Brazen Wolfe Tabletop

The Miners of Morrowdeep

402MoMiOMo

“With pick and hammer the dwarves dug deep and mined well and without tiring for the work was nearly the reward itself. The Dwarven Clan of the Irontongues were devout in their craft, swift with a hammer and trained in their forges and at the village’s heart is one such device.” The old man sat down chewing on the end of his pipe as he glanced down at the heavy book in his lap. “These dwarves worked with the people of Morrowdeep for over a century and with their iron, our timber and the stone from the mountain itself we made ourselves a future. Morrowdeep, the village built for tomorrow from deep within the Earth. That is what our ancestors called this place and with their dedication we won ourselves a new future here.”

The man paused as a few more people stood to listen, he hid a smile as he nudged a small wooden box with his feet causing the few coins to rattle within to draw attention to it. “But the peace would not last and soon a war was brewing. This was good for business as nothing is given for free and coin is required,” he paused as he took a drag from his pipe – the chime of coins hitting more of their own kind heralded a kind donation to the old sage. “The history of this town, its books, do not tell of what the war was with only that within the span of a few days the entire dwarven population was rallying north. A great departure from the home they built which left us on the precipice of dissolution.” An audible gasp spread about those who listened as the man let a tear streak down his face.

“Nobody knows what happened to the dwarves of these lands and those that had trained with the miners quickly tried to pick up where the dwarves left off. It was here that the miners, not the dwarves stumbled upon a stone that the dwarves had overlooked. Something new, something valuable. We called it Morrowstone, a kind of quarts that glowed with power. The wizards and alchemists worked out that the gemstones absorbed power from the sun and lit up like a torch.” he paused and for effect he produced a small thumb sized yellow crystal. In the light the crystal turned darker as if hidden in shadow but a spark of yellow could be seen in the centre of the gem.

“The dwarves never returned but Morrowdeep has come back brighter than ever thanks to the stone.” he continued.

“That’s a nice bedtime story Gregory, but you be forgetting the curse.” a voice from the back of the crowd said and immediately everyone turned to the new voice.

The man, Gregory, withdrew the gemstone which started to glow brightly from within his clothes before his face looked unhappily at the lady dwarf in front of him. “Hiljor, why am I not surprised you’re here to spread your superstition and lies,” he spat.

“None of it is lies. There is a reason the dwarves left them stones alone for they carry a curse. We called them Lanternstones and each Lanternstone plucked the earth demands a sacrifice, a blood debt per gem until the debt is made right.” she said as if reciting from a book. “You failed to mention the cave ins when mining the gems, or the miners that went missing coming down from the Cragstone mountains. Or the Lanternstone night where the wild beasts from the mountains attacked the village.” she listened to the look of horror on the faces of the people listening to her and Gregory’s tale.

“All that was happenchance. The books have reasons for all of that which doesn’t involve your fear of sorcery or stupid dwarven superstition. Do not heed her, she is finding it difficult to let go from the past and embrace the future. A brighter one than is told in your pubs and taverns which is where it smells like you’ve just come from hey Hiljor?” Gregory sneered as some of the onlookers looked more settled and some even chuckled.

“You heed my warnings. People are going missing in this city and you best leave the Lanternstone alone” Hiljor said before leaving the growing number of laughing people behind her.

---

Moving through the darkness was easy with the help of the Lanternstone and something was calling on the wind. Moving through the old tunnels the stone was rough on the bottom of its feet but the thickened skin meant that it felt nothing as it walked into the open night air.

The town before it spread like an infection and the glow of Lanternstone lit up like fire. Nodding slowly the creature walked towards the city and as it walked the hunch in its back straightened. By time it walked into the city it blended in perfectly with the crowd and as it stalked the brightly lit streets it basked in the glow of Lanternstone.

---