Chapter 5: Breaking Tusks

As the rest of the group turns away the hunter, knowing what is about to happen, starts singing a traditional song about meeting kin in the afterlife. He do not get to sing a lot before his singing is interrupted by a soft splurch as Koram's dagger pierces the hunter's throat. Koram makes sure it goes fast.

You need to decide if you want to progress or head back to warn the following.

Late in the afternoon you descent into a valley in the otherwise hilly surroundings. Nothing grows in this desolate valley. Fragments of rusted metal protrude from the churned earth, frozen into furrows over many icy winters. Near the middle of the battlefield stands a small monument: an inverted cone of black basalt about four feet tall, its tip embedded firmly in the earth. The flat, circular side of the cone faces the sky. Atop the cone, three metal battle standards form a tripod that supports a human-sized effigy made of leather and wood. A fine metal shield balances atop the effigy.

As you get closer you do detect magic in the vicinity.

As you move even closer, four rusted old swords that lie littered along the battlefield suddenly floats into the sky and suddenly charges at you with the pointy end first.

Grom has heard of these kinds of places before. The cone of black basalt is a foci that focuses energy from ley lines—natural conduits of raw, cosmic magic. All are exceptionally old, and most have been forgotten, though travelers rediscover them by accident from time to time. This apaku enhances transmutation magic. This one seems to have malfunctioned over time and the magic has corrupted, causing it to animate some of the swords littering the battlefield.