((Wooo exposition))
From the Memoirs of Wilberforce Amber RopenourishedMy attempts to track down that book have been put off for the time, as more migrants have arrived! There's a surprising number of dwarfs living around here, I must say. Unfortunately, they were attacked by the zombie ogres the moment they arrived, so there's about two less, now.
This group was led by a certain Kingfisher, apparently a renowned warrior in the outpost he came from.
When the ogres struck, he struck back, hoping, I suppose, to hold them off until help arrived or until his companions reached the safety of the walls. The second part worked, but Kingfisher himself perished in the fight.
A damn shame, as he seemed quite brave. I would have liked to have met him. Though odds are that I might, some day!
..........................
Wilberforce sighed, and rolled up the scroll of paper he'd been writing on. It had occurred to him that, sooner or later, he would have to find the original copy of his memoirs from the Old Oceanbridge days. The new volume just wouldn't make sense without them.
"Wilberforce!"
Ah, Wilberforce thought. A strange whisper from the shadows by the door! No doubt someone who wants to keep his identity a bit secret here, so that would mean...
"Remalle! How are you?" He stood up from his bed, and strode toward the door. "Tell all! Are you one of the undead? Is that how you're still alive after all these years? I won't judge, not in a position to, of course."
Remalle stepped out of the door's shadow. "Please, shut up." He was definitely Remalle, Wilberforce decided. No mistaking that cautious and uncertain expression. The anger was a bit new, of course.
Remalle looked out the door before turning back to Wilberforce, saying "Listen, if I... I don't know, tell you a few things, will you answer a question for me? And then leave me alone?"
"If that's what you want, then yes. But I am immensely curious! What's going on with the world? And how are you still here? "
"Well, that's part of my question... But... ok, it's been a long time since Oceanbridge fell. It... literally fell. I and a couple of others managed to tunnel out to safety, and when we came out onto the shore, there was some sort of earthquake. The whole damn bridge fell into the ocean! I don't know how I lived through that either... The earthquake, the wall of water that hit the shore afterward, and then the undead. It was a nightmare."
"More nightmarish than Old Oceanbridge at the end?"
"I... yes."
"Very nightmarish, then!"
"I think that... something was released when that all happened. I don't know if it was Rakust, or something else... but after that, the whole dead coming back from the living things started, and things just fell apart. There were more disasters, those ice giants attacked everyone... Dwarfs and humans barely survived, I think. That was all a long time ago, of course. I don't know how long it's been exactly, and I don't know why I'm still alive. Some sort of curse..."
"A curse! You always did like your curses. I remember that."
"Shut up. Anyway, I've been wandering ever since. I just want to stay alive, and avoid ever coming back to this place. But I did, and now you, and Neo, and Derm are all back here! How? What the hell does that even mean?" That's my question."
Wilberforce nodded, though he wasn't sure why. "Why did I come back? No clue. Something to do with unfinished business, maybe. Floating about in the ether was a bit dull anyway, and this whole place is a mess and a half. It needs fixing, and that's what I intend to do."
"Fix it? Fix what? And how?"
"Not sure, Remalle, not sure. But I
will do it."
Remalle shrugged. "That's all I've got for you, anyway. I'm going now." And with that, he did. He didn't even seem to move, he simply wasn't there anymore. That probably means something, Wilberforce thought.
He stood, watching the spot where Remalle had been, before giving up and sitting back down on his bed. He had a lot more to note down in the memoirs, that was certain.
.......................
Next: Actual Exciting Things?
((Sorry for making Remalle Captain Backstory, but it does, I think, fit with the character. And I'm sorry about Kingfisher. He was an axdwarf, and he died about two minutes after I named him. Forgot to pause the game when I started writing the update, which is why he dies right in the middle of it.))