I started my adventure in the dwarven capital Nationworks, evidently a member of the fortress guard named Deduk Pickshoots. I asked around and found out that the goblins were marching on Nationworks! I started shouting around offering to lead people to safety. I got about 5 dwarves following me around at one point, but for whatever reason only 2 of them stuck around after I got out of the fortress, Asmel and Rakust. Asmel was actually a member of the fortress guard as well. Neither of them had any family to seek out, so I opted to head for a temple of Rash Guardhealer, dwarven goddess of Death, War, Fortresses, Jewels, and Wealth (Deduk's object of worship and my personal favorite deity in this setting).
Along the way, we briefly passed through goblin territory. There we chanced across the dwarven slave Zaneg, who begged us to help him escape. The more the merrier I figured. After conversing with him a bit, I realized Zaneg was an ardent worshipper of Rash as well! The 4 of us continued south towards the temple, traveling along the main road, hunting camels for food and ravens for sport.
Eventually, the main road cut through a mountain range, meaning I'd have to travel the slow way to proceed. The hike through the mountains was fairly uneventful. Asmel, Rakust, and Zaneg chatted amongst themselves as we walked. They seemed to get along. But unbeknownst to me, something was boiling just under the surface...
Zaneg and Asmel got into an argument. I don't even remember what it was about. Something stupid. Zaneg tried to deflect the argument with flattery. And Asmel did not like that one bit. She decided to settle it with a good old-fashioned beatdown. She flew into a rage, throwing punch after bone-breaking punch at the freed slave! By the time I even realized what was going on, she had already rendered him paraplegic! Rakust joined the fight, coming to Zaneg's defense. I tried to get Asmel to yield, but she was lost in rage and beyond reason. I sheathed my sword and attempted to wrestle her into submission. She drew her crossbow and shot a bolt right into my liver! I tried to get her to yield again, but still she refused to listen. I soon realized that the fight had escalated beyond the point of no return. No Quarter would be given, and so none would be offered. I drew my sword. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't quick. But the fight came to an end as Asmel's head sailed off in an arc.
Zaneg succumbed to his wounds shortly after. I said a prayer to Rash on his behalf. Rakust refused to speak to me. Anytime I tried, she just spat and called me a murderer. She still traveled with me though. We continued on our journey. Eventually, I managed to persuade her of the nuances of loyalty (even though Deduk himself doesn't truly believe that). When we got to the next fortress on our path, I decided to carve some bone figurines. I made four. One depicting each of the members of our little band of refugees, carved from the bones of the camels we hunted together. I gave Rakust the one depicting her. She doesn't spit or call me a murderer anymore. I think she's forgiven me.