My Fourth Year
Let me start off with apologizing for the wait. I'm afraid my children, and myself are to blame for the constant flux that the mimic queens are in. Though that can wait until the end of the story. When we left off, we were going onto my fourth year. The time that gave us so much trouble. After waiting for longer than we were promised, a ship finally came. Ivern and others were understandably upset, since we were promised ships, yet given the alternative we had no other choice.
We ended up selling most of the wagons, deciding to use the local lumber past the port we were going to dock at. It would add time to our journey, but it was better than leaving anyone to travel the shores. We bought supplies to keep ourselves fed, while the old captain apologized once more to us in private. From what I understood, most seafaring vessels were being used for a war against the elves of the East, as they battled over the land bridge in that area.
Thankfully, the ship was led by an young captain who had heard tales of Father Ivern, and his travels from his father. Everything was looking up, and we set sail. The Dwarves tended to stay below deck, since the sight of so much water made them uncomfortable. It was clear they couldn't swim in any water, which they took the time to explain to me. Even Adam was not fond of traveling by sea, which made me wonder just how terrible traveling along the shores could truly be. The Young captain would pry everyone for tales of our adventures and what we had seen while walking along the lands. Those that enjoyed telling stories, kept him company, while I listened alongside him.
At the time, I had taken to keeping a shapely form when outside of my wood golem. The captain had been walking around, the deck while I merely wanted to watch the stars. I did not hear him, when the ship rocked from an errant wave. He called me beautiful, and we spent more time together. He told me the stories his father told him, he taught me how to navigate the sea by the stars in the sky. How to read the waves, and the clouds, and how to spot monsters.
It took a month to sail from Tol'son to the port village of Dus'kon. During our travel, I had my first kiss, and learned more about how human bodies worked. The captain was reluctant to see us go, and I was sad to see him off to war. We made promises to see each other again one day, but humans do not live this long. Spring was still in season, and we were left to explain our situation to the people of Dus'kon.
Little did we know, this new village was consorting with a powerful monster. It attacked Adam in the dead of night, believing that I was only a simple golem. It was on that night, that Adam experienced his first death in front of me. The large serpent slammed my suit against a tree, knocking parts loose and breaking an arm. Thankfully I was unharmed inside the thing, and I just stayed still hoping it would leave me alone. It did, returning to its den, but not before speaking of how it would poison everyone's food the next night. Adam and myself were left to rot that night, and it wasn't until morning that I finally worked up the courage to move.
People had come to either break apart my body, or reclaim the golem to use for whatever purposes they had. I ran past them, back to the others. Screaming and crying out when I saw the wooden fence made to keep out the beasts. The villagers screamed that I had gone berserk, and killed Adam. I was so afraid, screaming as I was unable to even make words. I just blew into the small horn inside my wooden suit, trying to warn everyone we were in danger.
I cried when Father Ivern had everyone take up their weapons, still blowing the horn to warn them. A fire elementalist from the village finally struck my suit, catching the splinters on fire. That was when everything happened. A third of my family died that die, but we killed everyone in the village, and the serpent. Father Ivern lost an arm, and no one escaped without some kind of scar. The children we had with us, were dead. We spent months mourning, while Father Ivern tried to console everyone.
Adam was furious, but his anger was more directed purely towards himself. He broke houses apart in his anger, which didn't help much, but ultimately he and Father Ivern decided to use the wreckage to build wagons and carts. There was plenty of food and supplies to last us for the months we were there. We took everything that would perish, and a good deal of tools and other necessities. We left that dark place with enough supplies that another village could be built on top of its remains.
For the first time, we had extra suits made for me. I was still young, but there weren't many of us left and fewer were still able to properly fight. If we stayed there, the yearly tribute vessel would eventually find us. We had to leave, and risk the dangers of the forests and woods. Adam taught me how to fight, sparring with me every day, tearing open my suit if I froze up like I did before. He would roar that I was dead, but always left me with two suits to use and move between.
More of our tribe perished to the wounds they received from that village. Not because of illness, but because the various creatures in the forest could smell their blood, and sensed weakness. We continued on our death march. Our numbers fell to just below thirty, and it took almost an entire year to reach the trade city of Eclipse.
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My Fifth Year
We arrived there towards the end of Summer. The walls were high, but Adam himself could have easily jumped over such. There were people from the Black March from Dark Fall building houses for some unknown reason. The city guard leader welcomed us, and put us to work with the Black March since they were more than happy to pay for our labor. There were so many different people in Eclipse, but it appeared that a good number of them were rougher than most people we met. The city itself had districts, and was more like a melting pot of different towns mixed together, than a true city.
It was frequent for gangs to form and take out spots within the city walls. A lot of the gangs tended to revolve around one race, or mixed with a different one to go against some other race. Thankfully they didn't care about golems, or monsters that could talk. Though a few human led gangs were not on friendly terms with dwarves, so we had to avoid them.
During our stay, the weather grew colder, and we decided to stay for the incoming winter. I learned new things, like what bandits were and how the captain of the Guard was considered the bandit Queen. Somehow she kept order in the city. I also learned that Eclipse had a very dark past, in which it was the final stopping point criminals being taken to Dark Fall as sacrifices to the Kingdom there. The most important thing I learned, was that one does not simply fuck with the Black March.
Though their numbers were twenty, and they always kept their armor on. The Black March was clearly made of the different races. They rarely talked, but when they did their voices were like whispers. A gang of one hundred decided to try and claim the houses built outside the walls for their base. Describing what happened as a battle would be incorrect. It was a slaughter for the gang, as their numbers were reduced to zero within a single night. Their leader openly gave coin to the captain of the Guard, and that was the end of it. It always was a mystery as to where those coins came from, but they never did run out.
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My Sixth Year
We made enough coin by working with the Black March to buy proper supplies, and keep our bellies fully. It was hard work, but no body asked questions, and all workers under the Black March were protected. Once the new year and Spring came, we prepared ourselves to leave. Some of the other workers decided they wanted to come with us to the Eastern Kingdom. The remnants of broken gangs, or those that escaped Dark Fall's sacrificial march. We needed more people, but Father Ivern made certain to only take those he could trust. He was able to determine if someone was speaking from their heart or not. Which meant he was able to tell if someone lied to him.
The plan was to spend a couple years among the Tribes, after getting through the forest again. Thankfully the Eastern path was well maintained, with elf camps and beastman tribes littered between the different woods and forests. Father Ivern joked about how the beastman tribes were made to slowly take over Eclipse after generations. When I asked where the Beastmen came from, he laughed it off saying that Elves are very close with nature.
It wasn't until we got to the first wood elf tree, the blood wood tribe, that I got my answer. Evidently the wood elves would bring dangerous animals to their mother tree, to soak them in a sap and put them to sleep. After a few years the beast in question would have wood elves to mate with. The beastman tribes were most often made this way, but there were rumors of the other elves making their own beast tribes, but the majority came from wood elves. Said beastman tribes were allowed to expand away from their mother tree, thus ensuring their tree was safe and having capable guards.
It was disturbing to see no elf children for the wood elves, but they just spawned fully grown. Naturally I wasn't allowed anywhere near those chambers that the new ones would come out of. No one was, but it was perfectly understandable. A lot of the wood elves were friendly towards us, and they explained that Father Ivern's presence soothed spirits, and calmed the saplings of their grove. We were able to freely trade with them, and oddly enough they usually wanted other types of wood. They would often ask us to carry and deliver special logs to neighboring groves. A sort of acknowledgment of the tribes nearby, and forging an agreement for trade, and territory. It was also a way for them to get to know each other, if they didn't before.
There was a lot of back and forth, as we went deeper into the Eastern Kingdom. Our wagons were remade with stronger wood, and we acquired enchanted weapons. We met elf tribes and most were not openly hostile, those that were quickly saw our wood elf wagons and negotiated instead of fighting. It was incredibly peaceful besides the fact that I was still growing.
Adam had to make me larger and larger suits, until they were almost his size. Thankfully once I reached that point, I seemed to stop growing.
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My Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Years
Our progress was pretty much reduced to a crawl. Every elf tribe we met, expected us to stay there for at least a couple weeks or a month. It didn't matter if they were a light elf, or a wood elf. The wood elves were probably worse, since they always wanted us to carry a log with to the other tribes. The trip was extremely safe, but I really started to understand why humans only stuck with a single tribe to trade with, and merchants rarely traveled through elf lands. We stayed along their borders, and even that was almost too much.
Stolen story; please report.
Just the repetition of seeing the same tribe three times in a row, staying there for weeks while they carried about their lives. It was extremely boring. If they weren't hunting, they were doing a different designated job that they spent years honing their craft on. I made the mistake of asking one how to weave better, and what followed was every waking moment being about how to weave. The elves didn't really need to sleep unless they were exerting themselves physically. Some would stay awake for three days at a time before sleeping for an entire day. They were just able to push their schedules around however they felt like.
I was equal parts jealous, and frustrated with them. They couldn't understand short lived races, unless it was their caretakers who often were the ones making the trades. At least as far as wood elves went, they had special elves for each task, including faster trades. Trading with other tribes usually meant entering camp with the trade deal in mind, writing it down so you wouldn't forget it, then asking once every two days to remind the elf in question about it. Only for the deal itself to be completed as we were about to leave.
It was completely pointless to say no to their counter offer, since it would make them take another week to consider it. They would happily explain why, spending hours telling you how it was fair on their part. Then I also learned that this longevity and slow way of moving extended to everything they did. The elves wanted to spend days on a single thing. If they decided to do laundry, they would spend weeks doing everyone's laundry. If they went hunting, they would spend months just enjoying the feeling outside. They were very skilled at what they did, but it was an unspoken taboo to stop them.
Then we were forced to stay months because a wood elf carpenter saw my suit, and decided to make me one out of wood from their grove. I wanted to cry because we couldn't leave, and we didn't want to offend them. It also meant the wood elf in question had to learn every inch of my body, and how I moved my suit around. Which made him more interested, and other carpenters got involved. A few even begged me to put veins on their arms and hands just to see if I could control their arms as well. Which I could if I was touching them, but otherwise it was painful. The warriors did look at me funny, but the carpenters explained what they felt was happening.
By the end I wasn't allowed past a certain distance in their groves. They were happy enough to give me more of their logs and such as compensation. By the end it became some kind of competition between the tribes to see who could make the best golem suit for me. Which still makes no sense to me to this day. I promised to return to tell them which one I liked the best, but well things happened and I couldn't.
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My Tenth Year
We finally made it out of the elf tribe lands, out of their borders, and arrived back at the mountains. We traded with the Wet Beards, other wandering tribes, and finally ended on the Beard Cutters. We were about to start another journey around the world, more wood elves coming with us this time, while our numbers were roughly about the same as last time. Then it happened, Adam was scouting ahead towards the forest when he said he felt a rumbling.
Father Ivern went pale, as he yelled that the spirits themselves were fleeing from the direction of the source. We were told to run as fast as we could into the closest tunnels. Everyone that could fight, carried weapons, while the others took the tools we needed. We rushed into the tunnels my suit not quite able to fit, while Adam himself was forced to stay outside. Adam gave me a knowing smile, and rushed back out, as the first of the horde came into view.
Monsters with black tears on their faces, all screaming and crying while they surged forth out of the forest. Banshee screaming, Fiend faces twisted with rage and malnourishment. So many different monsters all looking like they were in pain, and driven towards the tunnels. I didn't even know half those monsters at the time. Still Adam himself charged to grab a smaller suit for me, chucking it to the tunnel while I spent precious seconds getting inside it.
Adam would not die, but he roared as the horde surged towards him. They tore at him like undead, digging everything they could into his flesh and fur. He sacrificed himself for us again, while they bit into his flesh eating every piece of him. I ran into the tunnels, with the rest of the family where Father Ivern was screaming orders to prepare us for the fight ahead. Everyone was asking what happened, asking why, but Father Ivern told them it didn't matter. He saw their souls were tainted by some kind of disgusting force that forced the monsters to act that way.
We didn't know if it could infect me or Adam, but Adam himself probably wouldn't come back for a week after something like that. Father Ivern needed time to prepare the spirits to close the tunnels and protect the tribes further in. We heard the screams of Banshee and all other kinds of monsters. They were trying to force their way in, but they were not coordinated. Father Ivern muttered that their souls were crying out in pain, that it felt like they wanted to die, rather than hurting others. The sins of terrible crimes clung to them, as black thorns drove them forward.
I was ordered to go deeper, to warn the tribes ahead of time so they could prepare. Other groups were spread out, and I could hardly make out their words. There was some more screaming, as I heard Father Ivern sing once more, a sad song coming from the depths of his soul. One with the resolve for what had to be done. I continued running, as the tunnels kept getting smaller. Then something shook the mountain itself. I turned around, my suit stuck. I crawled back towards the others as rocks started to move and follow me. I felt kinship with these moving rocks, and cried out on instinct.
More rocks came, gathering around me, making a longer suit out of their flesh. We half slithered, half crawled back towards the others, only to find the tunnels collapsed. I heard nothing on the other side, and I still don't understand why they chose to collapse the tunnels on themselves like that. I cried and begged them to not leave me alone. Hoping that someone would reply, while I dug into the stone. What I found was bones covered in half dissolved flesh, crushed bits of wood still leaking sap, and nothing else. Some monster among monsters must had appeared and forced them to take such measures. The other groups hardly had the chance to get into their tunnels, but still I tried to save them.
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Everything After
I had spent my first months digging and asking for as much help as I could. The mimics were listening to me and did everything I asked. I honed my instincts, and laid my first clutch. The grief was too much, that I hardly even noticed, and I still do not know if it was one of the mimics, or myself. The entire front of the mountain was sealed, and I had managed to recover what was most important, the bodies of my family. I laid them to rest where they died, before leaving mimics around the eggs so they could be protected.
With my mimic suit, I continued down the tunnels to try and warn the other tribes. I was afraid that they might attack me, so I stuck to areas with plenty of mimics. I met my first doppelganger, and realized he was about to kill himself. I called out to him, staying his hand. My presence was apparently powerful, and very clear. Doppelgangers and mimics were compelled to obey me. I managed to free the mind underneath the doppelganger's influence. They cried, thanking me, before explaining what happened to them.
I listened to their life story, before telling them what happened in the tunnels. Evidently the monsters found another way in, or perhaps a way was opened because of the cave in. Regardless the mimic queens were already at war with each other, and rather than serve the victorious queen, who won because of a pincer attack between it and the monsters. The doppelganger controlling this dwarf would rather kill itself, than serve the other. There were many like the poor dwarf, and he led me to them. I freed them, while he was left explaining everything that happened. They were a wandering tribe like the Moss Beards, but specifically were a tribe that tended to the tunnels to prevent them from caving in.
After saving everyone I could, I told them my story, and how the Moss Beards sacrificed themselves. That I was their last surviving member, and that they had to tell the others about the monsters coming. They agreed, traveling in groups to head back. There were a lot of mimics in the tunnels located where I was. With the threat of monsters, and mimic queens that would actually try to kill me, I went back to my family. Months turned into years while I ate monsters that the mimics killed, or even the mimics themselves. The tunnels were too small to use a proper suit, and I had to use the mimics to move around. They were slowly becoming a part of me, and my body needed to lay a clutch of eggs yearly.
I could speak to my little ones, and I taught them the wonders of the outside world. Telling them the stories I had during my travels. To remember the wonderful tribe that took me in, that taught me so much. I told it to the dwarves that I freed from their Doppelgangers, and slowly we managed to kill another mimic queen so that I could grow. My flesh took more mimics, growing into the tunnels like the other mimic queens. This scared the dwarves I had freed, and so I offered them my heart. I allowed them to make the choice, to kill me here and now, or to give me the chance.
I sang them the song that Father Ivern always sung to me when I was little and in pain. The one that I sang myself, from my very soul. A magic dwarf looked into my very soul, and realized my talent; My Soul Unto You. For whatever reason, it meant that I could touch the souls of others with my own. That I could sing my feelings and reach them, to let them know what I wanted, and the truth. I sung to those that were afraid, able to feel their pain since I could touch their souls. I sang, and sang letting them know my sadness and grief. Letting them know that I did not mind dying by their hands, to join the family I lost.
I moved them with my songs, my children crying with me, as we grieved together. I made a new family among the doppelgangers of felled Queens, and my own offspring. We worked tirelessly preparing the tunnels for more hordes. We would collapse them to take out armies, while the mimic queens claimed they were responsible. They would start religions in the tribes they were closest to, dealing with a fraction of what we had to fight. Letting monsters through to breed and multiply and endanger the others to rule them through fear.
Years turned into decades, as I got my first young mimic queen. I forced it to obey, so that we could make doppelgangers and protect those under me. The solution wasn't perfect, but they at least had a choice. Those that were afraid were allowed to mine in the safety of tunnels, finding deposits of minerals that would keep them going. Those that were brave enough, were given my blessing to do what they felt had to be done to protect the other tribes. We stole doppelgangers from the other queens, returning freedom to them, but for every person we freed, the queen always seemed to gain two more.
The Queens themselves were not aware of my presence, always believing that one of the other Queens were attacking them. Then we finally made contact with the Beard Cutters. I was unable to move by this point, and so my children went to meet them. They returned, and we established connections with them. We tried to help them for years, and it worked, until they discovered our blood worked for tools. It has been fifty long years since I have seen a few of my children, and I know they are held in that cursed vault. I know they are being used, their blood harvested as they experiment with the ancient texts.
What the Beard cutters are suffering now, is the result of their lies and using my family for their own end. It's so easy to do nothing, and let evil grow and fester. It was foolish to cling to the belief of my younger self, and hope that I could change the world for the better. With every passing decade, I find myself waning, and struggling to continue my crusade. The mimic queen closest to the Beard Cutters knows of our existence and wishes to exterminate us, while the Beard Cutters want to capture more of my children to enslave us.
My soul has brushed against your own Oswald, and though we are both hurting, you know our entire history. Everything we have done, and so I offer you a choice. Will you help us, and free the other Dwarves; or will you kill me and continue on your own without our aid? My children will make their choice, because I could never show them the mountains, or the clear blue skies. If they fight you without my presence, then it was because they held the freedom to do so. Please, sleep on your answer, and make your decision when you are better.