The World of Bones is a dry and inhospitable plane of existence. The majority of the population, goblins, remain indifferent to the whole experience, since they are goblins. The remaining sentient creatures find themselves hiding in various mountain caves and underdwellings, preferring to go unnoticed by those hordes of immortal flatlanders, and far removed from the deathly heat of the wastelands.
One particularly far-flung collective of dwarves known as
The Floor of Perplexing possesses a unmentionable history, as one of many secret agents are rumored to operate might overhear and decide to off you. Yet here I will record some of that history.
Goblin King Olngo, bless his 500 year reign and may he rule 500 more, is no natural king of dwarves. He is the result of a dramatic overturning of the old way, in favor of a new form of power, that of broken alliances and political power grabs. His successful corruption of multiple liutenants of old queen Thob, and effortless coup the following season, has resulted in an essentially unchallenged reign for five centuries.
Yes this coup really happened, and yes Olngo has ruled for almost 500 years now! Olngo has left his mark on The Floor of Perplexing in the form of many sons and daughters. All have died, excluding one Utes Deadfultrussed, a ranger living far west who occupies her time writing poetry, blissfully unaware of her apparent lineage.
The residence of Utes Enough of these dwarves. Let us dissect the form of this world. Remarkably, there is only one desert, "The Desert of Equalling". This wasteland takes many forms, from yellow sand dunes to beds of cracked, red clay, to empty rock fields,and is truly a world-spanning biome.
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Surrounding this desert are tall mountain ranges, while brackish lakes and seas might be found in the lowlands.
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One of these bodies of water is the subject of much fascination by a certain Rith Furnacecobra, fish dissector and fervent anatomist, collector of animals and plants alike. Rith had heard from a traveling beasthunter about a large ocean, far to the west of this mountain range, accessible if you follow the river known as
The Spidery Waste. This hunter had seen a large swimming creature, unknown to him, but surely something awful and deadly. He regretted not taking the small raft and attempting to harpoon the beast.
This story infected Rith. Unknown species?
Check. Exemplary in size?
Check. Vague, unclear directions with no promise of actual discovery?
That's why they pay me! Armed with a bag full of sharp things, Rith began the western trek jubilant, if wary. These hills were known for ferocious wild dogs.
Starting point Rith traveled close to the river, passing volcanoes and the rare forests of The Hill of Knives.
Soon, this last breath of life was also left behind, and the lonely traveling dwarf was faced with the 10000 strong fortress of Ghoulfocus.
Yeah, that's gonna be a no. Rith took the road less traveled and skipped on past that nonsense. She was looking for fish, not a fight. And maybe some food.
It was another three days before that hunger really got to her. The local vegetation was inedible.
She tracked down a small gang of kangaroos, and attempted to fling her spears, with no luck.
lazy A.I. recreation of the fight. . . In fact the whole exercise was so exhausting she passed out,
waking half a day later to blue skies and empty horizons, no kangaroos in sight. Now desperate, she saw a small pair of rabbits on the far bank of the low stream, and dove into the water, only to find herself leaden from exhaustion, trapped in the mud, struggling. Rith drowned in the muck, alone. The two rabbits had nothing to say about this whole occurrence.
Rith's body decomposed quickly in the warm water of the stream, and soon rose from the depths, bloated and green, and began to lazily drift along.
Her body floated past the dark fortress Menaceempires, full of outcasts from other, more successful goblin civilizations.
The goblins thought it odd to see a dwarf, dead and alone, so far from home. But none wasted the energy to fish out the corpse and loot the gear, and so the body continued down
The Spidery Waste. Eventually reaching the confluence with
The Even Fog, the other major river that flowed from the steep slopes of
The Skewered Mountain. Here, the flow was greater, and in only two more days the corpse reached the salty shores of
The Seas of Voicing, the fabled sea as described by the beasthunter. Rith had finally made it.
It was here that the large water beast revealed itself. Or at least, part of itself, as the hulking form partially emerged from the water, crocodile skin slick with eldritch mucus, large yellow eye peering down at the body of Rith. Then accepting the sacrifice, drawing the corpse underneath the frothing waves.
Yes, this was the first of many more to come. The compelling of many more individuals would soon occur, as those receptive to the broadcasting of these dreamwaves, compelling them to follow the water-voices (whatever forms they may take), to draw in their bodies and matter to this great sea, and consume and grow, and continue forever, until all was Theirs. Yes. The god of the sea returned to the depths. And so, it should be known to all who read, beware these dreamcalls of The Seas of Voicing. They are not what you think.
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teaser of the fortress location. . . the eastern shores of The Seas of Voicing, in fact. An expedition from the mountainhome, by Olngo's direct orders.