Midnight RPG - Chapter 43.185

Durgaz

This scene is presumed to have taken place several hours after the meeting with Khalim's family. Durgaz will approach Walden at some point when he is alone, and speak to him in confidence.

Durgaz: "I am glad that you have decided to take this man's family to First-Hold. There are good people there, brave and strong, and your wisdom may be of use to them. Take this." Durgaz pulls an arrow from his quiver, snaps off the arrowhead and presses it into the old man's hand. "It traveled to and from First-Hold on my back, and it knows the way. I know that it will speak to you, as other things often do to me. You should have no problem finding the place."

Durgaz presses another object into Walden's hand. It is a mummified orc finger, one of three that had adorned his trophy necklace. "Take this, too. It will tell you what you are to do with it."

The Finger

If Walden uses his Seer Sight on the severed finger, he can see thet Durgaz held it in his hand about an hour ago and spoke to it, while out in the woods by himself. He says the following, in a lowered voice:

Durgaz: "Be warned: The men and orcs of First-Hold have traitors in their midst. I do not think they pose any immediate danger, but I do not know their motives and they are not to be trusted. The council members have fallen under their sway, and others may have as well. I do not expect you to do anything about this, just to be aware, and watch out for yourself and those who travel with you. We will determine what needs to be done and do it, once we have dealt with the problem in the North."

"When you reach First-Hold, take this finger to the Dulugolauk, and show it to them as proof that I have sent you. Find the orc named Chogon. Tell him that on the day of Basan, two hours past the shadow hour, I will be watching him. He must find a secluded location where he will not be overheard, and speak aloud of what is happening in First-Hold, and I will hear him. If you have anything you must tell me, I will turn my eye on you at the same time, on the day of Bimba. If I have anything I must tell you, I will do it two hours past the shadow on the day of Nim-A, and if you are watching me, you will hear it."

"Go. Be safe."

Shadow-Wall: Sir Walden Mikhail, knight of the Sarcosan realm

"... heh, heh... old enemy... old friend..." ...the Sarcosan Bladebond's voice grumbles deep as he reaches out finding Durgaz's orc-hide cheek... patting it as a father would a son... referring to the irony that you and he stand here today, enemies by race - friends by destiny. The old man (now using his sheathed sword hilt as a cane) leans in and rocks back... gripping the mummified finger... "...these days, Durgaz, they have not been kind to either of us have they?... and they certainly weren't kind to Talûn-karkû here... heh" with a smirk on the old man's wrinkled face, Durgaz cannot see the pale haze of white that would flow across the eyes of the old seer... His eyes were ripped from his skull by the hand of the Sword himself. "My heart warms for you... You met your true enemy my son. One I was not confronted with until Lord Ardherin taunted it from the fire in my belly." Walden steps back and smiles as smile of defiance... of victory! "... yes... you met your opposite in the bowls of that boat, did you not? And you cut it away like a dire-leech leaving it to lie on this Pellurian cove's bottom. I see it now. I see you in the times when your friends cannot. I see you in the times for which you are ashamed. I see your fury at the rage within you. I see the control you fear you cannot reach."

Walden steps back cupping his hand over his forehead, wiping down across his brow where his eyes used to be. "You struggle with yourself Son... that's a gate that you will never breach. Step back then and take another look... Is that which you strive for a gate to be broken or a barrier to be protected? You fight the nature in your heart. But you think that nature is of orc rage. It is not Son. We are more than flesh and bone. Could Radagug have been anything else other than his nature? Were he born a man, an elf, a dwarf? Your brother was who he was. Your friend... the angry southman.. it was the legate Black-Blade set this course for him long ago... We... You are who you are. Regardless of this... Use that which gives them strength to forward your fight, but donot allow the line to be crossed. The peoples of your First-Hold must be councilled on this..." Walden slaps his chest. "...it is hard to see now, even with your power of perceptions but there is a light at the end of this cave - but it's not one that you need to seek... It's you and your pathwalkers that carry it. You carry the torch passed on by Aryth's fallen. Remember Durgaz history is being shaped now... What we do, what we donot do... The silence of men and elf and dwarf and halfling and gnome... the silence of orc. All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for enough a good man to do nothing... You are a great soldier Son, but the world needs you to be a good man."

Walden looks up to Durgaz and smiles again... You've done well. But you have a little farther to travel, you know the intentions here... These things don't need to be said. But its something no one has ever spoke to you so candidly about... Walden... the Shadow-Wall - looks up to you and grips the trophy you've given him with his off hand and with the other he places it on your heart... "... The enemy is troubled by Lady Aradil's gambit, the darker brethern will doubly disguise his action when the great wooden columns tremble in the western wind, covered with blood... If she believes herself conquered, she will push forth and doom us all - yet she does so with love in her heart. As does the one you seek in the deep Marches... His Arrows will fall, but they will fall true. That is my friend's way. Ossion must be feared if you move on him, but donot forget that he is our friend guided by the same spirit that courses in you and I.
Tell them Son... tell them who you are... become the water that seeps into the cracks of the Scar, find the schismatic sects - call out your name in the dark... light the Shadow with your voice, letting all men that wish to live free hear the hope of your heart. Tell them Son... Tell them who stalks the minions of Shadow. Tell them who levels the tainted lands. Tell them who hunts the Kings of Night. You are NOT the twin born in front of the mirror but you can become a messiah and deserve the day... Tell them Son... Speak MIRRORBREAKER, speak RIPPER, speak KRANKLOBURZ, speak TEARER, speak RAGE-TAMER, speak SLASHER, speak DRAGONDOOM, speak GOUGER - YOU WERE the BETRAYER. You ARE the TEETH in the DARKNESS, the TALONS in the NIGHT. Yours is STRENGTH... and MIGHT... and RIGHTIOUS POWER. So speak REDEEMER - let them know your name, I will listen to the sun for you at Bimba's Shadow hour. Know your name - You... YOU are Durgaz the Blar'Gok of the Dulugolauk Odrendor and I...
I am proud of you Son. We all are." ... AKA. (Durgaz the White Way)

and a vision of horror and glory (but for whom?) rips through your mind... Shadow-Wall did not cause this... but he shares your sight and he falls to the ground shaken...

At night they will think they have seen the sun,
when they see the half pig man:
Noise, screams, battles seen fought in the skies.
The brute beasts will be heard to speak.

The rock of the world holds in its depths white
which will come out milk-white from a cleft
Needlessly troubled people will not dare touch it,
unaware that the foundation is of clay not steel.

Arythshaking fire from the center of the Eredane
will cause tremors around the High City.
Two great rocks will war for a long time,
then Pelluria will redden a new river.

A thing existing without any senses
will cause its own end to happen through artifice.
At the underworld hearts of the Icewall
there will be great damage from hail and ice.

Beneath the rock, struck in stone, lit in lightning,
the treasure of treasures is hidden not far.
The lost things discovered, hidden for many centuries.
when found, one struck blind, eye pierced by beast.

The great rock, dwarfholds and underdark,
after peace, war, famine, blood.
It will spread far, drowning great countries,
even antiquities and their mighty foundations.

and the vision of prophecy lays forth a plan unknown to all but the Thanes of the Mountains, Aryth needs you.

Long ago in the mines of Aryth, each the head of each dwarven clan was gifted with a Mithril Axe in the early years of the reign of the first Thane Steelguard. The legend scribed on the blade describes the Last Cry of the Mountains. Should the sound of the mountain's wail ever be heard, should the Hammer-Horn sound, all shall know it to be the end of the Dwarven people. A year's worth of arcs after the cry, the Kaladruns will be sundered in thunder and flame. Every Clan Leader knows the legend, and knows that should they ever hear the cry, and if they donot wish to see Moria so soon, they must flee from the caerns before the summer falls on the year for which begins a new millenia.

The Axes are a part of a plan unknown to all dwarves in this age, save one. It is the Thane's burden. A legacy that they have carried since Izrador's fall.

When the Witch was young and began having her first insights of what would come, she reached out to the first Dwarven Thane, (who had recently united the clans) in hopes of creating a lasting alliance and being able to plan for the coming apocalypse. The Dwarven Thane was shaken by what the Elven queen said, but took her words to heart. After meeting with his most powerful diviners, and counciling with Lady Aradil, the Elder Council and the young seer Galeck, he laid forth that preparations for the end would have to begin now. He began the largest, the greatest campaign of dwarven engineering that has ever existed.

Called the Last Road, it took generations to complete. In this age, it is considered to be a legend. The truth of it has been lost by the surviving clans, mostly do to the incomprehensible size of the structure.

What it is, is a horn. Or more accurately, a bellowed flute based on an elven design carved into the living rock of the Gazat's Ghaash'zagh. (Dwarven Fire Peak)

Below the mines in the silt of the doomed tomb Hall of Heroes, one end is a tunnel deep beneath Moria, and the largest most concentrated sulfur vein the dwarves have ever discovered - in the maw above "Aryth's Furness" - "the Ghashum'gund" - "the Hellstone River" - "the River of Fire". It is sealed with a huge valve-like door, guarded by an undying Bladebond, long since abandoned, but still maintained in working order by it's golem guardians.

The other end is a huge air-tight chamber accessible only through a strange sealed door which opens on the ledges above a massive underground lake which rests beneath Calador. At the bottom of the lake is another valve, this one massive in size and strength, made of Mithril (which never rusts) and held shut by thousands of gallons of water. Huge chains are attached to it, and run upwards, out of the chamber, and to a door that is only opened once during the reign of any Thane. The records of the Last Road, and a letter from the First Thane to the latest, and possibly last. But the key lies with Steelguard.

Between the two locations is a tunnel more than 2,500 miles long, deep in the earth. Roughly every 20 miles is a tunnel upward, far below Lake Calador, to the surface with a valve-like door on either end. There are more than 500 of them. These too are maintained by ancient golems who repair collapses and kill intruders. The valve-doors on the surface are disguised with dwarven stonecunning by master stoneworkers of old. Their work is such that surface dwelling dwarves within a mile of the valves have never found them.

It is the Thane's duty to ensure that the dwarven homeland never fall into the hands of the Shadow. Every dwarf knows that they would rather destroy their home themselves than see that fate come to pass. Which is the very purpose of the Last Road.

It is doomsday, to be activated in the event of defeat. The lake will drain into the bowels of the aryth creating a vacuum as the water is pulled downward. The counterweight itself is a powerful piece of magic. It falls along the only path leading to the Ghashum'gund, completely blocking it off once it falls. Once in place it's magical effect is activated the lands will be saturated to protect the thwarting of the Last Road's path...

Far to the south, the suction pulls open the valve which seals off the massive sulfur vein, and begins drawing the volatile gas into the colossal tunnel. As it does so, the 500 smaller valves spaced along it's length also open, but not wide. Just enough to draw in a bit of air to the central shaft. This passage of air creates a powerful echoing sound which booms along the entire mountain range. Each valve is tuned differently, so the sound is incredibly musical, like a powerful minor chord.

When Lake Calador is drained, the vacuum releases it's pressure, causing the 500 small valves to shut, ceasing the booming sound which has been thundering for the time of the Hammer-Horn. As they shut, deadfalls swing into place, further blocking the tunnels. At this point the entire Road should be filled with a volatile mixture of air and sulfur, and the sudden quiet will be an ominous thing indeed.

Finally, the 500 deadfalls act to drag rods of flint and magnesium across rough iron plates inside the tunnels. The resulting explosion will destroy the entire mountain range, first in a colossal fiery explosion, then in a thunderous collapse.

The elder Keepers of Road had once sealed breaches in the tunnel caused by tectonic activity. Though now they slumber from being down there for so long. An explosion visible from the Eren river and felt as far as Sharuun.

What will happen to those across Eredane with the sending of shock waves destroying buildings, villages, towns, cities, killing... What will happen to the rivers a seas? What will become of the nature of Aryth and her weather patterns?
Does it matter?... There will be a victor and the Shadow will know who levelled the Spine of the World, the Men of Stone will speak when the Hammer-Horn sounds. This is what they feared... This is what weaves the Darguul out of myth and into into cunning plot.