Stas - Aww, thanks!
Kadzar - That's a good idea, and actually would be in tune for an idea in the storyline I have.
Tarran - Well OK, if I can find some native gold then you can have your forged gold door, but I'm not being blamed if it gets stolen by the resident
thief suspicious individual.
Fortis - Fori is friends with everyone but Derm, Rion, Tarran and Johann, along with 3 unnamed dorfs. That makes about 20 friends.
BoUnCe - Sure thing.
10th Obsidian 674 - Dawn"Ibruk! This time you've gone too far!" came the accusing shout. Fori stood in front of the temple as Ibruk arrived for morning prayers. With her was a crowd of Dwarves, "We're not letting a Goblin stay here!"
Ibruk frowned slightly, raising an eyebrow,
"My dear pilgrims, this Goblin's arrival was mandated by the gods! You can see the truth upon Slyshaken!" he protested calmly. A Dwarf stepped out of the crowd,
"We can't let a murderous greenskin stay with us! He'll murder us in our sleep! Think of what that poor child must've gone through!" she screeched.
"We let Fori stay. And is history not full of hatred between Elves and Dwarves?" came a voice. They all turned. It was Kadzar, stepping out of the temple. He looked ill-at-ease, he himself was not keen on a Goblin staying, but he was a loyal follower of Ibruk's teachings and he would serve the gods before he serves his own convictions.
"Elves have always acted honourably!" Fori protested, "Goblins regularly murder their own kind!"
"I have had the child checked out by Reg and Dr. Steve. They both say she is fine, she has just lost her voice by the shock-"
"Of torture!"
"Of the attacks by Nothings. Furthermore I have spoken in depth to the Goblin, Bax. He is honourable, his only desire is to avenge his fallen kin and defeat the Nothing."
A few feet shuffled in the crowd, they could relate to that. Ibruk continued,
"Furthermore we are all that is left of pious civilization. We must reach out with both hands and secure all the aid we can from pilgrims. The gods brought Bax to Nomekast that he might serve as a warrior and as a reminder that we are
all affected by the Nothing. Dwarves and Elves, Goblins and Humans, the Nothing will wipe out
all and any decadent society. Let us not go down the path of hubris and race-centred thoughts. All races are in this together, all of us must strive to perfect Nomekast as a shining beacon of piousness. All I ask is that you give this Goblin a chance, that he can prove himself more worthy than his more murderous kin."
Some of the more lax or religious of the crowd began to let up, which led to further debate and arguments, until it was finally agreed that Bax could stay but at the slightest hint of being nothing less than a model citizen, he would be thrown out to the Nothing.
11th Obisidian 674 - Noon"Where's Melagius?" Johann asked, "It's not like him to miss lunch." Torvold looked at him irritably,
"What? How should I know? I have work to do you know! We need defences!
Real defences! Not little cage traps, but automated pressure-plated, self-activated, super-powered traps!" he replied tersely. Johann shrugged, taking a mouthful of plump helmet and turning to Rovod instead,
"Have you seen Melagius? He's been gone for over a day now." Rovod looked up from his meal,
"Hm? Melagius? I think I saw him up by the workshops. I don't know what he was doing though, he was being rather secretive." he answered.
12th Obisidian 674 - AfternoonKadzar struck the earthen walls with the pick. He had managed to get Tarran to forge several more picks and now he and several more of the more pious Dwarves were beginning to next project. Nomekast was the holy torch of the world, and they needed a priesthood to reflect that; priests that could and would defend the religion and Ibruk's teachings. For that reason he and several others were carving out barracks for the warrior-priests to train in, just outside the temple. It would include lodgings as well as a training room, and also a shrine to Os the Hardy Gleams, the War-God of Thunder, whose mighty axe cleft the island of Haenir off the continent.
- - - - - - - - -
With the colonising effort in full swing, the Dwarves had begun the laborious task of moving the food and seeds down into the caverns. Farms were being set up under Fori's guidance and Torvold had been placed in charge of setting the defences for the growing settlement in the cavern. This he did with enthusiasm, setting walls up and preparing plans for elaborate traps and more. Bounce had even taken time off accounting to take a pick and begin a small open-air office where she could work in peace. Talk of moving the bedrooms down had been broken down into one single communal bedroom to save time and space, and the hospital was scheduled to eventually be moved down. The Dwarves had abandoned all pretence of living near the surface for the safety of the underground. Deep in the earth's surface the Nothings would find it much harder to get to them, and the atmosphere was much better for morale and sanity. Bax, wanting to prove himself to the Dwarves and eager to keep them off his back and away from killing him, had been using the strength he had gained from years in the Dark Towers towards the laborious job of clearing the carved rooms of rock rubble. The girl he had saved was still not speaking, and the Dwarves had nicknamed her 'Atis', after the famed Queen who refused to speak a word during her entire 62-year reign. She hung around with Torvold mostly, assisting him whenever she could. Stas was also often down in the caverns, but he seemed to vanish regularly, and was seen hauling boulders of cobaltite, even though no cobaltite had yet been mined. When asked about this, he insisted he had found the boulders languishing around and thought that the gentledwarven thing to do would be to bring them in.
13th Obsidian 674 - MorningMelagius stirred on the bed, waking up at last,
"Ungh, what have I been doing?" he asked, looking round, he was in the hospital. He seemed to be holding an iron idol of a Goblin and an alligator, but where he got it from he wasn't sure. Reg tutted,
"You were found in the workshops, clutching that thing, raving about glass or something. We had to knock you out to get you here." he replied. Melagius felt his head, there was a lump there,
"I don't remember being in the workshops."
"Of course not, you went crazy-like. Like Ibruk and Stas, what our good prophet would call 'divine inspiration'."
"Textbook artifact disorder." Doc. Steve quipped, "You should be glad you didn't go berserk and kill everyone, I've seen it happen."
"Wha?"
"Wha, now there's a good way of saying things eloquently." Steve said sarcastically, moving several metal instruments to the coffers,,
"What is that you've got anyway?" Reg asked, pointing at the iron idol,
"Domas Eser - The Guilds of Glitter." Melagius replied automatically without even thinking about it, he shook his head, "I-I don't know." he brought it up to his eyes, "But it's perfect craftsdwarfship, as you can expect from me, of course."
Reg examined the idol himself,
"Psh, Ibruk will probably explain this as showing that we must exterminate all alligators or something."
15th Obsidian 674 - Night"And so the Dwarves Rigoth and Erith did toil for a century to create a great sphere of silver, and Os of Thunder threw the sphere into the sky where it hung as though by strings and Atir of Jewels did make it shine like a gem; and this Nekut did present to Id, King of the Gods. But Ungeg had nought to counter the beauty of this silver circle and so the gods made Nekut god of the Moon." Ibruk finished, reading the last of the tablet. The collected tablets of the Temple had recently been finished, recounting the creation myths and most important of the legends, such as that of Nekut's promotion to guardianship of the Moon.
"Before we begin the celebration of Nekut's shining light, I would like to points you to Melagius' recent touching by the gods. By their inspiration he has created The Guilds of Glitter, proof that we must aid our fellow races in the fight against evil, whatever form it takes, let us reflect on this as we celebrate the god who defeated the great evil of Nokor the dead god. And now let us pray and celebrate Nekut's great exploits."
Now that Nomekast was safe, with a strong supply of food and water, he had decided it was time to promote the piousness of its citizens; starting by respecting the festivals and feast days of the gods and saints. Nekut's festival was a time of cheerfulness and of looking forward to the New Year. Having finished reading, Ibruk and the assembled community bowed their heads for a moment, before standing up and making for the dining area. Kegs of plump helmet wine and pig tail beer were already prepared. Nekut's festival usually had silver kegs specially for such an occasion, but in light of the lack of silver they had to make do with wooden ones.
The festival soon became little more than a reason to party and drink, as it usually did. The Dwarves spent the rest of the night, and much of the following morning, drinking anything they could get their hands on, performing stunts that would involve anything from crutches to cave wheat, and falling off the dining area and swearing that they had been nowhere near the edge. Even Fori found herself drinking from a keg of beer; while Bax let his guard down to drink a bit, and found himself completely smashed within minutes due to the strength of Dwarven booze. Half-way through the celebration Derm had turned up, muddy, sluggish from the beginning of alcohol withdrawal, and waving a bloody axe around, announcing that he had braved the depths of the earth, that he had slain fierce cave alligators and discovered new species. His announcement was met with a huge bout of cheering that didn't stop for several minutes before Derm was pushed over to a keg from which he drunk enthusiastically. By the time dawn came, there were very few Dwarves still awake or able to think clearly; and as the sun rose up one end of the valley of the Swamps of Tunneling, the Nothings still sat motionless, not reflecting the slightest sunlight, red eyes fixed on the entrance to Nomekast, as though waiting for something to happen.