The Dwarf Wounded.
After the shake
up of the world, Ulgo slept. He slept in the crypt of the earth, created after
the great cataclysm. His empire disappeared in the depths of the time known
as the Virus Era. For a thousand years, Ulgo slept. Waiting for the time to
come for his awakening. . .
Thomas knew he should not have come this deep into the woods. This part of the world was dangerous as an adder, and creatures lurked amongst the bushes waiting for the unwary. But his family needed food and it was becoming more and more difficult to find it. The deer he had shot was wounded, and Thomas cursed himself for not being a better marksman. Following the trail of blood on the snow, he came to a large ravine. The trail led into the ravine. Knocking another arrow into his bow, Thomas crept forward, careful not to make too much sound. As he came around a corner, he almost dropped his bow. The deer was no where around, but before him stood a rough-hewn stairway, that led into a dark cave. He knew he should not have let his curiosity get the better of him, but he felt drawn to the cave. Almost as if someone was calling him. As he entered the cave, he noticed that the light within it got brighter the deeper he went. cautiously, he continued forward. The cave was low, and it forced him to crouch over as he continued forward. At last, he stepped into a huge cavern. It was brightly lit, but there was no visible sources of light. The cavern was completely devoid of anything save for two objects. On one end of the cavern, was a stone dais, carved with intricate patterns. Some of the patterns depicted dwarves, a mythical race once thought to have ruled this area a millennium ago, others depicted strange creatures, with sharp features and strangely pointed teeth. Below the Dais were strange runes, that Thomas could not understand. Toppled over the back of the Dais, was a stone throne, ornately carved with eagles, lions, and bears. The other object in the room, was a stone sarcophagus. The top of it depicted a short man, with broad shoulders and medium length hair. Thomas felt strangely drawn to the coffin, with a macabre desire to see within.
As he approached to tomb, Thomas heard a strange voice within his head. "The time of troubles is upon us again, boy" the voice whispered. "The fanged ones are about within the world once more. Restore the throne. I am returning". The voice went silent. Looking around, Thomas wondered what to do. He was scared, more scared than he ever was in his entire life. He fled from the hall, dropping his bow and arrows, and headed strait for home.
That night, Thomas dreamed. The voice in his head was back, insisting he restored the throne. Thomas could not accept that. How could he, restore a throne of a long dead King? How could he stand against the "fanged ones", who ever they were? He could hardly provide for his family, much less a kingdom! His dream seemed to revolve around the fallen throne and the stone dais. Could that be the key.
The
next morning, Thomas dressed before dawn, and crept out the house. He headed
straight for the cavern, and straight for the stone dais. He looked at the
throne. How could he bring it back upright? Looking around the cavern, he
noticed notches in the walls that had not been there the night before. "Where
did they come from?" he asked aloud. Not expecting an answer, he jumped when
he "heard" the voice in his head.
"I
put them there, ye fool. Now, get some rope. I swear, I have never seen a
more dimwitted example of a human in my life!"
"Where
are you? Who are you?" Thomas stammered, looking around.
"Well,
I ain't where ye can see me, that is for sure! Now hurry up boy, get the dang
rope. And while you are at it, get some pulleys! Ye ain't gonna be able to
pull up that throne otherwise!"
Thomas
did as he was directed. Returning with the pulleys and ropes, he stood there,
scratching his head.
"Do
I need to do all the thinkin here boy? Take the rope, tie it to the top of
the stone. Attach one of the pulleys to the niches I created for ye, and feed
the dang rope through it! Take another pulley, attach it across the room to
another niche, and feed the rope through it! Then pull! Dang boy! I hope you
aren't an example of what it is like out there now!"
"
Look, if you can't be nice, then you can just do it yourself!" , shouted Thomas.
With that, he slammed the rope and pulleys to the ground and started out.
"Wait, wait a minute ye. Perhaps I was a bit
testy. Look, There be a great evil loose about the world now, else I would
still be sleeping. Needs be ye to restoring my throne, lest I be trapped here
still."
"I will do this, but no more" said Thomas.
An hour later, the contraption in place, he began to pull. Frankly, Thomas
did not think he could lift the heavy stone throne. It looked like it weight
close to a ton! But to his amazement, with the little bit of effort he put
into it, he lifted it to an upright position at the back of the dais. Next,
he lowered the rope to the center of the throne, and slide it forward to the
center of the dais.
As soon as this was accomplished, Thomas heard
a grinding from behind him. He turned around and noticed that the top of the
sarcophagus was sliding off and a strange mist was pouring out of the tomb.
Thomas was frightened, fearing ghosts or ghouls, but he could not move. Fear
paralyzed him in place, and his eyes could not leave the coffin.
Slowly, the mists stopped pouring from the
coffin. Thomas, watched with a macabre sense of homor, and thought to himself. "Well, at least I can use the coffin for my final resting place."
"What are you talkin about boy. I ain't gonna
kill ye! I plan on knightin ye!"
Thomas looked around, and standing in the coffin
was a man. Mind you, he was a short man, with dark black hair, steele blue
eyes, and a clean shaven face. The man was dressed in armor from head to foot,
and carried a huge two handed battleaxe.
" Go now boy, Spread the word. Ulgo is back.
His kingdom will grow, and he will become a thorn in old fang face's side"
Ulgo, stepped out of the coffin. As he did, it sank into the floor. Melted
is more like the word. Slowly he mounted the throne, and looked to Thomas.
"Before ye go boy, give me yer name."
"It is Thomas", replied Thomas, somewhat nervously.
"Well, Thomas, I must be thankin ye. Dang Fang
Faces must have tipped the throne, knowin it was the key to my bed thar. Now
git Thomas, and spread the word. Be tellin people ye meet to come to this
hall. News I have must be told, and pledges needs I must call in."
With that, Thomas set out. Every town he came
to, every house he saw, he passed on the word of Ulgo. Some thought him mad,
till others who had seen Ulgo himself visited them. Soon Ulgoland as the area
became known, began to prosper.
Then they came.
In the dark of the night, they came. First,
one, then two people disappeared. Then the onslaught of the ravening beasts
came. The guards were called out and great battles were fought. But the loyal
of Ulgo were no match. The Fanged ones left a trail of destruction behind
them. On every building, cryptic messages were left. "who.....me evil?" was
written in the blood of its victims above the doors. The loyal of Ulgo attempted
to retaliate, and did kill a few score of the vile creatures, but was unable
to break through. Seeing his people being slaughtered, Ulgo used the last
of his power to put a barrier around his kingdom, in the hopes that he could
buy some time, and allow his kingdom to lick its wounds.
SO ENDS THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF RESTORATION: ULGO'S SAGA
The Birth of the Nation
"I just don't understand why th' gods have cursed me so."thought Ul, "Bad 'nuff the vamps destroy me kingdom in a single night, but to turn me into a flaming Elf! AAAH, there is no justice" Ul continued to study the map in front of him, and thought. What was the reason the gods had done this, to what purpose? Although Ul resented this transformation, he was beginning to see the advantages that had been bestowed. The learning and development of technologies was greatly increased, as was the innate ability amongst his people for magic. But gone were the engineering wonders he had known. Now his people thought too much about how to build something, and it took two or even three to carry what used to only take one. Still, there had to be a way to turn this to his advantage.
Not that the day to day running of his kingdom was his only worry. Since the Move, Ul had been able to make several new allies, and found a few enemies along the way. The most recent were the Forgotten, the Oak, and an unpronounceable kingdom of Gremlins. His recently acquired skills in magic have been put to good use, starving out with famine, and destroying them with his war machines. Hopefully that kingdom of Gremlins will think twice before attacking Ulgoland again.
"My liege, there is a . . . a ...", Thomas stammered.
"Out with it Thomas, what is it?" It was unusual for Thomas to be this flustered. He had been the first of Ul's people, and one of the few survivors of the horrible times before the Move. Thomas had lost his family during the raids, and had narrowly escaped becoming one of the cursed creatures.
"My liege, there is a . . a delegation to here to meet you. They say they are from the Alliance." Thomas looked agitated, and frightened.
" Can it not wait til morning! I be tired, and desire to sleep."
"No my lord, I fear they would not survive the light of day. My Liege, they are of the Fanged ones!"
"And ye say they are from the Alliance? I like this not. Get me sword boy, I will not meet them without defense." Strapping on the sword, crafted by himself many years ago. Then, it was more of a two handed weapon, nearly as tall as he was. Now, it felt more like a long sword, resting easily in his grip.
Ul walked down the hall from his private chambers to the audience room, flanked by six of his elite guards. Opening the double doors he was greeted by a curious site. Gathered in a small group along the west side of the audience room, four creatures whispered amongst themselves. The seemed fearful, and yet constantly scouting the area for the slightest weakness. Their whispering stopped when Ul entered the room, and the look of fear intensified. Their eyes followed him as he approached the dais and mounted the throne.
"Well, speak then, and be quick with ye." Ul tapped his fingers menacingly on the hilt of his sword.
"Yeesss.....Mi'Lord Ul....weee are the representativessss of the kingdom of Kryton. Weee are a peaceful nation. Feeding only on those who transgresssss against ussss. Wee have already spoken to your other alliessss and have petitioned for membership... Wee come to you ... offering peace..." the lead vampire spoke up. He was a young one, but looks can be deceiving with the fanged ones.. He was short, probably taken from one of the dwarven races, but beardless. " We bring you you gifts from our master...", the vamp reached beneath his cload. "DEATH TO THE ANCIENT ENEMY!!" the creature screamed as it brought out a small handheld crossbow and levelled it at Ul.
"Vile creatures!" Ul said, drawing his sword. Bringing it up in a wide arc, Ul cleanly sliced the bolt in two, inches from his heart. "Destroy the Fanged ones!" As one, Ul's elite guard drew their weapons, and the melee ensued. The creatures fought like savages. As the battle raged on, suddenly there was only one left, the one who initiated the attack.
"Before you are destroyed, Fanged One, I would know who you are, and who sent you" Ul said, his sword wavering at the creatures throat.
"I am of you. I was one of your soldiers before the Move. You abandoned me to the Vampires, and I worked my way up thier race, and was granted a kingdom of my own. I vowed I would seek my revenge upon you, and have dedicated my eternity to destroying you."
"So, It looks like you have failed Fanged One. I shall spare your worthless unlife, but take a message back to the others of your ilk. I am back and your race will no longer have unfettered access to this realm! Let this pitiful creature go"
"I will be back, you cannot stop ussss" hissed the creature. "We will see you destroyed, Ul" The creature then fled through an open window, into the darkness beyond.
"Prepare the People. The time has come to become the thorn in the side of the Fanged ones again"