Chapter 14: Temple visit and Roasted Rats

Authors notes:

Maybe a bit late but I wish every one of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR. And with that here is (in my opinion) a very long chapter! MORE THAT 11000 WORDS

(a sorry to my proofreader, it kind of got a bit out of hand)

SECONDLY I want to thank Nantoka!!! He has helped me by posting a lot of the mistakes that slip through in the comment for I think every chapter. because of this I want to thank you Nantoka for being such a great help!

Lastly many thanks to my proof reader Traluxbot101 he has, is and will be a great help.

Year: 05-05-1722 (Imperial Calendar) (± 15 years and 7 months after hatching)

Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak

Michiko POV.

A few days had passes since our exam and the small celebration afterwards. We spent those days by exploring the Karak and getting to know where everything is. We also did some smithing, plus some maintenance on our weapons. Lastly is spent some time in the library of the Karak.

The library of Karaz-a-Karak is huge and has many levels filed with ancient books and tomes. I could probably spend a hundred years here and still have many more books to read.

As for my access level to the library, I paid a regular fee and now have access to the first two floors, over time I should be able to get access to higher floors. But for the top floors I will have to get permission from special people. That can be hard because if I want to access the top floor I will have to get the permission of the high king himself! But that is still way off and I still have more than enough to read on the lower floors so it is not really a problem.

Right now I am at home with Vanyra, I am tinkering a bit with my rifle and Vanyra is forging a rune. As some time passes noon approves, we just keep doing our own thing until we hear some knocking on the door. As we are not expecting anyone we wonder who is could be so we walk to the door and open it. In front of the door stands a guild clerk with two scrolls in hand.

Clerk: “Good morning this is the accommodation of miss Vanyra and miss Michiko?”

Vanyra: “Yes I’m Vanyra and this is Michiko”

She says while pointing to herself and then me, the clerk nods and then hands over one scroll to each of us and says.

Clerk: “Congratulations on joining the guild and have a nice day”

He says before leaving, we close the door and we go and sit down in the living room which I have begun taking over more or less. With designs hanging on the wall and a few prototypes and my rifle laying on the table we first make some room before sitting down at the table. We both open the seal on our scroll and roll it open and start to read.

Dear miss Michiko

I have been informed by Journeyman Runesmith Gottri that your examination was a susses. Therefore I wish to inform you that as of the date 05-05-1722 IC you have become an official member of the Runesmith Guild. This gives you limited access to guild resources. But I regret to inform you that I can only give you the title of Apprentice runesmith. I have been informed by mr.Gottri of your skill but as of now you do not have a master and so because of guild regulation we cannot give you the title of Journeyman.

this is the result of that fact that you do not have a master to elevate you. It is guild regulation that only the master of the apprentice runesmith in question can elevate his or her status.

As for the matter of finding a master that you informed me of the guild has been unsuccessful. I regret to inform you that there are currently no master runesmith looking for an apprentice. We do promise we will inform you the moment a master is available. Until that time I have decided to give you free access to guild lectures held by members. This will hopefully allow you to keep on advancing at least until a master can be found.

I hope you will continue your pursuit of knowledge and keep improving your smithing.

Sincerely

Furgil, Runesmith guild hall leader

Putting down the letter I take a look at Vanyra who also finishes quickly.

Michiko: “And? What does your letter say?”

Vanyra: “Probably the same as yours, admitted to the guild and we get some help from them but they have not found a master”

She says to me and then looks at me to confirm what she thinks, I nod and she thinks a bit before speaking.

Vanyra: “well for now we can pursue our own goals, the guild said they have not yet found a master so they are still keeping an eye out. But until then we can find enough things to do on our own”

I nod and then say

Michiko: “well I am interested in the guild lecture’s and the library”

Vanyra laughs

Vanyra: “of course you are, with so much time and so many books, you could not be happier, you bookworm”

Michiko: “anyway I will cook tonight to celebrate. We more or less already did but now its official”

Vanyra: ‘I’m looking forward to it then”

She says with a smile.

Year: 16-05-1722 (Imperial Calendar)

Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak

Michiko POV.

It’s a few days after the letter from the runesmith guild arrived. Since then not much has changed in our daily life. I still go to the library a lot for books, make new designs and blueprints for some ideas I am looking into, I do some tinkering with my rifle and of course also a lot of smithing.

The only thing that has changed is that we now can go to guild lectures and ask questions to some guild members. And we did, two days ago Vanyra and I went to a lecture at the guild. It was quite interesting since I heard about some new things I did not know yet. I also got to ask some questions I had for some time now which was very interesting.

Speaking with some older runesmiths gave me some new insights and ideas. Their help means a lot since now when I am stuck on something that I do not understand or find difficult I can ask them, before when I was stuck on something I would always lose a lot of time for finding a solution or a workaround. Speaking with them really helps a lot and they also like doing it. They seem to like me but I do not really know why… It’s my age maybe? I asked Vanyra for the answer but she started to laugh and told me that I should find out by myself…..  ?

Leaving that behind for now, today I am at home reading a book I borrowed from the library. It’s about the human empire’s history, it’s quite interesting to read and find out more about the world. I know when I have time in the future I want to go and visit The Empire and many other places around the world.

Putting down the book on my knees I take a look at a map that hang on the wall.

http%3a%2f%2fsk.uploads.im%2fcTsGN.jpg [http://sk.uploads.im/cTsGN.jpg]

(this map is actually from around 2500 IC, no maps available from 1700 IC, sorry)

It’s a map made out of the work of countless Humans and Dwarves alike. But even with all that work it probably is not totally accurate. Another thing is that the map does not show that area of our Karak. But still I like to look at it sometimes and try to imagine what the land looks like with the knowledge I have gathered so far. When I in the future have the chance to travel there myself it will be interesting to see how much of my mental image is actually correct.

After staring at the map for some more time I hear a knock at the door, I close my book and then go open the door.

When I arrive at the door I see that Vanyra already opened the door and I speaking with the dwarf that is standing in front of the door. The dwarf looks around a hundred years old and looks like a normal dwarf living in the karak. The only thing special I see about him is a medallion hanging on his chest. The medallion is made out of silver inlaid with an amethyst, I recognise this almost immediately because it is almost identical to the one Alrika has. The only difference is that it is made out of silver instead of gold. The medallion is also one of the symbols of the church of Valaya.

Michiko “What is it sis?”

Vanyra: “Ah Michiko, this man is a cleric of the church of Valaya. He told me that a letter arrived from Alrika and that in relation to that one of the priestesses would like to see you”

I look at the man and he nods.

Cleric: “Yes, I have been send by her to escort you to the main church to talk if possible. I know this is a bit sudden and my superior told me that it can be done on another day if necessary but it would be best if you could come today”

Michiko: “I do not really have anything planned for today so I think I can come”

I then look at Vanyra and ask with a gaze what she thinks.

Vanyra: “Can I come too? Or is this something only for Michiko?”

The Cleric thinks for a bit and goes with his hand through his beard.

Cleric: “Well if you want to you can come but I think the priestess wanted to talk to Miss Michiko privately, so you probably can’t but you can come with us to the main church and wait there”

Vanyra and I exchange a glance and I nod.

Vanyra: “Well Michiko agreed so I don’t mind, but I will be coming with her and if I cannot join the conversation I will just wait there until they are done. Please wait a bit and we will come”

A while later we are on our way and walk through the lower karak in the direction of the elevator. While walking the streets I see many dwarves walking around, some alone others in groups. I see people enter and leave shops, going into smithy’s and delivering messages or items. Many dwarves are working and many apprentice runesmiths are running errands for their masters. Because of this the central area where most thing are located is now quite busy. Along with the shops, many houses, smithy’s and forges the central is also the location of the central elevator that you can ride for a fee entirely to the top floor.

We are now also going for one of those elevators which is necessary right now since while we can take the staircase up it would take too long right now.

Stepping inside of the elevator building, the Cleric pays the small fee for the three of us. We then step into the elevator itself, the doors close with a clang, the elevator activates and goes upward.

The “walls” of the elevator are made of thin rectangular bars bent into patterns but still seem very strong. As we go upwards we can see through the bars and because of that we see the different level of the karak go by. There are some levels where ore is being excavated, some levels with housing and also some levels with fabrication. But most of these levels are largely sealed off and there is most of the time no dwarf in sight on those levels with the exception of regular patrols of Ironbreakers.

The levels have been sealed because of multiple reasons. But the two most important of reasons are. One the fact that with its massively lower population than in the golden age many of the levels are just not necessary and using them would mean a very high cost to maintain them. The second and probably most important reason is that a part of those levels have been infested by Skaven. Even in the capital of the dwarven empire the Skaven have created a foothold.

Many kings have tried to drive them out but every time they have been unsuccessful. This is mostly because of their gigantic reproductive rate, The Skaven most of the time have a litter of around five rats every time. because of this they have an almost inexhaustible number of “men” to throw into the fight. The dwarfs just don’t have the numbers to effectively fight them, one dwarven formation may stop five or more Skaven formations, but if it gets destroyed the dwarves will still be at a disadvantage.

Another thing is that the Skaven seem to have strange beasts, many diseases, unreliable but deadly weapons and also many assassins. After thinking about it like this it is almost a miracle they did not kill us already. But the reason for that is most likely that they are the most honourless, conniving, backstabbing, unreliable, paranoid, disloyal, dishonest bastards. They gladly stab another Skaven in the back if it helps them in some way, big or small.

Still I only got this information from some books and by asking some older dwarves. And I can easily see why the dwarves hate the Skaven to death. They are more or less the exact opposite so it is not that hard to see why, plus the fact that they have tried to and have killed many dwarves also does not help their reputation.

As for why they have not just broken apart in internal struggles? Well most likely only they know it entirely. But scholars think it is fear of something, what? We do not know but something that can keep the Skaven “in line” must be truly fearsome.

While I have been thinking we have reached our destination so I end my train of thought. Enough of the Skaven for now, I should focus on the visit to the temple.

We get out of the elevator and have arrived in one of the higher levels of the karak. This is the level where the temple of Valaya is situated. Walking the path toward the building Vanyra and I talk a bit about what we think they want to talk about. We both think it is about the blessing since Alrika sent the letter. but it is unlikely that many people know about it right now or the cleric would probably have asked about it.

We arrive at the temple complex and walk through the gate past some guards. When we arrive at the other side of the gate we find ourselves at a large circular plaza. Looking around I can see the front of many buildings that have been carved out of the rock. On the plaza itself there are many people walking around, coming to take a look, working, or on their way to the church building.

The front of the church building has many sculptures and very few windows. The sculptures look like guardians, fully armoured and with axes, sword, hammers and spears. They strike a powerful image as they stand there, eternally guarding the temple of their goddess. Other than the statues the temple face has huge columns of stone and other kind of delicate artwork. In the middle of the temple face there is a massive double metal door, on the door itself there is a delicate engraving. In the middle there is the shield with the rune “Ancestor Queen” this is the symbol of Valaya and it is placed on a background of a mountain.

Going inside the Cleric asks us to wait a bit in the church while he goes to get the priestess. He then walks off and we look around in the church. Looking around I am amazed at what I see, many wooden benches for people to sit that are decorated with artwork. On both of the sides there are long frescoes running like a band along the wall. On the left side it shows how Valaya founded many Karaks and how she largely establish dwarven culture. On the right side it shows how Valaya fought and defended her children and brethren.

Looking along the frescoes I see that on both sides of the altar stands a massive statue of Valaya. On the left she stand un-armoured with a baby close to her chest in one arm and a tankard of ale in the other, holding it up in the air. On the right side she stand clad in chainmail, with a shield in one hand and her rune-axe Kradskonti.

Taking a closer look at many things I can see a massive number of gold, silver amethysts, diamonds, other crystals and even some Gromril. The amount of jewels and precious metals and crystals simply makes me speechless.

???: “Haha Michiko your mouth is hanging open”

I immediately snap my mouth closed and look around me but then I realize it was Valaya. She is flying around me as a ball of magical energy, looking at “her” I see more energy than I have ever seen in any other of her shrines/temples.

Michiko: “Hallo Valaya”

I say to her in my mind.

Valaya: “It has been a while since we last spoke, you have been traveling for a long time and while I can more or less see what you do I still can’t speak to you without you being in my temple regrettably. Still you could have come a bit earlier you have been in Karaz-a-Karak for some weeks now”

I scratch the back om my head and say.

Michiko: “Sorry, I have been, well…”

I do no really know what to say, but then feel some warmth as Valaya smiles.

Valaya: “I know, I know, I was just teasing you a bit, with all the new things you forgot, I don’t mind… As long as you will come visit me every week or so again from now on, I’m missing our talks together”

I smile and answer.

Michiko: “Sure, I will come soon again”

I have been missing my talks with Valaya too, as she I more or less the only one I can speak to without hiding anything. On top of that she is more or less the only one who understands me when I talk about things out of my past life.

Valaya: “Hey Michiko another thing, Grungni came by and I told him about the daemon you killed and he wanted to congratulate you and I want to do the same. Taking care of a daemon like that before it possesses someone is quite impressive. If it had possessed the young boy, the boy would have most likely died or have eventually killed a lot of people. If the boy would have lived purifying him would have been very hard”

I nod as I think, I really got lucky then, to be able to kill the daemon just when it was weakest, and materializing.

Valaya: “but I also have a question Michiko, how where you able to harm it without using rune or magic? Most daemon slayers rely on the power of their gods or some sort of magic to kill daemons. But as far as I know you did not use any of those”

Michiko: “Um… I do not really know for sure as I was just following my instincts, but I think it has something to do with the refined chaos energy in my claws. Using my claws I then, well not really sliced but… um, the best way to describe it would probably be, that my claw absorbed its way through the daemon. As the refined chaos energy came into contact with the daemon something happened that made the energy of it be absorbed into my body to my core where it was refined. It is more or less the same as when I am meditating in the morning. I absorb the natural chaos energy and then refine it, but this seems a bit different but I do not really know any more information right now”

Valaya: “Hmm, that seems interesting, well since you do not know any more right now and I do not understand it either let’s just leave it for now, at least until you know a bit more.

But anyway, it seems like the cleric has returned with one of my priestesses so let’s end it here for now. I hope you will come again soon”

I smile and say:

Michiko: “I will”

I then walk toward the Priestess, the Priestess wears a purple robe with a golden trim around the edges. She also wears a medallion but hers is golden but I still has a amethyst in the middle of it. I arrive at the priestess and as I do the Cleric does a shallow bow to the priestess before leaving. Shortly after that Vanyra arrives and the priestess turns toward us.

Priestess: “So you two must be Michiko and Vanyra, hmm I was originally only expecting Michiko but I hear that miss Vanyra wants to join?”

Vanyra: “Yes, I know only Michiko was invited but I would still like to come with her”

The priestess nods and says

Priestess: “That is alright, but you have to know I am not the one who wants to speak with you, I am just here to lead you there, so please follow me”

We do not really know what to do so we just follow her through a door in that back of the church. We then walk some time in a clean hallway before we arrive at a large decorated door. The priestess knocks and after a few seconds we hear a powerful female voice

???: “Come in”

The priestess opens the door and lets us enter and we see a woman standing by a desk with her back towards us. She is dressed in a purple robe with golden edges and has a golden staff inlayed with amethysts in her hand as she looks over some documents.

Priestess: “Matriarch, miss Michiko and Vanyra have arrived”

When I hear the title matriarch said by this priest I am shocked as in the church of Valaya this can only mean one thing. That means she is the leader of the church, the female pope! But it does not end with that because a the matriarch turns around we are shocked again as the person who stand in front of us is Alrika!!!

Alrika: “Ah, welcome I was expecting you”

She says with a smile but then Vanyra shouts.

Vanyra: “Alrika! But how you should be in Karak Drakk!”

The priestess frowns but Alrika begins the laughing. Alrika.. hmm… no this is not Alrika this is someone else and I whisper to Vanyra.

Michiko: “That is not Alrika”

Vanyra: “Not Alrika? How do you know?”

Michiko: “Her scent is different”

Vanyra: “you can tell by smell?”

I nod and the woman has begun to calm down her laughing spree and I ask.

Michiko: “Umm.. I know you are not Alrika but…?”

I do not know how to continue but she begins to speak.

???(not-Alrika): “Haha, I have not laughed that hard in a long time”

She says while wiping some away some tears from around her eye.

???: “you can leave Helgar I will take it from here”

Helgar(Priestess) does a shallow bow towards the matriarch gives a glance at Vanyra before walking to the door and closing it behind her.

???: “Well I will first introduce myself then, I am Askima, matriarch(pope) of Valaya, Alrika is my twin sister”

Vanyra: “Oh so that’s why you look the same”

Askima: “Yes, well please sit down on the couch so we can talk”

She then walks to the other side of her office and sits down on one of the couches and motions for us to sit on the other one. We sit down and she then begins to talk.

Askima: “Well like you probably already have heard, a few days ago I go a letter from my sister about you, Michiko. It told about what she had been doing the last few years, I was kind of pleasantly surprised when I read that she settled down. Because until now she had been traveling all over the dwarven empire which always had me a bit worried about her.

But further in the letter she told me about you and also about your blessing”

I become a bit worried and try to interject, but before I can say anything she says.

Askima: “Don’t worry, I know what you’re thinking, I did not tell anyone. My sister already said in her letter that you would like to keep it a secret”

Michiko: “Thank you, matriarch”

Askima smiles and says.

Askima: “Please, call me Askima. And don’t worry, if you want to keep it a secret that’s fine, on top of that my sister asked me to treat you well as a personal favour and I would be a bad sister if I did not listen to her request. Now I am quite excited about your blessing, so can you please show it to me?”

Hearing what she said I calm down and hold up my right hand and activate the blessing. When I do that a shield and the rune Ancestor Queen appears, giving a calming aura and a soft purple glow.

Askima then reaches out and softly holds my hand, she then focuses on the symbol for a while. Sometime later she smiles and softly says.

Askima: “The goddess must really love you, I can feel her aura of warmth and care emanating from you and your blessing”

I smile as what she says and she does so to. She lets go of my hand and I pull it back as I deactivate the blessing. She sits down and leans backward on the couch.

Askima: “Well if I may ask Michiko, did the goddess say anything to you?”

Michiko: “Sorry but no, I have not spoken with her, or really seen her since I got my blessing as a child, I can however sometimes feel her”

I say sadly, while giving a small lie.

Askima: “That’s a pity, however don’t mind it, I can’t really speak to her either, I can only vaguely feel her guidance sometimes, but other than that I can’t feel her at all. (sigh) well we will just continue following her, but that is not wrong either, if in the future you have the opportunity to speak with the goddess then please tell me okay”

She says with a bit of a disappointed smile.

Askima: “If I may ask another question, do you know why the goddess gave you the blessing?”

Michiko: “Well…. yes….. ”

Seeing my difficulty with finding what to say, Vanyra gets up and interjects into our conversation and says in a serious tone.

Vanyra: “Miss Askima, we do have an idea but it is something that, at least for now, must remain a secret. If Michiko wants to show it to you I won’t stop her but before that you must swear to keep the secret”

Askima has a thinking frown on her face for a bit before saying

Askima: “The letter of my sister already said that you have something else I may ask about, but she also told me that I may not force you on top of that she also said the same as you did Vanyra……

Well I do not really see a problem so, hereby I Askima swear on my honor as a dwarf and on my office as matriarch of my goddess, that I will keep this secret until told otherwise or my grave”

Vanyra nods and sits down again.

Michiko: “Okay I will show you… just.. don’t freak out okay”

I look at her and she nods, I get up and go stand in a bit of an open space and begin my transformation in my dragon with the size of about a meter high. As I transform I get lower and stand on my four limbs. While I transform Askima stays calm but her expression shows her surprise. When I am done transforming I crawl out of my cloak and slowly approach Askima stopping at about a meter distance.

Looking up at her she snaps out of it and regains her composure.

Askima: “A Dragon?... you’re a Dragon..... now I get why the goddess and my sister are so interested in you”

Seeing her reaction, I say in a soft but draconic voice.

Michiko: “Yes”

After that Vanyra and I begin to explain about how my mother found my egg and what has roughly happened since. During the conversation she got to touch my scales and wings.

Later I got back in my cloak and also showed her my half draconic form which surprised her again. She was in the end very accepting and interested which made me happy. A load fell of me as I was scared that she would be scared, disgusted or angry when I transformed. I was scared that her reaction would be the same as some of the dwarves that I showed my form for the first time when we were trying to find new dwarves to join us in the Karak.

But all of that did not happened and we had a long and fun conversation. As we talked she showed many expressions as the “story” went on. As we talked time passed quickly and it soon became evening. We then more or less had to stop and say goodbye, but as we did we also promised to come by again. After that we left for home and bed.

Year: 29-05-1722 (Imperial Calendar)

Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak

Michiko POV.

A few weeks have passed since our talk with Askima, in those weeks I have done more or less the same as before, visiting lectures, the library and the temple to talk with Valaya. Of course I also did smithing, designing and other things. One of those things was trying to find my way into the sealed levels of the karak undetected.

I have been wanting to find out some more things about the Skaven. As now all my knowledge about them is second hand and I want to find out some more. Knowing more about them in the future when I am in a dangerous situation with them could save lives.

As for getting into the sealed levels, while searching I found very few point where someone can enter (or exit) the sealed levels. And almost all are heavily guarded or sealed. The dwarves have made sure that no Skaven can get from the sealed levels into the karak. But after searching for weeks and even using my Aethyric(magical) Senses I only found six tunnels all leading to different levels. But even those where sealed, but the sealing on these six is different from the other seals.

After taking a closer look to one of the sealed tunnels I discovered that there is an intricate locking mechanism. After tinkering around for about an hour or so I was able to open it without breaking the mechanism or activating the safeguards. But this was only because of my sensitive senses. Without my Aethyric senses to detect the metal mechanism inside and my precise hearing it would have been almost impossible.

Opening the seal the camouflaged door opened, on the other side of the door I closed it again with the same mechanism and then walked on. The exit of the tunnel was in the basement of a old building and well camouflaged. This all leads me to believe that this tunnel is used by the dwarves to secretly get information on the Skaven movement. After having checked it out I quickly returned through the tunnel and heading home.

When I arrived home I told Vanyra about my plans to go explore the sealed sections. Initially she was against it but after insisting, explaining my reasons and promising to be careful. She gave up as she saw I would not change my mind, after that I started preparing some things. Like my daggers and some belts that I can strap to my paw/feet so I can take them with me in dragon form. Besides that I prepared food and some cloaks that can get damaged without it being a problem.

And today I am ready, it’s now late in the evening (not that that really matters underground) and there are only a few dwarves outside. Having put on one of the cloaks, strapped the daggers to my leg and the rest of the items in a bag I am ready to go.

Walking outside Vanyra tells me for one last time to be careful and then I leave for the secret tunnel. Walking around i only see a few dwarves and also a few dwarven guards every now and then. I walk toward one of the large staircases that go upward toward the other levels. Walking the stairs I see no dwarves and my way upward is very quiet, but later even here there are still a few guards patrolling.

Arriving at the hidden entrance of the tunnel I make sure no one is nearby and then slip inside. Arriving at the hidden door which makes it look like a dead end it activate the secret mechanism and when the door opens I go inside closing it behind me. Once again arriving in the basement.

Since going in the tunnel I have started to use a rudimentary form of echolocation in combination with Aethyric senses to “see”. This is for now the only way to see in total darkness, because without any light at all no matter how good your night vision is it won’t help. And while I could use a lighting crystal that would mean there is a high chance I am seen and perhaps ambushed.

I then transform to my dragon form and begin to walk very quietly walking out of the basement. Walking into the house I “see” that there is not much left here, almost everything was taken by the dwarves before they sealed of the area. And everything of value that was left behind was soon taken by Skaven. Now I can only see some ancient stone and wooden furniture.

I leave the house and outside I see I am in a residential area not unlike the one Vanyra and I are living in. But without the people a place like this… seems like a tomb. Abandoned houses that have been standing there since ancient time, having been abandoned long ago ever waiting to be lived in again. But knowing the current state of the dwarves and their low numbers it is unlikely that will happen, not within the next millennia maybe never at all.

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Still this place will exist far in the future and whether dwarves will return to this place or not. This place itself will continue to exist long in the future maybe forgotten to be rediscovered in the future yet again.

Deciding I have pondered long enough I start to smell the air, trying to find any life, but the only thing I smell is a dry stale air with only a very vague smell which most likely came from a dwarven patrol which came through here around a month ago.

I think about the maps of the karak I have studied in the library and then start of in the direction where the Skaven most likely are.

Running silently for about twenty minutes I begin to smell a scent that is not too distinct from rats. Coming closer I enter an area with a few warehouses, this area has been marked on the map as infested with Skaven. One of the smaller Skaven tunnels connect to this place. There are many tunnels like these and they are normally guarded by low ranked Skaven and some clan rats. Both of which are not much of a threat but it is their numbers and the fact that they can call in an almost endless flood of reinforcements if attacked.

That is also the reason why it is so hard to take out these tunnels. If the dwarves come with a squad of Ironbreakers, on the moment they are spotted a runner is sent down the tunnel to warn the rest. While the Ironbreakers are held up many Skaven are already coming to reinforce. Even if the Ironbreakers can navigate the Skaven numbers by fighting in a tight space it will still be difficult to push them back into the tunnel.

Once they have managed that they destroy the tunnel which will keep out the Skaven. For a while at least because if you cannot hold the area the Skaven will most likely just break through again given time. so if I want to do this right I will have to think of something.

Coming close to their camp I begin to hear screeching, listening for a bit i hear certain partners in the noise. This is their language, the dwarves call it Queekish (and some other less nice names), it is mainly a lot of screeching, “spoken” very quickly.

Knowing I am close, I become totally silent, in the distance I see dim lights, there are a few dwarven crystals but there is also some lamps that give a sinister green glow. Then I see them, Three Skaven around the size of a human standing around a light, they have brown fine, thick fur and a naked rat like tail.

Something that I notice almost immediately is that they all look malnourished, they look like they do not get enough to eat.

They are talking in their screeching language while standing in a hunched posture, I start to listen to find out more about their language. While they are talking one begins to sniff the air the other ones look at him for a bit before they begin to smell as well.

I become tense and hope they have not smelled me, but a while later it seems they have not found me. They look around into the dark but in the total darkness they can’t see anything. They then give up and continue talking, when they do so I feel relieved. I do not know if it was me they smelled or something else but I do not want to take chances so I retreat for a bit. After some thinking I think the chance was high that they smelled the contents of my bag rather than me. I stuff away my bag in a safe place and then return to the three Skaven.

When I arrive they are still talking and I start to listen again, but soon after I have arrived they finish talking and start to walk, taking the light with them. Not really knowing what they are going to do I decide to follow them while staying in the darkness. While I walk I keep make sure to “watch” my surroundings using echolocation and Aethyric senses.

After about five minutes I see another Skaven in the distance, he looks about the same as the other Skaven but when I get close enough I see that he is wounded. The group of three Skaven seem to have found what they were looking for and start to approach the wounded Skaven.

I wonder what is going to happen, am I going to see a never seen before moment of Skaven kindness?

Not very likely…. As the group of Skaven come close to the wounded Skaven he tries to run away. But the group of Skaven draw their daggers and he is soon surrounded by the three Skaven and driven into a corner.

The cornered Skaven begins to screech very loudly and very “dangerously”, making himself seem powerful. It is also around then that I begin to smell something strange and a few seconds later I realize what it is, pheromones! I have never read anything about that, but it seems logical since dwarves or even some rare human scholars do not have a nose that is sensitive enough by a long shot.

The pheromones are coming from all four Skaven, but the most are coming from the cornered Skaven. I do not entirely know what these pheromones mean but is seems they are related to emotions and stress. While I cannot come with a concrete conclusion at the moment, I can by looking at the situation make a guess.

But I then stop my thinking and focus on the Skaven again, they have started to move. Then in almost an instance it happens, first one of the three Skaven throws a stone that he had been hiding behind his back. The cornered Skaven is surprised and tries to duck. But as he does, the other two Skaven shoot forward with their daggers. One goes for the head the other the heart. As it happens the cornered Skaven reacts by stabbing his dagger forward toward one of the three other Skaven.

The daggers of the two attacking Skaven both stab into the cornered shaven, who shrieks and then a few seconds later…. Dies.

But that is not all because while the cornered Skaven has died, as in a last act of revenge his attack has stabbed into the stomach of one of the attackers. As the now wounded attacker stumbles back while looking at the dagger imbedded in his stomach, the other two Skaven exchange a glance. They then pounce at their former ally, killing him almost instantly and he too dies with one final horrid shriek.

The two remaining Skaven then look at each other, seizing the other up, trying to look if there is a chance of taking all the spoils for themselves. For a moment there is a tense silence but then they both decide against it. keeping an eye on each other they “talk” a bit before each taking one of the body’s and separating.

As they begin to drag away their share I follow one of them very carefully. The Skaven now seems very tense and alert, warry of his surroundings.

After a while he is far away from any other Skaven and seem to calm down a bit but he still goes on very carefully. Sometime later he arrives at a dwarven house, looks around for one last time and walks inside, closing what is left of the door behind him.

I carefully walk up sneak up towards the door and look inside through the cracks. While the Skaven thinks he is safe he gives an evil, accomplished and somewhat egotistical smile. He then opens his mouth full of yellowed sharp teeth and starts to eat the dead Skaven. I already thought this would happen, with the huge amounts of Skaven most are malnourished and even in the books about Skaven it is said that cannibalism among the Skaven is very common. Having seen enough I think a bit and decide what to do.

A minute or two later I ready myself and tense up ready to pounce forward. And then JUMP.

With that I break through the half-broken door and I am inside going forward toward the Skaven with a sprint. the Skaven that was disturbed during his feeding quickly draws his dagger. But as he turns around and sees me he becomes frozen in fear and in the moment I arrive, I bite his head off rusted iron helmet and all. His headless body loses all tension and falls onto the ground like a puppet with his strings cut.

Before I can spit out the head in my mouth I swallow it by instinct. It leaves a strange taste in my mouth, it tastes a bit like raw pork but it also has a strange oily feel which probably comes from the oil the Skaven secrete to keep their fur water tight.

After eating the head I do not really feel disgusted or anything, these Skaven as they are like now are not anything better than animals. It is food, and wasting fresh meat like this would be wasteful.

After convincing myself I am not wrong eating Skaven and my instinct is telling me to eat as well I just follow it. But this time I roast the headless Skaven before eating, a few minutes later it is ready and I eat it up in large bites.

I eat it without caring about the leather and rusty metal armor pieces at all. My digestion has long since become capable of handling or digesting most metals or even stone. I thought it would be handy since in stories there are dragons who are full of swords of the enemies they have eaten and I do not like that. Well digestion aside the Skaven tasted quite good and after roasting the oil was gone.

Having finished my meal I transform to my half dragon form and look around. There is a table with the other dead Skaven still laying on it, There is a small pile of bones in the corner and some low quality armor and weapons. There is also a bit of furniture but it is not much. Taking a bit of a closer look at the Skaven on the table I see a burn mark on him that is formed into sinister “rune’s”, these “rune’s” are Skaven writing and I can’t read it but I do understand one of the runes as it was written down in the dwarven library. It is the rune for slave…

There are many slaves in the Skaven “society” and while not much is known about the slaves, scholars think that most of them are born into slavery, or have been taken prisoner in clan warfare. There are also a few slaves that have been taken from other species but those do not live very long.

Still slaves or not, a Skaven slave is just as devious as any other Skaven.

Ending my line of thought I look around the room once more and use my Aethyric(magical) Senses just in case something special is hidden away. And to my surprise I found something, two object with the same kind of energy as the daemon I killed in the human village. I immediately become tense and alert, but after scanning the two objects for a second time I discover that they do not have a consciousness.

I pick up the nearest object which is one of the green glowing lanterns opening it I can see a tiny sliver of what seems to be warpstone! I was already thinking about it before, Demons are Chaos energy with a consciousness, and chaos energy can be in two know forms solid as warpstone or as raw energy.

The sliver of warpstone is very tiny and on top of the sliver burns a small green flame. But the smallness of the flame did not fool me as I know what this is it is warpfire, a flame that is fuelled by the energies of the warp itself and as long as it has fuel it will burn and there is no substance I know that can extinguish it.

As I am thinking this I am sending some refined chaos energy toward the warpfire and the sliver of warpstone. And when it makes contact the fire goes out…..

Warpfire…. Um.. never mind….

Moving on, as the refined chaos energy comes into contact with the warpstone it creates a strange reaction. The sliver of warpstone begins to change from the green and black colour to something else. It seems like the two kinds of energy’s are fighting, as the silver like refined chaos energy pushes into the warpstone sliver the normal chaos energy is cycled through me and after refining is returned to the warpstone, changing it over time.

I feel like I can interrupt this flow back and from the stone if I want to and then absorb the energy myself. but because I am so fascinated I just let it work on its own as I observe.

Sometime later the warpstone sliver has changed from green and black made from raw chaos energy to a silver coloured “warpstone” made out of my refined energy. This is really strange and fascinating!

As I think about the many things I want to test and try out I begin to smile like a kid that just found a new toy to play with.

Remembering the bigger piece of warpstone I sensed earlier I want to put away the small piece for now. But because I am only covered in scales right now and I do not have clothes, let alone pockets right now, I think for a bit and then walk to one of the pieces of leather armor and convert it into a makeshift leather bag I bind around my leg.

When I am done I walk toward the place I sensed the second piece of warpstone earlier. When I see the spot where the warpstone piece is hidden I see that it was placed under a loose tile to hide it. I lift the tile and see a small dwarven box, when I open the box I find a coin shaped piece of warpstone inside. The coin is a lot bigger than the sliver of warpstone I found in the lamp as the sliver was less than a millimetre thick and not very large. But the coin is around two centimetre in diameter and three millimetre thick and made of a more pure piece of warpstone than the lamp sliver.

This must be a warptoken I think while flipping the coin around in my hand. It is the currency used by the Skaven and is actually quite dangerous. Since it is warpstone it is raw chaos energy and the energy normally causes mutation or death over time. but I also seems that Skaven are a species that is quite resistant to its powers.

Strangely enough I get the urge to eat it… I do not know why but my instinct is telling to do it.

Being interested and knowing that I can fight against it using my own energy, I bite off a small piece and swallow it, my instinct has not failed me before so I am just trusting it for now.

To my surprise the small piece of warpstone starts to shrink within my stomach as energy is syphoned and drawn towards my core where it is refined and absorbed.

Thinking about it this seems very good, I may not be able to use the huge amount of refined chaos energy entirely to strengthen my body because if I did I would just break myself. But I can use I in a certain project I have been thinking of…..

I eat the rest of the warptoken and refine it before going toward the dead Skaven still lying on the table. I could dissect him but he is already damaged and I ate the other one so dissecting one now would not be possible unless I hunt another Skaven…

Well I does not really matter right now I think that in the next few days I will have more than enough opportunities to do so. After I dissect a few of them I should be able to understand them well enough to transform in one, that should be very useful in the future.

After that I look around the room some more, but soon transform into my dragon form, roast and eat the Skaven and then go outside. Looking around a bit then walk up silently leaving the house behind me to find a good place to stay for the next few days.

Year: 07-06-1722 (Imperial Calendar)

Location: Planet Warhammer, Karaz-a-Karak (sealed levels)

Michiko POV.

It has been ten days since I arrived at this small Skaven outpost. The last few days I have been busy, after leaving the small dwarven house I found a high building that was a bit away from the main Skaven area. Because the staircase seemed to have collapsed under heavy fighting, It was the perfect spot for me because there was no possibility that a random Skaven would just walk up into my room and because I can just climb up the side I have no problems.

On the second day I killed a few more Skaven, and brought their body’s to my room. Then is started to do the gruesome job of dissecting them.

While I am recollecting that day I pick up one of the parchment with my findings written down on it:

Appearance:

Skaven have a rat like appearance but if one were to compare a large sewer rat to a Skaven it would be like a cute bunny. This is because the Skaven are as large as a human and have long sharp claws on their four appendages. They walk on two legs but it is different from both human, elf and dwarf as they walk on the ball of their “foot”.

While they stand they are most of the time in a hunched position which is probably a habit formed by the running through low tunnels.

They are covered in fur from head to toe with the exception of their eyes, genitalia, inside of their ears and a long naked tail. I have found multiple Skaven who have attached sharp object to their tail and seen them use it at a weapon before, but some tests with the tail also show that it is very flexible and can be used as an extra appendage in necessary. I have seen multiple Skaven hold things like a lantern with it to keep their hands free.

As for their head, it seems very similar to a rat. They have a large snout with long whiskers underneath, large jaws filled with sharp teeth made for piercing and four fangs for holding on or ripping the flesh off their prey. Lastly they have large pointed ears that seem to be very effective.

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Skin and Claws:

The skin is not very thick but very tough and on all subjects covered in many scars mostly made by Skaven claws. Their fur is a thick layer of fine hair that is coated with a thin layer of oil which makes it very good for insulation from cold and water. The oil is secreted by a series of glands located along the back of the neck, the armpits, genitalia and at the base of the tail. In the time I have been here I have seen multiple Skaven use their paws and tongue to spread the oil around the body.

These glands are also used to for the secretion of the pheromones Skaven use for expressing their emotions. For example, In the past few days when I have confronted a Skaven just before killing him, I start to smell one of the kinds of pheromones, I think it is safe to assume that this type of pheromones mean fear.

Other than that I have smelled other types of pheromones while observing Skaven interactions that probably mean, anger, jealousy, happiness and some other ones I cannot quite place jet.

As for their claws I have found a different kind of glands around their claws, which seem to be used to secrete a kind of poison which is quite harmful to those with no resistance to it.

Muscles and Bones:

The muscles and bones of a Skaven allows it to walk upright although in a arched position. The hind legs of a Skaven are also very powerful. This in combination with their tail lets them lean forward without tipping over. This enables them to pounce

Rapidly at their enemy proceeding to attack with weapons, sharp claws or fearsome teeth. Besides pouncing their structure also shows that they have the ability to rapidly climb.

But their build also shows a limited range of movement and it seems that they cannot move their body in certain positions. On top of that their physical strength seems to be lower that a normal human and a lot lower than that of a dwarf. But this is compensated by their agility and speed.

One last thing about their bones, I have discovered that one of the reasons for their speed and agility is that their skeletal structure is very light. Their bones seem to be partially hollow but also quite flexible which makes sure they do not break that easily.

http%3a%2f%2fsk.uploads.im%2fZmw6U.jpg [http://sk.uploads.im/Zmw6U.jpg]

Internal Organs:

There are quite a few strange organs I have not seen before in any creature and these require more research before I know what they do. But for a few of them I think that they have to do with the production of pheromones and natural poisons but I cannot say for sure right now.

One thing I did find out while looking at their organs is that it seems that Skaven have a small stomach and a very fast metabolism and heartrate. Which explains why I have seen the higher level Skaven (that do not have many food problems) eat for around five times a day. This amounts to a huge amount of food and it says something about Skaven infrastructure.

The next few days I have mostly spent observing the Skaven and how they react to certain circumstances. But while doing this I have also been devising a plan to well… exterminate them. This is very drastic but with these kinds of creatures, in this kind of situation I do not really see another option.

But killing them all while making sure none gets away to get help or tell other Skaven of my existence will be hard. Not to mention that I will most likely have a lot of difficulty or even lose while fight a large number of them working together.

But that is just it if I can make sure they do not work together or even start killing each other it will be a lot more feasible. On top of that I will most likely not have to reveal myself until the end.

By deciding on that course of action I have scanned the entire area for tunnels which they can use to enter or exit the cave. In the end I found that there are four tunnels, of those tunnels one is the Skaven tunnel, another one is the main dwarven tunnel and lastly there are two smaller dwarven tunnels.

The main dwarven tunnel was most likely the busiest in the time that the dwarves lived here as it leads to a central area with a long since destroyed elevator. The Skaven tunnel is used for transporting food, messages and men so is used quite often. But state of the tunnel is one that would make any dwarf cringe at seeing it. Not only is it dangerous to walk in with the uneven floor and sharp rocks sticking out of the wall. It also is prone to collapse and that is something no dwarf can accept.

About the two smaller dwarven tunnels. One of them has collapsed, most likely deliberately to stop or crush advancing enemies. The other one is still open and is being used by the Skaven, although rarely.

After I collected that information, I used some magic to make the Skaven tunnel cave in. I did this very carefully after observing the tunnel and the rock it leads through, making it collapse at an already weak point. I then retreated and observed their next course of action.

When they discovered that the tunnel had collapsed the higher rank Skaven were irritated but did not care too much. Like I predicted they just sent some Skaven slaves into the tunnel to clear it out. I already thought that this would happen seeing the state of the tunnel it was obvious it was going to collapse some day in the future.

The clearing of the tunnel would give me a few days to prepare the next part of the plan.

But as I was preparing the next few days after I collapsed the tunnel I noticed that many of the Skaven slaves were beginning to get hungry. With the tunnel collapsed they could not bring supplies which means no food. The result of this was that with the shortage of food many of the slaves started fighting more frequently and cannibalism begun lowering their numbers more quickly.

The higher rank Skaven at first did not really care as they had reserves of food stored up for their own use. Well that was until someone… stole most their food, after that the clan rats and their masters started to eat the slaves too. This resulted in some minor fights of individual rats that resisted being slaughtered. In the end a few of the clan rats died, but at the side of the slaves their number was lowered to about a quarter of their original number.

With no food and the slaves running out the master made the slaves that were digging the tunnel hurry along. But such speed makes shoddy work and with a little nudge of magic CRACK, SPLAT, the slaves were crushed and they had to start over from the starting point again.

This made the master enrage and he slaughtered many slaves to calm down before eating them. After that he called some of his subordinates and send a messenger and some guards, most likely to another tunnel nearby. But I was expecting this and intercepted the small group and killed/ate them, getting a sample of Skaven writing as a secondary price.

But now I knew I would have to act within the next day as if the messenger did not return they would probably become suspicious. But I was already prepared a few days ago, I was only waiting to let them kill each other for a bit longer.

With that I waited a bit longer until most of them were sleeping and then snuck into the armoury. Inside I laid a quite simple but effective trap that would activate when the door was opened. After that I went back out again an retreated to the main dwarven tunnel. There I transformed to my dragon form with the height of about five meters high.

When I was done transforming I blasted some fire to a line of dry wood, as the fire began to burn high the entire tunnel was blocked. I retreated behind the wall of fire and waited.

And sure enough a minute or so later I began hearing sounds of alarm and the night guard already started to gather some distance from the wall of fire and as they did I heard a loud bang coming from the area where the armoury is. Taking that as my cue I walk forward through the flames while they flicker around me and shine with a red glow on me. While still in the flames I open my mouth and roar.

The roar resounded through the cave filling it with a deafening sound. A musk smell of fear filled the air, as they saw my demonic appearance it became too much for them, as the clan rats saw no reinforcement in sight and with the hunger of the past few days most of them routed. With that I came forward slashing with my claws at the ones that were still standing there frozen before going after the running rats.

While they ran some threw the slower ones behind them into my path in an attempt to distract me from themselves. Those rats thrown in my path tried to defend themselves but it does not have much of an effect as I trample over them, killing them instantly. One of the rats thrown at me stand up before I reach him and as he does he is right in front of my head, so I open my mouth and more or less eat him in one bite.

This puts even greater fear in those who are running from me. But as the chase continuous I see where we are going, we are going in the direction of the barracks and house of their master.

As we arrive I see some clan rats standing in a sloppy formation holding mostly broken spears or other weapon. Some of them are already bleeding and holding their wounds. As I storm up the small plaza I roar once again and then release a fire breath on the small force of clan rats.

As the rats I was chasing ran past them and in one attack ten of their men were roasted they broke immediately. Seeing this the black furred Skaven who is their master screams, trying to make them hold but it has no effect and a few seconds later he begins running too.

Once again the chase is on and this time the amount of rats in front of me are more than a hundred. Far more than I can take on in a straight up fight but I keep chasing them as the main point of my plan arrives.

As I predicted they are running into the only escape route they have left, the smaller dwarven tunnel! As they do I hold before the tunnel that is too small for my current form and the rats rejoice but still run on.

Bu their joy is short lived as a few seconds later a series of small explosion is trigged all along the tunnel. I shrink myself a bit and take a look in the tunnel and see that all but a few died in the initial explosion of my improvised explosive. The few left are heavily wounded and have shrapnel imbedded into their body’s.

It is a gruesome sight but I cannot honestly say I regret it, these Skaven had to die. Still I do not want them to suffer any more than necessary so I end their lives quickly and painlessly. As I arrive at the last of the still living Skaven in the tunnel I see it is the black furred master and he sneers with hatred and I can smell it coming from him. But it is also mixed with fear, I raise my claw and point my finger forward before pressing it down and punching his heart. He moves for just a bit but then the light fades from his eyes.

I calmly walk out of the tunnel and begin to look for any Skaven that might have hidden in the area. I calmly continue, I do not regret what I have done and will not say that I would not do it again as that would make me a hypocrite. I would do it again and will probably do it many times in the future.

Still I offer a silent prayer for those I have killed and hope that they will reincarnate to live a better and happy life.

Character list:

Spoiler :

Karak Drakk residents:

Michiko: the main character

Endar: adoptive father of Michiko and King of Karak Drakk

Freda: wife of Endar, adoptive mother of Michiko and queen of Karak Drakk

Fimbur: old and wise dwarf and Loremaster

Norgrim: Endar’s assistant

Bronn: warrior leader

Largs: hunter/ scout leader

Dern: hunter/ scout

Duregar: leader of workers, Journeyman runesmithe

Olka: wife of Duregar

Thyk: son of Duregar and friend of Michiko

Vanyra: adopted daughter of Duregar and friend of Michiko

Grond: mining shift commanders

Alrika: Priestess of Valaya and twin sister of Askima

Grim: Priest of Gazul

Heganbor: friend of Logazor and Gomrund

Logazor: friend of Gomrund and Heganbor

Gomrund: warrior, friend of Logazor and Heganbor

Karak Azul residents:

Dimzad: bookstore owner

Thorek Ironbrow: Journeyman Runesmith

Burlok: Guard captain of the gate, friend of Endar and Dern

Elmador: warrior/guard

Karaz-a-Karak residents:

Gottri: Journeyman Runesmith

Furgil: Runesmith guild hall leader

Noran: Runesmith guild hall receptionist

Kragg the Grim: Ancient Runelord

Helgar: Priestess of Valaya

Askima: Matriarch of the church of Valaya and twin sister of Alrika

Greenskins:

Gorbad Ironclaw: mighty orc warboss, presumed dead but also rumoured to be alive

Chaos Gods:

Tzeentch: the Chaos God of Change, Evolution, Intrigue and Sorcery

Khorne: the Chaos God of hate, rage and bloodshed

Dragons:

Tyrennus: Evil/chaotic, location unknown (please put the answer in the comments if you know because I do not know and I want to know because it could influence Michiko’s journey)

Dwarven Gods:

Grungni: god of mining and smiths, husband of Valaya

Valaya: goddess of healing and protection

Grimnir the Fearless: warrior god, brother of Grungni

Gazul: Lord of the Underearth and protector of the Dwarf dead

Smednir: Shaper of Ore, son of Grungni

Thungni: Ancestor God of Runesmiths, younger brother of Smednir

Morgrim: Ancestor God of Engineers, son of Grimnir