Exile sighed as reports came in about the situation in the mortal realms. The Raider's Horn was currently being used as the headquarters for the alliance. Mainly for the fact that it was more comfortable than standing around in a store. Paper and writing materials had been procured from Jarxos and there were currently several large piles of them sprawled across the table in front of him between several horns of ale.
'The situation is quite different from what I imagined...' Exile hummed as he scanned the documents. Every leader had provided the numbers of their members, what they were good at, their Pantheons' funds, location, and inventory. Along with battle reports of where their followers were currently fighting so that the leaders could get an overall grasp of the situation.
'We're mostly spread out all over the place. It'll be difficult to bring us all together so the best we can do is guide our followers into creating smaller unified armies.' Exile glared at the report as if it were hiding the secret to winning the civil war somewhere within its contents. But alas, the answer eluded him.
He could only groan and massage his temples as he glanced around the busy bar. Things had happened quickly once they decided to take this route. Noslin had recognised that the old contracts she had tried to fool everyone with were working against them now. So she had dissolved them and created new ones. Now, everyone was working together to find the best solutions for everyone equally.
Midas was now the official head financial officer of the alliance. His job was to find the best way for the alliance as a whole to make the funds they needed and oversee trades between member Pantheons to ensure it was fair. Winter was part of their covert ops players who were working behind enemy lines. However, she had fallen short of someone else for the position of commander.
Clay was one of the seven generals that had been chosen to lead the players in battles, involving them as gods in the mortal realms, to which he seemed quite happy to do. While Exile himself and the other leaders were mostly taking care of the planning and administration behind the scenes. Only if things looked really bad would one of them descend.
Exile nodded his head as he read a different report from Beans. She was one of the players assigned to logistics. Which meant the players that could provide food, water and other items to their followers to help the war go a little easier. All in all, Exile was quite proud of the setup they had come up with so quickly. 'We've adjusted well but for the most part, we're supporting the NPCs... We can't physically get involved too much unless we draw attention to what we're doing...'
Of course, they also had players going out of the city to fight mobs to give their Pantheons a bit of presence, so nobody would be too suspicious. A far off look entered his eyes as he stared at the mess of papers. Across from him, Noslin appeared ready to tear her own hair out. While Beartooth seemed to struggle to pay attention to the writing in front of him. 'Hopefully, Skovi can keep everything in check in my absence...'
Meanwhile, deep in the mountains to the west of Eraldsfen, the deep earth beneath them heard singing for the first time in centuries. Thovok wore a beaming smile beneath his beard, which you could only tell was there by the way his beard line sat higher on his face than before. 'Now that's what I'm talking about!' Thovok chuckled to himself as he glanced around at the two hundred dwarves that the king had loaned to him.
They were currently busy singing amongst themselves as they chipped away at the rocks that had caved in and sealed the tunnel ahead of them with the passage of time. It was one of the old tunnels the dwarves had used to retreat from Skardia when they grew tired of the world of man. 'Hm, I wonder who's king there now?' This was the problem that he was now facing. For his clan to continue their research into the gods, they had to convince the Skardian ruler that they meant no harm.
However, there was no telling how the humans would take it for a bunch of dwarves to crop up after so long. Maybe they would still be friendly and welcoming. Or perhaps they had forgotten about them and they would appear to be demons from the depths of the earth. Either way, they had to try. Thovok was willing to trade almost anything to study the gods. Luckily, the king of his clan agreed that the secrets they could learn would be worth it.
Although, the condition had been attached that if he got the chance, he had to try to recover some dwarven treasures that had been left behind during their exodus. Thovok could only sigh at that. He remembered how humans think. They thought that all of the dirt, muck and rocks beneath their countries belonged to them. So it might be a bit tricky to convince them that just because the ruins were under their lands, that did not mean they had the right to their treasures.
It would be tough going, but he would do what he had to. Even if it meant digging long, secret tunnels in the dark to reach the ruins without being seen. Thovok sniffed the air before taking a metal half face mask off his belt and placing it over his mouth. 'Mine gas...' He hummed. He knew this could be bad if they set off a spark, but all of the dwarves with him recognised that smell immediately and stopped digging.
There were two ways they could deal with this. Deliberately set it off to get rid of it. Or they could use the Deep Magic to continue the digging. Naturally, he selected the second option. They were in too much of a rush to risk a cave in, even if the first option would technically be better. If they cleared it, then they would not have to worry about it on the way back after all. But the chance of a cave in was extremely high.
He waved his hands to perform mine signs to his fellow kinsmen to let them know what had to be done. Moments later, a deep humming filled the tunnel, and the walls began to slide back ever so slowly. Hours passed as they hummed their mystical tune, singing the tunnel into the shape that they required. Dwarves were known for their patience and their endurance. In fact, they could be so still at times, it was easy to think they were actually a part of the earth around them.
Thovok eventually nodded as he walked carefully through the pocket of gas. The tunnel stretched on for a while, with that smell invading his nostrils. At its thickest point, he could even see the air being distorted by it. He held up his lantern embedded with a glow gem. With a critical eye, he studied the pillars they had formed with their magic to make sure it would hold.
Seeing that there were no structural problems with the operation, he continued on until he found the opposite end of the gas. Once he was clear of it, he called for the others to join him. Cheery voices filled the tunnels yet again as they removed their masks and got back to work with clearing the path ahead. Deep Magic was exhausting, otherwise, they could have just used it instead of returning to swinging their tools.
Thovok sighed as he wondered how much longer it would take to find the clear part of the tunnel on the other side of the rocks. He simply could not wait to see a real god again! 'The last one was so stingy... Just because they could not solve a simple puzzle I created.' Thovok grunted as he wondered what challenges he could put to these gods in this era. 'There's bound to be something...' A toothy grin appeared on his face as he imagined how those conversations would go.
His master, who passed away two centuries ago, now had proven that the gods were not omnipotent. They did not know everything, and they did not see everything. This had led their clan to abandon true religion, but they were still interested in what gods could do. Mainly how they were able to live such long lives. Were they really immortal? Or just made up of mortal thoughts that gained substance somehow? Could they develop something similar for their own bodies? Those were the questions they wanted answers to.
The sound of boulders tumbling down the hall reached his ears as the dwarves broke through the wall of rock. The ruins on the other side became visible, and he knew they had finally cleared the old tunnels into Skardia...