Norwick has fallen....
-
_The bodies of its defenders litter the gutters. Bugbears, hobgoblins, and duergar stalk through the streets, looting and herding terrified citizens.
Despite fears of a massacre, an iron-lunged hobgoblin assures the captives differently:_
"YOUSE ALL IS NEW SERFS OF MAYOR OSTROMOG! YOUSE WILL WORK, AND IF YOUSE WORKS, YOUSE WILL BE FED. YOUSE OBEYS US, AN NO-ONE GETS HURT. YOUSE WORKS!"
Frightened, disbelieving, most citizens glance up at the Chancellor's severed head, displayed above the gates… and obey.
-
Somewhere in the eternal fields on high a familiar stout dwarf tends to an amber hued row of dirt. Looming clouds begins to roll over the horizon…
“Chauntea, what is dat?”
“Child… Norwick… has fallen…” Chauntea whispered while clutching Telli’s shoulder.
“What tookedededs its dis times?”
“Bugbears, hobgoblins, and… Duergar.” Chauntea whispered squeezing Telli’s shoulder firmly. Telli unibrow furrowed in discontent, the thought of her evil kin taking something that was so near and dear to her heart.
“Will deys be able ta takeded its back dis time yuh tink?”
“I don’t know child… a champion will need to come forward for Norwick in its darkest hour…”
A few seedlings spill from Telli’s bulky hands as she watches the storm clouds circle and hover over the edge of Chauntea’s vast fields on high.
