The Dwarf cleared his throat, loud enough to gain the attention of the room. For it was the annual gathering of Philosphers and free thinkers of the civilized folk-many countries and may races attending- and he had much to say...the men ceased their boasts of innovations and improvements upon Elven and Dwarvish technology, the Elves stopped their lectures on the blight of natures sanctity by encroaching loggers, and even his fellow Dwarves put down their mugs, for a moment.
The mood in the air was somber. War was in the air. Those who might have been overjoyed to see one another the previous year, now formed armed camps with their own people, muttering to themselves, wondering if they had slipped some crucial piece of technical or magical knowledge that might somehow come back to haunt them...but for now, they were all paying attention to the Dwarf.
"As you can see my friends, the threat from the underworlders is growing daily. I have marked their paths on my excavations deep under the Earth, and I have concluded they are moving toward this area" He said, indicating a boggy, cavern pocked morass known as the Swamp of Wax. "They have, in this area, expanded upon a natural shaft that connects the bottom of the world to the top-every day more Kobolds, Ratman and Trolls pour forth-I theorize that they are fleeing overcrowded warrens beneath our feet to make new homes here! I must impress upon you the gravity of the situation, for as long as this hole remains unblocked, ever more underworlders will strike forth-they will multiply and strip the land of all life, we mu..
at this point, the Dwarf was dragged off stage.
"Fools! You doom us all! We must raze that place! the great tunnel must be collapsed.."
Light laughter, then dismissal...the threat, ignored...after all, they were only rats...what could they do, even if they dared show their faces to the sun?
The party continued.