A big strong orc shouldn’t have any problems with a bunch of pestilent Skaven, eh, Verly?”
“HAHAHAHA! I SHOULD FINK NOT!” hollered Verlbog.
“Great, then; now to make things easier I paid Mire for some extra help. What do you have in store, Goldhardt?”
“Maneaters! Ogre mercenaries so seasoned they've traveled ‘ta lands ye only heard of! They have the finest trainin’, the finest weapons, and the biggest appetites for violence – real ‘ard boys. I’ll tell yeh, friends – these Ogres will never run, never flinch, and they will deal death with every move they make.” Mire Goldhardt beamed with pride.
“And how many of these ‘Maneaters’ are coming with us?” asked Loggor
“One.” replied the Ogre, “Each.”
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