The events of the 5th of Sandstone, 1066For the first time in years, work was canceled. There was an initial outpouring of praise, of celebration, until word began to trickle through the channels: There is no work, because there is an emergency meeting in the mess hall. Aryn has something important to say.
As noon drew close, Dwarves began to file into the dining hall. Some grumbled, some didn't, some were genuinely interested. But none skipped, if only because this broke the monotony of the day.
Aryn stood at the end of the room, in front of an easel draped over with a heavy cloth. Standing behind him, off to the side, was Howard Roaroak, his lanky frame slouched back against the wall in insolent defiance. When the room seemed close to bursting, Aryn stepped forward and cleared his throat, speaking out loudly and clearly.
"This is a historic day. I've called you all here, I've canceled work, for one specific reason: so there is no excuse to miss this announcement. Dwarves - men, women -
citizens. Life, The world, society, has conspired against us. We have been given a bum deal, we've been persecuted, we've been hunted, we've been tested. We, effectively the last remaining members of our home country, are all that is left in this world. The Goblins have run amok, their monster brethern have laid waste to once proud Dwarven strongholds.
"What are we left with? A pitiful existance, clawed from these very sands. Through stubbornness, and grit, we managed to survive and eek out a life. This life has been threatened. This life, our freedom, is being challanged by the very goblins who have destroyed the life we came from. These half-breeds, and their Goblin controllers, are angry at our ability to decide what is right and good, at what is fair and just, at what is
pure"This past year, I commissioned a work.... a blueprint from a Dwarf who is considered a revolutionary in his field. His contemporaries may condemn him, but they are just scared of his genius. Mister Howard Roaroak, standing beside me, is the wave of the future. He is the natural progression, the evolution, of the Architectural Arts, and it is for that very reason that I hired him. For my project, my vision, was not something that was contemporary. It was not a something standard, to be pawned off onto the Leopardknights of the world, onto the merely mediocre. No, we - we as a community - needed the best, and I put up a lot of my own personal fortune to hire him, with the understanding that he would have full creative control. Howard, would you like to have a word?"
Howard shook his head, and after a momnetary setback, Aryn continued on, "speaking to a crowd is not his strong point... and that's fine. He's not paid to talk, he's paid to create. Howard has given us something amazing in his design. I've examined it with a fine-tooth comb, and it's fail-proof. And that,
that, is why I've called you here today. To present to you my dream, as designed by Mr. Roaroak. I present to you,
Oceansbled."
Aryn gripped the edge of the sheet and gave a hard tug, yanking it off of the easel. The crowd gasped as the
and the reaction seemed to please even Roaroak, the faintest hint of a smile curling the corners of his mouth. Aryn grinned, slapping the edge of the paper with his hand.
"This, my friends, is the future. This is safety, it is wealth, it is advancement, it is
community. This is open to those who produce, those who work - those who follow Dwarven Laws and Society. My friends. I give to you...
The Future. I give to you... the greatest achievement Dwarven Kind can create. I give you something the Goblins can't destroy, the humans can't conquer, the leeches can't abuse. I give to you... I give to you, a utopia, carved from the wastes."
***
End Chapter 3: Of Glass and Steel
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Topic: Migrursut: What Comes After The World Ends? [Epilogue] (A Community Fort) (Read 389017 times)