Story update time!
The Coldarra mission resulted in chaos. In their quest to obtain a source of mana, the Beastmaw under Sergeant Shakela accidentally destabilised the arcane elemental they had intended to either capture or obtain the elemental core from and a potent arcane explosion took place, finally drawing the attention of the Blue Dragons. Though the Blue helped the severely injured Beastmaw heal up, they also held them as unwitting guests for about a week, until their fate was decided.
The wyrm Ethalagos wanted nothing more than to seize their cube for study and safekeeping in the Nexus. However, through his agents, he knew what dangers the dragons would be faced with if that was to happen, so he shed light on the situation to the Beastmaw:
Though the cube was not dangerous, it had the eyes of a being who was. His name was Henduo Jian, more simply known to the dragons as the Collector. Once a servant of the Thunder King, he did not partake in the chaos prevalent among the mogu following Lei Shen’s death, to grab for power and fill the void left in the wake of the assault on the Thunder Isle. Instead, he took off and walked the world, seeking out items of power - weapons, artifacts, scrolls and trinkets - to one day return and solidify his place as a powerful warlord. His collection had grown much, according to the wyrm, who feared what artifacts the mogu might unleash if he knew that his desired cube was held in the Nexus.
So an accord was made - the Beastmaw would keep the cube, but they would also hunt down the Collector and deal with him themselves, eliminating this threat for both their own sakes and the dragons’.
The party caught up to Sergeant Azukuni’s team, who had tracked down and besieged the mysterious warrior at a magnataur den. However, that was where a dead-end was reached. The magnataur and their snobold servants had no idea they were housing an unwanted guest, but were unknowingly acting as his perfect guard. Nor would the warrior easily come out of hiding.
Shakela’s party was quick to bring their comrades up to speed, that the warrior was indeed the Collector and his intention was to claim items of power - presently the cube. He had already taken Vrakk’s hammer.
After lengthy attempts to draw the mogu out, at one time even invoking the ire of the magnataur, the warrior-minded Henduo Jian finally agreed to face the Beastmaw on his own terms - two days hence at twilight, in the faraway arena of the Scourge-infested Zul’Drak. There he would have his honourable combat with the blademaster Azukuni herself.
And so the Beastmaw scrambled to somehow reach Zul’Drak in two days…
