Oridum Graybrow and the Burning of Stillmere, a Splinterlands lore expansion.
hive-13323·@nozem01·
23.196 HBDOridum Graybrow and the Burning of Stillmere, a Splinterlands lore expansion.
<center>  </center> Hey everyone and welcome back to my Splinterlands Blog, today it's a Saturday and it's time to make this weeks second post to take part in the Splinterlands Challenges, to hopefully fund my account a little more because OMG there are so many cool Conclave Arcana cards I want!! What I like about the second challenge of the week, The Splinterlands Community Engagement Challenge is it's different almost every week, so we can have fun thinking about what to make and let our creativity flow to make a cool looking post. To find out how you can participate in the challenge yourself, [check out the official Splinterlands post here.](https://ecency.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-community-engagement-challenge-sx1upw) So, this week the Challenge is pretty broad, and that's awesome! <br> > 🔮 This Week’s Theme: Conclave Arcana! From spellbinding artwork to game-shifting abilities, this set is packed with new possibilities. For this week’s challenge, create a post that dives into any aspect of Conclave Arcana: > * Your favorite new cards > * The most exciting abilities > * Potential combos or team builds > * Predictions on how Conclave Arcana will reshape the meta > * Lore or creative storytelling inspired by the new set <br> <center>  </center> <br> With over 400 manual battles this season (Hi, I'm nozem and I'm a Splinterlands addict 😅) it would be easy to just share one of the awesome battles I had this season, and there were quite a lot of them, unexpected wins but, as you can see I lost a lot as well... but there was another task to do for this challenge... Lore story telling! And I love that part! The [last one I made](https://ecency.com/hive-13323/@nozem01/splinterlands-lore-expansion-the-frozen-nest) actually got trending on Hive, it's a lot of work making them, but also a lot of fun! When you like reading the stories, [here's another one](https://ecency.com/hive-13323/@nozem01/splinterlands-arachne-weaver-a-story-about-the-weavers-prey) I made about Arachne Weaver. So... let's make another story, and to make it even cooler this time I added some pictures with the story as well but I'm still learning how to do this better for next time. <br> <center>  </center> #### A Tale from the Conclave Arcana <br> In the heart of the Great Lowlands, the land was dry and cracked, as if the earth itself had grown tired of holding life. Dust blew through the air like whispers, and even the rivers seemed to flow slower now, as if they feared what was coming. Oridum Graybrow stood on a high ridge, staring down at the village of Stillmere. The village was small. Wooden houses. A stone bridge. A quiet stream that ran between yellow fields. Chickens wandered freely. Children played near the riverbank. Smoke rose from chimneys. It looked peaceful. Harmless. But Oridum didn’t see a village. He saw delay. He saw resistance. He saw another obstacle between him and the secrets buried beneath Praetoria. <br> <center>  </center> <br> Behind him, a group of Conclave mages and soldiers waited in silence. Some looked nervous. They had seen him burn three towns already. Not once had he raised his voice. Not once had he shown anger. Only quiet commands — and then the fire came. “Sir,” one mage said, “We’ve found a library in the village. Old maps. Records from before the Splintering. Should we retrieve them?” Oridum didn’t turn his head. His pale gray eyebrows twitched slightly. “No,” he said. The mage blinked. “No?” “They will bring them to me,” Oridum said. “In fear, or in ash.” <br> ### A Fire from Below He walked to the edge of the cliff. The ground beneath his boots crumbled, revealing black stone. He knelt and placed a gloved hand on the earth. “Wake,” he whispered. The land answered. <center>  </center> Cracks spread across the dry fields like lightning. Heat poured from the earth. In the village, people stopped what they were doing. A loud hiss filled the air, like steam escaping from a giant kettle. Then... fire. Not from the sky, but from the ground. The soil tore open, and flame shot up in pillars. Trees exploded. Houses lit like dry paper. Screams rose, then vanished into the roar. Oridum began walking. He passed through fields now glowing red. His cloak didn’t burn. The flames parted for him, like servants moving aside for their master. A farmer ran across the path, his clothes on fire. He fell in front of him. Oridum looked at the farmer, then walked around without a word. <br> ### The Forgotten Stone Near the village center, only one building still stood - a temple made of old stone. The fire licked at its sides but couldn’t break through. Inside, Oridum found a priest clutching a glowing rock. It had a rune on it, one that Oridum had seen in dreams. The symbol of Grimbardun, the ancient dwarven city deep beneath the mountains. The priest stared at him, face wet with sweat and ash. “You don’t have to do this,” he said. “You’re human. Like us.” Oridum took the stone and examined it. “I was like you,” he said softly. “But that was a long time ago.” He turned and walked out. Behind him, the temple collapsed into flame. <br> <center>  </center> <br> ### A Message in Smoke Hours later, the fires still burned, but the village was gone. Oridum stood once more on the ridge, watching the smoke rise into the sky. One of his commanders approached. “The rune matches others found near Grimbardun’s outer tunnels,” he said. “They’re protecting something.” Oridum nodded. “They think they can hide from me in the mountains,” he said. “They think stone will save them.” He raised both hands now, and the air shimmered. Far away, a sleeping volcano opened its eye. Its breath grew hot. Its mouth rumbled. “Send them a message,” Oridum said. “Let the dwarves know I’m coming.” <br> <center>  </center> <br> ### The Flame Within That night, as the fires cooled, Oridum sat alone by a pool of lava. He looked into it like a mirror. He thought of the streets where he was born, cold and cruel. He remembered the Little Sisters, the orphan keepers who watched him like hawks. He remembered stealing bread, hiding from soldiers, burying friends too young to die. He had no family. No people. No gods. Only control. Not kindness. Not love. Not even glory. Just fire. His fire. He would find the secret of Praetoria, whatever it was. And when he did, the world would know that Oridum Graybrow did not ask. He took. <center>  </center> <br> <center>  </center> #### A Tale from the Conclave Arcana, Part 2 The mountains of Grimbardun rose like broken teeth, sharp and jagged, cutting the sky. Snow covered their peaks. Wind howled between them. But deep below, in tunnels older than time, the dwarves lived. They had seen the smoke from the Great Lowlands. They had heared of Stillmere. And they knew who was coming. Oridum Graybrow. <br> ### The Mountain Stirs Far below the highest ridge, Oridum stood in silence. His army waited behind him, mages, fire spirits, soldiers in ash-colored armor. Some held glowing red crystals, others rode beasts with molten skin. All eyes were on the mountain. He placed a hand on the black rock. Cold. “Not for long,” he said. He whispered to the ground. Fire answered. Deep cracks opened in the stone, glowing red. Heat spread. Steam hissed out of the mountain’s sides. A rumble rolled through the cliffs. “The earth listens,” Oridum said calmly. “Even stone bends to fire.” <br> <center>  </center> <br> ### Inside the City of Stone The dwarves of Grimbardun were ready. Their leader, Thane Korrin Steelgrip, stood at the gate. His beard was braided with iron rings. His axe was older than the Empire. His eyes were hard, but worried. “He comes not as a man, but as a storm,” said one dwarven seer. “The fire walks with him.” “We are the stone,” Thane Korrin replied. “And stone does not run.” The dwarves sealed the gates. They filled tunnels with traps. They armed war golems and carved wards into the walls. Their best mages stood ready in the deepest chamber, the Runeheart Hall, where ancient magic waited. Still, fear crept through the halls like smoke. <br> ### The First Strike Oridum raised his hand. Flame poured from the mountain’s sides. Lava spilled into valleys. Rocks cracked and fell. A giant wall of fire marched forward. At once, Grimbardun’s outer walls began to glow. Runes lit up blue against the red, forming shields to stop the heat. Then came the ash beasts. Fiery monsters, made of bone and smoke, clawed at the gates. The dwarves fought back - arrows, axes, bolts of lightning. Golems roared to life, crushing anything that made it past. But this was only the beginning. Oridum had not moved. His eyes were closed. He was listening - not to the battle, but to the mountain itself. “Open,” he said. And from deep below, the volcano roared. <br> <center>  </center> <br> ### The Tunnel of Fire The dwarves had built hidden escape tunnels. But Oridum’s fire found them. Lava spilled into side passages. Smoke filled the lower halls. Entire chambers collapsed in flame. Still, the dwarves held Runeheart Hall. Their last mages stood in a circle, protecting a powerful relic - the Stonebind Core. If it shattered, Grimbardun would fall. Thane Korrin stood beside them, armor cracked, face blackened with soot. He would not retreat. And then... the wall exploded. Oridum walked through the smoke. Alone. His cloak burned at the edges. His staff glowed like a piece of the sun. He stepped into the chamber, calm as always. Thane Korrin raised his axe. “You will not have our secrets, fire-witch.” Oridum tilted his head. “They were never yours to keep.” <br> ### The Final Clash The two leaders met in the heart of the mountain. Thane Korrin swung his axe with strength born from generations. Oridum raised a wall of fire. Stone cracked. Flames roared. Dwarven mages unleashed lightning. Oridum drew the storm into his hands and hurled it back as pure heat. The room shook. The relic pulsed. Then Oridum stepped forward, and with one word - “Fall.” - the fire behind him surged. The mages screamed. Korrin roared. And the Stonebind Core shattered. <br> <center>  </center> <br> ### The Mountain Breaks Grimbardun did not fall in silence. The ground split. The roof of the mountain burst open. Fire spilled out like blood from a wound. The snow on the peaks melted in an instant. Rivers boiled. Smoke rose for miles. No one would forget that day. Oridum walked out alone. Behind him, the city of Grimbardun was gone. <br> <center>  </center> <br> ### A Warning Written in Flame Later, the Conclave Arcana asked Oridum if he had found what he was looking for. “No,” he said. “But the path is clearer now.” “What did the dwarves hide?” Oridum looked to the horizon. “Fear,” he said. “Old fear. Buried in stone.” He turned to his map. His finger traced a new path, toward the heart of Praetoria. The land would not stop him. Because Oridum Graybrow did not come with questions. He came with fire. <center>  </center> <br> That's all for this week folks, I hope you enjoyed it and let me know if it's something to continue so hopefully challenges like these come more often and I can make more of them, it's fun! When you're in to the official Splinterlands lore, check [the Lore site here ](https://lore.splinterlands.com/)for more fun reading! <br> <center>  Thank you for reading!!! If you haven't made an account already, please consider using my [referral link](https://splinterlands.com?ref=nozem01) to sign up, I'll happily send the amount I get for your signup back to you in DEC or SPS to help you start. Also, when you require any help to get you started,let me know, I'm here to advice and guide new players and maybe I can help you with card delegations too! Have a great day!  </center>
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