Dwarven Council's page

Karburtin snorts.

"We know only that we cannot contact her, nor can we find her. The Darkblight twists magic, especially divinations and conjurations. The only dwarven warrior to return from the Darkblight crawled back bearing a lock of the earth goddess’s hair, and with powerful divinations through that we learned she was alive and somewhere beneath the earth. But we have long since run out of hair to use as a focus for our divinations."

He adjusts his glasses.

"Once Gendowyn was a powerful fey in her own right, but she also once commanded the Fangwood’s thousands of fey creatures. If even a fraction of them remain loyal to her after these centuries, then they could form an army she might place at your disposal. Surely that could help you stand toe-to- toe with this Ironfang Legion."

"You surely know of the legends of the Fangwood’s diseased heart: tales of cruel, corrupted fey and trees that shift and trails that change once travelers pass. This is the work of the Blight, or more precisely, the Darkblight, which is both a disease and a place—the realm of a corrupted fey ruler called Arlantia. But it was not always this way. Not so long ago, the Fangwood was dominated by a collective of fey called the Accressiel Court, ruled by a powerful earth goddess named Gendowyn. Of course, ‘goddess’ is something of an honorific. She was powerful, but hardly divine I think. Regardless, my ancestors sought her council in the past on matters of the earth and seasons. Arlantia once sat at Gendowyn’s right hand, and it was the earth goddess’s Accressiel Court that was overthrown and perverted into the Darkblight."

You find yourself welcome in the Greathammer stronghold and spend your time training and preparing for a return to the war against the Ironfang. Before you have time to chaff at the delay, Karburtin Lightbrand summons you to his home.

"Kind friends," Lightbrand says, rubbing the curls of his short beard with concern. "You have done us such a great service in past weeks that I wish I could bring you better tidings. Prince Gorm has dispatched not insignificant material aid—weapons and armor—to your allies, but alas, I must be frank. Our beloved Sky Citadel does not have the numbers to provide you with any military assistance. The prince considers you friends for life, but we cannot jeopardize our homeland by sending our small defensive forces on an offensive mission. Surely you understand. That does not mean we are unwilling to help, however. I have just finished extensive research on the Onyx Key, the artifact stolen from our vault, and it is indeed the weapon your enemies now use to move their troops unseen. The device creates a network of extradimensional tunnels—it’s a fascinating process, truly. My ancestors suspected the artifact relies on some great power source or hub positioned outside reality, and once opened a gate to it using the red sardonyx shard from the artifact’s base. But in the process, they unleashed terrible monsters that ravaged our city."

"I believe the Ironfang Legion has succeeded where my ancestors failed, conquering this hub and now using it as a central stronghold from which they direct their invasion. I’ve been divining, trying to locate the sardonyx shard for you, so you too can open a gate to the hub. My most recent spells found it deep within the heart of Fangwood Forest, but soon thereafter a powerful magic began shielding it from my spells. To me this implies only one culprit: the Blight."

Karburtin pauses here to refill your drinks and answer any questions you may have regarding the Onyx Key and its history with the dwarves. He continues after.