I thought it might be worth doing a final epilogue how the three branches of the bloodkin were brought together again.
Ten dwarfs stalked silently through what had once been a forest. They were easily visible in their red cloaks, but their enemy didn't rely on sight. The few stragglers that attacked them were dispatched by hits to the spine or head, the only way of putting them down for any time at all. Occasionally, their leader would stop to get her bearings or massage her chest, wincing, but their progress was inexorably towards the centre of the bloodstained forest.
A cloaked figure stood muttering in what had once been an elven palace. Now it was just the centre of a circle of corpses. Without turning around he said
"You should be dead. Who are you?"
"We-" the leader of the dwarfs paused to cough. "We are dwarfs from Gemtown... and we don't taste very nice to your horde."
The cloaked dwarf turned around frowning. "Oh. What do you want?" he asked.
"The same thing as before, Corley" Asmoth smiled, then took a ragged breath. "I had to find someone before talking to you, though... You could create your warriors and I can improve them... but neither of us could control them properly."
One of her dwarfs removed his cloak. Under his scars, Shank was still recognisable.
"You should still be buried," Corley said.
"We used the caves," Shank shrugged. "Came up in another fortress and started a farm, but we need more livestock."
"He can keep them not quite sane, but controllable," Asmoth explained as Corley wondered why he would have any interest in farming.
"If I didn't trust you a hundred years ago, why would I trust you now?" he growled, drawing a blade.
"Why would I lie?" Asmoth asked. "Your soldiers aren't a threat to us."
"Revenge," Corley suggested as the doctor coughed, rubbing her scars.
"I'll grant you that one, but consider the elves across the sea. Your army will tear itself apart before getting near them."
"I'll be watching you," Corley warned.
"And the world will watch us all," Asmoth smiled.
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Topic: The Insidious Sons of Steelhold -- Revival Succession Fortress (Read 282166 times)