AN: Second chapter of the day, and once more, thank you all for getting this one to 200 followers! :D

Bit of an info dump today, by the way.

As per usual, thank you all for reading thus far. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to voice them.

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The portals as you know them are situated within Grand Illusions scattered around the city of Necropolis. Within them, your simply have to trudge forwards to the centre, and come out of the other side of the world you wish to be in. In the past, however, everything was done more mechanically than naught. For instance, there were more incantations and spell circles; many of which needed chants instead of simply imagination and a key word. Yes. This also included my person, who had to intone every little spell in order to cast it out, and yes, it was very annoying.

As to the portals? Those took far too much time, and usually required a full turn of the sun in order to activate such a thing. Less so if something filled with much energy was fueling the portal, such as my person.

Yes. I fueled this one, as I did not wish to share the same space as the weaklings who were in the room before this one, which sent us to the surface proper outside of a small village with a large Vitae. Whereupon we were greeted by a few of the residents, such as the Leo'lan and a few Dwarves who came to see who it was that came far too early than what had been scheduled.

Now, as many of you know, a Leo'lan is anyone born on Forge who is of a Feline race. However, in the past they were all Lionmen and women. There were no panthers, tigers, or any others, as the name "Leo" stood for "Lion", not "Cat" as it is today.

In any case, there were five of these creatures, each golden furred with manes around their necks and tops of heads. This signified that they were male, and each wore similar outfits of chest beads in various colours, and loincloths with a painted crescent moon upon the front. Of which caused them to be of the Low Moon Tribe, who were vastly more friendly than their counterparts of the High Moon Tribe. Yes. They had been eradicated, but that story is within the books of my adventures upon the world.

With these Leo'lans were two Dwarves, both with the standard wear of heavy platemail, large shields, and heavy axes. These were simple guards of their race, and were the only two sent to protect the village. Why? Well, my dear audience, the race of the past only needed to send up to five in order to demolish an army of thousands. This was so, as the might of a single Dwarven guard was enough to cause half a mountain to fall from one strike against its base.

Of course, this was an exaggeration, as it would need around five or six punches from one of the guards. Nevertheless, they were considerably stronger than what you know of today. Which means if there was ever a grand monster subjugation, they'd send one or two in order to cull them all, instead of sending off a few hundred to a thousand each time.

Anyways, after the portal room within the Hub opened, a bright light had filled our entirety with a brightness which rivaled our world of Terra's day-star. Once it faded away, however, Brutus and I found ourselves in the company of the Leo'lan and Dwarves. Of whom gasped and demanded to know who we were, as well as to why the portal opened up far ahead of schedule.

"Come, come now," my voice thundered around their persons, as my form slowly grew into my skeletal self, "Surely you know only the Gods of your world is capable of coming here much earlier than all others."

Amusement filled my eyes for a time, as we watched the mighty Dwarves fall upon their knees to grovel towards my person. Whereas the Leo'lan simply bowed their heads upon noticing my true self of that time. "We apologise, Lord," called out one of their number, "We did not know it was you."

"No need to apologise, young ones, simply raise your head and move forwards to the new dawn." Of which caused each to raise their heads whilst the Dwarves were hoisted to their feet by way of my energies. This caused them to marvel at such a thing, as each of these beings were quite heavy. For they were made of Orichaclum, a very dense metal which weighs several kilograms in the size of a standard silver coin. Of which weighs only a couple hundred grams, if any of you need a comparison. Hence the reason why they only need to send out a few in order to subjugate large amounts of monsters, or deal with an army vastly greater than themselves.

In any case, once they were placed back upon their feet, my body had flowed into my Kobold self whilst Brutus came up to stand next to my person as we strode forwards towards the village. Whereupon we did witness the Vitae in the centre, hovering above a small pool of water which shined just as brightly as the crystal.

By the by, these crystals have many facets upon their surface, were in the shape of a rhombus, held a width of two metres, and a length of eight. Quite large, to be sure, which made it very difficult to steal. What is more, these sorts can only be transferred by way of magickally treated waters. Which means that if it is away from said waters for more than a decca-turn, they start generating a miasma which slowly corrupts the land around them. If they contain enough life force for people binding their souls to it, it could generate an intelligence, of a sort, and create its own dungeon.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

This is how the Dungeon World known as Forge gained its name, for it is the only world with such crystals. Yes. We've tried to replicate and transfer them to others, but to no avail. For they simply stopped working once they left, and became nothing more than simple, corrupted Mana Crystals. Of which has been known to kill others for trying to learn the use of such things, as each of these crystals still held the imprints of each soul bound to it. It was like trying to extract the essences out of a Demon of Wrath, which is poison to the living.

"Ah, this world brings back so many memories, Brutus," my voice grew somber, as memories of the past flew through my mind.

"Indeed, My Lord God," replied my Lich King, who walked slowly beside my person with his taloned hands behind his back, "The Dwarves did not much care for us back then. Not until you made that wager of yours."

"Indeed." We shared a chuckle before walking through the village and out the other side. Our journey would take us to the Tower of Babel, and its city of the same name. This was where I would call the others in order to formulate a new plan to tackle the False God. Perhaps this time we would draw him out of his hiding hole, or simply wear him down even further by corrupting his system enough to warrant a visit to the surface.

Now, let me explain a few things. Judging by many of your faces, you desire to know what this "wager" was about. This one was between my person and the reigning King of the Dwarves, who desired my Tower of Babel for himself, as well as the riches within. As you well know, the Tower contains within it many, many veins of precious ores, but are guarded by horrendously strong monsters. Thus, making it very difficult for anyone to mine such a thing.

This led to the makings of the wager. The King was to create a team of hardened adventurers to tackle my tower, and conquer it completely. If such a thing ever occurred, then the Tower was to be transferred over to the control of the Dwarves. However, if he failed, and had three attempts, then he was to hand over the rulership of their race to my person. Of which would allow us to conquer the world in its entirety, and move on to Azara. Of course, the King had to deliberate such a thing with the whole of his council, who were far too greedy for their own good, and agreed to the terms. For they believed themselves to be far more superior than we who are Gods.

Ah, which reminds me, with my person was a pair of Gods. These were to be my travelling companions, until I learned a secret about what they held, and ended up slaying one of them in order to gain what they had. This one was the God of Numbers, and held the Gift of All Knowledge, which I took for my own. The other, of whom perished under the might of a Primordial Dragon and was a Harem God of Humans, held the Spark of Purity. This was what I desired most, and flew into a rage when I found out it was no longer where I thought it was.

Anyways, The Dwarves turned to their elite guards, and sent only a few of them to traverse my Tower of Babel, which held over five hundred floors. Yes. The tower now holds well over a thousand, but that was before I gained control of the world. In this instance, their progress was placed upon large, magickal screens which were floating at an angle downwards for all below to witness. There was also a numbered counter upon the top right of these screens, which denoted the floor the Dwarves were upon, as well as the number of floors left to conquer.

Yes. The King was quite upset at the number of floors my Tower held, which surprised all others. Of whom desired to traverse the insides, but were blocked by a few Dwarven guards at the entrance. That is, until I sent them flying over many a head, and placed my Undying at the entrance. To which allowed the rest of the world to enter my dungeon. What is more, there wasn't a tax as the others had placed upon most of such places. This led to a mass migration of beings to my Tower once word got out. For they had to pay a hefty fine in the form of taxes to live upon the land surrounding each dungeon, as well as to pay nearly sixty percent of whatever they found.

Whereas with my own, they did not need to. Thus, they came in droves, and even to watch as the King's elite guards fail miserably upon the tenth floor. Of which held Gahn, who simply devoured each and every one of the Dwarves. Their failure infuriated the race, and even went on to wage a war. One that they lost, especially when it came out that their opponent was a wandering God and a Lord of Chaos.

Ah, but the rest of that story can be read within the library.