“Help from the Homefront

The Petomian National Assembly passed a motion for the deployment of 100 Mamer Shieldguards to lend aid and help resolve the situation beset by our brothers within Gratia. Under advisory from the Arterian church and pleas from Gratian nobility, the Assembly has confirmed allowance for aid to be dispatched as necessary within the motion’s constraints. With King Eurius having previously announced support before the vote, we suspect the confirmation of the motion will be but a formality and that the Mamer will begin being shipped to the port town of Nordmer by the start of next week.”

- Forward Pont, Page Three, “Section: Trannoire Troubles - Daily Updates”

“That’s a load of Plesshite! Two trespassers somehow ended up where the fabled cursed city of Talmour was? Not only that! They entered it and survived, where none other had done so. Now, you’re also telling me that they didn’t just dispel the curse, but walked away with a piece of the Forge of Creation?! Absolute shite!” Ranger Andruil roared, his complaints provoking a few extra jeers being thrown at the elves.

Sophia just shrugged and pointed back at the crystal that Sophie had produced, “We have no reason to lie to you. Regardless, if we did plunder the forge city, the fact remains that the fragment of creation or whatever, is still the fragment.”

Sophie was almost awestruck by how nonchalant her counterpart was. So much so that a small fragment of her felt jealous at the sheer confidence in which Sophia handled herself. Head Ranger Okil had gathered his commanders with him to hear the story that Sophie had shared, much to the disbelief of most of the dwarves. Ranger Andruil was perhaps the most senior of the rangers, the grey bearded dwarf serving as their master at arms and right hand of the head ranger. Scribe Maelin had shakily confirmed their tale, at least as far as identifying the fragment that Sophie had gotten from the forge. Rangers Shadur and Gloomlin remained mostly quiet, though they would occasionally ask clarifying questions at the duo, and Sophie couldn’t help but feel the two were silently trying to pick the duo apart on the inside.

Though they had kept most of the trainee rangers slightly further away, most had unsubtle shuffled closer to listen in, the result being that they reacted to every little thing that the duo had shared. Including their vocal disapproval of the tale that Sophie provided thus far, calling her a ‘defiler’, ‘tomb robber’, ‘opportunist’, and ‘dishonourable cur’. She understood why though, at the very least. If this so-called forge city of Talmor really was surrounded by the dark miasma that plagued it, it would only be natural for one who stumbled upon it to immediately label it a cursed place. Hells, even I still think that place is cursed.

“And what? We’re also supposed to just believe that you survived the whole ordeal unscathed?” Andruil continued.

“We never said that. I mean look-” Sophia tried to gesture to Sophie but was cut off.

“Yes. She’s in rags and looks fucked to hell. But look at her, even I can tell she ain’t wounded, not physically anyhow. How? Some of our best explorers tried to breach the cursed city only to be part of the darkness there. How in the fucks did two smarmy ass elves just waltz in after getting lost?! And! I would like to point out, after surviving a fall from the abandoned crossing, bypassing even Kest Darzard, and ending up in one of the deepest roads where the echoes dwell!” Andruil yelled.

“Now, now. We still don’t know what’s lingering around here, so let’s keep our voices and emotions in check. After all, if they were a threat, they were under no obligation to save us by opening the gate.” Okil tried to calm the elder ranger down, “Besides, Maelin already confirmed that it is indeed a fragment. The best we can do now is get it to a city, preferably the Druz but anywhere is fine.”

“Ancestors help us all. Is the Stonefather so displeased in us that he would call upon the surface kin to aid us instead? Are we not worthy?” Scribe Maelin muttered to himself.

The scribe's words struck a chord with the gathered crowd and a few of the other rangers bemoaned the sorry state of affairs. From their interrupted training to the destruction of this fortress and the appearance of the elves. To them, it might’ve indeed seemed as if their very own Gods had entrusted such a task to outsiders instead.

We might even be heretics even, in their eyes. Heretical elven hands touching their relics. Spooky. Sophia quipped, earning herself a light glare from Sophie at the jest.

“If I might interject.” Sophie spoke, looking at Sophia to make sure her counterpart wouldn’t jump in with a quip.

“By all means.” Okil nodded.

“By all means he says, gone soft in the head.” Andruil and a few others grumbled.

“Regardless of our personal goals. We are still aiming to bring this fragment back to Kar Druzara. Before its destruction, the forge spirit wished to atone for their sins and find a way to support the dwarven people.” Sophie held up the small crystal, the small movement drawing the attention of most of the nearby dwarves.

“Forge spirits… wished…? You spoke to it?” Maelin exclaimed.

“In a manner of conveying ideas, yes.”

“By the Stonefather…” The scribe shook.

“Blasphemy!”

“An elf?! Talking to the Stonefather?!”

“Lies!”

Came the cries that soon followed.

“That’s enough.” Okil spoke softly.

“You dare dishonour the clans!?”

“That’s not yours!”

“Tomb robbing knife ears!”

“Commander says that’s enough!” Andruil roared with surprising ferocity for his age.

His threatening voice silenced any dissent at once, the other dwarves quickly falling in line without so much as a squeak. The elder ranger glared at the duo but said nothing, instead letting out a tired sigh before nodding at his commander. Okil dipped his head in kind and pulled away from the duo, half turning to address both the rangers and the duo.

“Listen. Whatever the case might be here, there’s one thing that we’re all certain of. The kingdom is under attack and there are thousands of echoes on the loose. Grave robbers, spies, heretics, traitors or not, these two are willing and or less than willing but still will accompany us to the capital. If there is doubt, then simply watch them intently, otherwise every minute we spend here, the echoes will devastate more land than necessary. So whatever complaints there are, save it.” Okil growled, his low voice still carrying weight across the fortress grounds.

Andruil nodded approvingly and looked to Okil for permission to speak, the other dwarf gesturing for the elder to go.

“You heard the commander. That’s enough of this. Even I might disagree, but we have our orders. Hells, if anything it feels worse that we’ve let this go on for so long when the echoes are already in the countryside. So get sorted!” He roared, “Drink, sharpen, rest, be ready to move in five!”

“Yes sir!” A chorus of replies echoed.

“Well spoken Ranger Andruil.” Okil complimented.

“Heh, I just hate when you’re right. We do have bigger problems.”

“Indeed. Shadur, Gloomlin, get the trainees ready to move.”

“At once commander.” Shadur answered, the two rangers slipping back into the crowd of dwarves and rallying them together.

“Andruil, get Maelin ready. The scribe seems pretty shaken up.”

“Commander.” The old dwarf grinned before forcefully extracting the still shaking scribe from their gathering.

“And you two.” Okil turned to the duo, “If what you said is true, then let us not tarry here. Get yourselves ready to march, I suppose we’ll have to count on your aid again.”

“Of course.” Sophie dropped a small curtsey, Sophia only going halfway.

With that, the dwarven ranger returned and left the two of them standing there. Sophie quickly pocketed the crystal once more.

They still don’t trust us. Her counterpart broke the silence.

I mean, our meeting is within a fortress of their dead. They do have reason to be suspicious.

You mean it’s not because we’re elves in the middle of a dwarven kingdom?

Pfft, that too. Sophie barely suppressed a snort.

Well then, shall we stretch a little before we move again?

Grunting an affirmative, the two shook whatever doubts they had left from their limbs, preparing for another hard trek ahead. Watching all the dwarven rangers double check their equipment made Sophie self conscious once more, aware that she was still left in ragged clothing. Worse, she managed to catch a small whiff of herself and winced at how foul she smelled.

Killing, barfing, monster blood and guts tend to do that to you, stinky.

Sophie just scowled back before trying her best to ignore her own decrepit state. It’s gonna be a long day. I just hope at some point there’s a shower or a bath somewhere.

Fortunately for the duo, the cave rams and boars turned out to be quite muscular creatures. Ranger Shadur’s dark red boar was massive compared to its compatriots and proved just the right size for them. The ranger had quietly offered his mount and shared a ride with another. At first, the boar bucked and raged at the duo’s presence, only calming down once Sophia took the reins. The dwarves offered a half hearted apology, stating that it was probably that the creature wasn’t used to such tall riders. In truth, Sophie already knew that it was because of her strange void magicks that had so greatly agitated the creature. With even Sophia only barely able to handle the beast.

The group managed to set a decent pace, with barely any time for the duo to take in the strange sights and scenery they passed along the way. The monsters, or echoes, as the dwarves called them, had surged directly towards Kar Druzara, which thankfully left hamlets and villages that were off the beaten path well enough alone. For off in the distance, Sophia spied sights beyond her wildest imagination of the caverns. As the cave cavern opened up to have a roof that seemed to stretch upwards endlessly, the landscape flattened out a lot more than the cliff-ridden areas they had originally marched through.

Here, giant mushroom farms had fungi that stretched upwards like a city glowed like a beacon in the darkness. Villages fields of odd looking boars and some bovine-like creatures. The luminescent crystals that once dotted the walls of the cavern now jutted out of the ground like menacing spikes. The relatively lifeless rocky floor had also transitioned to a land that was teeming with strange little critters and lifeforms. Brightly coloured plants and other flora also sprouted up here and there. While the faint glow of a massive amber crystal hung high above the cavern, shining its orange light all across the lands.

Of course, such majesty was contrasted by the swath of destruction left by the horde. Their passing was marked by a blighted and dead land with any unlucky enough to be in their path getting struck down without a thought. Burnt out houses, farms, and small villages littered the landscape and the corpses of their residents devoured by the maddened echoes on their warpath. They weren’t without opposition however, and more than once, the party passed through hastily erected barricades and chokepoints that took down more than their fair share of echoes before being overrun.

Seeing this, the rangers dispersed some of their numbers to rally and warn nearby towns. That left around forty rangers alongside the duo who raced towards Kar Druzara. What started as a decently fast trot broke into a light and occasional full on gallop on their mounts as the rangers slowly came to terms with the severity of the situation at hand. Whatever doubtful gazes were cast upon the duo had been replaced by the existential dread that now held the ranger group in its grasp. But Okil pushed them forward nonetheless and the advance continued.

They heard the thunderous roar of what the rangers described as cannons pounding away before they saw the city. Gunpowder filled weapons that worked wonders against the unwarded echoes, they spat out fiery death that exploded the very ground that the creatures stood upon. Only then did the horror of her earlier discovery come to fruition and Sophie shared her suspicion with the dwarves. The echoes had ferried away the fortresses' cannons and likely were turning them against the city. Andruil had paled at hearing this news and Okil explained to the duo that while the cannons were unlikely to penetrate the walls in any meaningful manner. It was the potential for civilian casualties to be exponentially higher than normal sieges that worried them. Sophie felt her own heart skip a beat, her thoughts finally turning back to Aryana. Goddess please keep her safe.

22 Hours Ago

“Danger, danger, don’t become a stranger!” Yana the faerie chirped as she fluttered past Aryana’s eyes.

“Don’t worry, I won’t leave you behind. Promised to get you out to the surface, didn’t I?” Aryana grinned.

“Promise, yes. But life’s a mess.” The faerie grumbled as she tucked herself behind Aryana’s ear.

She seems more agitated lately, I wonder why. Aryana chuckled and moved to gently pat the faerie, an act that was rewarded by a pleasant little purr from behind her. Satisfied, she carefully pushed herself up from her chair and collected her now empty bowl of mushroom soup and washed it in the sink.

It had been two days since Mesurn, Hafnir and Koli managed to bring her and their supplies to the city of Kar Druzara. In a stroke of good fortune, they managed to talk their way into the city, assisted by a wandering inquisitor who happened upon them. He then had her quarters arranged while the dwarves bid her farewell and headed to their own barracks in which they were based. Though she spent the first day in relative agony, desperately trying to recover her health. With Yana’s help and the kindly dwarven matron that took care of the inn which she stayed in, Aryana made a stellar recovery by the second day. Today marked the third she would spend in the city and she was able to walk on her own two feet without supports.

Yana had done a fantastic job of keeping her morale up, the chaotic little creature offering a multitude of chipper little quips. Aryana wondered how she could always continue flying with such energy but dismissed the thought from her mind. She did not care, she was just happy to have company. Her eyes flicking around her, she found a pang in her heart as her fingers wiggled with a longing for the slender ones that had fit between them. Sophie… I hope you’re alright.

The city was a gruff if still somehow fantastical place. Masterful stonework decorated the building facades and statutes honouring dwarven heroes waiting around every street corner. The upper districts were where dozens of spires and towers reached for the cavern roof, their towering presence just as potent as the manors they resided next to. The center of town where she was staying had mostly spacious but still squat looking dwarven buildings, nothing really stretching higher than four stories tall. Then there was the low town or wall town as Mesurn called it, where the squat buildings took up their preassigned spaces but dozens more were erected just as haphazardly creating a maze of angular but confusing streets.

“Someone comes, someone calls, behold they enter, into hallowed halls.” Yana mumbled uneasily, distracting Aryana from her thoughts.

Though Aryana turned her attention to the doorway, no one pushed it open and for a moment or two. Then all hells broke loose as loud horns rang out from areas all around the city, a deep heavy noise that reverberated her soul. The faerie squeaked in alarm, gripping Aryana with a sudden ferocity.

She could hear all the chaos that now erupted outside her building, the clanging of bells and countless gruff shouts that echoed from wall to wall. Amidst all the chaos, she did understand one thing, something was coming and the city was very much concerned.

“What’s going on?” She asked the diminutive creature.

“It comes, the great one, the being of the dark. Woe befall us, they come, and we are their mark.” Yana wailed.

“Yana! I need you to speak clearly, what’s coming?”

“The dark! The dark! The monsters of war!”

Aryana frowned, not quite understanding the faerie but still feeling its panic. A knock at the door nearly made her jump and she opened it to find the inn’s matron checking in on her, the dwarf’s kindly face giving her a once over before inquiring about her.

“I heard some ruckus, are you quite alright dearie?” The matron asked.

“Yes thank you. But what’s with the bells?”

The matron pursed her lips, almost looking a little reluctant before she continued, “Now I don’t mean to alarm you but them there’s the sound of the Echo march. You know about the echoes?”

“Not really.”

“They be the monsters that be lurking in the darkness beyond the light. The bells tell us a great number of them are coming this way.”

“Oh…” Aryana uttered, her worried expression catching the eye of the matron.

“No worries though! It happens every now and then anywhere within the deep. Still, we’ll be locking up for the day until the situation’s over. But like I said, no need to worry. Those critters rarely get up the walls.” The matron chuckled.

“O-oh? Why’s that?”

“They can’t climb very well, silly! Swear upon the stone, the last few echo marches ended outside a border fort. The buggers couldn’t even get close if I remember hearing it right. So rest easy, aye? Though the laws that we still stay indoors mostly, got it?” The matron wagged her finger like a parent teaching a child.

“Yeah, got it.”

“Good! Good! I’ll just go get a few things ready and close up shop for today and tomorrow. You focus on getting better, you hear me?”

“Of course.” Aryana nodded as the matron turned back out into the rest of the inn. But as she turned to her flying companion, she found the faerie lost deep in thought, muttering something unintelligible to all but herself.

With a sinking feeling growing within her, she had the distasteful sense that things wouldn’t be as simple as the matron described.