| | ::: ''At night they will think they have seen the sun, <br> when they see the half pig man:<br> Noise, screams, battles seen fought in the skies.<br> The brute beasts will be heard to speak.<br> <br> The rock of the world holds in its depths white<br> which will come out milk-white from a cleft<br> Needlessly troubled people will not dare touch it,<br> unaware that the foundation is of clay not steel.<br> <br> Arythshaking fire from the center of the Eredane<br> will cause tremors around the High City.<br> Two great rocks will war for a long time,<br> then Pelluria will redden a new river.<br> <br> A thing existing without any senses<br> will cause its own end to happen through artifice.<br> At the underworld hearts of the Icewall<br> there will be great damage from hail and ice.<br> <br> Beneath the rock, struck in stone, lit in lightning,<br> the treasure of treasures is hidden not far.<br> The lost things discovered, hidden for many centuries.<br> when found, one struck blind, eye pierced by beast.<br> <br> The great rock, dwarfholds and underdark,<br> after peace, war, famine, blood.<br> It will spread far, drowning great countries,<br> even antiquities and their mighty foundations.'' | | ::: ''At night they will think they have seen the sun, <br> when they see the half pig man:<br> Noise, screams, battles seen fought in the skies.<br> The brute beasts will be heard to speak.<br> <br> The rock of the world holds in its depths white<br> which will come out milk-white from a cleft<br> Needlessly troubled people will not dare touch it,<br> unaware that the foundation is of clay not steel.<br> <br> Arythshaking fire from the center of the Eredane<br> will cause tremors around the High City.<br> Two great rocks will war for a long time,<br> then Pelluria will redden a new river.<br> <br> A thing existing without any senses<br> will cause its own end to happen through artifice.<br> At the underworld hearts of the Icewall<br> there will be great damage from hail and ice.<br> <br> Beneath the rock, struck in stone, lit in lightning,<br> the treasure of treasures is hidden not far.<br> The lost things discovered, hidden for many centuries.<br> when found, one struck blind, eye pierced by beast.<br> <br> The great rock, dwarfholds and underdark,<br> after peace, war, famine, blood.<br> It will spread far, drowning great countries,<br> even antiquities and their mighty foundations.'' |
| − | ::: ''Long ago in the mines of Aryth, each the head of each dwarven clan was gifted with a Mithril Axe in the early years of the reign of the first Thane Steelguard. The legend scribed on the blade describes the Last Cry of the Mountains. Should the sound of the mountain's wail ever be heard, should the Hammer-Horn sound, all shall know it to be the end of the Dwarven people. A year's worth of arcs after the cry, the Kaladruns will be sundered in thunder and flame. Every Clan Leader knows the legend, and knows that should they ever hear the cry, and if they donot wish to see Moria so soon, they must flee from the caerns before the summer falls on the year for which begins a new millenia. <br> <br> The Axes are a part of a plan unknown to all dwarves in this age, save one. It is the Thane's burden. A legacy that they have carried since Izrador's fall.<br> <br> When the Witch was young and began having her first insights of what would come, she reached out to the first Dwarven Thane, (who had recently united the clans) in hopes of creating a lasting alliance and being able to plan for the coming apocalypse. The Dwarven Thane was shaken by what the Elven queen said, but took her words to heart. After meeting with his most powerful diviners, and counciling with Lady Aradil, the Elder Council and the young seer Galeck, he laid forth that preparations for the end would have to begin now. He began the largest, the greatest campaign of dwarven engineering that has ever existed.<br> <br> Called '''the Last Road''', it took generations to complete. In this age, it is considered to be a legend. The truth of it has been lost by the surviving clans, mostly do to the incomprehensible size of the structure.<br> <br> What it is, is a horn. Or more accurately, a bellowed flute based on an elven design carved into the living rock of the Gazat's Ghaash'zagh. (Dwarven Fire Peak)<br> <br> Below the mines in the silt of the doomed tomb Hall of Heroes, one end is a tunnel deep beneath Moria, and the largest most concentrated sulfur vein the dwarves have ever discovered - in the maw above "Aryth's Furness" - "the Ghashum'gund" - "the Hellstone River" - "the River of Fire". It is sealed with a huge valve-like door, guarded by an undying Bladebond, long since abandoned, but still maintained in working order by it's golem guardians. <br> <br> The other end is a huge air-tight chamber accessible only through a strange sealed door which opens on the ledges above a massive underground lake which rests beneath Calador. At the bottom of the lake is another valve, this one massive in size and strength, made of Mithril (which never rusts) and held shut by thousands of gallons of water. Huge chains are attached to it, and run upwards, out of the chamber, and to a door that is only opened once during the reign of any Thane. The records of the Last Road, and a letter from the First Thane to the latest, and possibly last. But the key lies with Steelguard.<br> <br> Between the two locations is a tunnel more than 2,500 miles long, deep in the earth. Roughly every 20 miles is a tunnel upward, far below Lake Calador, to the surface with a valve-like door on either end. There are more than 500 of them. These too are maintained by ancient golems who repair collapses and kill intruders. The valve-doors on the surface are disguised with dwarven stonecunning by master stoneworkers of old. Their work is such that surface dwelling dwarves within a mile of the valves have never found them.<br> <br> It is the Thane's duty to ensure that the dwarven homeland never fall into the hands of the Shadow. Every dwarf knows that they would rather destroy their home themselves than see that fate come to pass. Which is the very purpose of the Last Road.<br> <br> It is doomsday, to be activated in the event of defeat. The lake will drain into the bowels of the aryth creating a vacuum as the water is pulled downward. The counterweight itself is a powerful piece of magic. It falls along the only path leading to the Ghashum'gund, completely blocking it off once it falls. Once in place it's magical effect is activated the lands will be saturated to protect the thwarting of the Last Road's path... <br> <br> Far to the south, the suction pulls open the valve which seals off the massive sulfur vein, and begins drawing the volatile gas into the colossal tunnel. As it does so, the 500 smaller valves spaced along it's length also open, but not wide. Just enough to draw in a bit of air to the central shaft. This passage of air creates a powerful echoing sound which booms along the entire mountain range. Each valve is tuned differently, so the sound is incredibly musical, like a powerful minor chord. <br> <br> When Lake Calador is drained, the vacuum releases it's pressure, causing the 500 small valves to shut, ceasing the booming sound which has been thundering for the time of the Hammer-Horn. As they shut, deadfalls swing into place, further blocking the tunnels. At this point the entire Road should be filled with a volatile mixture of air and sulfur, and the sudden quiet will be an ominous thing indeed. <br> <br> Finally, the 500 deadfalls act to drag rods of flint and magnesium across rough iron plates inside the tunnels. The resulting explosion will destroy the entire mountain range, first in a colossal fiery explosion, then in a thunderous collapse. <br> <br> The elder Keepers of Road had once sealed breaches in the tunnel caused by tectonic activity. Though now they slumber from being down there for so long. An explosion visible from the Eren river and felt as far as Sharuun. <br> <br> What will happen to those across Eredane with the sending of shock waves destroying buildings, villages, towns, cities, killing... What will happen to the rivers a seas? What will become of the nature of Aryth and her weather patterns? <br> Does it matter?... There will be a victor and the Shadow will know who levelled the Spine of the World, the Men of Stone will speak when the Hammer-Horn sounds. This is what they feared... This is what weaves the Darguul out of myth and into into cunning plot.''
| |
