In the year 65, events progressed as follows.
It turned out that the disappearance of wild Tritons in the ruins of Yantar'Eryovl was not all Igg's doing. A basilisk had made a lair there, and over the years its petrifying gaze had contributed many new works to the abandoned city's statue gardens. Now the dragon had come and slain the basilisk, then decided to break the curse on some of the statues, returning them back to life. Though mightiest of all, Vîrfesh had a use for lesser beings in the new order he envisioned for his realm—and they would serve him faithfully.
With his new Triton minions, Vîrfesh began laying the groundwork for domination of the entire region. In the summer he cleared the overgrown tunnel upstairs, wading through the submerged area and into the Troglodyte territory. Awed by his might, the Troglos were easily dominated into servitude. Most of the tribe was relocated from the upper caves closer to the lair and as soon as the next season it began supplementing the dragon's growing army.
The Antlings were next. By the time the dragon's area of influence crossed theirs, they were already established as an independent small hive in Ineth Nil, with their own queen and a host of workers. However, their warrior ranks were severely depleted by the onslaught of the Warped. The queen chose to ally with the dragon, and the Antlings were left to their devices so long as they would pay tribute.
The Warped were still there with their armor and weapons of eldritch metal, doomed to wreak havoc on whoever entered their cursed halls. The dragon's army was no exception; after losing two squads Vîrfesh decided to seal off the passage. Afterwards he spent the winter consolidating realm defenses against possible incursion.
Because of all this, the upper tunnels ceased being contested, and the group of dwarves was able to settle down, though they did not yet reopen their old mines. Similarly, the humans prospered, conflict elsewhere only reaching them as distant rumors.
Vîrfesh will invade and conquer the valley if he can raise an army larger than its combined population. But even though there are a whopping 17 units of population on the surface, it's only a matter of time before he can match that. He needs competition, which will come first in the form of foolhardy adventurers braving the tunnels in search of loot.
However, those can hardly rival a dragon's strength, not without powers granted by knowledge beyond mortal ken. Luckily (or perhaps not), there is another creature who does have that knowledge. Her name is Gloomf.Make a choice:- Gloomf wields the secrets of life and death as a Lich Queen. Undead legions follow in her wake.
- Gloomf wields her powers to mind-control and infiltrate factions as the leader of the Mind Cabal.
- Gloomf wields only her trusty walking staff as she joins the next adventuring group, incognito.
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Topic: Oldlands: Age of Dwarves (Read 34365 times)