Adrik had slowly been urging the Grymkin toward the Pelligan Shards, as he sensed more than deduced the destination of the enemy forces.  Once there, however, he had to fight hard with the warlocks to venture inside – though the fear of the unknown was the Grymkin’s playground, in the Shards it cut both ways.  In the end, he convinced only two warlocks, the Child and the Dreamer, to follow him inside.

Though they had once been allies, both knew that as they now had the same goal, alliances no longer mattered.  Lord Ghyrrshyld’s snipers took the first shots trying to pick away at the Skin and Moans and the Witchwood.  Meanwhile Larlara maneuvered her Griffon toward Adrik and his Rattler while the Electromancers backed her up waiting for the chance to strike.

With the first shots fired, the Child’s beasts joined melee with the Banshee and Manticore – the Gorehound flanking the ‘jacks while the Skin and Moans took the Banshee head on.  When the beasts’ fury was spent, the Banshee was reduced to a pile of scrap upon the battlefield, but the Manticore, nearly unscathed himself, waded in and made quick work of the Skin and Moans.

On the other side of the battlefield, the trades were not so even – the Witchwood had managed to get a hold on Larlara’s mind, baiting her into the open, then tearing at her with its jagged branches before leaving her broken on the forest floor.  With the Griffon inert, the Rattler charged past it into the Electromancers, ripping them limb from limb and destroying their storm inducers in its berserk rage.

The Manticore came on again then, heading straight for the Child.  Unfortunately, the massive Cage Rager stepped into its path, and the Child unleashed a hammer of force through the beast directly into the Manticore.  The Manticore was slammed backward from the blow knocking down Ghyrrshyld, the warcaster having gotten closer to the melee than intended.  Seeing the battle seemingly won, and with no wish to tarry further in the Shards, Ghyrrshyld made a hasty retreat, though he marked the place that he might come back for Larlara once the Child had left.

While the Child moved on to secure the road, Adrik took his Rattler to support the Dreamer and her force.  He had already heard the stomping of stone feet as a force of wolds approached the broken lands to the immediate North.  There, he found the Dreamer already mobilizing against the slow-moving stones.  The rough landscape with its pools of acid and forest copses favored the Circle Orboros, but the Dreamer planned to use that against them as well…

As the wolds approached the Grymkin forces, they picked off the forward scouts, first the Cask Imps, then the Trapperkin, and finally the Witchwood.  Their attacks left them off-balance, however, and the wolds were not as agile on the battlefield as the Grymkin.

The last remaining scout, the Gorehound, took on the Woldwyrd outside the forest copse.  While he was able to destroy the construct, he was soon set upon by Megalith and the Wold Guardian which pounded him to dust.  Baldur came on then, positioning himself within the copse, and guarded by the two wolds.  As he gathered his powers over the earth, the Grymkin found the ground itself became recalcitrant, and they lost their mobility advantage.

Undeterred, the Dreamer saw an opportunity to decapitate the force by going after Baldur directly.  She called out to Baldur’s mind, bringing him into the dream with her, forcing him to fight on her terms.  Without even realizing it, Baldur went completely stationary, not understanding the attack.  This allowed the Dreamer’s Dread Rots to find an opening and attack, defeating the great warlock with nothing but farming tools.

As Baldur fell, his wolds too broke apart.  Then, they reformed as a granite carapace surrounding him, protecting him from further harm.  With this site secured, Adrik was ready to make his move on the tower, that he might find out what lies within…