Kurzen’s Mystery—Gri’lek the Wanderer

THE FIRST TROLL LEGEND

A moon over the Vale shines casting its glow upon the jungle, where proud warriors heed the call to defend our nation, and sacred grounds.  A moon over the Vale shines far above the cries of battle, where blood is spilled.  Of foe and comrade alike.

And when our brethren pass into realms beyond the known, the soul-spirit hardens deep beneath the Vale.

And when our brethren pass into the Mountain’s temple, we shall protect their eternal spirit, encased within the holy blue crystal.

THE SECOND TROLL LEGEND:
Gri’lek the Wanderer

Tale of Gri’lek the Wanderer

(… The beginnings of the tablet were worn and erased.  But the end was legible …)

Gri’lek stamped through the jungle.  And his eyes burned and his chest rumbled, for there was great anger in him.

In fury he roared to the sky, and he raised his arm.  He raised his left arm.  Grown strong and sure from hunting without its twin.

For Gri’lek’s right arm was gone, and it would not return.

And so he wandered, and he searched.  And his arm remained lost to him.  And so he cursed and roared as he walked.

But Gri’lek has long ago turned his ear away from the spirits, and they were angered and would not listen to his curses.

THE THIRD TROLL LEGEND

Rising from the ocean, a tower of water, Neptulon sent the great Krakken to doomed I’lalai.  So huge were their forms that jungles of kelp swayed through their limbs, and leviathans swam through bodies.

The largest Krakken then raised his arms high and crashed them into the sea, sending waves about him.  And they raged toward I’lalai.

The Krakken roared, and their voices thundered like an ocean storm.

“We come.”

Min’loth, standing firm, called forth his magic.  The waves sent to I’lalia parted and washed to both sides, and they flooded the jungle beyond.  Min’loth then bade his minions chant spells of binding.  And a din rang out as dozens of troll voices rose.

And one voice rose above the rest.

Min’loth bellowed and his magic gathered the power of his minion’s spells.  And he cast it at the approaching Krakken.

The seas parted and Min’loth’s spell sped toward the servants of Neptulon.  Lightning tore the sky and the spell struck them, and a thousand bolts fell, boiling water, and burning craters in the earth.

Min’loth cried in triumph knowing his spell would fell the great beasts.

But the Krakken are old.  Very old.  They remembered when the land was first born from the sea.

They remembered when the Old Ones ruled and when the travelers came and cast them down.  They remembered when magic was new.

They are old and they hold many secrets.  And though Min’loth’s spell was strong, it, like the troll, was mortal.

And so it failed.

It failed to bind the Krakken, but it enraged them.  Not in aeons had a mortal caused them pain, and the troll’s spell was painful.

And so they shed the bindings of Min’loth’s spell.  But then roared and stuck with fury.

A rumble was heard as great waves rose from the deep and raced toward the land.  When they reached I’lalai they cast a shadow on the city.

But before they destroyed it the Krakken halted. Poised.

The troll witchdoctors trembled and cried out to their master.  Min’loth gazed at the mountains of the sea, doomed and defiant.  He turned to his adepts and whispered, and the trolls etched his last words into stone.  Min’loth then faced the looming Krakken.

He grimaced and hurled his staff, his last bold act.

The Krakken then bent their fury upon Min’loth.  And an ocean fell upon I’lalai.

And it was no more.

And then the waters fell upon the jungle, washing clean all they met.  Trolls and beasts cried out as the waters smashed and drowned them.

Many Gurubashi wondered why the ocean swallowed them, but then they died and knew nothing.

And finally, when the waters reached the mountains, they stopped.  Appeased, they retreated back, beyond the shores, and they left a wake of death.

They retreated, but they surged around I’lalai and remained drowning it forever.

And the Chief Var’gazul, safe behind the mountains in Zul’Gurub, went out to the jungle and found it washed clean of his people.

And he despaired, for his dreams of conquest were thwarted.

THE FOURTH TROLL LEGEND: THE EMPEROR’S TOMB

By moon and fire.
By flesh and bone.
Scribed in blood.
Carved in stone.

Upon completion of the quest …

Brother Nimetz: Do you have the troll legends?  I must know their secrets.