Jarblack, the spider king He pulled himself up from the floor of the tunnel. He had been thrown from his mount in the moments before when a great wave of force and fire tore the tunnel towards him. He flipped his hissing mount back to its eight pointed feet and climbed back up onto his saddle. In a moment, he was entering what remained of the lift station. “What the fuck happened?” he yelled into the chamber. Among the fire's rubble and corpses, he could make out some signs of movement. a pair of goblin eyes twitching here or there, a few spiders with a slight to few legs hissing as they tried to get back to their feet. “SOUND OFF, whos alive?” he yelled to what remained of his horde. Serveral goblins let out pained yells from wherever they had come to rest. Jarblack screamed in frustration.

Of the hundreds of riders he had brought with him, apparently only those to the very rear of the horde had survived. the benefits of cowardice exsemplified. Pain pulsed through his injured leg. he grimaced. The loss of his horse was unacceptable. letting out a growl, he whipped his spider into a speedy arachnoid gallop. He would tell his warchief just where he could stick it.

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Snorri let out a grunt as he landed on the cold stone floor of the residential district lift platform. The gigantic chains of the lift platform had never been designed to be climbed, and as he looked down at his hands, he could see a number of fresh nicks and cuts laced the surface of his fingers and palms. Snorri left the station quickly, trying his best to be as stealthy as possible as he made his way through the familiar tunnels and passages that had made up his commute in the time before the goblins.

It wasn't long before Snorri encountered the first of his enemies within the residential district itself. As he rounded a corner a few moments into his journey, he found five or so goblins sitting around a goblin fire. As he came into the veil, the goblins scrambled for the weapons but, unaware, Snorri made quick work of them. the first trio with strong, deadly sweeps of the blade. As the trio fell dead, the two remaining goblins tried to flee. Snorri Caught was the first with a well-timed throw of his sword. sending the blade through the creature as he closed the distance between himself and the pair. pulling his sword free as he passed the goblin's corpse and ran down the second. The final goblin let out a terrifying scream as Snorri sliced away its left leg and sent it crumbling to the floor. After that, he was more careful to check around corners before he turned them.

It didn't take him much longer to reach his own living chambers; there seemed to be few goblins left in the areas where most of the colony lived. Snorri guessed they preferred the larger caves and chambers to the tiny spaces the gnomes preferred to live in. As he reached his door and pushed his way inside, he quickly barricaded the door behind him. It would do him well to get some rest, and he cared little for the idea of goblins coming upon him while he was unconscious. Wearily Snorri sat down on his bed in its alcove carved into the wall. He knew his journey was nearly over. Hopefully, this time tomorrow, he will be outside the colony in the overworld, and maybe there he will finally find the gnomish survivors. He knew it was an extremely small chance anyone else was alive, but as he pulled his body into a semi-comfortable sleeping position and closed his eyes, he finally thought of the hope, no matter how small it was.

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Jarblack The spider king rode his chittering mount past the warchief honour guard. Upon entering the chamber, he rode his mount directly towards his brother’s crystal chair. The warchief looked at him stupidly as he grew close enough that the two goblins could make eye contact. “It’s over, brother," he spat towards the war chief on the throne. Snarblack stared his spider-riding brother down. “I take it, Arcacop is also dead then?” the warchief asked. Jarblack spat on the floor before ansering. “Arry’s dead. He said the snorri did it. So we chased it up one of the tunnels. but it had set a trap. blew most of my boys to smithereens. Im done. Its over, I quit." He ran towards the warchief. Snarblac glowered up at his brother.

“You leave before the battle is over." He asked, trying to clarify if the spider king was attempting to desert. “Ain't no battle, bruv. The killing stopped days ago. I ain't running any more errands for you.” Feeling like he’d won the argument, the spider king reached into one of his many saddle bags. taking a large objecht wrapped in spider silk to the war chief on the crystal chair. “What is this?” The war chief blinked up at him. Jarblack turned his vasy arrachnid mount around to leave the chamber, turning his head to the warchief throne just before he did, only to say “Ask him yourself”.

Snarblack unwrapped the package as the spider rider chittered away. Arracop the Ventors head rolled out from the web by wrapping and landed in hi-lap. He picked it up. Turning the head in his hand, he had an idea. He jumped down from the gigantic crystal chair and made his way from the chamber. His honour guard almost fell in behind him as he reached them, forming a unit of fifty of his best fighters before he reached the gigantic staircase that led to the levels below. "Where are we going, boss?” asked one of his honour guards as he began his decent. “Well gim.” Snarblack said after they had completed the first few steps. “Who do you need to find if you need to speak to a dead guy?” he asked his warrior. The goblin pulled a strange face as he struggled to answer. After a few minutes, the goblin warrior finally opened his mouth to slowly say, “A shaman.” The warchief nodded at his warrior.

“Clever boy, gim. clever boy.”