The Present...

I knew he was coming, and it was a Big Thing. The King Under the Mountain generally stayed Under the Mountain, and him coming out was not something idle.

Given the number of dwarves running around with Marks and grumping to one another in Marktell and real life, there was no way I wouldn’t know of it... especially since he was coming to see the person heading up the Alliance and running coordination of literally thousands of people... in between Smithing and feeding Greater Demons to the Land.

King Klintskyr was a noble dwarf born of noble dwarves, lineage going back to what they would certainly say was before Men knew how to build houses. He was definitely a doughty fighter, as dwarven kings didn’t sit in the back and give orders, they went out in front and got hip deep in butchery, or their subjects didn’t respect them. His beard was like black gold, the envy of many of his naturally greying subjects, looking as old and solid as basalt. His eyes glittered like dark sapphires, seeing a great deal, and saying little.

He did wield a Hammer, for the King also had to be a smith, a maker and unmaker, a master of the crafts of the Rockborn, able to judge between rivals, and lead the makers of the Rockborn in their drive for newer and better. It was very convenient for the King to have that symbol of making as his tool of unmaking, so the Clan Hammer of the Klintskyr line was also the Royal Weapon of the King Under the Mountain.

Naturally enough, if the King Under the Mountain came out, the Kings of the Mountains could do no worse. So, the Kings of Clan Jadeaxe, Darkshear, Firedrop, Crystaltear, Ironhide, Grimshield, and Stonehelm had also moved out with their personal guards, come to take on these mangy dogs from the Warp and firmly send them packing!

Bluster and all, they were still surprised when Greater Demons descended upon them, and there were no Void Brothers or Sama around to dispose of them. If the initial Banishments didn’t work... the cost was horrendous.

Thousands of dwarves died in the carnage. The Kings of Jadeaxe and Ironhide fell to Greater Demons of the Warp, and their troops had to retreat to their halls. More Warpbands began to gather to the fight, and their numbers swelled every day as they pounded at the most eastern of the dwarven halls.

Within five days, over twenty thousand demented fanatics of the Warp were besieging stone halls that had not been breached in over a thousand years. The twisted magic of the Warp bent the laws of reality enough so that the Demons could stay there and dig at the Warded stones, hungry for the souls beyond.

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I smacked my forehead in front of Underking Klintskyr, not caring how terribly formal I was supposed to be. “So... instead of moving out in warband size, which would limit the amount of reality disrupting the Warped could do, they formed a united army of nearly fifteen thousand Rockborn, and thought they were going to march right up to Yle Tyorm, plant themselves down, and take on all comers?”

I rolled my eyes. “Dammit, and now they’ve totally screwed us, because now we have to fight a full freaking army that’s Summoned in demons in numbers, and has multiple Casters. Worse, they can’t run away, so they’ll fight to the death.

“Their idiocy is going to cost the rest of us. I’m not at all unhappy they are dead. Hopefully their heirs have a bit more common sense.”

Klintskyr was less than happy with my undiplomatic choice of words, but the fact I was saying what a lot of Rockborn were feeling meant he just let it slide off him.

“Can you aid us?” he asked calmly, voice more melodious than normal Rockborn. Probably had all the fem-dwarves cooing behind their veils. That awesome black beard was definitely an eye-catcher, though...

Dwarven hair was actually much thicker and firmer than human hair, and not dead, still having active nerve cells. Cutting the hair of a dwarf was like snipping fingers, so getting shaved was both incredibly humiliating and very painful to boot. On the other hand, getting their beard and hair combed was a sensual pleasure for the Rockborn, and the combination meant Rockborn rarely cut their hair, and took great pride in it.

The Underking’s Armor and Weapons were all QL 40 stuff, Infused over centuries and with total devotion, all at least Akt and brimming with power, forged of mithral and adamant. I eyed it all in admiration for the skill of the Crafters; only the best for the Underking!

He was a Ten Crystal Dragon Warrior, deep and solid, his chi anchoring him to the stone like a moving fortress. He would be massively hard to take down in normal circumstances, tough, durable, and with nigh-endless stamina... but just being obdurate didn’t win wars and kill the enemy.

“Your first matter of business is not to relieve them, it’s to cut off the reinforcements which are gathering there. If you do that with a huge army, guess what is going to happen?”

The Underking wasn’t a fool. “Multiple Warpbands will gather together to oppose us. When they do, their foul magic grows,” he grunted at me across the slab of stone laying across Haul, upon which was a more accurate holographic rendition of the terrain around Ironholme than he had ever seen. The layout of the besieging armies, the locations of other Warpbands that were marching in that direction, and the positions of allied forces also creeping closer were all clearly represented, with probable roads and marching routes clearly indicated. It only took a moment of thought to calculate the times needed for them to join the besieging forces.

The other dwarven elders present also scowled at the sight.

“Your instinct is to gather together and show them the united power of the Rockborn. Were you facing a conventional army, that would be fine. But you’re facing an enemy whose force quadruples when their numbers double, because they can bring in more demons, while you are much more limited in the level of aid you can call upon. I see you’ve been Calling in archons and devas, but they get extremely vulnerable in areas under the influence of the Warp... and make it easier for demons to be Summoned to face them, too.”

Rockborn have fairly rigid faces to go with their thick skins, and so don’t have much facial expression. Watching the way their beards shifted was the best way to read them.

“What are you proposing?” the Underking asked grimly. Like it or not, I’d made it plain I knew the enemy best.

“The Warp is not united,” I said calmly. “The only reason they gather is to oppose strength. Every single leader of a Warpband is out for all the glory for themselves. In addition, their bosses don’t really care about huge mass battles. They want spectacles, where individuals rise to the top and give them a good show. To them, this entire process of fighting is a just a means to let the cream float to the top, a grinder refining the best servants for them. If they all die, they’re just weak.

“So, the way to do things is to hit them from all directions with multiple armies that seem roughly equivalent or inferior to their own forces. Give all those Warplords something to fight, to show their own strength and glory, and not subordinate them to someone else. They’ll tear their united forces apart, racing to grab the glory for themselves and prove themselves to the Warp-butts.”

The Underking watched as I used my fingers to drag forces here and there, splitting them into multiple angles of approach. Key was placing forces between them and the reinforcements from Yle Tyorm, meaning they’d be fighting one army after another, a slow, grinding march towards the fallen city.

“That way of doing battle... is insane,” the Underking murmured, to the general agreement of his generals.

“Yes, but that’s what they love... and catering to it allows us to crush them. We only need to have better troops, with higher morale, better coordination, good supply, excellent leadership, readiness to deal with some truly horrible extraplanar beings, mobility, and fine equipment, and we can beat them handily.”

The dwarves all grunted at that. Not too small a list of requirements...

“The Warp-butts want to throw their best against your best, grind up the weak, and let the strong survive. The key to playing their game is, naturally, not to play their game.”

Armor creaked as greybeards looked at me. “And how, Sage Sama, does one do that, since you seem to be telling us to do as they want us to?”

“The Warp has no overarching unity, no central command. It has no cooperation between forces except the fist of the strongest. They don’t really know how magic works here, nor Karma, and so they are vulnerable.

“Organize, collaborate, cooperate, and feed them to the Land. No glory, no gold, just contempt and fertilizer for the earth beneath your feet. Don’t respect them, destroy them. Put them down and make them pay.

“It is a different mindset, and I have the tools to make it happen.”

“These Marks of yours.” The Underking waved his gauntleted hand to one of his advisors, who held a thick book in his hands. “My advisors have been analyzing the effects of them, and to say the results have been impressive is not an exaggeration. First-rankers attacking like veterans, veterans performing like elites, elites like champions, champions like heroes.

“Tell us how you do this, Sage Sama, in your own words. The claims they make are surprising, yet our Priests affirm that there is no dark magic at work, only Runecraft, and the power of valiant souls.”

I flicked a finger, and Tremble shifted a holo up behind me.

Marks Warlord Courageous

Holopoint presentation powers, activate! “These three things drive the whole system, Your Majesty. Marks form the basic foundation that the others work upon.

“Your officers are more than capable of tactical analysis. I will mention the Strength Enhancement all your Marked have been choosing, helping make their weapons hit harder and with more control, their armor lighter, their endurance greater.

“The Battle at Kromith Ridge. Only ten of my Marked were at the battle, half of them in scouting functions providing real-time tactical information. One of them saw the warg-riders coming in on the back of the right flank. If they could have hit the spears there from behind, the whole line would have buckled.

“One of my Marked was the officer in that spear line. The scout’s information was directed to him within three seconds. His orders were out of his mouth within one breath, relayed to the neighboring formations within another. The back lines readied their spears, and without turning around. Just as the enemy committed and couldn’t react, Lieutenant Chasol gave the order, and the last three ranks spun and braced. The whole line of wargs drove themselves straight onto the wall of spears, unable to stop themselves, and were butchered within a minute.”

The dwarves hummed into their beards, watching the entire scene replay behind me, eyes glittering at the usefulness of this form of briefing.

“Without the Mark, the scout’s discovery would not have carried over the fighting if he yelled, and not been conveyed accurately using other means, if he was even noticed. The enemy would not have been lured in so perfectly, or butchered so cleanly.

“That is the power of a telepathic information relay in real-time.”

The holo-glow on the Mark faded, and Warlord lit up.

“A properly trained Warlord emanates an Aura at the spiritual level that affects the troops beneath them who are nearby. It increases morale, focus, determination, resolve, and has a number of near-magical effects on troops, who fight harder, longer, and better when commanded by a Warlord they trust.” ‘+1 To-hit, Damage, AC, and Saves’ popped up next to ‘Warlord’. “Gentlemen, these are morale bonuses, much the same as you get when fighting orcs and goblins. Every single one of my Marked is getting those bonuses when they fight, because they are right next to me.” I tapped my skull, and the Rockborn shifted, seeing the power of that.

Warlord faded, Courageous glowed... and Tremble began to hum, the power plucking at the air, and at all their hearts.

“Courageous is a +I Weapon Enhancement, which increases morale modifiers by half the Enhancement bonus of the Weapon it is attached to. Since Tremble is bound to me, that means it affects anyone who is able to hear her... and ALL my Marked are able to hear her.

“She is nominally +VIII against my foes.” Eyes glittered with shocked light on hearing that. “So, my Warlord bonus, to all my Marked, is increased by four.” The +1 listed changed to +5. “Recruits fight like veterans, veterans like elites, elites like champions, and champions like heroes.”

The Rockborn swallowed, despite themselves. “Adding in the Strength bonus of the Mark, and the troops hit like bulls and stand like bears!”

I paused significantly as I looked all of them over. “Now, tell me what the Warped have that can do the same.” There were only glances back and forth, nobody spoke. “Take an equal force out to fight them. If your troops are Marked, you will crush them... by not playing their game, because they cannot play mine.”