We received a call from guards that there were monsters near the main gate. The monsters proved to be Nurgle plaguebearers and they were chasing someone called Corin Vleesman. I quickly eliminated the palguebearers with an arcane blast. Corin was clearly unwell and the guards suggested to take him to Lady Vesprils infirmary. There was a journal in his satchel. Spoke to Corin who said Darwid Heartrock had cursed them when they turned back and they could see the Crimson twins when they turned back. He also said Heartrok had told the lizards they were seeking emberstones in the volcanos and that at Heartrock fort Darwid had made observations that pointed the way but said the white rocks tell lies. Heartrock had also found a scroll saying the last test was not as it seems, a child could pass it.

I performed a prophesy and learned the Stormvault was near the Crimson twins, that Darwid was alive but not, and had suffered a bad outcome. The Stormvault was many weeks journey, Heartrock was a victim of his own greed and the last test could be passed by crawling on hands and knees.

Salix and Wraith went to the city archiveswhere they found a collection of inscriptions from when the Stormvault was established and fragments of an unbinding spell which would allow 'passing between the hammers'. I returned to the infirmary where I found a physician talking with a woman who wanted to talk to Corin. She was average height with darkish hair. She said her name was Brega Haltwhistle and was married to a porter from the Heartrock expedition. She did not seem upset when I told her Corin was the only member to return, then asked about records and offered to sit with him. She said she was staying at the Beach Mermaid.

Salix and Raith were followed back to our house. Raith confronted them and we found out afterwards he had loaned the journal to someone called Juliana for some Aqua Ghyranis.

Following morning we were called to the conclave by Morgan Kassan and asked to lead an expedition to find the Stormvault and recover the Crucible of Life within. The council had secured the services of a guide, Draedin Stormcloud, and 50 other people to form the core of the expedition. We were told to ensure the expedition was able to leave within a week. The councillors recommended the expedition first go to Hunters keep, the base of the Order Serpantis which was about three days from Anvilgard. The Order Serpantis hunted monsters for gladiatorial fights and Darwid probably went there as well. The council would provide supplies including a Grand hoxhead of Aqua Ghyranis, and firespitters to carry it.

The expedition was assembled and set out to Hunters keep. Malice Cragar was in charge of Hunters keep and reported the Heartrock expedition camp was seen in the Cupricorn mountains. Knights had seen it while hunting a crocodroth which had been wounded it but had got away. The expedition continued up into the mountains where it was attacked by the crocodroth while crossing a river. The crocodroth was killed but myself and Raith were injured in the fight and one of the firespitters was killed. The expedition continued until we came to a mudslide and one of the expedition was wounded. Salix healed them. Some members announced they wanted to turn back but changed their minds when told they would not get any of the expeditions supplies if they left. Later they attempted to steal the supplies and were executed.

Two members of the expedition were swept to their deaths in a flash flood and six more were wounded. The next day we pushed ahead to fort Heartrock. It had taken damage and several sections had collapsed. It looked like the damage had been caused by a single large creature but was not recent. There were a number of graves round the perimeter. The evidence pointed to the camp having been attacked by a carnosaur so we left some supplies to try to bait it in.

After several hours the carnosaur made an appearance. It was a formidable opponent but we succeeded in defeating it after a tough fight. We had made camp for the night when a group of about a dozen Serephon (also called Skinks) approached. Their leader was called Totek and he wanted to know what we were doing in their territory. He said others were following our trail on cold ones and had now overtaken us. When asked about the storm vault Totek said it was deep in the shadow of the Crimson Peaks. He warned us not to enter the valley of corruption but o offered to guide us and asked if Salix was one of the coalesced, a spirit from the Skinks mythology. I asked if they had use for the corpse of the carnosaur and they seemed pleased to take it for food.

They lead us through the jungle to two giant stone pillars either side of a narrow gorge. The pillars were carved with the Hammer of Sigmar and a twin tailed comet as well as unidentifiable symbols and some cryptic text "Turn back in despair, beyond test of arms, magic and faith awaits, Kaminos the mighty Sigmar storm lord had me written". It had been written in the last few months and Kaminos was a mighty creature tamed by Sigmar and which served as a guardian. The Skinks said following the gorge would lead to the valley of corruption and this was as far as they would go.

Overnight most of the supplies and Aqua Ghyranis disappeared along with Draedin Stormcloud. Salix and Raith went to find the Skinks to see if they had seen anything. They found small quantities of supplies discarded. As the expedition awoke in the morning they found a grapplemaw had grown where the Aqua Ghyranis had been spilled. It attacked and killed nine of the expedition members before it was killed.

The expedition followed the gorge until a ziggurat appeared in the distance at the end of a valley. We heard chanting "Billy Fastgrip he was eaten by fangfish" and sounds of Laughter, then other names who perished in horrible deaths. Billy Fastgrip was a member of the Heartrock expedition. Raith crept ahead to find the sound of the singing and saw a Sloppity Bilepiper which enthralled him. I flew to his assistance with Salix but were also affected by the singing. Eventually Raith shook free and killed the creature. Myself and Salix then killed the nurglings that surrounded it.

We then heard another voice which came from a bloated figure that appeared to be growing out of the ground and looked infected by nurgle. The face was untouched and recognisable as Heartrock. It was bemoaning that they were so close. Raith offered to end its misery then cut off its head. Roots grabbed the head and pulled it into the ground then roots grew from the neck and started forming a new head. I used arcane blast to reduce the body to ash but shoots started to appear amongst the ashes. Deciding there was noting more we could do we continued past towards the ziggurat.

The area immediately surrounding the ziggurat was clear of corruption. The bronze doors had been torn open so we entered. On the walls were frescos depicting the deeds of the Pantheon of Order. There were depictions of the gods Sigmar, the orc twin god Gorka-Morka, the dwarven god Grungni, and Nagash god of the dead. There were three giant thrones at the end of the hall and sitting on them were the three gods, Sigmar surrounded by light, Grungni and Gorkamorka [Gorkamorka.jpg]. They demanded to be addressed by their name and titles, which I did. They then sat back on their thrones. The light faded and they were revealed to be master crafted automatons.

Sounds were heard from a reliquary behind the dais. There were 12 rays of light descending across the door, and inside the reliquary were two figures trapped behind the rays of light. They both appeared to recognise Raith and claimed to have became trapped and the rays of light triggered when one of them picked up a relic. One was Draedin Stormcloud who apologised for what had happened. Raith walked away and they asked 'what about the 5 spheres he was paid'.

We passed through a short corridor into a room with a steam engine. In the room was a Duadin called Kravich and two Order Serpantis knights. Kravich appeared to know Raith, said thanks for the help and asked if we knew he had betrayed us for five spheres. He said the engine controlled an elevator which they were trying to get working and Juliana was working on freeing the others. We agreed a temporary truce, and after several hours work we got the steam engines working. If they are telling the truth about Raith I have no doubt he will be feeling the wraith of Sigmar at some point.

We then met someone called Juliana who immediately thanked Raith for his assistance. She proposed whoever got the Crucible of Life first could keep it. We entered the lift which Raith was able to control by thought and descended into the vault. The lift opened into a short corridor with a room at the end. I summoned a ghost light and sent it into the room where the light was immediately extinguished. Raith entered the room with a torch which was not extinguished. Presumably there was some effect in the room which negated magic. In the room were four warriors of Sigmar, automatons set to guard. One saluted Raith and another saluted me when I entered.

One indicated it was a test of arms then moved to attack us. I engaged one, circled round then quickly left the room through the other doorway in the far wall. The others continued to fight the warriors. Raith succeeded in destroying one and moved to attack the one fighting Salix, freeing him to join me.

In the next room I found a swirling tornado of hammers, an endless spell called a Celestian vortex. There were eight runes on the floor binding the spell to the room and I surmised destroying or negating the runes would free the spell and it would leave the room.

One of the Order Serpentis knights was killed while another was engaged by the warrior that had previously engaged myself. Juliana ordered Kravich to attack.

Salix joined me and we unbound the Celestian vortex spell. The hammers dropped to the floor and the runes extinguished. We quickly moved through the room as one of the runes slowly started re-lighting and several hammers twitched. Raith defeated the warrior he was fighting and caught up with us. We came to a third room with a huge hammer swaying from the ceiling. On the hammer was written "Trust in the storm lord and enter". I crossed the room in supplication and praying to Sigmar. Raith followed but was clearly deemed unworthy as the hammer dropped, crushing and nearly killing him. Clearly a sign of Sigmar's displeasure and I can only hope he has now learned his lesson. He crawled to the far side of the room. Salix followed us and passed through the room safely.

We continued down another corridor to the next room which appeared to be a vertical maze. It took a long time for us to navigate through the maze and there was blasts of steam while we did so. When we finally got through the maze we came to an anti-chamber with a hatch in the floor which radiated heat. A large fresco on the wall depicted Sigmar wrestling a large two headed dragon to the floor. Written on the fresco was "This is a test of might by Sigmar who overcame the beast named Kaminos the mighty who sleeps in the lava. Whoever overcomes Kaminos will be rewarded with the blazing armour".

I prayed to Sigmar and a vision appeared which said I could not be touched by the heat and fire. We descended through the hatch into a large room with a pool of lava in the centre. There was two bridges leading to an island where there was a forge and anvil, and the sounds of hammers. On a stand was a set of stormcast armour. Juliana and her party appeared through the hatch behind us and everyone started running towards the island. As we ran a Magmadroth rose from the lava.