*Scrrchhh*
The dwarf looked with sorrowful eyes at the wall filled with scratches, as the seventh hash finally got added across the other six.
That was the “official” last hash line, signalling that 20 years had passed ever since the dwarf had accidentally gotten stuck in this rat trap.
The most unfortunate side effect of one picking the [Clockwork Engineer] subclass was that one always knew the exact time down to the nanosecond for the rest of their lives. It was super helpful when it came to creating things like clocks and gadgets, and it had been the main reason why the dwarf had gotten the job on the archaeological expedition in the first place, but an absolute curse for a person that had been trapped inside a maze of collapsed tunnels for the last 20 years.
"Go uutside the dwarfholme and explore th' world, dei said. Go foind someone t’ love and get marreed, and if not, at least get yoself sum lawrge amount of trejer, dei said. Focken stupid ass... Why th' hell did I ever listen to anybode else. And those foken humansis and that poncy High Elf...Arrgh! Why’d I follow them all th’ way to the East side of th’ world? If I ever finds him again, I'ma burry me pickaxe right between his eyebrows! Ain't tha' roight, Gibbsn'?"
Gibbson:"..."
"Hah, as usual! Always givin' meh th' silent treatm'nt. S'ok, I dun mind. Got used t' it. Metal cold you are t' meh, but I still loves you like m'brotha."
Gibbson:"..."
"Alrighty lad, we odda' get back to diggin'. The path to th' surface ain't gonna dig by itself, ye kno' "
*Clonk* The pickaxe hit the surface of the rock.
*Clonk* And again, and again.
That had been the daily routine for almost 20 years now, outside of harvesting the edible glowing mushrooms and the occasional bugs, plus collecting the dripping water droplets that were filtering through the rocks. Tedious, boring and absolutely mind-numbing work!
"Argh! If only th' drunkness had not taken over meh back den! Probably shoulda' paid more atten'shn to the way when we was goin' down below so deep! Mebe then we would’t have had to dig in so many directions with so much confusion, eh Gibsy?" The dwarf kept on reflecting about oneself’s misguided past actions.
Gibbson: "..."
*Clonk*
*Clonk*
*Clonk*
After the “shift” was over and a couple more metres of rock had been removed from the obstacle, the dwarf finally decided to take a break.
Sifting through the backpack, the dwarf picked up a random book from one of the several manuscripts that the archaeological team had abandoned together with the [Clockwork Engineer] dwarf when the roof had come crashing down, and opened it for a quick read by the glow of the bioluminescent mushrooms that littered the entire landscape.
░(░ripped░page░)xcerpt from "The Origin of Species" by Da░(ripped page)░░
The High Elves have always prided themselves about how they have managed to totally assimilate their more wild counterparts, also known as the Wood Elves, into the “civilized” world. Indeed, there are very few occurrences of true “savage elves” in the world.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Very rarely will an adventurer party run into a totally “wild” elf, and it will usually be some sort of feral child that has been raised by the animals in the wilderness as their own, or by the tribes of other races.
░(░r░i░p░p░e░d░ ░p░a░g░e░)░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ dwarves have also gotten rid of most of their feral cave-troglodyte counterparts, but you can still find wild and Savage Dark Dwarf tribes within the depths of Dungeons or Deep Undergrounds, where they are still able to survive even while being totally cut off from the rest of the civilised world through sheer resilience of mind and body.
The Savage variant for the humans are of course, the Barbarians, which are tribal nomads that subsist around the edges of the mana-tainted zones, and they are renowned for their fearlessness and savagery during combat, since most of them are known to go into a state of berserker rage that makes them nearly unstoppable, at least for the duration of the rage. After that, they usually just bleed to death and swiftly succumb to their wounds, since very few human tribal shamans know any proper healing arts.
The Savage variant for the Gnomes and the Halflings are a wide variety of pygmy tribes, from the Dark Sand Gnomes that you can find spread across the deserts of the Empire of the Sun, littlefolk that are very well known for their strategic spear pitfalls and traps via camouflaged subterfuge using the desert itself, to the Jungle Fetish Halflings of the tropical zones, known for their poisonous dart blowers and annoying hit-and-run tactics.
The Savage variant of the Noble Red Orcs are the various shades of brown to green-skinned orcs, which are quite prevalent around the borders of the wildlands in small nomadic tribes. They are quite a common presence inside the border raiding parties alongside with the human Barbarians, adopting a form of either cooperation for safety in numbers or outright pack-war clashes between tribal competitors. They are described to be “intellectually challenged” by most adventurers, relying mostly on their enhanced physique to solve most of their problems with an axe to the hea░(░r░i░p░p░e░d░ ░p░a░g░e░)░░░░░░░░░░░
The same could be said about the High Trolls that ░░░░░░░░░░░░░
(░r░i░p░p░e░d░ ░p░a░g░e░)░░░░░░░░░░░░░the High Goblins, which have many Savage and tribal counterparts that can be abundantly found within any wild forested areas because of their fast breeding rate and short years needed to reach adulthood, some who can totally be considered “retrograde” compared to their high civilised counterparts at first glance, but looks have been known to be deceiving. Because given enough time and space to grow properly, the Goblins are one of the smartest races in the world. Mother Earth has compensated for the low Blessings Cap of their race with a highly increased ability to learn everything a lot faster than all of the other races.
(░r░i░p░p░e░d░ ░p░a░g░e░)░░░░░ust as humans have absolutely no problem with killing barbaric sava░░░ or wild bandits, nor do any of the other “civilised” races have anything against the killing of their perceived “lesser selves”. A High Goblin will not even bat an eye if he ever saw you carrying a string of wild goblin ears, which are usually used as proof of quest completion by most adventurer parties. He might even be the clerk that hands you the reward for the subjugation quest with a smile on his face and a “thank you” for getting rid of the threat.
Of course, there is no actual genetic difference between the “Savages” or the “Highborn” of any species, like some noblemen would want you to believe. Most of the time, it’s only an issue of environment and upbringing. This has been proven as a fact many times over by the many cases when a Savage child got taken away from the wilderness and then was subsequently raised by a loving family as a “civilized” person. The “end results” had absolutely no palpable difference to separate them from the other “Highborn” children when it came to skills or intellig░(░r░i░p░p░e░d░ ░p░a░g░e░)░
*Toss book away*
"Blech! What a bunch o’ crap, everybody knows dat shaite! Why do scholars feel th’ need t’ spend so much toime spellin’ out th’ obvia’z? "
Gibbson: "..."
"Well, ya roight ther’ with dat one, buddeh! Fookem all!"
"Alrighte...last “shift” for t’day! Back to diggin’"
*Clonk*
🎵I am a dwarf!🎵
*Clonk*
🎵And I’m diggin’ a hole!🎵
*Clonk*
🎵Diggy diggy hole!🎵
*Clonk*
🎵Diggy diggy hole!🎵
*Clonk*
"Only 20 more metres to go before reaching the surface, and then, freedom!...Hopefully!? And maybe even a little bit of vengeance! Gibbson thirsts for poncy Elf blood!" The dwarf meditated while continuing to strike the rock face with the pickaxe that was sporting a pair of googly eyes painted out from congealed blood on the metal part.