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[Superdorf]

"Wow. How many rebel fellows so you have?" asked Berath.
"Sadly, none. Luckily, I'm one man army."

I laughed.

[Quaksna]

"Hey, that's it, isn't it?" said Limulsheget. "A citadel in middle of nowhere, with some high tower thing or what's tha... Oh yeah, now I remember. You got an ally, there?"
"Depends, if he'll be in good mood."

"Hah, slavery. When I was young, we've got..."
"Shut up." said Uxzoustug. "We're here."
The slaves were turning their eyes toward these strangers, but some recognised them as the guys from the statues, kneeling.

"Hey, you there! Warder!"
The taskmaster turned, with his same old annoyed face.

"Hmph?"
"Can you tell your ruler he's got guests here?"
"Follow me."
They went through the labyrinth of dark pits, walls, towers, at last they reached the fortress.

"My liege, some noble guests have come."
"They may enter."
"Greets, Rulasm, old chap, do you remember me?" asked Uxzoustug.

When Rulasm saw him, he was quite surprised. But not for too long.
"Uxzoustug, what do you want? I'm busy!"
"Pardon me? Wasn't that I who freed you from that slade prison?"
"You sure were, but for what? If I remember correctly, you said: "So that great heroic deeds may be done and that sun may fall on your head.""

Limul started giggling. "That's really written there? Man, I must read that slab..."
"Good luck with that, someone stole it."

Now Limul bursted out laughing.
"That the sun may... Uxzo, I think we're becoming good friends!"
Uxzo gave him a happy glance, but under his searing helmet it wasn't much of use. One guard was laughing too, but angry face of Rulasm stopped him pretty quickly.
"Let's say, I've got problem in Alsmustspås, we've been fighting and throwing each other out... Now I need some supporters so I can fix the mess. Zomus is gaining in strength, I sense it. So, I would call in the favor you owe me."
"You need an army for battle against Zomus?" asked Rulasm.
Limul and Uxzoustug nodded.

"Well, these guys tell me a lot different story."
"Oh, accursed Zomus! He's trying to corrupt you, trick you on his side!"
"Really? Well, why should I help this fiery craving guy? Are you really so weakened?"

"Now listen, Rudslasostam, we don't have time for this. Do as this noble goblin say, or..." shouted Limul.
"This is enough! I am the boss here and you won't be telling me what I have to do! Guards!!!"

The guards that stood there, strucked by awe of their idols, were kind of confused. Maybe it was chance to finally get rid of their wicked gluttonous tyrant, they thought.

"Are you calling mortals against us, fool?" said Limul. "You can't oppose us!"
"I can oppose anyone!" shouted Rulasm.
"You and what army?"

Rulasm loosed a roar, fell and terrible, full of his wicked nature, that echoed through the halls of his fortress. Various screeches, roars and screaming could be heard just after.
"Heh, I forgot, he's got spire here going right to the underworld?"

"Yep." said Uxzoustug. "Well done Limul, you're smart boy. But we won't give up so easily!"

So... Here we go.
You have two supernatural beings of terrible power, even when weakened, at disposal. And a rutherer outside, waiting for signal.
You can flee. But Rulasm has nowhere to run, and it's perfect chance for some heroism to be done...
What shall they do? Possibilities are endless-er than ever.

[Quaksna]

"Hah, now with even your goblins on our side, we're unstoppable!" shouted Uxzoustug.
Limulsheget was silent.
"That's weird, I thought I'll get some advice from the higher beings... Oh, nevermind. Attack!"

Uxzoustug led the goblin rebels straight towards Rulasm and messenger of Zomus, with some swift strikes he took the two down.

The messengers turned to some dark ash, which turned to foul smoke, which disappeared after a while.

"Be blessed by the sun itself! May the glory of day lead us to victory!"

Rulasm breathes fire!!!
Pretty much everything non-slade, without shield, not-Limul and not-Uxzo caught fire, including the poor goblin rebels.

"Hah! Pathetic fools!" shouted Rulasm.
"You disgust me..." said Limul.

"Ngorubnestro? What are they doing here?"
"They seek dying goblins, let them be!" shouted Uxzoustug.
"Hmph. Came a little too late."
Rest of rebel forces charged against the beast.

The spears of the guards didn't harm too much Rulasm, the beast tried to bash them.

"Aaaaargh!"
The fiery sword of Uxzoustug made a deep wound, burning the skin and muscle, too.

Rulasm staggered and hit the wall.
"You can't escape the inevitable!" shouted Uxzoustug.

Horrible screeching was heard.

"Curses, his underworld pals are here!" shouted Limul. "We can't just keep fighting!"
"And what do you want to do?!!"
"I've got a plan. Just protect me!"

Limul leaned his hand on the wall, muttering incantantions, drawing symbols in the air.

Meanwhile Rulasm fought guards, the winged monster flied towards Limul, but Uxzoustug stood in the way.
"Our heroic deeds won't be foiled by some rock salt boulder!"

"Got you!"

Uxzoustug striked the monster to the boulder, it came with screeching down, right on Rulasm.

"Hah! Any last words?"

"Eh, Uxzo? Some worm thing wanna chomp my head!"

Suddenly the whole building shook, with rumbling, the worm thing falled from the wall. Uxzoustug ran to it, striking it with his blade.

"You're right, Limul! This is pointless!"
"Hold on, we must stay here for a while!"

Rutherer bites the Worm thing 1 in the neck, tearing the muscle!
The Worm thing 1 was struck down.
"Good boy!"
Rumbling and screeches continued.

From the spire came another wicked being. A brimstone giant, with tail and ridiculously long arms. With these he lifted the boulder and Rulasm stood up.

"You better yield, fools!" shouted Rulasm. Then he spat a little flame on the giant.

It caught fire immediately.
"How are you going to cope with this one?"

"Limul! You're like... Moving to the lower layer! Get out of there!"
"Ahhh... As you wish. The thing is coming down anyway."

Rubbles were falling from the upper ceilings, the fortress was shaking more and more. Everyone staggered.
"Curse you, my fortress!" shouted Rulasm.
"Hey, we should get out of here!" shouted Uxzoustug.
"Shouldn't we wait for advice from the higher beings?"
"Oh come on, I don't know! What you think would be best?"

[Superdorf]

Oh! Oh oh! I was supposed to say something! Gah!

Bum rush the demon-king and bite/stab/whatever at his legs and feet. Once he's down, get out of there fast as you can-- with a little luck, Mister Big-and-Nasty won't be able to crawl out in time.

[Quaksna]

"Oh, Uxzo, I've been enlightened!"
"Let's just take down Rulasm and get out of here?"
"Exactly! You're enlightened too?"
"Gimme a boost."

"Not this boost, foooooooooool!"
Uxzoustug flew through the air, past the brimstone giant, back there on Rulasm.

"Arrggghhh!!!!!!"
He did a long, deep slash in the chest of the beast. Though Rulasm didn't care about pain, he was crippled anyway.

He tried to bash the fiery lord down, unsuccessfully.

The brimstone giant prepared to do a hard blow on Uxzoustug...

But Limul charged, he grabbed his arm, and with his terrifying strength, crushed elbow of the monster.

"Phew..."
"Don't worry, Rulasm's down! Now we can get out of here! On the rutherer!"

"What on Spunogmon is going on here?!!" asked the taskmaster, coming to the hall, already full of rubble, as the fortress was shaking more and more.
"Your fortress has the last day of its glory, that's going on! If you don't wanna die here under pile of boulders, come and sit here! We're off!" said Limul.
"No, that way is already blocked by rubble! Rutherer can't fit through there!" said the taskmaster.

Rutherer jumped on the brimstone giant to prevent him from standing up.
"Lead the way then!" shouted Uxzo.
"Right! We must get to one of the side towers! Turn left!"

Fortress was slowly crumbling down, while the rutherer zigzaged through the maze of rubble. Rulasm, even with all these deep wounds, crawled slowly after them.

Rulasm breathes fire!
"Oh snap, he just won't yield!" shouted Limul. "Faster! Faster!"

A section of roof has collapsed!
"Finally!"

"Oh no, the bridge is gone!" shouted taskmaster. "We must jump!"

Rutherer jumped, and he got on the other side, though the impact scattered passengers.
"Get up, we must ride on!" said Uxzoustug.

"Ah, finally out of that building! I'm not sure which architecture is worse, this, or that of mountainhomes!"

The party got on a peak, where also the goblin citizens escaped.
"Wow. That giant pile of rubble was a dark fortress?" said Uxzoustug.
"Yeah. Thus passes the glory of the world." said Limul.
"You devised that?"
"Oh no, I've just been enlightened again.

[Quaksna]

"Man, these pillars and blocks are... Large! Must be truly ancient. Wonder who lived there..." said Duto.
"These mountains are neat. Peaks covered in mist, the valleys down there..." said the toad. "And don't worry, soon we'll uncover some interesting things... Is it so, Cilko?"
"With the power and knowledge you wield I'm pretty surprised you need to uncover something." replied Cilko.

"Hey, if this Exalted one remained hidden for us for so long, that's suspicious enough. Whatever he is, I have lots of questions prepared."
"We'll soon be there, no fear. He's hidden to those who are not worthy seeing him, but he'll show to us, in this time of need. But before we'll get there, tell us something about you, Necarbudok."
"And what would you like to know? Origins? My life story?"
"You said you are on to unite nations and races."

"Oh yes. Because really, when I look at you guys... Well, you tribesmen are fine, united, friends with each other, you are a community, a right one. But those "well developed" ones... They're calling themselves "society". They're lying to themselves, that they are together, and together they are strong, that they are sharing a cause. Nonsenses! They're living together, but they don't know each other! They are mindless slaves. These societies are working on nonsenses, that they call principles. Hey, I can say too, that I'm king of the world! I'm sure some fools would recognise me as it. Man, where are we livin'... Have you seen dwarven Mountainhome interior?"

"Certainly you have a point, but I wouldn't say it's that bad." said Cilko. "Like, people have friends and so, they're not mindless hive yet."
"Sure, but they're coming closer to it. That's what need to be stopped. Foil the world spoiling! World is great place. We mustn't let it be spoiled. Even normal hive's not mindless, like bees or so, everyone have a role there, and they're happy! Unlike us, sane races, who are voluntarily becoming slaves to "common cause" that in fact does not exist, or is a nonsense."
"You can divine future?" asked Duto.
"Only few can. But you can always predict it. But enough of babbling. I see some sort of sign."

It was a wooden sign, with something written on it, in four or so languages, ancient languages, that only few still remember.
"What's written there?" asked Duto.
"Don't look at me, I can't read it." said Cilko.
"Hey, I know this one! Listen carefully, for it may be important and useful." said the toad.
"Read it then!"

"This area contains massive spoilers. If you don't want to have your experience spoiled, do not proceed. Well, I came here for spoilers, let's move on!"
So they went. They were already on a high peak of the mountain.

And they saw an archway, damaged but still standing, before them. Under it stood some person. When they came closer, they saw he was pale and tall, with a tail and pointy goblin-like ears and teeth, armed with spear and shield.
"Who are you, that you dare to enter this land?" asked the being.
"We came here, o honorable servant of the Exalted one, to tell your master what he should know, for it's strange, what's happening in tribes of ours. This toad is guest of great power, that came from lands far away, to see the Exalted one." said Cilko.
"Yeah, that's right!" said the toad. It was giggling.

"What's the matter?" asked Duto.
"I'll tell you later." said the toad. "Lead the way, o guardsman!"
The pale guard went forward, the rest followed him.

They came to some marble block, higher than human, and a figure of similar height as the guard stood by the table. It was contemplating. Then he turned.

Duto and the apprentices gasped. Toad a little bit later. His face was fair and fresh, yet old. He was calm, with no sign of need for haste. His cloak was colourful, with sewn patterns, odd looking to human race. On his forehead he had a golden circle with a big stone in it. He was the same fair being as the guard, yet his presence radiated much more awe.
"Greetings, Cilko, my friend." he spoke. Then he turned to the toad. "What are you doing here?"

Duto told him about the omens he saw. The Exalted one was nodding. Toad was preparing questions, now it has seen Exalted one in person it looked kind of troubled.
"So, I've got a few questions. First, who are you? These claim you Tâdim guys helped tribal civilizations to rise and develop. Is it so?" asked the toad.
"They claim just right. Are you some toad inspector?"
"Right now, I am. Who are you?"

"Yes, I would like to know too." said Duto, Cilko and his apprentices frowned at him a little bit, for asking such improper question.

"Once, a long time back, I was a king of this continent. Before our civilizations crumbled and new have come."
"A king of whole continent?" asked the toad. "That were Haên, Elêri, Neaväm... You're Elêri?"
Exalted one nodded.

"You're wielding knowledge of times long forgotten. I sense you are Âsem, and your kin still lives on. Now that you know my name, I should know yours."
"I am Ôvok, from the realm of Rëîm the trickster toad."
"Is he still in his slumber?"
"He is. But now I uncovered your mortal status, I think we could speak more colloquially."
"You're right. You tribesmen, come closer. I'm sure you have questions too."
The tribesmen were puzzled by the all weird words and names they heard. They came closer, for they were curious.
"First of all, I guess you want to know how's it with the toads, and why I told you to be aware of them. So listen..."

[Quaksna]

"As Ôvok already said, we are Tâdim, one of most powerful races in the ages before. With coming of new age, our numbers dropped down, and my realm has collapsed. I came to seclusion, with the last few of my kin. Because our race ages very slowly, I was a bit bored. We're more or less just resting there, enjoying life in peace. I helped these tribesman, they came here from nearby island,  to find their place here."
"How old are you?" said Duto. "If you're so ancient..."
"Honestly, I don't know. Somewhere near one thousand I lost count. Anyway, I knew that one of the most powerful beings here, Rëîm the trickster toad, really prominent and powerful back then, has been slumbering and regaining power. During absence of such powerful mover of world, it has changed a lot here. Rëîm had a... Um... Court of fellow toads?"

"Yeah, could be said so. I'm one of them." said the toad. "We were active in the world, but we didn't achieve nothing really interesting or important."
"I knew that Rëîm will come back. Someday. And I predicted it could be dawn of a new age. And since I was indirectly influencing the world by the tribes I raised, I wanted to prepare them for that. So I said, if they'll spot a toad, magical, trying to convince someone or stuff like that, it's an omen and they must be cautious."

"That's all?" asked Duto. "So it's actually a good omen? No need to fear of the new age?"

"In the end, it should be. Now, not. End of an era is always time of horrible chaos, turmoil, wars, and it's time when the powerful strike. A struggle is inevitable. But about this matter... I would prefer to speak only with Ôvok now. Wálim, get something to eat for the tribesmen, I want to be alone with the toad."
"As you wish." said the guard, bowing.

"So, Ôvok, it has begun."
"What do you mean? Like wars?"
"I've been trying to scry upon nearby Âsemeï, results are rather interesting."
"Wait, wait. You can scry upon Âsemeï?"
The Exalted one tapped on one giant scroll on the marble table.

"No way, that's the Book of Gâumä!" yelled toad, excited. "How did you get this stuff?"
"You know, when you're king of whole continent, you can collect various interesting artifacts..."
"What other artifacts have you here?"
"Some hatch cover."
"Ahhh... Anyway, the results of scrying?"
"I saw lots of goblin guys around... And Zärseîl..."

"Yeah, I met him. He's the reason."
"Then I sensed..."
"Greetings, o Exalted one!"
The two turned.

"I've came, for I... Wait. That's the toad!"
"Oh snap. That's the hippie jerk!"
"Oh. I sensed a toad in your forest. That was you, Ôvok?" asked the Exalted one.
"Yeah, I was. I proposed good offer to them... And they tried to dispose me!"
"Please, Ebeca. We're discussing urgent matters."

"With a toad??!" shouted Ebeca. "Pardon me, o Exalted one, for this toad is my rival. But I shall take your advice, and alone you shall be left."

He went to tribesmen, to sate himself.
"Where were we? Ah, the last scrying. I saw some night-infused goblin, at the dwarven Mountainhome."
Toad was silent, thinking.
"Goblin? Night? That's Zomus Anuzosla, the Ustroakon, the Ogurxusmzûk! I know the chap, he's dangerous and treacherous! What's he doing there?"
"I don't know. But since that, the land is surrounding by terrible darkness."
Toad was horrified, gasping.

"I need to get to dwarves. Now!"
"I won't hold you off."
"Do you have something fast at disposal? With so many Âsemeï around, I would prefer to travel more... Mundanely."
"Hah, you've found the right person!" said the Exalted one. "Since my kingship, I'm passionate falconer! I can lend you some bird..."
"Bird? Why not? What do you have?"
"Once I had a roc..."
"A roc? You have a roc?"

"I had." said the Exalted one, then standing silent for a moment, with tear slipping down from his face. "Once I sent her to fetch me something big. She went on a rampage to dark fortresses... She fought that beast Rulasm... He killed her."
"Oh. That's... Sad." said the toad. "Some other bird at disposal?"
"I can give you a cockatrice."
"What? You have a cockatrice?"
"Sure I have. Ignorants say that they don't exist. They say gryphons, chimaeras, centaurs don't exist... Oh, little they know. Fâel!"

Toad was expecting some kind of roar or screech, they heard clucking instead. A moment later a strange being flew over their heads, like a chicken with dragon-like tail and wings. It landed next to Exalted one.

"Meet Fâel, Ôvok. He'll take you wherever you want to go."
"Wow. Does it has gaze that turns foes to stone?"
"Maybe. Never found out."

The toad pushed with its whole toad might to feathers of the bird, and it took off up to the sky.

Soon they could not see them anymore.

The Exalted one smiled, he turned and went to rest of his guests.

[Quaksna]

"Hah, just as I said! Imkegethonol in sight! Soon we'll have enough room and food, you'll see!" said the party leader.
Suddenly they heard a roar. Fell. And terrible.
The armed dwarf struck defensive pose.
"Who's that?"
And then... They saw it.

"Gimme your beeeeeeeer!!!!!"

"Wow! That's a mad dwarf! This must be some crazy fortress, with pumps guarded by flying iguanas or magma flooding system or..."
"Waaaagh!!!"
"He lost his mind! Poor fella." said the leader.
"Beer! Beer!"

"Hey there he is!" shouted some voice.

And it was Alak, with militia.
"Oh finally, they'll arrest this highwayman!" said the hooded dwarf.
"He's not a highwayman, it's just a tantrum, nothing more, he'll be fine."

Rikkir bashes Kin in the... Copper axe!

The copper axe is propelled away by the blow!

And since Kin couldn't bite through the armor of militia, they grabbed him and went to the kitchen, hoping that some beverage may still exist. Urist's document said ?5?, so who knows.
"And who are you guys? Travellers?" asked Alak.

"I'm Nel Rithlutbor. This is Nirmek Åkumdusak and this one is Solon Edanuzol. We're migrants, refugees from the Mountainhome."
"Ah l. Not lucky, you are. We're out of supplies, too many dwarves you know. But come in, you must be exhausted!"
They went, but then, Alak suddenly turned.
"You're wearing red clothes... You must be fan club of Lolor Kitïgzilir, is that so?"
"Who's Lolor?" asked the hooded one.
"Eh? You're not in the society? But he told me that..."
"We are." said the leader. "But we do not seek harm. We'll help, should it be needed."
"Every dwarf is needed." said Alak. "Hey, look there! That's Olmul! And he has food!"

And truly. The wagon with Olmul, Berath and Len has arrived, loaded with bags.

Just as soon as Alak said it, nearly every dwarf from the fortress ran to the wagon. Muz got there first.
"Food 'n' booze!!!" he shouted happily.
"Stop, froward citizen!" said Alak. "Olmul, you said you'll be off for..."
"Yeah, but we found a hamlet and managed to trade everything there." said Olmul. "This guy, Len, has some problems with government, he seeks help. I thought he could work in the meantime..."
"A human? Well, why not? Visit me in my office and tell me about the help you seek from us."

Dwarves were climbing on the wagon, trying to grab some bag.
"No!!! That's coming to Ermis. She'll make us some meal. Who can brew, brew! Beer in advance, so we can un-tantrum Kin."
Dwarves sighed, they took the bags and went to the kitchen.


"Hey, that's some hoard of food!" said Ermis. "We'll hold a feast tonight!"
"Alak told us to brew some of it.” Urnût said. "Which don't you need for that... Feast?"
"Take the grain. We'll bake later."


Meanwhile Alak was listening to Len's thoughts, like overseer should do.
"Oh, so you're going on a expedition to find some lost lord?"
"Yeah, I would like to. I know Berath and Olmul are good warriors and adventurers too, I thought they could help me."
"Well, if they went alone with you, I don't see much problems. But we need some soap first."

"If you have issues regarding food, we could sustain on roots and nuts. And shamrock. Shamrock's delicious."
"Could be, but they need flasks with beer, just in case..."


The three new citizens went to offices.
"That's it!" said Nel. "Here's our Kôn!"
Then he gently knocked on the rock door.
"Enter!"

"We greet you, Kôn Sákrith. We're here and we're listening." said Nel.
Lolor widened his eyes. Then he facepalmed.
"Oh dear." said he.

"Pardon us, what's wrong?"
"Wrong is, that overseer already monitor us, we've just become more suspicious now!"
"But we..."

"I know, but lord Alak doesn't know! He won't let us take actions on our own!"
"What are the orders then?" asked Nirmek. "Shall we dispose him?"
Lolor facepalmed again.
"No, you ignorant. If you want orders that much, my primary goal now is to appease overseer."

"So we have to sway him?" asked Solon.
"Hey I don't know, just act as citizens!" said Lolor. "I don't even know you." He then looked at Nel. "You're... You're Ibruk, right?"
"Yes, Kôn. And this is Sudir and Mezum."
"Very well then. Don't stand out too much. We don't want to be blamed for every stupid badger attack or something like that. Got it? And now go, I have work to do."

The dwarves left, when Lolor heard another knocking. He sighed and called:
"Enter!"
Olmul came in.

"Wotcher, lord manager, here you go, a letter from lord Alle Dazelosric."
Lolor again widened his eyes and took the letter.
"Heh, what's up with you, lord manager? You look kinda surprised."
"The guy still remembers me? Curious."
"He's another of your red-crazed friends?"
"Oh no, I used to work as a sort of butler at him. But I had to leave."
"Why?"
"Eh, there were more than one reason. For example I couldn't reach the top shelf."
"Oh, I see. Okay. See you, lord manager!"
"Great. And before you go, there's a soap order from Alak. 10 or so bars."

"Ten? Not sure if I have enough oil. But okay, I'll go make some. See ya!'
Olmul left.

"Finally. I can manage my "on break" order now."

[Quaksna]

Ah, I'm out of inspiration again! I'm pressed and opressed at the screw press of society, and I don't have even inspiration!
Hah, let's see how many day it'll take to my next enlightement. Bets?

[Superdorf]

Ahh, you're a prolific sort; I'm sure you'll be back on that horse soon!

Say, if you're taking suggestions for Alak at some point...

Ask the human at some point how plant gathering works. Given our recent food troubles, that's something we could really use tutoring in.

[Quaksna]

I've rediscovered part of my lost childhood, inspiring me. I heard Superdorf's suggestions, inspiring me. Thus, I'm inspired. Today, look forward for new episode!

Today, I also found out horrible origins of word "heck". Disgusted, I removed it from the story. Just if you noticed and wondered. Goodwill must prevail!

[Quaksna]

This episode is surrounded by incessant babbling, but remember, it was inevitable.

"You think you can hide from me in hall of fame? Show yourself!"

"Foolish dwarf, I am darkness itself."
"I don't see you nor darkness. And those minions, you really think that can stop me?!!"

Suddenly Zomus flew forward, charging the berserker.
Zomus claws Dwarf but the blow is deftly parried by the steel axe!

Dwarf slashes Zomus with his steel axe, tearing the muscle!

Zomus bashes Dwarf with the +golden statue+, bruising the skin!

Dwarf is propelled away by the force of the blow!
"How can you be so powerful?!!" shouted the dwarf. "You were thrown out of your realm!"
"That's false." said Zomus.

Zomus kicks Dwarf but the blow in upper body, bruising the skin and bruising the muscle!
"I went out voluntarily. That fool didn't notice."
"You can't be that strong. I'll take you down!" shouted the Dwarf.
Dwarf slashes Zomus with his steel axe in the right lower leg, tearing the muscle.
"You have such pathetic pantheon. They even didn't came to help you!"

"I've underestimated you..." said the dwarf, gasping. "I've come alone. But still... How can you be so powerful..."
Zomus claws the Dwarf in upper body, tearing the skin and muscle!
Twice.

Zomus reverted to his normal form.
The mortal dwarf husk was dead, yet there was still great power flowing in the hall.
"You won't win." said voice of the dwarf. "You can't stand forever."
"Stop babbling nonsenses..." said Zomus. "Your fellows can hardly agree on anything, I'm completely safe, ready to take on another one of you."
Then he looked at the body. He muttered some wicked spell.
"By the power I wield, you're banished from this world."

The body vanished, so did the power of the dwarf, only wicked night remained.
"I must be more careful. I got rid of this one, but I'm still vulnerable. Two would beat me."

Night creatures ran to him.
"Master, we're here, ready to..."
"Too late minions, he's defeated. Have you sent someone after the dwarves?"

"We had, and we're getting new followers. Not only goblins, some men and dwarves joined our forces too."
"Good. What about the group I've sent to Stothoaslud?"
"Haven't returned yet."

"Gah, who knows what happened to them. Curses, I can't afford to scry now, the fight weakened me. Try to cover my presence here."
"As you wish."


Meanwhile...

"I must say, squad, you made me really, really proud." said Ïlon. "Taking on four twillight ogres and looting their lair! Great. But we should speed up."
"Don't frown like that, Neth!" said Gemesh. "It was glorious victory!"
"I'm not frowning, that's the helmet!" said Neth. "I'm just... A bit frowning. And limping!"
"You'll get used to it." said Gemesh.
"How long, captain?" asked Alåth. "Never was this far before."
"There should be a hillock, Beroggez, I think... Another day of travel? I once led a squad here to pursue bandits, that's years already... We'll see. How many points so I have?"
"Eh what? Oh, of course. Well, you won the first round, now you got thirty for this one." said Gemesh.
"What, a new round? Can't I get some points from the last few hundreds?"

"No, it's new round. And I say... Monitor lizard!" said Gemesh. "Vermin are slow but steady, safe to bet on, you know?" whispered he to Alåth.
"A new round? I didn't want a new round!" said Ïlon, annoyed.
"But we did!" said Neth. "Monitor lizard, huh? I want a badger!"

"You won't see badger here." said Adur.
"Hey slow down, you should rather play with us, Adur! You'll gain useful experiences!"
"Come on, Adur. I'll help you!" said Ïlon.
Adur thought for a while. Then he said:
"Okay. Can I pick... A dwarf?"
Dwarves gave him some sarcastic glances.
"I guess not... What about a... Buzzard? Is buzzard okay?"

In the meantime...

"So, listen now, gobbos..." said Limulsheget.
"Maybe it'll be better for me to speak." said Uxzoustug. "So, goblins, Rulasm's dead, under that fortress. You're free."
"But who shall lead us now?" asked Omot.
"I would..." started Limul, but he was interrupted.

"I'll leave that to you, but I have a condition." said Uxzoustug. "You're free to choose your destiny, but there's something that needs to be done."
"Speak, and we shall obey, o Urtormuk." said the taskmaster.

"My rival and colleague at Alsmustspås, Zomus, is here in this realm as well. And he's getting stronger. I don't know how many of you uphold him more than me... But I need to defeat him once and for all. Alsmustspås is shattered. To enforce balance, our enemies must perish. I need your civilization to back me. I need army of brave goblins, that'll stand the threat of night. So the glory of day will come victorious. Are you with us?"

As Uxzoustug pointed out, some goblins would prefer to back Zomus, so were spitting and booing. The goblins next to them silenced them with sequences of slaps.

"We're with you, Uxzoustug the glorious." said the taskmaster. He was silent for a moment, then he carefully asked: "Can I be lord over Stothoaslud?"
"You seem like the lordest guy here." said Limul.
"Ong..." said Uxzoustug. "What's your name, warder?"
"Gostus Smudostrag, the Dusnangul."
"Very well then." said Uxzoustug, and placed his fiery sword above his head.

"Gostus Smudostrag, the Dusnangul, bu the authority of mine, by the name of Alsmustspås, by the might of fire, sun and day, I hereby declare you the high lord of Slodlurngu. May you shine like sun and may your reign well, regardless of your weird ethics. As we leave this place, you're responsible for it."
Gostus was silent, with serious face.

"Okay, pals, spire's down, Hey we got work to do." said Limulsheget. "Let's take a look at the army, shall we?"

[Quaksna]

"Len, you told me that shamrock's tasty. You must know how to survive in the wilds, can you tell us something about it?" asked Alak.
"You don't know which plants to gather?" asked Len.
"We know, but you know more. Teach us."

"I see you have cows here. Look at them. What do you see?"
"They're fuzzy."
"Ye... No!!!"
"They're friends?"
"They're grazing. You see? They're just grazing."
"Are we supposed to be grazing too?"
"Grazing on outdoor plants?" said Urnût. "That's ridiculous!"
"They do that on purpose. It's food like every other. Most of it taste bad, but at cost you won't die. There's really no need to fear dying of hunger near forests and meadows."
"Do tell us!" said Urnût. "Thanks to Olmul, we were grazing on cacti!"

"Len, that's interesting... Idea, but... we don't have the... Ermmm... Right tag, proportions?" said Alak.
"No need to fear anyway." said Ermis. "We're good on food now, and our dwarves are capable of hunting. We won't need to graze."
Dwarves breathed out in relief.

"Don't tell me you don't know how to adapt to environment!" said Len.
"I do." said Olmul. "When I was young, we had to fight vultures in endless struggle for food! But you can't understand that, only Len can, is that so Len?"
"Yeah." said Len. "Everyone's horrified by sole idea of grazing. It's annoying."
"It's terrifying."
"It's for the best!" said Ermis. "Grass is reserved for livestock."
"Can we end this... Food fight?" asked Urnût.
"I would like to, but I need to win!" said Len. "That's for the best!"
"I'll back you." said Olmul. "We shall win together brother!"



The Clash of Cuisine occured at Kudarkalur not a while ago. Defenders of survival customs, Olmul and Len, against... Rest of the world. Razes came to support rest of the world, to protect her pasture from being grazed by non-grazers, for that's horrible humiliation.
The weaponry of defenders consisted of telling facts about nutritional quality of underbrush, and awesome presence of an axe. Deniers came to offense with a mug of beer. That shook Olmul's patriotism, rendering him temporarily inable to fight.

Defenders used another trick - free sample of yummy vegetation. Razes ate it all, satisfied, she left the battle. Ermis brought some totally-non-green meal, and her side ate it all before Len, to express their disagreement.

Len was forced to disband his faction and go to forest to get some appropriate food. So he went.
"Oh, the new guys are coming." said Alak. "Hey, they are carrying something!"

Nel, Nirmek and Solon were truly coming, and they truly carried something, it looked like some brown chunks with few black spots on it. Oströtakåtôz's coat came to mind of Alak, but these chunks were... Smoking?
"Lord overseer, look! We were hunting, look!" shouted Nirmek.

"Hunting?" asked Alak. "You, you killed wild beasts with fire? What?"
"Eh... We just... Roasted it!" said Solon.
"Not very well chopped." said Ermis. "And here, it's burned! And this big hole out and out full of ash?"
"It's where it was pierced before putting it on barbecue!"
"The hole's black like if you pierced it with my searing sword!" said Alak. "But give me a chunk. I'll taste it."

Dwarves tasted the meat.
"Burned." said Ermis.
"Crusty!" said Urnût.
"A dwarf must survive something." Alak said. "Thank you, Nel and fellas, for snack. Keep up with the... Decent work. We're glad you're helping us."
"You're welcome lord overseer." said Nel, smiling.
Then the newcomers went somewhere else.

"Weird dudes." said Urnût. "But as long as they fetch us snack..."

[Quaksna]

"So. Are you enjoying your visit?"

"Surely, but I have question. Where's the toad?" asked Duto.
"It flew to help dwarves or something. It left."
"Left?"
"You said that new age is coming. What's our plan?" asked Cilko.
"We must choose a side and preserve, that's all." said Exalted one.

"I want to be with that wise toad!" said Duto.
"Not so fast, lad." said Cilko. "What would Exalted one do?"
"Selection is quite wide, every powerful being will probably try their luck... But I know someone who we could back. I don't think he will compete himself."
"What? But the toad... I thought we need them to win!" said Duto.
"I do not care much about what the toad wants." said the Exalted one. "We need to preserve, that's all. Purposes and causes don't matter now."

"How can you say something like this?!! You want to preserve! You're just standing here for thousand years in safety, doing nothing, just observing and telling people what to do, and now you're in danger, you just want to make sure you'll be standing here for another thousand years!"

One of Cilko's apprentices wanted to pummel him, but Duto swiftly dodged it.
"You're mad!" shouted Cilko. "How could they let you to be a Ñabsizcasser!"
"Am I doing nothing? Just telling people what to do?" asked Exalted one. "What's the toad doing so special then?"
"Sure it tells people what to do as well, but it actually does something!"
"Without Exalted one, we would be nothing!" shouted Cilko.

"Enough!" shouted Duto back. "I'm not going to quarrel with you, I'm leaving!"

He turned and went off. The rest watched him.
"Gentlemen, goodbye." somebody said.

Udma turned and followed Duto. Tribesmen were shocked to hear Kodolith speak, they didn't stop him.
"That's fine." said the Exalted one. "They're angered, they'll come to beg off us later, you'll see."

"Fine?!!" shouted Cilko. "They know the truth and now they're free to..."
Then he hawked and said: "Sorry for the shouting, o Exalted one. What are we going to do now?"
"As I said, we have someone to back and he can effectively back us. And if he sees me, I'm telling you, he'll help us."




"So you did it! After all that trying, we're having some Aslezslagka in the army in the end?"
"We are. But majority of them are in Alsmustspås, and since Oströtakåtôz controls it now, there's not much of them."

"Captain, the troop is re..."

"It's lord now." said Omot. "Lord Omot Mällunog."

"Hey, Ommie!" called Limulsheget. "How are you doing with your squad?"
"Getting equipment." answered Omot. "We've got lots of goblins, not so much equipment. You know, we're in desert..."

"What about underground beasts? You must have some!?
"Rulasm relied on its wicked underground backers..." said Gostus. "That dark fortress was impossible to siege for dwarves, but we goblins weren't that developed because of how that beast led our nation. Most of our levies are equipped really poorly. But we have few trolls..."

"Oh, this looks nicely, what's that?"

"Oh, that's some explosive stuff we got from dwarven smugglers." said Omot.
"I thought you don't trade with dwarves..."
"We first kidnapped them, then made them smugglers. Simple."
"Oh, right, you're snatchers." said Limulsheget with not very happy face. "Is it worth for you, being so... Evil?"

"They were shaped by that wicked beasts." said Uxzoustug. "In the end, who's sane, has choice. They're still not lost."

"Yeah, you're right. Hey, Gostus! Aside from poorly equipped levies, you don't have soldiers? Standing army?"

"Our standing army was sent to siege the Mountainhome. We've got reports they had reached it, and were sieging it for few days. After that, no more reports came. Their either dead, or they scattered, or they're retreating, but we can't count on that."
"I get it."
"Maybe it was Zomus who got control of them? Or disposed them if not?" said Uxzoustug.
"By the way, lords of Alsmustspås, where is Zomus hiding?" asked Omot. "Do we know where to strike actually."
Uxzoustug and Limul froze in a stunned pose. Limul got out of it first and started laughing.

"You got me there! Hey, Uxzo, they're right, where's Zomus actually?"
"He's on the continent for sure. Apart from that, I don't know. We could scry..."
"Heh, now that we have army it's not dangerous business. Go on."

Uxzoustug withdraws from society...
"Is he going to forge us cool armory?" asked Omot.
"No. He need to concentrate, that's all."

"Lord Ongongera, scrying is a dangerous business? Using your powers is... Dangerous?" asked Gostus. "Explain, please."
"Let's say, using our powers in greater extent is pretty exhausting, and using our innate powers, we might get noticed by each other. Got it? Hey, but that's a good clue actually! Uxzo! Uxzoustug!"

Uxzoustug returns to society...
"What's up? I've just got his trail, you interrupted me!"
"Why just we don't look for his trails ourselves? I mean, whatever he's done here could help us finding him."
"Well, the trail goes to the Mountainhome, so..."

"Perfect. So you think he's there?" asked Gostus.
"Yes, and if not, he'll be around, or we'll get more clues there at least." said Limul. "Get ready for battle, boys!"

"By the way, why do we have war meeting in a stockpile? It's almost like someone did it on purpose to fill space in this black box you call a fortress, right? Not very sublime. Not at all."

[Quaksna]

"Grab pick and go wreckin', and crushin', and smackin' that one more layer belooooow!!!" sang Nakuth, and the jolly song echoed through the whole tunnel. Nakuth did a few more hits with pick, then he listened and said to himself:
"Sounds like it's hollow. Come on, Nakuth, breach the layer below!"
He hit with his pick few more times. The rocks loosened fell down.

"A cavern!" shouted he happily. That echoed whole tunnel as well.

Then he jumped down, and landed on big white mushroom cap.
"Wow, I can even hear the elk birds! This is what true dwarf needs!"
He looked carefully around himself, and under one mushroom tree he saw moss covering some rocks and on the moss grew...
"Plump helmets!" yelled Nakuth in ecstasy.
Then he heard steps up from his position, dwarves had to be coming! But then he heard another sound... Growling and roaring, combined with stomping.
"Oh, some nasty underground beasts! Better go back..."

A group of troglodytes came to the cavern.

Alak, Urnût, Rikkit, Lolor, and other civilians came to the hole Nakuth dug.
"Nakuth, what are you doing down there?!!" shouted Alak.
"I found plumps, but there are troglodytes down there!" said Nakuth.
When Alak heard word "plumps" he hopped on the cap too.

"Lord Alak, what are you..." asked Rikkir.

"Didn't hear that? There are plumps down there! Food! Can be eaten raw!"
"Just as Len said!" said Olmul.
"That's not grazing!" yelled Alak. "And we should stop yelling."

Troglodytes were under the mushroom, trying to gnaw it to ground.
"Hey, armed dwarves there! I order you to jump on this mushroom!"
Dwarves sighed. And jumped.

"That's Rikkir, Duthnur, Olmul, me, Nakuth the rock-crusher... So Berath, Otad, Kin and Len are at surface if needed... Good!"
"What's the plan?" asked Nakuth.
"Rikkir! What's the plan?"
"Don't fall from the mushroom. If it falls, hold on tight. Get rid of troglodytes, grab plumps. Designate stairs." said Rikkir.
"Briliant! This pleases me!"
And they were standing there, and waiting, troglodytes were gnawing and gnawing.

"Isn't it exciting, guys?" said Alak. "We're balancing on this perilous mushroom, our destiny..."
"It's boring." said Olmul. "I remember better adventures."
"Spoilsport! You don't know anything about building morale?"

"Our morale is gone anyways." said Rikkir. "One of the troglodytes is going to plumps. Drooling."
"Noooo!!!!" shouted Alak. "Somebody do something!"

The dwarfs are starting to panic, seeing plump helmets in peril. The may turn to dorfs if not properly... guided. Help them! Save the day!