《The White Dragon (Inactive)》 The World The World: information thread Authors notes: Hello everyone this is my second fiction and this one is a reincarnation story that is set in the world of Warhammer. I started writing this fiction when I saw the trailer for the Total war Warhammer game witch made me interested in the lore and I found a lot of cool lore. Just that you know you do not have to know Warhammer to understand I will explain everything you need to know and more. As for release speed, most likely I will release a chapter once a week but sometimes it will be more. Anyway I hope you ¡°guys¡± will have as much fun reading The White Dragon as I have writing it. :) Maps: Warhammer old world map Map of surrounding area of Karak Drakk Karak Drakk information: Housing level: Spoiler : Housing Level map: Palace or X Symbols meaning: X: A castle/palace 1. Royal family home 2. Royal square 3. Throne/ball room 4. Cannon towers 5. Boiling Hot spring from here the water enters the channel and the pump house to be filtered and distributed over the city 6. Cold Waterfall from the ceiling from here the water enters the channel and the pump house to be filtered and distributed over the city 7. Royal library A library with multiple levels which you can access with the right level of clearance. This is also the place where the books of grudges are located 8. Hall of hero¡¯s and administrative building 9. Warrior barracks 10. Gardens and ¡°Nobel¡± housing 11. Training Grounds 12. Pillars to support overhead ceiling G: A green area (trees grass flowers like a park) P: A pillar of the Karak build for reinforcement and to serve as an elevator shaft W: A small some greens and lake with fish for recreation S: A hot spring, showering and washing area with some greens for beauty (the hot spring area comes in from the spring in the palace. H1: Housing on the lower level H2: Housing on the higher level M: central area ? Shops ? Guilds ? Restaurants ? Ancestor shrines K1: Killzone 1 the secondary main entrance defence line (just an area where they get shot at from all directions by cannons and other guns while trying to break the giant reinforced doors) K2: Killzone 2 the first main entrance defence line (the name is kind of self-explanatory it is a zone where they get brutally slaughtered by cannon/ gun fire from all directions T1: lower towers with a lot of cannons T2: Higher and bigger towers with even more cannons C: Walls with tunnels and cannons B: The main entrance Bridge Bleu: Water Grey: Roads Extra Information: Scale: 1 pixel = 0.5 meter Heights of levels (not exact) In the sealing there are a lot of lamps that replicate sunlight using runes that turn off during night time and then smaller once turn om to replicate stars In the top of the cave there is an hanging platform with a spiral staircase to dragon cave this platform is only accessible by flying. Main Pluming runs under the road and connects to the houses form their for easy access K2¡¯s floor can be flooded with boiling water from the hot spring Roads run into the wall left and right for in case of future need expansion of living area Multiple secret tunnels and maintenance tunnels have been added The elevators (in the middle) This is the top level for this elevator so the outside looks like a giant warehouse C: cargo elevates can each carry a tank with room to spare P: Elevators for people Storage/Garden level: Spoiler : Storage/Garden level map: Symbols meaning: A: Animals and grass B: Burial chambers BR: breweries of ale and beer C: Walls with tunnels and cannons E: Elevator shafts coming down from housing level F: Farmlands for grains and greens R: Recreation area S: Storage SR: Shrine T: Trees for fruits and wood T&A: Tanks and artillery storage area W: Wine makers X: still to come Extra information: In the large storage area on the right there are two cranes that can move storage containers to and from the middle of the road. The elevator shafts of E do not stop on this level Most of the tanks and artillery is stored on this level, smaller weapons are stored in the palace armoury The large recreation area has a large lake with a lot of fish and underwater plants The forests are of different types with most of them serving a dual purpose as a source for fruits, nuts and wood. The X area is for something that is still to come in the future. There are tunnels connecting the cave system with the outside but most of those have been hidden and blocked off. There are also a few that have hidden and had camouflaged doors installed that look just like a rock wall. For the defense of this floor it is mostly focused on isolation. The places the enemy will most likely come from are area X and the cave system. That¡¯s why the defense is mostly focused on those areas. Even if the enemy breaks through one or more of the defensive circles then the elevators will just go up and then the shaft will just be empty and the enemy can¡¯t get up or down. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Mining level: Spoiler : AM: Karak army manufacturing and maintenance (Tanks artillery) C: Walls with tunnels and cannons E: Elevator G&M: Guilds and general Manufacturing G&S-L: Garden and Storage Level M: Entrance to the mines R: Ore Refinement area with massive blast furnaces S: Special strongly reinforced area for experimentation and dangerous works T: Tunnel from X on mining level to the X on garden level X: Still to come Characters: Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeymen runesmithe Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Runesmith Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko journey) Dwarven Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir Warhammer information: for those of you who want to know what Warhammer is here are a few links to some vidios to get to know warhamemr: What is warhammer part 1 What is warhammer part 2 Warhammer factions playlist A short introduction to warhammer races Lore books: Dwarves Realms of sorcery (magic) Warhammer lore notes: Spoiler : Dark energy = Chaos energy: I took the liberty to make chaos energy the same as dark energy so just so you know I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s true but I think it would be cool and it also fits very well in my story. Tzeentch personality: I do not know what kind of personality Tzeentch has and I can¡¯t find it anywhere so I gave him a personality that fits with the story. Karak Drakk: this is a Karak that was made for the story it is not a official Warhammer world Karak. Goblins and orcs reproduction: Goblins and orcs reproduce by spreading spores that grow into mushrooms and if they are not eaten by the goblins or orcs than they grow into a full goblin or orc in time. Female beastmen: I have gone with the Krogan (mass effect) approach to beastmen because I find them rather similar in behaviour (except that the beastmen don¡¯t have the genophage) the men are very destructive and follow only the strong and are kind of stupid in the sense they act before they think. Another thing is that the Krogan men go of world and the male beastmen come out of the forest but the Krogan females live in their own clan and most of the time stay on their home planet so comparing this with ¡°beastwomen¡± I have made it so that they live in their own clans in the woods and that they are peaceful and that the beastmen leave them alone for the most part except for beading. Azyr or the blue wind of magic: I can¡¯t find to what it is attracted to but after some reading and logic thinking I think that it is attracted to celestial light (the light coming from stars and the moon) and divination, innovation, dreaming so more or less thinking. Please tell me if you can find what it is attached to and tell me where you found it. Thorek Ironbrow: i do not know what kind of personalty Thorek Ironbrow has so i gave him one that fits in my story Chapter 0: The prologue Chapter 0: The prologue Year: 05-07-2225 (standard earth calendar) Location: Earth, Netherlands, Amsterdam Michiko (MC) POV. I am right now walking from the station toward the job interview for the job of researcher on the planet Rawhiri. The job I applied if for a research /archaeological expedition to the planet Rawhiri. After the invention of faster than light technology the human race started to explore the galaxy we found quite a lot of alien races most of which were no more than simple animals with no real intelligence and also some really smart races. There was no real war when we met them because the situation is comparable to the cold war in the 20e century but then with planet killing weapons so everyone kind of keeps there distance from each other. But enough about the space faring races because for every race that made it into space there are thousands that did not make it. And Rawhiri is one of those planets once planets like Rawhiri are discovered the location is sold to the highest bidder which most of the time a company that wants to make a profit of it. The company uses the planet to easily extract resources from the planet surface or try to look for special technology that the extinct race left behind. But the planet Rawhiri is kind of special because there looks to be some kind of special civilization that one day just disappeared. No company was interested in it because it was just a low level civilization and extracting resources from it would cost too much and the company¡¯s don¡¯t think that there will be anything special. But the a research organisation is interested in the disappears of the planets civilization so they botch the planet for a relatively low prise. And so I applied for the research /archaeological expedition they are setting up and I was invited for a job interview. Ah I am here. As I walk inside I go to the reception desk. Michiko: ¡°Hallo miss I came for the Rawhiri research job interview could you please check is mister Zoran is already here?¡± Reception lady: ¡°Ah miss Michiko mister Zoran is expecting you please follow me¡± I follow the reception lady through a hallway to a door at the end of the hallway. The reception lady knocks on the door and waits this she hears a conformation from inside and she opens the door and steps inside. Reception lady: ¡°Mister Zoran, miss Michiko is here¡± Zoran: ¡°Ah thank you Breta, Welkom miss Michiko¡± I and mister Zoran shake hands and he turns to Breta (reception lady) Zoran: ¡°Breta could you please get us something to drink I would like some coffee, miss Michiko what would you like to drink?¡± Michiko: ¡°I would like some tea Miss Breta¡± Breta: ¡°Right away sir¡± Mister Zoran motions me to sit while he himself sits down behind his desk. Zoran: ¡°Miss Michiko when I read your application I was impressed but please tell me you capability¡¯s once more¡± Michiko: ¡°Shure I have experience and knowledge with many differed kinds of technology¡¯s, I am able to quickly analyse and understand new technology¡¯s. I have a lot of experience in most of the galactic standard programing languages and I never forget anything important because of the self-programed nano machines in my body and brain. Because of that I also can connect with computers and my body is strengthened so surviving or working in harsh conditions is far more possible lastly I have higher skill in the usage of guns and knives¡± Zoran: ¡°Even after reading it in you application I am still impressed so much so that I had already decided to employ you and the main reason I called you here for was to discuss the work you are going to do and the terms of your employment¡± I was quite surprised when he said that because at most of the places they turned me away because I am using nano machines and most people tend to dislike that, it makes them feel unsafe or they say that it is unnatural. Michiko: ¡°Thank you mister Zoran! Thank you¡± Zoran: ¡°Don¡¯t be like that you are so capable of course I would accept your application¡± After that Breta came with the tea and coffee and then we discussed about my new job. After about an hour we were done and a said goodbye to mister Zoran and walked to the station while smiling. A month later I would bored the ship to Rawhiri and then it would really start Year: 30-08-2225 (standard earth calendar) Location: in orbit of planet Rawhiri Michiko (MC) POV. We have finally arrived at Rawhiri. Now we are going to land and deploy the research station. We start landing procedures and start getting closer to the planet and we are geting closer and closer to the planet. Looking through the transparent floor I can see Rawhiri, it looks like a normal life harbouring planet and nothing looks very strange. Year: 14-09-2225 (standard earth calendar) Location: planeside research station on planet Rawhiri Michiko (MC) POV. I have been on Rawhiri for half a month now and I must say that I am fascinated. There are buildings all over the planet but not a single sign of living intelligent life can be seen. It looks like one day everyone just vanished and after some research we determined that the civilization that lived on this planet vanished around 700 years ago. And it gets stranger around the world, there are some kind of temple¡¯s that all have the same kind of prophecy. The prophecy goes like this: at the beginning there was a god that made this world and he also made a man and a women and he lived with them for a long time. The man and the women got children and they also got children this kept going, in this time the god gave them multiple gifts of knowledge, techniques and the most important, Magic. This kept going for a few hundred years until there was a sizeable population, it was then that there he told them that he had to leave. Everyone was shocked at this and they tried to persuade him to stay but he absolutely had to go and when the time came he walked through a large gate and he was gone. The people at first where very sad that their god left them but then a man came forth and he proposed that they find a way to open the gate and follow their god. Everyone agreed and then they started to advance their magic and strive for the ability to open the gate that would lead to their god. We were quite intrigued by this prophecy and we started to look for the massive gate that was depicted by the prophecy. Year: 06-04-2226 (standard earth calendar) Location: ancient temple on planet Rawhiri Michiko (MC) POV. It has been about half a year since we decided to look for the gate and today we have finally found it. It was located inside a giant temple that was still very well hidden. And now I finally get the chance to go inside on the temple. As I walk inside I can see that the walls are covered in carvings about the prophecy but there are also many more carvings that look like that they are depicting the story of this civilization. I am truly fascinated and I would like to stop and have a look but the urge to see the gate is too strong so I walk on. As we get to the back of the temple¡¯s massive hallway there is a giant altar and in the centre of it there is a massive metal circle standing on its side with strange markings and triangular points protruding from it. We had one look at it and we knew it was the gate form the prophecy. And then we started our research. Gate: Spoiler : It looks like this gate but than on the altar Year: 29-02-2228 (standard earth calendar) Location: ancient temple/ research station on planet Rawhiri Michiko (MC) POV. After we moved our research equipment to the temple we started our research. We came to understand more and more of the supposed magic they used and after a while we found a strange kind of energy. We suspect that this is dark energy! This was an amazing discovery because even now we do not have a clue wat dark energy is or does. And so we continued our research with even more enthusiasm. Year: 19-07-2230 (standard earth calendar) Location: ancient temple/ research station on planet Rawhiri Michiko (MC) POV. around 5 years after we started our expedition we finally came to the day where everyone was waiting for, today is the activation of the gate! Of course we have made a lot of precautions in case something goes wrong like installing thick walls with at least one isolating material for every known kind of energy. We even used some kind of strange material named adamant. We found that that material is able to stop dark energy so we thought using it to isolate the testing camber would a good idea. But a very strange thing about adamant is that we have no idea how it was made even with our technology we can figure out how they made it and that is amazing that this ancient civilization had such special smiting techniques. So we used adamant in our testing chambers isolation and we needed a lot but we could not make it so we had to look for bars of adamant and any other sources we could find. And so we made our isolation/ testing chamber in preparation of today¡¯s activation even mister Zoran would attend. Michiko: ¡°Is everyone ready for testing? Triple check everything, we do not know what will happen when we activate the gate, so we¡¯d better be prepared for anything¡± Researchers: ¡°yes Madame!¡± ¡°sigh¡± everyone is calling me Madame again I know I am head researcher but this makes me feel uncomfortable and old, well I will forgive them today because everyone is so excited. While I am thinking to myself I did not notice the arrival of mister Zoran. Zoran: ¡°Hello Michiko how is it going?¡± I break my line of thought and turn around to shake hands with mister Zoran. Michiko: ¡°Ah mister Zoran thank you for coming all the way here¡± Zoran: ¡°I would not miss it for the word, Madame Michiko¡± Michiko: ¡°Ugh not you to, everyone has been calling me that even since I became head researcher¡± Zoran: ¡°Can¡¯t help it, they look up to you. I am happy I came over, I have seen this place via camera and I have heard about it in your reports but seeing it in person is even more impressive¡± Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m happy to hear that¡± Researcher01: ¡°Madame Michiko it is ready for testing¡± Michiko: ¡°Ah thank you, Mister Zoran please come¡± As we arrive at the command console everyone is already at their stations and waiting for me to start the test. Michiko: ¡°We are finally at this point I hope that you are all as excited as I am¡± Researcher02: ¡°Of course we are we all worked our asses of this entire time and now the moment is finally here¡± Everyone nodded in agreement and I ordered the beginning of the operation. Michiko: ¡°Okay make sure for one last time that the chamber is isolated and then begin introducing dark energy into the gate system¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Researcher03: ¡°Introducing dark energy into the system now¡± When he said that the dark energy started to ¡°flow¡± to the gate and then I look toward the monitoring screens and when the dark energy meets the gate, the gates starts to glow and we are all looking with anticipation toward the gate. After a while we hear a bang and the gate stops glowing and I immediately order to stop the flow of dark energy. Michiko: ¡°Does anyone know what has happened?¡± Researcher02: ¡°All readings indicate that suddenly all the dark energy In the gate disappeared. There is a large probability that the gate has malfunctioned¡± Michiko: ¡°Dammit, run a scan on the chamber and look for any abnormalities, mister Zoran I apologise making you come here for nothing¡± Zoran: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it you could not have known this would have happened¡± Researcher04: ¡°Madame Michiko the scan has been completed, no abnormalities have been found¡± Zoran: ¡°Would it be possible for me to look at the gate in person while the experiment was a failure I would still like to see the gate¡± I thought about it and I ordered one more scan just to be sure and after that did not find anything I agreed and we walk toward the testing camber and use the airlock to get inside. Zoran: ¡°This gate looks marvels like it was made just yesterday¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes it is made of an unknown material and-¡± As I speak the gate suddenly lights up and start to flout and slowly rotate, when I saw this I ordered everyone to evacuate the chamber but then a heavy pressure stops us and our legs do not move. The gate is activating and from the middle of the gate a being comes levitating out. ??? (strange being): ¡°So you are the ones that tried to activate this chaos gate, I tried to sense who it was when you insanely tried but I could not sense anyone but now I see Adamant right? Quite ingenious¡± While the being was taking to himself I was thinking what to do and I came to the conclusion that it was best to try to talk to him so I VERY politely asked. Michiko: ¡°Umm I do not want to border you sir but I am Michiko head researcher of this project would you be so kind to introduce yourself sir¡± ???: ¡°Ah how thoughtless of me I am Tzeentch the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery but please call me Tzeentch, Michiko¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you sir..¡± Tzeentch: ¡°Michiko, Sir is totally not necessary I would just like to have a friendly chat and talk about some things¡± He said with a face that resembled something like a smile (a very creepy one at least). Michiko: ¡°Thank you Tzeentch could you please tell us what you want to talk about?¡± Tzeentch: ¡°ah yes I was just having a normal day looking at the world of Warhammer directing some daemons listening to some praises of cultists when I all of a sudden felt this gate being opened I tried to sense who it was and I did not find anyone so I decided to wait for a bit. And after a while I felt your grouped come in so I came to ask what you wanted¡± Michiko: ¡°In that case, well we wanted to open a portal to the dark energy dimension to be able to use that energy to create electricity¡± Tzeentch: ¡°Mm that is quite smart. Michiko I will look in your mind for a bit to better understand the situation so I am sorry but I will have to breach your privacy for a bit¡± I felt a strange sensation in my head and my nano machines gave of all kinds of warning signs about that my mind protection had been breached. Which surprised me but should not have really because he is a god. After a very uncomfortable minute I felt him leave my mind and after a while he spoke. Tzeentch: ¡°I understand the situation it looks like that the old ones also came to this planets and set up this chaos gate. Michiko I would like you to come with me to the world of Warhammer and bring some change. Of course I would not ask this without compensation you can ask for some things and I am happy to say that you have to come and sorry to say that you have no choice in that it will simply be to entertaining for me to let this chance go. You might miss your team here but I know that you do not have much else binding you to this universe and I know that you will not regret coming¡± He said smiling but when he was done speaking my head was a mess thinking about what he had said and what it would mean. But he said I had no choice in the matter and that I would not regret it and I know he could be lying but he would not gain anything by it so I decided to believe him and accept it. Michiko: ¡°Okay I will come willingly but please let me say goodbye to my friends first¡± Tzeentch: ¡°Sure sure take your time I promise you will not regret your decision¡± He said almost glowing with happiness. I then walk toward my collages and mister Zoran. Michiko: ¡°Well you heard it, it seems that I have to go¡± I said while almost tearing up and then everyone of my team came and we embraced each other and we said our goodbyes and I saved an image of them in my head using my nano machines than I turned toward miser Zoran. Michiko: ¡°Mister Zoran I would like to thank you for all the support you have given us throughout the years of research¡± Zoran: ¡°No I should thank you for all those years of hard work and devotion¡± Tzeentch: ¡°Are you ready?¡± Michiko: ¡°One more thing, everyone I thank you for being such good colleges and above all friend I will never forget you¡± Researchers: ¡°We will never forget you Madame Michiko¡± I nodded and then I waked toward Tzeentch. Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m ready¡± Tzeentch: ¡°Okay follow me¡± He said and he waved his hand and I started to float and we flew into the portal. Year: 19-07-2230 (standard earth calendar) Location: in space above Warhammer Michiko (MC) POV. When I went through the portal I was in what looked to be space and above a large planet that kind of looked like Earth but a bit messed up then we stopped and the portal closed behind us and I floated down until I hit a transparent floor and then I looked toward Tzeentch. Tzeentch: ¡°I am happy you came so willingly, I will now explain what I want from you and after that you can ask question and make some reasonable requests okay?¡± I nodded for him to go on. Tzeentch: ¡°First a bit of information, below us is a projection of the world Warhammer in its current form. It is what you would probably call a fantasy world with dwarves, dragons, elves, daemon¡¯s and a lot more creatures. There is a kind of magic, multiple ¡°real¡± gods and a lot of action. And what I want you to do is to create change you can do that by for instance killing a lot of people but of course you can also just introduce new kinds of technology because that is change a well, I just want you to change the world how you do it is up to you but I would like it if you make it entertaining. Now what I am going to do after our talk is reincarnating you with your memory¡¯s intact, get it?¡± I think about what he said and I like it, I think that it will be very fun and I will be able to do a lot of cool things. Michiko: ¡°I get it and I think that it will be fun so I can make some requests now?¡± Tzeentch: ¡°Yes but don¡¯t ask for something like the ultimate power of the universe¡¯s¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay what I would like to reincarnate as a pure white dragon with eyes that change according to my emotions¡­. Ah and please make it so that I turn black if I am completely outraged not like angry but like something that makes me so mad that I almost explode with anger, is that possible?¡± Eyes coloring scheme: Spoiler : This is the coloring scheme for her eyes. The eyes are normally deep blue and the ¡°colours¡± black and white are reserved for her scales. Tzeentch: ¡°Mm easy enough something else?¡± Michiko: ¡°a few more things, I want the ability to transform into a humanoid so that I can look like a human or elf or something like that it would also help a lot for the making of things I also want a very very good brain because I want to be able to remember everything I want right now my nano machines help me with that but I think that I will not have them anymore when I reincarnate otherwise my mental ability would be decreased and that would impact my ability to invent/ build and in turn my ability to bring change, I would like to be able to use all kind of magic and I want to keep my female gender¡± Tzeentch: ¡°as for the transformation ability some rare dragons already have that so that will not be much of a problem and I can see why you would want such a brain and it easily doable, the magic ability is a good idea, as for the gender of course that is easy, was that it?¡± Michiko: ¡°I would like one more thing if possible, I want more or less limitless potential I want to keep being able to get stronger¡± Tzeentch: ¡°I can¡¯t give you limitless potential but I can give you an ability that will help you get stronger and if you ever are at the end of that path I don¡¯t think you will desire more power, would that be okay?¡± Michiko: ¡°Of course I did not really expect you would accept¡± Tzeentch: ¡°Well let¡¯s just say I¡¯m not really such a bad guy I may be the god of death but people must die otherwise it the world would be to full and nobody would have a nice life and it is not as if death is the end the soul will reincarnate so with death also comes life so I pride myself somewhat in being the god of life and death. Well enough about me all the I will give you all the things you asked but I want you to promise not to tell anyone about the ability I will give you because that is one of my most guarded secrets¡± Michiko: ¡°I promises I will keep your secret until the day I die and after if needed¡± Tzeentch: ¡°okay I will give you one clue as to how to use the ability it has to do with chaos or as you call it dark energy I could tell you what to do but figuring out is part of the fun and it should not be too hard for you¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you Tzeentch I can¡¯t thank you enough¡± Tzeentch: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I did kind of force you to come and the things you are going to do are going to benefit me to. Anyway are you ready? It will probably be a while before we can talk again¡± Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m ready¡± Tzeentch: ¡°Okay then of you go¡± When he said that I lost all feeling of my body what scratch that I mean I lost my body and as a soul I flew toward Warhammer while I printed the image into my mind and I kept falling until I went into a mountain and then I stopped and I saw a steaming hot pool which looked like some kind of boiling hot spring and in the middle a pure white egg began to form. The egg was half submerged in the boiling water the egg has a scaled white surface that looks very strong despite being an egg when it was completed my soul flew inside and I got a very nice and warm feeling. Chapter 1: Dwarves and hatching Chapter 1: Dwarves and hatching Author¡¯s message: in at least this chapter most of the POV will not be Michiko because she can¡¯t speak jet and is still in her shell for the most of the chapter so that¡¯s why there is not a lot of her in this chapter. Lore of the metal Gromril Year: -1600 to 1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain 3rd POV. The day that Michiko was reincarnated by Tzeentch he sent a giant illusionary dragon down from the sky Just behind Michiko¡¯s soul. Tzeentch wanted to make sure that no monsters or other undesirables would come to the mountain for a long time so that Michiko would have enough time to safely hatch. He decides to use an illusionary dragon that was actually a lot of his magic power made to look like a dragon. This had a dual purpose; one getting his mana for the creation of the unique dragon egg to the cave and secondly to keep undesirables away, because if you see a massive dragon fly into a mountain and not come out you will not be so willing to go to that mountain because you might get eaten by a dragon. Because of the rumors about a dragon that sleeps there the mountain was named Dragon Peak mountain. Like this Michiko kept growing inside the egg for about 100 years. She was nearing the time for hatching but then there was a massive earthquake that caused boiling water to stop flowing into the hot spring. This caused Michiko¡¯s egg to cool and enter a time of hibernation. Dragon eggs need a lot of heat to grow. Without it they stop growing and enter a sort of hibernation period until there is enough heat to start growing again. This hibernation can last thousands of years and the egg can still be hatched. A period very, very, very, very long time nothing happened in Dragon Peak mountain until the year 1706 nothing really happened in Dragon Peak mountain. It was then that, around a hundred dwarves came to the Dragon Peak mountain. Year: 30-05-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, on the road to Dragon Peak mountain Endar POV. After being driven from our home by the Greenskin invasion started, me and my pregnant wife had to leave our homes behind and we fled out of the path of the invasion. After we fled we had a few choices we could go for a karak, we would be safe there but we would be at the bottom of society because our clan was destroyed and our valuables were mostly lost. the second option was to seek refuge in human lands where our skills would be valued but we did not know how far the greenskin invasion would reach and we also could not stay in front of the fast advance because a group of refugees moves too slow and so we made a third option. After we fled south we met up with more and more refugees that had a similar dilemma to us and a close-knit bond grew between us. When our group numbered around a hundred we made a plan: we would build our own Karak. It would be a monumental task but if we accomplish it our life would be better, and our children and children¡¯s children would have something to build on. But where would we build our Karak? the answer came from a very old Dwarf by the that goes by the name of Fimbur. He suggested that we should go to Dragon Peak mountain. When we asked why we should build our Karak there he told us about the legend of Dragon Peak mountain. At first we were against because a dragon, even if it is not a mindless beast it was still quite dangerous but after thinking and speaking about It for a while we agreed. Even if the dragon was only a legend it did keep the Greenskins away and if the dragon was real we could at least talk with it. If we were lucky, we could even get it to protect us. So with Dragon Peak mountain being the best available option we made our way toward the mountain. During the journey my wife¡¯s belly grew because of her pregnancy, luckily the pregnancy period of a dwarf is around 15 months and by then we would most likely already have set up a basic homes. While traveling the other dwarfs began treating me like there leader and while a first I was uncomfortable with it I became used to it and working together we finally made it to Dragon Peak mountain. Endar: ¡°Everyone we finally made it!!!¡± I cried out and everyone let loose a loud roar of happiness. I went to the wagon where my wife is. Endar: ¡°we finally made it to our new home¡± I said and then I kissed her. Freda: ¡°don¡¯t forget our little one Endar¡± She said smiling. Endar: ¡°how could I Freda your belly is so big it looks like you ate a whole sheep¡± I said while laughing and she pouted which made me kiss her again and then I once again moved to the front of the caravan. Year: 15-07-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Endar POV. After camping for a weak at the base of the mountain we send some scouts up the mountain to look for a suitable spot for the entrance of our karak. We were in luck we found a cave at the middle of the mountain. I led a team inside and what we found was above our wildest expectations; we found a gigantic cave with a ceiling so high that we could not even see it and the floor so wide that it was at the very least a kilometre wide. I turned around and with disbelieve in my voice I said. Endar: ¡°we found one of the legendary hollow mountains¡± It was silent for a bit but then I almost screamed. Endar: ¡°WE FOUND ONE OF THE LEGENDARY HOLLOW MOUNTAINS!!!¡± Everyone cried out in joy and some even started to dance but than when heard a squawking noise we were silent for a bit and then we saw a gigantic black cloud and I screamed. Endar: ¡°BATS!!¡± Everyone started to run toward the exist. After the most fun and scariest 5 minutes of running in my life we made it outside and we got out of the way of the cave entrance. We were out just in time because 5 seconds after we made it to safety a massive stream of bats came flying out. After the bats were done flying out I started to laugh and everyone else joined me and we laughed like madmen for the next ten minutes. Then we moved toward camp and we told them what we found. That evening we thanked the ancestor gods and we had one of the best parties of our lives. We had meat the hunters brought and we even broke open one of the few remaining casks of ale. The next few days we moved our stuff in our new home and we lit up the as much of the cave with glowing runes as we could. We also spent a few weeks exploring the cave and the rest of the mountain we found that there was a stream of water coming in from the top of the mountain, most likely form the mountain snow. We also found that at one side of the cave there was a spring of boiling hot water coming from the ground. We were very happy about this but it also meant that we had to look out where we mine, because a mine filling with normal water is already dangerous enough so a mine filling with boiling water is horrible. We also found some indication that there might be multiple kinds of ore in the ground and maybe even some Gromril! We also found a few caves that led outside at multiple places in the cave. Finally we found a cave at the top of the mountain but we did not enter it because if there was a dragon that was the place it would most likely be. And so we started to build our home. Year: 28-08-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Endar POV. I was having a normal day of working on the new homes and the workshops while Freda was out with some of the others in the area surrounding the mountain, Freda should not go out so much anymore because she has only about one month of pregnancy left. But I know how much she loves to be outside, Which is actually quite strange considering we are dwarves but she does her own things and it is one of the things I love about her. In the middle of the day I heard someone running toward me and calling my name it was Norgrim. Norgrim: ¡°Endar! Endar!¡± When he came by me he bowed down panting while trying to say something. Endar: ¡°Calm down Norgrim what happened?¡± Norgrim (out of breath): ¡°*gasp* Freda and the others huf where attacked by Goblins and Freda was injured¡± Endar: ¡°WHAT?!¡± I immediately stood up and ran to the temporary hospital. When I arrived I saw Freda laying on a bed with a look of great pain on her face. I than turned toward the doctor. Endar: ¡°Doctor what is the situation¡± Doctor: ¡°Well she got hit in the stomach with a club, to be totally honest Freda will be fine but the baby¡± It took me a while to realize what he said and then it hit me, and I almost started to cry but I stopped myself. I need to be strong for Freda. The next hour was the worst of my entire life I held Freda hand while they removed the baby and when Freda saw her (the baby) she became silent it was like something broke inside of her an then she just laid there. The doctor used some runic healing magic on her and at the end he was exhausted and I asked Norgrim to bring him to his room. After that I set with her for an hour and then I went outside. When I was outside I let lose all of my emotion ad I just screamed and cried for what seemed like hours after that I went back inside and I found 10 dwarves prostrating themselves in front of me it where most of the dwarves that went outside with Freda the remaining dwarves of this group is saw in the hospital laying on the beds. Largs: ¡°Sir we have failed you and betrayed your trust, we could not protect lady Freda¡± I sat down on a chair and said with a hoarsely voice. Endar: ¡°Tell me what happened¡± Largs: ¡°sir, we were hunting in the mountains nearby when we were suddenly attacked by group of Greenskins that where laying in an ambush. While we fought with them on the font a small pare of Goblins sneaked up behind us and when we noticed it was already too late one of the Goblins smashed his club into the stomach of lady Freda. We immediately came to her side, after some more fighting the Goblins saw we outmatched them and they grabbed the meat and ran away. after that we grabbed our wounded and came back immediately¡± I thought for a bit and saw that Norgrim had arrived at my side. Endar: ¡°for now get out of my sight because right now I want to punch you¡± They all bowed ones more and then hurried off I then turned to Norgrim. Endar: ¡°Norgrim increase patrols and make preparations for a Greenskin attack give them orders to be as carful as possible it can be that they thought that they were just travels and if they don¡¯t know that we live here it will be a great advantage so tell them to be careful, as for me I will be with Freda¡± I than walked toward temporary hospital and walked toward Freda who was still silently sitting there I took her hand and sit beside her bed. And after a while I fall asleep from all the metal exaction. When I wake up Freda has disappeared I look around and I get worried and I start scouting her name. Endar: ¡°FREDA!!!.. FREDA!!!.... FREDA!!!¡± After a while Norgrim comes storming in. Endar: ¡°Norgrim, Freda has disappeared set up a search¡± Norgrim nods and runs out and I hear him shouting to search for Freda. After about fifteen minutes of searching Norgrim comes back to me. Norgrim: ¡°we can¡¯t find her so either she is very well hidden or she has gone outside¡± Endar: ¡°where could she have gone¡­ OH NO!!!¡± I ran towards my home and grab my axe Norgrim runs after me shouting. Norgrim: ¡°WHAT IS IT ENDAR!!¡± Endar: ¡°The dragon cave I think she is going to throw herself for the dragon!!¡± I shout while running towards the exist that is the closest to the dragon cave Norgrim turns around and runs toward his house while shouting for everyone to grab ether weapons. As they do that I reach the outside and start climbing up the mountain and when I reach the snow I see footprints leading in the direction of the dragon cave and I fear the worst. When I reach the entrance I run inside but there is no dragon I only find Freda to the back of the cave huddled up into a ball while crying I let go of my axe and I walk toward her and embrace her. I hear running an shouting form the entrance and I see Norgrim storming in, but when he sees us he stops and silences the dwarves and the silently leaves. I then look around the cave and I see something I never thought I would see in my entire life, a dragon egg after a while I let go of Freda and walk toward the egg and I carefully pick it up and I walk toward Freda. Endar: ¡°Freda I know how you feel but please don¡¯t try to throw your life away, I love you and I can¡¯t bear loosing you I love you Freda please I do not want to lose you to¡± She looks at me with eyes red from crying and I walk toward her and place the dragon egg in her arms. Endar: ¡°I know nothing can replace what has been lost but like this egg we haw both lost something important an child that lost its parents and parents that lost their child nothing can replace what has been lost but we must also look toward the future and one day we will be able to smile again¡± Freda looks at me and then at the egg and then she embraces it. I give a weak smile an embraces her and the egg. After about an hour we stand up and with Freda still embracing the egg we walk outside where an anxious crowd of dwarves awaits us I and Norgrim exchange a look and I nod with that he visibly relaxes and so we all walk back home. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The next day we held a burial for the baby and everyone attended and the rest of the day we spent morning. The day after that I meet up with the doctor to ask for advice and I tell him everything that happened. Doctor: ¡°Mm it looks like that she is fine for now I don¡¯t think that she will try to commit suicide again, but about that egg I think that because of the situation that she has become very attached and protective of it, it has become a very important mental support. And about when or if she will talk again I don¡¯t know but I doubt she will ever be as bright as before¡± Endar: ¡°That is better than I feared but worse that I hoped something else doctor?¡± Doctor: ¡°Yes I have been looking things up in the books about dragons we bought for in the case we met one and I have good and possibly bad news, the possibly bad news is that I have no idea what kind of dragon is in that egg so it could be bad but there is a large possibility that it is a variant, the good news is that while I could not touch the egg I had your wife perform some check-ups on it I looks like the egg is totally fine and is just hibernating because the temperature is not high enough that is also the reason the egg has not hatched jet in all those years she only needs to follow the right procedure and the egg will hatch in anywhere between a weak or 50 years but probably sooner¡± Endar: ¡°Thank you doctor was that it?¡± Doctor: ¡°no a two more things one take this book it is on the breading habits of dragons and flowing this will get you a long way and secondly I am ordering you to take at least two weeks off and to spend them with your wife¡± I bow and I leave and head home and spend the rest of the day reading trout the dragon book with Freda. The next day I got up early and I want back to the dragon cave to look around and see if I missed anything and also to get my axe back. After picking up my axe I walk to the place I found the egg and I found something like a hot spring with a pedestal in the middle that is about half an egg lower than the edge of the pool. It looks like the boiling water from the mountain was used here to supply a constant amount of heat to the egg but do to some kind of unforeseen reason it stopped and the egg entered hibernation after I look around I see 3 very defend carvings on the flour there are in Dwarven, Elfish and in what presume Draconic language I can read the Dwarven and the Elfish one¡¯s but I can¡¯t read the Draconic one but I can guess what it reads because the Dwarven and the Elfish one¡¯s both mean the same ¡°Michiko¡± I guess it is the name the parents wanted to give to the child but they could not be here for some kind of reason so they caved it into the floor. Mm ¡°Michiko¡± sound strange but good I think it is good but still I have to consult Freda about it but I think she will like it. When I came back home I saw that Freda was up and she was preparing breakfast with the egg in a sling. When I came inside I kissed her and we sat down and we had our breakfast and I told her what I had found se liked the name Michiko and so we agreed that we would name her Michiko. After breakfast I grabbed a pickaxe and started to dig out a small pool our home because it would already be hard enough for Freda to separate from the egg let alone leave it out of her eyes so I dug a small pool in the same stile I found in the dragon cave when that was done I got some pipes from the smith and laid a pipe all the way from the boiling water to our home and to the pool. I covered the pipe and made markers that it was there and warned everyone not to dig there. After some persuasion I got Freda to place the egg on the low pedestal and then I turned the water on. Year: 31-08-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. Mm it is getting warm again before, the heat suddenly tuned off and I started sleeping I don¡¯t know how long it has been but it feels like it has been a very, very, very, very long time. Anyway I think I am almost ready for hatching. I think I will sleep a bit more and then I will be ready. Year: 02-10-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. Good sleep, good sleep while it¡¯s very comfortable I think that it is time to hatch. I then put my legs on the eggshell an then I ram my head into the ceiling and it makes a loud sound. As I ready myself to do it again I hear someone running and coming closer until it stops very close I don¡¯t know what or who it is but I can¡¯t do anything any way so I just focus on breaking the shell. After a few more try¡¯s I hear a satisfying crack and after a few more try¡¯s I break through. And all of a sudden I am looking into a person¡¯s face I can see happiness but also a hint of sadness In her eyes. It feels like she is happy that I was born but something saddens her. I jump out of the water onto the edge of the pool and shake of the water, I then walk toward the dwarf women who stars at me for a while and then she stretches out her arms it takes me a few second to realize what she wants and I jump into her arms. She embraces and caress me. Freda: ¡°Michiko¡± To my surprise she speaks my name, Tzeentch must have told them or left a message at my egg. The dwarf lady then turns around and then runs out of the house, and then I see that we are in a massive cave and I am very happy it looks like I will be living with dwarves, I like dwarves while they are not very agile they are very strong and most of the time great builders and fortifiers and I like that strong unmovable state of mind while there are some drawbacks but its something like everything or nothing. While I was thinking in the embrace of the dwarven women she has been running from one side of the cave to the other, more specifically toward a large building. While she was running multiple dwarves stopped to look and when they saw me they started to follow. And so we arrived at the building and she opened the door and I then saw a big dwarf with a relatively short beard (he is probably still young for a dwarf) looking over a desk drawing something. Year: 02-10-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Endar POV. It has been about a month since the attack and miscarriage. After the burial I took two weeks off and spent it with Freda we cried a lot those two weeks we spend a lot of time doing research on how to raise a dragon what its eating habits are and what they like to do. After the two weeks where over I went back to work and I had our scouts follow some Greenskins to their home and we also started mapping out the area around the mountain. I also had some dwarves start building doors for the caves that connect our cave with the outside lastly I ordered some of the dwarves to start a mine and to build a forge and now I am making a floor/ cave plan for our Karak. I then see the door opening and Freda comes running in with something in her arms, as I look closer I can see a small white dragon that has deep blue eyes. I kiss Freda on her forehead. Endar: ¡°Can I hold her? It is a her right?¡± Freda stretches out her hands and the little dragon jumps over to me and settles in my arms. Endar: ¡°you are now named Michiko¡± Michiko looked up at me and her eyes turn yellow and then bleu again it is kind of strange but I think she likes the name. Endar: ¡°she looks healthy but its best if we go to the doctor to be sure¡± We then walk outside and there is a large crowd waiting for us. Endar: ¡°what are you all doing here?¡± Norgrim: ¡°Well... we saw Freda running so at first we thought there was something wrong but then we saw a small white dragon in her arms so we followed because we wanted to see her¡± I laugh and I call them over on by one to look at our new child. After that I done I send them away give Michiko back to Freda and then we go meet the doctor. On the way to the doctor an before when meeting all the dwarves Michiko stayed very calm which was strange because the books said that young dragons are usually very energetic and that they get calmer when they get older. That does not seem the case with Michiko but it could also be because she is just tired from the hatching. While began walking Freda was caressing Michiko and they both looked happy and Michiko¡¯s eyes turned yellow again which I think is kind of strange maybe it has something to do with her being happy? I guess we will find out. While I was thinking we arrive at the doctor¡¯s office and we nocked. Doctor: ¡°Come in¡± We opened the door and walked inside. Endar: ¡°Hello doctor, I have good news Michiko has been born¡± Doctor: ¡°so soon, that¡¯s great can I take a look at her Freda?¡± Endar: ¡°that¡¯s why we came, even though have no direct knowledge about dragons but you do know a lot about different kinds of beasts and humanoids so you would probably be able to make a better guess than we can¡± Doctor: ¡°yes that true well could you put Michiko on the table please so I can take a better look at her¡± Freda came forward and placed Michiko on the table. Michiko than tuned to the doctor as if she knew what was going on. Doctor: ¡°mm it looks like she is understanding the situation partially if not entirely. That would be strange for a dwarven baby but I have heard that dragons are very smart so maybe she does¡± That surprises me partially but I was already suspecting it is too bad we know so little about dragons so we can¡¯t really make any specific assumptions. We do know what dragon are generally like because of the books we bought but that information is very limited and on top of that it looks like Michiko is a variant dragon so it is even more complicated. While I am thinking the doctor has been checking up on Michiko and Freda is watching a bit anxiously, it looks like she wants to keep Michiko close to her. Doctor: ¡°Her heartbeat is steady, she has no damage from breaking the egg, her scales and nails are very strong, the only strange thing is that her eyes change colour but everything else seems fine¡± Endar: ¡°Thank you Doctor¡± Doctor: ¡°Don¡¯t mind it¡± He said smiling, Freda then picked up Michiko and we left for home. On the way I met Norgrim and I told him I would go home early today and that I would be back tomorrow for the meeting about the Greenskins. When we arrived home Freda starts cooking and I take the half broken shell of Michiko egg in a box, will later probably nice to have. I then set the table and we sit down, we give Michiko two plates one with cooked meat and one with raw to see what she likes more. She first eats a bit of both but then moves to the plate with raw meat and eats that. It would probably have looked kind of disturbing by other people but me and Freda think it looks kind of cute? I don¡¯t really know, we then finish our meal and clean the table. Because Michiko is kind of bloody around her mouth we half fill the bathe at a temperature our hand will not be burned which is still a high temperature seen we are dwarves and we are used to working in areas with molten metal or in mines so deep that there are above 50 degrees Celsius. After washing her we dry her and take her to bed with us and we sleep with Michiko curled up in between us. Year: 02-10-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. After listening to the conversations I probably found out the names of my adoptive parents, the dwarven lady¡¯s name is Freda and the dwarven man¡¯s is named Endar. When left the office we were greeted by a excited crowd of dwarves who came to look at me one by one. There was a lot of talking I did not understand, I would probably need a few weeks for a normal understanding and a year to learn the entire language , what I did understand this dwarven community is kind of small but also very close. It was kind of fun to meet them. When they were done we went to another building where we met with a probably middle to older age dwarf. After the talk between the dwarf and Endar ended I was put on a clean table. I then realised that the dwarf must probably be something like a doctor back in my old universe there where not many doctors left because the advancement of computers made most of the doctors kind of redundant. Well anyway the doctor did a check up on me and seeing his reaction it looked like there was nothing wrong. Freda picked me up and after some goodbyes we went back to the building where I first broke out of my shell. After a while I sat on the table and I got two plates one with raw meat and one with cooked meat. At first I thought it was kind of strange but then I realised I am a dragon and dragons can eat raw meat and then I tried a bit of both. The cooked meat was okay it did not really taste as I thought it would as for the raw meat it was amazing it was nothing like I was expecting, it tasted very good I don¡¯t think I can explain it if someone asked but wow nothing like I was expecting. I then realized my hunger this was the first time eating since I hatched and I just devoured it. I then was put in a bathe it was good but I feel like it was not really hot enough. After that I was put in bed with them and I laid down in the middle and I slept like a rock. Chapter 2: Inner exploration and goblin extermination Chapter 2: Inner exploration and goblin extermination Authors notes: here is an extra-long chapter for you dear readers. This is a mostly informative chapter so I am sorry if you find a bit boring. But I want to ask everyone to please look at the blueprint I made, I spent a lot of time on them so please take a look. Anyway have fun reading Lore note: Warhammer dates are different from our own for example a Warhammer year lasts 400 days, divided into twelve months of 32 or 33 days each, with six intercalary holidays. These holidays exist outside of the normal sequence of months and weekdays Click HERE for more information. lastly Many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 03-10-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon peak mountain Michiko POV. When we woke up in the morning we ate and after that Endar petted me for a bit and said something to me and Freda and then left. Freda than started doing chores around the house and I explored the house a bit. While doing so I was thinking what I should do next? Well first I should get make a priority¡¯s list and when I have accomplished those I can think up other things to do. Priority list 03-10-1706 ? Learn dwarven language: This would just take time for me to analyse their language and to hear enough conversations to put words into context. ? Learn to read: reading is good, most of the time fun and most impotently a great sores of new information that can help me in the future. ? Find out more about my current situation: I need to know if there are any immediate treads and need to know more about this cave and its surroundings I know how the world looks because I have seen it form space but that data is old and it is not very detailed. ? Learn Magic This is a fantasy world with magic in it of course I want to learn magic but I don¡¯t think that I can lean from the dwarves because they are probably unable to use it and I have not seen any other species jet so I think it could take a while. ? Learn to fly I am a dragon now of course I want to fly. ? Find out what the ability that Tzeentch gave me was I think that because this is a fantasy world and he said that it had something to do with dark/ chaos energy and that is also used in magic I should try to meditate. might be a bit clich¨¦ but it is the best lead I have for now ? Find out how I can transform. I asked Tzeentch for the ability to transform into other humanoid species ? Help the dwarves (at least the ones I live with) I now have a new family, naturally I want to help them because they care for me so I should care for them, plus I have a strange feeling of attraction to them. It probably has something to do with instinct or imprinting but I don¡¯t see what is wrong with it. I want to have a family. Well that¡¯s it for now. I think that I will try the meditation first so I walk toward the bedroom. since I can¡¯t really sit in a meditative position I decided to just make myself comfortable to calm myself down so I could focus better that is the point of meditation as far as I know. So I lay down in the middle of the bed and curl up, close my eyes, focus and try to find anything unusual. After about 10 minutes of just generally looking at different possibility¡¯s I started to sense something and I start to focus on that feeling. A half an hour later I can sense the mysterious feeling a lot better and I start to think what it could be. After a while I come to the logical conclusion that it is some kind of chaos energy. But the strange thing is that there is more than one kind of energy, it feels like they are mostly the same but are also very different at the same time. I then feel something happening in my eyes like something switched on. I open my eyes and I see specs of light floating around the room. Most of the lights are yellow in Colour but there are also a few that are other colours. I stand up slowly and I try to touch one with my claws and nothing happens. I lay down again and think, these specs of light are obviously the energy¡¯s I sensed and are probably forms of chaos energy that is used for magic. After thinking for a bit I decide to try and manipulate the some of the specs of light and I try to use that sense to influence the specs of light. After about an hour I am able to move one spec of light slowly around the room. I then try to move it toward myself and when it touches me it flows into me, like it gets absorbed by my skin. I then get a painful feeling nothing unbearable but still very painful, I follow the light as it moves through my body and eventually it arrives at a weird thing in my body. Sensing my body I feel something weird I did not notice before, it is a small orb about the size of a marble. When the spec of light touches the orb it was absorbed and it felt like it was filling up a bit and it felt good so I started moving more specs of light toward me one by one. The second one and those after did not cause any pain, probably because the first light spec was too big for the ¡°energy channel¡±. I tested this by trying to absorb it at other spots and it gave the same effect as the first spec meaning it hurt a lot. After about an hour the core (orb) was full and I saw that I accidentally absorbed a bit to many light specs so I was worried about what would happen. When the spec arrived at the core it went inside and the core let out something that quickly disappeared. I don¡¯t really know what it was but it looks like it was not harmful to absorb light specs when the core was full. Curious about the ¡°overflow¡± that came form the core. I tried to absorb another light spec and this time when it reached the core I focussed to observe what would come out of the core. When it came out is sensed it was a different kind of energy than the specs of light but not chaos energy either, it was more refined and it felt different than the raw chaos energy. I kept watching the refined chaos energy and I noticed that it disappeared in the area around the core. I looked if anything had changed but I could not find anything definitive so I tried a few more times. after the 20th try I felt like the core and the area around it where slowly getting stronger so I kept going. And after the 100th light the core could store a few more lights. I then had the idea to try and move the refined energy around my body to try and strengthen other parts of my body. So I kept experimenting on for the rest of the day. The things I found out today are: ? There are all kind of light specs in this new world they are variations of chaos energy. ? I manipulate those light specs and with more training I can move more lights. ? I can absorb light specs and they go to my Core through some kind of channels. ? Channels expand when you force energy through that is bigger than the channel itself but that has a limit. If you force an amount of energy through the channel that is too big for it, it will break. Repairing the broken energy channels is possible but it takes massive amounts of refined chaos energy and a lot of time to do so. ? My core refines energy¡¯s. ? Refined energy can strengthen parts of the body, this is very slow but the benefits over time will most likely be powerful. ? Refined energy can be converted to the different kinds of energy¡¯s (light specs). ? Refined energy can be used for transformations but further experimentation is needed before I am going to attempt a full transformation. In the evening I ate with Freda and Endar I was put in bath and we went to bed. Year: 03-10-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon peak mountain Michiko POV. The morning was like yesterday but today I mostly spend with Freda who when she was done with chores went around the cave with me. Half of the time I sat in Freda¡¯s arms or on her head the other half I walked and ran around a bit. We mostly walled around the huge cave I tried to measure the length and width of the cave. The cave was so big that it would not have been possible on earth. The width was more than 2200 meters and the length counting from the longest possible line was over 3250 meters long. Wow well the only thing I can say is that¡¯s a fantasy world for you, well it its real so I can¡¯t really say it¡¯s a fantasy world even all the more I am amazed. As for the ceiling, well I could not really see it very well so making an educated guess it is probably between 3000 and 3500 meters high. Moving on from the amazement, while walking around the cave with Freda we met a lot of dwarves that wanted pet me. It was strange but a good feeling and kind of relaxing so I did not stop them. Later that day we also went outside the cave and when I looked around I saw a giant mountain range to the left and right of me, in front of me there were also mountains but I could see that it stopped in the distance and that there was probably a very large lake or a sea I could not really see it because it was too far away. I also looked at the area with my energy vision and I saw a far lower amount of lights and the amount of different colours was about equal. So I came to the conclusion that the yellow lights must be attracted to something inside the mountain the other light colours are probably also attracted to certain things. We then went back inside and then home. For the rest of the day I meditated and kept absorbing lights until it was time to eat. The rest of the day was the same as Yesterday. Year: 13-10-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon peak mountain Michiko POV. The past few days I have mostly spend, with Freda, exploring the cave, meditating and learning the dwarven language. I now have a basic understanding of the dwarven language and by listening to conversations I found out some things. For one that this is a relatively new Karak and that everyone living here was a refuge that was fleeing from the greenskins invasion and that they banded together and went to this mountain to make a new life. Because of this similarity of situations and understanding between everyone a strong bond was formed. I also found out that there are tribes of goblins living relatively close to the mountain one especially the Skull Crag Goblin tribe which is a normal or a bit weaker goblin tribe. That does not mean that we can underestimate them because their worriers are still numbered in the hundreds. But luckily the don¡¯t come very close to the mountain because of the legend of a gigantic dragon sweeping down from the sky and taking residents inside of this mountain. Thinking about the dragon it is probable Tzeentch had something to do with it. Back to the present, today I am once again trying to fly. I have already tried it multiple times but every time I was not strong enough to get off the ground more than a meter or so before it became too much for my wings and muscles to bear. But the last few days I have send most of the refined energy to my wings and mussels that I need for flying. Today I am going to test if I am strong enough. after a few try¡¯s from the ground and after deciding I had enough strength I climbed on top of our home and I cry out for Freda. When she sees me she becomes worried that I would fall off and she calls out to a few other dwarves. When they arrived they see me and they quickly grabbed a blanked and span it in front of me and motion for me to jump on it. I don¡¯t like worrying them but this is a great stage. And so I jump above the blanked and after falling for a meter I spread my wings and I fly. Flying for the first time feels amazing, in the old universe we made machines that could let us fly but nothing beats flying using your own wings. As I look down is see the dwarves who all look shocked until they started to cheer. I flew around the cave for a few minutes before I start descending. As I descent I close in on Freda, slow myself down and land in Freda¡¯s arms. I look around and see that everyone is very happy and Freda is petting me. Well it is kind of to be expected that they would be happy because a dragons first flight is kind of like a baby¡¯s first steps. After a few minutes I get up out of Freda¡¯s arms and I start to fly around the cave while taking a break every few minutes. About half an hour later I returned to Freda and I go to the bedroom for meditation. I now know that I am strong enough for flight but I need to work on my stamina and strength because right now suntanned flight for a few hours is out of the question and I am also not strong enough for flying in the winds in the case of a storm I would just be swept away. and so for the rest of the day I meditated. Year: 02-11-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon peak mountain Michiko POV. The past few weeks I have mostly been meditating and training my strength. I can now easily fly around the cave for an extended periods of time. I have also grown a bit, when I was Born I was around the size of a large kitten and now I am around the size of a small dog so it seems like dragons grow very slowly or there can be another cause like food or because my egg was created by Tzeentch. Well it does not really matter because my strength will increase either way with my meditation. Today I am going to test my transformation ability. I have been wanting to do it ever since I was Born but it had to wait because I wanted to increase my strength first and I also needed to find a place to do it. I can¡¯t go transform in front of the dwarves they would freak out. After looking around I found a small hole in the cave walls where I flew into and I found a space around 5 m2 where I could experiment undisturbed. I fly into the hole and lay down on the floor and I image an elf and start my transformation. When it starts my body start to convulse with pain and I have to stop myself from screaming out of pain. About fifteen minutes of agony later it stops and I pass out. Sometime later I wake up and my body feels differed. I ty to get up but I fail miserably and I fall on my wings. I then look at myself and see that I have the body of an elven baby but I still have my wings and my tail. After a while manage to get up and I crawl clumsily to a shiny piece of metal I took with me as an impromptu mirror. When I look at it I see that the transformation stopped somewhere in the middle. I still have my wings, my tail, my draconic eyes, my tiny horns and scales on certain parts of my body. But my ears are long and pointy, my hair is also white it seems like certain traits also come over with the transformation but I am happy how it turned out. Hey my eyes just turned yellow, I heard Freda and Endar sometimes say that my eye Colour changes but this is the first time I see it, it looks good. I then try to talk but the only sound that comes out of my mouth is some baby garbling. It looks like my vocal cords are not fully developed jet. I am kind of disappointed because it means I can¡¯t talk to Freda and Endar yet. Anyway I have to find out what happened mmm¡­ ah! I check my energy core and I see it is empty. So that¡¯s what stopped the transformation I ran out of chaos energy. Still I am kind of glad it stopped, it hurt so much if I did not keep my mouth closed shut I would have roared it out of pain. I really have to find a way to make transformation less painful because if I keep doing this I think I will lose my sanity. Anyway I can¡¯t leave this unfinished and even if I do it will just mean I will have to do it later so it¡¯s better to just do it now. I sigh and I begin to meditate to fill my core to continue the experiment. In the next few days I keep experimenting and I find out a lot of interesting things about the transformation ability. I hope I will never have to do such painful experiments again, ah.. who am I kidding there will probably be something even more painful later. But for now these are the things I found out: ? Transformation costs a LOT of refined chaos energy ? Transformation speed depends on the amount of refined chaos energy used. By transforming slower the efficiency of refined chaos energy increases ? Transformation HURTS A LOT!!! The faster you do it the more it hurts ? Transforming to a form multiple times increased refined chaos energy efficiency and reduces pain by a small amount every time ? Transforming in a new form for the first time takes time to get used to mussel movements so transforming in a new form does not mean you can immediately use it ? Transforming in a form you do not know the body structure of goes VERY WRONG!!! When I was experimenting I tried transforming my hand into a form I thought up. I got the skin right but the bones wrong and they were sticking out through the skin. You can¡¯t image how painful it was! ? The age of my dragon body influences the age of my transformed body ? Traits from my dragon body come over with transformation, when I transform my hair is white and my eyes still change Colour ? I am never going to transform my core firstly because my instincts tell me it is a very bad idea and secondly I think it is just too dangerous even if the potential gains could be great it is far more likely I will destroy it, the risk is just not worth it. ? I need to be able to concentrate, if not then the transformation will go really slowly or it might even fail ? I can transform parts of my body independently Year: 15-11-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon peak mountain Michiko POV. I wake up in the morning and I eat together with Freda and Endar and I listen to their conversation. While I can¡¯t talk jet I can now almost fully understand the dwarven language. It is nice to be able to understand what is going on and what they are talking about. While we are eating Endar was talks about what is going on in and around the Karak. He said that he was working on a layout of the Karak, this interests me because a good setup makes it much easier to expand and even more important is that a good layout makes defending a lot easier. I think I will take a look at it later. When he starts to talk about the goblin problem Freda flinches Endar sees it and he tells her they will have a meeting about it today and the quickly moves on to some other subject. I wonder what happened to Freda because every time somebody talks about the goblins she looks somewhere between frightened and enraged. During the rest of the breakfast Endar talked about some random thing going on in the karak, the mining, the temporary forges, the smiting and the rune smiting. Rune smiting is very interesting it is a special way of making magic items only known by the dwarves. While other magically abele races can enchant their weapons it is a lot less powerful than rune smiting. I would like to learn the art if possible it would be very useful skill to have. There is a novice rune smith in the Karak that had to flee with his family after his master was killed. While he is still a novice it would be useful to learn the basics from him if I can, but that is still a few years away. We finished breakfast and Endar stood up and walked to the door. I walked up to him and I followed him. Endar: ¡°So you want to come with me for a change¡± He said with a happy face while rubbing my head. While where walking Endar had multiple talks with other dwarves and the children mostly come up to me. I played with them before, there are about 12 children dwarves under 16 in the karak which was quite high actually seeing that dwarves normally live for centuries and sometimes even more than a millennium. So normally there are not very many children but most of the people that fled are from young families or craftsmen that can¡¯t really fight. We arrive at Endar workplace and for a while he reads the reports that came in. after about an hour he stands up and walks to the door. Endar: ¡°Come Michiko lets go to the meeting¡± I follow and we move to a bigger room with a large table and some basic maps on the wall. In the room Norgrim, Duregar, Bronn, Fimbur and Largs are waiting to begin the meeting. I took place in the corner of the room laying down on a chair while the rest sat down at the table. They then start the meeting while I listen. Endar: ¡°First things first, Duregar how is the fortification of the cave entrances coming along?¡± Duregar: ¡°As for the entrances that need to stay open we have made temporary doors we have reinforced as best we can. I personally applied some runes to strengthen them as well, the doors are for now the best we can do until we get better resources and/or craftsmen. For the once that need to be closed, most of them have been blocked of and camouflaged and in two weeks everything should be done on that part¡± Mm¡­ this is good, with the fortifying or closing of the cave entrances we will stand a far better chance in the case of a goblin attack. We will need every advantage we can get to fight of the goblins if they come because they are many and we only have few warriors but for now let¡¯s hope that they will not discovered our karak and attack. Endar: ¡°Good, what about the mining operation and the temporary blast furnaces¡± Duregar: ¡°We have excavated most of the surface ores from the cave wall and floors and we have started to dig down to find new veins of ore and dig down to Gromril level. Current prospects are good and we expect to find a lot but with current working speeds it will most likely take 5 years to reach and then I will take some time before mining operation can truly begin. As for the temporary blast furnaces 2 of 5 have been build and are working the other will take another month to complete¡± If there is a large amount of Gromril and other ore¡¯s it would be very good for the growth of our karak. Lots of ore means a lot of work for mines and (rune)smiths that in turn would mean a lot of produce what attracts merchants and increases the economy. That in turn attaches artisans, brewers and better workers. This means a larger population which draws warriors and farmers. In the end it would mean that our Karak would become very powerful and it is all started by the discovery of large amounts of ore. Endar: ¡°Okay please tell your men they are doing a good job. Next is the goblin problem, Largs have your hunters found out where the goblin Crag is located?¡± Largs: ¡°It has proven more difficult to find there Crag than we initially thought. It seems like the amount of goblins is bigger than we expected and the closer we get to one of the predicted crag locations the more goblins there are. So I can¡¯t send my men in further without being found out and most likely killed. But we do know that there crag is somewhere in the north-west of Dragon peak mountain¡± Endar: ¡°I understand, I would have liked to know where the bastards lived because I want to chop them to pieces for attacking Freda and killing our unborn child!¡± ¡°They did what!¡± I screamed in my mind. I knew something happened to Freda that concerned the goblins! but attacking a pregnant women my adoptive mother no less! and making her miscarriage! I WILL RIP THEM TO SREDS AND EAT THEM ALIVE! Never attack Innocents! That is one of my tree most basic and simple rules! And they broke it and they did not attack just anybody they attacked my new mother! While I do not know my new parents for long I have come to love them a lot. They selflessly take care of me and are good people. I look up and I see that everyone is looking at me. I then see that the scales on my front paw are black as night and I that I am unconcernedly releasing a lot of killing intent. Oh no I need to calm down getting angry now won¡¯t help I will one day get revenge on them but now is not the time. I stop my killing intent and try to calm down, after a while my scales turn back to white again. It is them that the dwarves begin to move again. Norgrim: ¡°WHAT WAS THAT! All of a sudden Michiko¡¯s eyes turned red, her scales when black and she released such killing intent¡± Bronn: ¡°That was a very strong killing intent and to think it came out of such a small dragon. But it did not seem like it was aimed at us we just felt its presence¡± Endar: ¡°Could it be that she understood me when I was talking about the goblin attack and that she became so angry for her sake?¡± Oh no I wanted to remain under the radar for a while longer because I want to test some more things out and have a lot of time to meditate. I wanted to wait with revealing myself atlas until I can talk. Well for now let¡¯s play dumb and act like I cannot understand them hopefully they buy it. While hoping that they stop guessing Fimbur comes to the rescue. Fimbur: ¡°Wait a bit everyone there is another possibility. I have heard that some dragons are very good at sensing emotion. So it could be that she was influenced by your anger to the goblins¡± Endar: ¡°Mm if that¡¯s the case I have to thank Michiko for becoming angry for my sake¡± Endar said while petting me. Fuu.. disaster averted I will return the favour one day Fimbur. Also I will have to try out the sensing of emotions it would be handy but that¡¯s for later. The dwarves return to the table and continue their discussion. Endar: ¡°Returning to the matter at hand. Does anyone have an estimate on the amount of goblins?¡± Fimbur: ¡°Seen the amount of goblins in the mountain there are probably between a 1000 and 1500 goblins warriors and another 500 training goblin warriors¡± Bronn: ¡°Yes that''s probably a good estimate. Seeing the numbers of the goblins we can¡¯t attack directly with the amount of men we have right now. It would be best if we just keep them away from the mountain and pick away at them slowly. But that will most likely not lower their numbers by much because there reproduction speed is so high¡± Largs: ¡°but it will rob them of their veteran warriors so if we keep doing it their strength will go down. And if we take out a boss it could mean that we will destabilize the hierarchy which will cause internal conflict¡± Fimbur: ¡°but for the plan to work we absolutely may not leave behind any evidence that could lead them to us because that would mean we will be attacked. Secondly if we do it too often the goblins will become suspicious. In turn they will probably become more careful and move in bigger groups¡± Endar: ¡°Bronn, Largs you heard Fimbur, can you do it?¡± Bronn: ¡°I am confident we can do it. If the hunters can find the bastards and alert us we will set up an ambush and we will be able to kill them with no casualties¡± Largs: ¡°We will be able to find them and we will lead you to the most experienced goblin warriors so you will have to take out least amount of goblins for the greatest effect. And taking out less goblins will keep the suspicions of the goblins low¡± Endar: ¡°Okay from now on we will take out a goblin patrol once a month. Does everyone agree?¡± Everyone nodded Endar: ¡°Then let¡¯s get to work¡± They then start to discuss the details and I think about their plan while keeping half my attention on the discussion. Looking at their entire plan I would say that it is an overall good plan with a limited amount do danger. The hardest part will probably be finding the goblin patrols and evading their ambushes. I suppose I could help them with that an eye in the sky really helps find unsuspecting goblins. After a while they end the discussion and they start to leave. Endar signals me to come but I feign sleep and he sings, softly rubs my head and then leaves to do some inspection in the cave. After they all left I stand up and walk toward Endar¡¯s office and start to look around. I find some reports and I read them. Learning to read was quite easy after learning the spoken dwarven language, it was just connecting the characters to the spoken letters and with my special brain that was easily done. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Looking through the reports I make some small changes to Endar¡¯s work that make it a lot better without him noticing. I then see a map of the cave on one of the tables, it looks like he was making a plan for the interior of the Karak. I look at it and I know I need to do it because it looks like none of the dwarves here have ever even hear of city planning. Because if we do it like this at first it will be alright but later we will have to break everything down and start all over again. I then dip the tip of my nail in the ink and start drawing the blueprint. A Karak needs to have a lot of thing to be a successful and I am going to add some more thing I think will be useful to have. Like pluming for water I don¡¯t know if the dwarves know of it but I will write a detailed explanation for it just in case. They don¡¯t need electricity because they can use runes which are powered by the dwarves themselves. For now I will just be designing the first level, for designing later floors I will need more information about the mountain. Housing Level: Spoiler : Palace or X: Spoiler : Symbols meaning: Spoiler : X: A castle/palace 1. Royal family home 2. Royal square 3. Throne/ball room 4. Cannon towers 5. Boiling Hot spring from here the water enters the channel and the pump house to be filtered and distributed over the city 6. Cold Waterfall from the ceiling from here the water enters the channel and the pump house to be filtered and distributed over the city 7. Royal library A library with multiple levels which you can access with the right level of clearance. This is also the place where the books of grudges are located 8. Hall of hero¡¯s and administrative building 9. Warrior barracks 10. Gardens and ¡°Nobel¡± housing 11. Training Grounds 12. Pillars to support overhead ceiling G: A green area (trees grass flowers like a park) P: A pillar of the Karak build for reinforcement and to serve as an elevator shaft W: A small some greens and lake with fish for recreation S: A hot spring, showering and washing area with some greens for beauty (the hot spring area comes in from the spring in the palace. H1: Housing on the lower level H2: Housing on the higher level M: central area ? Shops ? Guilds ? Restaurants ? Ancestor shrines K1: Killzone 1 the secondary main entrance defence line (just an area where they get shot at from all directions by cannons and other guns while trying to break the giant reinforced doors) K2: Killzone 2 the first main entrance defence line (the name is kind of self-explanatory it is a zone where they get brutally slaughtered by cannon/ gun fire from all directions T1: lower towers with a lot of cannons T2: Higher and bigger towers with even more cannons C: Walls with tunnels and cannons B: The main entrance Bridge Bleu: Water Grey: Roads Extra Information: Spoiler : Scale: 1 pixel = 0.5 meter Heights of levels (not exact) In the sealing there are a lot of lamps that replicate sunlight using runes that turn off during night time and then smaller once turn om to replicate stars In the top of the cave there is an hanging platform with a spiral staircase to dragon cave this platform is only accessible by flying. Main Pluming runs under the road and connects to the houses form their for easy access K2¡¯s floor can be flooded with boiling water from the hot spring Roads run into the wall left and right for in case of future need expansion of living area Multiple secret tunnels and maintenance tunnels have been added The elevators (in the middle) This is the top level for this elevator so the outside looks like a giant warehouse C: cargo elevates can each carry a tank with room to spare P: Elevators for people Fuu¡­ finally done I was busy for a few hours designing this. If they follow this plan future of the karak will be a lot better because of this foundation. Of course they can¡¯t build this now because they just do not have enough manpower. But with this blueprint they can build it in stages and eventually the result will be amazing. Now the only thing is that I need to leave this here for Endar who will probably try to figure out who made this. So now I need to hope he will not suspect me. I leave Endar¡¯s office and I return to the meeting room and sleep on the chair in the corner. When Endar returns it is late, he wakes me and we go home. During dinner he told Freda about what happened during the meeting and she looked very happy when he told her that it was probably that I became angry for her sake. After dinner I was put in bathe and then we went to bed. Year: 30-11-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, north-west of Dragon peak mountain Michiko POV. The past two weeks went by with me mostly meditating, training, listening to talking dwarves and playing around with the children. I also learned to swim which was nice because that means I can play in the boiling hot spring, the heat is just right and it is great for relaxing and meditation. Well of course it was not all peaceful, the blueprint I made caused quite a commotion. When Endar discovered it he was very surprised and he went around asking who made it. That drew even more people and they went over the blueprint together. they were all very interested in the design and after a few days everyone agreed that they would follow this plan. But they were all still very curious about who could have made the map. After a few days some even thought that it was a gift from the ancestral gods which I found quite funny. Anyway while they did not know who made the blueprint the workers did begin at the first stage of the plan. After the commotion around the blueprint somewhat calmed down the warrior and hunters started to prepare for the goblin extermination expedition. The warriors went over ambushing plans and the hunters started to gather information about the routes the goblins travelled. And so the days went on until today. After waking up this morning and having breakfast we all go to the main entrance where the warrior and hunters are waiting. The dwarves that are staying behind wish them good luck and then they start to walk out of the cave. While they are walking out I follow while staying out of sight and when we exit the cave and head in a north-west direction. When we are about six hours away the dwarves stop and set up camp in a cave that is close to one of the goblin patrol routes. Well I can¡¯t really call it a patrol route because goblins do normally not patrol here they just go around the mountain looking for prey or for the few travellers that roam these mountains. When they have set up and they are sitting down to eat I come out and I jump on Endar¡¯s lap. Endar: ¡°Michiko what are you doing here?!¡± Bronn: ¡°She probably walked out with us and then followed us from a distance or form the air¡± Largs: ¡°Damn we should have noticed¡± Endar: ¡°what do we do now?¡± Largs: ¡°I have an idea it might not be friendly but I think the best option would be to put her in a cage¡­¡± He was not even done with sentence before I expediently jumped up and flew away. There I no way in hell anyone is going to put me in a cage. When I jump and fly away the dwarves are stunned for a bit before they. Ender gives a few orders before he and some of the hunters go after me as fast as they can but compared to my flying speed they are slow and I have the terrain advantage as well. After about ten minutes I lose them. Okay for now let¡¯s fly around for a bit and look if I can find some goblins. Year: 30-11-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, north-west of Dragon peak mountain Endar POV. Damn we lost her. Endar: ¡°Okay everyone we have to return to camp we can¡¯t catch up to her on this terrain let¡¯s hope she can come back by herself¡± We begin walking back to camp. What could have caused her to fly away like that normally when she lays down she sleeps for a while. Could it be that when Largs proposed to put her in a cage she understood? No that can¡¯t be it must have been a coincidence while I do think that she is already quite smart I don¡¯t think that she is that smart. Anyway we must now hope that she comes back to our camp or that she can fly¡¯s back of her own. We arrive at camp and I call the others to come. I can see that everyone is worried about her, Michiko has become a sort of mascot and encouragement for everyone in the Karak. She plays with the children, sometimes helps out with simple things and also cheers up people when they are sad. I feel like she really cares a lot about us and she too has become a very important ¡°person¡± to all of us. Right now I want to go around the mountain screaming her name to try and find and I can see that the others want to do the same. But we can¡¯t it is too dangerous there are too many goblins in the area. When all the dwarves have gathered I start talking. Endar: ¡°We could not catch up to Michiko and she is now somewhere in this area but we can¡¯t run around looking for her without thinking. We must remember that there are goblin patrols that run through this area. So what we will do for now is that the hunters will go and scout the area for goblins and will keep an eye out for Michiko. But it is unlikely that they will find her so our best bet is to wait here and hope she will return¡± I wait a minute and look around the group. They all look worried but it looks like they understand. Endar: ¡°While I would want nothing more than go around screaming her name in the mountains hoping that she will come back we simply cannot do that. For now we are going to follow our initial plan and we will ambush one of the goblin patrol¡¯s but we will leave some people here in case Michiko returns. Okay get started¡± The dwarves return to their jobs, the warriors prepare for the ambush and the scouts pack their gear and after that they start to head out. I then return to my tent and start planning. I hope Michiko is okay. Year: 30-11-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, north-west of Dragon peak mountain Michiko POV. It¡¯s a few hours after I lost Endar and I have been flying around trying to find a group of goblins that is not too big not too small and in a more or less safe area relatively close to the camp site. While flying I have seen more goblins the close I come to one of the supposed locations where the Crag could be located. But right now I do not come to close because that there is a chance that there is a goblin shaman that spots me. I have confidence I can get away when I get attacked by a goblin with a bow but being under attack by magic could be very dangerous for me. Mostly because I do not know how strong a goblin shamans is secondly I also don¡¯t know if I can dodge his attacks or if my magic resistance is strong enough so I am not going to risk it. Right now I am about 9 or 10 kilometres from the camp and am looking from a distance I find a group of goblins that is moving in the direction of the camp. The group has twenty men ten of whom are warriors and another ten are archers. One of the archers seems to be of higher rank and looks like he is quite strong compared to the rest of them. This is a good find it is a good target for the first time that they do this ambush tactic. I run a short distance and I fly up to look if I can find a hunter that is close. After about ten minutes I find Largs who is looking around with another dwarf. I fly over them and try to roar to get their attention. The roar is not very impressive it is too high and it is not very loud as well which makes me kind of disappointed a dragon should be able to make an earth shattering deep roar well I am still growing so I suppose that I something to look forward to. My baby dragon roar aside, it did have the desired effect and they look up and see me. Largs: ¡°Michiko come down please and come back with us¡± (loud) I fly a few circles around there heads and then I slowly fly in the direction where the goblin most likely are. Not knowing what to do Largs and the other dwarf just start to follow me. I slowly fly forward while leading them in the direction of the goblins. After about ten minutes they are just following me probably wondering where I am leading them. Another fifteen minutes later I can see the goblin from the air. I land a few meter in front of Largs who is standing there with a questioning look on his face. He probably understood I was leading them somewhere but did not know what. I then start to slowly sneak as quietly as possible in the direction of the goblins. Largs and the other dwarf do the same while a bit more clumsily, sneaking is not really a dwarf¡¯s forte. We sneak of the side of a low ridge and I look over it and see the goblins. Largs does the same and looks astonished and he gives me a rub on the head. He them writes some things down and we sneak back down the ridge. When we are some distance away Largs and the other dwarf sits down and I do de same while looking at him. He then pets me and begins to speak Largs: ¡°Good job Michiko, I guessed you were leading us somewhere but I did not expect this. This is a big help normally we would have had to search around the area for a few days but you led us directly to a goblin patrol. It is probably a lot easier from the air right¡± I don¡¯t really react to keep the fact that I do understand them secret and secondly because right now I am far too happy with the scratching he is doing under my chin. ???: ¡°Largs, while she is certainly smart, even smart enough to lead us to the goblins, but I don¡¯t think she understands what you are saying¡± Largs: ¡°I know Dern but I want to tell her anyway I will thank her again when she is old enough to understand¡± Dern: ¡°Okay Largs shall I go and report to Endar now while you follow the goblins or do you want me to do is?¡± Largs: ¡°Yes, I will write a message for Endar first and then please go report and take Michiko with you. Endar is probably very worried and she will probably be able to lead you back to me when you come back with the others¡± Dern: ¡°Alright I wish you luck and please be careful¡± Dern than stands up shakes Largs hand and he motions me to come with him. Dern: ¡°Come Michiko we are going to your father¡± I stand up and I run a bit and then jump up in the sky and start flying circles around Dern. he douse one last wave to Largs and then I slowly start to fly in the direction of camp while Dern is following me on the ground. And like this we make our way back to camp. After about an hour we arrive at the camp and I land and walk in with Dern. Dern: ¡°Hello everyone I am back and I brought our cute princess back too¡± Dern said with a smile and not long after Endar and the other dwarves come running toward us. When Endar reaches me he picks me u and hugs me, he must have been worried about me. I don¡¯t like that but I had to do it there was no other way because they would not have allowed me fly on my own. Which I don¡¯t blame them for, this is a dangerous place you would not let a small child here even if that child is a dragon but my situation is different but they don¡¯t know that. Endar: ¡°I am so happy your back I was so worried Michiko, Thank you Dern I own you¡± Dern: ¡°You own me nothing Endar, Michiko came looking for us on her own and that¡¯s not all she even led us to a goblin parole¡± Endar: ¡°what, she led you to a goblin parole so that¡¯s why she left she wanted to help us, that¡¯s amazing. But Dern what did you mean with princess I can see that she is cute but princess?¡± Bronn: ¡°Endar we all know why and I think you do too. When our karak becomes big enough we will need to choose a king and we all want that to be you so we might as well start calling Michiko princess now¡± Bronn said with a smile Endar: ¡°we will see personally I don¡¯t think that I am capable or worthy but for now let¡¯s prepare the ambush so we can take them out when they are sleeping¡± Endar then walks back to his tent with me in his arms. Before we reach the tent I can just hear Bronn mumble: Bronn: ¡°And that¡¯s why you should be king¡­¡± He and Dern then follow us to the tent. In the tent there is an improvised table with a basic map of the area on top of it. The map was made by the hunters and gives a rough idea where everything is there are a few mistakes in it but it is mostly correct from what I saw when I was flying around. Dern, Bronn and Endar stand around the table while I am still in Endar¡¯s arms it looks like he won¡¯t let me go for a while. Dern begins to point out where we last saw the goblins and the predicted path. He then shows Largs report which has information about the goblins his opinion on the ambush. After about an hour they agree that they will attack at night when most of them are sleeping. After the meeting was over Almost everyone then went to get some sleep before the night raid. After about 6 hours of sleep it was around ten o clock in the evening and the warrior picked up their axes and armour and the hunters readied their bows. When everything was ready we started marching to the place where goblins most likely set up camp. After about an hour we reach the place where the goblins most likely would be but they are not here so we have to look for them. I try to wriggle my way out of Endar¡¯s embrace but to no avail. Dern seeing this tries to convince Endar that I would be safe in the air and help find the goblins. After a long time Endar finally let¡¯s go and I fly up into the air. Finding the goblins was not so hard after about ten minutes of looking around I see smoke close by and I do a fly over while high up in the air. It is the goblins, most of them are sleeping and two of the are sitting around a campfire while looking relaxed. They do not expect to be attacked because this is there hunting grounds the only thing they have to look out for at night are some nocturnal bears but with twenty goblins even if off guard they would hear it coming from a distance away and easily kill it. I then spot Largs who is waving at me, I fly over him to let him know I saw him and then I fly in the direction of the other dwarves. I fly a few circles around them and then slowly fly in Largs direction. Ten minutes later I descent and Largs is coming to meet us. Largs: ¡°Hey you guys finally got here. So it is a night raid then?¡± He says with a smile. Endar: ¡°Sorry it was a bit hard to find you, and yes it is a night raid. Could you please give us some information on the terrain¡± Largs: ¡°I was expecting you would say that. The goblins have set up camp in a shallow valley with semi steep mountain sides. The valley is about 20 meters wide and is mostly filled with grass¡± Endar: ¡°okay we can set op archers at both sides of the valley and shoot the goblin tents with fire arrows. Now for the hard part we need to make Shure that no goblins escape¡± Bronn: ¡°what do you think of this we attack with three groups. Group one are the hunters led by Largs, group two are half the warriors led by me and we close of the north side of the valley and the third group led by Endar doing the same as mine but then at the south side of the valley. Group two and three then close on the goblin camp from their side of the valley as quietly as we can. When we are as close as we can get without losing the element of surprise we signal the hunters to let loose their fire arrows and we then come in from both sides to make a shield wall around their camp to cut off their escape¡± Endar: ¡°good plan does everyone agree? If not please speak up I want to take the best course of action and make sure we suffer no casualty¡¯s¡± Everybody nods and they put the plan in action while I watch from the top of the valley with the hunters. The warriors send their signal and the hunters light their arrows and fire the first volley quietly when Largs drops his arm. The arrows fly and it takes only a few seconds before they reach their target. It is silent for a second and then screaming comes from the tents that are on fire. When the arrows where fired the warriors started to run. They run forward to close of any chance of escape. While this is happening the hunters keep firing arrows into the camp and I can see that they have a least killed 5 goblins and there are more lying dead in the tents. When the warriors arrive and put up their shield wall, most of the goblins are already armed. Seven of them charge the shield wall together trying to breach it while the goblin archers have started to shoot arrow at the dwarves as well. And then one of the dwarves gets hit by an arrow in the arm, the arrow was fired by the special goblin archer I saw the first time I spotted them. The archer keeps firing and hits most of his arrow in the week parts of the armour and the shield wall begins to weaken. I then grab a heavy rock with my claws and dive down like a dive-bomber when I am a meter away from the archer I release the rock and fly up. The rock hits him square on the head and he falls down dead. The other goblin archers look shocked for a second and then start to fire some arrows at me but I dodge them and quickly get out of range. The rest of the raid went smoothly the goblin archers got two hits in and the goblin warriors made some shallow cuts but they were killed one by one until they all died. I flew back to the ground and land next to Endar who has an arrow staking out of his leg. Endar: ¡°Don¡¯t ever do that again you almost gave me a heart attack. but none the less thank you Michiko if not for you we would have probably lost a few dwarves¡± When he says this I turn my head a but sideways like I don¡¯t understand what he is saying. Bronn: ¡°Damn right she saved us most of those goblins where weak but that archer was strong¡± Largs and the others then come running down with the doctor who immediately starts to help the most severely wounded and gives orders to the hunters to help him. Dern: ¡°good job princess or what do you think of little miss guardian angel?¡± Dern says with a smile Endar: ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you have with those nicknames anyways¡± Endar put up a loud voice and shouts. Endar: ¡°Every one of you has done a great job, we made some mistakes this time but despite that we didn¡¯t suffer any casualty¡¯s and that alone is worth a feast. Let us learn from our mistakes and become stronger because of it. What we are going to do now is let the doctor take care of our wounds and the people that are not busy right now will be under the command of Largs and will start to remove any evidence of the battle. After that¡¯s done we will return to our tents sleep up and tomorrow we will return home¡± After that I sat for a bit and looked at Largs group as if I was wondering what they were doing and then I started to collect arrows that where at hard to reach spots. We burned the bodies of the goblins so only ash remained we then shovel the ground to hide the burned grass and we took any valuables we could find and also the stuff we could not burn with us to camp. Year: 31-11-1706 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon peak mountain Michiko POV. Today we woke up in the afternoon and we broke up our camp and we began the track home. The way home was a bit longer than the way there and that was mostly because of the wounded dwarves. While the doctor did a great job he still can¡¯t fully heal them all because (rune)magic I very tiring so he only healed the worst wounds and we bandaged up the rest so it can heal naturally. After walking for about eight hours with some breaks included we finally arrived at Dragon peak mountain. The dwarves really need to have some kind of mount that would make them a lot faster maybe mountain goats are a good choice? Most horses are too high and are not good with mountains terrain so mountain goats could be a good choice. Anyway after the long trek we finally arrived at our home. The sentries had already spotted us and opened the gate. They help the dwarves up the mountainside and we go inside. We enter the main cave and we see that everyone is already waiting for us. When I spot Freda I fly toward her and land I her arms. I see her eyes are red she must have cried when I did not return at night, she was probably scared that she would lose another child. Feel kind of bad leaving her like that, I think I will stay by her side for the next few days. Endar then joins us and embraces Freda with me between them. After a while they let go and we see that Norgrim and Fimbur are standing next to us. Norgrim: ¡°Sorry for interrupting but could you please tell us what happened you were supposed to be away for a week. But first I hear Michiko is gone and then you return the next day with multiple wounded dwarves¡± Endar: ¡°Okay but can we first sit down I am quite tired from the long trek and it would also be good if Largs and Bronn join us to¡± We go and sit down on some benches and Bronn, Largs and Dern join us. Endar then begins to tell what happened and the others add something here and there. When they are done Norgrim speaks up. Norgrim: ¡°luckily you are al okay¡± Endar: ¡°yes we made a terrible mistake in underestimating them but especially that archer¡± Dern: ¡°Yes princess really saved us then right¡± He says with a smile. Endar: ¡°Princess again, the king still has to be decided and I still don¡¯t think I am the right person¡± Dern: ¡°whether you are going to be king or not I think princess is a good nickname for her and Michiko does not seem to mind¡± Endar: ¡°she does not even understand you! Ugh.. never mind do what you want¡± Everyone then laugh. We then go and clean ourselves, the dwarves in a small bath they made where the cold and the hot water is mixed and I go in the boiling hot spring. In the evening we hold a feast to celebrate our success and our safe return. Chapter 3: Humble beginnings Chapter 3: Humble beginnings Authors notes: Please take a look at The World it is the thread where I place all the lore notes and also extra information. So if you don¡¯t understand something concerning Warhammer lore it is likely you will find it there. As for those that know Warhammer lore The World is also the place where I write down (almost) all of the inconsistencies and the things I made up myself Many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 02-10-1707 (Imperial Calendar)(one year after hatching) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. Today I am finally turning one year old, well my body at least. I have some plans for today but first a bit of a look back. After the first goblin extermination mission the events were mostly the same of the first months. Not that it was boring, I had a lots of fun things to do. I went around with Freda helping her out when I could, I played with the dwarven kids, I meditated and trained daily and I sometimes snuck into Endar¡¯s office helping him out with his work here and there. Of course I did it as secretly as I could but I think he has noticed that someone is helping him but he does not know who it is. Freda has also become a bit more talkative over the last few months. That is partially because I have been encouraging her and have tried to make her laugh more often. I have also listened in on the conservations between Endar and the doctor. He also says that she seems to be recovering. In turn everyone else is also happier. They were also worrying about her but did not know how to help. I also participated in the monthly goblin extermination missions. At first Freda was very opposed to the idea of me going out there again, but they managed to convince her to allow me to come. When I was in another room I did hear her say some things that would happen to them if something where to happen to me. I did not hear the rest but they came out the room with pale faces. It seems Freda can become quite scary if it is something concerning my safety. It is probably a side effect of her losing her unborn child. As for the goblin exterminations themselves. They became a lot safer after the first time they reviewed all the thing that had gone wrong and they have learned from their mistakes. Of course there are still some injuries but never something life-threatening. That also means my job has been reduced to scouting only which is okay. The only reason I intervened the first time was because it was getting too dangerous for the dwarves. I don¡¯t really plan on fighting big fights till I¡¯m at least five years old probably later. I don¡¯t like recklessness and fighting without preparing I simply don¡¯t want to die. My body has also grown over the past few months. Right now my dragon body is the size of a German shepherd dog and my half-dragon body is more or less the size of a one year old child. My horns have also started sprouting but right now they are only around 1 cm long. And so the months went by and we come to the day of my first birthday (hatch-day). Today I was going to reveal my transformation ability. But I am going to do it as if it is an innate ability, to not raise any questions. So in the middle of the night I transformed into my half-dragon form and I go back to sleep. In the morning I am woken up awake by Freda who is looking at me with curiosity. Endar is also awake and they both are looking like they don¡¯t know what to do. I am still laying on the bed while curled up with my tail in front of me and I can feel my wings behind my back. I get up like I would normally do while in my dragon form. When I see my own arm I freeze and I let out a sound. Michiko: ¡°Aaaahhh¡± I then try to run away but I fall over myself like I don¡¯t know how to move and to finish it I begin to cry. Endar then begins to laugh and gets a whack on the head from Freda who picks me up, wraps me in a blanket and takes me into her arms. Freda: ¡°Why are you laughing when our daughter is crying?¡± She says while glaring at him. Endar: ¡°Sorry Freda I was just so relieved when I saw that she had also no idea what is going on¡± She glares at him some more and then looks at me. Freda: ¡°She must have awoken her transformation ability at night. hmm it is her first birthday, that¡¯s probably why it was unlocked¡± Endar: ¡°That is a possibility. Freda I think it is best if we go to the doctor first so he can take a look at her¡± Freda nodded and we come out of the house and they walk to the doctors house with me in Freda¡¯s arms. My plan had worked so far they believed that it was something that I just awakened. When we were walking to the doctor some of the dwarves came to look at me and Endar explained to them what was going on. When we reached the doctors house Endar knocked on the door and after a while the doctor opened it. Endar: ¡°Good morning doctor sorry for coming so early in the morning but could you please take a look at Michiko. We found her looking like this in the morning and we think that she awakened the transformation ability you spoke of. She looks fine but we wanted to be sure and we would like you to take a look¡± Doctor: ¡°of course come with me¡± The doctor walks to the hospital next door and we go inside and I am put on the examination table. He looks at me and it is actually quite embarrassing because I am mostly naked but he is a doctor and it needs to be done. But I am seriously going to make sure that there will be some female doctors in this karak. Anyway the doctor examines me for a while and writes some things down here and there. Doctor: ¡°She appears to be in perfect health, but that is as far as I can tell because I have never worked with a dragon let alone one in half dragon form. So I think it is best if you come in for regular check-ups just to be sure¡± Endar: ¡°Thank you doctor, we will make sure to come once a month¡± They then say their goodbyes and we go back home again, we eat and Endar then goes to work. I am happy now because the first part of my plan succeeded now to start part two. Year: 05-04-1707 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. The day that I first revealed my transformation ability is now more or less half a year ago. Since then I have shown three forms: my dragon form, my half dragon form and my dwarven form. An update about my transformation ability. My transformations to Dragon, half dragon and dwarf have been sped up significantly due to my continued transformation. Right now my transformation time when calm and concentrating is about 30 seconds to a minute. I did find a quite embarrassing problem, every time I transform between a humanoid from and my dragon form I have to take of or put om my clothes. For now we have solved my problem by wearing a cloak that goes from the ground to around my neck. I can easily put this on and take this off while in dragon form. the only problem is that I am still naked under the cloak every time I transform. I don¡¯t really have to worry about getting a cold since I am a dragon and dragons are immune to most diseases. Still it is kind of embarrassing but I can¡¯t really fix it, maybe later I can find some magic that helps. But for now I will have to run around in a long cloak when I am in humanoid form. Now for something else I could do with my transformation ability: it was quite fun running around in different forms for the first week surprising everyone. Walking around in dwarven form and getting someone to follow you from a distance because there is a strange dwarf with white hair walking around in the karak. And then walking into a dead end and transforming into my dragon form and secretly flying away leaving them surprised. In the first week there were even some that said that they had seen the ghost of a small dwarf with white hair. When my parents heard it they had quite a laugh, but to calm them down they had me show them my forms and the other dwarves also laughed. I have also noticed that I have become more childish, which could be the result of me acting as a child all the time, it could be the age of my body or it can be because I am treated like a child by my parents. The change was kind of hard to notice because it was a gradual change I did not really notice till recently. Well it does not really matter I will probably grow up again later in my new life. Plus it is kind of fun being a kid again it gives a lot of freedom and you can ask all the stupid and smart questions you want without somebody complaining. Anyway the second part of my plan worked very well. After my first birth/hatch day I started an artificial learning curve. That means that I started ¡°learning¡± words and speaking them to make it look like I was gradually learning to speak. Today as far as the dwarves know is that I can speak normal dwarven tongue but I still have some difficulties with certain words. Being able to learn to speak in half a year would be impossible for a normal dwarven child but luckily it was explained away by the fact that I am a dragon and that dragons are very wise. Or that is what I have heard I don¡¯t really know because of my special mind. I have also begun ¡°learning¡± to read and write but that is still in the basics. But back to now, at this moment I am flying around while we are on our way back from our monthly expedition. Like normally I am flying circles around the group of dwarves to make sure that there are no sneak attacks or sudden dangers. While I am flying around I see something that makes me happy: a herd of mountain goats. I have asked Endar before if dwarves ride mountain goats and he said they do and that they are handy to have while traveling long distances in the mountains. I fly back to the dwarves while I transform to my half dragon form. When I get close I look for Endar and then land in front of him. Michiko: ¡°Dad, dad! I saw a herd of mountain goats. Did you not say that you would like to have some to ride?¡± I said while smiling. Endar: ¡°oh that is a good find Michiko, could you do me a favour and take some hunters with you to catch a few while I return with the warriors. Largs come here for a bit!¡± Largs: ¡°coming, what news did Michiko bring hopefully not more goblins especially this close to the Karak¡± Michiko: ¡°no uncle Largs no goblins, I found a herd of mountain goats and dad said that you wanted a some to ride¡± Endar: ¡°you heard her Largs, now I would like you to take the hunters and go and catch a few. So give your extra packs to us and pleas follow Michiko while I return with the warriors¡± Largs: ¡°of course I will gather some of the hunters and we will follow her immediately¡± Endar: ¡°Good, and Largs please keep an eye on Michiko. While we are close to the mountain and most likely there are no goblins around we can never be totally sure plus there might be some dangerous animals out there¡± Largs: ¡°always so worried about your cute little princess not that I am blaming you l would be to with a wife like Freda (smiling). Don¡¯t worry I will make sure nothing will happen to her and we will bring home some mountain goats so when you guys arrive tell them to prepare a temporary pen for them¡± Largs then walks away while Endar shouts after him with a loud voice: Endar ¡°That comment about Freda was not necessary!¡± Endar then told me to keep myself and the others safe. He also told me to immediately warn the hunters and to then run away. While it was not really necessary I do get that he is worried so I promised to be careful and that we would return soon. Before I went to Largs I went to the cook and I asked him for his salt he found it kind of strange but he did give it to me. It was quite a lot around 3 kilos of it well we take so much salt with us because everyone needs around 6 grams a day and we have to be prepared to sit out several months in the mountains. You can find food in the mountains but you can¡¯t find salt and people need salt to live. When I was done with the cook I went to find Largs, when I find him I see him talking with Dern. Largs: ¡°Are you ready to go Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°I have everything I need¡± Dern: ¡°Hey princess I like good seasoning but that is a bit much so what it all the salt for?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well that¡¯s a secret for now I will show you later, let¡¯s go to the mountain goats¡± I said with a smile, which he reacted to by raising an eyebrow. We wait a while till the hunters are ready. When they are already I fly up and lead them to the mountain goats I then went to Largs who was with a group of hunters and I then flew up and led them to the mountain goats. When we arrive I fly around a bit more and look at the terrain after that I land and go to Largs. Michiko: ¡°Uncle Largs I¡¯m back¡± Largs: ¡°Ah Michiko, did you see something useful?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes I found a steep valley with a dead end where probably even mountain goats cant climb out of¡± Dern: ¡°Oh that good but we have one problem: how do we get the mountain goats in the tarp? If we can do that than the rest is easy we close of the exit and just put some dwarves around the valley to make sure that they don¡¯t escape. Then we send in some dwarves into the valley that capture the goats one by one¡± Michiko: ¡°I can lure then into the valley no problem it will take a while but they will walk in by themselves¡± Largs raises an eyebrow and says: Largs: ¡°How are you going to do that?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well when I was in my reading lessons I read a book about wildlife in the mountains and it said that they are attracted to salt because they can¡¯t easily get it in the mountains¡± Dern: ¡°That¡¯s why you needed the salt. Good job¡± He said while petting my head. After that the dwarves went to the valley and made a barricade they could easily put in place when the goats are in the trap. After a while the trap was done and the dwarves and I were hidden Largs went out to make a small trail of salt that would end in the valley where the salt was spread over the ground so they would gather there. Largs returned and we wait for the goats to come. After about half an hour the first goats arrived and when another fifteen minutes pass all of the goats of the herd have gathered in the valley we spring the trap and the barricade falls in place. The goats jump from the sound and look around and see that their exit has just closed off. And they try to climb over it and up the rock wall but most of them fail and the once that come close are stopped by the dwarves. We have now captured twenty six goats ten of them are kids and the others are adults. Seeing them up close makes me realise how big they are, I have read about them in the book I had but seeing them up close it special. These goats are not the small animals of earth, these are the size of a pony with the males having giant curling horns. With the barricade in place about half de dwarves jump in the valley and they start to capture the mountain goats. When most of the biggest goats are captured by the combined effort of the dwarves I jump in and walk to Largs. Largs: ¡°Michiko what are you doing here I told you to keep out of the valley¡± Michiko: ¡°But uncle Largs I want to help and I have already waited till the most dangerous once where caught. Let me please a least help with the small once¡± Largs sighs looks around and thinks for a minute and then shouts for Dern to come. Largs: ¡°Michiko you can go and fight the smaller ones but you must promise me you will be VERY careful. Dern I want you to keep an eye on Michiko and help her when necessary¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks uncle Largs¡± I said while smiling and thinking yay for cuteness. Dern: ¡°Don¡¯t worry Largs I will keep her out of trouble¡± I then grab Dern¡¯s hand and I drag him with me to one of the smaller goats. When we arrive I explain what I want to do. I will transform myself into dragon form and I will fight the goat one on one while he watches and intervenes if he thinks it is too dangerous. If I can knockout the goat he will tie up the goat and that is it. He agrees and I transform into dragon form. I then walk to the goat and stare him in the eye, the goat is probably still young but not very and it is more or less the same size as me maybe a bit bigger. We stare each other down and then he suddenly jumps forward using his powerful legs. I dodge and I then attack him in the side using my front paw but no my nails. He jumps to dodge and my paw only grazes him and he is not affected. I now know that I am a bit faster than him but he has the advantage of very powerful legs. We go at it again me first this time. I rush at one of his front legs trying to disable it with a punch. To my surprise he turns around and get ready to kick me with his hind legs but I go to the side and direct my paw(punch) at the side of his hind leg. He can¡¯t dodge this time and I hit him and he visually cringe. We go back and forth like this for a while and we both are getting tired. We both go in for the final attack, he jumps forward one last time with the fastest speed till now. I barely dodge and I get to his side once more but this time before he can recover from his jump I charge forward and head-but him on the side of his head. He then falls over and stays down, I shake of the dizziness of the head-but and I notice that dwarves are standing in a ring around me and my fallen foe and they are cheering for me. It looks like the other dwarves came to watch when they were done with the other mountain goats. Dern then ties up my fallen opponent and I transform to my half dragon form and sit down for a bit while they congratulate me on my first real fight. A pitifully low level fight but still for the first time it went well. You have to start somewhere even the mightiest warriors started from humble beginnings. I then rested up for a bit and the dwarves removed the blockade. I then get up transform into my dragon form again and start flying around while we make our way back home. When we arrive we give the goats to the people that are waiting for us. Largs and I go and find Endar and Freda. Freda: ¡°Ah sweetie your back how did it go?¡± Michiko: ¡°good I fought a goat and won¡± I say with a smile but Freda¡¯s face worried, she opens my cloak and immediately checks me for any wounds. Of course there are no wounds, I did not get any during the fight and even if I did they would have been healed long ago using some refined chaos energy. After a while she sighs relaxed and closes my cloak and then sends some killing intent at Largs who flinches and hurryingly says: Largs: ¡°don¡¯t worry I only let her fight against a young goat while Dern was watching and ready to intervene at any time¡± Freda lowers the pressure a bit and I say. Michiko: ¡°Don¡¯t worry mom I made sure that I did not choose a to strong one and Largs even send Dern with me. Plus I asked for it myself, I need to lean to fight because I want to be able to protect you to (eyes turn red a bit) and I also have a grudge to settle with those goblins¡± Freda thinks a bit and then embraces me. We then prepared for the evening feast, once a month after the goblin extermination all the dwarves of our Karak eat together and have a party. That evening the dwarves told the others about my fight and lots of dwarves congratulated me which was kind of embarrassing. Some of the children also ask me about the fight with the goblins and ask me to tell them some story¡¯s. I like telling them stories and I can tell a lot of stories I know from my past life. The evening goes on like this but eventually I go home because I am tired of today¡¯s happenings. I go straight to bed and sleep like a rock. Year: 15-01-1708 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. Since we caught the mountain goats nothing really major has happened. Which I suppose we should be grateful about it is a dangerous world. In that time the builders have been making progress on the M area that was marked on the blueprint they have been clearing it out and they have started building some two story houses with room for a shop at the bottom floor and a home at the floor above. Building like this is quite smart because the M area is for now the only area where we can build in the rest of the cave floor is mostly very rough and we will need to smooth it out before we can build there. But building these shop and home combination gives us a temporary but very good home that we later can sell to new residents. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Blueprint: Spoiler : Blueprint of Housing level For more info on this look at Chapter 2 or in The World Some of the hunters have also started to train the Mountain goats so we can use them as mounts. I help them sometimes, while I don¡¯t really need a mount because I can fly and in my dragon form can also run very fast but still it is fun so why not. The hunter are also training the goats to fight for us and I sometimes join the training and spar against the goats I fought before. He seems to like it and I do to it¡¯s a great help for getting used to fighting in dragon form. The monthly goblin exterminations have been put on hold for a while because the goblins have been getting more cautious and they began patrolling in bigger groups. Endar and the other ¡°leaders¡± (Duregar, Bronn, Largs, Fimbur and Norgrim) have decided to suspend the goblin exterminations until the goblins have calmed down. This is a good move because if the goblin suspicions become too high they might come looking for us. right now they probably think that there is some beast in the mountains that is eating there patrols and we want to keep it that way. As for me I have been mostly experimenting with the light specs and I have found some interesting things. All the kinds of Light specs are attracted to certain things and are mostly only found in great numbers around those things. So far I probably don¡¯t know all the thing that they are attracted to but here are the things I know: ? White: candles and lanterns ? Yellow: dense material and particularly metals ? Green: water and life ? Blue: starlight and after some observation I think I could also be attached to thinking and innovation but I am not too sure. I am sure that there is a lot of blue light specs in the sky because I can see them at night. ? Grey: strangely it is attracted to me a bit I don¡¯t know why I will probably find out later. I do know that it is not only attracted to me it is also attached to certain books or ancient looking things. It also sometimes forms mist clouds that de dwarves can¡¯t see. ? Purple: it is attracted to battlefields, I saw an increase of Purple specs when we fought with goblins and is also influenced by the time of day and the time of year ? Red: excitement and heat ? Brown: can¡¯t really find a reason but around the mountain range the brown specs are mostly the same and only lessens a bit in our Karak Knowing these things are handy for multiple reasons. Firstly I can look for the things it is attracted to, to more easily absorb more light specs. Secondly I can look at the light particles and find out what is going on or if something attracting is near. Like seeing if a battle is happening nearby or the most useful thing I can look for right now is concentrations of yellow specs of light that are attracted to metals. Well that is my theory at least I am going to test it out today in the mines. Of course I have to ask permission first so I asked Endar first but he said that I should ask Duregar so I go to his place. I arrive and I see him sitting in a chair while looking over some weapons. Michiko: ¡°Hello Uncle Duregar¡± Duregar: ¡°Oh Michiko what brings you here?¡± Michiko: ¡°well I wanted to take a look in the mine and dad said that I should ask you for permission¡± Duregar: ¡°I don¡¯t really see a problem with it, if you wait for a bit I will come with you to the mine¡± I wait a bit while Duregar cleans up and we then go to the mine. While we are walking toward the mine Duregar tells me some things about it. Duregar: ¡°The mine we are working on now is mostly a strait shaft down. The shaft was also drawn on the mysterious blueprint your father found. We do not know what the shaft is for but that place is as good as any to start digging down so why not. Plus we kind of hope that there might someday be a second blueprint for further levels. Anyway for now the mine is just a strait shaft down and we have found multiple veins of ore but mostly low class ore like copper and iron, We also found some coal which is very useful. But for now we have decided to dig on deeper to try find gold or even Gromril. If we find Gromril it will secure our karak¡¯s future¡± Michiko: ¡°is Gromril really so valuable? Even more then gold?¡± We arrive at the mine and Duregar turns around. Duregar: ¡°Many times more valuable than gold mostly because of it rarity and its usage in the best armour and weapons of the entire world. Every dwarf hold that had Gromril beneath it prospered. Well whether we find it or not we will probably have to wait a while till we are at the depth where Gromril most commonly are. But enough about that before we go into the mine you need to put on this helmed so your head is protected from falling rocks it does not happen often but better safe than sorry¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay Uncle Duregar but how are we going down?¡± Duregar: ¡°Well that is easy, we build one of the planned cargo elevators and for now we are powering it with a very basic steam engine that moves the elevator and the counter weight¡± Michiko: ¡°Oh that¡¯s smart¡± I said while smiling. I did not think about how to power the elevator yet I did not think it would already be needed so I did not include that into the blueprint. I then step on the Elevator With Duregar who signals the operator to let us down. We then start to descend and I am amazed at how deep they already got. It looks like we are going down to the lowest level and I can sense concentrations of Yellow light specs here and there in the walls after a few minutes of slow controlled descent we come to a stop. I look around and I see dwarf miners who are working on ore veins and also some who are digging out blocks of stone for the buildings in the cave. An I just stand there for a while taking it in until I hear some laughing from my side I look and is see it is Duregar. Duregar: ¡°Impressive is it not? I had the same reaction when I went down in the mines for the first time. You have to visit one of the mines of the older Karak those are immense networks of mines, underground ravines and refining plants.¡± Michiko: ¡°I will certainly take a look when I get the chance¡± I said while still admiring the workmanship they displayed and the speed they were working at. Duregar then steps off and we walk down a wooden ramp and I follow Duregar till we reach a dwarf that is working at the vein of ore. It looks like they have found a vein of iron ore and it looks quite big. Duregar tapped on the shoulder of the dwarf who is wearing a helmet with something like leather earmuffs. The dwarf turns around and takes off his earmuffs, I recognise the dwarf he is called Grond he is one of the mining shift commanders. Grond: ¡°Ah Duregar come to check up on us?¡± He said with a smile, he then looks at me and says. Grond: ¡°you even brought our princess along. Did you become interested in mining Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°well I see you all going down here every day so I become curious and I then asked Duregar if he could show me¡± Duregar: ¡°that¡¯s more or less it and because I am not much of a miner I thought I would ask you to show her around¡± Grond: ¡°Okay I will I think the other miners will also find it fun to have Michiko down here to look at our work¡± Duregar: ¡°Okay I will leave her in your care¡± Duregar then left and Grond started to show me around the mining pit and I greeted the other dwarves who seemed happy I came to look at what they are doing. Grond told me about their work. He told me about a lot of things and here are just a few things. ? When they dig deeper they try as best as they can to dig out big and smooth stone blocks that can be easily used for building. ? The rock of the mountain is quite hard and they are digging quite slowly because of it but it also means that it will not easily collapse and the stone makes great building material ? While going down they have discovered multiple ore veins and coal but they have decided to dig on down for now to try and find Gromril. Of course they have not abandoned the other ore¡¯s and coal but they have made elevator stops at all of them. Those ore¡¯s will be mined when they need them or when they have more manpower. He also told me a lot about mining techniques and how they mine. I also asked him how they find ore and he told me that it was about knowing what area you are in knowing how deep you are and a lot of luck is involved too. Right now we are more or less at the base of the mountain or a bit deeper. Grond: ¡°Do you want to try it for yourself Michiko? You can pick your own spot to dig and try to find something¡± Michiko: ¡°Can I? I want to try it¡± Grond: ¡°I just told you did I not? I will give you a pickaxe and you can pick a spot if you are lucky you might even find something¡± He then walks over and grabs a small pickaxe and presents it to me. Grond: ¡°But you have to promise to be careful and tell me if you find something strange, I will also check up on you every half hour or so. But it should not be too dangerous since the rock is hard and it won¡¯t collapse as long as you don¡¯t dig too wide¡± Michiko: ¡°I promise to be careful Uncle Grond¡± He looks very happy when I say that and he gives me the pickaxe. The first thing I do is close my eyes and sense the area around me. I then sense something strange, in the rock around me there is a more or less even amount of yellow light specs but in certain areas the amount is lower than the rest and at certain spots of the edges of those area¡¯s there is a high amount of yellow light specs. this I something strange it is not something I sensed before, well if I am going to learn to mine I might as well investigate. I then go over to the wall closest to one of the areas. Michiko: ¡°This is where I will dig¡± Grond: ¡°Hmm any reason why you choose to dig there? Most of the time when we decide which direction to dig in we take a stick and dig in the direction it falls. But you seem to have a reason¡± Michiko: ¡°I just felt some strange things and the nearest is in this direction so I want to try if I can find it¡± Grond: ¡°Hmm interesting¡­.. , well I would like to help you find out but I have to get on with work anyway good luck¡± He then walks away and I turn around to the wall and I start to dig. Over the next few days I am mostly mining during the day and with Freda and Endar in the evening. Day 1: The first day I did not make much progress but a lot of the miner dwarves did came by to encourage me and to give me tips how to mine. In evening when I came home covered in dust Freda took me to the bathhouse that had been built. The women¡¯s section even had a small pool with a high fence around it filled with boiling water directly from the hot spring. The rest of the bath was filled with a bit colder water. It was fun to bathe with Freda. Day 2: I went on mining but after a while I stopped for a bit and looked at the concentration of yellow light of the wall. I saw that the concentration was not evenly distributed over the wall. I then start hitting the wall at the places where the concentration is lowest and a lot more stone falls of. Because of this I became a lot faster and the other dwarves where impressed. Day 3: I started mining with my pickaxe but after a while I transformed and I started hitting the weak spots in the wall with my claws. My claws have gotten really strong and hard which let me easily chip away at the wall. I am also stronger in my dragon form so even if I am just using my claws it has the same power as using a pickaxe in my humanoid forms. Like this I went on digging like a mole. Day 4 to 9: I have made good progress these days and the other miner dwarves are impressed that I am still going. They probably found it nice that I was interested in their work but they did not expect me to keep digging so long. That said they were well happy I am working with them and it seems it is motivating them to work harder to. They also made a few jokes about me digging my own draconic lair behind my back, but I do agree that it is funny. That said they do not really come in my tunnel because it is so small because I only dug it for myself for now because I want to see what is in that area and if it is something good for the dwarves we can just widen it up later. Day 10: I wake up and eat with Freda and Endar. I then go to the mine shaft and step on the elevator. Grond: ¡°How is it today Michiko how far do you think you will have to go according to you feeling?¡± Michiko: ¡°I think I will reach it today I am wondering wat will be there¡± Grond: ¡°I am too but whether there will be something or not we are all very proud of you that you keep going so long¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you uncle Grond but I know there will be something there¡± Grond: ¡°We will see anyway good luck¡± We then walk of the elevator and I transform, walk into my tunnel and start digging. After about two hours reach the area and I break through into a big cave. Because of my happiness I let out a roar and I can hear it echoing on and on. It seems like I found a cave system that has ore in places on the wall. I transform and I scream in the tunnel toward the dwarves. Michiko: ¡°Uncle Grond I found something come take a look and bring some lanterns with you!¡± After a while I hear ground answer Grond: ¡°What did you find?¡± Michiko: ¡°It¡¯s a surprise place come look!¡± Grond: ¡°Okay, okay I will come take a look¡± He said while laughing. After a while I hear him come through my tunnel and I can see the light come closer and close until I hear a bonk. Grond: ¡°Ouch! ha-ha Michiko could you please make your tunnels a bit bigger next time this one is kid sized and very dark how can you see in here? I don¡¯t see you use a lantern¡± Michiko: ¡°sorry for the small size but I wanted to know what was here and digging such a small tunnel is a lot faster. Also the darkness does not matter a lot to me with my dragon eyes I can see a reasonable amount in the dark. Plus I don¡¯t know what it was going to be it could have been a gas pocket so a flame was not such a good idea, while I would have probably survived you and the others would have been cooked¡± Grond: ¡°That true if not a bit scary anyway how far do I still have to go?¡± Michiko: ¡°You are about half way there¡± Grond: ¡°My goodness Michiko you dig fast I have already gone a hundred meter¡± I wait a while and Grond comes out of the tunnel. He looks around and then looks at me. Grond: ¡°My goodness Michiko you found a cave system and I can even see some ore from here. I had my doubts but it looks like your instinct was correct and it was not just your imagination¡± I then put my arms over each other and pout. Michiko: ¡°So you did not believe me¡± He then looks at me grabs me and puts his big hands on my shoulders. Grond: ¡°I am sorry for doubting you Michiko¡± We then hear some shouts coming from the tunnel. ???: ¡°Boss what did Michiko find? we are burning with curiosity here¡± Grond turn to the tunnel and screams: Grond: ¡°Michiko found a cave system, about five of you come over here and help to widen up the tunnel from here and the others start doing the same from that side, oh yea one of you has to go and warn Endar tell him to send some hunters and warrior to scout out the cave system. We need to know if it is safe and how big it is¡± The dwarfs get to work and after a while some dwarves come out of the tunnel and they start digging. Thirty minutes pass and then the first scouts, Endar, Largs and Dern arrive. Largs: ¡°You just keep surprising us don¡¯t you Michiko. I am just having a normal day and then I hear you have discovered a cave system while mining¡± He says while laughing. After a while the warriors get through the small tunnel and they then set up a perimeter with lanterns and then the scouts go into the darkness to explore the cave system. While this is happening I help the miners to build a barricade of rocks. The next few days the scouts explored the cave system and They found some animals that came in via the small natural tunnel leading to the outside and even some dangerous bears but they were able to deal with them without much difficulty. In those days the miners worked on widening the tunnel and now two dwarves can walk side by side while standing upright, humans or elves would still have problems standing upright but that is not an issue right now. Yesterday they finished the mapping of the cave system the found out that it is quite big, even bigger than I expected. Right now I am in Endar¡¯s office while he is away surveying the cave and making plans with the others. While he is away I came to his office to design the next floors blueprint and this is it: Storage/Garden level: Spoiler : Symbols meaning: Spoiler : A: Animals and grass B: Burial chambers BR: breweries of ale and beer C: Walls with tunnels and cannons E: Elevator shafts coming down from housing level F: Farmlands for grains and greens R: Recreation area S: Storage SR: Shrine T: Trees for fruits and wood T&A: Tanks and artillery storage area W: Wine makers X: still to come Extra information: Spoiler : In the large storage area on the right there are two cranes that can move storage containers to and from the middle of the road. The elevator shafts of E do not stop on this level Most of the tanks and artillery is stored on this level, smaller weapons are stored in the palace armoury The large recreation area has a large lake with a lot of fish and underwater plants The forests are of different types with most of them serving a dual purpose as a source for fruits, nuts and wood. The X area is for something that is still to come in the future. There are tunnels connecting the cave system with the outside but most of those have been hidden and blocked off. There are also a few that have hidden and had camouflaged doors installed that look just like a rock wall. For the defense of this floor it is mostly focused on isolation. The places the enemy will most likely come from are area X and the cave system. That¡¯s why the defense is mostly focused on those areas. Even if the enemy breaks through one or more of the defensive circles then the elevators will just go up and then the shaft will just be empty and the enemy can¡¯t get up or down. I then snuck out of Endar¡¯s office and went to play with the kids. The next few days there was again a commotion around the appearance of another blueprint and again there was a group that thought that it was a gift of the ancestor gods but again there was no one that knew the truth. They once again had discussion if they should use this blueprint and after discussing it they decided to use it. That said they did find the X area strange but that area is for later. Because of the plans the mines divided into two groups those who start work on the new level and the ones that kept digging down to the level Gromril will most likely be. Over that period I just helped here and there. I trained, meditated, helped the scouts, refined my mining skill and played with the kids. And like this my life continued. Chapter 4: Blessings and Ale Chapter 4: Blessings and Ale Authors notes(PLEASE READ, IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT ESPECIALLY THIS TIME): First of all I made a grievous mistake that was offending to all Dwarven women in the Warhammer universe. In chapter one I said that Freda had a beard but after some reading in the dwarven lore book I found out that it was wrong and that them having beards is just a baseless rumour made up by humans because dwarven women almost never leave the Karak. I changes the text now and once again I apologise to all dwarven women out there. Secondly: there are quite a lot of things in this chapter that are related to Warhammer lore. It is not necessary to know the lore to understand the story but it is fun to know (that is what I think Anyway) so I have placed some links here that can help you. if what you want to know is not here then please take a look at The World thread I made and if you can¡¯t find it there then you can always put your question in the comments or use Google. Lore information: Spoiler : Rune(magic/smithing): look at page 209 of Realms of sorcery or page 54 of Dwarves - Stone and Steel (loading may take a while) Anvil of Doom: for basic information click Anvil of Doom and for usage and more detailed information see page 54 of Dwarves - Stone and Steel (loading may take a while) Warhammer Warhammer old world map (for location of Dragon Peak mountain look in The World thread for the location and direct surroundings) Stoneshapers: one of the dwarven career options. It is basically a builder, designer and sculptor in one for more information see page 89 of Dwarves - Stone and Steel (loading may take a while) Dwarf Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir Chaos gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Lastly, many thanks for all your comments, it makes me feel happy and some of them ask great questions about the story that help me a lot. :D Year: 10-10-1709 (Imperial Calendar)(three year after hatching) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. It is my third birthday today and since the time I made the second blueprint the dwarves have really worked hard. They first closed of the entrances to the cave system to make sure no random animal or goblin can wander in. they then placed illumination crystals in parts of the cave system. They can¡¯t place crystals everywhere yet since they don¡¯t have enough of them and those crystals are also expensive. While the crystals are mostly for the spreading, focusing and coloring of the light that comes from the rune of light that is inscribed on it. These rune¡¯s are what makes them so expensive while any apprentice rune smith like Duregar (if he had access to an Anvil of Doom) can make them they are still permanent rune¡¯s and making those cost a lot of time and effort. While we can find some crystals here and there those are not suitable because of the low quality. They need to be shaped by an apprentice jeweller and then most of the time something is added to change its colour that the crystal already has. In the end it just means that you end up with an expensive but well-made product. While they will probably light up more in the future when they have had the chance and the money to buy more crystals for now they have lit up the central Shrine, one of the smaller farm areas, one of the smaller animal holding areas, a part of the central recreation area and one of the brewery areas. Most of those areas are very logical and I had predicted that they would do those first. The farm and animal area for food production, part of the recreation area for fishing in the lake and even the shrine I had predicted to be done first since food is essential and the shrine is kind of necessary since gods are real in the world. But I really underestimated the love that dwarves have for ale and beer. When they were voting for what areas to do first almost all of them immediately said that they wanted a brewery. Well it does not really matter since they do set priorities and they only started building the brewery when the more important things were finished. In that time I did multiple things. I helped out the miners by finding ore veins and digging. They told me they really appreciated my help because finding an ore vein is a lot easier now and I also did very fast. Grond also gave me some dwarven coins for the starting of my dragon hoard he joked but he told me that I can¡¯t really use them since we don¡¯t use money right now because everyone helps everyone. But he also told me that when I go to another Karak in the future that I should spend it on something fun. It was nice of him to give me that. I think I will buy some interesting books when I get the chance. I went with the dwarves on goblin extermination missions after we started again. And it looks like it is working since it is becoming harder to find strong goblins. Of course we can¡¯t go and attack them. Their numbers are just far too big for us right now and it is likely that there are still a lot of strong goblins in the crag (goblin hold). But still we can see that we are making a difference and that is good. I also helped the hunters by spotting prey and warning them or diving down myself and grabbing with a prey my claws and biting its neck and giving it a quick death. It was pretty bloody and I am happy that the dwarves smiled at me and congratulated me instead of looking disgusted by it. They also started teaching me how to use crossbows, knives, how to sneak, scout and survive in the wild. They told me that even while I am a dragon those skills would never be bad to have. The archery lessons where pretty interesting because, while I know how to use one from my previous life, it was more just knowledge and it was not something I would regularly do. We did have laser and plasma rifles after all. But I do have an huge advantage, using my special mind I will never lose a skill and it will never get ¡°rusty¡± due to long periods of not using it. I did upgrade the dwarven crossbows using the knowledge of my previous life. I made a compound crossbow, which is heavier than their old crossbows. The extra weight doesn¡¯t really matter to the are dwarves, but the compound crossbow¡¯s stopping power increased a lot. At first they were a bit sceptical about the new bow but after a long time spend convincing them and showing the capability¡¯s and even having a small contest between the old and the new crossbow they gave in. I did ask around a bit and it seems like dwarves are most of the time not such fans of innovations and that most inventions go through hundreds of years of testing. I was kind of surprised by this actually and it seems like they only accepted the compound crossbow because they trust me and the overwhelming evidence. I will have to work on this with them and I have to slowly start changing their mind set. Because this will certainly not be the last invention I will make and some of the bigger stuff will give them a heart attack if they keep being so rugged in their thinking. Anyway back to the archery lessons. while training I combined the techniques from my previous life and the techniques from the hunters and I became a pretty decent shot the only thing I can do for now to get better is keep doing it. While I was training with the hunters some of the warriors also came to look. when I finished my basic hunter/scout training I was almost immediately taken by them and they asked me if I wanted to learn how to use a sword, spear and an axe. It seemed like they did not want to be outdone by the hunters and that they also wanted to teach me. It went more or less the same as with the crossbow, I combined the techniques of the dwarves with the knowledge of the of my previous life and I became a decent warrior. I am now more or less around apprentice level at knifes, sword and axe fighting and high apprentice level at crossbow and spear fighting. As for guns and cannons I have not had the chance to train with them. While dwarves do use gunpowder weapons a lot they are very loud and can be heard for a long distance and that would draw a lot of attention from. Secondly gunpowder is precious right now we only have a limited amount of it and we can¡¯t afford to waste it. Freda, Endar and I also moved to a newly built house. It was one of the first houses built around the central plaza of the Karak and it a normal store on the bottom floor. it extend back a lot to save room at the front so we can built more shops around the central plaza. Like most dwarven family homes it was quite big. The reason for that is that for every one female dwarf there are three male dwarfs born. And while most male dwarves never marry there are also a lot of cases where one dwarven women marries with three male dwarves. Especially in the case of them being miners or warrior when there is a large chance of dying. The low amount of female dwarves also makes it so that most of them never leave there Karak. Which is also a large part of the reason why humans think that female dwarves also have beards and that they just can¡¯t see the difference. which is a baseless rumour made up by the humans and also a big insult. Anyway back to our new home. When we moved I also got my own bedroom. while I miss not sleeping with Freda and Endar it was probably for the better since I was getting too big. Right now I am around the size of a pony in my dragon form and that would mean I would take up more than half the bed. And now I have my own bed that is round where I can lie down while I am comfortably curled up. Well my size was the reason they gave me I also suspect that I was interfering with their nightly business. While being so big is normally not much of a problem for a dragon seeing they live in giant caves it would probably not bother them very much. but for me it is kind of a problem because I want to be able to live with the dwarves and while I can just stay in dwarf of half dragon form all the time it just feels weird. I am just more comfortable in my dragon form so I sated to look for a solution. I started experimenting with my transformation ability again and after a while of trying differed things I found a way I could transform into my younger form but I still can¡¯t transform into a form that is older than me. After some time I also found out that my body still keeps growing so the limit on my transformation age still keeps rising even if I am in a younger form. I am very happy about this ability since I do not have to worry about how big I get and I can still be comfortable even in the Karak. Well that was the long list of things I did and I probably still missed a few things but I think I got all of the important things back to today. Today is an important day for me since today the ritual of Naunsdeg will be done. This is normally done on the day of birth or a few days after but we did not have the shrines to the ancestors done then so it was postponed. The past few months a lot of the mines and masons under the supervision of one of the few Stoneshapers we have, have worked on the temples inside the shrine area in the cave system. It has become very beautiful dwarven stonework is really a sight to behold. And today we will do the ceremony, me and a two other children that where born during the past few years will all participate in the Naunsdeg ceremony Right now I am getting ready for the ceremony with Freda who is doing my hair. I am wearing my cloak but one of the dwarves that specialises in fabrics has made some patterns in it to make it more appropriate for the occasion. It still is a cloak made from soft leather for strength but it now has some beautiful patterns in it. Most of the patterns are around the bottom and in the middle of my chest a logo of a black and a white dragon forming a yin yang symbol. They don¡¯t know that symbol but I requested I requited it since it is kind of appropriate for me, seeing I am normally white but I can also turn black when angered. Enough about that, when is done with my hair we make our way downstairs and we join the other dwarves that are waiting in the central area. Where we wait for a while for the others to get ready. When everyone has gathered, we start to walk toward the elevator and go down the shaft using the elevator. When the elevator stops we have arrived at the hallway to the cave system, it is not entirely dug out yet but it is already quite wide. We then walk into the cave system over the illuminated pathways and we make our way to the shrine area. When we arrive at the shrine area the group splits between the male and female dwarves. the two others that are undergoing the Naunsdeg ritual and me go to the temple of Grungni with the male dwarves while the female dwarves wait outside. When I go inside while holding hands with Endar, I feel something in the temple. It feels like we are being watched and I also sense a strange kind of chaos energy circling around, well calling it chaos energy is kind of correct but it also feels very differed at the same time. It circulates around in the temple and around the dwarves. It also comes to me and circles around me and it keeps going around me as if intensely observing me. After a while it returns to its regular course going around the temple. Endar squeezes my hand and we then start to walk toward the altar while we are followed by the other two children with their fathers. When we are on the altar Endar walks in front of us and then faces the crowd and starts to talk. Endar: ¡°We have gathered here today under the gaze of our ancestor Grungni to record the births of the first born children in our new Karak and clan, to request the blessing of our ancestor so they may become strong and live a long and happy life. Fimbur please come forth with the book of names¡± Fimbur then approaches the altar with a massive book and puts it down on a big bookrest on. He then opens it. The book has pages made of gold that has been made as flat as parchment. I can immediately see that the book has been made to last since while dwarves normally write on parchments, the most important texts that they want to be able to preserve for centuries are printed on gold since it does not rot or rust. normally on Lore masters use it a lot to record history and knowledge and other dwarves rarely use it. The reason that Fimbur brought it on stage is actually since he has been appointed Loremaster since he was the oldest and most knowledgeable of all of dwarves that live here. Anyway back to the ceremony, Endar motions me forward and then start to speak again. Endar: ¡°First born in our Karak was Michiko, Great ancestor god Grungni please bless her so she may become strong and live a happy and long life¡± I then feel same presence and energy circle around me and then I hear a commanding and strong voice speak to me. ???1: ¡°I will speak to you later and then I will decide if you deserve my blessing but for now stay quiet!¡± The voice speak with a power that is comparable if not a bit lower as that off Tzeentch that makes me feel like I cannot refuse. It is most likely Grungni seeing it is his temple. The reason why he spoke to me is most likely because of my relation to Tzeentch one of the chaos gods who all are more or less a direct enemy of almost all the other gods including the dwarven ancestor gods. It can also be that it is because I am a dragon but that is less likely The presence then leaves and the energy retunes to the temple. After that my name, birthday and gender is then noted down in the book by Fimbur together with some information about me. The process is then repeated with the other two children and it mostly goes the same except for the blessing part and the energy that swirls around them leaves behind part of it which fuses with the energy already in them. after it is done we go back outside and we join with the women and girls again. And now the second part of the ceremony begins and I and the other two children go with the female dwarves to the temple of Valaya. The atmosphere is also very different a lot more joyful and a lot less serious. When we walk inside the temple I can feel another different presence and I can also see an energy flowing around. but the presence and energy feels a lot more peaceful and like the other one it also stops on me for a while before moving on. I them move to the altar with the other dwarves. On the altar there is a big burning homily looking hearth which is Valaya¡¯s hearth. Which is appropriate since she is the ancestor god of Home and Healing. When we are on the altar the ceremony begins one of the female dwarves picks me up to hand me to Freda trough the smoke of Valaya¡¯s hearth which is how I should get the blessing. But when I am in the smoke it becomes dark and I reappear somewhere else. I immediately feel an incredible pressure and I fall to my knees while supporting myself with my arms. While I struggle to get up and see what is going on I can feel my mussels getting damaged and my internal organs feel like they are getting crunched. I then cough up blood and fall to the ground. I then hear an angry female voice. ???2: ¡°Stop that Grimnir! You are killing her!¡± Grimnir: ¡°Why would that be bad Valaya. You can also feel it has been touched by the filth of chaos!¡± Valaya(???2): ¡°Yes I can, but I have also been observing her for the past few years and I said we should hear her out before we decide what to do¡± ???1: ¡°Valaya is right Grimnir, this is a situation we have never encountered before we should at least try to talk and after that we can still decide if we should kill her or not¡± Grimnir: ¡°Tch.. okay we will hear it out for now, but if it tries to attack I will kill it immediately¡± I feel the pressure lighten and I slowly get up. I then check my body and feel that it is a mess and I send refined chaos energy trough my body to repair the damage. I then wipe the blood of my mouth with my right arm and then look around. What I see shocks me. I am on an island covered with grass and has a few buildings and looks like it is flying in the air surrounded by blue sky and white clouds. But the flying island is not what shocks me the most but the fact that the entire dwarven pantheon is in front of me does. I see Grungni: god of mining and smiths - husband of Valaya, Valaya: goddess of healing and protection, Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god - brother of Grungni, Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead, Smednir: Shaper of Ore - son of Grungni, Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths - younger brother of Smednir, Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers - son of Grimnir. While I am frozen in shock Valaya laughs a bit and then speaks. Valaya: ¡°Sorry for the rough treatment child but Grimnir despised chaos energy of the chaos gods. And to be hones he has good reasons too, but you seem different then the champions of the chaos gods and you are also not a corrupted being so we are kind of at a loss what to do with you¡± Michiko: ¡°Do not worry about it goddess Valaya, to be honest I have a very high pain threshold do to some of the training and experimentation I did with my ability¡¯s. I do not want to be rude but before we talk I would like to ask a question¡± I look at them and Grungni nods Michiko: ¡°can any of you read my mind or soul, or do any of you have the ability to detect lies? If so I can just tell my story right¡± Grungni(???2): ¡°well we have the ability to read your soul but that would probably kill you but we also have the ability to detect any lies. You seem very strait forward, not at all like submissive or grovelling¡± If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Michiko: ¡°Well I always try to be polite no matter who I talk to and I think it would be bad if I try to change myself for a person. I think that, that is bad and dishonest and especially in this kind of situation where I am going to be judged by gods who can look right through me I would be counterproductive. The only reason why I am speaking different now than with Freda and the other dwarves is the situation I am in right now. This I who I am, this is what I want to be¡± Valaya: ¡°Pff-hahahaha¡­. You are very no nonsense are you?¡± Valaya said with a big smile while the other dwarfs (gods) where looking at her as if she went a bit crazy. Valaya: ¡°well one way or the other sitting on the ground is not very comfortable come with me we will go and sit somewhere¡± Valaya then starts to walk and I do a quick check my body. The most important parts are repaired but it looks like some of the energy channels have been damaged, that will take a lot of refined chaos energy and time to repair. I then start the absorption of chaos energy and begin converting it in my core and start sending it around my body. after the few seconds that it took me to start the healing I look up and see Grungni looking at me. Grungni: ¡°Interesting¡± He says one word and then starts to follow Valaya. I stand up and follow behind them with Grimnir behind me and watching me. After a while we reach a table with some chairs around it and a small building at the side of it. Valaya sits down and so do the others and I sit down between Valaya and Grimnir. Grungni: ¡°Now you have the chance to tell us you story, my son Thungni inscribed a rune on this table that detects leis and will glow red when you do¡± Michiko: ¡°So runes can do that to that¡¯s handy¡± Thungni: ¡°Yes I am quite proud of this one it took me a lot of research and testing¡± Thungni says clearly proud of his rune. Michiko: ¡°Thungni do you work together a lot with you brother Morgrim? I think you could make a lot of interesting things¡± Thungni: ¡°Ah yes the last few years we have been working on an interesting project right Morgrim?¡± Morgrim: ¡°Yes we have been working on an artificial mind that can do calculations and do certain Assignments¡± Michiko: ¡°Oh you are making a basic computer¡± Morgrim: ¡°Computer what is that?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well what you just described is basically a computer, computer is just the word for it I have worked with them before. How does your devise work?¡± We then start to talk about computers and we discuss. And I ask questions about how to intergrade runes in computers and I also give them some ideas. During our talk Smednir also joins in when we start taking about what materials to use. Ahh it has been so long since I have talked with fellow researchers/inventors. After a minute or two a fist hits the table and we snap out of it and I look around the table Grimnir standing with his fist on the table looking mad, while Valaya seem to have trouble to hold in her laughter, Gazul just looks like he is contemplating something and Grungni calm but a but inpatient. Grimnir: ¡°What are you doing giving precious information to a potential enemy!¡± Thungni: ¡°That should be the other way around uncle Grimnir, the short talk we just had advanced our research by months if not years. While if my estimation of Miss Michiko is correct she would probably be able to figure out what we came up with in a month. And I also think she is no allied with the chaos gods since if they had this kind of knowledge they would have beaten us long ago, you two agree right Morgrim, Smednir?¡± Morgrim: ¡°Yes¡± Smednir: ¡°It¡¯s true¡± Grimnir then becomes quiet and sits back down and crosses his arms while Valaya is still trying to hold in her laughter and then Grungni clears his throat and we look at him. Grimnir: ¡°we will decide if she can be trusted after we have listened to her story¡± I then begin telling my story well at least the important parts and they all listen quietly while I talk. After about half an hour I¡¯m done and I look around. after the talk Grimnir does not look so hostile to me anymore but still a bit suspicions. Thungni, Morgrim and Smednir look very interested and like they want to ask a lot of questions. Gazul still looks like he is contemplating something. Valaya looks at me with a smile and Grimnir looks like he is thinking. Grimnir: ¡°So to summarize, you were a researcher in another universe most likely and you and your collages repaired and opened a chaos portal. Then Tzeentch came out and he took you with him because he found you interesting, wanted you to bring change because that¡¯s how his power increases and to get entertainment. Then he reincarnated you in a dragon because you think dragons are cool and requested it. He then put you in a dragon egg that did not hatch because of insufficient heat. A long time later you were found by the dwarves who made you hatch and you have been living with them and helping them in secret and in the open because you feel kinship with them?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes that is more or less it¡± Grimnir: ¡°that is so unbelievable I would just have laughed it of if it was not for lie detection rune on the table¡± Valaya: ¡°well that was quite the story and while I would really like to ask more question I think it would be appropriate to get a drink first wait here a bit¡± Valaya walks away and I talk some more with Thungni, Morgrim and Smednir. After a while Valaya returns with tankards of ale, I kind of was expecting tea but they are dwarves so this is kind of logical. She puts one down in front of me and from my point of view it looks huge. Imagine a three year old sitting on a high chair with a dwarven size tankard of ale in front of her. After everyone has a tankard we do a silent toast and while holding it with both hands I put it at my mouth and drink a few gulp. It looks like Valaya has given me an kind of ale without alcohol. I look at Valaya and she winks, I then nod my head in gratitude. But it being without alcohol does not take away from the taste, it is still made by a goddess literally and the goddess of brewing at that. I must remember to ask her for some brewing tips later and thank her for the alcohol free ale since a three year old would probably become very drunk. I put my tankard back down and start to talk. Michiko: ¡°Before we go on where we where I would like to ask a question first. Why is it that everyone says that Tzeentch is such a bad person? Yes he, she or it did take me away from my old life but that does not make Tzeentch totally evil only selfish and Tzeentch told me I would like it here and he, she or it did not lie. So I am having the feeling that I am missing something¡± Valaya: ¡°Yes you are right. Let¡¯s just say Tzeentch is kind of special compared to the other chaos gods. You see since¡­ I will just call him male for now, since he is the god of change he himself is more or less the embodiment of change itself. Which means he himself also changes a lot and not only his body changes, his personally does too. So sometimes he is your best friend and other times he is your worst enemy¡± Michiko: ¡°Mmm that would make sense but I then still don¡¯t understand why he is always depicted evil in all the books I read and all the dwarves also said the same¡± Valaya: ¡°Yes we also don¡¯t totally understand why he is always evil in the physical world. But we suspect that the other chaos gods have found a way they can influence or restrict his change in physical world. And that they can¡¯t do it when he is in his own realm where he is too powerful for them to influence¡± Michiko: ¡°Mmm yes that would be logical. I don¡¯t want to be rude but how much can all of you influence the physical world actually? I mean you were first living in the physical world and leading the dwarves and fighting against the first chaos invasion but now you have almost no connection to the physical world¡± Grimnir: ¡°Yes that¡¯s true back then we were fighting chaos forces directly and it was a war of epic proportions but one day we saw that it would go wrong if it went on like this. It was the I day met Khorne the chaos god of hate, rage and bloodshed while I was traveling to the chaos gates to try and close them¡± Grimnir takes a deep breath and looks at me with a serious gaze Grimnir: ¡°The moment we saw one another we both attack trying to get the first hit. When we were fighting I realised I was weaker then him but we were still fighting on even ground because I honestly did not care if I died only killing my opponent mattered to me. We fought for two days until we both stopped for a bit to catch our breath and we looked around. What we saw was complete destruction, the area we had fought was turned into a desolate wasteland, there where large cracks in the earth and we could still feel the aftershocks of earthquakes. We both understood that we could not continue fighting because after our fight there would not be much left or the world we were fighting over¡± Valaya: ¡°you see Michiko the chaos gods do not want to destroy the world because it is there source of power. Even if by some chance one of the gods would go insane and try to destroy the world we can count on them to help to stop it. And so we together with all the other gods made a pact, we sealed a large part of the influence of the gods of from the world. And this seal can only be broken when all of us agree to do so¡± Michiko: ¡°Wow¡­¡­.. I¡¯m kind of left speechless by that¡± Valaya face goes back from serious to a smile Valaya: ¡°don¡¯t think about it too much, that happened thousands of years ago. I¡¯m more interested in what you are planning to do¡± Michiko: ¡°I would like to tell you but before that¡­.¡± Valaya turns her head a bit while I am moving my legs uncomfortably Valaya: ¡°Hmm¡­. Oh come with me for a bit¡± Thungni: ¡°What is it mother?¡± Valaya: ¡°Don¡¯t ask we will be back in just a bit, come on Michiko¡± She grabs my hand and pulls me with her and we walk towards one of the buildings and when we are out of hearing range she speaks. Valaya: ¡°It¡¯s nice to see that under that tough front you put up there is still the cute little girl that I have seen so many times while looking down at you and your family. The same cute girl that is afraid to say that she has to go to the toilet¡± She says with a sweet but also a bit of a teasing smile. Michiko: ¡°Muu but it is already embarrassing to say so in front of regular people and saying it in front of gods I would explode out of shame¡± Valaya: ¡°Hahaha I love that you are saying that while you are totally naked under your cloak or have you forgotten¡± I become totally red and look at her. Michiko: ¡°Do the others know?¡± Valaya: ¡°Don¡¯t worry I only know because I am the one that has been observing you all this time¡± I calm down and after a minute we arrive at the building and I look around a bit as we enter. the building has a very homely feeling, it makes you feel at peace and protected. Valaya leads me to the toilet to answer to do my business. When I am done I get out and meet Valaya. Valaya: ¡°Done?¡± Michiko: ¡°yes¡± We then walk toward the door and I look around a bit more Valaya: ¡°Do you like my home?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well it has a very warm homely feeling the only thing I can say it is to be expected of the home of a goddess of Home and Healing¡± Valaya smiles and then speaks. Valaya: ¡°Well thank you little miss dragon¡± We talk a bit more until we arrive at the table and we sit down again. Grungni: ¡°Well beginning where we, while we believe that you are not allied with the chaos gods we would still like to know what you are planning to do. You are after all a very special being¡± Michiko: ¡°For now I am planning on helping the dwarves establish themselves and securing their safety. Personally I will try to get stronger and find more information about magic/chaos energy and other things. After that I would like to help the dwarves take care of goblins¡­. they still have a blood debt to pay¡± While I said this my eyes turned red and my white hair became black for a few seconds. Grungni put his hand on his weapon for a bit but Valaya gestured him to calm down and when I returned to normal he put his hand down. Grungni: ¡°Well that is good, but make sure not to lose yourself in your hatred of them¡± Michiko: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will not be blinded by my hatred. I cannot forgive them for what they¡¯ve done, but until I have the strength to make them pay, I will live my life as best as I can¡± Michiko: ¡°I was also planning to introduce some new inventions and techniques but that will most likely be very hard since the dwarves are very conservative when it comes to innovation¡± Morgrim: ¡°it¡¯s true while we all know resources are precious that does not mean that you should not spend some to innovate. And they should not stop because of one failed experiment failure is the mother of success but since the goblin wars and the end of the golden age they have almost stopped any new innovation and have been on an almost standstill technology wise in the last few millennia¡± Michiko: ¡°So I understand it correctly that you have no problem with me bringing some new things in in the world?¡± Morgrim: ¡°Of course not! That is exactly what I want! But you might have some trouble convincing the dwarves themselves. We are a stubborn race which can be a virtue as well as a curse¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes that is true, I can probably convince the dwarves of my Karak but to convince the others I will need a major achievement and proof that my invention work and are reliable¡± Morgrim: ¡°that is most likely the case and you have another problem since you are not a dwarf they will most likely not trust you¡± Michiko: ¡°Well I had an idea how to solve that. I may sound a bit selfish but Valaya can you give me a blessing? It does not have to be anything that grant me power but just something that I can activate and shows your sign and shows that you accept me. That should help a lot and you can probably also use it to observe me so it is a double sided deal¡± Valaya: ¡°Of course I was planning to propose it myself but you beat me to it¡± She said while smiling Michiko: ¡°Okay that leaves only one thing. Thungni it is true that only your father, you and your decedents can inscribe runes right?¡± Thungni: ¡°It is kind of unfortunate but yes and that also means you can probably not do it yourself¡± Michiko: ¡°Well not necessarily, you see I think it has to do with special kind of gene that influences the chaos energy that flows through your body and makes it so that you can use it to inscribe runes¡± Thungni: ¡°Yes that could be true while I don¡¯t really understand what you mean with genes. It is true that it could be a special trait that my descendants inherited from me but how would this help you?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well in my universe I learned a lot about genes and DNA and I know a lot about them you probably don¡¯t understand that since the technology level is lower in this world but to make it simple: DNA is something that carries the traits of the person it came from and when a baby is born it has a combination of the trait of its parents. So if I can isolate the part of the DNA that contains the trait of rune inscription I could probably use it myself. But I have a problem, over generations the trait becomes deluded and weaker so¡­¡± Thungni: ¡°You need get the DNA from a close as you can from the original source. And you can use that to compare it to the rune smiths of today! That¡¯s genius you are amazing!¡± Michiko: ¡°Nonono I¡¯m not the one who discovered DNA and genes I am just using the knowledge gained over the century¡¯s¡± Thungni: ¡°But still you are very smart. Anyway what do you need me to do to give you some of my DNA¡± Michiko: ¡°A drop of blood is the easiest and cleanest way¡± Thungni takes a small knife out a sheath and makes a cut in his hand and a drop falls in my hand. I close my eyes and absorb it and start analysing it through the manipulation of my body and the use of refined chaos energy. After five minutes I open my eyes again and see Thungni. Thungni: ¡°Did it work?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well just now I only extracted the DNA and recorded it in my mind cross-referencing the DNA and finding the right sequence will take a while it should be done in a week if I am lucky and a month if I am unlucky¡± Valaya: ¡°Was that all? I have been speeding up the time in here but if Michiko stays here for much longer then the dwarves will become worried¡± Grungni: ¡®One thing I first give her my standard blessing I give all dwarves. I did promises I would if I found you worthy and I think you have more than proven yourself. Do you all agree too?¡± All of them except for Grimnir and Valaya give me there blessing and I feel power flow into me and I feel it strengthening my body and mind. It is not by a huge amount but it is certainly not nothing either. Everyone looks at Grimnir who is looking down and then looks at me and speaks. Grimnir: ¡°I must apologise, I misjudged you. I will give you a higher level blessing that will help you on your path¡± He waves his hand and I feel a special power flow into me and I can feel that it increases my dexterity and my reaction time. I bow to him and he waves it away. I then follow Valaya who motions me to come and then I follow her. When we are out of earshot Valaya speaks. Valaya: ¡°Grungni is not such a bad person he has just been hardened by the many battles he has fought and the many comrades he has lost. But he also recognises when he is wrong and he will try to apologise as best he can when he does¡± Michiko: ¡°I know I have met a lot of people in my past life especially. I might be quite young compared to you but when Tzeentch took me I was already around two hundred years old. I have seen a lot in that time¡± Valaya: ¡°Well I kind of suspected that already. The look you have in your eyes when you are staring into the distance¡­ it is not something that you get in a few decades life¡± Michiko: ¡°Oh you were watching me, yes I suppose I do that sometimes when I think back to my past life. When I came to this new planet it is not like I did not leave any friends.(sad look to smile) But what is done is done they will move on and I will move on¡­ maybe when I can I will send a postcard someday¡± Valaya: ¡°Well back to the present, The blessing I will give you allows me to see where you are and what you are doing to a degree at least. A high amount of chaos energy will interfere with the connection, we will have to find a solution for that when or if you plan to enter the chaos wastes near the poles. My symbol will appear on the back of your right hand and you can hide it when you want to¡± Michiko: ¡°That is good, I won¡¯t have to cover my hand if I want to hide my identity¡± Valaya: ¡°Oh and one last thing, when you activate your symbol in my temple you can talk to me and I can then even transport your consciousness to my realm so we can have a drink together. But you must be careful since while you are here your body will be in a sleep like state in the physical world and if your body or consciousness is harmed you can still die. So you must make sure that your body is safe when you come by¡± Michiko: ¡°Oh I will be sure to come and visit you every once in a while, I would still like to ask some brewing tips on how to make such good ale¡± Valaya: ¡°Sure I will help you as best I can and maybe you can give my some ideas to with the knowledge of you past life¡± Michiko: ¡°Agreed¡± While we were walking we arrived at the place I first arrived at. I go and stand in the middle and look at Valaya. Valaya: ¡°When you wake up in the physical world only a few minutes should have past¡± Michiko: ¡°okay thank you¡± She smiled and then stated to send me away Valaya: ¡°Come back soon!¡± With a flash my consciousness is transported to the physical world and when I open my eyes I see I am in Freda¡¯s arms who looking at me with worried eyes. Freda: ¡°Michiko your awake! I was so worried. What happened?¡± Michiko: ¡°well in the smoke I closed my eyes and when I opened them I was in a different place. I saw a pretty dwarf lady and we spoke for a bit and she then gave me this¡± I activated the symbol on my hand and immediately there was a commotion, a lot of the dwarves where surprised and happy. Then one of the dwarven lady that was handing me to Freda trough the smoke shouted for silence and after a while it became quiet. Freda: ¡°What did she say to you Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°Hmm¡­ I can¡¯t remember, I only remember that she felt very warm and safe¡± After that there was some disappointment but still everyone was very happy after that we quickly finished the ceremony and we then went outside. When we met Endar he was also very happy and he hugged me. He then got on a rock and got everyone attention. Endar: ¡°We don¡¯t know what this blessing exactly means but we can be sure of one thing and that is that the goddess accepts Michiko as one of us dwarves. This is of course a very happy thing but we must keep it quiet for now because there are enemy¡¯s in this world that would try to kill Michiko because of this blessing. so for now we need to keep it a secret at least until Michiko is strong enough that she can defend herself. But still this is something very good so for tonight we will have a feast not only because of Naunsdeg but to celebrate the acceptance of Michiko by our goddess!¡± After that there was cheering and we went back to home. that evening there was a big party and feast. I was carried around a lot by Endar and I also danced a with Freda. But after an hour I went home, hung my cloak in the closet, transformed to my dragon form, laid down on my bed and slept like a rock. Chapter 5: Runes and Traveling Chapter 5: Runes and Traveling Authors notes: Sorry for not uploading a chapter last week. I was on vacation and only arrived back home late yesterday evening so I did not have the time to upload/write a chapter, I hope you all will forgive me. Anyways here is another chapter of The White Dragon so please enjoy. Many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 21-02-1710 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. Since the Naunsdeg ceremony about 4 months have passed. My life went on more or less like normal. The only big thing was the cross-referencing of the DNA I got from Thungni. When I first started I took some DNA of multiple dwarfs that did not have the ability of Rune inscription. I then compared the DNA between them and looked which DNA sequences were most common. I then used that list to remove a lot of the possible sequences, which helped a lot but I also had to be careful that I did not exclude the right sequence since some of them might have it to but the trait was never activated. After I made the list of sequences a lot smaller, I started to compare between the DNA I got from Thungni and the DNA I got form Duregar. After comparing the list I found multiple sequences that matched. I then started to look at what those specific sequences do by themselves and also while working together. This part actually took the most time since this was very fine and precise work and I had to find new ways to test them out. After I found the sequences that where needed I began trying to find out how the trait made a runesmith able to inscribe runes worked. I found out that the dwarven runesmiths were able to manipulate chaos energy but in a very different way as I do it. They can¡¯t really use the chaos energy but they can guide it into something and then seal it in there in a way that creates a rune. That is also why ¡°normal¡± magic/chaos energy users cannot use these techniques since they can¡¯t bind like the runesmiths can. After I found out how it worked I knew I had a problem since I had to combine the normal manipulation method and the manipulation method the runesmiths use. That means I had to develop an entirely new manipulation method so I can use both. After a few weeks I found a way to do it, but to do it I have to change my body and my mind at the same time. This was needed since I have discovered that the mind influences the workings of the body and the body also influences the mind. Well mind, it would be more correct to say soul because in this world at they are very much the same. the soul resides in the mind and the mind is the soul, well it probably makes no sense to say it like that but that is how it feels like to me. But this raised some questions because if the soul influences the body would that not mean if a person is reincarnated that person should at least be able to retain a part of his or her powers. But that does not seem to be the case. I also talked to Valaya about it and while she is not the dwarven god of death she did tell me that they also have no idea what happens to souls when people normally die. But they do make sure as well as they can the souls go where they normally go since they can¡¯t stay in this world indefinitely. It would also be very dangerous for them since they can be used in dark magic or by demons, so Gazul has made it his duty to guide they souls of the dead to the next face of their journey. I saw that thinking about this was futile since I could not find out no matter how hard I try. Because whether souls go to heaven, hell, nothingness, gets eaten, is reincarnated with it memory¡¯s erased or just simply gets erased. I don¡¯t know and I probably will not know until the day I die. Well back to today. I have prepared and tested as much as I could and I am now very sure I can do it. I go out the karak¡¯s gate and I fly to the top of the mountain where the dragon cave is to start the procedure. When I have laid down in the cave I start and at the same time I begin making small changes in my body and mind. Over the course of an hour I slowly make the changes to make sure nothing goes wrong. When I am done I check if the changes worked the way I want them to. After about ten minutes I can¡¯t find anything wrong so I test it out. I manipulate the chaos energy and I send it into one of my claw nails and I make a scratch on the ground. I look at it and see that it looks the same as a normal unempowered rune. For now I can inscribe the rune that would later be filled with chaos energy during the empowering proses. I do not know how to empower a rune yet and I also do not know how to bind the chaos energy so it does not dissipate. I will need to ask Duregar to teach me how to do that. But first I need to make sure that the changes in my body and mind are stable and if there are no problems I have overlooked. After a bit more testing I leave the cave and fly out to hunt something for the dinner tonight. Year: 25-03-1710 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. The past month I have mostly checked if there are no side effects in reaction to the changes I made in myself. I found some small things but nothing dangerous only some annoying things that I easily fixed. Now after this month I decided it was time to ask Duregar to teach me basic runesmithing. Of course it would be really weird normally impossible even if a dragon that with certainty not one of Thungni¡¯s decedents has the ability to inscribe runes. So I have to take this very carefully and create the illusion that it has something to do with my blessing even if it is the blessing of Valaya and not the blessing of Thungni. I walk to Duregar¡¯s home and smithy during the time when he normally takes his lunch break. I knock on the door and wait for an answer. Duregar: ¡°Come in¡± Michiko: ¡°Hello uncle Duregar¡± Duregar: ¡°Ah Michiko how are you doing?¡± Michiko: ¡°Good, I wanted to show you something I discovered and I was wondering what it can do¡± Duregar: ¡°Okay, but why come to me and not just ask Endar?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well I see you doing it a lot so I thought you might know more about it¡± His eyebrow goes up and he says Duregar: ¡°Okay show me¡± I take a stone in my left hand and then transform my right hand into a dragon claw. I guide the chaos energy into my claw and make a scratch in the stone. Duregar¡¯s eyes go wide and he stands there for a few seconds, he then grabs the stone and runs to his desk. He puts the stone on top of it then rummages through the papers and other objects on his desk and after a while he takes out a loupe. He then starts to study the scratch intensively. I then walk to his desk, stand beside him and ask. Michiko: ¡°What is it uncle Duregar?¡± Duregar sighs and then turns to me. Duregar: ¡°Michiko do you know what it was that you just did!¡± Michiko: ¡°Hmm?, I just copied what you do when you are writing on the weapons?¡± I say as if I do not know what he means with a questioning look on my face. Duregar: ¡°(sigh) what you just did was a very basic rune inscription. which should be impossible for anyone but the descendants of Thungni and seeing you are not a dwarf that would be impossible¡± Michiko: ¡°Why is that only his descendants can use it and why can I use it then?¡± Duregar sighs again and he thinks for a bit. Duregar: ¡°For the first question, well nobody knows that answer to that even the great ancestor Thungni himself did not know that. As for your second question, It could be that Thungni has found a way to bless someone and give that person that ability and that he gave it to you at the request of great ancestor Valaya or that he just decided to give it to you himself¡± He puts his hand on his beard and strokes it while he thinks and after a while he speaks again. Duregar: ¡°Well one way or the other we better call Endar and Freda before we continue our conversation¡± I then go to find Freda while Duregar gets Endar and we gather in Duregar¡¯s smithy again. When we sit at the a table Endar starts the conversation. Endar: ¡°So what is it that you want to show me?¡± Duregar: ¡°Well look at this¡± He puts a small metal plate in front of me Duregar: ¡°Michiko show them what you showed me¡± I scratch it with my claw and make a very simple runic inscription. Endar¡¯s eyes go wide, he looks at me and then at Duregar. Endar: ¡°Is this?¡± Duregar: ¡°Yes it is runic inscription¡± Endar: ¡°But how is that possible?¡± Duregar: ¡°I don¡¯t know maybe it has something to do with the blessing or maybe it has something to do with her being a variant dragon. I just don¡¯t know¡± Endar looks at Duregar and then starts to think. I am then hugged from behind by Freda. Freda: ¡°What does it matter first of all we should be happy. The ability to do rune inscription is something to be happy about and something to be celebrated¡± Endar¡¯s face then clears up and looks at me while smiling. Endar: ¡°That true¡± He then pets my head before turning back to Duregar and bowing. Endar: ¡°Could you please teach Michiko the art of runesmithing, I know she is not a dwarf but..¡± Duregar: ¡°Get up Endar you are my friend you do not have to bow, plus I was planning to propose the same thing. While she is not a dwarf that does not matter at all, she has even been blessed by one of the ancestor gods so I have no right to complain and even if she was not I would still do it. we all know Michiko very well I don¡¯t think that any dwarf here would complain. Endar: ¡°Thank you¡± Duregar: ¡°But first, Michiko do you want to be a runesmith? It is a hard path with both ups and downs. And it will be especially hard for you since even if you have the blessing of Valaya most runesmiths will probably not accept you¡± Michiko: ¡°Well if I become a runesmith I will help you a lot right and I want to help you all. Plus it seems interesting and fun to do¡± Duregar nods and then takes out a box and puts it on the table and opens it with a very special key. He then takes out a golden scroll and holds it in front of me. Duregar: ¡°Michiko this scroll was one of my masters most treasured possessions and when he was killed by the advancing hordes of greenskins this and the other golden scrolls fell to me. he told me to flee with my family and to take the scrolls with me in the case of his death because even if he died his legacy would live on in these scrolls that are filled with his research and knowledge. Michiko you must know that I can only teach you the basics since before my masters death I only just reached the level of journeyman runesmith. while I can teach you the basics of runesmithing I cannot take you as an official apprentice. But I can give you a good basis to build on so that you have a better chance to get a real master¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you I will make sure to be very careful with them¡± I said while I took the scroll with both my hands. Freda: ¡°We are very grateful Duregar¡± After the talk I wanted to immediately start reading in the scrolls but Endar and Freda wanted to have a small party and they invited Duregar and his family to so I went with them. Not that I dislike having a party, it is the complete opposite but I really wanted to take a look in those scrolls, well tomorrow I will have another chance While we were preparing for the small party some of the other dwarves found out about my new ability and the party. And when we started the party already half the dwarves had gathered and they all brought some food of their own. Eventually everyone except the guards at the gate joint in, but the guards were not forgotten they rotated with each other to be able to join. The dwarves in this karak really enjoy a party. But that does not mean they are lazy, it is opposite they work really hard in a harsh environment and that means that they just need to let off some steam every once in a while and a party/feast really helps. We have one at least once every month after the monthly goblin extermination. We then place tables together, we have a feast and after that a party. Year: 26-03-1710 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. Today is the day after the party. It is still quite early when I go outside but some of the dwarves are already up working. That is one of the advantages of a dwarf because even if they were drunk last evening they almost never have a hangover. I walk to Duregar¡¯s smithy and I can already hear hammering. When I enter we greet each other. Michiko: ¡°Good morning uncle Duregar¡± Duregar: ¡°Good morning Michiko I was already expecting you and I put the scrolls in the other room so you can read them. Oh and you also need to have the key¡± He takes the key from yesterday out of his pocket and throws it at me. I catch it, thank him and I then walk to the other room and close the door so I would not hear the hammering. I look around and I see a lot of boxes like the one of yesterday. They all have a basic description on them what is written on the scroll. I first take out one of the scroll that had the description ¡°Old Khazalid runes part 1¡±. Khazalid is the language the dwarves use when speaking to other dwarfs and some special people (me for instance), but the Khazalid that is now normally used is a simplified version. Old Khazalid or arcane dwarf is the original language of the dwarfs and is used for runic inscriptions. But Old Khazalid is a very complicated language and has many, many runes. It is probably best to compare it to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs but then with A LOT more glyphs/runes and with a complicated writing style. If someone wants to learn arcane dwarf then you need to memorise the runes, the meaning of them and how to arrange them in a sentence or inscription. But luckily I am very good at memorization and deciphering texts. I then start to read the scrolls. In the afternoon I am still reading and I am in the middle of the second scroll. But then I feel a hand on my shoulder and I jump up a bit. I then look around and see that Duregar is standing behind me. Duregar: ¡°Sorry for scaring you Michiko but you were so focused on reading and I wanted to ask you to come eat¡± Michiko: ¡°Oh of course thank you for telling me. I was so absorbed in reading that I forgot the time¡± Duregar: ¡°don¡¯t worry about it, that is a good thing. But come on now let¡¯s go eat¡± We walk through the smithy and Duregar a door leading to his house. We go to the kitchen table where Duregar¡¯s wife Olka, his son Thyk and his adopted daughter Vanyra. Duregar and Olga are both full beards (Olga has no beard, it is just a title) which means they are both above 70 years old but under 120, but they are probably just above 70 years old. Thyk is 10 years old and Vanyra is 15 years old. Thyk is the son of Olka and Duregar Vanyra was adopted, she was the daughter of Duregar master and when he was killed they took her in. Thyk is training to become a warrior and Vanyra has inherited the ability of rune inscription from her father and she is training to become a runesmith. When we have free time I like playing, exploring and talking with them a lot. They treat me kind of like a little sister or well¡­ like a cat when I am in dragon form (most of the time at least). Olka: ¡°Ah you are here, wash your hands and sit so we can start eating¡± We wash our hand and sit down at the table and start to eat. Vanyra: ¡°So Michiko did you like reading my father¡¯s scrolls, it was probably a bit boring right?¡± Michiko: ¡°it was very fun to read and learn all those new things¡± I said with a smile and Duregar laughs Duregar: ¡°Michiko was so absorbed in reading that didn¡¯t even noticed that I walked in to tell her to come eat. Vanyra is really differed in that aspect compared to you. Thinking back Vanyra was always so bored when she began leaning runes¡± He said with a smile and Vanyra pouts Michiko: ¡°So what have two been doing today?¡± Thyk: ¡°I went out to train with the warriors this morning and in the afternoon I will have go and learn from the hunters¡± He said while smiling Vanyra: ¡°I helped father in the smithy while you were reading and in the afternoon I will get to learn you how to do basic smithing¡± We ate and talked some more and when we were done Duregar, Vanyra and I went back to the smithy and Duregar starts to show us some basic smithing. After he was done he wanted me to help Vanyra as assistant first so I could observes the process better while he makes sure nothing goes wrong. Vanyra: ¡°Michiko could you please get the heated iron ingot out the forge and put it on the anvil¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay¡± I said with a smile since I am very interested in smithing and metalwork. I cover my arm in my scales and grab the metal directly out the forge. Vanyra and Duregar panic a when they see me do it but when I just put it on the anvil like I feel nothing they become silent and freeze a bit. As for the metal it is a bit warm to hold but I am a dragon and a special one at that I made sure to raise my resistance to heat and it is already quite high and the metal is at the place I am holding it only around 600 Celsius I am not going to get burned by that. Plus it is a normal flame and not a magical one, I have heard that magical fire does some strange things that could be bad. Anyway back to the frozen pair. Michiko: ¡°Is something wrong?¡± I said while tilting my head a bit like I had no idea what was so strange. After a few seconds Vanyra begins to laugh and Duregar puts his hand on the front of his head. Duregar: ¡°As expected from a dragon that bathes in boiling water, you can just grab and hold a red hot metal ingot that would burn our hands away, like it is nothing¡± After a while Vanyra stops laughing and with a smile while wiping some moisture away from her eye she asks me. Vanyra: ¡°Admit it, you just did that to try and give us a heart attack, didn¡¯t you?!¡± I made a very small smile and said Michiko: ¡°What do you mean Vanyra?¡± She smiled and then we continued with our smithing. We did that for the rest of the day till I went back home to eat. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Over the next few days I mostly did the same reading the scrolls in the morning and learning smithing in the afternoon with Vanyra. She also showed me how to inscribe runes in one of the axes we made. But one of the days was special because Duregar let Vanyra do the empowering and binding of one of the runes she inscribed. After a very precise inspection of the rune by Duregar since if there are imperfections in the rune then there is a chance that the rune will explode under the empowering process. While Vanyra with the help of Duregar was going to empower the temporary rune I was allowed to watch from a distance while they worked. When they started the empowering process I was amazed since I could see red light specs gather in a stream drawn towards the rune and being hammered in by Vanyra. It was really beautiful to see those streams of energy slowly flowing into the blade. After 20 minutes the empowering was completed and she started the binding process. Which was very interesting to see and even more so for me since I could see the chaos energy being sealed into please by the complicated chants she was speaking to bind the energy into the rune. After the process was completed Duregar inspected the rune and he congratulated her since the rune was a success. I congratulated her while smiling and she looked very happy, she puffed up her chest, pus her arms in her sides and said: Vanyra: ¡°Big sis is impressive right?¡± I happily agreed and she seemed very happy. Year: 19-10-1711 (Imperial Calendar)(around five years after hatching) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. Since I first started to learn runesmithing more or less a year and a half has past. As for how I look right now, in my dragon form I am more or less as tall as a horse but also longer. In my half dragon form I am around the size of a year old human and in my dwarven form I am a shorter but that is normal for a dwarf. My horns have been growing backwards and I think/hope they are growing more or less streamlined and are not going to curl and point forward, I don¡¯t like that. For what has happened the past one and a half year. I have advanced a lot with runesmithing and I have read all off the scrolls and I now understand a whole lot about rune inscription, empowerment and binding. As for the practical part, Duregar has me learn how to be a good blacksmith first and he will let me start on runes when I have the basics of blacksmithing down and I have memorised a large part of the golden scrolls. I¡¯ve already memorized it, but I keep it quiet and pretend for now so Duregar doesn¡¯t freak out when I would tell him about it. I have or course also done a lot of other things. I have helped mine out the storage area since I felt kind of bad making them do all that work even if it will help them immensely in the long term. I spend time with Freda and Endar a lot too and when I was big enough I asked Freda to be the first person to fly in the air with me on my back. She agreed and she loved it, which made me very happy. Since that first flight I have flown with many dwarves. Which was quite strange seeing most of them like to live underground and they sometimes say that those who live on the surface are crazy. Most of the dwarves loved flying with me but some of them quickly became airsick. One of them even puked on me mid-flight, that was not really pleasant I say as an understatement. When we landed and he got of I immediately ran to the boiling hot spring to clean myself. That dwarf later apologised but I won¡¯t be letting him om my back anytime soon. Of course it was also a lot of fun flying around with them and showing them the world from another perspective. Flying with someone on my back also helped for map making and now we know almost certainly where the goblin Crag is located. I also saved a life by flying because during one of the goblin exterminations we were fooled by the goblins because they had dressed up an entire group of very strong warrior and archers in the normal low level armour that is normally worn by the weak goblins. During that fight and after I did two things number one I will come back to in a bit but number two was that I flew a dwarf who was injured very baldly back to the karak to get him treated in the hospital. As for the first thing, I was strafing over them while dropping rocks and freezing them with ice breath. About the ice breath, I discovered it a few months before fourth birthday. I was mining with some other dwarves and there was a lot of dust being kicked mining dust up being kicked up. I then had to sneeze which sounded quite cute and the other miners would have probably laughed if it was not for the fact that when I sneezed I first discovered my ice breath. I froze one of the mining picks being held by one of the dwarves to the wall centimetres from his hand. That was a bit of an awkward moment, but after the shock had worn off they started to laugh. I apologised and he said he did not mind. After that I left the mine so I could test out my new ability and make sure I would not freeze anyone to death with it. After a few days of testing I more or less knew how my ice breath worked and what it could do. I found out that it came from a new organ that had been developing for a few years now. After I use my ice breath It slowly gathers blue light specs until it is full. But I could only use it five times in short blasts and it takes a lot of time to recharge. That was not very useful in a fight so I thought about how to improve it. The solution I came up with was making an energy channel directly from my core to my new breath organ. This way I can directly feed chaos energy into the organ, which makes the charging time far lower and I have an additionally ¡°tank¡± to store energy for breath attacks. Lastly I also tried experimenting with filling it with differed kinds of chaos energy and sort of overcharging it which makes the organ radiate an aura of what the light colour stands for (at least that is what I think) and the effect also depends on the amount of overcharge. This is what the colour does when used in breath attacks and what it does when it radiates White light specs: In breath it is like a laser. When used to radiate it gives off a glow and noble aura. Yellow light specs: In breath it has a strange effect on metal objects and can be used to change the metal depending on the amount of energy and how it is used. When used to radiate it helps with thinking and studying it makes memorising and logical thought easier. Green light specs: In breath it has the same effect as acid but then in a kind of concentrated mist form. When used to radiate it makes plants flourish and helps with healing. Blue light specs: In breath it is ice. When used to radiate it can cool down the surroundings and can calm people down. Grey light specs: In a breath it messes with someone¡¯s mind and it confuses them. When used to radiate it creates a mist that confuses people but not to the degree of the breath attack. Purple light specs: In breath it creates a noxious gas. When used to radiate it kills plants over time and makes people feel suspicious or scared depending on the situation. Red light specs: In breath it is fire it burns, melts or heats stuff When used to radiate it can warm up the surroundings and can excite people or get adrenaline pumping. Brown light specs: In breath it well it makes people stronger and/or wilder for a time When used to radiate it gives of a savage aura but is devoid of malice. People don¡¯t really like it but animals seem to love it. Refined chaos energy: I have no idea what it does in breath or when used to radiate but I do know it does something that is sure. These things can be very useful but also cost a whole lot of chaos energy. Secondly my ice attack seems to be the strongest it is probably because I am a white dragon which most of the time means ice dragon. Well that is what I have read in the books about dragons anyway. Most of the time I now radiate using the green light specs. I just like that nature aura, when I am studying I use the yellow light specs and in a fight I use the bleu or red light specs to calm down the dwarves or to get their adrenaline pumping. Duregar and Vanyra also kind of force me to heat the metal with my dragon breath because: Duregar: ¡°the best weapons are made using the breath of a dragon, the magical properties of the flame strengthens the metal and make it more durable¡± Which is true but is still feel like I am being used but Vanyra does give me sweets and also knows how to pet me and makes it feel very good, so I suppose it is alright¡­. Well back to today. Today we are going to start our trip to Karak Azul the nearest karak that is still held by dwarves. On the map you can see that Karak Azul is to the north of dragon peak mountain which is located near the sour sea. And is around 4 months travel away. We will be going with about twenty people including Endar, Dern, Vanyra and me. we will be going to sell hides, some of the things we made and some metals (but not enough to draw a lot of attention of other dwarves). We are also going to buy some more light crystals and other things we need but cannot produce ourselves just yet. Lastly we will ty to get some other dwarves to join us in our new Karak preferably some who were in the same situation as the other dwarves, so more or less refugees who want to start anew. Before we leave we all say our goodbyes and I give a long hug to Freda. She has to stay behind with the other dwarves to take care of the Karak while we are away. after some tears we all start our journey to Karak Azul. Year: 30-01-1712 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, in the mountains heading for Karak Azul Michiko POV. We are around three quarters of the way to Karak Azul. On the way there it has been mostly peaceful and we were able to avoid monsters and greenskins because I was flying around spotting danger and telling them which path is safe and which is dangerous. It is late in the afternoon and we are going to stop for the night like we always do. During the night we try to stay hidden and I sleep while the dwarves rotate the guard duty. We eat some food a combination of what we gathered around the area, what we took with us from our karak and some of the animals the hunters and i caught. When I am done I go to sleep on a pillow in my smallest dragon form. Since we left our Karak we have managed to avoid any night time conflict and that is mostly because we are hidden so well and normally nobody find us. but tonight we were unlucky and a bit after midnight I am woken up by Endar. Endar: ¡°Michiko our camp is surrounded by goblins and a few orcs and they are preparing to do a sneak attack. but the night guard noticed them so we are going to surprise them. I want you to sneak out and freeze one or more orcs with you ice breath and after your first attack we attack to when they are confused and kill as many as we can in that time and after that it will be harder but we will win if it goes as planned¡± I nod and sneak out the tent keeping low to get past the greenskins without being seen. After I run silently for about a hundred meters I transform to my bigger dragon form and quietly fly up into the sky. I fly up high and then start to glide toward the greenskins setting myself up to strafe over them with a breath attack. When I reach the greenskins I have charged up my breath attack and I release it. Immediately after my attack I hear war cries coming from the dwarves who charge forward to attack the greenskins. I turn around and look at the situation. I see that my breath attack has frozen two of the five orcs and six of the goblins. Endar and the warrior have engaged with the greenskins while they are being covered by the hunters/archers led by Dern. I do another breath attack but the orcs and most of the goblins dodge some of them get hit. Unfortunately only a few frozen entirely with the rest hacking away at the ice but while they are doing this they are easy targets for the hunters. I look around again and I see that Endar is together with some of the warriors engaging the orcs while the rest keep the goblins at bay. I prepare to do another strafe over the greenskins but when I come close one orc breaks through the dwarves and starts to charge toward Endar while he is fighting one of the other orcs. The orc starts to raise his club to hit Endar who is blocking another orc. I see that Endar will not be able to react in time and I flap my wings faster to reach them in time. When I reach them I do not have the time to charge up my breath attack so I put my legs forward and I connect with the orc kicking him down the mountain side. But while I do this I lose my balance and I crash on the mountain slope sending me tumbling down the mountain side together with the orc. After about ten seconds of rolling we reach a rocky valley. The orc and I both struggle to stand up. I look up at the orc and see he is bleeding from several cuts, and probably has a few broken ribs. Checking the condition of my body I can feel that some of the bones in my wing have been broken and I am also bleeding from some cuts but not very much seeing that my scales protected me from most of the sharp rocks. The orc gets up first because he fell down the mountain side first and got a slight head start. He walks toward his club that fell down a few meters away from him. When I am up he already has his club and he starts to run toward me. I roll out of the path of the incoming club and dodge by a hair''s breadth. After the roll I stand on my four legs and I glare with red eyes at the orc who also is looking at me. he looks fazed for a second before he charges at me again. I also begin to charge him and he swings down his club at me again. When the club gets close I jump forward using my back legs and I bite at his right arm. I bite down at his arm and rip of a piece of flesh using my momentum. Landing on my legs and stopping myself on the rocky ground I turn around and look at the orc. He is holding the wound on his right arm with his left hand I swallow the piece of meat in my mouth and he picks up his club with his left hand. We look at each other and we both know that the next attack will probably be the last. He cannot afford to keep fighting with such wounds and he won¡¯t fall for my trick again. We charge at each other for one last time. When I get close I jump higher this time and I go for his neck. But he reacts faster than last time and at the same moment I bite down on his neck. His club swings down at my side sending me flying and ripping out a piece of his neck. I fall on the ground and spit out the piece of meat and a lot of my blood at the same time. While lying on the ground I look at my opponent and see him having his left hand on his neck. He stumbles for a bit and then falls on the rocky ground with a loud smack. I then close my eyes and lose consciousness. Year: 19-02-1712 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, in the mountains heading for Karak Azul Michiko POV. When I wake up and open my eyes I see that it has become daytime. checking my body I can feel that most of the damage has been healed and that the bones in my wings are almost fully repaired. I look around me and see that I am covered in a blanket. some of the dwarves are sitting around on stones or are working. While I am looking around Vanyra sees that I am awake Vanyra: ¡°Hey everyone Michiko is awake!¡± A lot of the dwarves stand up and gather around me with Endar with his arm in a sling, in front. Endar: ¡°Are you aright, Michiko? When we were fighting and you kicked down that orc we became worried and after the battle we found you here¡­¡± I transform my vocal cords and interrupt him. Michiko: ¡°Don¡¯t worry dad I¡¯m okay, most of my wounds have already been healed. Please tell me first what happened after I kicked that orc and fell down¡± I could see the dwarves calm down and after a few seconds Endar starts to speak. Endar: ¡°Well after you fell down we went on fighting with the greenskins and we first dealt with the orcs before focusing on the goblins. It was a hard fight and some of the dwarves have been heavily wounded but luckily we did not lose anyone. When the fight was over I instructed the medics to look after the wounded and some of the less inured warriors to come with me and we quickly descended from the mountain side to find you¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yeah he ran down the mountain without caring about his broken arm at all¡± Vanyra said with a chuckle. Michiko: ¡°Thanks dad¡± I said with a smile, well the equivalent of a dragon smiling at least. Michiko: ¡°So what are we going to do now? I can probably walk but I can¡¯t fly for the next few days¡± Endar: ¡°Well we will be staying here for the next few days so we can properly treat everyone wounds, repair the wagons and of course give you time to heal¡± I nodded and we talked some more. After the talk was over I noticed I was really hungry. So I stood up and walked to the corpse of the orc I killed and ate it, it tasted strangely good. I did look a bit like a horror scene but the dwarves just smiled and even asked me how it tasted. They are used to my eating habits, horrifying as it may look, but I do have to be careful to not eat like this in front of just anyone since eating like this is not exactly good manners. Over the next few day we rested and I spent most of the time resting with the more heavily injured dwarves and radiating using green light specs to speed up their healing. I also ate some more orc meat from the orcs I had frozen in my first attack. That¡¯s one of the advantages of ice breath, I can freeze food so it stays fresh, and use fire breath to heat it up later so I can eat it. Anyways, after a few days we had repaired the wagons and most of the dwarves had recovered to the point that they could travel normally and those who could not where loaded into the wagons since we could not stay here for too long. The final day I flew up in the air and the caravan started moving again continuing our journey toward Karak Azul. Chapter 6: Karak Azul part 1 Chapter 6: Karak Azul part 1 Authors notes: A bit about the usage of names: when Michiko does not know the name of a character she will take a characteristic of that person and add ??? behind it. in the case of a dwarf that is simple she will just do Dwarf??? To describe that person until he or she introduces him/herself. Sometimes there will be more than one unknown dwarf in that case numbers will be added to that Character (dwarf???1). these ¡°tags¡± will be reset after the end of the conversation so they can be used elsewhere of course there are cases where a character is not important enough to get a name or they do not introduce themselves that means that most of the time that character will not return lastly if you ever get confused with the many character look at the character list in The World thread Many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 15-02-1712 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Surroundings of Karak Azul Michiko POV. We are finaly getting close to Karak Azul. The journey was mostly quiet after the big greenskin attack. we avoided most of the greenskins and while we still had a few confrontations it was nothing on the level of the first attack. And now after more than four months of traveling we will finally arrive at the most southern Karak still held by dwarves, well officially at least our karak is still a lot more south but right now we have not come to make our karak public yet. We will do that when we want to get more immigrants and when we have enough defences to defend ourselves against a reasonable threat. Anyway Karak Azul is our closest neighbouring karak that is still held by dwarves. But in the year -1500 of the imperial calendar something terrible happened a gigantic earthquake happened that was felt all over the planet. The earthquake cracked open a lot of the normally impenetrable dwarven holds. what made it even worse was that at that time the dwarven army¡¯s where mostly depleted from the great war with the elves or the War of the Beard as it is called. While the dwarves where victorious against the elves they lost a lot of their military and with their holds cracked open they were very vulnerable and that is when the Time of Woes started. While the dwarves where vulnerable the greenskins came. Smelling the weakness of their enemy the greenskins came in great numbers and to make it worse the Skaven also attacked. This resulted in the loss of a great number of Karak¡¯s over the entire world. Some of those lost Karak¡¯s have been recaptured by dwarves with sometimes help from humans of the empire but a lot then still remain lost till this day. This also means that a lot of dwarven clans are still trying to reclaim the holds of their ancestors. This is to exterminate the evils that reside in those holds and to reclaim their homes and the resources within but a large part of the will to reclaim lost holds is because of dwarven honour and the steeling of grudges. The dwarves find honour and the keeping of grudges very important. They hold honour almost above all else if not everything and they can keep grudges till the end of time if they are not settled or somehow it is lost when one of the book(s) of grudges is lost in an attack. This honour has made them very determined and they will (almost) never lie or betray anyone. But it has also made them very rugged and you must be careful to never offend a dwarf because they will hold a grudge. These grudges can be as minor as someone paying them a few coins less than the agreed amount or it can be as big as taking a dwarven hold. They take grudges so seriously that it is far from uncommon for a dwarf to take it upon himself to settle a grudge that has been written down by one of his or her far ancestors. Well back to now, Yesterday we past the first of watchtowers that are placed around Karak Azul and today we will reach Karak itself. Of course I was not in my dragon form I transformed into my dwarven form a few days back when I was more or less safe from greenskins and far enough of the karak to not to be seen by the patrols. Because seriously their reaction would probably not be very good if a dragon came flying toward their karak all of a sudden, they would most likely try to kill me and I don¡¯t really like that. Right now I am sitting on the front of one of the wagons and we are riding through a valley towards the main gate. Karak Azul look kind of strange compared to what I have heard about a normal Karak. I can see that the above ground part of Karak Azul has been built mostly on a Plateau overlooking this pass and valley. On top of the plateau there are some kind of iron spires that I can see sticking out above the stone walls. It more or less looks like a fortress on a mountain but not something like a city where people live in but that can be deserving about dwarven holds, you can never see how big it is without going inside. Since as far as I know every dwarven karak has an extensive underground areas where most of the dwarfs live and work. As we are coming up on the main gate we are greeted by the guards. Guard commander: ¡°Welcome travellers we were expecting you, the watchtowers signalled us yesterday that you were coming¡± Endar walks up and they shake hands. Endar: ¡°Thank you for the welcome. It has been a few years since I last was here how are things in Karak Azul?¡± Guard commander: ¡°Like normal, every once in a while some idiot greenskins attack but most of the time they¡¯re immediately detected by the watchtowers and dealt with. We have not have not had a major greenskin attack in the last few years but of course we are always vigilant¡± Endar: ¡°That is good¡± Guard commander: ¡°yes it is, if I may be so rude could you please tell me why you came from the south. I don¡¯t wish to intrude in personal affairs but we rarely have travellers come here and they always come from the north, never from the south because to our knowledge nobody lives there. So we became very interested when the watchtowers reported a caravan coming from the south¡± Endar: ¡°Ah yes I understand, well we came from the south becouse a few years ago we went there to settle and we found a place to call home. It is still very small for now but we are steadily building and now we have come to sell some of the things we made and but some nessesatys¡± The Guard commander then smiled happily and said Guard commander: ¡°That¡¯s great, dwarves settling in the south again there are only a few dwarves that live in the southern mountains and most of them live in karak Azul with the exception of a few small settlements to the north of us. anyways I have been holding you all up for way to long, please go inside and enjoy your stay¡± Endar: ¡°Thank you¡± We then started moving again and we go through the gate inside the walls surrounding the plateau. Looking around I can see that this area is mostly a fort, I can¡¯t see any houses or workshops around here but I can see chimneys that come from within the mountain, a lot of defences and also something that is probably a gyrocopter hanger. A gyrocopter is a very handy flying machine it is like a crude version of a helicopter. It is also one of the main reasons why I am scared of dwarven air defences because, while their cannons are very powerful, shooting down a flying target with them is almost impossible, normal rifles can¡¯t really damage me while I am flying in the sky far above and the chance of hitting is also very low. But a gyrocopter squadron can easily surround a dragon with their numbers and shoot it to bits using powerful weapons. That is how they usually deal with dragons that attack from the air. ¡°scary¡± I shiver a bit while imagining it Anyways we keep on walking and we go down into the mountain itself. When we come into the main area I can see that it is by far not as big as the area in our karak. But that is to be expected since I have heard that hollow mountains are very, very rare and that almost all of the karak¡¯s are normally started in a cave system and then expanded upon by the dwarf miners. But still it is not small and that is logical since about 40,000 dwarves live here. Karak Azul also has a very powerful industry only second to the industry of the dwarven empire¡¯s capital Karaz-a-Karak. The population of Karak Azul also most consists out of miners and blacksmiths. A lot of famous weapons were also made in Karak Azul since a lot of famous runesmiths live here. When we reach an empty area Endar asks around to get permission to temporarily park here. After a brief moment he gets permission and we stop our wagons. Endar: ¡°Okay everyone I will be going around with Dern to look for a place we can stay for a month. You can stay here or can go look around for a while but make sure to return around six o¡¯clock. Any questions?¡± Everyone understands and most of the dwarves go get something out of the weapons or put their backpacks inside and walk of. Endar than walks towards me and Vanyra. Endar: ¡°So what do you want to do Michiko? You can come with me or do you want to look around¡± Michiko: ¡°I want look around¡± I said happily and Endar smiled. Endar: ¡°I knew you would be excited to look around but I want you to take someone with you, Vanyra could you please keep an eye on Michiko?¡± Vanyra: ¡°of course it will be like a date with my little sister it will be fun¡± Vanyra said smiling and Endar smiled back a bit awkwardly Endar: ¡°Okay I am counting on you¡± Vanyra than dragged me off to the central area. While we were walking I am looking at the buildings and all the people that are around. It is all very new to me, I have seen how people and city¡¯s looked in the twenty-first¡¯s century but this is very different not counting the fact that the inhabitants are dwarves not human there culture is also very different. I can see houses and shops that are decorated with sculpting and have very good stonework. The style of building also seems very different, I have already seen some houses like these that have been built at home but seeing it in this scale and amount gives me a good impression of dwarven architecture. If I had to describe it in one word I word is would be ¡°strong¡± because everything seems very well build all out of stone and it seems like It would probably last for century¡¯s even without maintenances. While I am looking around Vanyra is holding my hand and is smiling. While she already has seen a Karak before it seems like she enjoys looking at my expressions. Vanyra: ¡°Ah you are excited to see the city are you not?¡± I smiled and nodded, how cant I be excited to see this? It is something entirely new, I can find new things I have never seen, I can find new interesting pepole and above all they probaly have a whole lot of books and new information. I can find things that will allow me to help everyone and I can problay find things that will make me stonger or give me a better understanding of the world. Vanyra: ¡°I get why you are excited, the first time I went to visit a Karak I was the same. You know I was born in the human empire in a mostly dwarven settlement and when I was seven years old it was the first time I visited a karak. I was also amazed since the only buildings or city¡¯s I had seen where human build or only small dwarven houses but that all falls into nothing for me when I first visited a karak. sure human cities are impressive and have their own style but dwarven cities are far older, stronger and extensive. But I am not going to tell my own story right now since I want you to fully experience it yourself. So where shall we go first?¡± Michiko: ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do first do you have an idea?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Hmm¡­. Ah I know something you will certainly like come with me¡± She speeds up and sort of drags me along while she has a smile on her face like she just go a great idea, she asks something to a dwarf and then we change direction and keep running. After a while we slow down and we walk through a small gate. When we arrive ate the other side we are standing on a balcony and I almost can¡¯t believe what I am seeing. A giant canyon with thousands of dwarves working all over the place. The canyon has wide ledges at both sides and multiple levels with both sides being connected by bridges. There are suspended conveyor belts that transport ore in large steel buckets suspended on cables. I can see that the ore is transported to giant furnaces where it is smelted. There are also many mine entrances with many dwarves walking in and out with minecarts filled with ore, dumping it on the conveyer and returning to the mines. Many dwarven miners are working on the walls of the canyon itself too most standing on ledges but also a lot suspended in harness working on the canyon walls. I could only stare in amazement, Grond was totally right when he told me that I would be amazed, it was no understatement when he said it was something I had to go and see it myself. Michiko: ¡°Wow¡± I hear Vanyra chuckle behind me, while I am still hanging on the balustrade of the balcony. Vanyra: ¡°I knew it was a good idea to show you this. Do you want to look around some more or do you want to say here for a bit longer?¡± Michiko: ¡°Stay!... . . . . . . I mean I want to stay for a bit longer then we can go further¡± Vanyra laughs and pets me on the head, we stay there for about half an hour more letting me look around some more. It is truly an amazing thing to see so many dwarves working together like a colony of worker ants. It might be a bit offensive to compare a dwarf to an ant but that is really the best comparison I can make. When we leave it is about five o¡¯clock and we walk around in the central district some more looking at people and the shops. After a while we enter a tavern and Vanyra orders some food. We sit down a table and start to eat. It tastes quite good even if cooking is not really a specialty of dwarves and most of the time a lot of the food is imported dwarves can still cook quite well. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. While we are eating some of the dwarves at the table next to us are quite loud. They seem to be friends exchanging story¡¯s with each other. Dwarf???: ¡°So I have told my story so now it is your turn, Gomrund what story do you have to share?¡± Gomrund: ¡°well this is the story from when I was young, I was working as a member of a warrior group that was protecting caravans traveling through the Black mountains. when we had travelled for about a quarter of the journey we met a bunch of slayers. They told us that they were searching the mountains in this area because they had heard rumours about a very strong and dangerous monster terrorising travellers and small settlements in the area. After some talking we opted to travels together because it was quite likely that the monster would attack us if it really lived in this area so it would be safer to travel in a big group We travelled together through the mountains and for about a month we did not have any real problems and it was quite peaceful with the exception of the usual few goblin attacks but one day we suddenly heard a roar and what we saw made us afraid. It was a young sun dragon, probably around a hundred years old but that was not what scared us. what scared us was that we could see that it was corrupted by the influence of chaos. We set up in our formation and the slayers joined us¡­.¡± He then started to tell of the brutal and bloody battle to his friends who are called Heganbor and Logazor. About how he, his fellow warriors and the slayers fought the battle against the corrupted dragon. Hearing his story I became scared and I unconsciously hid behind Vanyra. Vanyra seeing my reaction slams her fist down on the table to get their attention. Vanyra: ¡°HE! Can¡¯t you see that there are children in here, save your bloody tales for a more appropriate time and place!¡± The dwarves look around and see me and some other children looking kind of scared or uncomfortable. They see there mistake and they stand up and to my surprise they honestly apologise. Heganbor(Dwarf???): ¡°We apologise we were so absorbed in our conversation that we did not notice that there where children around¡± Gomrund approached me and Vanyra and I hid behind Vanyra who harshly looked at the dwarf. The dwarf than stopped and bowed down to the same eyelevel as me. Gomrund: ¡°I am sorry for scaring you, but don¡¯t worry we lived and the evil dragon died in the end¡± I then hid behind Vanyra even further and the dwarf looked at Vanyra like he did not understand what was wrong. Vanyra looked at him angrily. Vanyra: ¡°That was the absolutely worst comment you could have made just now¡­.. (sigh) come on Michiko, let¡¯s go¡± Vanyra took my hand, we paid the owner for the meal and then left leaving behind a group of uncomprehending dwarves. We then started to walk in the direction where we left the wagons and while we are walking Vanyra began to talk. Vanyra: ¡°Those men where really rude, it is that that guy did not know that you are a dragon if he did I would have punched him. Anyway Michiko are you okay again?¡± Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m alright¡± Vanyra smiled and petted me on the head Vanyra: ¡°that¡¯s good. That dwarf meant well and while his apology was not really smart I suppose I will have to forgive him (sigh) anyway Michiko do you realize that your personality is really strange sometimes? Most of the time you are like a child but when you have to fight or do something important, you can make a total 360 and become very focused and mature¡± I look down and say: Michiko: ¡°Sorry¡± Vanyra: ¡°Don¡¯t apologise, I think it is cute and I think everyone else feels the same¡± When we arrived Endar told us where we are going to stay for the next month. He had rented a building where we could park the wagons and for the next month lastly he had hired a herder to take care of the mountain goats for us while we are staying here. While we are walking to our temporary home Endar asked me and Vanyra about how our day was. I told him about the visit to the mines and he was happy I had fun. Vanyra also told him about what happened in the inn and he was quite angry but he reacted rationally and understood that while they should not have talked about their story¡¯s in the presence of children they did apologise. As for the comment at the end the dwarf did not know about me being a dragon so he could not really be blamed for that. When we arrived at the building I could see that it was probably designed for large groups of merchants or travellers. It is more or less a square wall with a gate at the front, a courtyard in the middle and housing/living area surrounding that. We parked the wagons in the courtyard and closed the gate. We went to the living area where I lit the hearth with a small fire breath. I could now finally transform back into dragon form because we could not be seen from the outside. I lay down in front of the hearth, stretch and relax. I don¡¯t have anything against taking another form but being in dragon form is just a lot more comfortable. After a while everyone sits down and Endar starts to go over the planning with everyone. Endar: ¡°Now we have arrived in Karak Azul the planning is to first take a day off tomorrow off so everybody can rest up from the journey a bit. After that the first and second week will mostly be spent selling and buying so we can get our necessities. The last two weeks we will look for dwarves who would want to immigrate to Karak. Any questions?..... Okay about our stay here, this building has a kitchen, a large living area that can be converted to dining room, a small workshop and bedrooms. But there are no individual bedrooms so the fifteen men will be spread out over three rooms and the five women will be sharing one room Okay that¡¯s it for today have a nice evening everyone¡± When Endar was done talking everyone started to do their own thing. Some start to read others play games or go talk with others. Around ten o¡¯clock I stood up and went to the bedroom to meditate on the large pillow we took with us while traveling. After a few hours I went to sleep ending my first day in Karak Azul. Year: 17-02-1712 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Karak Azul Michiko POV. Since arriving in Karak Azul I have mostly rested up and meditated the first day and now the second day I was planning to explore and look around. Luckily I have more than enough time to do that because the only real job I have on this trip was being a lookout for the dwarves so now I can do what I want to. Right now I am going around the central district looking around for interesting things. After asking around I find a book store and go inside. Looking around I can see a bookcases with books but not very many. I then feel a hand on my shoulder and I turn around. Dwarf???: ¡°Are you lost child?¡± Michiko: ¡°Ah no I came to look around for some books¡± Dwarf???: ¡°Oh that must mean you can read already that¡¯s impressive, I¡¯m Dimzad the owner of this store¡± He sticks out his hand and i shake it Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m Michiko¡± Dimzad(Dwarf???): ¡°That is a strange name but I assume it has a meaning or a reason behind it¡± Michiko: ¡°yes when I asked my parents they told me it was on an inscription next to me when they found me and they liked it so they made it my name¡± Dimzad: ¡°Oh that is interesting, okay so what kind of books are you looking for?¡± Michiko: ¡°I want to know more about the world so I was looking for some maps and other races. Secondly I want to learn more about magic because it seems interesting to learn about even if dwarfs can¡¯t use it¡± Dimzad: ¡°Hmm I can help you with some maps and some books about other races but for books about magic¡­ well I only have one book about magic and even that means you got lucky since bookstore most of the time have no books at all. Dwarfs can¡¯t use magic there is no real market for those you see. You can look at in other bookstores and you will maybe find one or two books if you are lucky but your best shot is probably going to the library and look around there¡± Michiko: ¡°Oh thank you for the help¡± Dimzad: ¡°Don¡¯t mind, now how much where you planning on spending for your books¡± Michiko: ¡°Well I have about 60 silver coins and 3 gold coins¡± Dimzad: ¡°Hmm that is kind of a problem, you see little miss books are quite expensive since even if they are printed on paper a dwarf must spend a long time on the copying of a book even a thin book can cost a dwarf multiple weeks on the copying of the book, which means that one book will take a lot of work and will in turn cost a lot. Even a small low quality book mostly costs 5 silver but the kinds of books you are asking for will cost around 50 silver pieces per book plus depending on the type of map and the amount of detail the cost could differ¡± Michiko: ¡°I thought that they copied books using a machine or magic?¡± Dimzad: ¡°Yes that would be amazing if it was so easy but such a machine does not exist and the magic of the elves although they can use it to copy books you also probably know our relation with the elves has not really been the best to put it lightly. So as long no machine is invented to print books they will continue to be this expensive and as for the elves¡­ I don¡¯t think that it will improve anytime soon. Lastly you probably don¡¯t have enough money to access the magic books in the library because there are multiple levels with at each level more valuable books. For each level you have to pay a fee and the books you are looking for are probably at the seventh level which will mean you will have to pay seven pieces of gold¡± I look down a bit disappointed Dimzad: ¡°Please don¡¯t be sad. I know it is expensive but the price is quite reasonable since it is a onetime fee and then you will be able to visit for free for the rest of your life. so if you just keep saving you until you have enough you can visit whenever you want¡± Michiko: ¡°But I am only visiting and I do not have very long here and the next time I come here will probably be a few years later¡± Dimzad puts his hand on his forehead and thinks for a while. Dimzad: ¡°you know what because you are such a cute kid and since I am impressed that you can read at such a young age I will give you a preferred customer discount. Which means you get ten percent off and I will still make a small profit so we will both be happy okay?¡± I look up and do a small bow Michiko: ¡°Thank you a lot Dimzad I will make sure to remember your kindness¡± Dimzad smiles and says Dimzad: ¡°Oh do away with the formality¡¯s lets go look for some good books¡± We then go look around the store. After we were done I had spent three gold and fifty silver leaving me with ten silver which is more than enough for buying of some fun or tasty things for the rest of the month. Of course if I really needed money I could ask Endar and he would probably give it to me but I don¡¯t like doing that so I won¡¯t do that as long as I really don¡¯t have a choice. The things I bought are one book about magic using yellow specs of light, a book about greenskins, one about the undead, two books on the dwarves and dwarven society and some maps of the world edge mountains, because while I do remember how the whole world looks from the view from the room where I talked with Tzeentch that ¡°map¡± does not have any markers on it so I can¡¯t find any karak¡¯s or other settlements and that¡¯s why I need those newer maps. But my ¡°map¡± will be very useful for getting a basic understanding of the world¡¯s landmasses and seas. I just need to add the markers to it and it will become better over time. While walking around I see a blade being put on display. It looks very normal from the outside but I feel like that the blade has something special about it and so I walk closer to take a better look at it. Looking at it closely I can see the smoothed out hammer marks, the sharpness of the blade and inscribed runes that have a powerful feel to them. I walk inside the store to look at it from the other side. After a while I look around the store and I see someone behind the counter staring at me. when we make eye contact I nod as a greeting and he smiles. Dwarf-shop-clerk: ¡°You have a good eye little miss, that is a very good sword the best I have I might add¡± Michiko: ¡°Would you know who made this sword by chance? It looks relatively new so it was probably made in this Karak Right?¡± Dwarf-shop-clerk: ¡°Oh that¡¯s impressive, you are right on both of you questions. This blade has been made about half a year ago by one of the best runesmiths in Karak Azul. His name is Thorek Ironbrow and he is an up and coming Journeyman runesmith who I predict will in the future become the best runesmith of Karak Azul¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you for the information, but I have to apologise I won¡¯t be buying anything right now¡± Dwarf-shop-clerk: ¡°Don¡¯t mind I was not expecting it from you and I also like talking about these kinds of things so don¡¯t worry about it¡± We greet each other and then I leave going back home. After eating I sat down by the hearth and began reading the book about magic I bought. Chamon: the Yellow Wind Chamon is a manifestation of the Aethyric abstract and reality of logic, the desire to quantify, the desire and need to learn and instruct, and the wish to implement learning to practical or tangible ends. The Magic of Chamon is alchemy, the art and science of transmutation, creation and investigation. Known amongst the Wizards that study Chamon as the ¡°Lore of Metal¡±, much of its spells are to do with change¡ªrusting new metal to old, turning one metal into another, or enchanting it to become more effective. Chapter 7: Karak Azul part 2 Chapter 7: Karak Azul part 2 Authors notes: I am sorry for missing a week, I now have school again and my writing time is seriously reduced p.s. I added an character list to the bottom of the page of course this list is also always available in The World tread Many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 20-02-1712 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Karak Azul Michiko POV. The past few days I have mostly spent helping everyone out with selling our products. Vanyra told me that the weapons we made with Duregar using my fire breath are selling really well. We hid the signs that the blades, axes spears, etc. had been made using the breath of a dragon but the quality is still very high. A lot of dwarves where really interested and are paying high prices for the weapons. Of course the things we made are nothing compared to what the master runesmiths make. But we can make a lot of very decent blades in the time that a master runesmith takes to make a true masterpiece and that makes our blades affordable for normal dwarves who can buy a very decent weapon for a reasonable price. In the end we might not make as much as a master runesmith but we still earn more than enough to buy the things we need. The hides are also selling quite well, Karak Azul is mostly a mining and smithing city, and to come here to sell hides is normally not worth the reward because of the dangerous journey through the mountain range. But because we can transport the hides reasonably safely and the lack of other things we can sell, we decided to take them with us to sell them. For now the hides are selling quite well and it looks like we will be able to sell all of them before we have to leave. Right now I am walking around Karak Azul on my way to the forge area. I am going there because I want to see the giant furnaces, the many blacksmiths and runesmiths. On my way there I have to go through the mining canyon, not using the same paths because everyone would get in the way of each other but I have to go down via massive stone stairs that have been carved into the canyon wall. The best way to describe them probably is to see the staircase as a decorated tunnel that is slowly going downward. With one of the sides of the tunnel open to the canyon where the rock above is supported by pillars and a stone balustrade between them to keep people from falling. This really gives a great view of the canyon but the way down is really long and transporting things up and down the staircase would be very hard. That¡¯s why they also built elevators for the many people who work in the mines and forges and also to transport things in and out of the canyon. But for the way down I decided to take the stairs and to come back up again I will take the elevator. When I arrive at the level where the forges are I walk through a short tunnel until I arrive in a large open space. Looking around I see that I am more or less at the bottom of the canyon, there are a lot of dwarves walking around, in front of me I can see the large furnaces in the distance, to my right I see the canyon with many working dwarves dumping the ore on conveyor belts that transport to different furnaces, to my left I can see many buildings which are probably guilds, warehouses, smithies and workshops. The amount of buildings makes it look like a small city, out of a lot of the roofs sticks one or more smokestacks which are probably from the many forges. Some of the buildings are very big and have many smokestacks and are probably factories with many blacksmith working in them, some of the buildings look like they are smithies that look like they are run by only one or two people. Walking around I can see that some of those smaller smithies are very high quality. Most of these smaller smithies are most likely owned and used by runesmiths. It would make sense since most runesmith are individualists. After walking around for a while I arrive at a medium sized building that has multiple guards in front of it. I get curious and approach one of the guards. Michiko: ¡°Mister what is in this building that it needs so many guards?¡± He looks down at with a stern face but when he sees me his expression becomes a bit softer. Guard1: ¡°well this is the forge of our lord and rune lord and we are guarding our lords most prized possession, his Anvil of Doom. Of course the chance that anyone would actually come to steal it is almost non- existent but still we have to stand guard because the value of one of the few remaining Anvils of Doom is too high to leave anything to chance¡± What the guard tells me does not surprise me because I know about the Anvils of Doom. They are powerful artifacts made by extremely skilled rune lords in the golden age of the dwarves. They were forged long ago in the dwarven golden age in the fiery depths of Thunder Mountain called Karag Dorn by the dwarves was one of the massive volcanoes spread across the world Edge Mountains. This came to an end when the dragon Tyrennus attacked, there was a fierce battle which killed many skilled runesmiths including the powerful and skilled runelord Kurgaz who made the Anvils of Doom. In the battle Thunder Mountain split in two, the Karag was lost and the creation of the anvils was ended, as for the dragon Tyrennus it is suspected that he now has made his residence in the ruins of Karag Dorn killing all who dare to intrude in his lair. The remaining Anvils of Doom are mostly owned by powerful rune lords who guard and use them. The protection of the Anvils of Doom is very important because besides there being no way to make new once to replace them that they are very powerful weapons that can be used to activate certain destructive runes which raises the combat power of the dwarven rase by a considerable amount. On top of the military importance the Anvils of Doom have a second function that is as important or even more so than the military use. This function is that Anvils of Doom can be used to create permanent runes which can¡¯t be done on any regular anvil. The permanent runes are of great importance to the continuation of the dwarven race and while the creation of one permanent rune can take months to complete the power of them makes it all worth it in the long term. Sadly because of the lack of Anvils of Doom and the time it takes to produce them makes it so that the production of runes is almost entirely focused on warfare. Michiko: ¡°Mister could I please see the anvil? I am learning to become a runesmith but I have never seen an Anvil of Doom before¡± Guard2: ¡°Oh so young and already training to become a runesmith that is impressive little miss¡± Guard1: ¡°Captain what do you think can we show her?¡± The captain crashes his head and thinks Captain: ¡°Hmm¡­ well I don¡¯t think it would be a problem but you have to go with her and make sure she keeps out of trouble¡± Guard1: ¡°Thank you captain, come on miss follow me¡± I look at the captain Michiko: ¡°Thank you mister¡± He waves it away with a little smile on his face before his serious expression returns and he goes back to guarding the entrance, I then turn around and follow the guard inside. The inside of the building looks very well built and is decorated with dwarven sculpting that seem to be depicting many stories. After walking through a door we arrive at a large room, the room has a large high quality forge in the back, some quenching baths on the right and on the left there are many hammers of different sizes but all high quality. But while looking around the circular room my eyes stop at an object in the center of the room. The Anvil of Doom, while looking at it I feel a strange magical aura surrounding it and my instincts are also telling me that it is an object of great power. Looking at it I can see many runes engraved in it many of which I don¡¯t understand at all. I than activate my magical vision and I can see the runes all light up. While looking at it I begin to understand why no new Anvils of Doom have been made. The meaning of many of the runes engrave on the anvil have been lost over the millennia. That means that while you can copy the runes as long as you don¡¯t understand the meaning you cannot create a chant to empower them. On top of that while I am not an expert on Gromril while looking at the anvil I can tell that, that is not the regular kind. It is clear that right now I have absolutely no chance at making an Anvil of Doom. It will probably take decades if not centuries of research if I start from scratch, the only probable way of shortening that time is by going to Thunder mountain and explore the ruins of Karag Dorn hoping to find some information that has not been lost over the century¡¯s that have passed since the destruction of Karag Dorn. But that is for in the future since right now even if I knew how to do it I certainly don¡¯t have the skills to forge an Anvil of Doom. On top of that the high possibility of a millennia old Dragon living in the ruins of Karag Dorn makes it very dangerous and I do not want to risk my life when I don¡¯t have to. It will be a long time until I am anywhere close to his level so it will have to wait. The only thing I can do now is save everything I can see, sense, feel and what my instincts tell me about the Anvil so I can at least get a better understanding of it for now. While I am studying the anvil from a distance the guard is smiling besides me but after a while we hear a fist slamming down on a Table or desk and the Guard and I turn to look at the door in the back of the room where the noise came from, then a loud voice. ???: ¡°Thorek I am telling you this for the last time, I am not letting you try out that random rune you found on my anvil!! Now leave before I kick you out!¡± We hear some angry grunts and then someone walking on the stone floor. The door opens and a large dwarf who looks the age of somewhere hundred and hundred and fifty. He walks toward the exit and glances at me while he walks past. We then see another far older dwarf come out of the door. He looks at Thorek and then he sees us, he walks toward us while looking angry. ???: ¡°And what are you two doing here?! You are not going to tell me that this kid is coming to ask me permission to use my Anvil to make some crazy rune¡± He says with a clearly irritated look on his face. The guard shifts one of his feet back a bit and for a second he looks a bit scared, but then he stands strait and faces the old dwarf. Guard1: ¡°No master rune lord this child is aspirating to become a runesmith and she asked us if she could see masters Anvil of Doom, not wanting to bother our Lord with such trivial things while he is attending to important business. But knowing our benevolent lord he would not mind such a trivial thing so we made the decision to show her our lords Anvil, from a respectable distance of course¡± The angry look on the old dwarf/rune lords lessens and he nods as if he approves of what the guard said. Rune Lord(???): ¡°That is true, Child I hope seeing my anvil has inspired you to work harder at your quest to become a runesmith, but now I have to start working again so I have to ask you to leave for now, if you want to come look at my Anvil again then please make an appointment with my secretary and I am sure I will be able to find a gap in my schedule¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you mister I will be sure to come by¡± I then turn around with the guard and we start to walk away. The Guard really handled the situation well since that rune lord was looking really irritated. Seeing how it played out and that the old dwarf liked being talked to like that it seems he has a bit more pride than is good for him. Guard1: ¡°Sorry little miss, our lord has been in a bad mood the last few days. That runesmith Thorek has been trying to convince the lord to let him use his Anvil to test a Rune he found on during his journey. Our lord and mister Thorek have been arguing for several days about it now with both of them not wanting to budge (sigh). Anyway little miss I am sorry you only had such a short time to look at the anvil¡± We arrive at the exit and I turn toward him Michiko: ¡°Do not worry about it mister while it was short I am happy I got the chance to look at an Anvil of Doom once and for that I thank you¡± The guard smiles and we say our goodbyes. I then start to walk around again looking at the many buildings. After looking around for a while I see a building with a sign in front. Of course this alone is nothing special but what interests me is the name on it. -Thorek Ironbrow- Runesmith I walk inside and I look around. The front looks like a simple shop with a few items on display. Looking at them I can see that they all have been very well made, the sword that was being displayed in the shop I visited a few days ago. Michiko: ¡°Hello?! Is someone here?¡± Thorek: ¡°Yes, yes you do not have to shout¡± A door in the back opens and I see the same dwarf that walked past me when I was by the anvil. He gets behind the counter and he looks at me. Thorek: ¡°Hey did I not see you at the runelords smithy?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes I came to look at the Anvil of Doom. I am learning runesmithing but I had never seen one before so I was interested¡± Thorek: ¡°Oh I assumed that you were there to ask that old man¡¯s to become his apprentice¡± Michiko: ¡°No right now I already have a teacher who is teaching me the basics of runesmithing. Unfortunately he is only a journeymen runesmith so he cannot teach me more than the basics but for now he is more than enough, later I will have to find a master who can teach me at higher levels¡± Thorek: ¡°That¡¯s rare, journeymen usually don¡¯t take students¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes but it is more because there is no other runesmith where I live and I do not want to live apart from my parents yet. Having the opportunity to look around here is only because I traveled with the caravan so we can buy the things we can¡¯t make ourselves yet¡± Thorek: ¡°Did you come from the south perhaps? Is it true that a settlement has been built in the south?¡± Michiko: ¡°How did you know? We only arrived a few days ago¡± Thorek: ¡°Well that was easy a lot of people are talking about it, it would be a great thing if a Karak was founded in the south it would greatly help if there is another Dwarven bastion in the southern part of the World Edge Mountains. But that also explains why you are being taught by a Journeymen runesmith instead of a master. Not to be rude but what is it like to live in the south, in the past there where others who tried to settle in the south but most of them quickly returned because of the danger and sometimes they did not return at all¡± Michiko: ¡°I suppose it is alright, we do have problems with greenskins but our home is in a place they do not travel and now the first few years have passed since the creation of our Karak so we have heavily fortified it so we are relatively safe. Still life is quite harsh and our Karak is still far way from being an impenetrable fortress but everybody is positive that working together we can do it¡± Thorek: ¡°That is good to hear. So, now I have asked you a lot of questions now it is your turn what can I do for you?¡± Michiko: ¡°I came here because I saw one of your works being displayed in a shop and looking at it I saw it was special compared to other rune weapons I have seen. That blade is not enormously more powerful than other rune weapons the rune is still a regular rune but the blade itself looks different from other works I have seen. So I wanted to meet the runesmith who made the blade¡± Thorek: ¡°You noticed that? That¡¯s impressive. The smithing techniques I use are a bit different than the techniques that are normally used, using them I can make the metal stronger than normal while still being a tiny bit flexible. After I discovered the technique I showed them to the College of Engineers and I expected them to be ecstatic, but¡­.¡± Michiko: ¡°They said good job mister Thorek this will greatly help dwarven smithing but first we will have to test it for a two or three hundred years or so¡± Thorek downcast expression changes to a small smile Thorek: ¡°Exactly, hearing you speak like that about them makes it seem like you have had the same happen to you¡± Michiko: ¡°Well no, but I have heard a lot about them and if it is half as bad as I fear then it would already be disastrous for my future plans if not handled properly¡± Thorek raises an eyebrow Thorek: ¡°How so?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well let¡¯s just say I have many ideas that I want to bring in to the world and the College of Engineers makes that very hard for me¡± Ignoring the fact that if anybody under fifty would just be laughed at by them it would still take at least a hundred years of testing for them to fully acknowledge it and that simply takes far too long for my plans. I will have to find a way to make them shorten that time by a lot, make them acknowledge my invention by showing overwhelming results or find a way to work around them. All of these will be very hard because the College of Engineers more or less has an monopoly on technology and the development of it and if anyone wants to invent something new they will have to get permission from them first. Because while you can do it without their blessing it will be very hard to find a sponsor. Another reason why it is so hard, is that inventing without their blessing is considered borderline dishonest meaning that if it goes wrong you will most likely lose your honor and your family¡¯s/clans honor will also be tainted because of it making it very hard for anyone to become an inventor. And if by any chance you invent something that works there is almost no chance that the College of Engineers will ever acknowledge it. Most of the time it will just be swept under the rug and if they do they will be very, very sour about it and put it through an extra-long testing period. (sigh) it will be very hard to carry out any of my plans like this because while I myself do not really care what the College of Engineers thinks of me I do not want it to harm my family. And on top of the College of Engineers there is also the Order of Runesmiths which is even stricter since it is flat out illegals to create a new rune without being an official runesmith and then you still have the testing period of a few hundred years. Ugh I¡¯m getting a headache just thinking about it. While I am thinking Thorek I looking at me with a questioning expression. Thorek: ¡°Are you alright?¡± Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m okay, I¡¯m just getting a headache while thinking about the College of Engineers and the Order of Runesmiths¡± Thorek: ¡°I get what you mean they are far too strict, for example this past month I have been trying to get permission to use an Anvil of Doom to inscribe a rune I found in a lost dwarven settlement during my travels. Having found that I returned home to Karak Azul sure of myself that I would be acknowledged as a Master Runesmith by presenting this find. But first I have to find a Rune Lord who is willing to let me use his Anvil of Doom to inscribe it so I can present it to the Order. But it seems that it will take a while until I get permission to use an Anvil. Anyway what can I do for you I really enjoy talking with you but I have to go back to work¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Michiko: ¡°Well I wanted to ask you if I could watch you work so I can learn from you¡± Thorek thinks for a bit and then nods Thorek: ¡°That is okay as long as you promise to remain quiet when I ask you to¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you¡± I them go with him into the smithy. Year: 13-03-1712 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Karak Azul Michiko POV. It has been almost a month since we first arrived in Karak Azul. The past few weeks I have mostly spend with Thorek. It started with only watching him first but after a while he let me smith a bit now and then while he corrected me. Because of this my smithing has improved by a lot and Thorek and I have become good friends. The others have finished their tasks and then started to help Endar to select some dwarfs to join us. They have mostly looked for people with a situation similar to us meaning dwarfs who have been driven away from their old home because of one reason or another. Of course they also looked for dwarfs with the skills we need like miners, stoneworkers, blacksmiths and warriors. They have now selected around sixty dwarfs who have passed the selection but now there is one last thing we need to do and that is finding out if they are okay with living with a dragon. We are going to find out today, Endar has rented a large soundproof hall and has made all the dwarfs swear on their beards (or hair for the women) to keep silent about what they will see. This made a lot of the dwarfs suspicions but in the end almost all of the dwarfs swore they would and the rest was removed from the selection. This might seem a bit overboard but this made sure I was safe and I am really thankful for it, I will make sure to make it up to them. Right now I am walking by the side of Endar toward the hall where we will receive everyone. I¡¯m quite nervous right now since this will be the first time I will be showing my dragon form to anyone but my family, but today maybe we will get some new family members who will join us. Endar: ¡°Don¡¯t be so nervous Michiko everything is going to be alright and if anyone wants to harm you I will personally punch him in the face¡± Michiko: ¡°(smile) Thank you dad but I think that will only make the situation worse so please be careful¡± Endar: ¡°Of course Michiko I will but I really mean it and I think the other feel the same¡± We arrive at the hall, we go inside and wait for the others. After about an hour everybody is here and Endar starts to speak. Endar: ¡°Hello everyone today we have something to show you and depending on your reaction we will determine if you can come with us to our new Karak. Before we start I want to remind everyone that you have sworn to keep silent about what happens here and if you do not want to do that than this is the last chance to back out an leave before we start¡± He looks around the group of dwarfs and gives them a chance to leave, after a while it is clear nobody wants to leave so Endar continues. Endar: ¡°Okay close the doors. As I have told you all our karak is quite normal except for one thing, Michiko please come and show them¡± Walking forward I look at the dwarfs in front of me and I can see that most of the dwarfs in front of me are looking at me with an expecting gaze or a look of confusion. Looking around the group I also see the three dwarfs I met with Vanyra on the first day and I stop walking. Vanyra who is also standing in the room follows my gaze and sees them she frowns but then looks at me and she very quietly says. Vanyra: ¡°Don¡¯t worry if anything happens we will protect you¡± It was so quiet that only I could hear it with my sharp hearing but seeing her reassuring smile I walk forward to the middle of the room and I start to transform to my dragon form. I can hear gasps and I can see some people look scared some confused but most remain calm but look very serious and I can feel a strong aura coming from the dwarfs in front of me. Endar seeing that it will go wrong if he does not quickly explain what is going on steps in between the dwarfs and me. Endar: ¡°Everybody please calm down I swear on my beard that she is not dangerous, she is a very peaceful dragon not tainted by any influence of chaos¡± The pressure lessens a little bit but is still very sharp there is a silence until an angry looking dwarf comes forward with his hand on his axe. Angry-Dwarf: ¡°What do you mean not dangerous! That is a Dragon it should be killed before it becomes to strong and starts to attack us!¡± I can hear a few of the dwarfs agree with him but most of the dwarfs still wait to see where this is going. But a few seconds after the dwarf shouted around the room I can a silent killing intent coming up from the others behind me and focusing on the angry dwarf and his supporters. And Endar speaks with an voice filled with killing intent. Endar: ¡°I won¡¯t allow you to speak like that to my daughter. If you do not like it you can leave that was the purpose of this gathering. But¡± He then doubles his killing intent Endar: ¡°remember that you swore an oath to keep silent so if you speak of this I will hunt you down remember that¡± The angry dwarf and his supporters also send the killing intent Angry-Dwarf: ¡°Oh I will but I will make another right here, if that beast ever strays of the path I will come kill it¡± Then there is a short stare down before the angry dwarf and some others leave. After a while Endar starts to speak again. Endar: ¡°Everyone you are probably waiting for an explanation but first Michiko please show them you blessing¡± I then activate the blessing and show them my right paw. As I activate the blessing an warm calming aura spreads through the room and the pressure is dispelled like snow before the sun. the reaction by the dwarfs is one of shock and I can hears murmuring by the crowd and I can see two dwarfs come forward, they are priests of the ancestor Gods Valaya and Gazul. Endar told me about them he selected the priest of Gazul because we need someone to take care of our dead and the priestess of Valaya is there because of my blessing. Priestess???: ¡°Please let us take a look at that¡± They say while looking at Endar who nods. They come forward and I put my paw forward and they start to examine it. After a while they stop and nod to each other, the priestess of Valaya turns around an faces the group of dwarfs. Priestess???: ¡°This Dragon has been blessed by our Ancestor and Goddess and as an priestess of the church of Valaya I declare that any attack against this Dragon Michiko will be seen as an direct attack against the church of Valaya itself¡± Priest???: ¡°I as an priest of church of Gazul and ally of the church of Valaya declare the same¡± Gasps go through the room and the priestess turns to Endar. Priestess???: ¡°We have to bring this dragon to the main church of Valaya as soon as possible¡± Endar: ¡°No I will not allow it as long as Michiko does not want it and you also know that taking a blessed person against their will is the same as going against the will you goddess¡± That makes the priestess stop and she looks at him with wide open eyes and mouth before she regains he composure and turns toward me. Priestess???: ¡°Young dragon please tell us what would you want to do? Do you want to stay of do you want to come with me to the church. I promises you won¡¯t be wanting for anything¡± I them open my mouth and with a draconic powerful while a bit childlike voice I say. Michiko: ¡°I want to stay with my family and I want to protect them¡± The Priestess closes her eyes and thinks for a while before speaking again. Priestess???: ¡°Then I will follow you but I hope that one day you will at least visit the main temple¡± Endar, Vanyra, Dern and the others smile and the priestess turns toward Endar again Priestess???: ¡°From how you set up this meeting I guess that you want to keep her being a dragon and having a blessing secret for now as to not draw unwanted attention toward yourselves right?¡± Endar: ¡°Yes that is so but I assure you I would rather kill myself that let any harm befall her and you can take that as an oath if you want to¡± Voices of agreement come from behind me and then The Priestess nods and Endar turns to the group of waiting dwarfs in front Endar: ¡°sorry for the intermission but now I will give an deeper explanation. Firstly Michiko here is not a wild dragon she is my adopted Daughter. My wife found her egg right after she had a miscarriage so we decided to raise her and since then we have lived together with Michiko and the other residence of Karak Drakk. Over the years Michiko has helped us more times than we can count and I can say with certainty that if she was not with us over the difficult period we had during the last years a lot of us would not be here today so I ask you to consider putting your trust in us. I know that it is hard to decide right so I¡¯m ending this meeting for now but if you want to join us toward a new life please come by and we will sign you up¡± After that some more questions where asked and answered but nothing very interesting happened after that. After a while we went home and I went to bed, tired because of today¡¯s happenings. Year: 16-03-1712 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Karak Azul Michiko POV. The past few days a lot of people signed up. First of which was the priestess and priest saying: Priestess???: ¡°We as followers of the ancestor gods have to follow and instruct you in the teachings of the gods¡± To my surprise the three dwarfs from the bar also signed up and they apologized to me and where harshly lectured by Vanyra while Endar was looking at them and sending killing intent. In the end we had about fifty people who wanted to join us. And today is the day we leave. Looking over the caravan I can see that we have a lot more wagons filled with the few possession the dwarves that go with us want to take with them and the wagons we had with us are filled with light crystals, seeds and other goods. I also put my books in them and now we are waiting for the last people to get ready. While I am waiting I can see Thorek come toward me and I call out to him. Michiko: ¡°Thorek!¡± Thorek: ¡°Hey Michiko I heard you would be leaving today so I came to see you off¡± Endar and Vanyra seeing me and Thorek come toward us. Endar: ¡°So you must be mister Thorek, I must thank you for taking care of my daughter¡± Thorek: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about is it was fun speaking with such a like minded person. I¡¯m kind of sad to see you go, please promise me to come by again the next time you are in Karak Azul¡± Michiko: ¡°I will¡± I say smiling. We talk some more but then it is time to leave and we say our goodbyes and we start moving. When we go through the gate the guards wave us off telling us to have a safe journey. Year: 10-08-1712 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Surroundings of Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. The past few month have been slow traveling because of the many wagons (that broke down every now and then) but also been very peaceful which relieved many of dwarfs that where traveling with us because normally traveling through these mountain would be VERY dangerous. But because of my warnings and directions we avoided almost all conflict and I talked a lot with the new dwarfs. In the beginning it went a bit rough because of their wariness but I gave them time and they opened up to me and on the colder night some of the children even slept under my wings while I used the red light specs to radiate heat. when we were about halfway some of the kids even asked if they could fly with me on my back. So I asked their parents if they could and to my and the other kids great joy the parents agreed. They allowed the kids to fly around on my back with the parents behind them for safety but I was happy when they told me the really liked it. I also talked a lot with the priest and priestess and I am happy to say they are a lot less stiff now and I also got their names. The priestess is called Alrika and the priest is called Grim and they told me a lot about their religions and their duty¡¯s for example the church of Valaya helps with healing and the church of Gazul takes care of the dead. That is of course only a small part of what they do and I am simplifying it to the bare basics right now but moving on. Today we are finally reaching Dragon peak mountain and I am flying ahead of the caravan. Because right now we are in familiar territory and relatively safe, the second reason is that I want to announce our arrival and the third reason is, I want to see Freda and everyone else because I have really missed them. When I am only a kilometer away from Dragon peak Mountain I roar and speed up. Seeing the entrance I lower attitude and land in front of the cave. I can see the guards who came out to greet me while smiling. I transform to my half dragon form and greet them and ask them how it has been the past ten months, I have been away for ten months. I then hear the sound of running coming from the cave and after a while I see a lot of dwarfs coming out with Freda in front. I run toward them and jump in Freda¡¯s arms and we cry out of happiness. Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m home mom I missed you¡± Freda: ¡°I missed you too¡± We keep embracing each other for a while the other kids join in and the others just smile. Norgrim: ¡°I¡¯m guessing the others are coming soon right?¡± Michiko: ¡°ah yes I came to warn you that they would arrive tonight together with fifty new dwarfs¡± Freda: ¡°Well that is a reason to celebrate everyone, Norgrim go and make sure we have enough places to sleep for the new residents, Largs check if we have enough food, Olka please go and coordinate the cooking. The rest of you please all go and help any one of them¡± The dwarfs smile and everyone except of the guards leave to prepare for the party. Michiko: ¡°Wow mom really has become a leader¡± Freda: ¡°I had to while you and Endar where gone having fun mom had to work hard and make sure everything went right¡± She says while frowning and I look down Michiko: ¡°Sorry¡± She then smiles and pets my head. Freda: ¡°I¡¯m just joking Michiko, come lets go inside and prepare for the rest¡± I go inside with Freda and when I arrive in the main cave I see that they have not been sitting around all day in the past ten months. There are a lot more houses, and a large amount of the roads have been flattened out making walking a lot easier. I can also see that they have begun digging the channels and they started to build the walls for the higher housing level and Palace/fortress level. When I am done with my quick look around I go and ask around where I can help. but I¡¯m quickly asked to help by Largs to hunt because we do not have enough meat for the feast and the rest of the afternoon I hunt together with them. In the evening Endar and the others arrive and I go and wait by the cave entrance. Endar: ¡°Hey Michiko we are finally here where are the others?¡± Michiko: ¡°They are waiting inside putting the last touches on the feast¡± Dern: ¡°Oh that sounds good I was hoping they would do that¡± Michiko: ¡°Everyone please come inside¡± We then walks through the tunnel into the mountain. At the end of the tunnel we reach a massive door, I knock and the door opens. We walk inside and all the new dwarfs are speechless and just walk forward while looking up and around the cave. Everyone else laughs, when we left Karak Azul I asked everyone to stay silent about the cave to surprise them and it looks like it was a success. Smiling I walk toward Alrika. Michiko: ¡°And? Do you like it?¡± She looks at me with a bit of anger but mostly amazement Alrika: ¡°You never mention Dragon peak mountain was an hollow mountain!¡± In reaction to that I laugh some more and I say. Michiko: ¡°Come on just take the wagons inside and just leave them here for now. It is time for a party¡± After a while we arrived at the plaza and we were greeted by the other dwarfs who were waiting with the feast. First many hugs and kisses where given. After a while everybody sat down and Endar stood up and spoke. Endar: ¡°Now we are all here together I want to express my happiness to all of you new and old family member, while our is journey now over we will still have hard work ahead but for tonight I want all of you to forget that, feast and be merry. That tonight feast may be one of many feasts that we will have in our new and old home¡± We then started the feast and it did not end until deep into the night. Character list: Spoiler : Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeymen runesmithe Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Runesmith Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the chaos god of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko journey) Dwarven Gods: Dwarven Gods (and god like) Grungni: ancestor god of Mining and Stoneworking Valaya: ancestor goddess of Home and Healing Grimnir: ancestor god of Warriors Gazul: Lord of Underearth Smednir: Shaper of Ore Thungni: ancestor god of Runesmiths Morgrim: ancestor god of Engineers Chapter 8: Building progress and looming danger Chapter 8: Building progress and looming danger Authors notes: Hello everyone this chapter will be a lot of just telling what happened since last chapter so sorry for that but it is needed to give you an image of the world and the life om Michiko. I also apologise for the lack of action but as you will read in this chapter it is coming next week so I hope you will look forward to it :) (I AM VERY SORY IF I RAMBEL ON FOR FAR TO LONG ABOUT SOMETHING) Many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 05-09-1715 (Imperial Calendar) (¡À nine years and eleven months since hatching) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. More than three years have passed since we first returned from Karak Azul with new immigrants. In that time our home has progressed a lot and just a few months ago we returned with another group of immigrants increasing our numbers even more. The new dwarves where also equally surprised when they saw their new home and even more so when they discovered I am a dragon but since then they have come to trust me and they have adjusted really well. Now they are working and living together with the other dwarves and with their help the work has sped up a lot. Of course the arrival of new immigrants is not the only thing that has happened in the past three years but before I am going to talk about that I will explain about my progress. Firstly my dragon form has grown to about two and a half meters in height and it seems my growth is slowing down, not by much but it does seem like it. I don¡¯t know why it is happening but it can be so that my growth spurt is over or that because dragons are almost immortal that we just experience a slow growth? Secondly for about two of the past three years I have mostly been working with the miners and stoneworkers. The main reason for that was that every dwarf, regardless of standing or craft must spend two years in the mines to learn the essential skills of their heritage and as to not forget the past. It was quite fun working with the mines but unfortunately I could not really go digging in my dragon form since we need clean stone bricks to built fortifications, houses and other buildings. My dragon form is great for digging tunnels or large areas but right now I do not have the precision to cut out the precise blocks we need so for now I have to work with normal picks and chisels. Working with the miners and stonemasons I learned quite a lot about their respective crafts. While I was working in the mines the other kids that had not worked in the mines yet and where old enough joined me. We had a lot of fun together and it kind of became a race between the older miners and us. With me leading the kids and Grond leading the miners, of course there is no way we had any chance in winning but with me pointing out the weaknesses in the rock we worked a lot faster. Of course we still lost and I¡¯m kind of ashamed to say it but our block looked horrible and the stonemasons secretly told me that they would just use them as filler blocks. But we had a lot of fun nonetheless and our skill became better over time that is what matters. While I was working with the miners we also reached the level where Gromril is most likely to be found and we started digging out large spaces to built the huge furnaces that we would need to refine the many ores we would mine. While we were digging we also found trace amounts of Gromril meaning that a vein could be nearby which got everybody very excited. Also because we were going to dig out another level I made another blueprint: Mining level: (all Images in spoilers for loading purposes): Spoiler : AM: Karak army manufacturing and maintenance (Tanks artillery) C: Walls with tunnels and cannons E: Elevator G&M: Guilds and general Manufacturing G&S-L: Garden and Storage Level M: Entrance to the mines R: Ore Refinement area with massive blast furnaces S: Special strongly reinforced area for experimentation and dangerous works T: Tunnel from X on mining level to the X on garden level X: Still to come This of course made all the old dwarves very happy and when they explained to the new Dwarves that it has happened before and they concluded it was a gift from the ancestor gods it became kind of crazy. After a while it calmed down again but it was really funny to watch them like that. I also told Valaya about it and she also laughed luckily she did not mind that I made it look like it was there doing. Talking about Valaya, Alrika and Grim have been teaching me about the ancestor gods and their powers. Of course I already know the ancestor god, I have met them in person after all but it was very interesting to learn about how religion works in dwarven society and the powers that are associated with them. Like the fact that priest of Gazul have the power to banish undead and control them. You could probably best compare it to necromancy magic. But spells like raising the undead go against the scripture of Gazul. Meaning that no dwarf will ever do it and in the very, very, very unlikely event it does happen it is a sure fire way to get the dwarven variant of witch hunters after you and those guys are nothing to laugh at. The third and probably most important thing I have done in the past three years is learning the magic from the book I bought. That means that I have not started learning other kinds of magic yet but I can see that even learning one kind of magic to a descent level will probably take years. Of course the fact that I know a lot about molecules, atoms, physics, biology and other thinks I have picked up in my previous life will help a lot with the magic systems based on logic like the lore of metal I am learning right now. But I can¡¯t see it help much with the lore of shadow or lore of beasts for that matter. I mostly discover all this when I visited Karak Azul for the second time and I had enough money for some more books and to get a library pass for the level with magic books. I read a lot of books for the month we were there and when I visited Dimzad at his book store he told me he had collected some books about magic for me. He got a basic book of magic for every lore and even a more advanced version for the lore of metal and the lore of life. I happily bought them from him and I told him I would like to buy some more in the future if he could get them. Anyway right now I am mostly learning the lore of metal because for now it I the most useful in smithing and also stoneworking I have found out. The lore of metal is mostly focused on well, metals (obviously) and by manipulating and using the yellow light specs it can form and manipulate metals. This does not mean that you can freely form it and make it fly in the air or something but a mage who uses the lore of metal can in the case of a battle give buffs to friendly troops by sharpening their swords and for de-buffs he can for example make the enemy¡¯s weapons rust. This is not the only thing they can do they can also do a kind of magical alchemy and convert metals into other metals. Most of the time this is a temporary change and after the magic is consumed the metal changes back to its original state. The only exception I have found in the book is that when a very powerful mage does it he or she can make the change permanent. I have tried converting metals myself but it changed back soon after and I started to do some more experimenting. During my experimentation I found out that the change of the components of a metallic alloy lasted a lot longer than changing a metal itself like lead to gold. Using this information I made a theory: any change made in metals is unstable and can only be made permanent in two ways. One the brute force method, by using a high amount of magical power you can snap the components into place. Two the precision method by precise control and extensive knowledge you can control the components of the metal or alloy placing them in the right place. This means changing the amount of different kinds of atoms in the case of alloys and in the case of changing metals themselves you need to change the amount of neutrons protons and electrons. Long story short, the more detail you need to work in the more precision or power it requires to make the changes permanent. For now I can on a small scale create alloys but for the changing metal themselves I do not have the precise control for that by a long shot. But I have also discovered that I can manipulate stone to a small degree. The reason that this is not really mentioned in the book is probably that not many mages have a magic sense that can pick up the low levels of yellow chaos magic contained in them. But because I can see/sense it I can manipulate it the same way as I can manipulate metals. Anyway for now the only major thing I have done with my magic is the fusing together and strengthening of stone blocks. By the manipulation of the traces of metals in the stone or by adding some more I have made something like reinforced, compressed a fused together stone. In the end it looks the same on the outside but it is now as strong as a wall of granite made from a single stone that is reinforced by a steal rebar. Meaning it is REALLY DAMN HARD and it is great for the strengthening of fortifications. Now back to the Karak itself and the building progress. Housing level ? Canals (Bleu) > almost completed ? Pillars (P) > 1/10 completed ? Roads (Grey) > main road completed other roads work in progress ? Market (M) > 1/20 completed ? Housing (H1) > flattening out cave floor in progress ? Housing (H2) > Building walls and filing in floor in progress ? Gardens (G) > started small scale ? Park (W) > Construction not yet started ? Hot springs (S) > one small-scale bathhouse built ? Kill zone (K1) > largely done ? Outside Construction not yet started to keep a low profile Housing level blueprint: Spoiler : Housing level fortress/palace (X) ? Royal family home (1) > Construction not yet started ? Royal square (2) > area flattened out ? Throne/ball room (3) > Construction not yet started ? Cannon towers plus walls (4) > Construction complete and personally strengthened ? Boiling hot springs (5) > Pumping station construction started ? Waterfall (6) > Pumping station construction started ? Royal library(7) > Temporary book storage built ? Hall of hero¡¯s and administrative building (8) > Small office buildings ? Warrior barracks (9) > Temporary weapon storage built ? Gardens and ¡°Nobel¡± housing (10) > Construction not yet started ? Training Grounds (11) > Temporary small scale training Ground built ? Pillars to support overhead ceiling (12) > Completed ? Private elevator (13) > Construction not yet started Housing level fortress/palace (X) blueprint: Spoiler : Garden and storage level ? Animals and grass (A) > Small area for Mountain goats completed ? Burial chambers (B) > Small amount of graves have been dug ? breweries of ale and beer (BR) > Small scale brewing started ? Walls with tunnels and cannons ? > Tunnels completed Cannons work in progress ? Elevator shafts coming down from housing level (E) > Construction not yet started ? Farmlands for grains and greens (F) > very small scale farming started ? Recreation area ? > Construction not yet started ? Storage (S) > Small scale construction/mining started ? Shrine (SR) > Competed ? Trees for fruits and wood (T) > Trees planted in a few areas ? Tanks and artillery storage area (T&A) > Construction not yet started ? Wine makers (W) > Construction not yet started ? still to come (X) > Construction not yet started Garden and storage level blueprint: Spoiler : Mining level ? Karak army manufacturing and maintaining (Tanks artillery) (AM) > Digging stated ? Walls with tunnels and cannons ? > Tunnels completed Cannons work in progress ? Elevator (E) > Construction not yet started ? Guilds and general Manufacturing (G&M) > Basic Manufacturing started ? Entrance to the mines (M) > Small scale mining has been started ? Ore Refinement area with massive blast furnaces ? > 1 of 8 blast furnaces built ? Special experimentation area (S) > Construction not yet started ? Tunnel from X on mining level to garden level (T) > Construction not yet started ? Still to come (X) > Construction not yet started Mining level blueprint: Spoiler : In the past years the Karak has grown by a lot and the fact that we have come this far stands testament of everyone¡¯s hard work and devotion. Right now we are experiencing happy times but we are not forgetting the danger that looms outside so we fortify and built so we can create our paradise. Well back to what is happening today. Today we are finally going to activate the first blast furnace. We only finished it yesterday and today we are going to use it for the first time which is a very happy moment. This blast furnace is bigger than all the temporary furnaces combined and if our expectations are correct, the metal that we refine with it will be of even higher quality. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. It took a lot of work to be able to start the blast furnace today. Apart from having to built the thing we also had to built coke ovens, rails for minecarts to deliver ore, cranes to carry buckets of molten metal, pouring stations, casts, tunnels for the supply of fresh air and the removal of exhaust/ carbon dioxide, mine the ore itself, get the stuff we need to combine with the ore, built ore crushers and a whole lot more things I can¡¯t even remember anymore. But now we are finally ready to begin. I get up from my bed and transform from my dragon form to my half dragon form and walk downstairs where Freda is waiting with Endar. We eat together and then we all go do our own things and we say goodbye. I walk to the elevator and go down with a lot of other miners. They all seem very excited for the start of the blast furnace today and a lot of the other dwarves will also come to watch. Arriving at mining level I exit the elevator and walk to the Ore Refinement area. When I get there I can see that Grond and Duregar are already there together with some other dwarves inspecting the furnace for one last time. Michiko: ¡°Good morning everyone¡± Grond: ¡°Hey Princess, slept well?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes, how is it going?¡± Duregar: ¡°Very well, we already inspected it yesterday so there should not be any problems but double-checking is always a good idea, especially if you are working with molten metals¡± I then go help with the inspections and preparation over the next few hours until we start. As we are approaching the time we are going to start many dwarves arrive and we complete the final preparations. Duregar: ¡°Okay everyone please finish up so we can start¡± When he said that everyone steps away from the furnace and some put on heat resistant clothing. I do the same but for me it is just covering myself with scales. Some minecarts go up the ramp and a large amount of coke is dropped in the furnace and the airflow is started. Grond: ¡°Princess please light the blast furnace¡± I then breathe in a lot of air and then breathe out a torrent of fire, lighting the coke and kick starting the oven. Soon the furnace looks like a blazing pit of fire from the top and we start to dump in the crushed ore and some other compounds. The metal starts to melt and the impurities are burned away or flow out with the slack. Luckily there are no problems with the blast furnace and everything goes well. After some time the smelting is done and we pour it into the molds for a cannon. After that we congratulated each other and most of the dwarves left going back to their work. The rest of the day many of the dwarves went on with refining a part of the ore we had mined until now. But I meditated near the cannon molds removing a lot of the remaining impurities out of the mold, strengthening the cannon. These cannons will be very important for strengthening the defences of the Karak. While they are not as good as the artillery of my past life but right now they are the better choice. That is for a few reasons, one they are easier to manufacture, and two inventing something like that all of a sudden would be very suspicious. Three ¡°modern¡± artillery can¡¯t really fire grapeshot and four the ammo is easier to manufacture. So for now I have decided to put it off. After I am satisfied with the canons quality I look up and see that it is already late and that many dwarves have already gone home and that the night shift has arrived. I stand up, wish everyone a good evening and go home. Over the next few days we keep refining ore and pouring them in different molds. For cannons, ingots, coins, plates, pickaxes, shovels and a lot of other things. Year: 06-12-1715 (Imperial Calendar) (¡À Ten years and two months since hatching) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. Today it is a quite normal day and I am working on the pillars on housing level by lifting up huge stones in my largest dragon form. I place the stone down on top of the massive fifty by fifty meter pillar so the dwarves can take the stone and put it in its place. The four pillars will really be a massive undertaking which will take years to complete (and that is with a lot more dwarves than we have now) but these pillars will protect the Karak from any future earthquakes so in the end it will be worth it. In the break when i am meditating and secretly reinforcing the pillar, I am called awake by Norgrim. Norgrim: ¡°Michiko, Michiko please wake up¡± Michiko: ¡°What is it Norgrim?¡± Norgrim: ¡°Something is going on outside, one of our regular patrols has reported an increase in goblin activity and Endar wanted me to call you¡± I think a bit and then signal him to climb on my back and I jump of the pillar. Gliding down to the office building and the crisis/strategy room. When I arrive I let Norgrim climb of and I transform to my half dragon form. Walking inside the room I can see that Bronn, Largs and Endar are already inside. Endar: ¡°Ah Michiko please come in, Largs please explain the situation to her¡± Largs: ¡°Well about half an hour ago a patrol returned and they reported that they have seen a large increase of goblin activity and patrols. This in itself is not so strange since it is normal to see more goblins after the monthly extermination happened. But this time it seems to be different because instead of a small increase and then returning to the normal amount the patrol reported seeing a lot more than normal and they don¡¯t seem to decreasing. They seem to be looking for something and we can probably already guess what it is they are looking for¡± Bronn: ¡°Yea that one was pretty obvious. But we have a problem, we do not know the extent of their forces so deciding what our next course of action will be is hard¡± Endar: ¡°And you probably already guessed it but we want to ask you to do a reconnaissance flight so we can get some accurate info to decide our next course of action¡± I look at them and I can see that they find it hard to ask this of me. They fully know that if I do reconnaissance above so many goblins there is a far higher chance of getting spotted. But knowing the importance of good information I nod. Michiko: ¡°I will do it but I can¡¯t take anyone with me on my back that would hinder me if I have to make a quick getaway. If I go now I will probably be back tomorrow morning if I so I can fly under the cover of darkness¡± Endar: ¡°Thank you¡± I then go with Endar to eat a bit before flying out on reconnaissance. When I was done many of the dwarfs wished me good luck with an awkward smile. I can see that they also find it hard to let me go like this and it warms me to see them care so much about me because I feel the same about them. When I walk out the gate together with Endar and Freda, Endar puts his hands on my shoulders and looks at me warmly. Endar: ¡°Please be careful and come back, everyone knows it¡¯s important that we get the information but we all love and care about you so again please be careful¡± I nod and get a hug from Freda. I transform to my small dragon form and fly off in the evening sky. After flying for a sometime I am about halfway to the night goblin Crag. As I look down I can see a large amount of goblins spread out over the hills and mountainsides. Flying over the goblins I try to get an idea of how many there are, for now I have seen at least five hundred goblins. Of those goblins many of them look like regular infantry but there are also a lot of archers and even a few Night Goblin Squig riders. As I am flying around I see more and more of them. I decide to try and find the leaders and I fly to the more or less centre of the group. When I see a large group of goblins with higher quality armour I quietly glide downward to get a better look and listen to them. When I am about fifty meters above them I see, to my great horror that in the middle of the group there are is a small group of goblin shamans. While I am listening a goblin soldier comes closer to the shamans and I listen. (stuntiez = offensive word for dwarves or more specifically their stubby legs) Goblin shaman1: ¡°So did da findin¡¯ da bastrds?¡± Goblin soldier: ¡° No we¡¯z are still lokin for dez stuntiez, da stuntiez have hidden findin'' dem take time¡± Goblin shaman2: ¡°Then work¡¯z harder or da Boss will krump you, now keep yer feet goin¡± The goblins soldiers then scurry¡¯s off and the shamans grin. After listening so far I have found out that these goblins speak in a strange butchered off kind of Reikspiel. But luckily by listening I can understand that they have found out that we have been attacking them instead of a beast or something. The goblin shamans turn to a small throne with a richly decorated shaman on top and that speak. Goblin shaman2: ¡°Boss worry we¡¯z will findin'' da stuntiez¡± Goblin shaman1: ¡°Yez an when we¡¯z do we¡¯s will kill and loot¡¯z them all¡± The shaman boss gives a horrible toothy smile Goblin shaman boss: ¡°Yes deyz stuntiez underestimatez us we will¡¯s eat dem and take deys stuff, livez and home. We¡¯s are many deyz are scared deys don¡¯t dare to foight uz¡± The group of shamans then begin to laugh. But after a few seconds the boss silence them: Goblin shaman boss: ¡°Looks like we¡¯z have company¡± He then smiles with an evil grin, looks up and aims his staff at me. Knowing I am discovered I quickly start flapping my wings to get away but while I am trying to escape the shamans start to shoot magic missiles at me. Looking at the projectiles coming at me I start to dodge and a lot of them fly just past me. After a few seconds a cluster of magic missiles comes at me and I do not have the space to fully dodge so I try to protect my vitals. As one of the magic missiles hit it scrapes of a peace of my side and another one rips trough my wing. After that I luckily get out of range and I fly further upward and stem the bleeding with my refined chaos energy. I check the damage on my body and to my relief I feel that none of my vitals have been hit. Still I directly fly back to the Karak because there is a chance that the hole in my wing will rip further. As I am flying back I observed the goblins I flew over some more and made sure to not leave a blood trail which would lead them to us. About halfway back the adrenalin has faded and I feel a large amount of pain from my wounds. Not being able to sit down and meditate to supress the pain I feel it all. But I go onwards to the Karak, toward home. When I reach the Karak it is very early in the morning and the sun is just starting to come up. The guards see me, smile and wave but as I get closer they see my strange flying and lower their hands and their expression changes from one of joy to worry. I start to descend and try to slow down but because of the hole in my wing the air flows differently around me and I have difficulty controlling my decent, luckily my landing while a bit rough goes well. But when I am on the ground the last of my strength leaves me and I fall down. Almost immediately I am carefully picked up by one of the guards who carries me inside and runs toward the hospital. In the hospital I am put on an examination table and half a minute later the doctor comes running in who immediately begins to examine me. A bit later Endar, Freda and Alrika also come inside. Alrika immediately begins casting healing magic om me and my mind clears up a bit. Freda: ¡°How is she¡± She asks and I can clearly tell she I worried so I try to answer to put them at ease. Michiko: ¡°I.. am¡­. Fine¡­ I am¡­ just tired¡­. from the¡­. flight and¡­ blood loss¡­ I will.. be fine¡± Freda looks at me but not totally convinced she looks at the doctor who nods and they calm down a bit. I then slowly say: Michiko: ¡°Dad.. there are probably fifteen hundred goblins a lot of them are regular infantry and archers but there are also Squig riders and a few shamans. Please be careful and stay calm I will be fine I just need rest¡± Endar looks and me and he seems to calm down but I can still feel a silent but brutal killing intent Endar: ¡°Thank you¡± He looks at me some more and then leaves, I smile and let refined chaos energy run through my body to heal myself. I then close my eyes and sleep. Character list: Spoiler : Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeymen runesmithe Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Runesmith Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko journey) Dwarven Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir Chapter 9: Two Hundred Chapter 9: Two Hundred Authors notes: 1.MATURE Its already in the description of this book but I¡¯m giving another warning here because some sense in this chapter may be quite dark. 2.Sorry for the clich¨¦ evil goblins in the chapter but that is just like they are depicted in Warhammer fantasy night goblins are evil and cruel. 3.Secondly I think I am not uploading another chapter this week because this chapter is about twice as long as a normal chapter I hope you will all be able to survive for a week. I am doing this because I am falling behind a bit on some school work and I don¡¯t address this now it will only grow. So I¡¯m sorry but no chapter this week I hope you understand. 4.(INFO: GOBLIN SHAMANS ARE POWERFUL, goblin magic has a reputation of being weak but is not the case the world of Warhammer so please keep that in mind when reading this chapter) Many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 03-01-1716 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. After I went to sleep from exhaustion and blood loss I slept for about a day. When I woke up my wounds had already mostly been healed but the doctor ordered me to rest a few more days before leaving. He also told me what had happened while I was sleeping. After Endar left he called an emergency meeting to discuss what the next course of action would be, and he remained in discussion for most of that day with many dwarves. When they were done everyone was gathered together and Endar explained what they would do. The plan was to prepare for a long siege, this is a very logical choice since we are outnumbered at least seven to one and that is counting every dwarf in the Karak. Of course a dwarven warrior is more powerful than a normal goblin but we only have about 50 warriors and 25 hunters/scouts so a head-on attack in the field is impossible to win for us. So the only choice is prepare for a long siege and hope to break the goblins on our defences. Now in preparation for the siege the hunters are out almost 24/7 setting up traps and gathering food which I freeze. The miners and stonemasons are focusing on building and strengthening defences. The blacksmiths are working nonstop to produce cannons, muskets and ammunitions. Medical supplies are being filled up, swords and axes are being sharpened, arrows are being made and all mountain goats are being taken inside. Most of the dwarves are calm but I can feel a change in the atmosphere, many dwarves are anxious and some scared. But I can also feel their resolution to defend their home, our home and I feel the same. I feel afraid of losing my loved ones, I feel an anxious for the coming Battle and I feel angry at the goblins for trying to harm my loved ones. I have not forgotten that they attacked my mother and I will engrave their sins into their skulls to remind them! Since coming out of the hospital I have been flying reconnaissance every night to check the goblins progress. Of course Endar, Freda and many of the dwarves were against it at first but after a long time I managed to convince them. I did have to promise them to only fly around the edges of the goblin horde and stay away from the shamans. But without telling them I have been trying to pick off as many goblins as I could over the past month. Most of them where of low rank, alone and vulnerable. I don¡¯t think it lowered their numbers by much but I do think that it lowered their morale and lengthened our preparation time, plus every bit helps right if my efforts even only saved one dwarf life it will be worth it ten times over. It kept going like that for about a month until today. Last night a group of goblins found the entrance to our Karak. And before I had the chance to kill them they made it back to report their find. After that almost all the goblins gathered and set up camp close to the mountain but out of our range. During the day many of the night goblins rested in their camp but they have also started to patrol around the mountain, making sure that we cannot leave or enter the Karak. Of course we still have secret entrances/exits but we have to be careful since if they are discovered we have to destroy at least one tunnel if not more. As for the setup of our defences, the main gate is heavily guarded and barricaded and all other exists have been blocked or hidden. That makes the main gate a large choke point that we can use to our advantage. (For strategy and image open spoiler) Spoiler : K1: Killzone 1 the secondary main entrance defence line (just an area where they get shot at from all directions by cannons and other guns while trying to break the giant reinforced doors or the barricade right now) K2: Killzone 2 the first main entrance defence line (the name is kind of self-explanatory it is a zone where they get brutally slaughtered by cannon/ gun fire from all directions T1: lower towers with a lot of cannons T2: Higher and bigger towers with even more cannons C: Walls with tunnels and cannons B: The main entrance Bridge G: Guard area, temporary guard watch post/area R: Ramp/Road going up the mountain to Karak entrance S: Stone wall/Barricade V&G: Valley and Goblin camp W: Waterfall (this is a tunnel but is impossible to travel upward because of fast, hot water) But even while we are as prepared as we could be today everyone has been feeling very uneasy. It feels like the calm before the storm we will have to face, we can only hope that our defences are strong enough to weather it. As the evening nears we can see an increase of activity in the goblin camp. Around the time of midnight a group of about sixty goblins come walking up the mountain road to the main gate. Some dwarves that are hidden above the gate follow their progress. While the goblins walk upward the dwarves get a better look at them. Most of the goblins look like normal soldiers and there are only a few higher ranked goblins with them. It looks like this is only a scouting force that has been ordered to test our defences. When they arrive at the gate they stop and talk for a bit until they start to move again leaving ten goblins behind outside the tunnel. The rest of the goblins walk on into the darkness of the tunnel. As we have removed all of the lighting crystals of the tunnel it is now filled with total darkness. But because the night goblins like dwarves and me live underground they have a limited degree of dark/night vision letting them see in the dark. Still due to the almost complete absence of any light their vision should not me more than a few meters. It takes the group of goblins about ten minutes before they reach the large stone dome. As they walk inside I can see that the normal soldiers are not totally scared but not at ease either. They walk into the middle of a circle of torches that is placed in the centre of the dome. We then start to surround them as quietly as possible while staying in the darkness. We come as close as possible without been seen in the light of the torches. As we ready to attack we see a higher rank goblin come in front of the group and we decide to observe some more. Goblin leader: ¡°Oi ya Stuntiez, we''z know you here. Now lizen da boss has one choiz for ya stuntiez, you surrender now and da boss promesez to let you leave alivez as long az ya give us da dragon alives¡± That confuses me why would he want me? Alive at that I have over the years killed many, many goblins I understand if he wants me dead, but alive? While we wait Endar signs us to stay before stepping forward himself. He stops when he is dimly visible in the light, like a dark silhouette coming out of the darkness. Endar: ¡°And why would we do that Goblin? Why would your leader let us go? And what does he want with a member of our family?¡± The goblin looks at Endar and then laughs Goblin leader: ¡°Why? Stuntie why? That is for da boss to know for you don¡¯t. da boss iz not interested in your livez, da boss wantz your stuffs and da dragon. Now surrender, we are manyest you are few so ya don¡¯t have¡¯z a choicez¡± It is silent for a bit until Endar speaks again Endar: ¡°No¡± He says with a deep loud voice that is amplified by the surrounding cave walls. At the same time as he speaks he also signals the hunters and the warrior then it starts, arrows fly, guns are fired and I use my breath attack, killing twenty goblins instantly including the leader. We quickly close the encirclement making sure no goblins can escape, shield walls are formed and arrows are still being fired into the group of goblins. While all of this was happening the group of goblins where stunned at first because of the surprised attack. The loss of their leader meant that for the first moments of the fight nobody knew what to do until another goblin took the command. But by this time many goblins had already been killed by the arrows and gunfire. By then it was just a matter of holding the line for the dwarves and slowly killing them off. After a while the fight was a good as over, our plan had worked. We predicted the goblins would first send a small force to try and gloat over their superior numbers and maybe try and get us to surrender. So we made a trap, by placing a circle of torches in the middle of the dome we made a ¡°stage¡± for the goblins to gloat. That was for two reasons, one was to put them in a spot where we could easily hit them with arrows and guns, second was to rob them of their vision. They may be able to see in the dark but when they are surrounded by light their eyes can¡¯t look into the darkness past it. Anyway our first skirmish resulted in our victory and nobody was hurt more than a few shallow cuts and bruises. But that was more because it was only a small overconfident group, the shamans will not be so stupid. As we clear out the last of the goblins that have been knocked out or disabled we look around the fallen goblins. We can see that these goblins where equipped with mostly second-rate gear (by goblin standards) it looks like this was just a sacrifice to test our defences. They were probably supposed to run away and tell their leaders what they had seen. Well we prevented them from that but I can¡¯t imagine that their leader will really care for losing this group. It was probably a bunch of trouble makers or annoying goblins he wanted to get rid of anyway. Putting away the thought for now we continue the clean-up until Endar: ¡°Wait, take a few of the still alive goblins prisoner I want to ¡°ask¡± them a few questions about what their forces are and secondly what that bastard shaman wants with my daughter¡± Some of the dwarves nod, they tie up and carry away a few goblins into the Karak. We clean up the rest of the dead goblins and burn their bodies in the repurposed temporary blast furnace turned temporary crematory. To make sure no diseases can be spread we will have to burn the goblins. But before we began with the burning the adult dwarves told me to leave it to them, they said that it was not a thing a child should do. I am grateful they said that, while I can kill if needed I don¡¯t like it, and corps burning¡­ I go and clean myself and rest in the hot spring for a while. When I get out I help a bit here and there, practise my magic and meditate to pass the time. In the morning the goblins wake up and Endar told me he had to go do something. I can guess what so I did not ask, I could do it myself but firstly they would not allow me and secondly I do not like doing it so I just let it go and went to bed to try and sleep for the day. When I awake I go downstairs to eat something and when I enter the kitchen I see that mom was already expecting me and prepared some food. Freda: ¡°Sleep well?¡± She asks while smiling at me Michiko: ¡°Yes but a bit restless, did anything happened while I was asleep?¡± Freda: ¡°Well in the morning the small group of goblins that where in front of the gate left and went back to the goblin camp. Also when the prisoners woke up Endar went to ¡°talk¡± with them and he managed to ¡°convince¡± them to give some information. For the details you need to ask Endar but it is basically like this. The goblins outside are all from one crag and are like you guessed being led by a powerful goblin shaman. Their army is almost all of the goblins of skull crag as they call it. The goblin shaman took about sixteen hundred goblins with him and left behind about three hundred goblins in the crag. That is more or less it¡± Michiko: ¡°Do you know if they said anything about why that shaman wanted me alive or did the goblins not say anything about that?¡± I can see Freda¡¯s face darken for just a moment before it clears up again. Freda: ¡°No I did not hear anything about that. So, what are you do today sweetie?¡± Seeing she did not want to talk about I do not pursue the question she probably does not want to make me worry, feel scared. Michiko: ¡°Well in the case that there is no attack this night I will mostly help around the Karak, meditate and play with my friends, while standing ready just in case. What about you mom?¡± Freda: ¡°I am going to help in the farms today, while you fight the goblins in battle we will make sure they won¡¯t be able to starve us out¡± We talk some more while eating and then I go out. It is kind of weird like we just switched our night and day life. It is not that much of a problem because we already live underground so we just have to adjust our lighting cycles and we won¡¯t be going outside much with a giant horde of goblins on our front lawn. Well it is because of them that we changed our schedule in the first place, they are night goblins and like the name says they are mostly active during the night. So it is better if we are well rested before fighting. So where am I going first today (tonight)? Year: 07-01-1716 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. The past few days not much has happened the goblins send one more small group of goblins and while they were a bit harder than the first group we took care of them without having much trouble. As for the Karak and the dwarves, it is going fine everyone is helping each other out and they are calm. But tonight something big is going to happen, the watchmen hiding above the gate have reported that the goblins are preparing for a major attack. Right now we are gearing up and preparing for battle. I take a musket I modified with rifling, back loading and some special bullets I made by putting temporary runes on them. They are very powerful but I only have a few of them so I will have to use them sparingly. I also take a long spear for attacking goblins that want to climb the wall. Lastly I take a short sword and a cloak that is not worth so much. It would be shame if my special cloak with the embroidery would be damaged or bloodied and for Armor I use my dragon scales so I do not need extra, it would only restrict me in battle. For the dwarves that man the wall they take spears with them and have axes or swords as secondary weapons. Then there are also the hunters who mostly use the compound crossbow or muskets and also have a sword as secondary weapon. Lastly there are dwarves that will man the cannons, they will only have a secondary weapon because they are supposed to load the cannon. About the cannons themselves we have different kinds of ammunitions for them, we have of course the normal cannon ball but also grapeshot, since we will be fighting against large numbers of infantry. Alrika and Grimm are also preparing for using the magic of their respective gods. As for the rest of the dwarves some of them are helping at the medical station but most of them are just working. It would of course be safer if they stayed in the fortress but they said that if we are risking our lives they have to do something too. Even if that task is just taking care of the farms, or helping out the artillery dwarves by preparing ammunitions. When we are ready we begin to man the wall and rest for the coming battle. After an hour we get a message from the watchmen that the goblins have started to enter the tunnel. Not long after that we begin to hear many footsteps and rumour and about a minute later the first goblins begin to storm inside and are quickly followed my many more. They look to be in a spread out formation, well something like that at least. The first goblins slow down a bit when they see our wall but quickly speed up again storming toward us. They have also brought ladders with them which is logical for storming a dwarf hold. We have done nothing until now but when they approach the middle of the dome we take aim and FIRE. A huge amount of noise fills and echoes around the dome as the many muskets, crossbows and cannons fire. Almost evidently after that I see the bullets, arrows and grapeshot ripping through the goblins. As we reload we hear screams of pain comming from the fallen goblins, but soon afther many more goblins trample over the fallen running on towards the wall. When the goblin archers come in range they start to fire arrows up the wall. We duck behind the battlements and continue reloading. When we are finished we stand up and form a firing line. As the muskets fire another volley the first goblins reach the wall and begin to put up ladders. We try to push off the ladders and a few fall over but most are put back up again. I then hear a scream and cursing to my right, one of the dwarves has been hit in the arm with something. I turn my head and look at the back of the dome and see that the shamans have arrived and I scream to warn the others. I load one of my special bullets and aim for one of the shamans and fire. As the bullet flies it begins to glow. When it hits it explodes taking out one of the shamans and harming some more. Seeing the damage the goblin guards put shields in front of the shamans, while some of the shamans return fire and other give buffs to the goblins. I duck away from the magic and arrows that are being shot at me. Then the cannons finish reloading and fire with a thundering noise many goblin archers and some shamans are hit and taken out. I look down and see that some of the goblins have almost reached the top of the wall. Together with them many of the goblin squigs and their riders arrive and start to jump up the wall using the ladders. They are still mostly unhurt because they used the goblin infantry as meat shields. I load another of my special bullets and fire at one of the ladders. With a loud bang the explosion makes a dent in the wall and breaks the ladder in two sending many goblins screaming downward. As I am loading another special bullet the first goblin squigs riders reach the top of the wall. I send one last bullet to the goblin shamans but it is intercepted by the massive shields and while it takes out a few goblin guards only one shaman is seriously hurt. The shamans return fire but I quickly duck again. I lay down my musket and take out my spear and start to stab the goblins that are climbing the wall. Some of the goblins come running at me with their weapons raised the first one I stab in the head with my spear. But a second one ducks past my spear, I let go of it and I pull out my sword. He swings down his sword but I deflect it and cut at his neck, killing him instantly. But his place is almost immediately taken by another goblin and as I get ready to stab him I am attacked in at my back. The goblin sword cuts through my cloak but must of the damage is taken by my scales only resulting in a shallow cut. But still it breaks balance for just a bit and the stab I made to the goblin in front of me only cuts his arm. He takes another swing and like the other one it cuts through my cloak but only leaves a shallow cut. Using my tail I hit the goblin behind me on the side of his head breaking his neck and throwing him of the wall. But another one takes his place and we continue the dance of death until two dwarves arrive and we push back the goblins and take down the ladder. I quickly thank them and check the state of my body, I have a few shallow wounds but I quickly start to circulate refined chaos energy to heal myself. I then look around the wall and I see many dwarves using their axes or swords to fend of the goblins. I can see that many dwarves are struggling to fight against the increasing number of goblins and when I see one dwarf being pierced by a goblin spear I roar out of anger and sadness. I throw my short sword hitting the goblin in the head killing him instantly. Endar seeing that if this goes on for much longer he gives the order to release the trap. One of the dwarves pulls on a handle and two massive stone balls connected to the wall with a chain swing out from the middle of the wall. Tumbling on the side of the wall the two stone wrecking balls take out almost all of the ladders breaking them to pieces. Angry screams and horrible cursing come from the goblins. The goblins on the wall begin to fight even harder filled with rage. But without the stream of new goblins coming up the walls they start to fall one by one. As the last ladder is punched of the wall a horn is blown, I look where the sound is coming from and see that the shamans have started to retreat. I pick up my musket again and load another special bullet. I aim for the unprotected backs of the retreating shamans and as I fire the cannons do the same. A lot of the retreating goblins are taken out and my bullet takes out at least two more shamans. While the goblins retreat the last goblins still standing on the wall are taken care of. We then turn to the wounded and we first carry off anyone who is seriously hurt. While we are carrying them Alrika also casts healing spells on them as we bring them to the hospital as fast as possible. When we arrive at the hospital I see that some of the wounded were taken away while we were still fighting. We put down the wounded on the beds and many of the dwarves leave while I go and sit in the middle of the room and start to reradiate a green aura to help with the healing and Alrika does the same using the magic of Valaya. While I am sitting in the clinic wounded dwarves are being brought in. most of them luckily just have a minor wound but a few are heavily wounded. Seeing them I feel angry at the goblins I know that becoming angry at them won¡¯t help and I put all my energy in healing aura. As the time passes the wounded dwarves are bandaged up and the doctor and his assistants remove arrow heads and clean wounds. After some time they are done they go out to rest and only a few dwarves remain to care for the wounded. While the hours pass I keep sitting there continuing to use my healing aura and I become more and more tired. When I can¡¯t continue anymore I fall backwards of the table and to my surprise I am caught by Endar. I look at him with a tired gaze, he looks warmly at me but also with a bit of sadness in him. Endar: ¡°You have done enough Michiko go to sleep¡± Not having the energy to refuse I slowly close my eyes and the last thing I feel before falling asleep is a soft bed underneath me. Year: 08-01-1716 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. As I wake up in the morning (evening) I look around myself and see that I am laying in one of the beds of the clinic. I check my body and feel that my wounds are fully healed but also that my clothes have disappeared. I look under the blanket and see that I am only covered in scales and blood from the battle. Alrika: ¡°Hello Michiko did you sleep well?¡± I turn my head and see Alrika stand by the side of my bed Michiko: ¡°Morning Alrika do you know where my cloak has gone?¡± Alrika: ¡°Well it was completely cut up so we removed it together with Freda, we wanted to watch you but we did not want to wake you so we left it. But I do advise you to take a bath¡± I then look at her seriously and ask. Michiko: ¡°How many did we lose?¡± And she returns a sad gaze and says Alrika: ¡°Five¡­ five dwarves died, four of them fell in battle and one died from his injuries. But luckily because of the doctors and you we did not lose any more. We were really close to losing two others but thanks to our combined efforts we were able to saved them¡± I feel a great sadness well up inside me but supress it for now I can¡¯t cry in the hospital. Seeing the look on my face Alrika asks Alrika: ¡°Are you okay Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes, could you give me some clothes Alrika?¡± She nods and walks away before returning with a cloak. She helps me put it on and then I leave to the bathhouse. As I walk away I can feel Alrika gaze on my back for a while until I get further away from the hospital. On my way to the bathhouse I greet some other dwarves and I can feel their sadness too. When I arrive I undress and go to a secluded bath. When enter the bath I just sit there for a while and then I begin to cry. As I let my emotions flow freely I am griped by sadness and for a while I nothing more than cry. After a while I wash myself before drying off and clothing myself again. I leave the bathhouse with red eyes but feeling somewhat better. I walk home to get something to eat. When I walk inside I meet Endar Endar: ¡°Hello Michiko sleep well?¡± I just nod before asking. Michiko: ¡°What happened after the battle?¡± Endar: ¡°Well after the wounded were taken to the hospital and the dead dwarfs carried off to the temple we waited until the goblins were far enough away and then we started to clean up the goblins. We are still carrying them off but we think that there are around seven hundred dead goblins. We are burning their bodies in the crematorium and their equipment is mostly thrown on the scrap heap for recycling. We also made sure to raise the wrecking balls and repair the walls, but we did find out something strange the walls are much stronger than we thought well I am not complaining but still strange. Anyway we have now killed about half of the goblins but it looks like they have no intention of retreating. I think they are making another plan of attack. They now know of our trick so it won¡¯t be as simple as this time the next time they attack. Anyway we dealt a huge blow to them yesterday, as long as we hold fast we can win¡± I smile a bit when he talks about the strength of the wall and then I get something to eat while talking some more with Endar. After I am done I leave home and go to the temple of Gazul. I transform to my dragon form and glide down one of the still empty the elevator shafts. When I reach garden and storage level I get out of the shaft and walk to the cave system. As I walk over the paths I can see some dwarves working and also some mountain goats grazing the grass fields. When I arrive at the Shrine of Gazul I walk inside. I can see the bodies of the dwarves laid down in stone coffins arranged like a horseshoe around the centre of the temple. Each of the coffins has been carefully crafted and has many engravings and delicate sculpting. I look at the dwarves in the coffins and I feel sadness. I did not know these dwarves very well personally but I did speak with them, feasted with them, lived with them and fought together with them. All of the dwarves that live here are family some close other a bit more distant but family none the less. I turn around and see Grim standing behind me. Michiko: ¡°Can I stay here for a bit?¡± He does not ask any questions and just nods before returning to a chair that is standing against the wall. I go to the centre of the temple and lay down on the floor. I curl up in my dragon form and begin to radiate a white aura and begin to glow slightly. I have read in the books of magic that the white magic or the lore of light is the enemy of daemons and the undead. While I could not save their lives I will make sure nobody can misuse their bodies that will remain in this world. I just lay there for about an hour until standing up again and transforming to my half dragon form. I then walk to the coffin left of me and do a small prayer for him as I have learned. Covering my left arm in scales I infuse one of them with white chaos energy and then use my right hand to pull it out. I place the scale in the coffin on the chest of the dwarf and move on to the next coffin doing the same for all the dead dwarves. When I am done I go and stand in the middle of the temple and make one last prayer. When I am done I look around for Gazul¡¯s aura, when I find it I stretch out my arm and touch it. I close my eyes and whisper. Michiko: ¡°Please take care of their souls and guide their souls on their path wherever it may lead¡± Opening my eyes again I pull back my hand and see the aura go around me once before continuing its regular course. I turn around and begin to walk away only stopping at Grim for a bit and look at him. We exchange gazes and then he nods, making a sad smile I walk out the temple and go back to world of the living. Year: 10-02-1716 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. This past month a gloom has come over the normally so happy dwarves. The death of family and the long siege was taking its toll psychologically. Still there was not even a thought of surrendering or despair this is dwarves I am talking about. Still due to the lack of happy things and the siege that still continues on, a gloom hangs over the dwarves. Because of that I have been going around the Karak trying to give at least a bit of happiness and/or comfort. About the burial of the dead dwarves they remained in the temple of Gazul for four days so everyone could say their goodbyes. After that Grim invoked the blessing of Gazul over them to make sure no necromantic magic could tamper with their bodies and for the safe passage of their souls. When the blessing was completed the burial vault was opened and the coffins where carried inside and they were entombed in the earth that birthed them before enclosing the vault once more. As for what the goblins are up to, they are still patrolling around the mountain but the main thing they are doing is building siege towers. Seeing that, we immediately started to modify our defences and we dug a two meter wide trench in front of the wall to make sure the siege towers could not get close enough to make contact. For the rest we replenished ammunitions and prepared more medical supplies. When all preparation where done we stated to wait for the attack. And that waiting ends today because the goblins have begun to move. The watchmen reported that the goblins have been moving the siege towers up the mountain road yesterday night and the main force arrives tonight. As the goblins walk up the mountain road we take our places on the walls and load our weapons. The goblins have built five siege towers and also large wooden shields. It looks like they have realized that running screaming to our walls is ineffective and they are trying to take a more slow but steady approach. About ten minutes after the watchmen reported the goblins entering the tunnel we start to see the first siege tower come out of the tunnel and it is followed by the others one by one. Then the main force of goblins come out of the tunnel followed by the shamans. They begin to move forward and then the cannons fire at the siege tower ripping off pieces but not destroying it. But as the cannons fire my instinct begin to tell me that something is wrong but I do not know what it is so I just prepare for firing at the infantry and siege towers. When the closed siege tower arrive at the trench they ride it straight into the trench to my surprise and then topple it. Sacrificing it to fill in the trench making a path for the following siege towers. But still as we fire again I still have a nagging feeling and it take a few seconds to observe the battlefield. As I look around I see that the commander of the goblins is a different one than the one from the last battle. This commander has less control over his forces and the goblins also strangely look more chaotic. It could be that we killed or mortally wounded the commander of the last Battle. On top of that they are moving far too slow it is like they are trying to keep us occupied. I look around the battlefield again and I discover something shocking. There are only five hundred goblins here. They were supposed to be with at least 650 goblins. Because they started with 1500, I first killed about fifty during their advance to our Karak, then about 100 more were killed in small squads and then lastly about 700 in the last attack. But if there are only 500 goblins here where are the others? Could it be that we mortally wounded so many goblins in the last battle? I then run towards Endar and stand by his side. Michiko: ¡°Dad something is wrong there are a large number of goblins missing and I suspect that the commander is missing too¡± Endar: ¡°Are you sure of it? Can¡¯t it be that the last commander was killed because he failed?¡± Michiko: ¡°That can be but my instincts tell me something is wrong¡± He thinks for a few second until saying Endar: ¡°Now you say it¡­¡± He does not get time finish speaking before we hear shouting coming from behind us. Dwarf???: ¡°We are being attacked from behind, the goblins have broken into the cave system on garden level!!!¡± I look at Endar with fear filled eyes. Endar: ¡°Go Michiko please hold them of, we will send reinforcements as quickly as possible!¡± I jump off the walls and start running while transforming to my dragon form. I run as quickly as I can using my four legs and I jump down the elevator shaft. When I reach garden level I run past some dwarves who are grabbing weapons and run into the cave system. As I follow my nose and the smell of blood go deeper into the cave system. I keep running until I reach a large amount of goblins who are fighting against a group of dwarves. The dwarves have been drive into a corner and only a few of them remain standing. My heart shocks when I see mom with a few other dwarves laying on the ground behind the last standing defenders. Michiko: ¡°MOM!!¡± As some of the goblins turn around because of the sound I jump in the air flap my wings and land between the goblins and the dwarves. I look at Freda and the other dwarves and see that they are still alive but need immediate care or they will soon bleed out. As I turn around to the goblins Olka who is standing next to me as one of the few defenders speaks. Olka: ¡°Michiko what are you doing here¡± Michiko: ¡°It does not matter I will hold off the goblins, reinforcement¡¯s should be arriving soon. Please take care of the wounded while I focus on the goblins¡± She nods and then together with the other they start to do first aid on the wounded dwarves. While we have been talking the goblins have kept their distance. But when I turned to the goblins one shaman comes forward, it is the shaman I saw a few weeks ago when I was flying reconnaissance. The Shaman that the other call Boss, the leader of the Goblins. Goblin Shaman Boss: ¡°Ah da Dragon We''ze finally findin it, I wa¡¯z wantin to finz it¡¯z¡± Michiko: ¡°What do you want?!¡± I say with an angered growl, I have to keep him busy until reinforcement¡¯s arrive. Goblin Shaman Boss: ¡°First I wanted to krump somz pests thatz has finding ther waz into my territory, butz when I sawz you I gotz I idea. I wanted to makes you¡¯z as mine¡¯z mount¡± Michiko: ¡°And why would I do that?¡± Goblin Shaman Boss: ¡°You wants these stuntiez to keeps alives right? You likes these stuntiez you wants to saves them, but you¡¯z must kenw you cant win¡¯z from us. If yous submit now and becomes my mount I promizzes I will lets these stuntiez stay alive¡± He says with a toothy grin showing his rotten teeth. Michiko: ¡°Meaning you want to keep them hostage right!¡± The goblin boss smiles. Goblin Shaman Boss: ¡°mabey but you¡¯z do not haves a choize you will haves to serendes now or will¡¯z justs capture you¡¯z by forse, the only diverns how manys stuntiez live¡± Seeing that this is going nowhere and that this talk will soon end I begin to load up an ice breathe and say with a deep draconic voice. Michiko: ¡°No!¡± And then release my ice breath, but before it reaches him two guards with large shields block my attack while being frozen and dying in the process. Goblin Shaman Boss: ¡°so you cozes for fights, predictibel dragonz are stongs and pridefull, stillz please shows me your endureans. Showe¡¯z me how longs you can remains standing, arches shoots da dargon but don¡¯t hit vitals I still wants it as a mount just lets it bleed until its fallz down. And if dragon moves¡­. Shoots the stuntiez¡± The goblins follow his orders and I let out an angry growl but don¡¯t move. As the first arrows hit they are just harmlessly stopped by my scales. When it happens the shaman grins and he snaps his fingers. Then multiple shamans behind him begin to cast a spell and of the second round of arrows many penetrate my scales and pierce into my flesh. I try to push them out by manipulating my body using refined chaos energy but I don¡¯t have much success. The goblin arrows have nasty hooks that secure themselves into the flesh of the victim. Over time more and more arrows hit me and pierce my scales. I know that if this does not end soon I will lose too much blood and I will fall unconscious. And when that happens they will tie me up and take away my family so I have to hold on at least until reinforcements arrive. But while I am standing there I can also feel an incredible anger rising within me and as that happens my eyes turn red and my scales blacken. How dare they harm my family! First they attacked my mother and made me lose my to be sister and almost kill herself, then they killed my family in the first attack and now they have attacked even more of my family and want to separate me from them! HOW DARE THEY I think as I roar in anger. The goblins look scared for a bit but soon they go on with shooting me when they realize I can¡¯t reach them with my claws and when I try to charge up a breath the Shaman points at the dwarves and I quickly stop. I then begin to hear sound of battle coming from one of the cave entrances. It sounds like the dwarves have arrived and I get new hope. But the Shaman smirks and a large amount of his warrior to fight them. Goblin Shaman Boss: ¡°ives you thinks you¡¯z are saved nows yous are wrong, these are mine elete troopes, and without cannons your stuntiez are usesless aginst them¡± But as soon as the words have left his mouth a thundering sound fills the cave followed by goblin screams and dwarven battle cries. The look on the goblins face changes slightly but he quickly gives out some orders and more goblin warrior and archers go to stop the attack. But soon after the Dwarves come storming into the cave. When they see me standing there panting, coloured black with red eyes and pierced with arrows all over and the goblins in front of me, their battle cries pause for a second before deeper and anger filled battle cries take their place. They storm through the goblins and arrive at me and the fallen dwarves making a circle around us. Endar: ¡°Doctor please take care of Michiko and the other we will take care of this¡± The doctor rushes to my side but I speak with a deep anger filled draconic voice and say. Michiko: ¡°No I¡¯m fine please take care of the others I can fight¡± Hearing the anger in my voice and understanding my feelings Endar nods. Endar: ¡°Ok everyone you heard her half of you protect the wounded and the other half come with me and form up around Michiko, we will take care of her flanks while she pushes forward into the goblins¡± The dwarves shout in agreement and half of them form a shield wall around the wounded and the others gather by my sides. I then begin to advance and take out any goblin in front of me. The goblin shaman starts to shout orders and tries to secure a safe retreat but before he can get away I use an ice breath and freeze him to the floor. While he screams in pain and then starts to hack away at the ice we work forward through the goblins. Seeing the situation is hopeless some of the goblins start to run followed soon after by the others. Endar shouts out orders and many of the dwarves start to chase after them but he stays by my side as I slowly walk towards my prey. As I walk towards him his face becomes filled with despair and fear. In a final desperate attempt he raises his staff and starts to attack me with magic. But after dodging the first attack I slap the staff out of his hand and come to stand in front of him. Thinking about all the pain he has caused, about the dwarves that have died because of him, I want to torture him and give him a very slow and painful death. But that would degrade me to his level and I don¡¯t want that so I let go of my malice and calmly place one of my claws on his chest and push forward piercing his heart. I then turn to look at Freda and the doctor sitting by her side, seeing my gaze he points up his thumb. Feeling a wave of relief wash over me I give a warm smile before collapsing and falling unconscious. Year: 11-02-1716 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.Michiko POV. Opening my eyes I blink because of the sunlight that is shining in my eyes. When I breathe in I can smell the grass that I am laying on I stretch myself and relax. Michiko: ¡°Wait! Grass, sunlight where am I?! am in heaven?!¡± As i begin to panic while looking around I hear laughing coming from behind me and when I turn around I see Valaya standing behind me. Valaya: ¡°No but your guess is quite close¡± I think for a few seconds before speaking. Michiko: ¡°Oh they brought my body to your temple to heal right?¡± Valaya smiles Valaya: ¡°Bingo, because of your size it wasn¡¯t really possible to safely transport you with so many wounds so Alrika suggested to bring you to my temple to help with you healing and seeing that your real body would not wake up for a few days I decided to bring you here for a while¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks, umm could you tell me¡­¡± Valaya: ¡°if the others are okay? Gazul told me that two more dwarves died in the main attack but for the ones in my temple they are fine. Looking down I can see your mother recovering beside you together with a few others¡± I feel sad because of the dead dwarves but also happy because of the other dwarves being alright. Then I just say with a sad but grateful voice. Michiko: ¡°Thank you¡± Valaya: ¡°Ah don¡¯t be sad, there is much to be happy for and you will probably soon wake up, and because you did not come for our monthly talk last time we have some catching up to do so for now come with me. Let¡¯s talk, let¡¯s drink, let¡¯s be merry¡± She says with a smile, with a sad expressing I nod before smiling, standing up, transforming to my half dragon form and following her. Year: 12-02-1716 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. As I begin to wake up in the morning I think back to yesterday and my visit to Valaya and I smile. I open my eyes and see the familiar ceiling of Valaya¡¯s temple, as I look around I see some dwarves lying on beds around me, with Freda sitting up right beside me. Michiko: ¡°Good Moring mom¡± Hearing my voice she turns her head and smiles. Freda: ¡°Michiko you''re awake!¡± Immediately after that several people come towards us and Freda tries to come out of bed but before she is able to she is pushed back by Alrika. Alrika: ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t, you have to stay in bed. Your wounds are still healing, you need to rest and that means staying in bed¡± Freda: ¡°But...¡± Alrika: ¡°No complaints stay in bed¡± Freda then begins to pout which makes us laugh. Olka: ¡°So how do you feel Michiko?¡± I turn my head to Olka and look at her, she has her arm in a sling and some bandages here and there. Before answering I check my body and find that most wounds have healed and only a few remain but that is because the arrow heads still remain in my body. Feeling them I focus my refined chaos energy on expelling them. Michiko: ¡°Okay mostly healed and only a few wounds remain because of some remaining arrow heads¡± As I say that the first one falls out and falls on the floor with a clink and then followed by the others. Alrika: ¡°Damn I thought we removed them all¡± Michiko: ¡°Don¡¯t worry I will be fully healed soon¡± Looking around I see Freda looking at me with longing, I smile and shrink myself to the size of a big cat. I carefully walk towards her, jump on her bed and lay down on her lap. Freda makes a happy but also a bit of a sad smile as she begins to stroke me over my back. Freda: ¡°Thank you Michiko, for protecting me and more. But please also make sure to take care of yourself too, I almost got a heart attack when I saw you lying next to me with wounds all over your body¡± Michiko: ¡°it turned out okay right? I¡¯m fine, you''re fine, Olka and the others are fine¡± Olka: ¡°Oi why am I last on that list? Am I not important enough?¡± She says which makes her me and Alrika laugh. Freda: ¡°But¡­. ¡± As Freda begins to speak she stops and just smiles while continuing to stroke me. For the next ten minutes I just lay there while talking and being stroked and then Endar running inside. He first looks at the spot where I first laid and not seeing me he looks around and then sees me laying on Freda¡¯s lap. He calms down and then walks towards us. Endar: ¡°morning sleepyhead, I heard you were awake so I came running¡± As he says that Norgrim and Duregar came running inside and they stop to catch their breath. Norgrim: ¡°that is an understatement when he got word you had woken up he started running immediately, we were in a meeting you know!¡± Endar: ¡°Sorry, sorry I just wanted to ask Michiko if she was alright¡± He says wile laughing. Endar: ¡°So now you are awake you are probably curious what happened right?¡± I nod and Endar looks like he is about to start talking but he is interrupted by Norgrim before he has the chance. Norgrim: ¡°Well then I will tell the first part. Michiko after you left the fighting continued on. We were using the cannons to take down the siege towers while we focused on fighting the ground troops. As the tower came closer they became easier to hit and the cannons where slowly taking them out one by one. But then the ground troops came close to the wall and they once again used ladders to climb up the wall. When the goblins came close to overwhelming us we once used again the stone wrecking ball and were able to temporarily push them back. But this time they came prepared and they started bringing up more ladders. While all of this was happening one of the siege towers managed to get through and make contact with the wall. Many of the dwarves gathered at the contact point and when the gangplank or drawbridge dropped goblins came storming out and the fighting started. Sometime during the fight I was thrown down and lost my axe, as the goblin who attacked me came closer I used my arms to search around me for a weapon and I found a weird musket. Not knowing it was loaded or not I aimed at the goblin and pulled the trigger. As my fortune would have it the gun was loaded and it fired but to my despair just when the gun fired the goblins stepped out of the way and I knew the bullet would only hit the siege tower. I remember the world slow down and thinking, this is the end. But not even a second had passed and a huge explosion came from the siege tower, blowing off its top and creating a shock wave that made the goblin fall over. I quickly stood up and used the musket as club and hit the goblin on the head. When I look around I see the siege tower and to my surprise it is on fire and the top was destroyed. Grabbing a weapon I quickly started killing goblins and helping the other dwarves. A few seconds later I heard a cannon shot and the siege tower was hit on the side and it toppled over destroying of blocking access to many ladders. As I look around I discovered that your father and a few others were able to move one of the cannons in a position from where they could hit the tower on the side. With the tower destroyed and many of the ladder too we were able to focus on the remaining ladders. With the lower amount we could focus with more dwarves on fewer ladders and over the next few minutes we were able to topple the remaining ladders and the goblins seeing it was useless blew the retreat. We killed the remaining goblins on the wall and not even one second had passed since we secured the wall before he left it to me, took half of the dwarves with him and stormed off to the Garden arena¡± As Norgrim had finished talking Endar looked like he was about to start but he was once again interrupted by Duregar this time. Duregar: ¡°and that is where he met me and the other metal workers. Ever since we had heard of the goblins in the cave system we had started to prepare one of the cannons we just finished. When Endar arrived we had just had finished placing it on a make shift carriage and loading it with grapeshot. When Endar arrived he almost just stormed past us but luckily we were able to stop him and when he saw the cannon he ordered some dwarves to help pull it before storming onwards. Some of Endar¡¯s men helped us and we started to pull the cannon with us at breakneck speed. While we were following Endar who was storming out in front of us there where a few moments where I thought that the make shift carriage would collapse but luckily it held on until we arrived at the goblins. When we arrived at the goblins Endar and the other dwarves were already fighting with them. We shouted for them to get out of the way and the second they were out of the firing line we covered our ears and fired. The grapeshot teared through the goblin lines and we killed many of them. As Endar started to attack again I looked at the place where the cannon was located a second ago. The cannon was gone! We looked behind us and we saw that the cannon had been launched away by the recoil because we had not secured it. I looked to the front again and saw that Endar had broken through and we quickly followed to help the wounded. The rest you know yourself¡± I laugh because of the almost ridiculous story and soon everybody but Endar joins me. When the laughing dies down I look at Endar who seems like he is pouting the sight of which almost makes me shoot into laughing again. Endar: ¡°I did not get to tell anything¡± He whispered, I look at him and speak. Michiko: ¡°Okay I know what happened after you stormed into the cave but what happened after I fell unconscious¡± When I ask that question Norgrim almost starts to talk but quickly changes his decision when Endar almost punches him in the face. Endar: ¡°Well first of all I almost had a heart attack so I implore you to never ever! do that again¡± He looks at me with eyes that look like they are trying to look into my very soul while I feign ignorance until he continues. Endar: ¡°well while some of the dwarves I had ordered chased after the fleeing goblins we started to look after the wounded and carrying them away while the doctor looked after you. When Alrika arrive she started to cast healing magic on you to stop the bleeding while the doctor removed the arrow heads. While this was happening I ordered Duregar to get or make a stretcher to transport you with. A few minutes after they left the warriors returned and told me that they had found a tunnel that we missed while closing off all the tunnels. The goblins had found it and used it to get inside. They had chased the goblins into and out of the tunnel before collapsing it and retuning here. I thanked them and then focused on the Doctor and Alrika. About half an hour later they were done and Duregar had returned with a huge stretcher. We carefully placed you on top of it and then transported you to Valaya¡¯s temple at the advice of Alrika. When you were safely placed in the temple with the dwarves I left to go and coordinate the warriors for if the goblins tried to attack again which luckily did not happen. One of the watchmen reported what was going on by the goblins. He told me that after we had driven of the main force off the goblins they had retreated back to their camp. They stayed there for a while until another smaller group of goblins joined them. This was probably the goblins we had driven out of the cave system who carried the news of their dead leader. Because they retreated afterwards. I ordered Largs to send some hunter after them to follow the goblins to see where they were going. The goblins have not stopped yet but the last report we received that they were still going in the direction of their crag. So it is safe to assume that they want to go there to lick their wounds. If the information we reserved about the goblin number that remained in the crag was correct they should now be about seven hundred goblins remaining. I have been trying to think up a plan to take them out for good but as of now I have not really had any good ideas¡± He then stops and it is silent, I think for a bit and I think up a basic plan that could work. Michiko: ¡°Dad I have an idea that could work but that would only work if they really return to their crag. As for the plan itself I want to think about it some more to decide if it is plausible of not so I will probably talk to you about it later okay?¡± He nods and then Alrika begins to speak. Alrika: ¡°Okay it has been very fun but they need to rest now. They are still recovering and need their rest so everybody leave and come back tomorrow if you want to visit¡± Alrika proceeds to send everybody out of temple before checking up on the other patients and laying down on a bench in the corner of the temple. As Freda goes to sleep I begin to meditate and radiate a green aura to help her and the other patients recover. An hour or so later I hear a noise and look up and I see Norgrim stand at the entrance of the temple. Seeing me awake he motions me to come and I carefully stand up to make sure I do not wake Freda. I jump off the bed and sneak out of the temple, I meet up with Norgrim who leads me a bit further away before taking out an object. It takes me a while to realise what it is but then I see it, it is my musket but it is totally busted. Norgrim: ¡°I am sorry but I have broken your musket, it was the only weapon I had and after firing it I used it as a club. Breaking the goblins skull but also the gun, so I want to apologise for breaking it and thank you because it saved my life¡± I¡¯m kind of sad because of the broken weapon, I spend a lot of time on it and it is one of the first things I made when I learned to manipulate metal using magic and I have been working on it ever since. I even had begun work on making a basic scope for it and now it is broken. Seeing the sad look on my face Norgrim does not know what to say and he tries to start talking multiple times but every time he stops before the words leave his mouth. Michiko: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, if it has saved your life it has fulfilled its purpose. I will just have to repair it, so don¡¯t worry I will probably even make some upgrades to it¡± Norgrim: ¡°please let me help if you give me the plans I will even personally make you a new one¡± I shake my head and say. Michiko: ¡°You can¡¯t, you might not know but I made this musket with a combination of blacksmithing and magic. With the current technological level and tools it is impossible for you or anyone else for that matter to replicate¡± His face becomes sullen and he says. Norgrim: ¡°I¡¯m honestly sorry if there is anything I can do to make it up to you please tell me¡± I think for a bit before speaking. Michiko: ¡°Well there is one thing you could help me with, you might have realised that this modified musket of me is quite powerful even without loading special bullets. I have been wanting to start producing more of these muskets because they are much better than the ones that you are currently using and while it may be impossible to make these in bulk it is possible to produce a less advanced version. That one would not be much more powerful than the one you¡¯re currently using but the reloading speed would be much faster. I would like to make one for everyone so we can better defend ourselves next time we are under attack. If you could help me with that I would be very grateful¡± Norgrim looks up at me wide-eyed Norgrim: ¡°Of course I will, anyone in this Karak including me would help you with that, not only did you prove this weapon works we also trust you so you would have only needed to ask. Plus this will greatly help the Karak so of course I will help you with it and after speaking with the other they will surely help too. But still is that the only thing you want?¡± I then nodded and he put his hands on my shoulders and says Norgrim: ¡°I do not think this favour can compare to what you have done for me indirectly or not so I tell you now, I am in your debt, if in the future anytime you need my help tell me¡± He then turns around and walks away not giving me any time to decline. I warmly smile while looking at the sight of him walking away. Oh he forgot to give me my musket back, oh well I will probably get it later then. I then go to the temple of Gazul to pay my respects to the dead. When I arrive I do the same ceremony as last time before leaving again with a heavy heart. I walk back to the temple of Valaya in my half dragon form and when I arrive inside I feel Valaya¡¯s energy swirl around me as if welcoming me back. I give a small smile before going to the side of mom¡¯s bed and crawling besides her under the blanket. I then let all my worries flow away and fall I a peaceful slumber. Year: 15-02-1716 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. The past two days I mostly spent with Freda or playing with my friends. I also went outside again and the first thing I did was fly up in the air and make a few loops out of joy. Not having been outside for weeks I was so happy I could finally fly around outside again. Feeling the sunlight on my back while the wind flows past me, I can only describe it with one word, freedom. While flying around I also went to check up on the hunters who were following the goblins. When I arrived and spoke with them, I found out that it was like we expected. The goblins had retreated back into their crag. I started thinking about my plan again but decided to leave it at least until the dead were properly buried before speaking of it. As for the dwarves in the Karak they are happy the siege had been fended off and the gloom had disappeared but we all decided to wait with celebrating victory until we have dealt with the goblin crag. Because unless we destroy the goblins from their roots we will not have real peace. Today I have decided to tell them my plan, now everybody has been rested and the dead have been buried, I think it is the time. Having asked Endar to call the others we meet in the strategy room. Endar: ¡°Well you all know why we are here we have to find way that we can take out the remaining goblins without doing something risky and trying to storm inside and we will probably lose many dwarves in the process¡± Bronn: ¡°Yes, it is hard because they now have the home field advantage going in there now would probably kill many of us. We could of course wait and gather more forces and then attack them with sufficient numbers. But I am willing to bet my axe that those goblins will not sit around doing nothing while we do that, those bastards have probably already begun to grow more goblins from that disgusting fungus¡± Norgrim: ¡°That is very likely and if we want to make sure that the goblins won¡¯t return we will need to burn all of it so no new goblins can be grown¡± Endar: ¡°Now I have called you here because Michiko said that she might have a plan that could work¡± They then turn to look at me. Michiko: ¡°First of all I have a plan but I do not want to use it and I will only tell you if we are all sure that there totally is no alternative. With my plan there is an almost one-hundred present chance it will work and not lose any dwarves in the process. Strategically the plan is the best choice but normally I would never choose this option because of the morality of the plan and if there is any possible alternative that does not involve us losing any more dwarves, I will never speak of it again. So before I start please think one last time if you and think up any alternative¡± They looked a bit shocked by the seriousness of my tone but then they begin to think. I go and sit in a corner to think and think but after about an hour I can¡¯t think of any plan that won¡¯t involve the deaths of many dwarves. I stand back up again and look around the room, Endar, Norgrim, Bronn, Largs, Duregar and Fimbur have been talking and discussing for the past hour and I ask them. Michiko: ¡°And?¡± They all shake their heads, I wait a few seconds and then begin to speak. Michiko: ¡°You should all know about stories of miners that die in the mines because of toxic fumes or gasses right. Luckily it rarely happens because most dwarves have a device that warns them if the air becomes poisonous giving them time to get away¡± I look at them and they nod Michiko: ¡°My plan is similar, it involves first closing of all of the crag exists so the goblins can¡¯t escape and then I will use my purple breath. You all probably know that I have some hidden powers and secrets I can¡¯t or don¡¯t want to tell you about because of shame or other reasons. My purple breath is a deadly gas that is very, very deadly and it is also the second part of my plan. When the goblins are locked in I will start to fill their crag with the toxic gas which will eventually fill the caves and kill them¡± When I am done speaking I look at them and they all look a bit horrified while thinking about it. Michiko: ¡°You understand now why I am so conflicted over it¡± Fimbur: ¡°We understand, in my younger days I have heard of similar tactics being used by the Skaven. They once used it in the time after the great earthquake, it is a deadly and very effective technique. It is one of the reasons why dwarven Karak¡¯s all have an extensive network of air circulation tunnels. As to make sure something like this can never be used against us again¡­. But in this case I think it is a wise tactic to use, while controversial it is right now the only plan we have, so my opinion is to do it¡± As Fimbur speaks he surprises us with what the tells us. I can see that taking this decision is hard for him, it is a tactic that would normally never even be considered by dwarves. Bronn: ¡°I approve and while I do not like it these goblins do have it coming¡± Largs: ¡°The same here¡± Duregar: ¡°I don¡¯t see any alternative so yes¡± Endar: ¡°Then we¡¯ll go with Michiko¡¯s plan and if anyone disapproves I will take responsibility. With that this meeting is over everyone start to prepare to leave for the goblin crag we will be leaving the day after tomorrow¡± I stand there stunned while they leave until Endar grabs my hand. Endar: ¡°Come on let¡¯s go¡± I do one step before stopping. Michiko: ¡°Wait! Just like that?! You all agreed just like that?¡± Endar turns to look at me Endar: ¡°We trust you Michiko, on top of that we can also see that it is the best option we have right now so of course we would agree¡± I then leave with Endar while still being half dumbfounded by what just happened. Year: 20-02-1716 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Surroundings of Skull Crag Michiko POV. We just arrived at Skull Crag, we did not have any trouble on our way here because all the goblins are staying inside or very close to the crag. When I flew over the Crag the few goblins that were outside quickly ran into the cave system to hide. Flying above the Karak I was unopposed, there were no archers or shamans that came out to attack me. All of the goblins had disappeared below ground and having surveyed the situation I returned to the dwarves who had set up tents some distance away. When I have landed I make my way to the main tent. When I go inside I find that Endar is already there with the others. When I come inside they look up from the map that is spread out in front of them. Endar: ¡°Ah Michiko how is the situation outside?¡± Michiko: ¡°while I was flying around I did only see a few goblins that where above ground and when they saw me they quickly ran inside. So I do not expect much opposition above ground, they are probably trying to lure us underground where they have the advantage¡± Endar: ¡°good that will make our job much easier, now here is what we are going to do. I want the warrior, the hunters and the engineers to split up in five groups and each take care one of the exits. First the warriors go inside for about ten meters scaring away the goblins or keeping them at bay. Then the engineers come in behind the warriors and set up the explosives to blow up the exit. While this is happening I want the hunters to stay on lookout above ground for any hidden goblins. When the engineers are done they retreat followed by the warriors. When everybody is clear set of the explosives clamping the trap shut. I want all of this to happen at the same time so the goblins do not have time to realise what we are doing and come out to stop us¡± Everyone nods and then he turns toward me Endar: ¡°Michiko I want you to fly above and help out one of the teams if needed. If nothing happens I just want you to keep an eye on the ground just in case okay¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes¡± Endar: ¡°Okay then everyone we will start in an hour so please make sure everyone is ready to go by then¡± Everyone then leaves and I go back to flying around and keeping an eye out for any movements. After about an hour has passed the dwarves leave camp and wave at me to signal the start of the operation. They make their way to the cave entrances including the two secret ones I found using the same trick I used to find the cave system on garden level. Using that I have made sure that there are no exits left after the demolition team is done. When the warriors enter the tunnels I hear some fighting but I soon dies down and the engineers begin to set up explosives. While they are working nothing really happens the goblins stay in their crag expecting us to go deeper while the warriors are just holding the line and not moving. About ten minutes later the engineers are ready and they start to retreat followed close after by the warriors. When everyone is clear the explosives are set off and the tunnels are filled with rubble, stopping anyone from going in or out. A while later I hear loud cursing coming from the goblins before they stop and just go back deeper into the crag probably to warn the new boss. While some of the dwarves remain at the tunnel entrances most of them return to the camp. I then land at one of the tunnel entrances tell the dwarves to not go inside no matter what for one last time before walking into the tunnel and disappear into the darkness. I come closer to the rubble and focus my ears to listen for sounds coming from beyond the blockade. As listen I can hear water drip from the ceiling falling into shallow pools, I can hear small insects crawling around and faintly from deep in the cave system I hear crass voices and many quiet footsteps. I then smell the air and take in the dampness of the cave the smell of the moss and traces of goblin. I come closer to the rubble and climb for a bit until stopping halfway up. As I prepare myself I breathe in deeply before breathing out slow and silently a deadly neurotoxin like a whisper of death. The toxic gas begins to flow into the rubble and because of it being heavier than air it flows to the ground and continues downward. After the first breath I continue breathing in and out slowly and silently filling the crag with toxic gas. After some time passes I can hear small thumps of falling objects followed up by quit murmuring that becomes louder and louder until I begin to hear screaming coming from down below. Because of the gas being odourless and almost totally invisible the goblins do not know what is going on. As the gas mixes with the air inside the cave they breathe it in where it begins to attack their brain and killing them painlessly a short time after breathing it in. because of that the screaming does not come of pain but because of fear. As goblins around them begin to fall the goblins that are still alive begin to get scared before beginning to scream out of fear. More and more goblins begin to fall and the goblins that are still standing do not know what is going on. But they know one thing, they want to get out of there, run away from the invisible death. They begin to run through the tunnels, upward, outside, out of the reach of the invisible reaper. But when they get close to the surface they find their path blocked, they begin to dig, pick up the stones and throw them away behind them, dig their way outside, to safety. But as they dig new stones fall down and take the place of the stones they just threw away. Still they continue desperately with more and more goblins falling down and the ones that are still alive scream in fear and desperation and they dig on as futile as it may be. All of this is happening while I am continuing to fill the air with invisible death and I just know what is happening in there. I don¡¯t know why I am seeing it, sensing it, I just know that the screaming becomes louder and louder. I can hear the goblins dig and the stones fall clattering over the other stones, halting them yet again. All the while screaming becomes louder and after a while it becomes unbearable and I stop. I run out of the tunnel, away from the screaming. When I arrive outside I can still hear the screaming, it won¡¯t stop, it won¡¯t stop! I transform huddle up and put my hands on my ears and closing my eyes. But I can still hear it I can¡¯t block it out! It seems like it just keeps getting worse. As my mind begins to descend into insanity something warm is wrapped around me and I hold on. After a while the screaming begins to die down, fewer and fewer screams remain. After a while it becomes silent and I begin to hear something else, somebody is calling my name. As I begin to hear the voice better I open my eyes and see Endar in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. Michiko: ¡°Dad?¡± Seeing that I am my open eyes he embraces me, looking around I see a blanket wrapped around me and other dwarves stand around me with a worried look on their face. As I feel still fresh tears flow off my cheeks Endar asks. Endar: ¡°Are you alright Michiko? Are your hurt?¡± Michiko ¡°I¡­ am.. okay, what happened?¡± I ask with a quiet voice, Endar backs of a bit and looks at me before answering. Endar: ¡°well sometime after you went into the cave we began to hear screaming, I wanted to run into the cave but I remember what you told me and knew I could not go inside. As the screaming became louder I did not know what to do but at one moment you came running out screaming like a banshee and huddled up over here. We wrapped a blanket around and tried to get through to you by calling your name. Eventually you stopped screaming and after the sound from the cave stopped we managed to get through to you. Are you okay now Michiko?¡± When I try to speak the words get stuck in my throat for a while before I speak with a tired burned out voice. Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m okay, I just¡­ need to sleep¡± Endar nods before picking me up and carrying me off to the camp, where he puts me in bed and I soon I enter a long dreamless sleep. Year: 24-02-1716 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Surroundings of Dragon Peak Mountain Michiko POV. The past few days I did not speak very much, I just wanted to rest and think about what happened. The dwarves tried to cheer me up a bit but I just needed some time to process what I had done and after a few days I mostly returned to normal. The first few days we waited for the toxic to clear away and before I let the dwarves enter go inside myself to check. If any of them breathe in the toxin I will have to react in seconds and if I am very lucky I will probably be able to stop the toxin from killing them. So to make sure everything is gone I always made sure to go in front especially while going downward. As we entered the collapsed tunnel we cleared the path and when we came through we saw many goblins that had died while they were trying to escape. Even if they did not have any wounds it was a gruesome sight. It is like they are sleeping but they are not breathing nor will they every wake up again. Endar puts his hand on my shoulder putting me at ease, I gather my courage and go deeper into the cave. As we go deeper I can see only a few dead goblins lay in the tunnels, it are probably the goblins that died on their way to the surface. While going downward I discover that the toxins have already cleared out. On our way through the tunnels and caves we sometimes see large natural rooms. In some of those rooms we can see the remains of dead giant mushrooms and other funguses that have been killed by the toxin. I do not know why maybe these fungi have Neurons making them vulnerable to nerve toxins, these are the origin of the green skins after all or maybe the toxin still has some unknown effects I do not know about. Something to look into later when I have the time. After a while we enter a large cavern with a large and somewhat crude but still impressive throne in the back. Around the cavern a large amount of dead goblins are laying on the ground. Most of them look like special guards of the boss but there are also a few shamans and some servant looking goblins. On the throne there sits a goblin shaman, it looks like he died while still on his throne. He was probably the new leader that took over after I killed the last goblin boss. While the dwarves begin to clear out the dead goblins and bringing them to the surface to burn, I look around. Using my senses, magical or otherwise I scan the cave and find out that there is a secret door in an alcove close to the throne. I walk towards the door and look around to find a hidden switch or something to open the door. When I find a weird looking stone I turn it and I hear a click, I push open the door but immediately step to the side as an arrow flies past me. Endar: ¡°Michiko are you okay!?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes my instinct told me there was something funny going on so I made sure to look out¡± Endar: ¡°That¡¯s good, what did you find?¡± Michiko: ¡°It looks like a hidden room or something¡± Endar: ¡°Oh, that¡¯s interesting¡± He says as some other dwarves and him come closer to look. Duregar looks past me and walks inside before examining the mechanism. Duregar: ¡°So that¡¯s how it works, quite clever of those goblins. They made a mechanism that only opened the door when a secret switch is presses but you also have to press another switch to disable the trap¡± Michiko: ¡°So shall we take a look?¡± Endar: ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± Endar says while stepping past me and Duregar into the short tunnel. We follow him and we get into a somewhat extravagant room (in goblin terms at least). There is a bed, a desk, a small bookcase, some random things and a locked chest. Endar: ¡°This must have been the room of their former boss¡± I look around some more before going to the bookcase and taking a look at some of the books. Most of them are not very interesting but there seem to be a few crudely written note books about magic of the little WAAAGH one of the two kinds of green skin magic. I most likely won¡¯t be able to use it but it will be interesting to look at nonetheless. As for the rest of the book there seems to be some books about history and other random things. While I am looking at the books I can hear some laughing behind me. Bronn: ¡°Look at that Endar, your daughter has a treasure chest right in front of her but the first thing she does is walk right to the bookcase¡± Endar: ¡°And what would be wrong with that Born?!!¡± He says with a bit of a threatening but still light hatred tone. Bronn: ¡°Nothing, nothing I just find it cute how she puts her priorities¡± Born says back while waving his hands in front of him, and then they both laugh. I turn around and ignore them while I go to Duregar who is trying to pick the lock of the chest. Michiko: ¡°How is it Duregar?¡± Duregar: ¡°hmm wait just a bit¡± A few seconds later I hear a click and Duregar stands up before opening the chest. As we all look inside we can see a decent amount of gold coins mixed with a few silver and copper coins, as well as some trinkets. It is a decent amount of treasure but not the loads of gold they tell stories about. But then again this was only a small goblin Crag that was situated in a poor area with few travellers so I suppose it is normal. Still is am a bit disappointed, I like books and knowledge a lot but even I can appreciate the shine and value of gold. I try to look at with my magical vision and I see a small shine I rummage through the chest a bit before I find a small golden ring and take it out of the chest. Duregar: ¡°Oh what do you found something interesting?¡± I look at the rune a bit before answering. Michiko: ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure but it seems to be a permanent rune of restoration, it does not have a great effect but it will help with healing¡± Duregar: ¡°Oh that is a good find, it might be a low level rune but if it is a permanent rune it would normally be worth quite a lot¡± I think for a bit until I turn towards Endar. Michiko: ¡°Dad can I give this ring to mom, you can count it as my part of the treasure if you want?¡± Following my question Endar shoulders drop and he looks a bit sad. Michiko: ¡°What¡¯s wrong dad?¡± Endar: ¡°Nothing, I just felt like I lost just now¡± Born laughs before speaking. Bronn: ¡°I¡¯m sure you can Michiko, I don¡¯t think the other dwarves would mind, (especially if you want to do something so cute like giving it to Freda)¡± He says with a smile before adding the last sentence under his breath. As I hear the second sentence I do not really know how to react, I just want to give it to Freda because I care about her and want her to heal faster. Eventually I just ignore it and put the ring away before looking around the room some more. The rest of the day we spend carrying out all the dead goblins and throwing them on a large funeral pyre. We look through the crag and find some more coins mostly kept by the shamans but we do not really find anything valuable apart from that. In the late afternoon we are done cleaning out the Crag, we close off and camouflage all the entrances to make sure no new creatures will find and settle here again. We of course make sure to mark it on our map because later this may be converted into a large watch post or something in that direction. In the evening after eating and talking to some of the dwarves I wish them good night and go to bed. Laying down I think about the happening of the past few days. As I think about the death of the goblins I still feel scared because of the screams but also because of my power and the deadly potential it has. While I know I can¡¯t be soft hearted in this dangerous world but I don¡¯t want to be an unfeeling and cold killing machine. I want to live in happiness with my friends and family that is the purpose of my power. I will not forget what has happened but I won¡¯t be defined by it. Moving on forward without forgetting the lessons of my past and learning from them. I then go to sleep, tomorrow we will get up early and start on our way home where the others are waiting for us to return. Character list: Spoiler : Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeymen runesmithe Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Runesmith Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko journey) Dwarven Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir Who got the reference hidden in this chapter? Chapter 10: Celebration and Preparation Chapter 10: Celebration and Preparation Authors notes: YAY CHAPTER 10 Now at chapter 10 I would like to ask you my readers if you would be so kind to post a comment about your opinion of the story so far. I will be asking this every ten chapters or so and it would be a great help if you pot down your opinion because it will help me to write a better story. Of course I can¡¯t promise to take every idea and use it but I will be sure to keep them all in mind. One other thing my proof-reader Traluxbot101 will go on vacation for a week so I¡¯m sorry but there will be no new chapter for a week. This also means I can build up a small buffer because right now I try to release one chapter every Sunday but I have been missing it for the past few weeks so this will help, anyway I apologise for the inconvenience. Lastly many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 02-10-1721 (Imperial Calendar)(15 years after hatching) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. I slowly wake up in the morning but I decide to stay in bed for a bit longer. After some time I hear a knocking on the door before it opens a few seconds later. As Freda and Endar walk inside they begin to sing: Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday, dear Michiko, Happy birthday to you. They then cheer, Freda comes towards me and gives me a hug. Freda: ¡°Slept well Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes!¡± Endar: ¡°Good, me and Freda have prepared breakfast so please come down and we will have breakfast¡± I nod and they leave, I get up and begin to dress myself while I think about what has happened the past few years. After the goblin crag was destroyed the area around the Karak became a lot safer and the grudges we had against them had been settled. Of course now they are gone we have been sending patrols around the area to make sure no new undesirables move in. Over the years we have taken care of multiple groups of wandering green skins. but those groups where almost never bigger than fifty goblins and a few orcs so we took care of them with relative ease. Another thing that happened over the past few years was that the population of our Karak has doubled. Ever since the goblins were taken care of we have been sending groups of dwarves to Karak Azul. Because of the lowered danger and the mapping of more easily travelable routes the traveling time was reduced and the journey was safer. On top of that, dwarves willing to move to our Karak were not so hard to find. Over the last few years it seems like word has spread and a lot of dwarves who lost their home came to Karak Azul to join. Because of that the number of dwarves has risen to about four hundred. The building progress of the Karak has also sped up with the large amount of new dwarves. A large amount of houses, warehouses, smithies and other buildings have already been build. Of course we are far from completing the Karak and I think we never will because we will keep adding to it. Housing level ? Channels (blue) > Completed ? Pillars (P) > 20% completed ? Roads (Grey) > Main roads completed other roads work in progress ? Market (M) > 20% completed ? Housing (H1) > Small scale building of housing started ? Housing (H2) > Prepared for future expansion when needed ? Gardens (G) > Grass, flowers and trees have been planted ? Park (W) > Grass, flowers and trees have been planted ? Hot springs (S) > Small bath complex built can be expanded later ? Kill zone (K1) > Completed ? Outside Construction: Basic defences build Housing level blueprint: Spoiler : Housing level fortress/palace (X) ? Royal family home (1) > Construction started ? Royal square (2) > Area flattened out ? Throne/ball room (3) > Construction started ? Cannon towers plus walls (4) > Construction complete and personally strengthened ? Boiling hot springs (5) > Completed ? Waterfall (6) > Completed ? Royal library(7) > Construction started ? Hall of heroes and administrative building (8) > Construction started ? Warrior barracks (9) > Construction started ? Gardens and ¡°Noble¡± housing (10) > Construction started ? Training Grounds (11) > Completed ? Pillars to support overhead ceiling (12) > Completed ? Private elevator (13) > Construction not yet started Housing level fortress/palace (X) blueprint: Spoiler : Garden and storage level ? Animals and grass (A) > 5% completed ? Burial chambers (B) > Completed ? breweries of ale and beer (BR) > DWARVES!! ? Walls with tunnels and cannons ? > Completed ? Elevator shafts coming down from housing level (E) > 1 of 4 completed ? Farmlands for grains and greens (F) > 10% completed ? Recreation area ? > 5% completed ? Storage (S) > 5% completed ? Shrine (SR) > Competed ? Trees for fruits and wood (T) > 25% completed ? Tanks and artillery storage area (T&A) > Construction not yet started ? Wine makers (W) > Construction not yet started (no grapes) ? still to come (X) > Construction not yet started Garden and storage level blueprint: Spoiler : Mining level ? Karak army manufacturing and maintaining (Tanks artillery) (AM) > 30% completed ? Walls with tunnels and cannons ? > 50% completed ? Elevator (E) > 1 of 4 completed ? Guilds and general Manufacturing (G&M) > Basic Manufacturing ? Entrance to the mines (M) > in operation ? Ore Refinement area with massive blast furnaces ? > 4 of 8 blast furnaces build ? Special experimentation area and (S) > 5% completed ? Tunnel from X on mining level to garden level (T) > Construction not yet started ? Still to come (X) > Construction not yet started Mining level blueprint: Spoiler : Looking back on how hard everyone was and is working really astonishes me. You could probably best compare dwarves to ants because of productivity and underground living. Of course you can never say that to a dwarf because he or she will punch you in the face, but still I think that that is the best comparison I can make. Personally I have been working with some of the dwarves to find a way to manufacture muskets/rifles on a larger scale. But that was hard since we have to find a way to build a machine that can do rifling of a barrel on top of that we were trying to find a way to make back loading possible and safe. My personal weapon can do all of that is because I made it with the help of magic and it took a very long time. so I can¡¯t make them for all the dwarves because it would take far too long. But now we have made a few basic tools that can do it and while it is still a work in progress we have already made some bolt action rifles that can be used. On top of that I taught them to make basic paper cartridges. We can¡¯t yet make metal cartridges with primers but for now this will work. Lastly I made some adjustments to the gunpowder mixture making it more effective. It suffices to say that the dwarves where all very surprised with all my suggestions and where a bit hesitating at first. Many of them asked where I got the idea for the inventions which gave me a dilemma. I can¡¯t tell them I am a reincarnated person that came from another universe, brought here by one of the chaos gods and has knowledge about super weapons and other kinds of technology. So¡­ I went for the second option, I told them that I sometimes have vague dreams giving me clues which I then use to build new things. The reaction was quite fun to look at, they declared it were divine revelations send by the ancestor god Morgrim. A bit after that I spoke with Endar and we told them to keep silent about it for now because if anyone found out they would probably try to take me away or worse. That made them keep silent which put me at ease, later that day I went to Valaya¡¯s temple to talk with Morgrim and apologise but luckily he did not mind the only condition was that I had to help out a bit. He, Smednir and Thungni where still working on the ¡°computer¡± they were trying to build and they were horribly stuck. They told me that they did not want me to tell them how to build it but they wanted me to give them some clues which would help them along a bit. Seeing their ¡°computer¡± I cringed a bit because it looked horrible but I reminded myself that they have started from scratch and that the humans from my universe also started like this. While helping them we talked a lot and it was fun to share ideas with them. It has been a long time since I had the chance to talk with other ¡°researchers/engineers¡± and while I love being with my family I can¡¯t really talk with them about magic, inventions, quantum mechanics so this was a refreshing change of pace. In the past few years I also made some adjustments to my personal equipment. First I made a special cloak together with some of the leather workers. It is made from soft leather with fabric on the inside, this in itself was not what makes it strong the stuff that is woven in it is. Using a combination of metals and the use of my magic I created a stainless steel alloy that is as light as titanium. I purified the alloy and made sure that the composition was just right. After that I began heating it with my dragon breath and started stretching it into a one hundreds of a millimetre thick wire. The stretching of the wire took months of work, using my magic to make sure it would not snap I stretched it using a machine/tool I made myself specially for this job. Eventually i ended up with a hundred kilometre long on hundreds of a millimetre thick wire. Using another specially built machine/tool I then started to weave it into a wire. A few more months later I had a two millimetre thick, two hundred fifty meters long wire. I then took the wire to the leather workers and they were (and still are) very, very impressed with the wire and its strength. They practically started to beg me for more of it or the way to make it. But when I told them what was needed for this wire they became a bit depressed and because they understood they did not ask me anymore. I did tell them that maybe later we would be able to create this wire at an industrial scale and then they could use it all they want. That cheered them up a bit and we started to weave the wire into the cloak. In the end we used almost everything and I only kept ten meters separate for repairs. When it was done me and the leather workers took it out for testing. As expected it worked really well against melee weapons. It stopped any blades and softened the impact of blunt weapons. I did not test projectile weapons but I expect arrows to have no real effect and bullets probably have a fifty, fifty chance of penetrating, it depends on the bullet and its speed. So the end result was an almost impenetrable cloak, that weighs about 5 kilo and has the future capacity to be enchanted with runes when my runesmiting skill has become high enough to do so. As for my weapons, I now have a few throwing knifes, a long dagger that can be used as a bayonet, a spear and my rifle/musket. For my blade weapons I have remade them using a differed steel alloy to make sure they don¡¯t rust and require less maintenance while still retaining their sharpness. For my musket well.. because Norgrim already broke it I decided to make a rifle this time, which means I have made the barrel thinner decreasing the bullet size but increasing the accuracy. With a new alloy and better rifling the range of my rifle has increased it has been made a lot stronger. I also added a place to attach a bayonet plus a rudimentary scope. I really enjoyed doing these projects, because while they things are all very useful, doing these projects were also a great way to relax and just tinker around a bit after a day¡¯s hard work. Of course working on these things were not the only thing I did, I also spend a lot of time with the dwarves. I worked in the mines, I helped the metalworkers/blacksmiths, I studied runesmithing, I played with the other kids, I read many books, I meditated in the new parks speeding up their growth, worked more on my lore of metal magic, started learning lore of life magic, did cooking together with Freda, trained with the warriors/hunters and many more things. When I finally finish thinking back I cleaned and dressed myself in my best looking cloak and then go downstairs where Endar and Freda are already waiting at the table. Looking around the table I can¡¯t help but smile they have prepared a very good looking breakfast. There is freshly baked bread, some croissants (I taught them how to make), fried eggs and even some sausages. For a normal person this would be an impossible amount of food to eat, but being a dragon I can eat astonishing amounts without gaining weight. Oh how lucky I feel because of it. Endar: ¡°Haha I knew you would like it, please come sit it¡¯s your birthday so please dig in¡± I look at them before saying. Michiko: ¡°Thank you¡± Endar waves it off and motions me to sit down at the table. I sit down and we begin to eat while talking with each other about today. Because I became fifteen years old today there will be a party on the main square. First I wanted to keep it small but knowing that most likely all of the dwarves will come by we decided to keep it in a large place and we organised it so that everyone would bring something to eat. Like this we don¡¯t have to cook for four hundred dwarves and there will be lots of tasty food and nobody will have to go home with an empty stomach. While we are eating I start to think about what I have been wanting to tell them for a while now. I don¡¯t know how to bring it up and I don¡¯t want to make them worry or sad. While silently thinking Freda breaks my train of thought. Freda: ¡°Is something wrong sweetie?¡± Michiko: ¡°No, no I was just thinking about the past years¡± She smiles Freda: ¡°ah yes a lot has happened over the past fifteen years but I can still remember the day you hatched and crawled out of your egg. You were so small back then compared to now you dragon form is almost as big as a gryphon and even in your half dragon you stick out above me, well luckily I am still bigger than you in your dwarven form¡± I make a playful smile and transform to my younger half dragon form of about seven years old and say. Michiko: ¡°I can still do this if it makes you feel better mom¡± Endar starts to laugh and Freda stares at me for a while before speaking. Freda: ¡°please don¡¯t do that it feels like you are taking pity on me¡± I laugh and transform back to my fifteen year old self. When I continue eating I think about what she said. While my aging clearly has been slowing down over time I still have grown a lot over the past fifteen years. Over time my scales and bones have been getting stronger, my claws have been getting sharper and my horns have been growing from the side of my head and then backwards, they grew fast for the past few years but have now more or less stopped growing bigger. Of course that was not the only thing that happened, on my half dragon body I have also noticed two bulges had started growing on my chest which now are moderate sized breasts. Also something else returned which i did not miss from my previous life, one morning I just woke up and I felt like I had been punched in the gut. Firstly I did not realise what it was and I just clothed myself and started my day. When I told Freda she became worried and she told me to stay home for the day. Over the day I got an immense stomach pain and started to bleed. I was incredibly grateful to Freda for telling me to stay home for the day. As for the rest of the day not much was to be said, after I started bleeding I scanned my body and found the reason. The rest of the day is spend reading or on the toilet while Freda cared for me. In the evening I had a talk about The Birds and the Bees, they calmly told me what happens and what I would we having every month from now on. It was kind of awkward for me, not because of the subject but more or less because I already knew about it and had to play along like I did not. I shake my head and I remove the thought from my mind, today is my birthday it is not the time to think about it. I finish my meal and then go and help Freda with the dishes. Freda: ¡°No sweetie its your birthday please let me do this and go and do something fun¡± Michiko: ¡°Hmm in that case I will be going flying for a while because I would like to stretch my wings for a while¡± Freda: ¡°Okay but make sure to come back around noon because your party will start then¡± Michiko: ¡°I will and maybe I will bring back some meat for tonight¡± I say while walking away before transforming to my dragon form and starting to run. As I leave I can still hear Endar call out to me. Endar: ¡°HAVE FUN!!¡± I let out a happy growl before running onwards. On my way to the exit I greet and get greeted by many dwarves and when I run close to Duregar¡¯s house I hear a voice call out to me. Vanyra: ¡°Hey Michiko are you going out hunting, let me come¡± Michiko: ¡°Sure, get on!¡± I stop in front of her and she begins to climb up. When she sits I begin to run again but abruptly stop and turn around when I hear Duregar shouting. Duregar: ¡°Vanyra where are you going you are supposed to be studying!¡± Vanyra: ¡°Aw come on dad I already know those scrolls and on top of that it is Michiko¡¯s birthday I want to be with her, please let me off for today!¡± Duregar puts his hand on his face and after a while. Duregar: ¡°Okay but only for today, tomorrow you are going to study again, but for now, go and have fun¡± Vanyra: ¡°Thanks dad!¡± I turn around and start to run to the exit again. Duregar: ¡°Only today you hear me only today!¡± Vanyra laughs a bit on my back and I run on through the gate and into the tunnel. Michiko: ¡°Hold on Vanyra¡± Vanyra: ¡°what no, no, no Michiko please don¡¯t!¡± She tightly grips onto me while she speaks that knowing what I am about to do and Just when she finishes I come out of the front gate and dive of the mountain side. I go falling downwards for about fifty meter before spreading my wings and flying upwards again. When I have stabilised I can hear laughing coming from the guard at the gate and I start to laugh too. When Vanyra has recovered for a bit she loosens her grip a bit and then shouts. Vanyra: ¡°Michiko don¡¯t do that! I almost fell of you know¡± Michiko: ¡°Don¡¯t whine you know that I would never try to throw you of, and even if you did I would make sure to catch you¡± Vanyra: ¡°I know but that does not mean I like it!¡± Michiko: ¡°you know I love doing that to stretch my wings in the morning so you should have expected it. On top of that if I really wanted to throw you would not be sitting there any more you know ¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes, yes, I have seen how you deal with undesirables that climb on your back. I was there you remember that time when we were out to deal with a group of wandering goblins that came close to the Karak. While I was attacking the goblins flank one of those idiots managed to climb on your back. You could just have easily shaken him of but instead of that you flew up high into the sky and made a looping making the goblin fall of towards the ground. After a few hundred meter of falling he hit the goblin leader on the head crunching them both in the process. I know you don¡¯t like it when anyone climbs on your back without permission but don¡¯t you think that that was a bit overkill?¡± Michiko: ¡°Overkill? That bastard climbed on my back and cheered of victory like he had won and while normally I would just have thrown him of and stomped on him, he was sitting on me while he was almost naked. I could feel his thing on my back and I dare to bet that he had never washed himself in his life you know how that feels, please don¡¯t tell me it was overkill. After the battle was over I blasted my back with fire to cleanse it but I did not feel clean for a whole month¡± Vanyra gives a discussed look before returning to her normal expression. Vanyra: ¡°Well let¡¯s leave it at that I still have not congratulated you, so hereby happy birthday Michiko let¡¯s make this a fun and memorable birthday.¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks Vanyra¡± Vanyra: ¡°don¡¯t mind you are practically my little sister¡± We fly around a for some time while she relaxes in the sun on my back. After a while I ask Michiko: ¡°Vanyra?¡± Vanyra: ¡°hmm¡± Michiko: ¡°What was Duregar shouting about?¡± Vanyra: ¡°oh that, I was supposed to be memorising and learning from the rune scrolls right now but I really could not concentrate today. I was far too excited for your birthday party to learn so when I heard you coming I grabbed my chance to get away¡± Michiko: ¡°Hmm, okay but you should not neglect your studies you know?¡± Vanyra: ¡°I Know, I Know but I don¡¯t want to hear that from you, you practically memorised those scrolls in a year or two and now every time I complain my father is going on about how you always just sat there reading without complains. Your making me jealous you know¡± I look down a bit and say. Michiko: ¡°Sorry¡± Seeing my distress she quickly follows up. Vanyra: ¡°Please don¡¯t be sad, I was just kidding you know, I am very happy you have made so much progress. But I feel a bit unhappy that somebody who I see as my little sister surpassed me so quickly. I wanted to be able to fulfil my role as a big sister and help you when you are stuck or don¡¯t know something. Anyway I think we have both reached the point where we can¡¯t really learn much from the scrolls and my father anymore. I am wondering what we should do next, if we should leave to one of the bigger Karak¡¯s to learn runesmiting or if we should wait for a few more years before going. but that would mean we cannot advance that entire time¡± Michiko: ¡°That¡¯s true I have been wanting to ask my parents if it is okay for us to go to Karaz-a-Karak to try and find a master¡± Vanyra: ¡°oh you are aiming for the capital, I was thinking about going to karak Azul to find a master there because it is a lot closer, well the traveling distance probably is not much of a problem for you and it is true that the greatest runesmiths are in the capital. So why not I think if we want to we can easily make a trip back home to visit once every one or two years¡± A minutes passes while we think before Vanyra speaks again. Vanyra: ¡°Aw what the heck let just ask them together tonight, just asking can¡¯t do any harm so why not? What do you think?¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Michiko: ¡°Yes¡± I say softly while nodding, she then embraces me and says. Vanyra: ¡°Well I suppose I have that over you. Because of your shyness and closed nature I can at least help you with that I suppose. Haa¡­ I can at least be the big sister in that regard¡± I fly around some more while talking with Vanyra but then I spot a medium sized bear. I look around to see if there are any young around here but it looks like it is a male so I don¡¯t have to worry about young bears that would starve to death without him. Michiko: ¡°Vanyra¡± Vanyra: ¡°Oh you spotted something?¡± Michiko: ¡°yes, could you please grip on tightly I want to dive down to catch it¡± I can feel her moving a bit and bracing herself. Vanyra: ¡°I¡¯m ready, go Michiko!¡± She says with a happy voice. I smile and then begin to dive downwards, lowering air resistance and making sure the bear can¡¯t hear me coming. When I am about ten meters away from it I spread my wings abruptly slowing down. I point my rear claws at the bear and a second later I make contact, one claw grips in his back and the other in the bears neck snapping it and killing the bear instantly. I fly back up again with the dead bear in my claws and a few seconds later I slow down and only slowly gain altitude. Vanyra: ¡°WHOHO!! that gets adrenaline pumping. I love doing this, the only downside is all the insects that hit me. Which is unfortunate because I would really like to keep my eyes open while diving¡± Michiko: ¡°can¡¯t we make some flying goggles for you then?¡± Vanyra: ¡°flying goggles, what is that?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well you know what glasses are right so like that but then made so that you can bind it to your head to stop things from entering your eyes while flying. I have something that is similar while flying or swimming I can close a transparent eyelid over my eyes to protect them¡± Vanyra: ¡°Why did I not think of that it is so simple but still. Anyway I will make sure to do that it will make riding on your back a lot more comfortable for me¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes that would be a good idea and if we get permission to go to Karaz-a-Karak I am probably going to have to make a saddle for you, because while I hate having something like a saddle strapped onto me I don¡¯t think you can sit on my bare back for days on end even if we make regular stops¡± It is silent for a bit before she says. Vanyra: ¡°Thank you¡± She knows I really dislike having something like that strapped to me. I did it for some time in the past when we had to move large things into place and we did not really have another viable choice. I like the feel of freedom of having nothing on me just having the wind flow freely over my scales and skin. Well sometimes I have to make sacrifices and if it is for Vanyra I don¡¯t really mind. Having flown around for a few hours and caught a bear we return to the Karak. Coming close to the front gate I roar to greet the guards who shout loudly to welcome us back. I fly inside over the guards and into the tunnel leading into the karak. Coming inside the main chamber I fly straight for the butcher where I dropped of the bear in front of his shop. Hearing the noise the butcher comes outside and jumps back a bit because of the bear but when he sees it is dead he looks up and spots me. Dwarven butcher: ¡°thank you Michiko but I already told you to please not just drop the animals in front of my shop like that. It means I will have to clean the ground of the blood¡± Vanyra: ¡°But why not if she brought it to the normal collection point you would have to bring it all the way over here right?¡± Dwarven butcher: ¡°Are you in on this too Vanyra. Ah never mind thank you for the meat I will make sure to bring some to the party tonight okay!¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks¡± I say as I fly away in the direction of home, when I arrive I land and let Vanyra get off. When Vanyra stands on the ground Freda comes outside and looks at us. Freda: ¡°Welcome back you two but you two should really go and take a bath and clean yourselves. I can see that Michiko¡¯s back claws have blood all over them so wait here a bit while I get you some towels¡± Freda goes inside and I look at my claws and see that she is totally right I really have to find some way to clean the blood of myself more easily. When she comes outside she is carrying two large towels and gives them to Vanyra. Freda: ¡°Vanyra would you please go with Michiko and make sure she is totally clean for her own birthday party¡± Vanyra: ¡°Sure, come Michiko it will be fun¡± Michiko: ¡°See you later mom¡± I then follow Vanyra to the baths. Arriving there we go inside and she undresses before getting a large sponge and starting to clean the blood of my claws. Vanyra: ¡°Are you looking forward to the party Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes I hope everybody will come so we can have a lot of fun together¡± Vanyra: ¡°That would be nice, what kind of presents do you hope you will get?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well I don¡¯t really have anything I want that I don¡¯t already have. But if I had to choose I would like to have some books or some interesting things I can tinker or play with¡± Vanyra: ¡°Haa.. you know Michiko it is really hard to find a gift for you. You don¡¯t have much interest in anything but knowledge or some small toys and the fact that we can¡¯t easily go out to buy books here makes that really hard. Anything else we could give you, you can already make yourself and most of the time you make it better than we can in one way or the other¡± Michiko: ¡°Sorry, but just having fun with all of you is enough for me. I just like being with everyone I don¡¯t care for much else and it there is one thing I like doing it is building new things. May it be a new invention or the setting up of an organisation. Seeing our home grow and everyone being happy is the thing I want in my life and I predict there will be some sad but also many happy and fun things along the way¡± Vanyra: ¡°you know it could also be fun if you just said you wanted to build a gigantic draconic hoard for once. Your claws are clean please transform and we will go to the baths okay.¡± I then transformed and then followed her into the bath. We both relax and play with each other before she washes my hair and I do the same for her. Sometime later we get out dry ourselves before putting on our clothes. We leave the bathhouse and go to my home where I begin to tinker a bit more with my rifle while talking with Vanyra. Like this we spend our time until the party starts. Around five in the afternoon I am standing by the tables with Freda, Endar and Vanyra with me. As the first dwarves begin to come I can smell all kinds of delicious food. They greet me and to my surprise most of family¡¯s give me one gold coin but sometimes they give me a book, or some other fun thing. After some dwarves have past Duregar comes by and gives me a few beautifully decorated sheaths for my daggers, Some of the leather workers give me a holder for my rifle, I get some cloaks from the tailors, I get a pickaxe from Grond and the miners, Largs gives me a crossbow from him and the hunters, the butcher gave me the cleaned bear, Alrika gave me a charm she made together with Grim. When everybody is here Freda, Endar and Vanyra come to me. Freda: ¡°you got a lot of fun and handy things Michiko you have made sure to thank everyone like you are supposed to¡± I nodded and then Endar says. Endar: ¡°Well Michiko you made it really hard for us to find something to give you but in the end we decided that we would give you a forging hammer¡± Vanyra then grabs something from behind her back and holds it up before unwrapping the cloth that is covering it. I look at is and my eyes go wide open. Michiko: ¡°But that is Gromril! It is a Gromril forging hammer!¡± They smile. Freda: ¡°Yes we commissioned it by Duregar and when Vanyra heard of it she helped him day in day out until it was completed as best as possible¡± Vanyra: ¡°I worked really hard on this you know so make sure to take care of it Michiko¡± I bow down a bit and say. Michiko: ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Endar: ¡°Now, now you are our little girl so it is natural we would do something like this. For now let¡¯s put the hammer away and start the party¡± Endar climbs on a platform and speak. Endar: ¡°Before we begin to eat I wish to thank all of you of you for coming and now Michiko is there anything you still want to say?¡± I step on the platform breath in deeply before shouting. Michiko: ¡°EVERYONE THANK YOU FOR COMING AND I HOPE WE CAN DO THIS MANY, MANY MORE TIMES IN THE FUTURE!!¡± Everyone smiles, some laugh and clap, I then come down from the stage and the party begins. Over the next few hours we eat, drink, dance, sing, talk, play and laugh. Everybody being happy I become incredibly happy myself. At the middle of the party I was pushed onto a stage by some of the dwarves and they started to cheer for me to sing. Not feeling like I had a choice and not wanting to disappoint them I began to sing. At first quietly and nervous but soon rising and singing louder. ------------------------------------------------------- The world is young, the mountains green, No stain on the Moons were seen, No words were laid on stream or stone When the ancestors woke and walked alone. they named the nameless hills and dells; they drank from yet untasted wells; they stopped and looked in Mirrormere, And saw a crown of stars appear, As gems upon a silver thread, Above the shadows of his head. The world was fair, the mountains tall, In Elder Days before the fall Of our mighty gods who now have gone beyond, They now reside in their godly realms The world was fair in the ancestors Days. Mighty kings on carven thrones In many-pillared halls of stone With golden roof and silver floors, And runes of power upon the door. The light of sun and star and moon In shining lamps of crystal hewn Undimmed by cloud or shade of night There shone for ever fair and bright. There hammer on the anvil smote, There chisel clove, and graver wrote; There forged was blade, and bound was hilt; The delver mined, the mason built. There beryl, pearl, and opal pale, And metal wrought like fishes'' mail, Buckler and corslet, axe and sword, And shining spears were laid in hoard. Unwearied we were in our ancestors time; Beneath the mountains music woke: The harpers harped, the minstrels sang, And at the gates the trumpets rang. The world has greyed since those days of old, The fires have dimmed but still burn While music has quieted, And many brave have died, We still preserve, we still go on; A new light will come, From those fires still burning, Flames will spread, Old and new will be lit; We will not return to the days of old, We will make our own, Returning to greatness, And surpassing it; We will be renewed, We will move one, We must go on; ------------------------------------------------------- Spoiler : Firstly I do not own the rights to this music it belongs to mister J. R. R. Tolkien While I do not know if they have internet in the afterlife, if you are reading this mister Tolkien I would like to thank you from the deepest of my heart for your books and the many fantasy worlds it has inspired. Original Lyrics Original song: While I was singing all the dwarves became silent and started to listen. After I had finished singing it remained silent for a bit making me very nervous. But then a dwarf started to clap his clapping was soon followed by many others, creating a thunderous applause. I then go down from the stage where I am met by Vanyra. Vanyra: ¡°Hey Michiko did you come up with that song?¡± Michiko: ¡°No, no, no I have read it in an old book and then modified it to suit the situation¡± I say while waving my hands in front of me. The only thing I did was modify it to suit this world and translate it into dwarven tongue. I can¡¯t take credit for something like that. Vanyra: ¡°Oh, anyway good job singing Michiko. I don¡¯t think anyone but me and my father where expecting that. We know how you like to sing the rune chants, but still good job¡± She says while pointing up her thumb. The rest of the party is very fun but nothing much happens later in the evening. Well, nothing is not really true I did see some drunken dwarves climb up on the stage and they started to sing. It sounded horrible but you could not help but sing along with them. Later that night when almost everybody has left and gone home I come together with Vanyra, Freda, Endar and Duregar. We sit down at one of the tables and with everybody except for Olka who is bringing Thyk, here Vanyra begins talking. Vanyra: ¡°Okay you may have noticed that we have both been wanting to ask you something for some time now and we thought that today would be a good day so this is it. we would like to go to Karaz-a-Karak to take our runesmiting to the next level. For the past year Michiko and I did not really make much progress and that is because we both have more or less memorised the scrolls and I¡¯m sure you noticed dad but you can¡¯t really teach us a lot anymore. we need to find a runesmith who can personally teach us the more advanced skills and going to Karaz-a-Karak will most likely be the best choice for that¡± Endar: ¡°Do you feel the same Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes, but even if we go we can come back every year or so. In that regard the fact that I can fly helps immensely and with only the two of us we can travel relatively safely through the air¡± Endar and Freda sigh. Freda: ¡°To be honest we were expecting this, and we have already talked about it. In the end we decided that we would let you go IF somebody goes with you to keep an eye on you. So if Vanyra goes with you we won¡¯t object¡± I smile and give Freda and Endar a hug. Michiko: ¡°Thank you¡± When I sit down again we all turn to Duregar, whether we will go or not now depends on him. Duregar scratches the back of his head and then speaks. Duregar: ¡°Well Olka will probably kill me if I just promise it right now without consulting her so I can¡¯t outright promise you right now. But.. I do not object and I will try to convince Olka to let you go okay?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Thanks dad¡± Endar: ¡°Well in the case Olka approves when are you planning to go? Because if you are planning to go soon then you need to make sure you are prepared for cold weather. You may not know it Michiko but at the point where you are the same distance away from the north and south pole you have two summers but never a real winter. We live close to that line so you have never really experienced a winter until now. Ah.. how am I going to explain winter to you? You can probably best see it as the top of this mountain but then only for a part of the year and instead of only the mountaintop it is everywhere in the plains, the valleys and the most annoying is that all the roads are covered making traveling very hard. Well that can also be a pro because it means that almost no green skins will come to attack from the bad lands, so it is not all bad I suppose. Anyway what I mean is that you must make sure to keep warm and take enough food with you because a lot of the animals will be hibernating¡± Michiko: ¡°hmm I think I will be okay because I can go without food for a long time because I can use magic to heat myself and Vanyra I don¡¯t think we will have much of a problem. The only thing is that we will have to take a lot of baggage with us, food for Vanyra, clothing for the both of us, weapons, money, a few books, tools, blankets, things to make fire¡­ eh that was it right?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes I think that more or less sums it up. Well Michiko what do you think of going after the turn of the year? It will still be winter then but I don¡¯t think we will have much trouble with the cold and we have to worry a lot less about green skins to so I think that it would be an appropriate time¡± Michiko: ¡°Agreed¡± And like that we decided. We talk a bit more about the details but we soon leave for home because we are all very tired from the day. When I finally curl up in my bed I fall asleep almost immediately. Year: 05-01-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, Dragon Peak mountain Michiko POV. The past two months Vanyra and I spend most of our time preparing for our journey. The first month I designed and built a saddle that I could put on like a backpack before transforming. It has two large straps that go around my arms, two belts that goes around my belly and lastly a saddle that hangs on my back. I tried to make it as comfortable as possible for both me and Vanyra. I also made some adjustments for the baggage so we can easily strap it on. Lastly I made a harness for Vanyra which she can secure to the saddle, so in the case she loses her grip she still won¡¯t fall. The second month I spend packing and tinkering some more on my saddle. But I was soon done so I started a small project for fun. In secret I started making fireworks I have not done that since my reincarnation and with the end of the year coming soon I thought why not. Most of the fireworks I made were for the party but I also made some flares for Vanyra in case we get separated. At the turn of the year I asked everybody to go outside with me because I had a surprise for them. they followed and outside I warned them that something was going to happen and then I lit the first fuses. Wat followed where beautifully colourful explosions in the sky. It was really the perfect evening for fireworks, the sky was cleared of clouds, the stars shine brightly and then the sky was lit by the fireworks. The spectacle kept going for about ten minutes and was finished off by a massive piece of firework that was at least five times bigger than the rest. We finished of the evening with some snacks and I made some Oliebollen and Appelbeignets. I made these using a recipe from my past life and to my happiness the dwarves liked them too. But now our time here is over and we will have to leave. I will miss everyone but we will make sure to come back. At home I take of my cloak and put on my saddle before transforming into my dragon form. Freda: ¡°Are you done Michiko? Do you want me to strap on you baggage now?¡± I nod and she comes closer with Endar carrying my bag. It is more or less a large backpack that has some modification done to it so we can strap it to my saddle. Endar: ¡°And.. done your good to go Michiko¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks mom, thanks dad¡± They smile and we start walking to Duregar¡¯s house. When we arrive I can see they are already waiting for us. Duregar: ¡°Good morning everyone¡± Endar: ¡°The same to you, so Vanyra are you ready?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Ready? I was ready a month ago, I think we planned in too much time¡± Olka: ¡°Yes but then we would not have seen the fireworks right?¡± Vanyra: ¡°That¡¯s true, hey Michiko are you ready?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes just strap on your pack, hop on and we can go¡± Endar: ¡°Michiko one more think take this with you, they are letters from many of the dwarves here that they want to send to their friends and family¡¯s that live in other parts of the dwarven kingdoms and from Karaz-a-Karak the letters can be easily sent all over so please take care of them okay¡± Michiko: ¡°Of course, put it in the bag I will make sure they arrive at the post office¡± He nods and puts it in. when he is done Vanyra is also done with securing her bag. I lower myself and let her climb on, she connects the harness to the saddle, puts on flying goggles and ties a piece of cloth before her mouth. She has a large amount of clothing on which is a good thing since we will be flying on high altitudes. When she is ready I begin to walk towards the gate with Vanyra on my back and Freda, Endar, Olka and Duregar following me. On our way to the gate we meet many dwarves who came to say their goodbyes. At the front gate I stop for a bit and stretch myself in the morning sun before spreading my wings. Michiko: ¡°Goodbye we make sure to come back every year or two¡± Freda: ¡°Please take care of Michiko for me Vanyra¡± Vanyra: ¡°I will¡± Olka: ¡°and Michiko please take care of Vanyra and make sure she does not get distracted too often during her study¡¯s okay¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay¡± I say smiling Vanyra: ¡°Mom!¡± They laugh a bit before moving backwards. I stretch my wings one last time before I slowly start to flap. Then I begin to move forward, flapping my wings and running faster and faster until we reach the mountain side. I jump and we fly, I give one last roar before we fly off into the sky, on our way to Karaz-a-Karak Character list: Spoiler : Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeymen runesmithe Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Runesmith Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko journey) Dwarven Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir Chapter 11: On our way and visiting friends Chapter 11: On our way and visiting friends Authors notes: Thank all of you who replied to my survey I replied to the comments but I¡¯m also putting it in here now. Spoiler :
Pyro1515 Wrote: [ -> ]Your story is excellent. Some of the areas that are very well written are explanations on the expansions to the karak, technology advancement, and environmental changes within the karak/ bordering areas. One thing that could be improved upon is having the story told from a different perspective for a while. This would give us readers a more in depth gauge on what is going on outside of the MC''s circle without overly long monologue. Thanks for writing this and keep it up :P
Hmm thank you for your idea, I was thinking about it myself but I have not found a good point in the story to implement it yet. (or it can be that I wasted some chances in that case sorry). one way or the other thank you for you tip
Kristofferno Wrote: [ -> ]great chapter, I really this story so far.. However, there''s something that has been bothering me for a while now. The dialogue of the story really needs a lot of work, the grammar is pretty decent in the story, but for some reason, whenever a character speaks, is sound incredibly bad, and the grammar is horrible.. O.o Anyways, that is the only thing about the story I dont like, so keep up the good work.. :) Cheers ~
Thanks for your comment but I don''t really know how to fix the dialogue. I have been thinking about some things but I do not have anything definitive yet. anyway thanks for your comment it helps a lot.
Nantoka Wrote: [ -> ]Thank you for the chapter <3 Your story and The New Journey of an Old Soul are the two stories I most look forward to read. I am a sucker for details (especially about economy, kingdom/city/business management, social interactions. It really adds a lot of depth) and slow well planned stories^^ I don''t have any complaints, i''m thoroughly enjoying what i''m reading, so keep at it just like you have been doing <3 I wonder why you only have around 150 follows, your story certainly deserves many more.
Firstly, THANK YOU AS ALWAYS, your list of grammar mistakes I made really helps a lot. honestly speaking I have a proof reader and we always try to filter out the mistakes but many still slip through (my proofread normally finds about a hundred or more mistakes in the raw version). As for why "The New Journey of an Old Soul" a fiction I LOVE has many, many more followers it is probably because I do not release so many chapter''s or because people are turned away by the fact that my story plays out in Warhammer, I don¡¯t really know?
SaraAlexiel Wrote: [ -> ]When Michiko goes hunting you make the wrong character run outside and get on her back. Thanks for the story so far, I like it so far, though it is interesting that you ignored the master Runesmith in Karak Azul that already likes Michiko
Umm, do you mean I made a mistake in the chapter or do you think that another dwarf should have gone with Michiko? as for the master runesmith in Karak Azul, he is still busy getting his master rank and does not have the time to teach her. Anyway thank you for your comment! I¡¯m sorry for the long-time of no chapters I just could not put it om ¡°paper¡±. but now I¡¯m back and I hope to be able to continue to turn out chapters weekly. Lastly many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 13-02-1722 (Imperial Calendar) (¡À 15 years and 4 months after hatching) Location: planet Warhammer, surroundings of Karak Azul Michiko POV. After about a month of traveling we have almost reached Karak Azul, our first stop on our way to Karaz-a-Karak. For over a month of traveling we have not had any real problem, which was logical since we were up in the sky for most of the time only landing for the night and then moving on the next day. It was kind of boring, but then again it is better than being chased by Greenskin hordes while running for our lives. A normal day of travel went more or less like this. After cleaning up our camp site from the last night we took off. Flying high up in the sky felt great, well for me at least it was kind of cold for Vanyra but she was clothed for it so it was not that bad. While in the air we talked a lot but most of the time was spent in silence and we both did our own thing. For me that mostly meant looking at the scenery, thinking about things and enjoying the flow of air and magical energy around me. As for Vanyra she had a bit more choice, besides looking around, she read books, made maps, just relaxed or sometimes when she was tired she tied herself to the saddle and went to sleep. In the evening when it would become time to land most of the time I put down Vanyra, take off the saddle and go hunting/foraging for food while she sets up the camp. After a simple meal of whatever I could find in the area and some of the food we took with us we had some spare time before sleeping. Since we did not want to set up a tent every night we usualy slept directly under the night sky. But on some of the rainy or cold nights Vanyra slept under my wings for warmth and shelter. The rain and the cold do not bother me so much since I can warm myself using magic and because in my dragon form I am covered in scales the water just rolls off instead of soaking into any clothes. Like that our days went by and now after a bit more than a month we are just a few days away from Karak Azul. In the morning as the sunlight begins to shine on my head, I slowly begin to wake up. Sometime later I slowly stand up and stretch myself before turning around and tapping Vanyra¡¯s head with my paw. Michiko: ¡°Wake up Vanyra its morning¡± I hear some sound coming from her as she slowly begins to wake up. I transform to my half dragon form and begin rummaging through our packs for some food. I took out some crackers, some meat I hunted and dried and lastly some editable plants I found. This can¡¯t really be called luxury but that¡¯s how traveling is. In this world there is no canned food or something like that, still it is quite good if you know where to look and with only the two of us it is easy to find all we need. As for the crackers we took those with us from home they are comparable to Sea biscuits, not very tasty but they can last for a very long time. After I got everything I need I put it down on a blanket and begin to prepare some food for myself. While I am doing this Vanyra has gotten out of her sleeping bag and has finished packing it before coming my way. Vanyra: ¡°Morning Michiko¡± I smile and she sits down and starts to prepare something to eat. Michiko: ¡°Only a few days and we are at our first stop¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes I¡¯m looking forward to some rest because while traveling on your back is a lot easier than on foot I¡¯m still tired and looking forward to sleeping in a normal bed, at least for a while¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes that would be nice¡± I say smiling, we spend some more time talking and eating before we pack up. I transform to my dwarven form, put the dagger on my side, strap my rifle to my back and do the same with my pack. When I am done Vanyra is already waiting and then we set off walking through the valleys in the direction of Karak Azul. Around noon we have made good progress and at the speed we are going I expect we will arrive in about three days or so. But some time later I begin to hear sounds of battle. Michiko: ¡°Vanyra I can hear sounds of fighting between Dwarves and most likely Goblins. If we hurry we can probably help out!¡± She nods trusting my hearing and then we begin to run. After a minute we reach a small slope and we slow down before silently climbing up to assess the situation. When we look over the edge and see the battle I calm down. Michiko: ¡°It seems like we were worried for nothing¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes it seems like this is just some field training against some stupid goblins that dared to come close to the Karak¡± I nod and look around again, there are about thirty goblins that are fighting against about twenty dwarves. Behind the fighting dwarves there are about five more dwarves who are just watching the battle. The fighting dwarves are doing well but I can see that they are a bit young and inexperienced but they are about even with the goblins. The goblin leader who is riding a wolf is grinning and is shouting orders from the back. It looks like he thinks they are winning and I think he is an idiot. It may look like they are winning but even if it looks like they are pushing the dwarves back a bit I can see that the goblins are getting tired, the dwarves in comparison look like they can keep going for a long time. Vanyra: ¡°Shall we go down to greet them?¡± I nod and we both stand up, when we do that we are seen by one of the dwarves standing back. He first puts his hand on his axe but when he sees we are dwarves (well I at least look like one) he greets us and Vanyra does the same. It seems like while they are observing the battle they also keep an eye on their surroundings, smart. After we have descended the slope we walk towards them. Vanyra: ¡°Hello, good morning¡± ???1: ¡°The same to you, but if I may be so rude could you tell me what you two are doing here, did you not hear about the group of goblins that where expected to be in the area?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Oh we did not come from the karak we are travellers¡± ???1: ¡°What are you doing here then? It¡¯s very unlikely but I think you may have missed the Karak¡± Vanyra: ¡°Why is that, Karak Azul is north from here right?¡± The dwarf looks puzzled but then another dwarf walks towards us, it is Burlok, the guard captain that oversees the guards at the gate. Over the past few years we have come to know him and Endar, Dern and him have become friends. Burlok: ¡°Yes Elmador they came from the south, I told you about the new Karak right. The older girl is Vanyra if my memory does not fail me and the small girl with white hair is Michiko the daughter of Endar. On that note where is the caravan and Endar, Michiko?¡± He asks while lowering himself to my eye level. I unconsciously tilt my head a bit sideways and with a questioning expression I say. Michiko: ¡°Dad? We are traveling by ourselves this time mister Burlok¡± He then seems a bit lost before looking at Vanyra. Vanyra: ¡°It¡¯s true, we are on our way to Karaz-a-Karak to find a master runesmith to teach us¡± Burlok: ¡°With just the two of you?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes¡± Burlok: ¡°I¡¯m impressed¡± Elmador who has been listening to the conversation looks shocked before loudly speaking. Elmador: ¡°But that is far too dangerous, Burlok you should not just tell them good job like that it is far too dangerous for two young dwarves to travel through the mountains like that. You should not be encouraging them¡± Burlok: ¡°Why not Elmador? I trust Endar to make the right divisions, I know him and he is certainly not the kind of person to send his own daughter without having full confidence in her. On top of that the folk of Karak Drakk are nothing to mess with, remember these dwarves have done what many did not even dare. They went to the south to create a new Karak and they succeeded! You know what that means?! I have seen them train every one of them, even this small girl here has been trained. Even the fact that they have come here alone stands testament to that. So like I taught you all those years ago you must not judge a book by its cover¡± While Burlok said that he put his big hand on my head while looking at Elmador with a strict gaze. Elmador just stood there with his mouth open before closing it and looking down. Elmador: ¡°I¡¯m sorry teacher¡± Burlok slaps him on the back before laughing Burlok: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Elmador, you''re only fifty years old its natural you still have a lot to learn¡± He then looks at the battle between the trainee dwarves and the goblins. It looks like it has came to a standstill, with neither side making any progress. He then looks a bit disappointed but then warmly smiles. Burlok: ¡°This is probably going to take a while if it keeps going like this. Vanyra would you please go and help them for a bit, to reassure Elmador a bit and show him I was right¡± Vanyra: ¡°Ah why not after all those days of avoiding those green bastards I was really looking to let loose for a while anyway¡± She puts down her pack and grabs the large hammer on her back before loosening her shoulders and also smiling a bit darkly. Burlok smiles before turning to the group of fighting goblins and dwarves and shouting. Burlok: ¡°Listen up rookies, this lady here is going to show you how it¡¯s done! Man up and show these stupid goblins what the guards of Karak Azul are made of, and maybe try to impress the lady while you¡¯re at it!¡± The fighting dwarves give a shout and they begin fighting fiercer, at that moment Vanyra also jumps in and smashes down on one of the goblins. After that I almost began feeling sorry for the goblins. Vanyra had been training really hard especially since the massive goblin attack of a few years back and the same can be said about many of the other formally non-combat dwarves. During that attack many of them felt powerless and they never wanted to experience that ever again and so they started training. Many of the dwarves that began training since then have become a lot stronger. But they are still not as strong as the real fighters of our Karak and that is where the warriors, hunters, Endar, Duregar, Vanyra and I belong. We have also been training very hard and that is to be expected, every warrior, hunter, runesmith and leader is supposed to be strong. With everyone else becoming stronger we could not fall behind and the result is evident. Since the moment Vanyra jumped in she has been forcing the goblins back and with her as a point the other dwarves have begun taking down the goblins. As the fight goes on goblins begin to fall one by one. I look at Burlok and can see him smiling, I then look back at the battle before looking at the goblin commander. I can easily see that he seems to be getting nervous, looking around some more I also see that the goblin warriors are getting nervous too. Some look pleading to their commander, others look for a way out but it seems like they are being stopped from running away by the commander. While I cannot completely understand their shouts I can make up that the commander is telling them that if they stop fighting that he will make his wolf eat them. But when only fifteen goblins remain standing the commander retreats leaving the rest of the goblins behind. Seeing the commander and more importantly the wolf run away the other goblins also begin to run. But as they do many get killed while they have their backs turned towards the dwarves. Burlok: ¡°Now when they are retreating take out your muskets and take them out. Letting them run away now only means that they will return later with more of them¡± The dwarves take out their guns, aim and using some impressive fast coordination they make sure that at least one bullet is fired at every goblin. After the shots have been fired all goblins but one are killed. The commander that is riding the wolf is too fast and far away, making it so that the three bullets fired at him unfortunately miss. Michiko: ¡°Mister Burlok can I try?¡± He looks at me before answering. Burlok: ¡°If you think you can hit him be my guest¡± I take out my rifle, look through the primitive scope and aim. Three deadly silent seconds later I fire and the bullet heads straight for the commander hitting him in the back of his head. He falls of the back off the wolf who now without a rider runs of out of sight. Burlok: ¡°Good job, that was a hard shot¡± Michiko: ¡°Not really, my rifle made it a lot more easy¡± Burlok: ¡°Yes I saw that, I can see that it is not a standard musket, can I take a look at it?¡± I look at my rifle for a bit and then at Burlok. Michiko: ¡°Please be careful it was really hard to make¡± He nods and I hand him the rifle. He first looks around it and then aims in the distance before looking at the bolt and carefully moving the handle. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Burlok: ¡°Hmm this is an interesting weapon, you made this Michiko?¡± I smile and nod. Burlok: ¡°I don¡¯t really understand it but good job. I¡¯m maybe a bit rude in asking this but can I buy some of these, I would like to try testing them out for the Karak and in the case it works well I would probably try to get you a contract from the king for a thousand or so of these new weapons¡± I am a bit stunned by his words and stay silent while thinking for a bit before shaking my head which causes him to raise an eyebrow. Michiko: ¡°Sorry mister Burlok I would like to give you some but this weapon is still in an experimental phase. Plus producing these guns takes far too long so until new machines are developed for large scale production it is impossible and then there is still the matter of the Engineers guild, so I don¡¯t think I can deliver anytime soon¡± Burlok: ¡°If that¡¯s the case than it can¡¯t be helped, just know that my offer will keep standing for when you are ready okay¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks¡± I say smiling and he smiles back before turning toward the other dwarves Burlok: ¡°Everyone clean up and pack your stuff we are leaving in fifteen minutes I want to reach the first watch post before nightfall Now do the two of you want to come with us, on our way home we are going to the same place anyways¡± Vanyra: ¡°Sure if Michiko is okay with it then I have no problem with it, it will probably be fun. what do you think Michiko?¡± I nod and she smiles. Burlok: ¡°Then its settled, please put on your bags and we will go¡± We soon left the small valley and went for one of the watch posts that surround the lands of Karak Azul. When we arrived in the evening we were welcomed warmly, they were already expecting the training expedition to return this evening and had prepared a lot of food and beds for the night. They did not mind the two of us joining in and honestly with the amount of food they prepared it did not really matter. After dinner we had a very fun evening, telling each other stories around the hearth with a mug of ale. The trainees celebrated the successful completion of their first mission and invited Vanyra to a drinking game with them. They probably thought they could easily win from her but she drank them all under the table. To the great amusement of the teachers and me who were watching. I also drank a bit but I did not compete, seeing that I am a dragon and quite resistant to poison I don¡¯t think that I can even get tipsy from the amount of alcohol here. I suppose a barrel of pure alcohol could do the trick but I don¡¯t think it would taste very good. Around midnight the party was more or less over and most of the dwarves were already sleeping due to the hard day and ale. I said goodnight to Burlok before picking up Vanyra and carrying her to bed. Year: 14-02-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, surroundings of Karak Azul Michiko POV. As I wake up in the morning I see an unfamiliar ceiling above me. I get up out of my bed, put on my cloak before moving to Vanyra to wake her up. Michiko: ¡°Vanyra wake up its morning¡± As I shake her to wake her up she begins to move and moans, she then comes up and sits in her bed. She moans again and puts her hand on her forehead. Vanyra: ¡°Ugh my head feels like it is going to crack open¡± Michiko: ¡°It¡¯s your own fault Vanyra you should not have drunk so much¡± Vanyra: ¡°But they challenged me, they underestimated me and I showed them they were wrong¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay, Okay but then why did you not stop drinking when you had already won. I swear that you drunk at least another four tankards of ale after that¡± Vanyra: ¡°I did? I don¡¯t remember anymore, Ah this headache is torture. Michiko please make something for me I know you have something against hangovers¡± I give a bit of a mischievous smile and she looks at me with pleading eyes, feeling a bit of pity I turn around rummage a bit through my bag. I take out some herbs and a mortar and pestle, I grind up the herbs and when it is done I give it to Vanyra. She takes it out of my hands and swallows it in and then her face grimaced a bit. Vanyra: ¡°Gross¡± I look at her with big eyes while being shocked at what just happened. Michiko: ¡°You were not supposed to take it like that, it was meant for mixing with your food¡± Vanyra: ¡°Ah what does it matter, my headache is already receding so I don¡¯t really care for the taste. Come on let¡¯s go and eat I¡¯m starving¡± Michiko: ¡°(sigh)¡­. Okay¡± We go out of the room and walk in the direction of the hall where yesterday¡¯s party was held. As we walk into the hall we are greeted by the sight of a lot of sleeping, half sleeping and awake dwarves. The dwarven trainees who challenged Vanyra yesterday seem to be in the same state a Vanyra was. As for the teachers they are mostly packing their stuff or eating their breakfast at the table but some of them are also looking at the trainees while smiling. I go stand next to Burlok who is looking at the trainees. Michiko: ¡°Shall I make something for them?¡± Burlok: ¡°For their hangover you mean? No this is just another thing they have to learn. My teachers did the same to me and their teachers to them, marching like that today will be hell for them but it will teach them¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay, well I¡¯m going to eat something now do you want to come too?¡± Burlok: ¡°I would like to but I have to get these idiots to wake up and make sure they are ready to march at noon¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay good luck then¡± I say as I walk in the direction of the breakfast tables to go eat together with Vanyra. At noon it seem that all the dwarves are ready and that their hangover has receded a bit. As we begin to march I am once again taken in by the beauty of the landscape. The lands and skies of this world are still unpolluted and I will make sure the people of this world will not make the same mistakes as humanity did on earth. This of course will take a lot of work and will by no means be easy but I can at least help them by pointing them in the right direction. Year: 15-02-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, surroundings of Karak Azul Michiko POV. It¡¯s the evening of the second day after we left the watch post and we have now reached the gates of the Karak. Many of the Dwarven trainees seem very happy to have returned home and are probably eager to tell their family and friends of their ¡°battle¡±. As for the teachers most of them are more or less the same and are happy to return with the students after a successful training period in the mountains. As we are coming closer to the gates we see more and more dwarves, most of them are residents of the Karak and are out to do work in the close surroundings of the karak. But we also meet a small amount of dwarves that came from the north for trade or relaying messages. When we reach the gate we say goodbye to Burlok and the other dwarves before separating as we go and search for an inn where we can spend the next few nights. It is not long before we find one after asking around a bit, we reserve a room and eat a hearty meal before going to our room, washing up and then to bed. Year: 16-02-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: planet Warhammer, surroundings of Karak Azul Michiko POV. As we get up in the morning we do our usual morning ritual before going out for the day. We decided to spend this day just relaxing and visiting some friends of mine. First we go in the direction of the market district to try and see if Dimzad is at his bookstore today. As I open the door a small bell rings and we walk inside. Michiko: ¡°Hello Dimzad are you here?¡± We hear a few noises coming from behind one of the book shelves and a few seconds later Dimzad appears from behind the shelves. Seeing us he smiles and walks towards us. Dimzad: ¡°Michiko, Vanyra how are you doing I did not think you would come again so soon¡± Michiko: ¡°Hi Dimzad, this time it is just the two of us together and it will probably still be a while before my father will come by with the others¡± Dimzad: ¡°Only the two of you? Wow, anyway please come in I will prepare something to drink and then we can talk¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks Dimzad¡± Vanyra: ¡°We will take you up on that offer than¡± We then walk inside and to a table in the back of the shop, when Dimzad comes back with some refreshments we begin to talk and catch up for a bit. In the end we talked for about an hour and I bought a map of Karaz-a-Karak and the best traveling routes to take. We then leave Dimzad¡¯s store with the promise to come visit the next time we are in Karak Azul. As we walk the streets we go in the direction of the giant stairs that go down to the smiting/manufacturing area. When we are at the bottom we make our way towards Thorek¡¯s smithy. I am happy I get to visit him again, over the past few years he has really become a good friend. so much so that I even showed him my dragon form and to my happiness he was surprised at first but he did not treat me differently because of it, the only thing that happened was that he was thankful to me because of the trust I put in him. As we enter his shop I can hear the characteristic hammering coming from the back. following the noise I enter his smithy and sit down quietly to not disturb him while he is smithing. After a while he is finished with his hammering and after quenching the sword he turns towards us. Thorek: ¡°Thanks for waiting you two, how are you doing¡± He says while wiping his hands on his clothes before coming to shake our hands. While we shake hands I say. Michiko: ¡°good we just arrived yesterday so I thought to come visit you¡± Vanyra: ¡°Firm handshake as ever Thorek¡± Vanyra says smiling. Thorek: ¡°I¡¯m happy you came, anyway please follow me, the smithy is not really a comfortable place to speak¡± Thorek then washes his hands and hangs up his blacksmiths Apron before leading us through a door into his home. He brings us to a table gets something to drink and then sits down with us. Thorek: ¡°Thanks for coming by, but sorry I don¡¯t have anything special prepared I did not think you would be coming again so soon. Most of the time you come every two a three years or so and last time was just a year back¡± Vanyra: ¡°Don¡¯t mind it, we are traveling with just the two of us this time¡± Michiko: ¡°We¡¯re going to Karaz-a-Karak to find a runesmith to teach us¡± Thorek: ¡°Ah that¡¯s a good idea and with just the two of you flying is also an option and finding a runesmith willing to teach you there will probably be easier but still very hard¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes that¡¯s what we have heard, anyway we were wondering if you know some more recent information about Karaz-a-Karak. We don¡¯t really get much news of anything that happens outside of our karak. so we have no idea of anything that has happened in the past few years¡± Thorek: ¡°I understand now let¡¯s see¡­. Well you have probably heard of the Waaagh! of Gorbad Ironclaw since that begun before you came here. But as for the impact it had on Karaz-a-Karak well firstly the orcs broke through Black fire pass, the mountain pass that is guarded by Karaz-a-Karak. Their first breakthrough did not meet a lot of resistance for some reason, letting them move on towards the empire. But while the forces of Karaz-a-Karak did not have a direct confrontation with the Greenskin horde and did not lose many dwarves but, that despicable orc desecrated many sacred burial tombs. Some years later the Waaagh! Of Gorbad was stopped after cutting a path of destruction through the human empire it was finally stopped at the gates of their capital Altdorf. His Waaagh broken Gorbad decided to return to the Darklands but on his way through Black fire pass he was ambushed by forces of Karaz-a-Karak who had not forgotten the desecration of the orc¡¯s and here is where it more or less ends. With Gorbad Ironclaw presumed dead and his Waaagh! destroyed. From what I have heard right now there are still remnants of the broken Waaagh! roaming the lands and many dwarves are working hard to repair the sacred burial tombs. But other than that everything has returned to normal. so as long as you watch out for the increased orc activity you will be fine and seeing you will be flying I don¡¯t think it will be a problem.¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks for the information but now let''s talk about you, how are you doing? Are you making progress with getting the rune recognised by the runesmiths-guild?¡± Thorek: ¡°Ah that well since the last time you visited me I have managed to convince one of the rune lords to let me use his Anvil of doom. With that I am another step closer to becoming a master runesmith. its moving slowly but I am getting there and now I hope you kids will also get there someday¡± Vanyra: ¡°Ha still calling us kids, I¡¯m 27 you know calling Michiko a kid is okay but I am almost a full adult you know¡± Thorek: ¡°why not I¡¯m more than a hundred years old, so I get to do that, let me play a doting uncle for once¡± He says smiling, before petting my head with one of his hands and saying. Thorek: ¡°And on that note please come with me this evening I know a good restaurant, it will be my treat¡± He says smiling and we thank him. That evening we had a very good time, talking about countless subjects while enjoying our meals. At about midnight we returned to our room and went to sleep. Character list: Spoiler : Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeymen runesmithe Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Runesmith Burlok: Guard captain of the gate, friend of Endar and Dern Elmador: warrior/guard Greenskins: Gorbad Ironclaw: mighty orc warboss, presumed dead but also rumoured to be alive Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko journey) Dwarven Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir Chapter 12: Storm and Humans Chapter 12: Storm and Humans Authors notes: First of all I would like to apologise for an inconsistency in the lore. I have found out that dwarven muskets would not be introduced in the military for at least a hundred years. It is likely that they have already been invented but they are probably still in the testing phase. I do not really know what to do story wise with this but it is unlikely I will go back and change it so I would like to ask you my readers to please ignore this inconstancy. Once again I am sorry for my mistake Lastly many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 06-03-1722 (Imperial Calendar) (¡À 15 years and 5 months after hatching) Location: Planet Warhammer, World edge mountains Michiko POV. A few weeks after leaving Karak Azul we have been heading north towards Karaz-a-Karak. The first few days we flew above nothing but mountains until we found a spring that we started to follow. As we flew above we could see that while it ran through the mountains that more and more streams combined. With us both being a bit bored with only seeing mountains we decided to follow the river as it did not deviate so much from our route. While flying above the river we had the mountains on the right and the Badlands on the left. During that time we saw many things like an old road that seemed to have been an ancient trade route that once had been travelled frequently but had long since then fallen into disuse and disrepair. The only reason why it is still there is because of the arid climate making the land dry and dead making sure nothing can grow. I have heard of the ancient civilizations and cultures of the now dead lands. In an age long past these lands where called Nehekhara a place where despite the climate great cities were build and trade was plentiful. But that all changed as the lands were torn apart by a necromancer named Nagash. In the books I read of enormous battles of the human civilizations of Nehekhara against the undead hordes of Nagash and the humans held and defeated the hordes of the undead multiple times. In the last hundred or so years of the history of Nehekhara, The book told of an ancient and fair king that once again against all odds beat of Nagash and his undead hordes. After this it becomes more or less speculation but after the victory there was a short time of peace but it did not last as the most important river in lands was poisoned. The poison was so strong that nobody could do something about it, and with their main source of water lost the great armies of Nehekhara were destroyed by famine. As this happened once again the undead hordes flooded the lands taking over and destroying this ancient civilization seemingly once and for all. This is the last dwarven scholars have heard as something truly horrible and horrifying happened. This event gave the lands once known as Nehekhara its current name, The Land of the Dead. In one night every living human and animal died and all those dead and many more already dead where resurrected as undead. This is still speculated until this day by many dwarven scholars but most think it was a spell by the necromancer Nagash. The reason why it is still speculated is mostly because of disbelief and fear. Many hope as I do that kind of magic could not exist but from what I have heard it seems like that is denying it. After what is now known as the Ritual of Awakening, many dwarven and other races prepared for the undead hoard that was sure to come. But it never happened, no undead hordes came to destroy the living. They just stayed there killing anything that intrudes on their lands. No one knows why but it is rumoured that Nagash was killed releasing the undead from his control. But that is just speculation and we do not know if it is true or not we can only hope it is. Anyway the situation now is that right now The Land of the Dead had been claimed by the undead and the more northern part of the lands that once were Nehekhara has more or less been overrun by Greenskins. The situation has been like this for at least 2500 years and it does not seem like it will change anytime soon, we can only hope the undead will never march into the world of the living. Now getting back on track I have to say that the road and the ancient ruins were not the only thing we had seen. Near the river was also seemingly an abundance of life, with the river bringing fresh clean water into the desert while on its way to the sea it carries rich sediment with it and with its yearly flooding during the melting season it spreads that sediment along its banks creating fertile soil. This combination makes it so that it seems like there is a green line running through the desert while looking from the air. As we kept on flying north the influence of the winter became more obvious, and while it was not directly cold on the plains it was visible in the mountains with increased snow on mountain tops and colder temperatures. While I was remembering the journey till now the day has been coming to an end and I am lowering altitude to land on one of the mountains to stop for the night. When I have landed we do what we do every night and set up our camp before eating and then going to bed. It seems like this will be a peaceful night I think before closing my eyes and going to sleep. But around midnight I wake up because I smell something strange in the air. I stand up and point my nose in the air. While sniffing the air I try to find the cause of the strange smell, it is not Greenskin nor wild animals, insects or poisonous plants. It is something different I know this smell but now it smells like it is coming from far away but also coming closer. This is Ozone! I begin to flap my wings and rise up into the air. Looking in the distance while focusing my eyes I see flashes far in the distance. Vanyra: ¡°Michiko! What is going on?!¡± I hear Vanyra shouting and I begin to land Michiko: ¡°A massive lightning storm is approaching fast. We need to get out of here it is far too dangerous to stay in the mountains with this kind of weather¡± Vanyra understanding the situation nodded and we began taking down our camp as fast as possible. A few minutes later we are ready. Vanyra jumps on my back and we take off in the direction of the plains. normally we would just try and find a cave to hide in but I have a bad feeling about this storm so I decided to take the second option and that is heading for lower ground and have the mountains and trees act like lightning rods. As I am rising in the air I speed up and the air begins to rush past me as I fly. With Vanyra holding on tight and with the storm chasing us I make sure to go as fast as I can with Vanyra on my back and the packs on my sides. As we speed forward I sometimes look backwards to keep an eye on the storm, it is still slowly gaining on us but the distance between us is now only slowly decreasing. After about a half an hour we are out of the mountains and the first rain begins to reach us. I start to slowly dive while looking around for shelter from the rain. A few minutes later I see dim light in the distance but before we can come close the lightning strikes become too close to remain flying so I land on what seems to be a small road that is leading in the direction of the lights. When I touch down Vanyra jumps from my back onto the road that begins to get muddy from the rain. Vanyra: ¡°So what now?¡± Vanyra asks while looking at me, she mostly follows my lead in these kinds of situations. I think a bit before sniffing the road to check if anything had passed over here recently. As the scents enter my nose I try to find out from who or what they came and how long ago they were left here. Michiko: ¡°Hmm..? I think I smell some horses, a few donkeys but also some Greenskins but there scent is very vague and knowing how strongly they normally smell I think they passed a long time ago. But I also smell something I have not really smelled before¡­. I think it is humans?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Humans? That would probably explain the lights we saw, well there is only one way to find out right and I would really not like to stay out here in this storm any longer¡± I nod as I transform to my dwarven form, I put om my cloak and after picking up our packs we go into the direction of the village. While walking I listen to the rain smell the air and feel the mud road under my bare feet. I would have found this a very enjoyable walk if it were not for the lightning, but as long as I keep an eye on the surroundings and make sure to have enough trees around to act as lightning deflectors we should be fine. Still I did make sure to put the large metal objects in my back so even if the lightning strikes at us only I will be hit. I have made sure long ago that I would not sustain any permanent damage from shocks or lightning. It is kind of a necessity for me since well, while flying in the air sometimes you do not see the lightning coming, I have some bad memories about that. As we come closer to the presumed human settlement we begin to see dim lights and a gate. Closer to the settlement even with the rain erasing them for a large part the scent of humans becomes stronger. So if the scent I smelled from the object in Karak Azul was not from some sort of other being this should be a human settlement. When we are about 30 meters form the gate as we hear some shouting in a language I don¡¯t understand. But sounds like one of the human languages I came across in the library of Karak Azul it is called Breton and is mostly used in Bretonnia. I can¡¯t make up everything being said but it seems they are alarming some other guards. Knowing that the relations between humans and dwarves in this area is quite good we advance up to the gate until we are about 10 meter from it before we are stopped by some more scouting but this time directed at us. Guard1: ¡°cadac who savd are dfaa declair ysdvs businejs¡± Vanyra than quietly asks me Vanyra: ¡°Do you know what they are saying Michiko? I have no idea¡± Michiko: ¡°I don¡¯t really understand it but it seems like they want to know who we are and what we are doing here¡± I then turn to the gate before trying my best to speak some Breton I memorized in the case something like this would happen. Michiko: ¡°Please speak Reikspiel, my Breton is bad¡± We hear some murmuring on the wall before another guard comes forward and then speaks in Reikspiel but still with a accent I have not heard before. Guard2: ¡°Hello well I will be repeating what my colleague said, who are you and what kind of business do you have here?¡± Vanyra: ¡°We are dwarven travellers, we were caught in the storm and are looking for shelter¡± The guard turns and speaks with his colleague before turning towards us again. Guard2: ¡°Okay we will be opening the small gate so please come forward¡± we walk forward to a smaller door to the side of the gate and wait in front of it. We hear some noises from the door and then it open revealing the other side of the wall and about five guards. We walk inside and are greeted by the same guard that spoke to us from the top of the wall. Guard2: ¡°Sorry for the inconvenience master dwarf. But we have to be careful especially during this kind of weather, a band of beast men or Greenskins could easily sneak up under this kind of weather¡± Vanyra: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it we understand, we did arrive at a strange hour so it is to be expected. Still could you tell us where we can find an inn so we can spend the night there?¡± Guard2: ¡°Sure I will lead you there if you want to ¡± Vanyra: ¡°Oh thank you mister¡± Guard2: ¡°Don¡¯t mind it¡± He then speaks to the other guards and then after a bit he turns back to us. Guard2: ¡°Okay come on I got permission to lead you to the inn so follow me¡± As we begin to walk Vanyra talks with the guard who¡¯s now said his name is Loran but I am only half listening and mostly look around observing the buildings. They are in a very strange style, most of the buildings here are made out of rammed earth but still show some influences from what I have seen from images of The Empire and Bretonnia but have clearly gone their own way as they look far more focused on keeping the inside cool in this warmer climate. At first glance it mostly looks like a mix-match of different styles but after looking some more it has a special kind of theme. Most buildings are only one or two storey tall with wooden beams but they do not protrude out of the sides of the building. Some of the richer looking buildings seem to have a small courtyard in the middle of their houses that can be seen through a gate in the front of the house. While I was absorbed in looking at these strange but quite nice looking buildings we have reached a plaza in what seems to be the middle of the town. Looking over the plaza I see an obelisk in the middle and I freeze as I focus all my senses on it trying to process the strange feeling I¡¯m getting from it. Looking at the obelisk I can see streams of magical (chaos) energy flow toward it and then intersecting at the obelisk flowing through it and then directed as a larger stream in another direction. Looking at the obelisk itself I see strange runes which are regulating the flow of energy. The ruins seem ancient but very powerful some seem dwarven in nature but others are alien in nature. While I have been standing there Vanyra and Loran have also stopped walking when they saw I was not following. Vanyra comes towards me and asks me in dwarven tongue. Vanyra: ¡°What is it Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°That obelisk feels strange, there is magical energy flowing through it¡± I say while pointing at the obelisk and Vanyra then looks in the direction I¡¯m pointing. Vanyra: ¡°Hmm, yes I can¡¯t feel it like you but now you mention it there are strange runes I have never seen before¡± While we have been speaking Loran is looking at us with a questioning expression as he cannot understand want we are saying. But after a while he interjects while speaking in Reikspiel. Loran: ¡°Um sorry to interrupt but are you two speaking about the Ogham?¡± Michiko: ¡°Ogham?¡± Loran: ¡°Yes that is what they are called, well at least by us humans you Dwarves and the Elven name them Waystones. They have been placed on the lands by the gods and spirits in ancient times and since then we have erected many more but some Wiseman have said that this Ogham was not made by human hands, so it carries a special significance. These Ogham are now used as places of worship, gathering and sometimes sacrifice, a lot of villages are also built around them as they are believed to bring good luck and prosperity¡± Vanyra: ¡°That¡¯s interesting, but I think now is not the time to stay out here in the rain Michiko, we can take a look tomorrow again when the storm is over¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay¡± I say and we start to walk again in the direction of the inn. While we are walking I think about what Loran has said, it seems like humans think these stones where made by the gods but this Waystone clearly has been made at least patchily by Dwarves. Well for now I don¡¯t think I can find out any more than this without studying the Waystone further and when we arrive in Karaz-a-Karak I can try to find if there is some information in their library. When we finally arrive at the inn we stand in front a two story building with a sign hanging outside which shows it is an inn. Loran knocks at the door and then says. Loran: ¡°Anna you have some customers please open up¡± We wait a bit before I can hear someone moving from behind the door before it is opened by a young woman who seems to be around 18 years old a bit younger than Loran. Anna: ¡°Loran please do not knock so loudly you will wake up the other guests¡± She says while looking a bit angry. Loran: ¡°Sorry, sorry Anna it is just that these dwarves would like to stay for the night. They where caught in the storm and are looking for a place to spend the rest of the night¡± She then smiles slightly and then she goes with her hand through her hair before looking at us. Anna: ¡°Well anyway please come inside¡± Vanyra: ¡°Sorry for the inconvenience¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you miss¡± We say while we pass her, we take off our hoods and walk inside. On the inside of the inn we see a wooden floor, a polished rammed earth bar, a set of stair and a door leading to the back. There are also a few tables with chairs around them, while looking at the walls I can see they have been plastered with a light brown colour lastly I can see a few windows that have their outside shutters closed because of the storm. Anna: ¡°Hey Loran did you not say these two were dwarves?¡± Loran: ¡°Yes why?¡± Anna: ¡°But they do not have beards and I heard that all dwarves have beards¡± Vanyra: ¡°Only the male dwarves have beards, the women do not just like any other species. How did you come to the conclusion that all dwarves have beards?¡± Anna: ¡°Really?¡± Loran: ¡°Apology¡¯s miss, Anna has never seen a female dwarf before, you probably know how few female dwarves come out of the Karak¡¯s especially here in this season¡± Michiko: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it¡± I say smiling Anna: ¡°Wow I did not know that, anyway would you like something to eat first or would the two of you rather go to bed immediately?¡± Vanyra: ¡°That would be nice, we have been walking almost the entire night so something to eat would be much appreciated¡± Anna: ¡°Okay would chicken soup and bread be okay? I don¡¯t really have anything else that can be prepared quickly¡± Vanyra: ¡°That would be much appreciated¡± We sit down at one of the tables and Anna goes behind the bar to start heating up the soup. Vanyra closes her eyes for a bit and I look around some more while we are waiting for our food. As we wait I pick up a conversation between Anna and Loran. Loran: ¡°How is Remme doing Anna?¡± Anna: ¡°Not so good, mom is taking care of him now and dad is resting. Remme¡¯s fever has still not shown any signs of breaking¡± Loran: ¡°(sigh) how long has it been now a week?¡± Anna: ¡°Ten days, the doctor will visit again tomorrow, we can only hope he has found a cure¡± Loran: ¡°You must ask for help if you need it Anna, I know you need to keep the inn open to pay for food and medicine but that does not mean you cannot ask for help¡± Anna: ¡°Thanks, but you also have your own job and for now we can take care of ourselves so please don¡¯t worry¡± She then puts the bowls of soup on a tray with some bread and comes to bring it to us. Anna: ¡°Well here you are please enjoy, I will go prepare your room for now so I will be back in just a bit¡± Se says with a small smile Michiko: ¡°Thanks¡± I say with a nod and Vanyra smiles. She then leaves and goes upstairs, Loran watches her go upstairs and then turns to us. Loran: ¡°It¡¯s probably strange to ask of her guests but please take care of her okay?¡± I smile and he gives a small bow before putting his coat back on and leaving. Vanyra does not totally understand it but she does not mind and starts to eat and I do the same as we both are hungry. The food, while simple, tastes quite good. the only thing it was missing was some parsley. While this inn looks simple it has a certain character. while we sit here at this table there is a single candle on it, which is dimly lighting the rest of the room. Looking at the tables, the floor and the bar I can see many people have come here over the years and it all has a warm worn feel to it. This looks to be a place of happiness, gathering and a place to rest for the weary. A few minutes after we are done Anna returns and puts the bowls back on the tray and brings them to the bar before returning. Anna: ¡°I hope it tasted well even though it was just leftover soup from tonight¡¯s dinner¡± Vanyra: ¡°It was delicious¡± Anna: ¡°Thanks, well please follow me to your room¡± We walk up the stairs and past some doors before stopping in front one, Anna opens it and walks inside. Anna: ¡°Well this is a two person room, do the two of you want to have breakfast prepared in the morning?¡± Vanyra: ¡°That would be nice, oh and how much does staying here for the night cost actually I did not ask¡± Anna: ¡°Ah, Sorry I forgot I had other things on my mind, one night plus breakfast and a small dinner costs 10 shilling¡± Vanyra: ¡°Okay, can you also prepare a bath for in the morning?¡± Anna: ¡°Sure we have a large tub using it for an hour and the costs of hot water will add five shilling so 15 shilling in total¡± Vanyra: ¡°Hmm, here you go¡± Vanyra says while taking the amount out of her coin purse and giving it to her. Anna: ¡°Have a good night. I will have the bathwater prepared around 8 o¡¯clock and you can eat breakfast around from 7 to 10 but I think you would want to sleep in for a bit right?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Sure¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks¡± I say with a yawn. The door is then closed and we put a bar in front of it to make sure nobody can just walk in. I put down my pack and transform to my dragon form and lay down on one of the beds. Happy that I get to sleep on something like a soft bed for a change I fall asleep almost instantly. Year: 07-03-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Human village in the Borderlands Michiko POV. In the morning I slowly begin to wake up and after a while I get up, transform to my dwarven form and put on a dry cloak. I get a book and begin reading a while before I hear knocking on the door. I step out of bed and go towards the door, remove the bar and open it. Anna: ¡°Good morning I came to tell you that the bath water has been prepared, the tub is located in the room at the end of the hall¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay thank you miss¡± Anna than leaves and together with Vanyra, I go to the bathroom. In the bathroom I transform to my half dragon form to bathe. Vanyra: ¡°Hmm this bathtub is too small for the both of us like this, Michiko could you become a bit smaller so we can enter together¡± Michiko: ¡°Sure why not¡± I become smaller and stop at the size of about a seven year old, we enter the bathtub and first relax a bit as it has been a long time since we were able to take a bath like this. After a while We begin to wash ourselves and each other¡¯s hair. Dwarves put great importance on hair as the length and state of it can represent a dwarves age and prestige. By extension losing one¡¯s hair by any means is a great disgrace and if it goes unavenged you stand to lose a lot, if not all your honour. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. After some time of cleaning we play a bit in the water before drying and clothing ourselves. when we are done we go downstairs where some bread and cheese is waiting for us. While we eat our simple breakfast we see some other guests do the same. After breakfast Vanyra and I separate so we can go and both do something for ourselves, I like being together with her but sometimes it is also quite nice to be alone for a while. We will meet again tonight at the inn but today we will just do our own thing. I walk out of the inn and start to walk around town to look around. As I do that I see that yesterday¡¯s storm has now pulled away and the sun is shining brightly in the sky. I can still smell some ozone in the air and there are still some puddles here but that is more or less it. Making my way towards the plaza I pass many different kinds of people from merchants and ¡°adventurers¡± to simple farmers. Arriving on the plaza I see a small market and open shops around the edge. As I walk towards the middle of the plaza I walk past a farmer who is selling fruits and I buy an apple. Walking further I reach the Waystone, looking at it from this side I can see a small shrine dedicated to multiple human gods with small detailed statues of them. I put my hands together and make a small prayer for everyone at home. When I am done I step back a bit and begin to observe the Waystone some more. I pick up a sketchbook and start to draw an image of all sides of the Waystone and all the runes on it. while this might not be so necessary to do with my (almost) perfect memory I find it helps me think if I have something to look in combination of my memory. Looking at it more closely this time I again see what I already saw yesterday, these runes are really strange to me. They look alien but at the same time also dwarven, I do by far not know all dwarven runes probably not even a hundredth of all the runes there are but from what I have seen before they just feel like something no dwarven runesmith would create on his own. After sometime my sketches are done, putting away my sketchbook I take out the apple I bought and start to eat while walking away from the Waystone and looking at the stalls that are standing as part of the market. Seeing a spice trader I walk up to him and looking through his wares I find many kinds of spices and buy a lot of them for some testing and some because they are very similar to the ones I used in my past life. Listening to the some of the things people are talking about I hear that many people are happy about last night¡¯s storm. Because while the town is quite close to a river it is still a good thing for the farms as they do not always get the amount of water they need. This area is not completely dry but from what I have seen rain is not so common in this area. The farmers of course farm other crops than those used in The Empire and Bretonnia as those would need far too much water to grow. But that also makes for special regional foods so it is also something fun for a traveller as you can get something different in every region. Getting back on track I have now walked around the market and found many interesting stalls and have bought something with sweet honey, pastry and fruit which tasted quite good. I also visited the blacksmith but was not really that impressed but then again a dwarf has hundreds of years to perfect his craft and a human only a few decades so I could not really complain. A few hours after leaving the inn I go back to spend the rest of the day reading and relaxing. Well at least that was the plan but when I arrived at the inn I was met with a crying Anna behind the bar. As I am a small length she does not see me come towards the counter. Michiko: ¡°What is wrong miss Anna?¡± I say while climbing on top of a chair bringing me to her eyelevel, she wipes her eyes quickly before looking at me. Anna: ¡°Ah miss Michiko I did not see you come in, it is just that my little brother Remme is sick and when the doctor visited again today and how it is looking right now he has no idea what to do. He told us that if his fever keeps up like this he will not make it¡± I think for a bit before answering but then say Michiko: ¡°Umm would you like me to take a look? I can¡¯t promise anything but maybe a different kind of insight could help¡± Anna: ¡°Are you a doctor miss?¡± She says with a hopeful glint in her eyes. Michiko: ¡°No sorry not really but I have some knowledge about herbs and there properties so maybe that would help¡± She sinks in again for a bit but then says Anna: ¡°I suppose it can¡¯t hurt, please follow me I will show you where he is¡± She then walks towards the door in the back of the room and I follow her, behind the door there is a modest living area and a few more doors. Going through one of the doors I see a young boy of about twelve years old lay on a bed with a bit older woman sitting by the side of his bed. Woman: ¡°Ah Anna who is that?¡± Anna: ¡°Hello mom, This is one of the two dwarven guests I told you about yesterday, she saw me crying and when she asked why I told her about Remme, she offered to help. She is not a doctor but she told me she has some knowledge about herbs so I thought it could not hurt to try¡± Mother: ¡°True, well one way or the other I thank you for wanting to take a look¡± Michiko: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I can¡¯t promise anything so you do not have to say anything¡± Getting closer to the bed I take a look at Remme, at first glance I cannot see any outside sings of a disease. No coughing, no irregular heartbeat, no strange smell after asking a few questions I learn that his, well excrements are normal. Before the fever came he was eating drinking and living normally and nobody else has become sick too. This is very strange, it is nothing like I have seen before in this life and the one before. There is nothing wrong with his body except for the fever but I can¡¯t find any cause for it. The only thing they can tell me that he sometimes seems in pain or screams mostly during the night. The only thing I now know is what my instinct is telling me and that is that whatever it is that is causing him harm he is fighting it. not knowing what to do I give up for now. Michiko: ¡°I truly apologise I have no idea what to do or even what is causing it, the only thing I know is that he is fighting it.It is probably not my place to say this, but as his family I think he would not want you to despair over him, he has not given up and neither should you¡± They both smile a bit before the mother speaks. Mother: ¡°Thanks for trying nonetheless¡± Anna: ¡°Come on I will take you back to the front, so you can continue your day¡± We walk to the main area and there Anna speaks again. Anan: ¡°Thanks, even if you could not do anything that really helped¡± I give a slight but a bit sad smile before leaving and going upstairs. Arriving in my room I sit down on my bed and enter a meditative like state and slowly begin to review my medical knowledge to try and find anything that can help. Like this a few hours pass but I can¡¯t find anything that can help, it seems like the disease is something that is special to this world and with most of my medical knowledge of my past life I can¡¯t find what is wrong. That does not mean that all my knowledge of my past life is useless it is just that there are things in this world of which I do not know. It is highly possible the disease is magical in nature but for now I do not have the knowledge and skill to correctly find out. In the evening Vanyra enters the room and walks towards me and I begin to speak. Michiko: ¡°Ah Vanyra um could¡­.¡± But before I finish she puts up her hand interrupting me. Vanyra: ¡°I heard from Anna, let me guess you want to stay a few days and try to help?¡± I nod and she embraces me and continues. Vanyra: ¡°You are far too nice Michiko, there is probably a boy or girl that is in exactly the same condition one or two villages away and you cannot help them all, you must know that¡± I nod and with a bit of a sad expression I say. Michiko: ¡°I know¡­ but¡­ I don¡¯t know I just have a feeling, my instinct is telling me that I can help, that I should help¡± Vanyra steps back and looks at me. Vanyra: ¡°You have got three days to try and help, after that we have to go on to Karaz-a-Karak¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks¡± Year: 10-03-1722 (Imperial Calendar) (around but a bit before midnight) Location: Planet Warhammer, Human village in the Borderlands Michiko POV. The last two days I have been looking through all my medical knowledge from my past and current life. But I have found nothing that could help and it frustrated and saddens me, I have tried to find something with the doctor but that also came to nothing. The only thing he could tell me out of his experience was what Vanyra also told me. He has seen countless people die over the course of his years as a doctor. Some people he tries to treat he just can¡¯t save so he tries to focus his efforts on those he can save. This new world I live in now can be very beautiful but also very harsh. This is not the advanced kind of society where we beat almost all disease and even death was overcome. I have to change my mind-set to this new kind of world. Still I promise myself I will help those who I can and in the future maybe my knowledge will be great enough to save people from things I cannot save them from now. But now I will keep trying to save this boy as I feel I can but I have promised I will leave when the time limit is up. With this situation right now I am having an uneasy sleep we will leave tomorrow so it is almost certain I have already failed as his fever still shows no signs of lowering. As I lay in bed around twelve in the night I feel something and my eyes shot open, something is happening! I jump out of bed open the door and run downstairs through the door leading to the back. While I am doing this I transform from my dragon to my half dragon form. Storming into the room where Remme lays I find something I have never seen before. A small imp like creature is hanging above Remme and looks like he I trying to take over but Remme is fighting him mentally. As I am stunned the creature sees me and shifts his attention from Remme to me. He mentally begins to attack me so he can return his attention back to his soon to be victim. But not everything goes like he plans and I resist him strongly with sheer force of willpower. While I am having a mental battle with the small daemon Anna comes running in and freezes when she sees me in my half dragon form and the small daemon. She then feels that attack of the daemon and puts her hands on her head out of pain. I move myself in the path between her and the daemon stopping most of the daemons assault from reaching her. When I have done that I focus my full attention on the daemon and after a few seconds what seemed like ages I make one large punch and the daemons attack is broken. In that fraction of a second when the daemon is stunned I let my instincts take over my body. I jump forward closing the small distance between us and then I clad my claw in refined chaos energy before slashing at the daemon with it. When my attack hits the daemon my claw cuts cleanly through it, killing the small daemon and dispersing it''s energy¡¯s. When the battle is over i clear up my mind and after a few seconds I¡¯m back to normal. Anna: ¡°Michiko?¡± Having forgotten about my surroundings I only now look around when I am woken by Anna¡¯s voice. When I look around I see that Anna I looking at me with a questioning expression, when I look at myself I see I am standing here in my half dragon form almost naked with my important parts only covered in a layer of thin scales. My lower arms and legs have also both turned into claws. We next both remain frozen for a while until Vanyra bursts into the room with my cloak under her arm. She slows down a bit when she sees both me and Anna staring at each other but then moves behind me and puts my cloak on my back. Getting out of my frozen state I become a bit red and quickly put on my cloak. Anna looks like she wants to ask a question but then we hear a groan coming from Remme as he begins to wake up. She quickly passes by me and reaches Remme. As he first opens his eyes his gaze still looks cloudy but as it starts to clear up I quickly transform back to my dwarven form. Looking around the room again I see the mother of Remme and Anna sitting in the corner, she was probably knocked out by the daemon but now she begins to wake up. We then leave when we hear some noises come from the main inn area and as we do so the father also passes us, at first he looks like he wants to say something but when he sees Remme he forgets all about us and runs into the room as fast as he can. With the noises of some of the guests coming outside becoming louder we quickly go towards them. When we arrive we find that the other guests have woken up because of my scramble to get to Remme as fast as I could. We tell them some quick lies mixed with some truths and luckily they believe it and go back to their rooms. We wait for some time and about fifteen minutes later Anna comes out of the door opening and sits down at the table where we have been waiting. Anna: ¡°Well first of all thank you, from the bottom of my heart, second of all if I may ask What was that?¡± Michiko: ¡°What are you referring to, me or the being above your little brother?¡± Anna: ¡°Both¡± Vanyra: ¡°Sorry to stop you for a bit, but before I¡¯m going to even let Michiko tell you anything further I want you to swear not to tell anyone what you have seen and what you are about to hear¡± Anna: ¡°Of course! You saved my little brother, I swear here right now that I will take these secrets to my grave, but¡­. I would still like to know what happened¡± Vanyra nods and I continue. Michiko: ¡°Well first all that being that was floating above your brother was as far as I know a Daemon¡± Anna: ¡°Daemon, so they are real?, and you, what are you?¡± Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m.. a Dragon, a special kind of Dragon¡± I say while transforming my arm and putting it on the table, she looks at it with an interested gaze and then strokes with her hand over my arm and speaks. Anna: ¡°You¡¯re a Dragon¡­ and you?¡± She says while looking at Vanyra. Vanyra: ¡°Me? I''m just a regular boring dwarf, the only thing special to me is that I call a Dragon my little sister¡± She says while smiling cheekily. Michiko: ¡°Continuing with what happened I think that that Daemon was trying to take over the body of your little brother, but because it was not strong enough it could not overpower the willpower of your little brother. If it went on like this your brother would probably have died as his body was exhausted by the mental battel. But tonight was special you may not have looked outside and not have seen it but tonight Morrslieb is shining full in the heavens giving the daemon the power it needed. But as he materialised to enter the final stage I sensed him and came, you know the rest¡± Anna: ¡°And the Daemon? What became of it¡± Michiko: ¡°It is dead¡± Anna then sinks down on her chair out of relief with her hand still on my arm. Vanyra: ¡°Well with Remme being saved I suppose we are done here so we will be leaving tomorrow¡± Anna: ¡°So soon? You could stay longer if you want free of charge of course!¡± Vanyra: ¡°No we have to go on, we also have our own goals and while a few days of rest does not really make a difference I would like to move on now¡± Michiko: ¡°Sorry Anna¡± Anna: ¡°Don¡¯t apologise it is me who is being selfish if I want you to stay here while you have your own goals¡± Vanyra: ¡°Well we will be going back to bed now so see you tomorrow morning¡± She says while yawning and stretching herself before standing up, I follow her and we both go towards the staircase but when we are about halfway Vanyra stops and turns around for a bit. Vanyra: ¡°Oh I almost forgot, this is to compensate for the claw marks¡± She says while putting some silver coins on the counter and then walking onwards upstairs. Anna: ¡°Claw marks?¡± She asks as I think the same thing but as we pass a wall I remember. In my scramble to reach downstairs I used my claws to speed up, creating visible scars in the walls and floor. I become a bit red while thinking about my mistake and Vanyra visibly smiles. Year: 17-02-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Human village in the Borderlands Michiko POV Next morning we woke up at around 9 o''clock, after clothing ourselves we went downstairs. When we arrived there were already a number of guests eating their breakfast. When the father and mother of Anna and Remme saw us they deeply thanked us but did not ask anything, which was good. As we eat he heard some of the guests complain about being woken up in the middle of the night but they forgot it quickly when they heard that they would get breakfast for free. After having eaten we packed up our stuff and got ready to leave we were stopped by the peasants who once again wanted to thank us and gave us some food for our journey as it was the least they could do and the most we would accept. While Vanyra is speaking with the parents I talk with Anna and Remme. Anna: ¡°Remme this is your chance to tell Michiko something before they leave¡± Remme: ¡°Thank you for ending the nightmare sister¡± He says with a smile. Anna: ¡°Yes once again thanks for ending the Nightmare¡± Remme: ¡°Sis, will the nightmares return?¡± That makes me think a bit as I do not know what caused the daemon to attack Remme, or if they would ever try to do so again. As I am thinking Remme becomes restless and worried because I am not answering. so I end my train of thought and using a very limited amount of transformation I ¡°grow¡± a single white smooth scale on my arm. Putting my other hand on top of it I pour some refined chaos energy into it and seal it inside. Grabbing the scale with my hand I pull it out in one quick movement, feeling pain for just a moment one drop of blood leaves the small wound and rolls from my arm onto the floor before the small wound closes. Remme looks a bit shocked and a bit worried about me when he sees my small jolt of pain. But I then grab his hand and put the scale inside. Michiko: ¡°I can¡¯t be sure the nightmares won¡¯t return, but this will protect you for if they do, so please keep this with you so it might help. But please keep it a secret okay because I will get in trouble I anyone finds out¡± As Remme looks in his hand he smiles happily and nods. Remme: ¡°Thank you sis¡± While he is looking at the scale I whisper something to Anna silently so he can¡¯t hear it. Michiko: ¡°Anna I don¡¯t know if it will protect him entirely but I am sure it will help, but like this he will not have to worry all the time. I don¡¯t think anything will happen but still¡­¡± Anna looks down and silently whisper back. Anna: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you have done enough, it is already great he survived it. like the doctor told you many people get sick and a lot die, but you have given him a second chance and that is enough we could not have asked for more¡± We both smile a bit sadly but when I am called by Vanyra I say my last goodbyes to them and to their parents. When we are done we walk out of the door and then we leave in the direction of the northern gate, towards Karaz-a-Karak. Character list: Spoiler : Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeyman runesmith Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Runesmith Burlok: Guard captain of the gate, friend of Endar and Dern Elmador: warrior/guard Human borderlands town: Anna: daughter of inn owners and friend of Michiko Remme: son of inn owners and looks up to Michiko Loran: town guard friend of Anna (and has a crush on her) Greenskins: Gorbad Ironclaw: mighty orc warboss, presumed dead but also rumoured to be alive Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko journey) Dwarven Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir Chapter 13: Arrival and The Guild Exam Chapter 13: Arrival and The Guild Exam Authors notes: Merry Christmas everyone here is another chapter and I hope you will enjoy :) Lastly many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 19-04-1722 (Imperial Calendar) (¡À 15 years and 6,5 months after hatching) Location: Planet Warhammer, Surroundings of Karaz-a-Karak Michiko POV. Having flown for about a month and walked for five days we have finally reached the foothills of Karaz-a-Karak. The time we spent traveling from the human border village was mostly uneventful, we saw a few Greenskins but most of them where far below on the ground while we were flying high up in the sky. In the end we only killed ten goblins who were lucky or unlucky enough to stumble upon our campsite. With exception of that nothing really happen, I would complain about being bored but in this kind of world and situation you are better off bored as anything that would break the boredom would probably also be out to break your spine and a whole lot more. When we landed and started travelling on land we were about five days of walking from the Karak. We landed so far from it because this area of the mountains is heavily guarded, and being seen here would most likely not end well for me. After we started to travel on foot we started to meet a few traders here and there and also some dwarven farmers that have hidden farms inside the mountains. Normally it is rare for a dwarf to become a farmer but around Karaz-a-Karak there are a lot more because the lands around it are some of the best guarded and safest areas in the known world. Still most of the food for the Karaks is obtained through trade with humans and most of the dwarven produce goes to the making of beer and ale. Of course the Karaks hold massive amounts of storage for in the case that they will be sieged or could not buy enough food in the case of a bad harvest. Fimbur also told me that in a long siege of a Karak where he lived they ran out of food and survived on the drinking of ale, which says a lot about both Fimbur and the nutritional value of dwarven ale. Speaking about dwarven ale as we met some dwarven traders that came from the Karak and in the evening we camped together. It was a very fun evening and they shared some ale with us and we shared some meat. Dwarves can be a bit cold to outsiders but are very hospitable to other dwarves and those they see as friends. When we told them it was my first visit to Karaz-a-Karak and that Vanyra does not remember very much as she was very young when she came through here last they smiled broadly. We asked them a few things but they refused to tell about the Karak, telling us that we had to see it for ourselves. After a very enjoyable evening and a good night¡¯s sleep we said goodbye and we continued our journey. As we walked we saw quite a lot of dwarven traders and sometimes also some farmers. Since we landed we started to travel on foot, until now we have not seen any Greenskins or animals that are too dangerous. It is impressive how they created this safe place in a world like this with danger around every corner. Back to the present as we are walking we are coming up on the valley that leads to the entrance of Karaz-a-Karak¡¯s main gate. At the start of the valley there is a big wall with a large open gate in the middle. At both sides of the gate there are dwarven guards and more dwarves are patrolling the wall. The wall is around ten meters high and seems to be around four meters thick at the top and wider at the bottom. Every twenty meters or so there is a tower with a large cannon on top. The walls itself look very strong and are made out of huge blocks of tightly fit together stone which looks like not even a razor could fit between. Lastly I can see dwarven sculpting engraved into the wall giving it a very impressive look while at the same time not sacrificing strength. After having gazed at the wall, we walk up to the gate and are greeted by the guards. They do a quick check on us before letting us through with a smile. They are not here to check on small amounts of travellers and the real checkpoint is probably at the main gate. It seems like they are here as the first line of defence against any intruders and protecting the valley beyond. If the attack is to big that they will probably retreat as this is just the ¡°weak¡± wall and the real defences are at the main gate of the Karak. I smile when I think about it, a wall like this that would put most human city walls to shame is just the disposable first line. It¡¯s one of the reasons I love the dwarves; they are great builders, craftsmen and are as steadfast as the stone they were born from in mythology. Walking through the valley is easy going, as the roads are well kept and no dangers are in the area. Walking here in this valley with mountains on both sides of the road is kind of an imposing feeling. Walking through a valley is nothing new but this time I can see many defences build and largely hidden into the mountainsides, here and there. I can even see the front of large cannons and other weapons. Furthermore I also see a few dwarves, but my instinct tells me there are many more out there. Some of them are watching us as we walk but they do not seem hostile and probably just lookouts. As we walk through the valley we come closer and closer to the Gate. In the distance I already begin to vaguely see the main gate. It looks massive, it must be at least a hundred meters tall most likely more! While we come closer to the gate we are astonished by what we see. On both sides of the road there are massive dwarven statues that stand there as seemingly eternal guardians. In the mountainsides all around us , besides and above the gate I can see countless cannons, ballista¡¯s, stone throwers and many other deadly weapons. The gate itself also looks unbreakable, I cannot see even a single seam, it is as if the entire gate has been made out of one single great block. The giant gate has a very smooth granite surface but I can also see the image of Valaya carved in it, as she is seen as the protector of Karaz-a-Karak and many more Dwarven Holds. When we reach the gate there is a single dwarf waiting for us, the gatekeeper I guess. Gatekeeper: ¡°Good day young ladies, is this your first time to Karaz-a-Karak?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Ah yes, how did you know?¡± Gatekeeper: ¡°Well your gaping mouth while looking around was a good indication¡± He says with a smile, causing Vanyra to lightly blush in shame. The Gate keeper then laughs and continues. Gatekeeper: ¡°Don¡¯t worry it is one of the reasons why I like this job so much. But now a bit serious, I would like to let the two of you in, but first you will have to state your business, it is just a matter of procedure¡± He says a bit more serious and Vanyra recovers. Michiko: ¡°We came to train in runesmithing, we know the basics but to learn more we came here¡± I say with a smile, the gatekeeper looks at me and answers. Gatekeeper: ¡°Oh, so the two of you are aspiring runesmiths? very good. Well, I¡¯ve held you up for long enough. I¡¯ll open the gate for you, please stand back...¡± We step back and he takes out a hammer, seeing the hammer I can feel that a special rune is engraved in it. The Gatekeeper rhythmically taps the gate five times with the runic hammer and then a silvery shining lines appear in the gate. At those lines a door appears that is around one and a half meters tall and a meter wide. The Gatekeeper motions us to walk inside. Gatekeeper: ¡°Good luck and I hope to see you again in the future¡± Vanyra: ¡°Thank you¡± Michiko: ¡°The same, mister¡± We then walk inside what seems to be a short tunnel but when I think about it further I realize it is actually the gate itself, the gate is very thick and solid granite. It must weigh more than a million tonnes, THAT IS CRAZY. I mean it is nothing compared to the mountain itself but WOW. I wonder how they open and close it? Do they use giant pulleys in combination of counterweights. That would theoretically be feasible but not very practical. Maybe they use very powerful connected runes or even one giant rune spanning the whole gate. It can also be that they use a combination of both mechanical systems and runes at the same time. but¡­ My thought pattern is broken up by Vanyra who taps my shoulder. Vanyra: ¡°Come on Michiko, I know you want to analyse it but we will be staying here for a long time so you will have many more chances to do so in the future. For now I want to find a place to stay for the night¡± I nod and pull my gaze from the gate, I give a small smile to Vanyra before we both start to walk, deeper into the Karak. Walking through the Karak I see many dwarves, but here away from the main roads it becomes a lot more empty and there are only a few dwarves. But I still get a feeling of greatness, of an ancient time, a golden age with no equal. But that time has ended and the fire of that time has waned, flickering and almost going out as it is battered by wars and time. But while the fire has now been brought low, the embers of the once great fire still glow. The dwarven Empire has now been stabilized and while much has been lost and it is still under attack by many, it has started very slowly to rebuild. New Karaks have been made and old ones are being reclaimed. This gives me hope for the future, while I may not be a dwarf I feel a kinship with them and will help them to find their greatness once again. Vanyra: ¡°What are you so happy about Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m just thinking¡± Vanyra: ¡°hmm¡­ sure, well come on let¡¯s go find a place to spent the night¡± Michiko: ¡°Sure¡± I say with a bright smile and we walk into the direction of the central area. Year: 29-04-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak Michiko POV. It has now been ten days since we arrived in Karaz-a-Karak, after bringing the letters from home to the post office we went looking for a place to stay. After a while we found a house for rent, it has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a small kitchen, a medium central room and a small basic smithy. The small house is located deep in the Karak, in the domain of the ancient Runelord Kragg the Grim. He can rule this domain more or less how he sees fit as the current high king Alrik of the dwarven empire like his predecessors has a high respect for the powerful Runelord. Because of this he has been able to claim the lower areas of Karaz-a-Karak as his domain. I have like almost every dwarf a high respect for Kragg the Grim, and that is not very strange as he is a truly ancient dwarf who probably the only living dwarf that has seen and experienced the wonders of the Golden age. Many runesmith therefore come to his domain for his wisdom. Today we are going to register at the runesmith guild, to become official runesmiths and hopefully find a master runesmith willing to teach us. Apart from the possibility of finding a master we would probably have some trouble in the future as it more or less is the law that you can¡¯t use runesmithing without being a member of the guild. This kind of worry¡¯s me as while the guild is not in direct control of the runesmiths it is very, very influential in the dwarven empire. On top of that they are very conservative, making the invention of new runes very difficult. You would most likely have to be a Rune Lord before even attempting to invent a new rune, otherwise you would probably be seen as crazy at best honorless at the worst and losing your honor is for a dwarf the worst thing that can happen to him or her. This has made it so that almost no runesmiths try or even think of trying to invent a new rune. This has made innovation in the area of runesmithing almost stagnant. Of course there are reasons for this stance it can be very dangerous to try and invent a new rune. On top of that the time and resources spent inventing with only the very small chance of success are just better spent making runes that are known to actually work. And with the constant danger the dwarven empire is in I can see where they are coming from but still¡­. Anyways I have thought on it long enough for now we have arrived at the Guild building. The building is quite large and beautifully decorated on top of that I can feel multiple runes that have been engraved into the building. It has very few windows as no sunlight could come through them underground. Every now and then dwarves walk in and out of the building but it does not really seem that busy. Arriving at the large wooden door we push it open and enter a large reception hall. The hall has a clean stone floor, strong looking stone walls with some decorations. It is lighted by glowing crystals and in there are two desks with dwarves behind them. Because there are already some dwarves being helped we have to wait a bit before being helped. After about five minutes one of the desks is freed up and we go speak with the receptionist, an older looking dwarven man. Receptionist: ¡°Hello what can I do for you young ones?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Well my sister and I would like to register at the guild¡± Receptionist: ¡°Hmm sure but where is your master? Without your master we can¡¯t really register you unless you¡¯re a runesmith yourself¡± Vanyra: ¡°We came here looking for a master to further our runesmithing, we had a master but he could not teach us anymore because he is a Journeyman Runesmith and so he could only teach us the basics¡± Receptionist: ¡°That is quite impressive especially for the young one here, well I more or less understand the situation now but we will still need to work out some things, please wait a bit¡± He walks back to a door open it and says. Receptionist: ¡°Cranneg I have to help some people so please take over for a bit¡± Cranneg: ¡°Sure I will be right there¡± He then turns around and come back to us. Receptionist: ¡°Well please follow me to a room where we can talk¡± We nod and we follow him and arrive in a room with some seats around a table he motions us to sit, asks us what we want to drink before and tells us he will be right back with a higher guild member. We sit down and wait for about five minutes before he returns with the drinks and another dwarf. The dwarf look older and also richer than the receptionist and the aura he projects gives a powerful feeling. He looks at us for a while, as he tries to gauge us before walking up to us and greeting us. Dwarf???: ¡°Hello I am Furgil, the head of this guild hall¡± I¡¯m a bit shocked when he introduces himself as he seems to be a high member of the guild, I look at Vanyra and see she is the same. Vanyra: ¡°¡­.. I¡¯m Vanyra nice to meet you¡± Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m Michiko¡± Furgil(Dwarf???): ¡°Very well, now please sit so we can talk¡± He says and we all sit down at the table he motions the receptionist to put down the drinks. When the drinks are on the table he says. Furgil: ¡°Thank you Noran I will take care of the rest¡± Noran nods and then leaves, Furgil then turns to look at us. Furgil: ¡°Now we can begin, but first, ms.Vanyra do you have a question?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Um yes, not to be rude but why is it that a high ranking guild member like you is here for our registration at the guild?¡± Furgil: ¡°Oh there is no need to be worried miss, I normally do this when new runesmiths comes to register from outside of the Karak. It¡¯s quite rare and because of it being a kind of unknown I like to do this myself as the guild has to keep up its high standards¡± He looks at Vanyra to see if she understood before continuing. Furgil: ¡°Well with that out of the way please tell me your situation so I can make a decision on how to proceed¡± Vanyra: ¡°Okay well¡­.¡± While she explains Furgil mostly just listens only sometimes asking her about something before letting her continue. I let Vanyra do almost all the talking right now because in their eyes I am still far too young and still a kid. It would be a lot harder for me to get them to listen to me, especially about something like this. As for Vanyra she is now around thirty so just an adult by dwarven standards. At the end of the explanation Vanyra has told Furgil about Duregar and that his master was killed before he could learn everything from him. She told him that he taught us the basics so we could come and learn at one of the Karak¡¯s. Furgil: ¡°Okay I think I understand, well first things first joining the guild is possible but you will have to pass a test, but it is nothing to be worried about if you know the basics of runesmithing. I want the both of you to forge a temporary rune of your own choosing under supervision of a guild member I will assign. Now moving on to the other matter, a rune master that can teach the both of you, this will be quite hard as almost all of them already have apprentices and the ones that don¡¯t do not want any. I will have the guild look into it for you but as of now I cannot promise anything. Will this be satisfactory?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes thank you very much mister Furgil¡± Furgil: ¡°Okay then please come back to the guild the day after tomorrow, a journeyman runesmith will be waiting for you and he will observe your runesmithing during your examination. That is everything for now, I wish you success with the exam and a good day¡± Vanyra: ¡°Thank you¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks¡± We shake hands and then he leaves and we do the same. On our way out we say goodbye to Noran(receptionist) and then go home. Vanyra: ¡°That went quite well I think¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes it is nice that they heard us out and helped us¡± Vanyra nods before saying Vanyra: ¡°I did not expect to see the head of the guild hall, I was a bit nervous when we met him but in the end he listened and helped us¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes and now we only have to do a test we both know we can already complete with relative ease¡± We then go home, I cook some dinner and a few hours later we go to bed. Year: 01-05-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak Michiko POV. As I wake up in the morning I begin my morning ritual with absorbing the chaos energy around me, refining it inside my core and then start to circulate it throughout my body slowly strengthening myself. Like on most regular mornings I keep doing this until my body has reached its strengthening limit for now. This makes the strengthening process slow but also steady making me a lot stronger over time. Having finished that I stretch myself moving my muscles after the daily strengthening. While the strengthening can hurt a lot if I do not watch out, if I do it correctly I feel renewed at the end and very comfortable. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Leaving my room I wash myself in the bathroom before transforming to my dwarven form and putting on my cloak. I then go downstairs and eat some bread with cheese and ham, eating meat is of course best for me as I am a dragon but my current form also influences it. Being in my largest dragon form would of course take more energy than in my smallest or in another form, but as long as I stay in my dwarven form I only have to eat as much as a normal dwarf would, I can eat much more but I do not really see the point of literally eating the equivalent of a whole horse or more every day when it is not necessary. When I am sitting at the table eating my breakfast Vanyra comes downstairs and starts to make some for herself. Vanyra: ¡°Good morning Michiko, slept well?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes, you too?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Okay I had trouble sleeping because of today¡¯s exam¡± Michiko: ¡°But it should be easy for both of us right?¡± Vanyra: ¡®True but it still makes me nervous¡± We talk some more before cleaning up and leaving the house going towards the guild. Both Vanyra and I have taken our personal forging hammer with us as we both work best with these. On our way to the guild we talk a bit about what kind of rune each of us is going to make. I have decided to make a Rune of Fate on a medallion, only temporary runes can be made of this rune and it is made that the first attack you receive is (almost always) negated. Not really that useful in a full blown battle but many dwarves have been saved from Skaven assassins by this rune and is because of that really useful. As for Vanyra she is going to make a Rune of Spellbreaking. This rune can be used to negate almost all magic in the area around the user. It is not an end all be all rune but is still quite powerful against a mage or daemon type enemy because it works by interfering with the warp energy¡¯s. still only temporary runes of this type can be made which is kind of unfortunate. While talking we arrive at the guild where Noran brings us to a medium forge in the guild building with multiple anvils around it. the forge is well equipped and already heating up. I then see a dwarf who is around fifty years old, Noran tells us he is called Gottri a Journeyman runesmith, he will be observing us during the exam. Year: 01-05-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak Gottri POV. While waiting in the guild forge for the two possible new guild members, I begin to heat up the forge so it is ready when they arrive. while I am doing this I start to think about why I am doing this again. Yesterday my master asked me to help out at the guild because she had heard that some new runesmiths came from outside of the karak to find a master. Why? I think because she already has me and my brother so it is not for her, but after some thinking I realized why she wanted me to check them out. It was because of that old strange friend of hers. I should not be thinking like this about an elder, a master runesmith at that but he¡­ Ugh I will be respectful to him because my master tells me to but I do not see why she holds him in such high regard, In my eyes I cannot see what is so respectful about him. He might be a master runesmith but if I go by how he looks he just seems to be a poor man who is living of my master''s wealth, if he is a master runesmith he should be able to sustain himself right. But then again I have never seen him work so that could be the cause but that should be his own fault, he should not come to my master''s place every now and then to exploit my master''s good will and then leave without doing or giving anything in return. (Sigh) I should not be so harsh on him, he is my master''s friend and like she told me I do not know the whole picture so I cannot judge him like this. It is not like he is rude or smells or anything like that, I just don¡¯t get him, one moment he might seem like an old good for nothing, but at other moments he seems like his is filled with wisdom. (Sigh) It is no use thinking about it I should now be preparing the forge. Putting aside my conflicting thought for now I throw some more fuel in the forge and then wait for two smiths. About half an hour later the forge is hot and ready for use, at this time I am just waiting until they arrive. Hearing the door open I look at the opening and see Noran walk in together with two very young dwarves one looking around thirty and looks like an average dwarven women but also quite strong looking. The second dwarf is a young girl probably not even twenty which surprised me because most runesmith only make their first rune around thirty. On top of that she looks quite strange, she has white hair and blue eyes which are both very rare for dwarves. On top of that she has strange clothes, a sort of loose cloak that is entirely closed around her with her head coming out from the top and sleeves for her arms out of the sides. There is some embroidery depicting dragons carefully sown into the cloak, I have never really seen this type of clothing before, it could be a custom or culture from the place she came from?. While I have been observing them they have been looking around the room until they see me. Noran says something and I walk towards them. Gottri: ¡°Good morning, I¡¯m Gottri your examinator for today¡± Vanyra: ¡°Hello I¡¯m Vanyra¡± Michiko: ¡°I¡¯m Michiko¡± They both say with a respectful tone Gottri: ¡°Welcome, well I have already heated up the forge so you can start almost right away but first I have to repeat the rules for a bit. One: you can make any type of temporary rune but it has to be of a good quality. Two: the quality will be determined by me and only me. Three: you can use any tools you want to. Four: if your want to keep you work you can either use your own materials or pay for them. Five: the materials you can use are: Iron, Steel, Bronze, Silver or Gold. Understood?¡± They both nod Gottri: ¡°Okay then, I wish you the best of luck, and you are free to start.¡± I then go a bit to the back and sit down in a chair, looking over their work. They first look around a bit before taking out a crucible and putting in some silver coins from their coin purse. They put the crucible in the foundry part of the forge and with some blasts of air coming from the bellows it starts to melt. When they are done melting the silver they take out two casting molds, one for a ring and another for a medallion. After lubricating the molds they start to pour the silver very carefully. With both the molds poured they clean up the things they used while waiting for the silver to solidify. With the silver now being cool enough to handle they take it out of the molds and whishing each other luck they both go to an anvil. Now the real test is going to begin, taking out hammers they both start to use metalworking chisels to engrave the runes into the metal. Their choice of taking silver as the base material of their runes was a good choice because silver is soft. Silver jewellery can be made by just hammering the metal into shape, you do not have to heat it before beginning to work it. standing up very silently I go and take a look up close of their smithing. Firstly While looking at Vanyra I see that her work is quite good around the level of a beginning Journeyman runesmith, which I kind of to be expected because the true crafting of a rune is most of the time a sign the young apprentice is ready to advance. Still there is a bit of awkwardness in her techniques but that is normal. I smile when I see her work as it makes me think of the past when I was doing my exam. My techniques were also rough at the time but like me she will get plenty of time to work on them in the future. Well it seems like she is doing fine and will be finished in a few minutes. Turing around I go and take a look at Michiko. Walking toward her very quietly my first thought is that she is quite slow, but taking a closer look I am a surprised at the perfection of her rune. Looking at her hands I can see her move very precisely making sure she makes no mistakes or imperfections. This is very impressive but like Vanyra she also has some awkward techniques which makes it so that a few, very small imperfections are created, making the rune a little bit weaker but still very good for a Journeyman. Looking up at her face I am shocked by her expression, she has a piercing gaze that seem to be focuses on nothing but her work. It seems like she shuts out everything else. Looking at her entirely I can see that every minute tick of the hammer is carefully calculated and thought out. Sometime later I see that Vanyra has finished and has been watching us, I walk towards her and whisper. Gottri: ¡°sorry I was watching Michiko did not notice you were done,¡± Vanyra: ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it I get it, I am used to seeing her work so I am used to it but you can get sucked in by it. She might be a bit socially awkward and a scatterbrain sometimes but when it is about the things she loves she can be very special¡± She says softly with a warm smile and I nod. Gottri: ¡°Well while we wait for Michiko to be finished and starting the next part let¡¯s take a look at your rune¡± Vanyra: ¡°Okay, here it is¡± She says while giving me the engraved ring, I take out a small loupe taking a closer look at the rune. Slowly turning it around I inspect every detail of the rune, there are like predicted during the crafting a few flaws but it is still more but the rune still passes by a wide margin. Gottri: ¡°You pass for the engraving you can start with the empowering when Michiko is done for now take a small break¡± I say while handing over the ring, she gives a smile, thanks me and then goes to sit close to Michiko, watching her work. About ten minutes later Michiko was finished, she picked up the medallion and inspected it. A bit later she gave a sweet content smile, Vanyra went up to her and they talked a bit before Michiko turned my way, intending to show the medallion to me. But I put up my hand and say Gottri: ¡°I have already seen it, it passes¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you¡± I nod and let them talk a bit more before they return to their anvils and begin with the empowerment of the rune. They start to gather chaos energy in the hammer storing it inside. Then when the energy is strong enough the hammer hits the metal, transferring the energy form the hammer into the rune. While no dwarf can see this the runesmith can feel this when he or she is smithing and because of this know when and how to strike. Looking at them bother I can see I do not have to worry about them. They both work very well and at this level there are no real problems. While they both still require learning they are doing quite well. The way they work is more or less the same as before with Vanyra being quite normal and Michiko going very focused, slow and steady. With nothing really to worry about I sit back and make myself comfortable in my chair, now I just have to wait for them to finish. About twenty minutes later Vanyra has finished and comes to me, I take a quick look at the ring and feel that the energy has been stored inside and for now is quite stable. I tell her it is good and that she can take a break for a bit, it is a good thing to take a break during the runesmithing because you will become inaccurate and your work will suffer because of it. this counts double for any beginning runesmith and seeing the sweat run down Vanyra¡¯s face I can easily see she needs it. Still there is also something strange about Michiko, I can¡¯t see a drop of sweat or any sign of tiredness on her. While I have been thinking Vanyra has cleaned her face and gotten something to drink before she once again sits down besides Michiko. It takes about ten more minutes for Michiko to finish the empowerment and after inspecting the rune I can¡¯t find any real flaws in it. like I expected it passed by a wide margin. Now that Michiko is done with the empowerment it is time for Vanyra to start the binding of the chaos energy¡¯s to the rune and completing it. Placing the ring on the anvil she begins to chant in ancient Khazalid the most pure form of the dwarven language. With the exception of runesmiths there are not many that still speak the true dwarven language which is used for runesmithing. The language has evolved and also devolved over the time since the ancestor gods walked the planet, but it has also adapted to the changing world ever so slowly. Listening to Vanyra¡¯s chanting I hear it is going quite fluidly and is spoken without much difficulty. It seems like her knowledge of ancient Khazalid is quite good. Taking a look at the rune also reveals that the binding is going well and will be finished soon. A while later the chanting stops and the rune is completed. Vanyra picks up the ring and brings it to me, I take a quick look at it and confirmed what I already know, that this level of testing is far too low to be a challenge for them. Gottri: ¡°That went quite well and I have to say that this rune passes without a doubt so congratulations¡± Vanyra smiles widely and says Vanyra: ¡°Thanks mr.Gottri, hey Michiko if I passed you will pass as well, so while it¡¯s a bit early to plan a party but let¡¯s go eat at a good restaurant tonight, okay?¡± Michiko: ¡°Yes! That will be fun¡± She says with a big smile and I smile too because I know what she said is true. Even if she screws up at this stage she will still pass on how good she did on the Inscription and Empowerment. Gottri: ¡°Well Michiko it¡¯s your turn now please complete the rune with the binding and then you both can go out and have dinner okay?¡± Michiko nods and goes back to her anvil and places down the medallion. She takes a deep breath and starts to¡­.. sing?!, no this chanting?, she is singing the chant with a soft, quite voice. I have not heard her speak that much but now her voice makes the chant flow with a special aura within the song, the sound gives me a strange comforting feeling making me feel calm and peaceful. Looking at Vanyra with a questioning gaze she smiles softly at me and puts her finger before her lips asking me to be quiet before closing her eyes. Not knowing what to do I just follow her example and close my eyes and take in the song. While listening with my eyes closed the time flows by quickly and before I know it about half an hour had passed and the rune was completed. When the singing stopped I opened my eyes slowly and I feel very refreshed. I look at Michiko and find her staring at me with a shy expression as if asking if she did something wrong. I smile and that puts her at ease she picks up the medallion and gives it to me. Inspecting it very closely I see that the rune is very good, but after staring for a bit longer I think I feel something strange about the rune but I can¡¯t discover anything special so it could just have been my imagination?. Gottri: ¡°Well the both of you pass, I can say this without any reservations¡± I say smiling and they cheer, smiling at their happiness I say. Gottri: ¡°Well now you two passed I will do the rest, I will make sure to tell Furgil of your success. As for now you are done so you can go out and have a well-deserved celebration. I expect that you will in a few days get a letter that officially accepts you into the guild. But as of now I, Gottri, as a member, while unofficiall welcome you into the guild as fellow runesmiths¡± They smile and thank me before I wave them away and they leave merrily. Thinking about today a day I thought would have wasted I smile, because today was a very interesting fun day. I could not have spent it in a better way¡­. Well now I have to do my job lets go talk to Furgil, i walk towards the door turn off the lights and leave the room closing the door behind me. Character list: Spoiler : Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeyman runesmithe Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Journeyman Runesmith Burlok: Guard captain of the gate, friend of Endar and Dern Elmador: warrior/guard Karaz-a-Karak residents: Gottri: Journeyman Runesmith Furgil: Runesmith guild hall leader Noran: Runesmith guild hall receptionist Kragg the Grim: Ancient Runelord Greenskins: Gorbad Ironclaw: mighty orc warboss, presumed dead but also rumoured to be alive Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko journey) Dwarven Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir Chapter 14: Temple visit and Roasted Rats Chapter 14: Temple visit and Roasted Rats Authors notes: Maybe a bit late but I wish every one of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR. And with that here is (in my opinion) a very long chapter! MORE THAT 11000 WORDS (a sorry to my proofreader, it kind of got a bit out of hand) SECONDLY I want to thank Nantoka!!! He has helped me by posting a lot of the mistakes that slip through in the comment for I think every chapter. because of this I want to thank you Nantoka for being such a great help! Lastly many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 05-05-1722 (Imperial Calendar) (¡À 15 years and 7 months after hatching) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak Michiko POV. A few days had passes since our exam and the small celebration afterwards. We spent those days by exploring the Karak and getting to know where everything is. We also did some smithing, plus some maintenance on our weapons. Lastly is spent some time in the library of the Karak. The library of Karaz-a-Karak is huge and has many levels filed with ancient books and tomes. I could probably spend a hundred years here and still have many more books to read. As for my access level to the library, I paid a regular fee and now have access to the first two floors, over time I should be able to get access to higher floors. But for the top floors I will have to get permission from special people. That can be hard because if I want to access the top floor I will have to get the permission of the high king himself! But that is still way off and I still have more than enough to read on the lower floors so it is not really a problem. Right now I am at home with Vanyra, I am tinkering a bit with my rifle and Vanyra is forging a rune. As some time passes noon approves, we just keep doing our own thing until we hear some knocking on the door. As we are not expecting anyone we wonder who is could be so we walk to the door and open it. In front of the door stands a guild clerk with two scrolls in hand. Clerk: ¡°Good morning this is the accommodation of miss Vanyra and miss Michiko?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes I¡¯m Vanyra and this is Michiko¡± She says while pointing to herself and then me, the clerk nods and then hands over one scroll to each of us and says. Clerk: ¡°Congratulations on joining the guild and have a nice day¡± He says before leaving, we close the door and we go and sit down in the living room which I have begun taking over more or less. With designs hanging on the wall and a few prototypes and my rifle laying on the table we first make some room before sitting down at the table. We both open the seal on our scroll and roll it open and start to read. Dear miss Michiko I have been informed by Journeyman Runesmith Gottri that your examination was a susses. Therefore I wish to inform you that as of the date 05-05-1722 IC you have become an official member of the Runesmith Guild. This gives you limited access to guild resources. But I regret to inform you that I can only give you the title of Apprentice runesmith. I have been informed by mr.Gottri of your skill but as of now you do not have a master and so because of guild regulation we cannot give you the title of Journeyman. this is the result of that fact that you do not have a master to elevate you. It is guild regulation that only the master of the apprentice runesmith in question can elevate his or her status. As for the matter of finding a master that you informed me of the guild has been unsuccessful. I regret to inform you that there are currently no master runesmith looking for an apprentice. We do promise we will inform you the moment a master is available. Until that time I have decided to give you free access to guild lectures held by members. This will hopefully allow you to keep on advancing at least until a master can be found. I hope you will continue your pursuit of knowledge and keep improving your smithing. Sincerely Furgil, Runesmith guild hall leader Putting down the letter I take a look at Vanyra who also finishes quickly. Michiko: ¡°And? What does your letter say?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Probably the same as yours, admitted to the guild and we get some help from them but they have not found a master¡± She says to me and then looks at me to confirm what she thinks, I nod and she thinks a bit before speaking. Vanyra: ¡°well for now we can pursue our own goals, the guild said they have not yet found a master so they are still keeping an eye out. But until then we can find enough things to do on our own¡± I nod and then say Michiko: ¡°well I am interested in the guild lecture¡¯s and the library¡± Vanyra laughs Vanyra: ¡°of course you are, with so much time and so many books, you could not be happier, you bookworm¡± Michiko: ¡°anyway I will cook tonight to celebrate. We more or less already did but now its official¡± Vanyra: ¡®I¡¯m looking forward to it then¡± She says with a smile. Year: 16-05-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak Michiko POV. It¡¯s a few days after the letter from the runesmith guild arrived. Since then not much has changed in our daily life. I still go to the library a lot for books, make new designs and blueprints for some ideas I am looking into, I do some tinkering with my rifle and of course also a lot of smithing. The only thing that has changed is that we now can go to guild lectures and ask questions to some guild members. And we did, two days ago Vanyra and I went to a lecture at the guild. It was quite interesting since I heard about some new things I did not know yet. I also got to ask some questions I had for some time now which was very interesting. Speaking with some older runesmiths gave me some new insights and ideas. Their help means a lot since now when I am stuck on something that I do not understand or find difficult I can ask them, before when I was stuck on something I would always lose a lot of time for finding a solution or a workaround. Speaking with them really helps a lot and they also like doing it. They seem to like me but I do not really know why¡­ It¡¯s my age maybe? I asked Vanyra for the answer but she started to laugh and told me that I should find out by myself¡­.. ? Leaving that behind for now, today I am at home reading a book I borrowed from the library. It¡¯s about the human empire¡¯s history, it¡¯s quite interesting to read and find out more about the world. I know when I have time in the future I want to go and visit The Empire and many other places around the world. Putting down the book on my knees I take a look at a map that hang on the wall. (this map is actually from around 2500 IC, no maps available from 1700 IC, sorry) It¡¯s a map made out of the work of countless Humans and Dwarves alike. But even with all that work it probably is not totally accurate. Another thing is that the map does not show that area of our Karak. But still I like to look at it sometimes and try to imagine what the land looks like with the knowledge I have gathered so far. When I in the future have the chance to travel there myself it will be interesting to see how much of my mental image is actually correct. After staring at the map for some more time I hear a knock at the door, I close my book and then go open the door. When I arrive at the door I see that Vanyra already opened the door and I speaking with the dwarf that is standing in front of the door. The dwarf looks around a hundred years old and looks like a normal dwarf living in the karak. The only thing special I see about him is a medallion hanging on his chest. The medallion is made out of silver inlaid with an amethyst, I recognise this almost immediately because it is almost identical to the one Alrika has. The only difference is that it is made out of silver instead of gold. The medallion is also one of the symbols of the church of Valaya. Michiko ¡°What is it sis?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Ah Michiko, this man is a cleric of the church of Valaya. He told me that a letter arrived from Alrika and that in relation to that one of the priestesses would like to see you¡± I look at the man and he nods. Cleric: ¡°Yes, I have been send by her to escort you to the main church to talk if possible. I know this is a bit sudden and my superior told me that it can be done on another day if necessary but it would be best if you could come today¡± Michiko: ¡°I do not really have anything planned for today so I think I can come¡± I then look at Vanyra and ask with a gaze what she thinks. Vanyra: ¡°Can I come too? Or is this something only for Michiko?¡± The Cleric thinks for a bit and goes with his hand through his beard. Cleric: ¡°Well if you want to you can come but I think the priestess wanted to talk to Miss Michiko privately, so you probably can¡¯t but you can come with us to the main church and wait there¡± Vanyra and I exchange a glance and I nod. Vanyra: ¡°Well Michiko agreed so I don¡¯t mind, but I will be coming with her and if I cannot join the conversation I will just wait there until they are done. Please wait a bit and we will come¡± A while later we are on our way and walk through the lower karak in the direction of the elevator. While walking the streets I see many dwarves walking around, some alone others in groups. I see people enter and leave shops, going into smithy¡¯s and delivering messages or items. Many dwarves are working and many apprentice runesmiths are running errands for their masters. Because of this the central area where most thing are located is now quite busy. Along with the shops, many houses, smithy¡¯s and forges the central is also the location of the central elevator that you can ride for a fee entirely to the top floor. We are now also going for one of those elevators which is necessary right now since while we can take the staircase up it would take too long right now. Stepping inside of the elevator building, the Cleric pays the small fee for the three of us. We then step into the elevator itself, the doors close with a clang, the elevator activates and goes upward. The ¡°walls¡± of the elevator are made of thin rectangular bars bent into patterns but still seem very strong. As we go upwards we can see through the bars and because of that we see the different level of the karak go by. There are some levels where ore is being excavated, some levels with housing and also some levels with fabrication. But most of these levels are largely sealed off and there is most of the time no dwarf in sight on those levels with the exception of regular patrols of Ironbreakers. The levels have been sealed because of multiple reasons. But the two most important of reasons are. One the fact that with its massively lower population than in the golden age many of the levels are just not necessary and using them would mean a very high cost to maintain them. The second and probably most important reason is that a part of those levels have been infested by Skaven. Even in the capital of the dwarven empire the Skaven have created a foothold. Many kings have tried to drive them out but every time they have been unsuccessful. This is mostly because of their gigantic reproductive rate, The Skaven most of the time have a litter of around five rats every time. because of this they have an almost inexhaustible number of ¡°men¡± to throw into the fight. The dwarfs just don¡¯t have the numbers to effectively fight them, one dwarven formation may stop five or more Skaven formations, but if it gets destroyed the dwarves will still be at a disadvantage. Another thing is that the Skaven seem to have strange beasts, many diseases, unreliable but deadly weapons and also many assassins. After thinking about it like this it is almost a miracle they did not kill us already. But the reason for that is most likely that they are the most honourless, conniving, backstabbing, unreliable, paranoid, disloyal, dishonest bastards. They gladly stab another Skaven in the back if it helps them in some way, big or small. Still I only got this information from some books and by asking some older dwarves. And I can easily see why the dwarves hate the Skaven to death. They are more or less the exact opposite so it is not that hard to see why, plus the fact that they have tried to and have killed many dwarves also does not help their reputation. As for why they have not just broken apart in internal struggles? Well most likely only they know it entirely. But scholars think it is fear of something, what? We do not know but something that can keep the Skaven ¡°in line¡± must be truly fearsome. While I have been thinking we have reached our destination so I end my train of thought. Enough of the Skaven for now, I should focus on the visit to the temple. We get out of the elevator and have arrived in one of the higher levels of the karak. This is the level where the temple of Valaya is situated. Walking the path toward the building Vanyra and I talk a bit about what we think they want to talk about. We both think it is about the blessing since Alrika sent the letter. but it is unlikely that many people know about it right now or the cleric would probably have asked about it. We arrive at the temple complex and walk through the gate past some guards. When we arrive at the other side of the gate we find ourselves at a large circular plaza. Looking around I can see the front of many buildings that have been carved out of the rock. On the plaza itself there are many people walking around, coming to take a look, working, or on their way to the church building. The front of the church building has many sculptures and very few windows. The sculptures look like guardians, fully armoured and with axes, sword, hammers and spears. They strike a powerful image as they stand there, eternally guarding the temple of their goddess. Other than the statues the temple face has huge columns of stone and other kind of delicate artwork. In the middle of the temple face there is a massive double metal door, on the door itself there is a delicate engraving. In the middle there is the shield with the rune ¡°Ancestor Queen¡± this is the symbol of Valaya and it is placed on a background of a mountain. Going inside the Cleric asks us to wait a bit in the church while he goes to get the priestess. He then walks off and we look around in the church. Looking around I am amazed at what I see, many wooden benches for people to sit that are decorated with artwork. On both of the sides there are long frescoes running like a band along the wall. On the left side it shows how Valaya founded many Karaks and how she largely establish dwarven culture. On the right side it shows how Valaya fought and defended her children and brethren. Looking along the frescoes I see that on both sides of the altar stands a massive statue of Valaya. On the left she stand un-armoured with a baby close to her chest in one arm and a tankard of ale in the other, holding it up in the air. On the right side she stand clad in chainmail, with a shield in one hand and her rune-axe Kradskonti. Taking a closer look at many things I can see a massive number of gold, silver amethysts, diamonds, other crystals and even some Gromril. The amount of jewels and precious metals and crystals simply makes me speechless. ???: ¡°Haha Michiko your mouth is hanging open¡± I immediately snap my mouth closed and look around me but then I realize it was Valaya. She is flying around me as a ball of magical energy, looking at ¡°her¡± I see more energy than I have ever seen in any other of her shrines/temples. Michiko: ¡°Hallo Valaya¡± I say to her in my mind. Valaya: ¡°It has been a while since we last spoke, you have been traveling for a long time and while I can more or less see what you do I still can¡¯t speak to you without you being in my temple regrettably. Still you could have come a bit earlier you have been in Karaz-a-Karak for some weeks now¡± I scratch the back om my head and say. Michiko: ¡°Sorry, I have been, well¡­¡± I do no really know what to say, but then feel some warmth as Valaya smiles. Valaya: ¡°I know, I know, I was just teasing you a bit, with all the new things you forgot, I don¡¯t mind¡­ As long as you will come visit me every week or so again from now on, I¡¯m missing our talks together¡± I smile and answer. Michiko: ¡°Sure, I will come soon again¡± I have been missing my talks with Valaya too, as she I more or less the only one I can speak to without hiding anything. On top of that she is more or less the only one who understands me when I talk about things out of my past life. Valaya: ¡°Hey Michiko another thing, Grungni came by and I told him about the daemon you killed and he wanted to congratulate you and I want to do the same. Taking care of a daemon like that before it possesses someone is quite impressive. If it had possessed the young boy, the boy would have most likely died or have eventually killed a lot of people. If the boy would have lived purifying him would have been very hard¡± I nod as I think, I really got lucky then, to be able to kill the daemon just when it was weakest, and materializing. Valaya: ¡°but I also have a question Michiko, how where you able to harm it without using rune or magic? Most daemon slayers rely on the power of their gods or some sort of magic to kill daemons. But as far as I know you did not use any of those¡± Michiko: ¡°Um¡­ I do not really know for sure as I was just following my instincts, but I think it has something to do with the refined chaos energy in my claws. Using my claws I then, well not really sliced but¡­ um, the best way to describe it would probably be, that my claw absorbed its way through the daemon. As the refined chaos energy came into contact with the daemon something happened that made the energy of it be absorbed into my body to my core where it was refined. It is more or less the same as when I am meditating in the morning. I absorb the natural chaos energy and then refine it, but this seems a bit different but I do not really know any more information right now¡± Valaya: ¡°Hmm, that seems interesting, well since you do not know any more right now and I do not understand it either let¡¯s just leave it for now, at least until you know a bit more. But anyway, it seems like the cleric has returned with one of my priestesses so let¡¯s end it here for now. I hope you will come again soon¡± I smile and say: Michiko: ¡°I will¡± I then walk toward the Priestess, the Priestess wears a purple robe with a golden trim around the edges. She also wears a medallion but hers is golden but I still has a amethyst in the middle of it. I arrive at the priestess and as I do the Cleric does a shallow bow to the priestess before leaving. Shortly after that Vanyra arrives and the priestess turns toward us. Priestess: ¡°So you two must be Michiko and Vanyra, hmm I was originally only expecting Michiko but I hear that miss Vanyra wants to join?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes, I know only Michiko was invited but I would still like to come with her¡± The priestess nods and says Priestess: ¡°That is alright, but you have to know I am not the one who wants to speak with you, I am just here to lead you there, so please follow me¡± We do not really know what to do so we just follow her through a door in that back of the church. We then walk some time in a clean hallway before we arrive at a large decorated door. The priestess knocks and after a few seconds we hear a powerful female voice ???: ¡°Come in¡± The priestess opens the door and lets us enter and we see a woman standing by a desk with her back towards us. She is dressed in a purple robe with golden edges and has a golden staff inlayed with amethysts in her hand as she looks over some documents. Priestess: ¡°Matriarch, miss Michiko and Vanyra have arrived¡± When I hear the title matriarch said by this priest I am shocked as in the church of Valaya this can only mean one thing. That means she is the leader of the church, the female pope! But it does not end with that because a the matriarch turns around we are shocked again as the person who stand in front of us is Alrika!!! Alrika: ¡°Ah, welcome I was expecting you¡± She says with a smile but then Vanyra shouts. Vanyra: ¡°Alrika! But how you should be in Karak Drakk!¡± The priestess frowns but Alrika begins the laughing. Alrika.. hmm¡­ no this is not Alrika this is someone else and I whisper to Vanyra. Michiko: ¡°That is not Alrika¡± Vanyra: ¡°Not Alrika? How do you know?¡± Michiko: ¡°Her scent is different¡± Vanyra: ¡°you can tell by smell?¡± I nod and the woman has begun to calm down her laughing spree and I ask. Michiko: ¡°Umm.. I know you are not Alrika but¡­?¡± I do not know how to continue but she begins to speak. ???(not-Alrika): ¡°Haha, I have not laughed that hard in a long time¡± She says while wiping some away some tears from around her eye. ???: ¡°you can leave Helgar I will take it from here¡± Helgar(Priestess) does a shallow bow towards the matriarch gives a glance at Vanyra before walking to the door and closing it behind her. ???: ¡°Well I will first introduce myself then, I am Askima, matriarch(pope) of Valaya, Alrika is my twin sister¡± Vanyra: ¡°Oh so that¡¯s why you look the same¡± Askima: ¡°Yes, well please sit down on the couch so we can talk¡± She then walks to the other side of her office and sits down on one of the couches and motions for us to sit on the other one. We sit down and she then begins to talk. Askima: ¡°Well like you probably already have heard, a few days ago I go a letter from my sister about you, Michiko. It told about what she had been doing the last few years, I was kind of pleasantly surprised when I read that she settled down. Because until now she had been traveling all over the dwarven empire which always had me a bit worried about her. But further in the letter she told me about you and also about your blessing¡± I become a bit worried and try to interject, but before I can say anything she says. Askima: ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I know what you¡¯re thinking, I did not tell anyone. My sister already said in her letter that you would like to keep it a secret¡± Michiko: ¡°Thank you, matriarch¡± Askima smiles and says. Askima: ¡°Please, call me Askima. And don¡¯t worry, if you want to keep it a secret that¡¯s fine, on top of that my sister asked me to treat you well as a personal favour and I would be a bad sister if I did not listen to her request. Now I am quite excited about your blessing, so can you please show it to me?¡± Hearing what she said I calm down and hold up my right hand and activate the blessing. When I do that a shield and the rune Ancestor Queen appears, giving a calming aura and a soft purple glow. Askima then reaches out and softly holds my hand, she then focuses on the symbol for a while. Sometime later she smiles and softly says. Askima: ¡°The goddess must really love you, I can feel her aura of warmth and care emanating from you and your blessing¡± I smile as what she says and she does so to. She lets go of my hand and I pull it back as I deactivate the blessing. She sits down and leans backward on the couch. Askima: ¡°Well if I may ask Michiko, did the goddess say anything to you?¡± Michiko: ¡°Sorry but no, I have not spoken with her, or really seen her since I got my blessing as a child, I can however sometimes feel her¡± I say sadly, while giving a small lie. Askima: ¡°That¡¯s a pity, however don¡¯t mind it, I can¡¯t really speak to her either, I can only vaguely feel her guidance sometimes, but other than that I can¡¯t feel her at all. (sigh) well we will just continue following her, but that is not wrong either, if in the future you have the opportunity to speak with the goddess then please tell me okay¡± She says with a bit of a disappointed smile. Askima: ¡°If I may ask another question, do you know why the goddess gave you the blessing?¡± Michiko: ¡°Well¡­. yes¡­.. ¡± Seeing my difficulty with finding what to say, Vanyra gets up and interjects into our conversation and says in a serious tone. Vanyra: ¡°Miss Askima, we do have an idea but it is something that, at least for now, must remain a secret. If Michiko wants to show it to you I won¡¯t stop her but before that you must swear to keep the secret¡± Askima has a thinking frown on her face for a bit before saying Askima: ¡°The letter of my sister already said that you have something else I may ask about, but she also told me that I may not force you on top of that she also said the same as you did Vanyra¡­¡­ Well I do not really see a problem so, hereby I Askima swear on my honor as a dwarf and on my office as matriarch of my goddess, that I will keep this secret until told otherwise or my grave¡± Vanyra nods and sits down again. Michiko: ¡°Okay I will show you¡­ just.. don¡¯t freak out okay¡± I look at her and she nods, I get up and go stand in a bit of an open space and begin my transformation in my dragon with the size of about a meter high. As I transform I get lower and stand on my four limbs. While I transform Askima stays calm but her expression shows her surprise. When I am done transforming I crawl out of my cloak and slowly approach Askima stopping at about a meter distance. Looking up at her she snaps out of it and regains her composure. Askima: ¡°A Dragon?... you¡¯re a Dragon..... now I get why the goddess and my sister are so interested in you¡± Seeing her reaction, I say in a soft but draconic voice. Michiko: ¡°Yes¡± After that Vanyra and I begin to explain about how my mother found my egg and what has roughly happened since. During the conversation she got to touch my scales and wings. Later I got back in my cloak and also showed her my half draconic form which surprised her again. She was in the end very accepting and interested which made me happy. A load fell of me as I was scared that she would be scared, disgusted or angry when I transformed. I was scared that her reaction would be the same as some of the dwarves that I showed my form for the first time when we were trying to find new dwarves to join us in the Karak. But all of that did not happened and we had a long and fun conversation. As we talked she showed many expressions as the ¡°story¡± went on. As we talked time passed quickly and it soon became evening. We then more or less had to stop and say goodbye, but as we did we also promised to come by again. After that we left for home and bed. Year: 29-05-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak Michiko POV. A few weeks have passed since our talk with Askima, in those weeks I have done more or less the same as before, visiting lectures, the library and the temple to talk with Valaya. Of course I also did smithing, designing and other things. One of those things was trying to find my way into the sealed levels of the karak undetected. I have been wanting to find out some more things about the Skaven. As now all my knowledge about them is second hand and I want to find out some more. Knowing more about them in the future when I am in a dangerous situation with them could save lives. As for getting into the sealed levels, while searching I found very few point where someone can enter (or exit) the sealed levels. And almost all are heavily guarded or sealed. The dwarves have made sure that no Skaven can get from the sealed levels into the karak. But after searching for weeks and even using my Aethyric(magical) Senses I only found six tunnels all leading to different levels. But even those where sealed, but the sealing on these six is different from the other seals. After taking a closer look to one of the sealed tunnels I discovered that there is an intricate locking mechanism. After tinkering around for about an hour or so I was able to open it without breaking the mechanism or activating the safeguards. But this was only because of my sensitive senses. Without my Aethyric senses to detect the metal mechanism inside and my precise hearing it would have been almost impossible. Opening the seal the camouflaged door opened, on the other side of the door I closed it again with the same mechanism and then walked on. The exit of the tunnel was in the basement of a old building and well camouflaged. This all leads me to believe that this tunnel is used by the dwarves to secretly get information on the Skaven movement. After having checked it out I quickly returned through the tunnel and heading home. When I arrived home I told Vanyra about my plans to go explore the sealed sections. Initially she was against it but after insisting, explaining my reasons and promising to be careful. She gave up as she saw I would not change my mind, after that I started preparing some things. Like my daggers and some belts that I can strap to my paw/feet so I can take them with me in dragon form. Besides that I prepared food and some cloaks that can get damaged without it being a problem. And today I am ready, it¡¯s now late in the evening (not that that really matters underground) and there are only a few dwarves outside. Having put on one of the cloaks, strapped the daggers to my leg and the rest of the items in a bag I am ready to go. Walking outside Vanyra tells me for one last time to be careful and then I leave for the secret tunnel. Walking around i only see a few dwarves and also a few dwarven guards every now and then. I walk toward one of the large staircases that go upward toward the other levels. Walking the stairs I see no dwarves and my way upward is very quiet, but later even here there are still a few guards patrolling. Arriving at the hidden entrance of the tunnel I make sure no one is nearby and then slip inside. Arriving at the hidden door which makes it look like a dead end it activate the secret mechanism and when the door opens I go inside closing it behind me. Once again arriving in the basement. Since going in the tunnel I have started to use a rudimentary form of echolocation in combination with Aethyric senses to ¡°see¡±. This is for now the only way to see in total darkness, because without any light at all no matter how good your night vision is it won¡¯t help. And while I could use a lighting crystal that would mean there is a high chance I am seen and perhaps ambushed. I then transform to my dragon form and begin to walk very quietly walking out of the basement. Walking into the house I ¡°see¡± that there is not much left here, almost everything was taken by the dwarves before they sealed of the area. And everything of value that was left behind was soon taken by Skaven. Now I can only see some ancient stone and wooden furniture. I leave the house and outside I see I am in a residential area not unlike the one Vanyra and I are living in. But without the people a place like this¡­ seems like a tomb. Abandoned houses that have been standing there since ancient time, having been abandoned long ago ever waiting to be lived in again. But knowing the current state of the dwarves and their low numbers it is unlikely that will happen, not within the next millennia maybe never at all. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Still this place will exist far in the future and whether dwarves will return to this place or not. This place itself will continue to exist long in the future maybe forgotten to be rediscovered in the future yet again. Deciding I have pondered long enough I start to smell the air, trying to find any life, but the only thing I smell is a dry stale air with only a very vague smell which most likely came from a dwarven patrol which came through here around a month ago. I think about the maps of the karak I have studied in the library and then start of in the direction where the Skaven most likely are. Running silently for about twenty minutes I begin to smell a scent that is not too distinct from rats. Coming closer I enter an area with a few warehouses, this area has been marked on the map as infested with Skaven. One of the smaller Skaven tunnels connect to this place. There are many tunnels like these and they are normally guarded by low ranked Skaven and some clan rats. Both of which are not much of a threat but it is their numbers and the fact that they can call in an almost endless flood of reinforcements if attacked. That is also the reason why it is so hard to take out these tunnels. If the dwarves come with a squad of Ironbreakers, on the moment they are spotted a runner is sent down the tunnel to warn the rest. While the Ironbreakers are held up many Skaven are already coming to reinforce. Even if the Ironbreakers can navigate the Skaven numbers by fighting in a tight space it will still be difficult to push them back into the tunnel. Once they have managed that they destroy the tunnel which will keep out the Skaven. For a while at least because if you cannot hold the area the Skaven will most likely just break through again given time. so if I want to do this right I will have to think of something. Coming close to their camp I begin to hear screeching, listening for a bit i hear certain partners in the noise. This is their language, the dwarves call it Queekish (and some other less nice names), it is mainly a lot of screeching, ¡°spoken¡± very quickly. Knowing I am close, I become totally silent, in the distance I see dim lights, there are a few dwarven crystals but there is also some lamps that give a sinister green glow. Then I see them, Three Skaven around the size of a human standing around a light, they have brown fine, thick fur and a naked rat like tail. Something that I notice almost immediately is that they all look malnourished, they look like they do not get enough to eat. They are talking in their screeching language while standing in a hunched posture, I start to listen to find out more about their language. While they are talking one begins to sniff the air the other ones look at him for a bit before they begin to smell as well. I become tense and hope they have not smelled me, but a while later it seems they have not found me. They look around into the dark but in the total darkness they can¡¯t see anything. They then give up and continue talking, when they do so I feel relieved. I do not know if it was me they smelled or something else but I do not want to take chances so I retreat for a bit. After some thinking I think the chance was high that they smelled the contents of my bag rather than me. I stuff away my bag in a safe place and then return to the three Skaven. When I arrive they are still talking and I start to listen again, but soon after I have arrived they finish talking and start to walk, taking the light with them. Not really knowing what they are going to do I decide to follow them while staying in the darkness. While I walk I keep make sure to ¡°watch¡± my surroundings using echolocation and Aethyric senses. After about five minutes I see another Skaven in the distance, he looks about the same as the other Skaven but when I get close enough I see that he is wounded. The group of three Skaven seem to have found what they were looking for and start to approach the wounded Skaven. I wonder what is going to happen, am I going to see a never seen before moment of Skaven kindness? Not very likely¡­. As the group of Skaven come close to the wounded Skaven he tries to run away. But the group of Skaven draw their daggers and he is soon surrounded by the three Skaven and driven into a corner. The cornered Skaven begins to screech very loudly and very ¡°dangerously¡±, making himself seem powerful. It is also around then that I begin to smell something strange and a few seconds later I realize what it is, pheromones! I have never read anything about that, but it seems logical since dwarves or even some rare human scholars do not have a nose that is sensitive enough by a long shot. The pheromones are coming from all four Skaven, but the most are coming from the cornered Skaven. I do not entirely know what these pheromones mean but is seems they are related to emotions and stress. While I cannot come with a concrete conclusion at the moment, I can by looking at the situation make a guess. But I then stop my thinking and focus on the Skaven again, they have started to move. Then in almost an instance it happens, first one of the three Skaven throws a stone that he had been hiding behind his back. The cornered Skaven is surprised and tries to duck. But as he does, the other two Skaven shoot forward with their daggers. One goes for the head the other the heart. As it happens the cornered Skaven reacts by stabbing his dagger forward toward one of the three other Skaven. The daggers of the two attacking Skaven both stab into the cornered shaven, who shrieks and then a few seconds later¡­. Dies. But that is not all because while the cornered Skaven has died, as in a last act of revenge his attack has stabbed into the stomach of one of the attackers. As the now wounded attacker stumbles back while looking at the dagger imbedded in his stomach, the other two Skaven exchange a glance. They then pounce at their former ally, killing him almost instantly and he too dies with one final horrid shriek. The two remaining Skaven then look at each other, seizing the other up, trying to look if there is a chance of taking all the spoils for themselves. For a moment there is a tense silence but then they both decide against it. keeping an eye on each other they ¡°talk¡± a bit before each taking one of the body¡¯s and separating. As they begin to drag away their share I follow one of them very carefully. The Skaven now seems very tense and alert, warry of his surroundings. After a while he is far away from any other Skaven and seem to calm down a bit but he still goes on very carefully. Sometime later he arrives at a dwarven house, looks around for one last time and walks inside, closing what is left of the door behind him. I carefully walk up sneak up towards the door and look inside through the cracks. While the Skaven thinks he is safe he gives an evil, accomplished and somewhat egotistical smile. He then opens his mouth full of yellowed sharp teeth and starts to eat the dead Skaven. I already thought this would happen, with the huge amounts of Skaven most are malnourished and even in the books about Skaven it is said that cannibalism among the Skaven is very common. Having seen enough I think a bit and decide what to do. A minute or two later I ready myself and tense up ready to pounce forward. And then JUMP. With that I break through the half-broken door and I am inside going forward toward the Skaven with a sprint. the Skaven that was disturbed during his feeding quickly draws his dagger. But as he turns around and sees me he becomes frozen in fear and in the moment I arrive, I bite his head off rusted iron helmet and all. His headless body loses all tension and falls onto the ground like a puppet with his strings cut. Before I can spit out the head in my mouth I swallow it by instinct. It leaves a strange taste in my mouth, it tastes a bit like raw pork but it also has a strange oily feel which probably comes from the oil the Skaven secrete to keep their fur water tight. After eating the head I do not really feel disgusted or anything, these Skaven as they are like now are not anything better than animals. It is food, and wasting fresh meat like this would be wasteful. After convincing myself I am not wrong eating Skaven and my instinct is telling me to eat as well I just follow it. But this time I roast the headless Skaven before eating, a few minutes later it is ready and I eat it up in large bites. I eat it without caring about the leather and rusty metal armor pieces at all. My digestion has long since become capable of handling or digesting most metals or even stone. I thought it would be handy since in stories there are dragons who are full of swords of the enemies they have eaten and I do not like that. Well digestion aside the Skaven tasted quite good and after roasting the oil was gone. Having finished my meal I transform to my half dragon form and look around. There is a table with the other dead Skaven still laying on it, There is a small pile of bones in the corner and some low quality armor and weapons. There is also a bit of furniture but it is not much. Taking a bit of a closer look at the Skaven on the table I see a burn mark on him that is formed into sinister ¡°rune¡¯s¡±, these ¡°rune¡¯s¡± are Skaven writing and I can¡¯t read it but I do understand one of the runes as it was written down in the dwarven library. It is the rune for slave¡­ There are many slaves in the Skaven ¡°society¡± and while not much is known about the slaves, scholars think that most of them are born into slavery, or have been taken prisoner in clan warfare. There are also a few slaves that have been taken from other species but those do not live very long. Still slaves or not, a Skaven slave is just as devious as any other Skaven. Ending my line of thought I look around the room once more and use my Aethyric(magical) Senses just in case something special is hidden away. And to my surprise I found something, two object with the same kind of energy as the daemon I killed in the human village. I immediately become tense and alert, but after scanning the two objects for a second time I discover that they do not have a consciousness. I pick up the nearest object which is one of the green glowing lanterns opening it I can see a tiny sliver of what seems to be warpstone! I was already thinking about it before, Demons are Chaos energy with a consciousness, and chaos energy can be in two know forms solid as warpstone or as raw energy. The sliver of warpstone is very tiny and on top of the sliver burns a small green flame. But the smallness of the flame did not fool me as I know what this is it is warpfire, a flame that is fuelled by the energies of the warp itself and as long as it has fuel it will burn and there is no substance I know that can extinguish it. As I am thinking this I am sending some refined chaos energy toward the warpfire and the sliver of warpstone. And when it makes contact the fire goes out¡­.. Warpfire¡­. Um.. never mind¡­. Moving on, as the refined chaos energy comes into contact with the warpstone it creates a strange reaction. The sliver of warpstone begins to change from the green and black colour to something else. It seems like the two kinds of energy¡¯s are fighting, as the silver like refined chaos energy pushes into the warpstone sliver the normal chaos energy is cycled through me and after refining is returned to the warpstone, changing it over time. I feel like I can interrupt this flow back and from the stone if I want to and then absorb the energy myself. but because I am so fascinated I just let it work on its own as I observe. Sometime later the warpstone sliver has changed from green and black made from raw chaos energy to a silver coloured ¡°warpstone¡± made out of my refined energy. This is really strange and fascinating! As I think about the many things I want to test and try out I begin to smile like a kid that just found a new toy to play with. Remembering the bigger piece of warpstone I sensed earlier I want to put away the small piece for now. But because I am only covered in scales right now and I do not have clothes, let alone pockets right now, I think for a bit and then walk to one of the pieces of leather armor and convert it into a makeshift leather bag I bind around my leg. When I am done I walk toward the place I sensed the second piece of warpstone earlier. When I see the spot where the warpstone piece is hidden I see that it was placed under a loose tile to hide it. I lift the tile and see a small dwarven box, when I open the box I find a coin shaped piece of warpstone inside. The coin is a lot bigger than the sliver of warpstone I found in the lamp as the sliver was less than a millimetre thick and not very large. But the coin is around two centimetre in diameter and three millimetre thick and made of a more pure piece of warpstone than the lamp sliver. This must be a warptoken I think while flipping the coin around in my hand. It is the currency used by the Skaven and is actually quite dangerous. Since it is warpstone it is raw chaos energy and the energy normally causes mutation or death over time. but I also seems that Skaven are a species that is quite resistant to its powers. Strangely enough I get the urge to eat it¡­ I do not know why but my instinct is telling to do it. Being interested and knowing that I can fight against it using my own energy, I bite off a small piece and swallow it, my instinct has not failed me before so I am just trusting it for now. To my surprise the small piece of warpstone starts to shrink within my stomach as energy is syphoned and drawn towards my core where it is refined and absorbed. Thinking about it this seems very good, I may not be able to use the huge amount of refined chaos energy entirely to strengthen my body because if I did I would just break myself. But I can use I in a certain project I have been thinking of¡­.. I eat the rest of the warptoken and refine it before going toward the dead Skaven still lying on the table. I could dissect him but he is already damaged and I ate the other one so dissecting one now would not be possible unless I hunt another Skaven¡­ Well I does not really matter right now I think that in the next few days I will have more than enough opportunities to do so. After I dissect a few of them I should be able to understand them well enough to transform in one, that should be very useful in the future. After that I look around the room some more, but soon transform into my dragon form, roast and eat the Skaven and then go outside. Looking around a bit then walk up silently leaving the house behind me to find a good place to stay for the next few days. Year: 07-06-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak (sealed levels) Michiko POV. It has been ten days since I arrived at this small Skaven outpost. The last few days I have been busy, after leaving the small dwarven house I found a high building that was a bit away from the main Skaven area. Because the staircase seemed to have collapsed under heavy fighting, It was the perfect spot for me because there was no possibility that a random Skaven would just walk up into my room and because I can just climb up the side I have no problems. On the second day I killed a few more Skaven, and brought their body¡¯s to my room. Then is started to do the gruesome job of dissecting them. While I am recollecting that day I pick up one of the parchment with my findings written down on it: Appearance: Skaven have a rat like appearance but if one were to compare a large sewer rat to a Skaven it would be like a cute bunny. This is because the Skaven are as large as a human and have long sharp claws on their four appendages. They walk on two legs but it is different from both human, elf and dwarf as they walk on the ball of their ¡°foot¡±. While they stand they are most of the time in a hunched position which is probably a habit formed by the running through low tunnels. They are covered in fur from head to toe with the exception of their eyes, genitalia, inside of their ears and a long naked tail. I have found multiple Skaven who have attached sharp object to their tail and seen them use it at a weapon before, but some tests with the tail also show that it is very flexible and can be used as an extra appendage in necessary. I have seen multiple Skaven hold things like a lantern with it to keep their hands free. As for their head, it seems very similar to a rat. They have a large snout with long whiskers underneath, large jaws filled with sharp teeth made for piercing and four fangs for holding on or ripping the flesh off their prey. Lastly they have large pointed ears that seem to be very effective. Skin and Claws: The skin is not very thick but very tough and on all subjects covered in many scars mostly made by Skaven claws. Their fur is a thick layer of fine hair that is coated with a thin layer of oil which makes it very good for insulation from cold and water. The oil is secreted by a series of glands located along the back of the neck, the armpits, genitalia and at the base of the tail. In the time I have been here I have seen multiple Skaven use their paws and tongue to spread the oil around the body. These glands are also used to for the secretion of the pheromones Skaven use for expressing their emotions. For example, In the past few days when I have confronted a Skaven just before killing him, I start to smell one of the kinds of pheromones, I think it is safe to assume that this type of pheromones mean fear. Other than that I have smelled other types of pheromones while observing Skaven interactions that probably mean, anger, jealousy, happiness and some other ones I cannot quite place jet. As for their claws I have found a different kind of glands around their claws, which seem to be used to secrete a kind of poison which is quite harmful to those with no resistance to it. Muscles and Bones: The muscles and bones of a Skaven allows it to walk upright although in a arched position. The hind legs of a Skaven are also very powerful. This in combination with their tail lets them lean forward without tipping over. This enables them to pounce Rapidly at their enemy proceeding to attack with weapons, sharp claws or fearsome teeth. Besides pouncing their structure also shows that they have the ability to rapidly climb. But their build also shows a limited range of movement and it seems that they cannot move their body in certain positions. On top of that their physical strength seems to be lower that a normal human and a lot lower than that of a dwarf. But this is compensated by their agility and speed. One last thing about their bones, I have discovered that one of the reasons for their speed and agility is that their skeletal structure is very light. Their bones seem to be partially hollow but also quite flexible which makes sure they do not break that easily. Internal Organs: There are quite a few strange organs I have not seen before in any creature and these require more research before I know what they do. But for a few of them I think that they have to do with the production of pheromones and natural poisons but I cannot say for sure right now. One thing I did find out while looking at their organs is that it seems that Skaven have a small stomach and a very fast metabolism and heartrate. Which explains why I have seen the higher level Skaven (that do not have many food problems) eat for around five times a day. This amounts to a huge amount of food and it says something about Skaven infrastructure. The next few days I have mostly spent observing the Skaven and how they react to certain circumstances. But while doing this I have also been devising a plan to well¡­ exterminate them. This is very drastic but with these kinds of creatures, in this kind of situation I do not really see another option. But killing them all while making sure none gets away to get help or tell other Skaven of my existence will be hard. Not to mention that I will most likely have a lot of difficulty or even lose while fight a large number of them working together. But that is just it if I can make sure they do not work together or even start killing each other it will be a lot more feasible. On top of that I will most likely not have to reveal myself until the end. By deciding on that course of action I have scanned the entire area for tunnels which they can use to enter or exit the cave. In the end I found that there are four tunnels, of those tunnels one is the Skaven tunnel, another one is the main dwarven tunnel and lastly there are two smaller dwarven tunnels. The main dwarven tunnel was most likely the busiest in the time that the dwarves lived here as it leads to a central area with a long since destroyed elevator. The Skaven tunnel is used for transporting food, messages and men so is used quite often. But state of the tunnel is one that would make any dwarf cringe at seeing it. Not only is it dangerous to walk in with the uneven floor and sharp rocks sticking out of the wall. It also is prone to collapse and that is something no dwarf can accept. About the two smaller dwarven tunnels. One of them has collapsed, most likely deliberately to stop or crush advancing enemies. The other one is still open and is being used by the Skaven, although rarely. After I collected that information, I used some magic to make the Skaven tunnel cave in. I did this very carefully after observing the tunnel and the rock it leads through, making it collapse at an already weak point. I then retreated and observed their next course of action. When they discovered that the tunnel had collapsed the higher rank Skaven were irritated but did not care too much. Like I predicted they just sent some Skaven slaves into the tunnel to clear it out. I already thought that this would happen seeing the state of the tunnel it was obvious it was going to collapse some day in the future. The clearing of the tunnel would give me a few days to prepare the next part of the plan. But as I was preparing the next few days after I collapsed the tunnel I noticed that many of the Skaven slaves were beginning to get hungry. With the tunnel collapsed they could not bring supplies which means no food. The result of this was that with the shortage of food many of the slaves started fighting more frequently and cannibalism begun lowering their numbers more quickly. The higher rank Skaven at first did not really care as they had reserves of food stored up for their own use. Well that was until someone¡­ stole most their food, after that the clan rats and their masters started to eat the slaves too. This resulted in some minor fights of individual rats that resisted being slaughtered. In the end a few of the clan rats died, but at the side of the slaves their number was lowered to about a quarter of their original number. With no food and the slaves running out the master made the slaves that were digging the tunnel hurry along. But such speed makes shoddy work and with a little nudge of magic CRACK, SPLAT, the slaves were crushed and they had to start over from the starting point again. This made the master enrage and he slaughtered many slaves to calm down before eating them. After that he called some of his subordinates and send a messenger and some guards, most likely to another tunnel nearby. But I was expecting this and intercepted the small group and killed/ate them, getting a sample of Skaven writing as a secondary price. But now I knew I would have to act within the next day as if the messenger did not return they would probably become suspicious. But I was already prepared a few days ago, I was only waiting to let them kill each other for a bit longer. With that I waited a bit longer until most of them were sleeping and then snuck into the armoury. Inside I laid a quite simple but effective trap that would activate when the door was opened. After that I went back out again an retreated to the main dwarven tunnel. There I transformed to my dragon form with the height of about five meters high. When I was done transforming I blasted some fire to a line of dry wood, as the fire began to burn high the entire tunnel was blocked. I retreated behind the wall of fire and waited. And sure enough a minute or so later I began hearing sounds of alarm and the night guard already started to gather some distance from the wall of fire and as they did I heard a loud bang coming from the area where the armoury is. Taking that as my cue I walk forward through the flames while they flicker around me and shine with a red glow on me. While still in the flames I open my mouth and roar. The roar resounded through the cave filling it with a deafening sound. A musk smell of fear filled the air, as they saw my demonic appearance it became too much for them, as the clan rats saw no reinforcement in sight and with the hunger of the past few days most of them routed. With that I came forward slashing with my claws at the ones that were still standing there frozen before going after the running rats. While they ran some threw the slower ones behind them into my path in an attempt to distract me from themselves. Those rats thrown in my path tried to defend themselves but it does not have much of an effect as I trample over them, killing them instantly. One of the rats thrown at me stand up before I reach him and as he does he is right in front of my head, so I open my mouth and more or less eat him in one bite. This puts even greater fear in those who are running from me. But as the chase continuous I see where we are going, we are going in the direction of the barracks and house of their master. As we arrive I see some clan rats standing in a sloppy formation holding mostly broken spears or other weapon. Some of them are already bleeding and holding their wounds. As I storm up the small plaza I roar once again and then release a fire breath on the small force of clan rats. As the rats I was chasing ran past them and in one attack ten of their men were roasted they broke immediately. Seeing this the black furred Skaven who is their master screams, trying to make them hold but it has no effect and a few seconds later he begins running too. Once again the chase is on and this time the amount of rats in front of me are more than a hundred. Far more than I can take on in a straight up fight but I keep chasing them as the main point of my plan arrives. As I predicted they are running into the only escape route they have left, the smaller dwarven tunnel! As they do I hold before the tunnel that is too small for my current form and the rats rejoice but still run on. Bu their joy is short lived as a few seconds later a series of small explosion is trigged all along the tunnel. I shrink myself a bit and take a look in the tunnel and see that all but a few died in the initial explosion of my improvised explosive. The few left are heavily wounded and have shrapnel imbedded into their body¡¯s. It is a gruesome sight but I cannot honestly say I regret it, these Skaven had to die. Still I do not want them to suffer any more than necessary so I end their lives quickly and painlessly. As I arrive at the last of the still living Skaven in the tunnel I see it is the black furred master and he sneers with hatred and I can smell it coming from him. But it is also mixed with fear, I raise my claw and point my finger forward before pressing it down and punching his heart. He moves for just a bit but then the light fades from his eyes. I calmly walk out of the tunnel and begin to look for any Skaven that might have hidden in the area. I calmly continue, I do not regret what I have done and will not say that I would not do it again as that would make me a hypocrite. I would do it again and will probably do it many times in the future. Still I offer a silent prayer for those I have killed and hope that they will reincarnate to live a better and happy life. Character list: Spoiler : Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeyman runesmithe Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya and twin sister of Askima Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Journeyman Runesmith Burlok: Guard captain of the gate, friend of Endar and Dern Elmador: warrior/guard Karaz-a-Karak residents: Gottri: Journeyman Runesmith Furgil: Runesmith guild hall leader Noran: Runesmith guild hall receptionist Kragg the Grim: Ancient Runelord Helgar: Priestess of Valaya Askima: Matriarch of the church of Valaya and twin sister of Alrika Greenskins: Gorbad Ironclaw: mighty orc warboss, presumed dead but also rumoured to be alive Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko¡¯s journey) Dwarven Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir Chapter 15: Cleanup and Teacher Chapter 15: Cleanup and Teacher Authors notes: Hello everyone I am tiered so I will keep it short: I hope you will enjoy and sleep well (yawn) goodbye for now. Lastly many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help. Year: 10-06-1722 (Imperial Calendar) (¡À 15 years and 8 months after hatching) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak (sealed levels) Michiko POV. After the execution of my plan and the final killing of the last hidden Skaven I started to clean up the area as I do not want anyone to know what has happened here. I hope I can make it look like they all have been spirited away, without giving anyone a clues to what may have happened. Firstly after triple checking the area for any remaining Skaven I put out the large fires. These worked quite well with my plan to use fear as a weapon. With them running like that they could not mount an organized defence and the only option they had was to run to their death. After putting out the fires I went and started to ¡°clean up¡± the dead Skaven and I found out in the process that the stomach of a dragon is like a bottomless pit. I seriously have no idea where I am putting it all, but now I do have the feeling I will not have to eat for quite a while. When that was done I rested a bit before going to the collapsed tunnel. Going inside I walked till I arrived at the collapsed area and listened. After a while I was relieved because I could not hear any digging sounds coming from the other side. I quickly cleared a small path I could go through in my smallest dragon form and went to the other side. When I arrived I smelled my surroundings and found out that no Skaven had passed here since I collapsed the tunnel. Which was very good for me, this meant that no one has come to check out what happened. I am lucky that the Skaven are like they are in this case. With them not caring about their fellows at all why would they come check out what has happened? In the case of a dwarven attack they will be forced by their master to help because of his own interests. But if that happened they would know as a massager would come down immediately to demand reinforcements. But with no communication and nobody coming to get the food that they are supposed to get the only logical conclusion is that the tunnel has collapsed. And why check it out if you already know what has happened? they will dig themselves out they always do. As for the food? well with nobody coming to pick it up they might as well eat it right? It would be a waste to just let it rot¡­.. Well that is how I imagine it anyway¡­ moving on, on the other side of the tunnel I went a bit deeper and caused another collapse to make sure that no random Skaven would come up for some reason and discover what I was going to do. I started by digging a second crude looking tunnel that more or less went the same direction as the old one but with a slight deviation. Over the next hundred meters I kept doing this until the tunnel was leading in a direction that would go nowhere no matter how far you would dig. I walked out a bit and made another portion of the tunnel collapse before returning to the new intersection. When I arrived there I started to use a combination of magic and stone work to cover up the entrance to the old tunnel, making it look like just regular rock. Moving backwards I filled the tunnel up with debris from the digging before fusing it together. This way I moved backwards until I reached the open area and when I arrived I had erased the old tunnel from existence like it was never there in the first place. After that I began the rest of the clean-up and the collection of the spoils of war. This continued until yesterday evening and in the end this is what I found. Half a ton of low quality iron Fifty kilos of low quality steel A small bag full of warptokens Some golden and silver trinkets A few decaying/decayed books One hidden golden paged book A few low quality gems A whole lot of bones Besides that I also found a whole lot of other things but all of it was worthless so I left it or burned it. As for the bones the vast majority of them were the bones of Skaven but I found the skeletons of three long dead dwarves. I more or less used the Skaven bones as a snack but as for the dwarven¡­ I spend some time thinking about what I am going to do with them. I found them still dressed in armor under a collapsed building. The dwarves value their dead immensely and this is also reflected in their tradition of ancestor worship. And I agree with them as it is important to treat the dead well. But the problem is how am I going to deliver these dead warriors unseen. I can¡¯t just walk up to other dwarves and give them these dead. No matter how grateful they would be I will have to answer many question I cannot. What to do, what to do¡­.. I search my memories for some useful information, and then I got it. Not too far inside the Skaven area there is a small shrine to the ancestor gods. It has long since been looted of any valuables but most of it still stands. Many of the Ironbreaker patrols on this level come by that area and most of the time they rest there and pay respect to their gods. I think I can place the books and the skeletons with their armor there, they will find it strange but they will have no way to find out anything about me. I just hope that they will not look into it too deeply and get by the manner that I am doing this that I do not want to be found out. With my next course of action decided I take a night rest before leaving tomorrow. Year: 11-06-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak (sealed levels) Michiko POV. In the early morning I wake up and half an hour later I leave. First I take everything that I will keep to a building close to the secret tunnel for later. After that I went on my way with the skeletons and the books to the shrine. When I arrive I see what I had expected, an ancient shrine without any expensive flair or decorations. But even without any gold, silver or other expensive things it still looks impressive. Even after all this time, now when only a stone shell and some damaged statues remain, I can still vaguely feel Valaya and the other gods dwell in here and with the ancient craftsmanship still visible¡­. As I walk inside I feel calm and safe, even in this kind of area an oasis like this still exists and has stood the test of time. I put down the skeletons on the altar still with their armor on them and their weapons besides them. behind them close to the statues I put down the books, the special jewellery and in the middle of it the golden book. I smile as I walk backwards because it now looks like even in death these warriors are still guarding the shrine. Knowing that the Ironbreakers will most likely not arrive till noon I start using some stone working and magic to repair the statues and the shrine. I first start with the statue of Valaya and as I repair it I can feel her energy increase in the shrine. Valaya: ¡°Michiko?¡± I hear as I have completed my work and I smile. Michiko: ¡°Hello Valaya¡± Valaya: ¡°Did you restore one of my shrines? You told me you were going to the sealed levels but I was not expecting this. Anyway¡­ how did your Skaven hunt go?¡± Michiko: ¡°Quite good I wiped out a minor tunnel and base and in the end I found these¡± I say while pointing at the books and skeletons before continuing my work on the statue of Grungni. Michiko: ¡°I wanted to give them back but because I cannot do that without getting far too many questions I decided to drop them off at the shrine¡± I can feel Valaya giving a ¡°mental nod¡±. Valaya: ¡°Makes sense, well anyway thank you for repairing one of our shrines. While most of our power comes from our believers, our area of influence still increases with these shrines¡± As she says that I finish the statue of Grungni and as I do I feel him ¡°arrive¡±, for a seconds it seems like he and Valaya exchange some information before he says. Grungni: ¡°Thanks¡± And he leaves again, but as he does his energy still remains in the shrine. Over the past few years I have come to know the dwarven gods quite well and they have come to know me too. The hostility of our first meeting has long since disappeared and they have come to trust me. As time passes I repair all of the statues and the gods come by to say their thanks sometimes joining us in my conversation with Valaya. But after a while they all have left again and it is just me and Valaya again. Currently it is around ten in the morning or so and with a lot of time to spare until the patrol arrives Michiko: ¡°Hmm Valaya¡­ would you mind if I draw something on the floor?¡± Valaya raises an eyebrow before saying Valaya: ¡°Well I don¡¯t mind, you did fix the place after all but what are you planning to draw?¡± I smile and say. Michiko: ¡°It¡¯s a surprise¡± I then turn around and walk onto the floor in the centre of the shrine while I feel Valaya gaze on me. The shrine is circular and has a door on one side and an altar on the other. The floor is made out of large stone tiles which are laid in a circular pattern around a large central slab of stone. The first thing I do is fix the cracks in the floor and walls making it look like new. Then I transform my hand to a claw and start to scratch my drawing into the floor. Valaya continues to watch me as she wonders what I am drawing. I keep on drawing as she observes and about ten minutes later. Valaya: ¡°oh I see what you are doing you are making a map of this level¡± I give a small smile and nod while continuing to make the shallow grooves in the floor. Over the next half hour I draw out the caves, tunnels, staircases and other things. In the end it has become a clear map of this floor as it once was when the dwarves lived here all those centuries ago. Having completed the grooves I take out a few pieces of broken silver jewellery. Breaking it into tiny pieces I spread it out in the grooves. I transform to my small dragon form and start to carefully melt the silver using my fire breath. Keeping the temperature level and spreading the silver evenly through the grooves. When it was done I used some lore of metal magic to help the impurities rise to the surface and binding the silver to the stone. When I am satisfied I wipe away the slag and smooth out the surface to make a smooth finish. It is then that Valaya who has been observing me all this time says. Valaya: ¡°Wow you really don¡¯t do half measures Michiko¡± Michiko: ¡°It looks good right?¡± Valaya: ¡°Yes of course, plus I like watching you getting absorbed in your work, its relaxing¡± I smile and walk to my bag and rummage a bit through it. Michiko: ¡°Now only one final thing to finish it¡± And I take out the skull of a Skaven, I walk to the map and place it down on the area where I ¡°removed¡± the Skaven. Michiko: ¡°Finished¡± Valaya looks at it a bit before she understands and nods. Having finished everything I wanted to do I pick up my bag and hide in one of the alcoves in the roof of the shrine. The only thing I have to do now is wait until the patrol arrives. We wait I talk a bit more with Valaya about my raid on the Skaven. When we are more or less done about an hour has passed. Valaya: ¡°Well your plan worked out quite well¡­ but just a question Michiko what are you eating¡­.?¡± I look up at Valaya and say Michiko: ¡°Hmm¡­ some Skaven bones, do you want some too?¡± Valaya: ¡°not really, but why are you eating Skaven bones Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°They are tasty and crunchy, I like snacking on them¡± Valaya: ¡°no I meant why are you eating the bones of Skaven?¡± Not really knowing what she means a look of confusion appears on my face. But before I get the chance to ask her I hear something. Michiko: ¡°They have arrived¡± I say while retreating back further into my alcove and Valaya looks at me with a strange expression but does not say anything. I focus my attention on the entrance of the shrine and wait as the sound comes closer. Year: 11-06-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak (sealed levels) Rorek POV. Skalli: ¡°We are almost at the shrine and today again no Skaven to be seen¡± Rorek: ¡°Are you dissatisfied Skalli?¡± Skalli: ¡°Of course not Rorek, if we see those Ratmen all the way here we would have a big problem on our hands. I just wish that we could fight them off and collapse their damn tunnels so we may make the Karak safe again¡± Sven: ¡°Ha! You make it sound so simple kid¡­ but I get what you mean and we all feel the same. Still this stalemate has been going on for centuries and even though there have been many attempts from both sides to gain the upper hand neither side truly has. Over the years we sometimes lose a level to them and at other times we take one back but as of now there is no real end in sight¡± Rorek: ¡°let the kid have hope Sven, even if we do not live to see it there will one day be a day we will finally get rid of them. Ah, there¡¯s the shrine. Come on, we¡¯ll have time to talk when we get inside¡± We keep on walking until we are about a hundred meters from the shrine until we change formation to check out if it is safe. The Skaven do not like being near the shrine but because we come here almost every day it makes it a good place for an ambush so we still have to be careful. Approaching to the entrance Sven and I go inside first and what we see is something we never could have expected. Rorek: ¡°By Grungni¡­ what is this¡­.?¡± I say while standing stunned as I look around the shrine, the first thing I see are three dead skeletal ancestors ¡°standing¡± in front of the altar, armoured and armed as if still protecting this place even in death. Behind them are many books most of which have decayed but in the middle there is a book with golden pages lastly behind them stand the statues of the ancestor gods in full glory like they were freshly made yesterday. Sven: ¡°How can this be, just yesterday this place was a ruin, but now¡­.¡± Skalli: ¡°Captain is something wrong?!¡± Rorek: ¡°No, come inside and you will see¡± I say before walking forward, looking along the walls and upward toward the ceiling. No cracks or damage remains and even the stone benches along the wall have been repaired. As I look upward my eyes glance past one of the alcoves in the ceiling. In one of the alcoves I see two blue almost glowing orbs. But when I look again they are gone. Sven: ¡°Rorek, Look at this¡± I hear Sven call me from behind and I pull my eyes away from the alcove and look at Sven, who has squatted down on the floor by the centre stone. As I walk toward him the others come inside too and their reaction is more or less the same as ours. Standing at the side of Sven I look at the centre stone and I see many silver lines embedded in it with the skull of a dead Skaven on top of it. Rorek: ¡°What is this¡­?¡± I ask half to myself half to Sven. Sven look at me and says Sven: ¡°I think it is a map!¡± Processing in my mind what he said I look at it again before realising the same as him. Rorek: ¡°Skalli come here are take out the map!¡± I say hurriedly, Skalli comes toward me and I grab the map he is holding before rolling it open and putting it on the floor besides the map, comparing it. Sven: ¡°It is the same¡­ the only difference is that this is the original map from when this level was still inhabited by our ancestors¡± Skalli: ¡°Hmm what do you suppose the skull is for?¡± Sven: ¡°I don¡¯t know, it was already lying there when I found this¡± Skalli: ¡°Who do you think might have done this Rorek? Was it the gods?¡± I think a bit before answering and then look at the statues of the gods and say. Rorek: ¡°I don¡¯t know Skalli, it might be that the gods have done something or it might be something else. But either way we do not know if it was someone or something else that person has left no trace so we can assume that he, she or even it does not want to be found. If that is the case I hope while we cannot, that the gods have thanked this person in our stead¡± Skalli looks down at the map and starts to think, I walk up to the altar and look at the ¡°gifts¡±. I contemplate on what to do next for a while before I turn around. Rorek: ¡°Men we will rest here for half an hour, after that I want Sven and five others to go to the guard post and get some carts to transport our dead ancestors and the books. The rest of us will stay here and guard this place until they return¡± The men nod and Sven steps forward. Sven: ¡°What about the map Rorek? Do you also think that there might be something special at the location of the skull?¡± Rorek: ¡°(nod) yes but that location is also the location of one of the four Skaven tunnels that are connected to this level. I will speak with the commander and request that we may send a patrol to scout it out. We do not know what might have happened so we must be cautious¡± Skalli: ¡°I would be nice if they were all wiped out¡­¡± Sven: ¡°Haha like that would ever happen¡± Skalli: ¡°You don¡¯t know that¡± Sven: ¡°Yes, yes but I know how hard it is to wipe out one of those Ratmen dens. The moment you attack it is likely that reinforcements are already on their way¡± Sven looks like he is about to say something again but before he can speak I say. Rorek: ¡°we do not know what has happened or even if something might have happened, so please leave it at this. One way or the other we will find out soon¡± Year: 11-06-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak Michiko POV. Laying in the alcove I listen to the Ironbreakers while they talk. Making sure I am not seen I keep listening to them talk. when they talk about what the skull on the map could mean I hear Valaya give a soft chuckle before she says while talking to herself. Valaya: ¡°only if they knew¡± Having heard everything I wanted to hear I start to silently move backwards further into the alcove to get out on the other side. Valaya: ¡°Your leaving now Michiko?¡± Michiko: ¡°yes, I have seen what I wanted to and I would like to be able to come home tonight. I have been away for so long Vanyra is probably worried¡± Valaya nods and says Valaya: ¡°Okay, but Michiko make sure to come by again soon¡± Michiko: ¡°I will¡± I say with a smile and then leave, Valaya waves and then goes back inside the shrine. Walking silently, making sure none of the outside sentries hear or see me I walk away from the shrine towards my temporary ¡°warehouse¡± near the secret tunnel. I takes me about ten minutes before I reach it and go inside. I order my things and prepare for my way home but as I have to wait until midnight I still have some time to rest. I take with me about fifty kilos of low quality iron, ten kilos of low quality steel, some small ingots of melted down gold and silver and the rest of my normal things including my notes on the Skaven. The rest I leave here for later use and I make sure to hide all of my (refined) warpstone for later experimentation. I can¡¯t take it with me now since I do not totally know how dangerous it is. Both the normal and refined warpstone have a special kind of ¡°aura¡± about them. This can be very dangerous for a normal person, I have heard about cases where humans started to mutate in horrible ways after coming in contact with warpstone. Dwarves may be resistant to magic but I am not taking any chances. This is the raw condensed energy of chaos after all. As for the refined warpstone I do not know what it will do. The things I know about it so far make me think that it will not be very dangerous, but still, not taking any chances. I wait until it is about twelve o¡¯clock and then leave for the tunnel with my things. As I come close I make sure there is no one inside or nearby. I enter the house, go into the basement and leave the sealed level via the secret tunnel. After opening and closing the seal I reach the end of the tunnel. A quick check later I am sure no one will see me I step out of the tunnel into the normal area. Now after a long time in the sealed level I am wearing my cloak again, a backpack on my back and going home. As I walk home I begin to hum a soft happy tune making sure nobody wakes up. About twenty minutes later I reach home, guessing that Vanyra must already be sleeping I silently enter. I put down my things and go upstairs and walk inside the bedroom of Vanyra. Seeing her sleeping like that I do not want to wake her up but also an incredible sleepiness grabs hold of me and not wanting to go to my own room I just climb in her bed before falling asleep. (Author¡¯s Note: There is no, and will not be a sexual relation between Michiko and Vanyra.) Year: 12-06-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak Vanyra POV. Vanyra: ¡°Hmm..¡± As I begin to wake up in the morning, I moan, laying in my soft warm bed I do not want to get up. But I have things to do today so I have to get up. I stretch my arms and open my eyes and it only then that I notice that I¡¯m not alone in my bed. Looking besides me I see Michiko lying in bed with me. Smiling with joy I grab her and embrace her. Vanyra: ¡°Michiko!¡± I almost shout in her face out of joy, but even if I do that she just keeps sleeping. She must have come visit me when she came home but fell asleep on my bed because of her tiredness. I should let her sleep¡­. But¡­ I really want talk with her it¡¯s been weeks since I last saw her¡­. After a while I decide to be a bit selfish and I start to call out to her some more to wake her up. But to my surprise she just keeps on sleeping, pausing for a bit and thinking I smile as I go with my plan B. going down the sheets I lift up her cloak and grab the end of her tail. That action gets a small sound out of her but just keeps on sleeping. I give a bit of an evil grin and start to massage it. Michiko moans and my grin grows wider. This tip of her tail is very sensitive and with the exception of the people she cares about, she will probably seriously harm or kill anyone who just touches it. And right now I am very happy that I am one of those few privileged people¡­ Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. As I continue massaging the tip she continues to moan until¡­ in one tight squeeze she yelps and shoots up and pulls back her tail so fast that if flies out of my hand. Michiko stands on her arms and legs with her wings pointing upward and her tail ready to strike as she releases killing intent. But knowing I am not in danger I say. Vanyra: ¡°Finally awake sleepyhead?¡± It takes a second before she focuses and her killing intent disappears and she has an expression of embarrassment and a bit of irritation. Michiko: ¡°Vanyra you know I don¡¯t like that!¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yeah, yeah then you should have woken up when I tried to wake you¡­¡± And then I smile and embrace her and she relaxes Vanyra: ¡°Welcome home Michiko, I have missed you¡± She nods and we embrace each other for a few more seconds. Vanyra: ¡°Well I want to ask you a mountain of questions but I think it is better if I go and make something to eat and you go clean yourself¡± Michiko: ¡°Okay¡± We get up and out of the bed, Michiko going to the bathroom and me getting out of my pyjamas and putting on my normal clothes. Walking downstairs I find Michiko¡¯s backpack laying on the floor. Leaving it for now I walk to the kitchen and start preparing a large breakfast. About fifteen minutes later Michiko comes walking in smelling fresh and clean again. We sit down and as we eat Michiko begins to tell me about her ¡°adventure¡±. While she speaks I almost forget to eat as she describes what she has been doing the past few weeks. At the end of the story we have long since finished eating and Michiko brings her backpack to the table. She shows me blocks of steel and iron she brought with her and tells me she has a lot more stashed away. It is low quality metal, but after we refine it we should have enough smithing materials for a few months. Next she pulls out small bars of gold and silver and my mouth almost falls open. This is not a fortune but is still about a hundred gold coins. Because in the dwarven Karaks you can trade with pure gold coins if we melt the gold down ¡°and cast them into coins we can use them immediately. As for what it is worth with that amount of golden coins we could buy an anvil and smithing tools with it. Lastly she shows me her drawings of the dissected Skaven which are very detailed¡­ and honestly a bit gruesome. I mean I would kill anyone who wants to hurt Michiko or the rest of my family and I would not have much of a problem with it. That is just how the world works and it would be na?ve to think otherwise. Michiko feels the same and I know why she has dissected the Skaven but¡­ I have to be careful that she does not go in the wrong direction because that would be¡­. Bad, to say the absolute least. Still looking at these drawings I do get a clearer understanding of what Skaven are like. Even if I cannot read the strange writing that Michiko uses, she says it is for safety. But I have no idea where she even came across this language it is like nothing I have ever seen in this world. Moving on. Over an hour of talking later Michiko is finished and we clean up the table together. When that is finished I get my coat and tell Michiko that I will be out a while since I want to sell some of my works at the guild and buy in some other things. She tells me that she is going over her notes some more and will do some smithing today. As I leave we say goodbye and I walk out the door leaving Michiko to her business. Walking over the street there are not that many dwarves around as most are already at work. But as I near the guild and the central area of the floor/ level their number increases. Walking on I look in some stores but do not stay too long as I will go and have a look later when I return. Arriving at the guild I open the door and walking to the reception desk I greet Noran. Vanyra: ¡°Hello Noran how are you doing?¡± Noran: ¡°Ah miss Vanyra here to sell your works again?¡± Vanyra: ¡°Yes¡± I say while I nod. He smiles and calls for one of the appraisers to come. Noran: ¡°The guild appraiser is on his way miss please wait a bit and he will meet you shortly¡± Vanyra: ¡°Thanks Noran have a nice day¡± He smiles and I leave going to sit in that waiting area. It does not take long before the appraiser arrives and he leads me to his office. He briefly inspects the items, and he pays me for the items. I say goodbye and walk out of his office back to the reception area. I got a few gold this time, it is not an amazing amount but the guild pays fair coin. I could probably get more if I sold in a store but that also be a higher risk. One way or the other with the amount of items I sell it would probably cost more to sell them in a store than I would actually gain so it¡¯s alright. Walking into the reception hall I walk to the door to leave but before I do I see Gottri and walk over. Vanyra: ¡°Hello Gottri running errands for your master again?¡± Gottri: ¡°Ah Vanyra, yes I¡¯m here to pick something up for her today. But it is good I meet you here today I was planning to come by today to tell you something¡± Vanyra: ¡°Oh?¡± Gottri: ¡°An acquaintance of my master has once again come by and my master has been looking for an apprentice for him. That is also the reason I was taking runesmith exams to scout out some candidates and from what I told her she seems to think you and Michiko are a good fit¡± Hearing what he says my eyes open wide and with a smile I say. Vanyra: ¡°But that is great! if he is a master runesmith that is willing to teach us we will be able to make a lot of progress¡± But Gottri stays calm and holds up a hand and says. Gottri: ¡°Do not get to excited yet, I should not be saying this about a friend of my master but¡­. Well he is strange¡± Vanyra: ¡°Strange in what way?¡± Gottri: ¡°well one time I get the impression he is a wise and ancient dwarf but I have never seen him smith or seen his work. He most of the times just comes by and when he does my master invites him to stay and he mostly reluctantly agrees. My master says he is a friend and that we should treat him well but seeing him I get the impression that he is just someone who has given up. Far from deserving the respect my master treats him with On top of that my master has proposed many apprentice each of whom have been excellent smiths. But every time he meets them he never accepts them for reasons I do not understand. But my master keeps trying and seems to care a lot about him so I help her again and again. (sigh) Anyway if you want to meet him then my master would like to come by with him in the next few days or so. Whenever you have time.¡± I look down a bit and start to think. From what Gottri has told me I have some doubts if this man will be a good master for Michiko and me. Still.. what Gottri said about giving up does not really sit well with me. This is because almost our entire culture is about resilience, steadfastness and being unbreakable. As for those dwarves that give up there is a saying ¡°those who lose their will, lose their honor¡±. So I get why Gottri feels about him like he does. But still we need a master to teach us and this is the first opportunity we have gotten so.. even if we do not accept him as our master meeting him won¡¯t be a problem. At the very least we can do it for Gottri and his master. I look up at Gottri and say. Vanyra: ¡°Well one way or the other there is no problem in meeting him so I don¡¯t mind and Michiko will most likely feel the same. As for when I think your master can come by tomorrow if she wants to. I have nothing planned and Michiko will be home for the next few days anyway¡± Gottri gives a small smile and says. Gottri: ¡°Okay I will inform my master that we can come by tomorrow¡± I nod and he shifts himself a bit standing more comfortably. Gottri: ¡°And with that out of the way let¡¯s talk about something entirely else. Vanyra have you heard about the discovery that a patrol of Ironbreakers made yesterday? They found¡­.¡± I smile and listen, laughing a bit inside while he talks on already knowing what he is going to say but just staying quiet. Year: 13-06-1722 (Imperial Calendar) Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak Michiko POV. As I clean myself in the morning I recall yesterday. After the kind of embarrassing moment while getting up, the nice breakfast and telling my story to Vanyra, I looked over my notes some more and cleaned them up a bit. After a hour or so I was done and started to work in the smithy a bit. After so many weeks it is nice to be able to forge something again. I first repaired my daggers that I took with me because after the amount of use they have seen from some of my ¡°assassinations¡± of the Skaven to dissecting them. It is not like they were broken or something like that, if that would be the case I would be a bad blacksmith let alone runesmith. I just like keeping my things in top condition. After that I started refining some of the iron and steel into pure ingots. We can use the steel just like that but I think I will hire one of the smaller blast furnaces in a while so I can convert the iron into steel in bulk with the adding of the right ingredients. lastly I remade one of the temporary runes on one of the daggers. I used it on a Skaven half to test it half because it seemed like he was going to scream. By the time I was done Vanyra came home with some things for dinner and news. She told me what Gottri had told her. I am kind of interested in meeting that potential master even if it becomes nothing. As for the news about the things I left at the shrine? I am happy to hear that the three dead ancestors were returned to their clan and will be properly buried soon. Still, I am impressed about how quickly the information has spread, it seems dwarves like gossip. As for the location I pointed out on the map, I have not heard much about that. It is likely that because they do not know what it is that it will take at least a few days until they are ready to send a patrol to check it out. I wonder how they¡¯ll react and what they will do next. After a while I am done and leave the bathroom going downstairs to eat. Sitting by the table a few minutes later Vanyra arrives. As we eat we talk a bit and when we are done Vanyra says she is going to clean up a bit before the guests arrive. I nod and tell her that I am going to smith a bit. Like this some hours pass and Vanyra has started to read a bit while I continue my smithing. Somewhere in the afternoon someone knocks the door and Vanyra closes her book. She asks me to prepare something to drink while she answers the door. I quickly give some final hammer blows to my work finishing it. I quench the hot metal and then go to the small kitchen. Not long after that I have put everything on a tray and go to the main room to wait for Vanyra, Gottri, his master and his masters friend. It does not take very long before they enter and Vanyra comes in first followed by Gottri and then most likely his master. Finally an old dwarf enters, wearing normal clothes for a blacksmith looking ordinary in every respect. But he himself¡­ His beard and hair are almost entirely white showing great age. His face tells the same as there are many wrinkles and traces of wear. I then look at his deep eyes and everything stops. Looking in his eyes I get the feeling he is looking directly into my soul with a piercing gaze. An immense feeling wells up inside me and combining with my instinct a poem is woven in my mind. An ancient person broken and battered by the waves of time, but still standing even if everything around him has started to fall through endless wars and bloodshed. The ancient times in which he was born have long since passed and are mostly forgotten. Now he alone stands as a beacon of that time, a lone dwaf long past his prime, battered and broken by time. I do not know why I am thinking this but¡­ I just don¡¯t know. But before I get to think any further the dwarf breaks the eye contact and I come back to reality. I see Vanyra and Gottri looking at me with a questioning look but Gottri¡¯s master has a slight smile on her face. As for the old dwarf he is just looking around with a somewhat empty gaze but past that I cannot read anything from his face. Gottri¡¯s master then comes forward and breaks the silence. Gottri¡¯s master: ¡°Well first let¡¯s do some introductions, I am Tharma, master runesmith and Gottri¡¯s master¡± I then look at the old dwarf and he opens his mouth before speaking with a deep ancient voice which conceals some weariness within. Old dwarf: ¡°I am¡­ Sundrim, a master runesmith like Tharma¡± When he is finished speaking he looks at Vanyra and me. Vanyra: ¡°I am Vanyra¡± She says with a slight bow and I do the same while introducing myself to the two master runesmiths. Michiko: ¡°I am Michiko¡± We then sit down at the table and begin to talk a bit mostly between Vanyra, Tharma and Gottri. I also speak every now and then to answer a question or so but most of the time I am focused on Sundrim who to mostly listens. But as I watch him I have not seen him change his expression once. He just looks around the table listening to the conversation. But then his eyes fall on the wall with my designs, writings and research. Which hangs full from my drawings of runes from anvils of doom I try to understand to the drawing of Skaven antimony. But for anyone but me on this world the writing is incomprehensible. But Sundrim just keeps staring at it and the few images I have drawn. Looking at him again his expression is still the same but looking in his eyes I think I see a bit more light. But that can also be my imagination. he keeps staring at the wall until it is silent for a bit and he asks while looking at me. Sundrim: ¡°Did you make those?¡± A bit brought off balance by his sudden question I just slowly nod. At the same moment he asked his question the conversation between Tharma, Vanyra and Gottri has also stopped and they are looking at Sundrim and me. In the corner of my eyes I see Tharma with a slight smile on her face that was not there before. Sundrim himself looks like he thinks for a bit before he speaks again and asks with his same deep voice. Sundrim: ¡°Could you show me your smithing?¡± I am a bit at a loss but then answer after a few seconds. Michiko: ¡°Yes, of course...¡± After I have answered Tharma gets up and says. Tharma: ¡°That is a good idea, could we do it at your forge here or should we do it somewhere else?¡± Vanyra: ¡°I do not see a problem if we do it here but our smithy is small so it might be a bit cramped¡± Tharma: ¡°That¡¯s okay, I don¡¯t mind standing in the doorway or something¡± Vanyra: ¡°in that case find a way so you can all have some space. Michiko will you please start heating up the forge so we can start soon?¡± I stand up and say: Michiko: ¡°okay¡± Gottri then stands up too and says Gottri: ¡°I will help if you do not mind¡± Michiko: ¡°Thanks¡± We then both leave the room to the smithy while Tharma and Sundrim remain at the table a bit longer. As we arrive I start shovelling some coals into the forge as Gottri start to work the bellows. He stays silent for a while, thinking until he speaks with a somewhat unsure tone. Gottri: ¡°I think Sundrim is interested in you¡­. he never asked to see any of the other apprentices smithing¡± I want to say something in return but do not know what so I just keep working while I think. I takes about ten minutes until the forge is at the right temperature and Gottri wipes his head before he goes to get everyone. I stay behind and get some of the steel we refined from the Skaven adventure. I put it into the forge which i thirteen hundred degrees Celsius, heating up the small metal ingot. When it is almost heated to the right temperature, Vanyra, Gottri, Tharma and Sundrim come inside and stand as far back as they can in the small smithy. I am a bit nervous while I am being watched like this. I look at them and I get a reassuring nod from Vanyra. I take out my Gromril hammer and take the now red glowing ingot out of the flames and put it on the anvil and strike down. As the first hammer blow hits the metal and the sound reaches my ears I calm down a bit. a second later the second blow hits and I calm down some more. As the rhythmic sounds of the hammer hitting the metal go on I forget everything else and arrive in the trance like state I reach when I work. Now only the only things that exist are my work and the rhythmic sound that reach my ears everything else has faded into shadows. As my work goes on I keep on hammering only stopping to heat up the ingot again in the forge before continuing. This cycle goes on until the dagger is completed. but I do not stop there as I reheat the metal I get a metalworking chisel and after taking the steel dagger out of the forge I start to engrave a temporary rune of speed. As I hammer the chisel it does not take long before it starts to take shape on the flat of the dagger. When the rune has been engraved I put away the chisel. I hold up my hammer and using the runesmith power magical energy begins to gather and small colourful streams begin to appear flowing toward me. When enough of it has gathered I strike down the hammer transferring the energy into the empty rune. This keeps going for a while until enough energy has been gathered into the rune. At that moment I put down my hammer and take a deep breath and I start to sing in the most ancient form of dwarven tongue. The incantations flow out and start to bind the magical energy into the rune. With that¡­ I am finished, I exit my trance and with it the world opens up again. Looking around I see that Gottri and Tharma are sitting down in the corner or the smithy and so is Vanyra in another, but Sundrim is still standing as if he has not moved for the entire time I was smithing. Now I am done they also start to move again and get up and Sundrim walks forward and I hand him the dagger. He then receives it with two hands and takes a long hard look at it before handing it back to me. He thinks for a long time and then says. Sundrim: ¡°I came here as a favour to Tharma and I thought that it would be just like the other times. Every time I saw a new apprentice I just knew that I would not be able to teach them. They were too different from me and we would not be able to understand each other. But there is something about you that others have lost, because of this I hope that even though I am not a good teacher, that you are willing to accept this old dwarf as your master. ¡± I am a bit shocked by what he said and I think a while before I smile and say. Michiko: ¡°Thank you¡­. But, what about Vanyra?¡± At this question Sundrim seems a bit at a loss but it is quickly solved by Tharma. Tharma: ¡°Do not worry Michiko, I will teach Vanyra while you learn from Sundrim. Come, let''s go back to your living room so we can work out the details¡± Character list: Spoiler : Karak Drakk residents: Michiko: the main character Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster Norgrim: Endar¡¯s assistant Bronn: warrior leader Largs: hunter/ scout leader Dern: hunter/ scout Duregar: leader of workers, Journeyman runesmithe Olka: wife of Duregar Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko Grond: mining shift commanders Alrika: Priestess of Valaya and twin sister of Askima Grim: Priest of Gazul Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor Karak Azul residents: Dimzad: bookstore owner Thorek Ironbrow: Journeyman Runesmith Burlok: Guard captain of the gate, friend of Endar and Dern Elmador: warrior/guard Karaz-a-Karak residents: Gottri: Journeyman Runesmith Furgil: Runesmith guild hall leader Noran: Runesmith guild hall receptionist Kragg the Grim: Ancient Runelord Sundrim: Master Runesmith and Michiko¡¯s teacher Tharma: Master Runesmith, friend of Sundrim and Gottri¡¯s / Vanyra¡¯s teacher Gottri¡¯s: Journeyman Runesmith and apprentice of Tharma Helgar: Priestess of Valaya Askima: Matriarch of the cult of Valaya and twin sister of Alrika Rorek: Ironbreaker captain Sven: Ironbreaker vice-captain Skalli: young Ironbreaker Greenskins: Gorbad Ironclaw: mighty orc warboss, presumed dead but also rumoured to be alive Chaos Gods: Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed Dragons: Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko¡¯s journey) Dwarven Gods: Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya Valaya: goddess of healing and protection Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir