[center][h3]Turn 5[/h3]

[hider=The Map]
[img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/378609594030882816/501439905293926400/Map_05.png[/img]
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[h3][color=crimson]The Levogh[/color][/h3]
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"Where do [i]we[/i] come from?" Kaebora seemed to contemplate the simple question for far longer than one would think necessary.

"We come from all places, all different tribes of peoples, for in times past our religion was a much larger movement and we wandered the lands. I was raised in a forest far, far away. My mother would cut into the trees and peel off strips of bark, then boil the softer inner part into her soups. Even after so long, I can still remember the taste," he reminisced with a wistful look. "There are others in my brotherhood who came from that place, but we are now just an ancient few. All of the others came to us over the centuries from other places, but it has now been many decades since we have had a new convert. Perhaps that is because we do not proselytize unto others; in my meditations, I long ago came to realize that it is best that we allow potential converts to come to us. There is no piety, wisdom, or peace in a mind that was forced into this life. And since you asked how we came to have our powers, I will tell you that there is a noble Path. The first among us walked it with the guidance of ancient elves, but now I can see that your folk have lost sight of the way, or perhaps yours is a tribe that never came to know the Moon.

The secrets of our power lies in the teachings of the Moon (a kinder and wiser goddess than any other!) which we believe is to lead a peaceful life of solemn meditation; though there are others in these lands that worship the moon, their ways are not that of the noble Path. I am aging and do not have long left; we are only timeless when we take the sacred shape of the owl, so upon the full moons we age as any other mortals. I have perhaps only one or two hundred years remaining upon this plane, but I have already come to understand the Moon and the lands beneath it, so there is nothing left for me but to guide the brotherhood and offer wisdom to any young ones that will have it. If any among you feel the calling of the true and noble Path, we would welcome you into our brotherhood. You would not be the only elves; others like you have lost their heritage, but some of them came to us to find their way back onto the noble Path. Perhaps I shall be able to convince some of them to meet and speak with you."

Kaebora spoke slowly and in a cryptic manner, but it didn't seem as though he was trying to be withholding. From what he'd said, he might have been a thousand years old. One could imagine that by this point it was probably challenging for him to even interact with mortals or truly comprehend small timespans.

"But now the Moon's power wanes, and with it will also fade my ability to take the sacred shape. I must go now, lest I be trapped in this body until the next moon, but I think that you shall see me again. Farewell, Célebron Blackeye, and farewell Levogh."

And with that, the Owl King slowly walked back into the forest and disappeared. A few days later, they saw him again in the tree branches. The other owls similarly returned from wherever they had been on the full moon, and all things in the forest were as they had previously been.

[hr]

Not long after that strange meeting, Gwyneth and Kalorn returned with news of the tracks that they had seen. Moragh was still missing, but it was perhaps too early to assume that anything had gone amiss with the third ranging party. In any case, Gwyneth and Kalorn were able to join in the exploration of the ruins. As the Levogh had been dwelling upon the crumbling buildings for some time now, they had come to realize the general layout and had already seen the insides of many structures. It was easy to imagine that at one point the city had over a thousand inhabitants.

They gently cut through the drapes of moss and vines that wreathed some of the buildings, then crawled through what might have once been windows or doors. They dug the earth out of many a half-sunken room, and they sifted through the fallen debris. There was the occasional beautiful trinket or treasure that had survived the years. Those treasures of a lost civilization took many forms: pottery, jewelry of gold and silver and even more exotic metals, and a few pieces of carved amber. But there were no weapons and no bones, no signs of war nor famine or any other sort of collapse. It was as if all of the people had simply disappeared one day.

[b]A) Improve food
B) Improve military technology
C) Improve infrastructure
D) Improve culture
E) Explore
F) Improve resources/technology
G) Prospect the land
H) Expand military
I) Take diplomatic action
X) Other[/b]

[b]Population:[/b] 146 men, 143 women, 75 children.
[b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to about 30% of adult population.
[b]Food level:[/b] Average; improving
[b]Resources:[/b] (Potentially magical) moon fungi
[b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Growth:[/b] [i]Low; impacted by racial traits.[/i]
[b]Morale:[/b] Average
[b]Foreign relations:[/b] [color=palegoldenrod]Brotherhood of the Moon's Wise Children: Friendly[/color]
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[h3][color=DarkGray]The Lycan Covenant[/color][/h3]
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The pontoon bridge is assembled over the course of several days. Entire tree trunks were gathered by the dozen, woven together into square rafts, and then bound into a chain of such platforms stretching over the river. Throughout this time the rains continued to pour down. The grass everywhere was drowned and replaced by nothing but mud, and the runoff was eroding gulches and gulleys all across the landscape. Further breeding of the rabbits was hindered by the miserable conditions; it was all that they could do to keep what rabbits they already had from drowning.

At least the rainstorms were not getting steadily more violent as they'd been doing. It seemed to have reached its peak, and perhaps calmed a little bit. During that comparatively serene period of light rain, the covenant finished the bridge and used it to carry what remaining lumber they had back over to Wulfshelm. There, they built some hastily constructed longhouses and cottages upon the highest and most solid ground that they could find. It was impossible to find dry bedding and the earth floors of their houses were still damp enough to be more like mud than dirt, but it was better than nothing. Those that called out to the sea received no answer from any monsters that might have lurked within, but some of them rested content thinking that their actions had at least caused to storms to wane.

So it was that as Vlath gathered together his congregation and set out to reclaim the next obelisk, they left with good tidings. The journey was swift and only a light drizzle remained of the ferocious rainstorm that had plagued them for so many weeks. As they passed the first stone, they observed that it had now completely blackened and had been covered in cracks; the air around it radiated the faint but familiar power of their sleeping pantheon. Once they went a ways past that stone, the rain actually stopped and they were once more beneath a bright and warm sun that dried their fur. It was a welcome respite from the cold and rot that had defined their last few weeks.

Within sight of the sea, Vlath and his chosen zealots gathered about the standing stone. He placed a claw upon the rock and claimed it in the name of the Void Gods, but this time the effect was different. The moment that the Voidcaller laid his hands upon the stone, an insatiable void awakened within it. The stone ripped at their bodies and minds and souls; Vlath watched as the sharp outline of his own shadow suddenly twisted and was pulled into the obelisk. Massive fissures erupted across the surface, the stone crackled with power, and then it began to tear itself free from the ground. The entire obelisk levitated a few feet above the ground, still cracking and blackening, and then it suddenly exploded.

The zealots that had circled around all dove for cover and were far enough from the rock that they weren't struck by the scattered fragments of rock, or at least any pieces that were large enough to cause injury, but Vlath had been within an arm's reach. A great slab of rock had struck him upon the jaw and knocked him to the ground where he came to lay utterly motionless. Some wanted to step forward to help, but a great stream of magical energy erupted from the hole in the ground where the obelisk had been. It tore away the earth and soil to reveal some sort of massive, horned skeleton that had been buried beneath the obelisk; fearing for a demon and some sort of evil power, they stayed back.

But Vlath was not dead, merely knocked unconscious and delivered to the world of dreams. Detached from his own body, he saw himself laying on the ground comatose, and he saw the others gawking at him, and he also saw how the clear sky near instantly turned black and came alive with a thunderstorm so powerful that its thunder shook the earth.

And he heard whispers.

[color=purple][b][i]F̴̺̿o̶͍͒ơ̸͜l̴̠͠.̸̻̓.[/i][/b][/color] The word had a cold, mocking, vicious bite to it.

There was a sound to the whisper, and yet no voice. A cacophony of other words suddenly echoed to him, each one conveying more fury than the last.

[color=purple][b][i]IDIOT! HEATHEN! UNGRATEFUL FILTH![/i][/b][/color]

There was a flash of lightning, and Vlath briefly saw the image of himself calling out to the ocean in some vain attempt at reasoning with the monsters that dwelled within.

[hider=The roaring whispers came to a deafening climax]

[color=purple][h1][i]W̴̠̹͍̘̜̤̲̲̱̱͖̺̞͕͎͙̆̌̊͋ͅƠ̵̡̡̧͉̺̳̹̝̙̙̜̳͕̣̼̜͕͙̹̮̑̒̋͑̅̾͗͆͠ͅŖ̶̧̡̛̠͔͈͔͇͉̠͙͓̼͕̩̪̙̘͚̜͌̈́̽̍̌̐̃̄̇̎ͅŢ̸̗̩̤̥͕̥̱̲͎͎̻̞͚̮̬͉̠̠͉̖̳̭͍͉̝̀̇͗̃́͂̾̂̓̀̀̏̅̑͗͂̑́̚͜͝͝H̷̡͙̥͓̻̮̜̘̞͍̙̻͔̝̜͍͙͍̞̫̹̣͍̞̅Ļ̴̡͓̺̣̞̩̹̥͈͚͓̠͓̯̯͙͙͓̼̺̹̅͂͊͗̈̄̎̓̎̐͗̃́̏̑́͂̈̈̓̕͘͠ͅE̵̡̦͓͉̝̦̘̱̺͉̦̻͉̠͚͕͖͉͙̖͈̗͉̞̞̲͖̒͗͆̽͜͜͝ͅS̶̢̨̢̜̜̼̮̯͕͇̺̞̙̹̤͈̹͖̣̰̘͑̋̉͊͐̆̌̓́̈̒͌̉͗͗͊̄̚͘ͅS̷͓͖̮̆͆͊͗̔̓̽͒̏͒̇̈̓̽̎̈́́̍̏̒͊͋́̌͝͠͠ ̷̧̬̜̖͙̠͚̳͇͖̙͕̖͓̲͓̮͍͉̞̰̗͙̩̬͉͔̫͍̜̜̬̭̦͋̅͑̐͊̄̋̓͗͒̃̔̀̄̋͐͑̒̈́̓́̓̈̈̕̕̕͝͠M̷̨̡̤̜̜̻̖͙̫̯͕̞̙̫̣͉̹͔͙̲̰̘̞̹̬͈̞͇̱͕̑̄̾̅͗́̉̃́̌̓̏͗̊͛̆̚͘̚̚ͅỎ̷̡̢̪͕̦̹̖̠̼͕̗̻͈̯̪͉̺̲̪̻̜̲̪̣̤͚̤͖̫̺̩̇́̐͋̔̓̌̔̐͊͂̃̄͒̊̾̌͒̈̇̀̄̀́̋̑͗͐̆̾̔͘͜͠͝ͅͅͅR̵̢̢̛͍͉̩̰̲̦̘̩͍̗̳̪̠̳̩̗̙͙͙̰̝̺̩͊̏̅̂́̓̋̎̍̾̆͊̂͘͜T̶̢̡̧̢̢̳̖̫̲̜̭̬̞̞̲͙̲̙̙̭̜̤̜͍͉͔̙̪̫̳̥͚͍̅̒͛͆̾͌̾̄̃͒̈́̆́̑̚͘͜͝Ạ̸̡̢̢̢͎̭͓̞̠͕̪̯̹̹̗̝̯̲̜̪̟̟͕̭̹̠̘̟̙̞̰̥̇̒͜ͅĽ̴̢̛͚͓̫̖̘͈̰̺̤̣͖̬̫̰̞̭̭̝͕̯̝̙̲̻͎̜͓̟̍̀͊̂̋͋̋̉͆̊͂͌̀̈́̈́̓͂͂̓̋͂̌͆̄͆̚͘͜ͅͅͅ ̸̨̧̨̱͚̘̪̝̟͓̩̝̯̳͈̭͗̐͆̀ͅW̸̡̢̡̥̰̞̘̮̗͖̬̫̗̼̼͓̉͋̂͑̿̒̈́̐̀̈̈́̋̎̎́́̀̅͊̂̈͐̈́̃͋̈́̅̓͑̀̈͘͜͠͝͝͠Ǫ̴̨͕̯͖̙̮͖͍̟̲̦̪̘̝̔̈́͜R̵̛̖̯̲͎͚̻̹̝̻̫̠͖̞̣̰̼̻͙̝̫̬̥̩̾́̓̔͛̓̔̐̆̍̃̃͐̕͜͝M̵̨̢̨̛̛̛̤̱͙͎̙̭̝͉͓͙̫̱̜̣͗̔̌͑̂̏̎͌̈̐̀̄͊͆͊̐̈́̓̒͊̈͋̎̋̌͝͝͝͝͠ͅ[/i][/h1][/color]

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It was the Void Gods, and they were beyond furious. Vlath could not imagine the exertion that it must have taken for them to shout with such force that their voices echoed out of their prisons and into his mind, but he knew that every maddening syllable of theirs was purchased by more pain than his mind could comprehend. He fell to his knees to grovel; he was completely at their mercy now. But they spared him the horror of hearing another word; instead they jerked at his spirit and threw him into the sea. Burning saltwater filled his eyes and rushed in to fill his surprised lungs, but in this ghostly form he had no need for breath, so he survived albeit in agony.

Down, down, until he was touching the sandy bottom of the ocean. They dragged him across the floor for what might have been only a few minutes, and then he saw the fish monsters. It was even more horrific to look upon them from an outside perspective; from inside the body of one, he had imagined how vile they must have been, but his imagination had failed to live up to reality. They were horrible, twisted abominations of teeth and primal fury.

And they were trying with all their might to clamber across the ocean floor towards the coast; Vlath didn't quite know how far off they were from the beaches, but it couldn't have been farther than a few miles. They scrambled forward upon the ocean floor with all the swiftness that they could, but the mighty storms that had just appeared overhead were now making the waters so choppy and turbulent that it was throwing the monsters back and forth like leaves upon the wind. From some dark crevice in the ocean floor, eldritch tentacles burst free and seized some of the nearest monsters. The things were dragged into the abyss flailing in rage and terror, and then they were dragged all the way down to the Void and devoured by shadows. But it didn't matter, from the murky depths there burst forth one, two, three, four more monsters trying to clamber to the coast. There were more, and more...

Vlath suddenly coughed water out of his lungs. He snapped awake once more, and though he wasn't fathoms beneath the sea, his head had nearly been submerged within a growing puddle beneath the torrential downpour. He stood up and looked to the rainclouds, and then he finally understood: though his people had begun to view the endless rain as a curse brought about by some Young God, the truth was that it was the Void Gods that had conjured those terrible storms, and the storms were the only thing holding back the horde of abyssal monsters. So it had been a terrible sign that the rains over Wulfshelm had begun to weaken and the storms slowly vanish; the Void Gods' power and influence over the world had been slipping after so many days, and if he had waited much longer to claim this second stone, perhaps the monsters would have been able to reach the shores.

Vlath's thoughts raced to the scout's earlier report of a third obelisk further up the shore; claiming it would no doubt strengthen the Void Gods and give them the ability to buy some more time. But the Voidcaller hardly had time to register those thoughts before something emerged from the gaping pit where the obelisk he'd claimed for the gods had just been. The horned skeleton that had been buried down there was now animated by some power and wrapped in layers of writhing shadows. It climbed out of the pit, then clambered up onto its feet and straightened. It was some sort of monstrous giant no less than twice the size of any lycan, and it merely stared impassively at Vlath and waited. When Vlath finally moved, the void monster followed him.

What zealots hadn't fled the scene by then gathered around Vlath and looked at the hulking mass of shadows in awe; the Void Gods had delivered them a champion.

[b]A) Improve food
B) Improve military technology
C) Improve infrastructure
D) Improve culture
E) Explore
F) Improve resources/technology
G) Prospect the land
H) Expand military
I) Take diplomatic action
X) Other[/b]

[b]Population:[/b] 130 men, 130 women, 59 pups.
[b]Livestock:[/b] Small number of rabbits
[b]Military:[/b] 1 void monster. Militia able to be conscripted up to about 30% of adult population.
[b]Food level:[/b] Slightly below average; being improved
[b]Resources:[/b] Lumber (low quantity; increasing)
[b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Growth:[/b] [i]Low; impacted from food level and morale.[/i]
[b]Morale:[/b] Low; due to endless rains
[b]Foreign relations:[/b] None
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[h3][color=lightblue]Attolia[/color][/h3]
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When Caelis returned, there was a great deal of cheer at their new acquisition of treasure. The fate of that treasure remained to be seen; Caelis could keep it for himself, distribute it among everyone, or just keep it stowed away under the ownership of all of Attolia. But while such options were mulled over, time went by uneventfully. The next few months saw the wood elves see further progress in slowly domesticating the wild beasts, and equally fortunate was that there were no signs of the sailors that had buried the treasure; if they were around somewhere hunting down the ones that stole their gold and jewels, the trail would have long since vanished.

In the Communions that followed, several elves spoke out to report having seen spirits. Most of these spirits took the form of animals and seemed harmless if not benevolent. To some the animals manifested in dreams, whereas others claimed to have seen them in the waking world, and still a few others had seen them in both. None of these spirits manifested as obviously and deliberately as that one boar that led them to coast, but nonetheless all of these sightings contributed to the rise of a sort of shamanistic spiritualism. Most of the hunters now were careful to offer thanks and prayers to the spirits of the animals that they felled and took great care to use every part, lest they end up offending the goodly nature spirits. The only exception was an elf named Salvdal, who saw the whole exercise as pointless superstition and had loudly dismissed it as a waste of time. Nonetheless, Salvdal was a talented hunter, so even if he left behind the worst parts of the animal and never blessed the food, he was nonetheless tolerated by most if only because his singular efforts were enough to feed an entire family.

Yet there were also softly whispered tales of darker and more malevolent spiritual forces, shapeless and foreboding things that loomed over them like stormclouds. Perhaps it was superstitious, but some of the elves wanted to do something about those dark tidings. There was talk of exorcising the entire land with one great ritual, of crafting totems, dreamcatchers, and fetishes around their camp to ward off evil, of offering tribute to the foul spirits that they might look the other way and bring their evil elsewhere, to Salvdal's utter dismissal of the whole thing and proposal that they do nothing about any 'dark spirits'. The cacophony of differing ideas had thus far resulted in nothing major having been done; they would need to come to a consensus.

What was to be done?

[color=Gray]
A) Conduct a great ritual to bless the land and hopefully exorcise the evil lurking about, complete with incense, bonfires, chanting and then feasting. If nothing else, morale would be improved by the event.
B) Go to great pains encircling the camp with salt, crafting totems, and all sorts of other things that might ward off the evil spirits permanently. This will take most of the Attolians' time and attention for at least 1 turn.
C) Make an offering to the dark spirits, be it of food, prayer, or even some of the newfound gold.
D) Do nothing about these evil spirits! With each passing day that Salvdal goes on as he does without facing any consequences, he looks more and more right.
X) Other. Perhaps a new proposal is put forward at the next Communion?
[/color]

[b]A) Improve food
B) Improve military technology
C) Improve infrastructure
D) Improve culture
E) Explore
F) Improve resources/technology
G) Prospect the land
H) Expand military
I) Take diplomatic action
X) Other[/b]

[b]Population:[/b] 128 men, 127 women, 68 children.
[b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 30% of adult population.
[b]Livestock:[/b] A herd of partially domesticated aurochs (1-2 more turns before they will be fully domesticated)
[b]Food level:[/b] Below Average; improving
[b]Resources:[/b] Horses (A small number)
[b]Wealth:[/b] 300 pounds of gold; some precious jewels
[b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Growth:[/b] [i]Low; impacted by racial traits, low food level, and good morale.[/i]
[b]Morale:[/b] Above average (from treasure)
[b]Foreign relations:[/b] None
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[h3][color=darkgreen]The ap-Cantar[/color][/h3]
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The next few months saw the tribe mend its wounds and grow stronger yet, under Hiwcantar's steady gaze and guiding hand. The larger rafts and fields began to increase food yields to levels greater than this bend of the Tala had ever known before, and though the rate of Mewari deserters began to slow, still they kept trickling into the ranks of the ap-Cantar. There were numerous complaints about the new system; the best farmers and hunters and fishers seemed to also be the most niggardly, so it was not without some amount of disgust that they surrendered the fruits of their labors to be redistributed among those who owned and offered less. Others took some qualms at the amount of manpower wasted upon guarding all of the various storehouses at all times of the day, but in the wake of Mewar's sabotage such paranoia was not seen as entirely unreasonable.

Though there were those few rotting seeds of discontentment that might call for redress, the tribe was overall prosperous and content. All was well until the sky blackened and the earth shook.

[hider=The fields just beyond the Tala]
[img]https://img00.deviantart.net/8b9c/i/2016/227/d/c/lost_days___premade_background___by_ash_3xpired-dadzdhp.jpg[/img][/hider]

The low rumbling sounded like thunder, and ominous clouds of black and grey indeed came to loom over Tilaticantar and all the riverlands. But even beneath those black clouds, there was no rain. And these clouds had been brought down from the mountain slopes to the north, not blown in from the Sea of Souls. As the sky settled there came a fine rain of volcanic ash, not so different from snow, though the soot and fine particles made their ways into the lungs of those outside and afflicted them with coughs.

So the ap-Cantar took shelter inside their homes of adobe, and they looked outside at the ill omens with wide eyes of fear. For two days the ashes fell down, and on the third there was no sign of it relenting. Even after so long they still heard a deep rumbling from the north; the children shivered for fear that giants were coming. The myths and legends of the riverpeople spoke of great fiery giants that dwelled in those northern mountains, horrible monstrosities that belched soot, kicked up dirt and dust into the air so high that it rained down all across the riverlands, and whose ravenous bellies rumbled so loudly that one could hear them from miles away.

The adult riverpeople were not so afraid of giants in the flesh so much as they were of the ill omen. They were a superstitious lot, and if it were not for the choking ashes, many of the riverpeople might have taken the phenomena for a sign and abandoned the ap-Cantar that they could rejoin the Mewari. And on that topic, some of the ap-Cantar suggested that this was the doings of Cantar himself, enraged that they had not finished their work by smiting what few wretched Mewari refused mercy and still dwelled in that camp upstream. Still one or two vocal others wanted to climb the mountains and find the source of the sounds and ashes, to see if there really were such things as giants, but most seemed to dismiss such speakers as madmen.

What was to be done?

[b]A) Improve food
B) Improve military technology
C) Improve infrastructure
D) Improve culture
E) Explore
F) Improve resources/technology
G) Prospect the land
H) Expand military
I) Take diplomatic action
X) Other[/b]

[b]Population:[/b] 155 men, 294 women, 116 children.
[b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 40% of adult population.
[b]Food level:[/b] Above average
[b]Resources:[/b] None
[b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Growth:[/b] [i]Slightly above average[/i] (influenced by food level and recent events)
[b]Morale:[/b] Average (increased from victory; taken back down from large casualties)
[b]Foreign relations:[/b] None
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[h3][color=purple]The Mustaqilun Tribe[/color][/h3]
[hider]

The best hunters know that wild boars make for dangerous prey; boars are even riskier to hunt than bears. The beasts are large, fast, unpredictable, are aggressively territorial, and the males have tusks big enough to disembowel a victim. One moment a hunter can be following the boar's tracks, and in the next the beast will explode out of the underbrush and charge them from behind. For that reason, the efforts to observe the boars out in the wild turn out to be fruitless. In the process a few more boars were captured and a violent few had to be killed, but in turn a few hunters were gored as well. It's just too hard to observe the animals unseen for an extended duration, especially when the hunters are nervous about getting close for fear of being attacked. The boars kept in captivity are hardly any better than the wild ones; their slop gets dumped down into the feeding troughs from outside the pens, because nobody wants to risk venturing in. The most violent animals are of course be the first to get butchered, so in time perhaps the ferocity will be bred out of the captive boars and they'll become more like domestic pigs. But until then, handling them is likely to remain a good bit of trouble; there are some who suggest that if alternative sources of food become necessary, they could perhaps search the mountains for goats.

More interesting was what came of the unblocking of the one collapsed cavern. Behind all that rubble was indeed the beginning of a twisting cavern complex, complete with some more copper ores. The ones down here are different, and less pure. Native zinc and clusters of realgar are present. While neither of those ores would have been useful on their own, if given time and equipment, the metalsmiths could mix them with copper to create more useful alloys like brass and arsenic bronze. Deeper down, the wide cavern tunnels give way to smaller chambers and narrower passages, but then the miners come across several other areas that have collapsed. Oddly, in some of those lowermost sections of the cavern, they came across some blackened animal bones. Piecing the various fragments together, the skeletons seemed to resemble wolves, although ones much larger than any the orcs had ever seen before. In fact, the skeletons were so gigantic that the wolves might have been comparable to ponies in size. The bones were seemingly charred, but there were no ashes around and they hadn't been heated enough to crack open, which left the cause of death all the more mysterious. But aside from mild curiosity; they didn't pay the bones much mind and began trying to dig through the blocked sections.

Rukdug and his party finally returned to Riverforge as that work was being seen to, and just in time to hear a resounding boom: an ear-splintering crack echoed through the air, then gave way to an incessant, low rumble like that of thunder. The sound was coming from somewhere in the mountains and it didn't stop. After some time, they started to see clouds of ash looming upon the distant horizon. It was a volcanic eruption, likely a good ways to the southwest somewhere down the mountain chain.

Not long after that spectacle, some of the miners and prospectors came running to the surface. They heaved, gasping for breath between each word as they reported their findings. On their way back up, the distant eruption had of course shaken the earth and scared them more than a little bit, but that wasn't the only reason they'd been running; deep below, behind one of the blocked chambers, they'd found [i]something.[/i]

[hider=They could hardly believe their eyes]
[center][img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/81/33/2d/81332d904a2c221fd5cd29bb0e12fab1.jpg[/img]
There were several veins of the strange substance. Crystals of it jutted out of the walls; it also had an unnatural albeit faint glow about it, and also some gently stirring streaks of smoky black within, as if it were a petrified flame.[/center][/hider]

One of them had thought to touch one of the outcroppings, and to his peril he found that it was both warm and incredibly sharp. The tiniest edge of a crystal had broken the skin on his fingertip, but that was enough to taint his blood with some poison that seared him as though his own blood was boiling. The fiery sensation wouldn't stop, and it was so great that after a few hours of his incessant howling, the others amputated three of his fingers. As the volcanic eruption seemed to be calming and was distant enough to not threaten collapsing the orcs' reinforced tunnels, the prospectors led the curious down into the chamber where they'd found the strange substance. To the surprise of both the discoverers and the onlookers, the gems were glowing even brighter now with a hazy corona about them, and they radiated so much heat that the entire room had already been made noticeably hotter than the other clammy tunnels. Perhaps these [i]firestones[/i], as the miners took to calling them, were somehow linked to that volcanic activity.

What was to be done about it?

[color=Gray]
A) Harvest these crystals and give them to the master smiths; we'll craft them into weapons, or if they prove too brittle, infuse them into our metals. Our warriors will be unstoppable wielding these magical powers!
B) Wait patiently seeing as these crystals seem dangerous and unstable, and in the meantime have the shamans examine the firestones. Perhaps they could utilize these things in their rituals, or find some sort of alchemical use.
C) Collapse the tunnels once more and never go back down there anywhere near the crystals; these firestones seem foreboding and evil, and these tunnels might have been blocked for a reason. The charred skeletons are equally telling.
X) Other.[/color]

[b]A) Improve food
B) Improve military technology
C) Improve infrastructure
D) Improve culture
E) Explore
F) Improve resources/technology
G) Prospect the land
H) Expand military
I) Take diplomatic action
X) Other[/b]

[b]Population:[/b] 187 men, 189 women, 86 children.
[b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 60% of adult population.
[b]Livestock:[/b] Numerous untamed boars
[b]Food level:[/b] Below Average; improving
[b]Resources:[/b] River stones (moderate amount; being gradually depleted), [i][color=crimson]Firestones (magical gem/ore)[/color], [color=gray]copper, zinc, and arsenic[/color][/i] (none; not yet being mined and exploited)
[b]Wealth:[/b] Some semi-precious gemstones
[b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Growth:[/b] [i]Low; impacted from low food level.[/i]
[b]Morale:[/b] Average
[b]Foreign relations:[/b] None
[/hider]

[h3][color=orange]Orr'gavol: The Hammersworn[/color][/h3]
[hider]

The construction went reasonably well. Infighting between the Unions was kept to a minimum, and all were happy to have additional space added to the longhouses. Even so, it took nearly as much manpower and time to add a few extra rooms for the brewing equipment than it had taken to build the entire longhouses only a few months ago; that was all thanks to the snows. They were beginning to come in earnest, and work was being done to shovel the walkways and sweep the snow off the roofs before it grew so heavy that it threatened to break the rafters. Moving the lumber was similarly growing harder by the day.

Meanwhile, Kadol and his partners were at the head of the small company, struggling through the snow as they tried to find the haunted mountain pass once again. Eventually they came upon what they thought was the right path; the gaping gulch to the side reaffirmed to them that this was the pass where they'd found the magnetite. By the time they'd reached the mountain pass, what had been a light dusting of snow upon the rocks had turned into several inches. Where before they had seen the countless jagged rock outcrops sticking up from the ground in that canyon below, they were now all covered beneath a sheet of white. That didn't do anything to ease their minds, though.

They cleared the path and followed the winding ledge, taking a slow pace both because of the hard conditions and the very real danger of slipping. Fortunately, mountaineering was in their blood and none of the dwarves tumbled down to meet an unseemly end. The hike took at least twice as long as it had the first time, and by the end it seemed as though some of the more bookish among the delegation were growing weary and irritable. Kadol nervously looked back to Qorr and Mehmel. "I could've sworn the magnetite was there, just after that bend. You think we passed it, or missed it in the snow?"

The voice that answered wasn't one that Kadol recognized, and in the past days he'd become familiar with all the others in his company.

[i]"Steady lad, an' don't look back. Keep yer eyes where yer goin', it's a long ways down if ye slip!"[/i]

All of them came to a start and let out exclamations of surprise; it was the ghost that'd spoken, and he was right next to Kadol. Even while keeping vigilant for his faded form, with how well he blended into the snow, they'd nearly walked right through him without noticing.

[i]"Ha! I scare ye? Call it payback; last time 'twas you lot that took me by surprise! By me beard, it'd been too long since any of ye came this way. I was startin' to think all my folk had left their hills an' holed up in some mountain!"[/i]

He seemed a friendly sort, so introductions were made. Joron, Qorr, and all the others gave him their names and he repeated them back, and so the introductions went until all the living fell silent and looked to him. He waited a few moments, then seemed to gather from their expectant gazes that they were waiting for him to offer his name in turn. [i]"Ye can't be serious! You lot forget me name? The great Thunderhowler? Back in the day, I earned that title when I threw a dozen of 'em off the cliff meself, and yelled like a madman the whole time! My name was...uh..."[/i] he scratched his head for a moment. [i]"Gah, I remember now! Godrim Thunderhowler. It's a forgettable name I suppose, Godrim. But Thunderhowler? How many Thunderhowlers've come since?"[/i]

The ghost snorted. [i]"Come to think of it, I've been here a long time. Used to keep track of the years by countin' the winters, but 'tis been too many hundreds. Was startin' to wonder if it was worth it, if there was still anyone left to save. Now that I've seen ye I can at least rest that thought easy; long as there's someone to listen, I'll keep a-watchin' and stay ready to sound the alarm. But here you lot look like you didn't just forget the old watcher's name, but that ye don't 'ave a clue in the world what I'm speakin' of! Tell me it ain't so!"[/i]

Godrim witnessed their blank faces again and his dull, ghostly eyes shone a little bit as if tears were close to coming. [i]"Then either my folk in the valleys south are all long gone, or yer their lot and yet you've grown idle and fat, forgot that there's evil in this world that could take everything you've got. Gather 'round, and listen close. My folk used to live in little hillside holes, up north of here. We were unawares, just like you, when the enemy came. In the dead of winter, when we were all snowed in and huddled about our hearths, they came from the icy north. They broke into our halls an' butchered us like pigs, young and old, men and women, 'twas all the same for those animals. We survivors fled south, over these mountains, and still they chased. We finally held 'em off here; must've hurled a thousand of 'em into that abyss. But we knew they might come back! The runesmiths used magic to bind me spirit here, so that I could always keep watch."[/i]

Then Thunderhowler reached to his waist and procured a massive ram's horn that had been hidden behind his buckler. [i]"It's been a great many winters since last they came, but in the north our enemy never die; they only sleep. They could come back any one o' these years, and this winter is shaping to just maybe be nasty and cold enough to rouse 'em once again. If the enemy ever start tryin' to climb up this mountain again, I'll blow this horn to let the whole south know. And if ye ever hear the horn, ye'd best either send yer best warriors here to hold the pass, or run south as far as yer legs'll take you. Yer generation has growed soft; I can see it now. If the enemy make it over this mountain and fight you in the open, they'll slaughter you all."[/i]

One of the dwarves finally had the heart to ask Godrim just what this 'enemy' was, but the ghost only shook his head. [i]"Could tell you, but you'd hardly believe me. There aren't words for it, anyways. Go. [b]Go now.[/b] Go back to yer homes and tell yer folk all that ye've heard, but first, go into that canyon down there and look at 'em for yourself. See the dead enemy with yer own eyes; it'll scare some sense into ye."[/i]

So the delegation obeyed, and driven by a morbid curiosity they spent the better part of a day following the trail back down and then climbing over rugged slopes until they were in the canyon way below that mountain trail. The dwarves sifted through the snow, searching for any sign of the bodies that the ghost had spoken of hurling down. They didn't have to look for long; to their horror, the vast canyon pit was filled with bones and dead things too numerous to count. 

[hider=Below the frost]
[center][img]https://orig00.deviantart.net/85d6/f/2007/065/5/0/troll_skull_by_hollows_grove.jpg[/img][/center][/hider]

It became apparent that the sharp, jagged stones that Kadol and his trio had previously seen down there were actually savage tusks extruding from countless gargantuan skulls buried beneath the snow. Now that they were close and able to dig through the snow, the dwarves witnessed just how massive the horrible skeletons were. The dwarves' ancient enemies must have stood three times as a tall as any dwarf; these were troll bones, but even by the standards of trolls, these monsters were huge.

By the week's end, the delegation had returned panting and visibly shaken. The spirit didn't seem the sort to stop them from excavating their iron mine, but perhaps they now had greater things to worry about. What was to be done?

[b]A) Improve food
B) Improve military technology
C) Improve infrastructure
D) Improve culture
E) Explore
F) Improve resources/technology
G) Prospect the land
H) Expand military
I) Take diplomatic action
X) Other[/b]

[b]Population:[/b] 220 men, 218 women, 101 children.
[b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 30% of adult population.
[b]Food level:[/b] Average; food stores decreasing
[b]Resources:[/b] Lignite coal (low grade; large amount, increasing), iron ore (none, has been discovered but not yet mined)
[b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Growth:[/b] [i]Average[/i]
[b]Morale:[/b] Average
[b]Foreign relations:[/b] None
[/hider]

[h3][color=aba000]The Aedelfaari[/color][/h3]
[hider]

With Waebury so close to the sea's shore, the water table sits high and the Aedels didn't have to dig far before their well came upon water. The digger braced the sides of the pit with wooden boards in places, then used stones to build a circular rim around the top so that none would fall in by accident. The well of course sat a short distance away from the village and the lone hill that it rested upon, on the flat and grassy plain. If they ever tried to fortify their hill with a true motte and bailey fortress then another well would have to be dug inside the castle walls and atop that hill, and its construction would be made considerably more difficult for having to go all the way through the hill and then some. But for now, Waebury had its water.

And though their smokehouse and their fishing rafts had seen to the foodstores such that there was little hunger, the lack of variety in their diets might have eventually been cause for some unhappiness. But fortunately, on some mornings they would wake with the crack of dawn and find a few bushels of berries or nuts laid upon the ground halfway between Waebury and the treeline of the nearby forest. Curiosity made a few children wake up even before the sunrise and look to the fields outside, and they went on to tell tales of seeing deer emerge from the forest to leave behind the berries, and tiny creatures like squirrels and raccoons scurrying through the grass to leave behind the nuts. Out of respect for the arrangement there were no further foraging trips into the forest; it would have been greedy to pilfer the forest and its denizens out of more when they freely gave so much.

And though it wasn't often that they heard the Lord of the Forest play his songs for long, whenever they did hear such music, the land seemed to come alive to do something or another. They couldn't pretend to understand his machinations or the meaning and power behind his songs, at least not yet. It seemed as though the forest equally struggled to understand what [i]they[/i] were doing, though; occasionally the familiar bear would venture out from the trees and look upon their works, but he always left seemingly more confused than he'd come. Though it might have been just them projecting their imaginations unto reality, most of the people were starting to believe that the bear was a noble of sorts among all the other forest creatures. The only animals certainly seemed to respect the bear and sometimes followed it around, and from how the bear behaved, it seemed almost as if the deerman had sent it to be an ambassador of sorts. Or a spy.

As they had dug the well, the bear had come somewhat close and watched them with mild interest. In particular it seemed as though his eyes were drawn towards the wooden planks that they'd reclaimed from the scuttled longships and brought over to brace the well, but nothing had come of it for several weeks. But then they remembered later, when they heard a more sharp and violent song than most emerge from the forest. The power of the music had seemingly conjured a great storm; the dark clouds brewed mostly out over sea, but great water spouts made for the shore and turned into tornados. It looked as though the vortexes might threaten Waebury, but none came too close; instead, the Aedels huddled inside and listened to the rains pound upon their thatch roofs and the distant sound of trees snapping in the raging winds.

The storm ended as abruptly as it had begun, and then there were several trees near the edge of the forest that had been blown over or outright snapped by the wind. It was as if they'd been gifted the lumber. The next morning some lumberjacks went out to test that notion, and they observed that there were already numerous saplings poking out from the still-muddied earth. The bear watched impassively as lumberjacks harvested the fallen trees, but if they sever ventured closer than his liking to the trees that yet lived, he would stare at them until the sheer discomfort made them shuffle away. It rarely took more than a few seconds for his irritated stare to cause such a reaction; for all his passiveness, he was still a hulking bear.

As the lumberjacks harvested the last of the gifted trees, a pack of wolves erupted from the underbrush and sprinted toward the bear. Between their baying and ragged panting, something was said, for the bear looked off into the distance and roared. The wolves and bear both looked to the Aedels, their eyes bidding them to follow, and so the lumberjacks were split. Some went the short distance back to Waebury to speak of what had just happened, whilst others followed the animals into the forest and stomped in the mud hard enough to leave a trail of footprints that would be easily followed by those behind.

The animals led them a few miles through the forest. The woodland was incredibly dense, but along the way it was as though the path cleared itself to allow them an easy passage. Eventually they emerged from the heart of the wood and were at a place near the sea, a relatively short way up the coast from Waebury, and right before them was the sight of a shipwreck. It was a mighty and huge ship, much larger and fatter than any of the narrow longships that had borne the Aedels to this new land, but its great mast was snapped and the ship itself had been beached and driven ashore.

On the beach there were throngs of what looked to be the former ship's sailors; there were at least thirty thirty, mostly humans but with a few unfamiliar-looking beings among the motley crew. They had lined up shoulder to shoulder on the beach, shouting brandishing cutlasses and other strange weapons. And even as they did all of that, an ever-growing crowd of bears, wolves, stags, and even birds were assembling themselves by the beach's shore and braying back. There was no sign of what might have caused the conflict, but the standoff seemed to only be escalating with each minute that passed.

[b]A) Improve food
B) Improve military technology
C) Improve infrastructure
D) Improve culture
E) Explore
F) Improve resources/technology
G) Prospect the land
H) Expand military
I) Take diplomatic action
X) Other[/b]

[b]Population:[/b] 197 men, 196 women, 87 children.
[b]Military:[/b] No standing military. Militia able to be conscripted up to 30% of adult population.
[b]Food level:[/b] Average
[b]Resources:[/b] Lumber (small quantity)
[b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Growth:[/b] [i] Above Average; influenced by food and morale[/i]
[b]Morale:[/b] Above average; returning to normal
[b]Foreign relations:[/b] [color=Green][i]Lord of the Forest[/i]: Friendly[/color]
[/hider]

[h3][color=Blue]Oguurec Dekaan[/color][/h3]
[hider]

[b][i]BOOM![/i][/b] The ground shook and the deafening explosion sounded like thunder from miles away. From up as close as Joz was, it left his ears ringing. "Nice!" he called out, "That one had a good sound to it!"

He mentally made note of that young goblin mage's promise. He would prove to be worthy of joining the new Kooch Hor, given some more practice...but then Joz looked up to see that newest protege become buried beneath the landslide that his own explosion had triggered. One of the apprentice's arms stuck out from beneath a pile of heavy looking rocks, but fortunately his peers came to the rescue by blowing away the rocks (and that arm!) with more explosions. Maybe conducting the training exercises along the slopes of a mountain was a bad idea?

He shrugged off the notion and his sudden disappointment. "Next student!" he shouted. The young goblins continued to mill about over there in the near distance. He got their attention by conjuring an explosion of his own, then yelled once again, "Next student!"

That time, the next one in line scrambled to his place like a good little goblin.

In the days to come, the apprentices finally became good enough to not blow themselves up, so the time had come to practice on something a bit more difficult than rocks on a mountainside. They wandered about for a good half-day until they came upon a few mountain goats. These must have been the dumbest goats on the mountain, or perhaps deaf, because not even the numerous booms and incessant cackling that heralded an approaching group of goblins had scared the goats away. The Kooch Hor took their positions and blew the stupid creatures sky high. What scraps of the meat they managed to gather after the fact were singed quite badly, but it still made a welcome addition to the dwindling food stores.

Within a few fortnights, Joz felt confident enough in the goblins' abilities to present them to the mage-queen. There were only so many different ways to blow something up, after all. "Yer highness, here dey at! The Kooch Hor stand ready te blow things up! But uh, maybe first you should 'ave 'em catch us some more food or somethin'..."

[b]A) Improve food
B) Improve military technology
C) Improve infrastructure
D) Improve culture
E) Explore
F) Improve resources/technology
G) Prospect the land
H) Expand military
I) Take diplomatic action
X) Other[/b]

[b]Population:[/b] 190 men, 190 women, 75 children.
[b]Military:[/b] 15 Kooch Hor mages. Militia able to be conscripted up to 40% of adult population.
[b]Food level:[/b] Low
[b]Resources:[/b] None
[b]Wealth:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Trade:[/b] Nonexistent
[b]Growth:[/b] [i]Average; influenced by low food and racial traits[/i]
[b]Morale:[/b] Average
[b]Foreign relations:[/b] [i]None[/i]
[/hider]

[hr]

[hider=Meanwhile...]
It was dusk, and there was silence in their small camp. They huddled around a small campfire to be in the smoke as much as the warmth; here by the river, there were plenty of biting insects. The smoke kept them away, and the crackling fire was mesmerizing enough to lull a tired wanderer to sleep.

[center][img]https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0206/7364/products/makenzie_campfire_cd6494c6-0d8a-466d-b471-7fe2619d77df_1024x1024.jpg?v=1533589762[/img][/center]

But suddenly, there were the sounds of pounding footsteps and twigs breaking underfoot. There were [i]things[/i] suddenly charging from the nearby treeline, breaking from a silent approach into a full sprint. Their huge shadows appeared in the campfire's light, and the rangers that had been huddled around it spun around in bewildered surprise. 

There were three hulking figures that stood before them: one flourishing a spear, one clutching a club, and the final one holding up a mighty fist.

"You lil ones're dumb to come here! Need more than a few pipsqueaks like you to fight [i]us[/i]!" the barehanded one called out.

"An' if you're sneaky sneaks, then not very smart to light a fire an' show us all you're here! An' not too smart to let us out-sneak you!" said another one that other two called Fromp; waving around the club made him lack sophistication, but at least he wasn't quite as hairy as his two friends.

Then even as the travelers scrambled to the other side of the fire, they tried to speak and talk down the three assailants.

But the ringleader, the one with the spear, would have none of it. "You are unwise to face your opponents unarmed!" he interrupted.

"Hey, you callin' me dumb too?!" demanded the one that had only his fists, but by then the elves had already drawn their weapons and the time for mocking them was over. Now they could play!

The one with the spear grinned. "We'll give you the fight you came for!"

Then the three of them charged.[/hider]