The Hobtla Mag'ol Greet the Olgog Darmag Rider (DR2220 Mission 2+)

#61

Solemnwing was flying ahead of his armies. After the disappearance of the Mother-dragon, Solemnwing had found his own cave opened to the air as it had not been for generations. It awoke to a cult that worshipped it, a veritable army at its disposal. Solemnwing didn’t know why the hundreds of dispirited white fur olgogs had come to his service, other than their own king, Hobtla Mag’ol, treated them poorly, stole their riches to aggrandize himself, and kept them under his oppressive rule.

But since the Night of the Descended, Solemnwing had found glowing runes growing across his scales. He had been approached by Lord Pelos to join the descended baribur’s army of monsters. But Solemnwing didn’t have any reason to leave to the Glacial Wastes.

Instead the Solemnwing had decided to conquer the Hobtla Mag’ol.

It was with these thoughts in mind that Solemnwing was taken by surprise when suddenly the wind left his tattered wings. The Darmag crashed to the ground. He quickly rose up on, leaving claw gouges in the stone and dirt below him.

There was a steady drumming, and a tune that Solemnwing remembered from his past. He tried to fly upward, but his wings couldn’t find purchase on the air. The descended Darmag roared in frustration, and turned to find the source of the drumming.

#62

The Drumming of Gornatla got louder. Her fingers thrummed across the taut skin of the drum. The music flowed and the Darmag rushed at her like a lizard on all fours.

Gornatla rolled forward between its legs, never stopping the drum beat.

Solemnwing’s momentum carried him forward anyway, and right over a pit created by Gornatla’s drumming. The bit was smoking hot, a thermal vent drawn up by the power of the Drummer. The volcanic shaft was perilously close, and Solemnwing held on to the edge for dear existence.

Then a force struck him from above, a lightning arrow of such power that it stripped away his shields and hurled him from his perch. Solemnwing tumbled down into the volcanic shaft, his wings melted to his body by the lightning.

#63

Solemnwing tried to pull himself back up the hole, but the stabbing stinger of another Darmag struck his limbs. Severed tendons loosened his grip, and Solemwing disappeared from view.

There was a small eruption from deep inside the volcanic shaft, then a belching of fire and smoke from the ground hot enough to melt all the snow in the valley. Gornatla never stopping playing her drum, but the tempo and beat changed and the hole closed up.

Shaterwing and Glog flew down to check on the Drummer.

She smiled and said, “Might Glog your strike was true. The evil that was Solemnwing is no more. The volcanic fires will cleanse his body from this existence and send his soul to be recycled by the universe.”

The Drummer reached up and pet Shaterwing’s muzzle saying, “And you fine Shaterwing, a hero as well.”

Then She smiled again, and said, “What now Glog? The Descended Darmag is dead, its armies will now scatter. Do you want to return to Hobtla Mag’ol for a reward? or do you wish for us to return to your home in the southlands of Der’al?”

She stopped and said a prayer to the Thunder Gods, “I do not know if we would have won so easily, if it were not for the blessings provided by the Thunder Gods.”

#64

[Glog gains 20 pts to distribute in the usual way that advancement points are used.]