Time to get this show on the road.
PrologueIn the year 250, Nish Belladmires, seventh king of The Confining Clasps, approved an expedition to found a new fortress and expand the borders of the Dwarven nation. This expedition was to leave for the mountain range known as The Amber Teeth, making this new fortress the northernmost fortress in Dwarven civilization, as well as the first civilized settlement north of The Routed Hill. In honor of this distinction, the expedition group was given given the name of
Irolonol, or The North Mountain.
This expedition group had not only the aforementioned distinction, but also a unique rule included in its royal charter. According to this rule, after the first year of settlement, overseers will be elected yearly by a popular vote. This experiment, according to the king, would show the rest of The Confining Clasps whether or not such a form of government would be suitable for the rest of Dwarvenkind.
Journal of Nephilim, Expedition Leader of The North Mountain14th Granite, 250—The expedition has been launched without incident. So far no-one seems to suspect anything, least of all the six others with me. That’s good. For now I should be careful with whom I make friends, as any one of them could be spies. Even so, I have managed to avoid arousing suspicions enough so far that I’ve been appointed the expedition leader of this group for now. That’s a pretty meaningless job though. Once elections get started and the role of overseer is up for grabs, that’ll be the real prize to go after.
A handful of the other dwarves in this expedition have caught my eye. A ranger known as fatcat seems to have some skill with training animals. She should be useful to us in getting the dogs we’ve brought along trained for combat. The two others I got the chance to get acquainted with seem to be particularly attracted to the elections that will start this Obsidian. BoujeeTheAlan, the gem cutter, kept talking about how he wants to institute some sort of beautification program. Another Dwarf, Maximum Spin, went on a tirade about how he was a representative of the Miners’ and Farm Workers’ United Action Party and that under his leadership the “tyranny” of woodcutters would be put to an end. This confused me as in the papers I received prior to us departing the capital he was listed as a woodcutter and a carpenter, however when I asked him about this he quickly changed the subject.
We’re getting close to our destination as I write this. I’ll turn in for a quick rest, and by the time I wake up we’ll probably be there.
Journal of Nephilim, Provisional Overseer of Goldsilver15th Granite, 250—We arrived this morning at the base of a small, silty mountain. Nearby is a shallow brook which should supply us with water if the worst occurs and we run out of booze. Other than that source of water and the patch of grass surrounding it, there’s no sign that this spot is anything but a wasteland. We haven’t seen any animals yet, and there’s not a single tree in sight—Maximum Spin may get a chance to be a miner after all. But it doesn’t matter if this place looks dead on the outside, for we dwarves seek fortune beneath the earth.
The first overseer election will not occur until the last day of Obsidian, yet we still needed someone to act as provisional overseer for this first year. I had the dubious honor of drawing the shortest piece of string, so that job has gone to me. I will need to act carefully to build trust and find allies during this first year if I am to accomplish my mission. For now, it is time to strike the earth.