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No, just passing by.

[Superdorf]

Have Lolor jerk his hand away and hurl a fireball, if he can.
Have Id drive his pick into "Wazantski"'s brain, through its eye.

[mightymushroom]

I started a suggestion where Lolor attempts to hurl Id back up at the expense of his hand, but Lolor already said he's not accurate at throwing. Agree with not getting hand futilely chomped. Id isn't up there, but the brave spearserpentman is: Have whats-r-name drive their spear through its eye.

[Superdorf]

I started a suggestion where Lolor attempts to hurl Id back up at the expense of his hand, but Lolor already said he's not accurate at throwing. Agree with not getting hand futilely chomped. Id isn't up there, but the brave spearserpentman is: Have whats-r-name drive their spear through its eye.

Why not both? Everybody gangpile the eye!

[Quaksna]

Thankfully, the ant moved one leg close enough for Lolor to get away from the deadly grip of mandibles. In second hand, he prepared fireball. Id got to this leg too, and climbed up.
"Everybody gangpile the eye!" shouted Lolor.
Lolor hurls a fireball!

"Agh! I missed!" cried Lolor, and lost ground under the legs, so he quickly grabbed antenna.
Id ran up, before the ant would raise his leg.

Id and the serpent man gangpiled the eye, and they got deeper under the chitin. With every strike, the beast was paralyzed for the moment.
"Great, step back!" said Lolor, as he climbed on the head too, soon he stood on mandible.

Lolor mutters an incantation and a jet of fire comes from his palm!
The flame went all the way down through the hole. The beast collapsed.

Bufut was struck down.
Lolor fell down, but he didn't hurt himself. Eser wasn't so lucky, giant leg of the ant has pierced his chest.

The rest of the party climbed down.
"We did it! We defeated a forgotten beast!" said Lolor.
"Yeah!" said Id. "Seems I'm really greatest miner that ever lived after all..."

"Eser! You okay?"
"I won't lie to you, Id." hissed Eser. "I really, really wanted to take you hossstage and sssell to Wõrv... Heh... Thingsss don't alwaysss go asss planned, maybe it'sss better thisss way. Pleassse, take care of my men. Men, tell hisss friendsss about that fortresssssss..."
Then he breathed out for the last time.
"I'm sorry for your pals..." whispered Lolor.
"Oh, that's okay. You'll get used to this, especially in caverns..." said Id. "We'll do as he said."

"So... Take that serpent with you, it's alive... Go to every camp and get them here!"

"Hm. I guess we're going back. The chasm might be already mined out... Come with me, Id." said Lolor. And so they went.

[Superdorf]

Hooray! We won! ...Kind of!
I'd not known Lolor could do that. It's nice to know he's not completely useless in a fight.

It's almost a pity to leave "Wazantski" behind. He was a beautiful piece of papercraft. 

[Quaksna]

It's almost a pity to leave "Wazantski" behind. He was a beautiful piece of papercraft. 

It still is, it wasn't damaged in any way. Due to canon toad belief, everything's possible.

It was fun to make, since it's really and completely 3D it's maybe the only forgotten beast I made that has desired size, scaled to papercraft dwarf. At one point I thought I lost it too, but it's luckily big enough. 

[Quaksna]

"I danced my daily dance, I visited Adur and the livestock, I hauled a boulder all the way to the mason's, I caught all the crundles, I think... And everyone's still down there in the caverns! Man, what a day..."

"Excuse me, gentle dwarf..."

"Can I speak to Mr. Lolor, please?"


"Oh come on! How's that every stranger want to speak with Lolor! What about other dwarves? Are they still a thing? No one cares!"
Lord Dazelosric was looking at Zeg's lamentation with patience.
"Sorry, noble rider. I... I'm just freaking out at the moment. I'm sort of noble here, may I ask who you are?"

"Lord Alle Dazelosric of Copnutgashi. Your dwarves traded lots of food with us."
"Oh, nice to meet you, lord Dazelosric!"
"Now where were I... Oh yes. Where is Lolor?"

"I heard he fell to underground chasm, or something like that."
"So he's not... Available?"
"Definitely not, dear lord. Maybe dead. I don't know."
"That's a pity... I'll wait."
Zeg was scratching his beard, thinking, then he said: "Certainly it would be terrible to leave someone outside, when he can go inside. Would you like wine with something?"


"So this is Kudarkalur... Nice place. I couldn't live underground, but it's very... Aesthetically pleasing."
"Our dwarves are doing really good. One magical toad motivated us, it's with rest of dwarves in the tunnels."
"Magical toad? I read something about them. Why is everyone in the tunnel? To fetch me Lolor?"
Both laughed for a while.
"Certainly, your lordship!"


"These... Crundles you have here..."
"Yeah, they're little naughty..."
"I like them. You think it's possible to buy them?"
"Well, our overseer Alak is very fond of them, so I don't really know."
"I see. I'll ask him myself."

From back door to the kitchen, Otad has shown up, with platter for the guest.
"Plump helmet wine, potatoes with rock nuts!" he said, as he put the meal on the table.

"Thank you, kind cook."
"That honor's not mine, I'm just mere waiter, your lordship. Enjoy your meal!"

"Mushroom wine? Haven't tasted that before..." said lord Dazelosric, he took the mug and tasted, he apparently enjoyed it.
"I'm glad that rumbling and crashing from beneath has faded, they could return soon..." said Zeg.
"Why don't you check it out? You don't like caverns?"
"Let's say my tribal duties and caverns don't go along well. I need to be near the surface. I'm in charge of local tribesmen."
"My butler is a former tribesman. I like to take foreigners as servants, they're contrasting with my porcelain tableware!"
They laughed again.


"You know, your lordship, you're pleasure to speak with. You should go visit us more often... By the way, why is there only you and your horse here? Shouldn't you have... Like... Guards? That contrasting butler?"
"I can take care of myself, don't worry. Mhhmmm... Hey, I know these potatoes, they're from Copnutgashi, aren't they?"
"What's up with you and Lolor, your lordship?" asked Zeg. "May I ask?"
"You may ask, but I won't answer, sorry friend." answered lord calmly.
"Heh. You're exactly as secretive as the other strangers!"
"Tell me about them."
"You may ask, but I won't answer!" said Zeg with a grin.
Lord chuckled.
"Fine. I'll tell you what's my deal with Lolor, you'll tell me about the other strangers. Fine?"
"Fine."
Then there was silence.
"You go first!" said lord Dazelosric.

"Fine. Once, two dwarves came, both were wearing red with sewn golden decorations, much like Lolor. They wanted to speak with him privately, he recognised them, he agreed, so we agreed too. That's all."
"Hmmmm... Oh, my turn. Lolor was my former servant, and I have a score to settle with him."
"Well, I don't know much about him! Alak does, and he says that he's not dangerous. Still, I'm curious, you know..."
"He's manager here, right?"
"Yeah."
"Managing, that was always his cup of tea."
"So you know him well?"
"A bit. He's southerner, as you can see, and he was wandering before working at my place. He wasn't speaking too much, you know, ideal butler."
"I feel strange powers around him."
"You do?"
"I do."

[Quaksna]

"Lord Urtormuk!" shouted Omot, he ran to the two leaders and bowed.

"What's up, Ommie?" asked Limul.
"We're getting near the first fortress, Belbezstodir. There are hillocks in nearby. Shall we raze and loot them?"
"Out of question!" said Uxzoustug immediately. "We came here to reclaim one particular fortress, banish Zomus for good and go home. Understood?"
"But... We're in war... Men need..."

"Oh, nice try." said Limul. "You're goblins! You don't need to eat, what's your problem?"
"No time to lose with unnecessary actions. Right? Great, you're dismissed."

Omot bowed and went away again.
"Goblins will be goblins..." sighed Uxzoustug. "Ong, were the old races like this?"
"Depends which." answered Limul.
"Which were you hero of?"

Limul was thinking back.
"Not just one race. I don't want to talk about it, it recalls times when I sat on a bronze throne, big like forgotten beast, with jaspers, garnets and amethysts in it..."
"Oh, sorry then."

"That's okay. Heh, I'm wondering how it's going in Stothoaslud. What are the goblins doing there right now?"


Stothoaslud

"Okay, goblins. Back to work! We have fortress to rebuild."
Goblins sighed, they thought that Uxzoustug's arrival will bring them redemption, not just tyrant swapping. One guard dared to open his mouth.

"But master, the Urtormuk himself said that..."
"I don't care what Urtormuk said, he's out of reach now! And don't dare to mention them again, we lost so many strong goblins and trolls to win their war! At least I got rid of many annoying nobles..."
"Aren't you afraid of speaking like this?" said the other guard. "He may punish us all terribly! We should rather..."
Gostus got triggered, and he drew scimitar.

"I am the master! I am telling what we are going to do! I don't care there are those fools outside, they're not going to bother me! They're not! Shut up, or I'll cut out your heart and I'll throw it to beak dogs!"
Guards were silent already. Their glowing eyes were angrily staring through visors of their helmets.

Gostus wanted to leave the site, but group of goblins blocked his path. They wore long coats, capes, cloaks and robes. The one with the longest hair spoke:

"I see lord Sasneuzod as well as Ongongrera aren't in your concern... What about the others? Are we getting elevated influence?"
Gostus frowned.

"I don't care! I am your master, your obeying me, understood?"
The group frowned.
"Master or not, you're not greater authority than lords of Alsmustspås. We won't serve someone, that denies truth. Evidential truth we all saw."
"That simplifies things, I thought I would have to banish you. Go! Leave!"

Then Gostus turned to goblin workers.
"And if any of you ever mention that nonsenses, you'll have to deal with mightiest goblin in all of Stothoaslud!"





"Abandon our heroic lords? Never!" said the highest follower of Ngoruboxox.
"What does he think he is?" said another. "He's just a goblin, lesser than Rulasm! Even than Rulasm! That filthy beast at least didn't persecute us..."

"We all saw them, with our eyes, we spoke with them, they... They even coronated the new master! Yet he is doing like nothing of that happened!"
"This mustn't stay like this!" shouted another. "If everyone will behave like him, soon they'll fabricate excuses! I know it! This is how mortals deny supernatural..."

"We should call a worst disease one could imagine, and let him suffer!" said one follower of Oströtakåtôz.

"Shut up, you puny branch of disease wizards! Or go try elsewhere!"
"I have an idea!" called one shrouded Ngoruboxox's follower. "The lords have descended on our realm, we saw Ngorubnestro, so our lord must be here too. Why don't you we call him? He's lord of death, Gostus won't stand a chance!"

The rest of pale clothed goblins thought for a while. Then the highest of them said: "Mark of death? That's... Pretty wicked. I approve this! For the sake of our nation..."

[Quaksna]

"Good morning, Len!" said Berath.

"Eh... What's goin'... Oh. Good morning. Where's Olmul? Olmul!"

"Olmul! Stop setting up traps all over the camp, we don't need them!"

"But I want a fierce frogo guy!"
Len sighed, they ate some dry moss for breakfast and went on.


"Shall we visit those iguanas again?" asked Olmul.
"Iguanas? They live near coasts, we're heading north!" said Len.
"We should be careful, last time we met an ogre..." said Berath. "What other bad things live in this... Munsogsil? Was it?"
"Oh, I've been not there, I heard only the worst about that area..." said Olmul.

"You heard right, it's cursed place." said Len, nodding his head. "Travellers say that those who ventures into that swamp, their intents become corrupted, they get terrifying strength and will guard the swamp forever. Some say that some wicked wizards mastered this foul magic, and can curse whole armies to become their thralls forever... Horrible fate. Only greatest of heroes were able to stop these dark lords and lift the curse away, and the soldiers could finally die, in peace..."

"Yeah, heard something about that, too. I heard they are trying to figure out how to raise dead bodies to fight for them again! Hah! Summoning spirits, okay, but raising dead... That's a joke!"
"Luckily, no dark lord was spotted for decades..."

"What about that dragon?" asked Berath. "You told us about dragon your lord failed to slay."
"Well, it should be still alive, lurking somewhere..."
"Thanks, I feel completely safe."

"What's up again? You asked, I answered."
"Of course, but for sake of our confidence, some things..."

"Hey, here's something!" said Olmul, pointing in front of himself.
"What does it mean, something?" asked Len.
"A horseshoe!"
"What?"
They came closer. It was truly a horseshoe, without any rust on it, apparently freshly forged. Suddenly, they heard rustling nearby.

"Take cover!" ordered Len, and the party hid themselves.

A man in apron has shown up. Black short hair and beard, his hands and face had bits of ash on it.
"Blacksmith!" whispered Len. "I know this guy, he won't harm us, he's friend."

Len went out of hiding and waved at the man. The blacksmith smiled and came forth too.
"Oh, you found it!" he said happily.
"What, the horseshoe?" asked Olmul. "Yes, we did, you're welcome, mister."

"Who are these dwarves?"
"They're helping me on my journeys." said Len. "This is Olmul and this is Berath."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Tod. You know, lord went to take a ride, but he returned as quickly as he departed, he lost a horseshoe. A nice new horseshoe, that would be pity, I thought, so I went to find it. Thanks!"
"Wait, wait. The lord is not here?"
"Nope. He said he may be gone for few days."

Len thought for a while, then he revealed a wide grin.
"That's... Perfect."
"Len. Aren't you thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking?" asked Olmul.
"Hm?"
"You wanna sneak to the mead hall and check out if your crazy conspiracies were true!"

"What? No. No no no." said Len. "Well, yes, but... Not with that crazy conspiracies part. You don't get this? This is wonderful opportunity! We may find out what the lord is hiding!"
"I would be careful about that." said the blacksmith. "Rane and his men are guarding the house. If you want to do whatever you want to do, it's not gonna be that easy."
"I'm not afraid of Rane!" cried Len.
"Hey, listen Len." Olmul said. "We agreed to find some wild man, not to break into someone's manor and get ourselves in..."
"But imagine the thrill! The exciting atmosphere! The hard decisions, the perilous situations!"
"He's trying to lure movers of the universe on his side!" said Berath. "Somebody stop him!"

"Well, it would be a thrilling adventure for sure..." said Olmul, tedding his long beard.
"Oh c'mon!"
"So what? Are we going or not?"

Let the Bay Watchers decide!

[Quaksna]

"And then I said to him: "Just look at your hair, dunderhead! And your pock-marked coat, if you want to be master of the universe, you must wear something less... Nosy, you know?". Why are you so far behind me, guys?"

Dwarves were patiently standing gossip of Ongngnuutgub. But now they had just enough. Ïlon, as a squad representative, poor guy, took the burden of negotiation on his back.
"You know, Ongnugbn... Ognnung... Goblin, we're really grateful for that beverage you gave us, but... Could you please stop talking about yourself?"
Ongngnuutgub turned back at them.

"Hey, and what you want to do? Have you got something better than listening to mine adventures and misadventures?"
"You've been just talkin' about your argument with some other selfish goblin." said Neth. "Not sure what's adventurous on that..."
"Well, we can play some dwarven travel games..." proposed Alåth.
"Games?" asked Ongngnuutgub. "Dwarven games? Sounds like... Fun?"

"Oh yes, there are many ways how to enjoy yourself on travels. Before we met you, we were betting on animals!" said Neth.
"I don't know local wildlife well. Maybe some other game?"
"Or we can hunt and then make crafts from the prey, and have a competition!"
"Watch out! This is pretty steep slope... And no! That would slow us down too much..." said Ïlon.
"We can declare a deadline!" suggested Alåth.

"Or we can just move on, get to Emenkegeth as quickly as possible and have fun there. You know, in a fortress, there are many ways to entertain dwarves. Building a magma flooding system, building atom smasher above the sump, building atom smasher somewhere else..."
"I... Don't think I understand your games." said Ongngnuutgub. "Your sense of fun is... Weird?"
"How do you goblin wizards enjoy yourselves?" asked Adur. "Besides talking."

"I like catching wisps and trapping them into cloth. Do you have any wisps here?"
"Hey, captain! I would love to have wisps on my cloth! Just imagine, how cool would be our uniforms!" said Alåth.

"You have the right shade of blue..." said Ongngnuutgub. "You have good preferences. I could do something with that!"
"Wait. Are you some ascended tailor or what?" asked Ïlon. "I'm confused."

"Making aesthetically appealing objects, that's how I do!"
"You don't want to have cool uniform with dancing wisps?" asked Alåth.
"Squad, you're trying to drive me nuts, aren't you? That Gemesh's coif has bad influence on you!" shouted Ïlon.

"Look at Udma, he's silent, obedient, he hasn't the right shade of blue and he's completely happy!"
Neth and Alåth sighed.
"He just wants to practice craft! Be extravagant! Think abstractly! Those are basic needs..." said Neth.

"One more word and you're unconscious, your gear is confiscated and you're left alone in the wilds!"
This time, they didn't sigh.

"He's pretty benevolent. You should see how goblins are punishing..." said Ongngnuutgub and raised his eyebrows.
"Zutulxor, have you got some mute spell? Just in case, you know..."

[Superdorf]

I can't quite tell what kind of fun Alåth is talking about here. I'm pretty sure Ongngnuutgub can't either, and this amuses me greatly. 

[Quaksna]

"Move, move!" shouted Alak. "If you're tired, go to Luslemnod! Dig! Haul! Dig! Haul!"

"I'll tell you, these sudden mandates are pain in the neck." said Vúsh to Urnût. "I know you don't care anymore, but don't let the cave adaptation get you!"
"Cave adaptation isn't a disease!" said Urnût out loud.
"You're vomiting and being dizzy!"
"That's absolutely..."
"Silence!" cried Alak. "We need to get through the barrier as fast as we can. I heard some hissing and clicking down there, hope Lolor's safe!"

"Just a one... More... Hit..." tuned Nakuth to himself, as he was striking the boulders, but he really did one more hit and loud cracking started echoing through the tunnel.
Nakuth layed his ear on the floor, and said full of joy: "We made it! It's falling, the passage will be usable again!"
"Hope Lolor isn't directly below..." said Alak. "Everyone step back!"
The dwarves stepped back a few steps, because the boulders in front of them started to move. But as it is with cave-ins, no one should underestimate them. Urist lost solid ground under his legs, and fell down with the boulders!

"Urist!" cried Alak and ran to the edge of the passage.

Urist luckily managed to grapple with his axe, so he was hanging on the wall.
He couldn't be reached by dwarves. Alak turned to the toad.
"Luslemnod! Do something!"
Toad sighed.

Toad looses a croak, mighty and terrifying!
"Fine." it croaked, took off and flew towards Urist.

The poor bookkeeper felt his sweaty hands slipping down the helve, but the toad got there in time, and breathed magic mist on him.

In the meantime the dwarves brought a long rope, they ran to the edge with it and slowly and carefully lowered it towards Urist.

He, with support of the toad, managed to release the axe and grab the rope. Then they pulled him up.

"Are you okay?" asked Alak, worried.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." said Urist. "But tell me, how are we going to free Lolor? This is a pit, not passage!"

"We'll take care of that." said Urnût. "It'll be easy to make a circular staircase leading down at the edges."
"And there's tetrahedrite on the walls!" whispered Nakuth with his eyes glittering.
"Tetrahedrite can wait, we came here for Lolor!" said Alak. "Thanks, Luslemnod."
"You're welcome!" croaked the toad, panting. "But don't make me do it again! If not necessary of course..."





"Hey, did you hear that?" asked Lolor.
"That was some bang!" said Id. "Many boulders must have fallen!"
"Maybe they get past the rock plug in the passage! Let's speed up little bit!"
The two dwarves ran on their short legs,  trying to get to the upward passage.

The wall next to them started cracking, they stopped and looked at it.
"What's this?!!"

A loud bang was heard, the wall broke, a gap has shown up in the wall, and huge cloud of dust came from it.

As the dust was settling, a figure was revealed.

"Ziril?!!"

[Quaksna]

"Ziril?!!"
"Wha... What are you doing here?"
The dwarf remained silent. Behind him, some voice spoke:
"The question is, what are you doing here..."

Another figure came from the gap.
"More wizards?" said Id. "How much of you..."
"You told this hermit..."
"He knew legends anyway." said Lolor. "Where were we?"
"Gimme a sec... Oh, yes. Why are you blowing up caverns without telling us first?"
"Sorry, Alak needed my kea for other uses, so the message was delayed. But I wrote, that I'm going to blow up some caverns, come and help me!"
"We should had at least emergency meeting or something... Oh, nevermind. Hope you hadn't exposed your fortress to some nasty threat..."
"Like a forgotten beast?" asked Id. "We just slew one. I must say, you wizards come handy! You've blown the caverns up, Lolor? That would explain a lot..."
"You slew one?" asked Ziril. "Nice. Can we leave these tunnels already? Now that we found each other..."

"Oh yes, come with us! Citizens are digging through a passage in order to save me, let's go towards it!" said Lolor.
The four dwarves went, Id explained to friends of Lolor how are things going in this unnamed underground area.

Soon they came to a huge pile of boulders, lots of them scattered around the pile, too. Now they were safe, at last...



"Splendid work, Alak! And miners... I thought I'll be stuck down there forever..." said Lolor. "Thanks, you saved our lives..."
"Oh, lookie there. Red crazed club again. What are they doing there?" asked Alak.
"We, mister overseer, went to save Lolor as well. You helped us greatly in the process! We owe you thanks as well..." said Ziril, very genteelly.

"And who's this half naked miner?" asked Urnût. "Another of your friends?"
"This, dear fellows, is Id, great miner and warrior." said Lolor. "He and few other dwarves are trapped in these caverns, struggling for survival. Thanks to you, again, they can finally leave these tunnels."
Id was told to not speak a word about wizardry and hurling fireballs, nor the powder. So he said just: "And we slew a forgotten beast! You should have seen us, that was something!"
"They're pursued by some Wõrv guy..."
The toad, till now just smiling and nodding, froze for a moment.

"Wõrv you say..." it croaked. "I heard about him..."
"You did?" asked Id. "He's terrible overlord that needs to be stopped!"
"He's in our toad group..."
Everyone looked at the toad, some confused, some furious, some worried...

"So I think I'll calm him down. Yeah, he's one of those of us who doesn't care one way or another... That's wrong. I'll speak to him..."
"There are more dwarves here?" asked Alak. "That would explain that atelier and that whole Rigòth thing."

"You saw Rigòth?" asked Id, gasping.
"He's dead. He made his own coffin and engraved the cavern he was trapped in."
Id was silent for while.
"He was my childhood friend. Can I visit this grave of his?"
"Go ahead." said Urnût. "Up the staircase, first turning."

Id ran up immediately.
"I'm so happy you're alive!" said Alak. "Come, let's go for a feast!"
"Feast will do." croaked the toad. "Now your fortress has access to metals, food, new citizens... Hope we'll keep up with the good work..."



"He didn't answer some letter?" asked Zeg. "That's all?"
"The business is pretty serious, so I came to see him in person." answered lord. "Mmm, this purple stuff is pretty good!"
"Hey, do you hear it?"
"Like a regiment marching? That sound?"
"They're returning!"
"Finally! I'll finish this later, if you don't mind."

Lord Dazelosric stood up and stroke a triumphant pose, his favorite. Then the chamber door opened, and dwarves started coming in.

First was Alak, then Urist, then Lolor, then his friends... When Alak saw lord Dazelosric, he widened his eyes and stopped, those behind him bumped into him.
When lord Dazelosric saw Lolor and two another red clothed dwarves, he widened his eyes too.
"Yikes." he slowly whispered.

Zeg turned to him, and was puzzled by his sudden change in face. He stood up too and said to everyone: "I see you were successful, that's great! Now, that you're back here everyone, lord Dazelosric has come to see L..."
Lord Dazelosric nudged him, and he spoke no further. Then the lord adjusted his blazer, and continued himself: "I came here, well, as you know, we have plenty of food, you have other useful things, I came to propose a trading partnership between Copnutgashi and Kudarkalur."
Zeg nudged lord back, gave him puzzled, angry glance and shrug. Lord gesticulated everything is just fine.
"Trading partnership?" asked Alak. "Wonderful idea! I am lord Alak Zilirdural, local overseer. Take a seat!"
"Nice to meet you, lord Alak!"

Alak sat down on his throne, blissful, and said: "Urist and crundles are staying here, rest of you, leave the room."
So they went out. The three Kâdolites were mumbling something to each other.

"That's the lord?" asked Ziril.
"Yeah, and I would bet that he came for me." said Lolor. "Keshan, Ziril, you must stay here for the time being."
"I absolutely don't like it, but I agree." said Keshan. "I saw three other members here, what about them?"
"I'm doing my best to prevent them from revealing susceptible information. They're just bad at keeping secrets."

"At least someone's here with you." whispered Ziril. "But the lord troubles me. What does the overseer know?"
"Just that there's an order, I'm in it, we seek no harm and we have our goals. He doesn't want to know more, besides, we're friends, he isn't dangerous. He may even support us in the future!"

"I see. Good. We'll stay here. For the time being."

[Quaksna]

*meditating noises*

"Phew. Hope this Zärseîl guy is strong enough." muttered Ebeca to himself. "Hey, you! Wálim, is it?"
"It is." said the Tâdi guard.
"How much of you are on this mountain? How many warriors?"
"Few."
"How much?"
"You heard the Exalted one. We're not going to fight, you are."

"Fair enough." said Ebeca sarcastically. "I don't get it. You're great, you're powerful, you're handsome... What about us? Who are we?"
"You? You were raised for this in the first place."
Ebeca widened his eyes. "What?"
"We're dying out. The world is not ours anymore. We do not have the power anymore. You do. And you can protect the few of us and the old ways that remained. And hope remains, that maybe someday..."

"Old ways? What does that mean?"
Wálim chuckled. "You've just taken over our culture. That's it. We used to protect animals and trees in the past... Though not this... Intensely."
Ebeca frowned. "What are you trying to imply?"
"I'm not telling you're the bad ones. This realm is harsh place. If it keeps you alive... But eating sane creatures might be..."

"Say it! Just say it!"
Wálim didn't say anything.
"Are we waiting for all the tribes there are to came here or what? We're waiting for too long. Why are we going to take action?"
"You'll get used to it. Many of us didn't take cation for hundreds of years."
Ebeca was thinking. "I still don't get this. What is the Exalted one trying to achieve? Just survive and wait for better times? Sometimes, you have to take cover and wait, but this..."
"He's broken person. Too broken by now."
"He was under great deal of stress for a long time?"
"For a long, long time. He hasn't gone insane, but is obsessed with preserving, and won't change so easily."



"The night is getting closer and denser every day..." whispered the Exalted one.
"Of course it is, with that Zomus being just few hilltops away. Shouldn't we dispose of him?" asked Cilko.
"That toad will do that for us."
"That's pretty... Intriguing."
"But I feel another great power sources, moving slowly towards us."
"Really? And who or what's that?"
"I can't quite say. I need them to be closer."

"What will you do if you survive the new age, o Exalted one?"
"That's a question. I can't quite say either. If there will be right conditions, then we may come out..."
"I fear, with this attitude, there will be never "right conditions"."



"Army is my problem? Well, let's assemble it, then!"

"Brothers and sisters! The Exalted one has enslaved us in order to protect himself! He's weakened, and manipulates us to servitude! But this must end now! Join me, and together we can overthrow him, and establish new age! But not that age the coward wants, but The Age of Elves! Join me!"
Some elves ran to him immediately, some turned and left, some wavered.

"Everyone who helps me can feast on his flesh."
Since tribal commoners viewed Exalted one as some kind of deity, this offer was tempting for them...


"Who's there?" asked Wálim.
The group did not answer.
"Ebeca, it's forbidden to take commoners on this mountain!"
"Shut his mouth. Forever." ordered the druid. "This night shall be known as Night of Glory!"

Your enemies - bunch of mad elves sent off to engage you so the rest can slip through. Namely one archer, one javelin thrower, two spearmen, one with a glave. More coming behind them.

Your troops - Wálim - hundred-years old sentinel of legendary mage who basically prepared for fighting his whole life, warrior of your dreams! Feel free to use crazy dorf tricks.

[Superdorf]

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Dodge about; don't ever allow more than one fanatic to engage us at a time. If our weapon is made of some kind of metal or metal-like substance then use it, otherwise just use targeted scratches. Try and stab/claw their throats out if possible; otherwise just go for cripple shots. A few quick scratches to the Achilles tendon should down these lunks nicely...