Undead encountered in Irukush

Military: Skirmish

A battle breaks out between the Theodrum Dwarfs (accompanied by an Ashnorian exploration expedition) and Irukush Goblins over a mysterious vault that emerged from the ground during an earthquake. They were soon to discover it's undead inhabitants

After two eventful years, the Ashnoorian exploration mission to the northern reaches of Ashnoor was nearing its conclusion. The expedition had uncovered many wondrous discoveries, mapping lands long forgotten and shrouded in myth. They encountered entire civilizations that had evolved in isolation since the fall of Aringale over a millennium ago—descendants of those who had refused to flee southward during the rise of the Erayax.
  But such discovery did not come without cost. What began as a well-equipped team of thirty, led by the esteemed head of the Council of Scholars' Exploration Wing, Wilston Sedlefodle, had dwindled to just nine survivors. While some realms they encountered proved cautiously hospitable, many others were hostile and treacherous. These lands claimed many of Sedlefodle’s companions. One such realm offering a fragile welcome was the Dwarven kingdom of Theodrum. There, nestled high in the mountains near the volatile border with the Goblin and Orc domain of Irukush, Sedlefodle and his remaining team found refuge behind the stone walls of the fortress of StoneHammer. Grateful for the dwarves’ hospitality, Sedlefodle agreed to assist in a newly arisen mission: to investigate an ancient vault whose entrance had been unearthed days earlier by a powerful earthquake. The vault, however, lay just within the contested lands of Irukush, making the mission perilous. Theodrum and Irukush were far from allies, and tensions were always close to boiling over. Leaving his understudy behind in StoneHammer, Sedlefodle and the remaining Ashnoorian explorers joined their Dwarven hosts and set out for the vault.

As the Theodrum Dwarfs and their Ashnoorian companions reached the dungeon’s mouth, an oppressive foreboding fell upon them. The entrance yawned like a wound in the earth—damp, lightless, and exhaling a pale mist that crawled outward like a shadowy hand reaching for the moonlight. Undeterred, they pressed inside. Glimmers of treasure soon lifted their spirits, but their hope proved short-lived. The Goblins of Irukush had arrived hours earlier, and they greeted the dwarves with steel and fury. Battle erupted, both sides desperate to claim the spoils. The Goblins pressed an early advantage, their foothold giving them the upper hand. Yet even amidst the carnage, one prize bound them both in greed and fear. At the dungeon’s heart lay a vault of jet-black stone, its surface bleeding the same ghostly mist that blanketed the floor. While hacking at one another, Dwarves and Goblins hurled themselves against its colossal doors, neither willing to retreat before the mystery within was claimed. The vault began to yield—just as horror awoke. A dwarf collapsed, shrieking, his form twisting until he rose again as a Goblin, turning his blade on former kin. In the same moment, a Goblin’s mind shattered, and he fell upon friend and foe alike in a frenzy. Then, with a shudder that cracked the earth, one of the great doors gave way.

The air froze. The mist turned a sickly green. A lone dwarf stood transfixed before the vault, staring within for what seemed an eternity—though only heartbeats passed. When an ally touched his shoulder, the sight that met him was grotesque: flesh sloughing from bone, eyes clouded and lifeless. A thunderous rumble followed, and the dungeon’s entrance collapsed, sealing all within. From the vault poured the dead. In that moment, hatred yielded to desperation. Goblin and Dwarf fought side by side, carving down wave after wave of clawing revenants, while others clawed at the rubble in frantic hope of escape. Screams echoed through the cavern as the fallen rose anew, swelling the undead ranks. At last, the way broke open. A pitiful few slipped through, sprinting into the night without daring to look back. They did not halt until the fort walls of home loomed before them—alive, but haunted by the horror they had unleashed.