Editing User:FJH/fjh frtrss/str nishsigunkokeb/150sandstone

== Sandstone in the Age of Heroes, 150 ==
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<b>2 Sandstone</b><br \>
We started on the foothills of the Ûbomδk mountains today but halfway up a trail we found Aquaætaoti called out from above - she keeps taking point - and said there was a strange structure just to the mountains on the southeastern side of the valley behind us.  It's a constructed pit - the entrance to a mountainhome!  My people!  Honest to heartiness Dwaves!  Despite having gotten this far, I managed to convince the others we should double back and rest up before attacking these mountains.  We don't really need to - I have enough water decapitation-safe meat in my backpack to last for a while - so I think I just miss seeing seeing other people at eye level.<br \>
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Aquaætaoti regretted mentioning it and it took her a while to coax her back down from the original lookout point.  I suppose she really wants to fight a dragon.  Or go mountain climbing.<br \>
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<b>4 Sandstone</b><br \>
I don't know what to say right now.<br \>
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We were somewhere in the valley when the ground began rumbling in a way that made my companions have to secure their footing, giving way to a herd of giant grey animals, with two horns protruding from their face aside big ears and a long tubular nose.  Giant mice?  Related to Goblins? <font size="-2">Ueme calls them elephants or some such</font><br \>
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Oerieth told us to hold our ground but keep weapons poised.  There were way too many of them to fight - seven or eight - unless they were pushovers.  Fortunately most of the beasts practically charged up to and paused all around us, confused, then started running back the way they can with the sound of off-tune trumpets.  It might have been melancholy, it might have been surprise; I took a few steps forward in case it was intimidation.  I was trying to avoid the dizziness but I failed to keep track of all of them.<br \>
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One monster didn't scatter with the others and charged instead.  It charged towards Aquaætaoti then reared up high.  The Dyansauri hammerer smashed into its back legs in fear but before any of the rest of us could react the front hooves(?) of the thing came down upon her.  She couldn't dodge in time and was struck down under its terrible weight.  Dead in an instant ...<br \>
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Oerieth just stood there in a daze for the moments following the scream but Ueme and I were already at the beast's side, my axe tearing it across the legs and her sword into its side.  The beast collided with Ueme, throwing her to the ground, and then tried to crash into me but I managed to dodge.  And then it started running away the other direction on its wounded legs.  When I got my wits about me, I started chasing after it up a hill and Oerieth was reacting by now; I don't know if she was chasing after it or me.  When the thing turned to face me again, I severed that long nose of it in one slice but it also threw its body against mine and knocked me back, winded but not hurt.  I had lost Nato in the toss and Oerieth stopped by my side.  The creature started back down the side of the hill, hobbling slower than before.<br \>
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I shook off Oerieth's help in standing and chased after the beast again in a fury.  I caught up with it at the base of the hill and drove myself right into its leg while it was off-balance.  The ground shook when it fell down but I just lunged at it again with just my fists and shield.  It's horrible wails filled the area as I broke its legs then just proceeded to rail on it endlessly.  It's rough hide was bruising under my fists, ribs giving way and organs shaking.  This was not the dizziness.  This was not just rage.<br \>
<br \>
This was a madness.<br \>
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I pummeled the beast tirelessly until it passed out and wailed no more, and kept going even after that.  At some point, I must have gone off back up the hill to retrieve my axe because I don't remember doing that but did have Nato in my hands once again.  With my shield I bashed and my axe I cut into its side for whole minutes on end until, shredded and silent, it bleed to death in between my strokes.  I kept hitting it for a bit after I was sure it was dead, not even stopping for that.  Oereith and Ueme had wisely kept their distance, the latter over the corpse of Aquaætaoti nearby but very clearly staring at me, and watched that the others wouldn't return; that was where I found them when I regained my normal senses.<br \>
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"<i>You don't set out to slay an animal in retribution. It's a pointless gesture.</i>"<br \>
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Aquaætaoti ... <br \>
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The pyre's gone out in Oereith's eyes.  I collected her bones and her hammer, to be returned to Lyevaziyci.<br \>
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<b>5 Sandstone</b><br \>
I arrived at the threshold of the mountainhome only to find it much like Äkimkulet, and by that I mean in the middle of outdoor fighting.  The sounds were all around and the three of us rushed cautiously to the closest sounds - a group of Troglodytes making their way over a hill, on the other side of which was a Dwarf mashing Batmen and Ratmen with the handle of a crossbow.  Ueme took them down without a sweat while Eoreith and I made our way to help the Dwarf Ranger.  He was done before we were even there; some people are too good.  Eoreith pointed to some Lizardmen to the south and shifted that direction with Ueme following.  Meanwhile, I faced an obnoxious reality.<br \>
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This is a Chaos Dwarven mountainhome!  I take back what I said about the Mind Flayera, the Cougars, the Goblins and the Dark Goblins--okay, maybe not the treehuggers -- but these guys are much bigger jerks than the lot of them combined.  They typically wage wars with their neighbors for laughs and disrupt trade routes for the pleasure of smashing all the goods.  I've never seen a disruption in action but I've heard of them, I think.  Their gods suck too, I hear; same pantheon, but they focus on the less savory ones who gets laughs out of their followers' failures and routinely command them to do inanely obscure tasks.<br \>
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I managed to pull myself away from the other Dwarf before he could respond to my presence; he ran off chasing another Ratman that was trying to escape.  A single Ratman was not even a threat to a Soapmaker but, as I said, Chaos Dwarves are jerks.  My companions were finished cleaning up the Lizardmen monsters.  There was much a debate about going inside with me opposed, of course.  I want nothing to do with these cretins.  The Dyansauri would not understand and while Oereith was disapproving but relenting, Ueme's blame game about Aquaætaoti was uncalled for.<br \>
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There's nothing different about a Dwarven mountainhome from that of a Chaos Dwarven home, with the exception that it makes less sense and sprawls much more.  I really had to stay my hand from reaching for my axe as we wandered the halls and eventually became lost; there were unarmed Chaos at all turns, and of various professions but even the least rude of them in the beer stockpile called my companions "trained Lizardmen" and me unsavory names in the Greater Tongue.<br \>
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At first, I ignored him, but then a bit or argument lead to some sort of arrangement where I was outvoted and my companions, he, and his friend agreed to allow them to accompany us.  I'm sure I made a good deal of fuss about it but I think I can forgive Oereith and Ueme for not understanding why they have the name "aberrant cousins."  In any case, despite my best intentions, the Speardwarf Ikönem Oheyushurmiyet and the Macedwarf Brose Köfîbrähebock joined us.<br \>
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Maybe we can ditch them before they steal the Deinonychu corpses.<br \>
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<b>6 Sandstone</b><br \>
According to Brose the normal Chaos Dwarven tradition requires they petition the King if they plan to travel with another race.  This didn't get mentioned until I commented about my quest to kill a dragon, so I guess they originally just planned to just wait until we were asleep.  I put the map in my left boot when no one was looking just to make sure it would stay safe.  Afterward, he tried his best to get me to consider that my quest was not unlike the "so-called" inane quests their gods give them.  Oereith already made me doubt why I should kill the dragon; I don't need him aggravating it.<br \>
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Ikönem gives the illusion of acting sensible but he proves to be quite the braggart; it looks like he might be trying to get on Oereith's nerves but he's having a better effect on Ueme.  At least during his boasts I got a better idea about what a dragon looks like - I would have never asked on my own and guess I was just assuming.  More lizard-like, like Dyansauri, with belly low to ground and long in both tail and neck.  Oh, and it still breathes fire; I lost track of how many times he said that.<br \>
&nbsp;&nbsp; Ikönem: Don't blame you for begging help on this one.  A dragon would be a worthy match for any inexperienced runt.<br \>
Okay, I've met a creature that may have very well <i>been</i> fire.<br \>
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