Kor'than

Pladeholder Dwof by Katy Smith

The small scouting team comprised four dwarves. Dro'vir was the eldest and an artisan of the runic craft. Grimb'ald as a military veteran was the strongarm and able to break through rock and stone in a hurry with his oversized pickhammer. Gre'van was the alchemist of the group, supplying the team with ale on tap but also defending against the attacking hordes with walls of fire on demand. The youngest was Shan'avar who had what felt like a natural expertise in golemsmithing, which is a massive boon for construction.
The crew were navigating through the old abandoned stag travel tunnels towards the city of Korthan. It had been years since the city had stopped sending cargo trains through and any trains along that track were lost. It’s been painful to not have the regular shipments of mushrooms and wood coming through from Kor'than. The city itself was an agricultural hub and its supplies were required for the running of the mining city of Longshard where the team were from. So many lay dead from starvation and as always, the worst hit were the outcasts. In times of plenty, they would have had enough energy to fight off the goblin hoards approaching the city through the cracks. Sadly, the goblins established a foothold in a large portion of the lower city and that gave them access to some of the larger storehouses. Famine was widespread throughout the city and the growth of newly cultivated giant mushrooms was slow. Eventually, even after so much death, the population stabilised at a fraction of it’s once grand size and re-settlement options could start to be pursued once more.
The crew had been travelling for weeks at this point. Fending off attacks from roving savages and their ratbeyir. Narrowly avoiding death a number of times from cave-ins. They now felt as close as they had ever been to their target. Shanavar’s golems were propping up the tunnel as they were walking to better prepare for the return journey and hopefully re-establishing the supply routes again. Gre'van, who was always in good spirits, was dishing out some actual good spirits to the party for warmth. This part of the tunnel was remarkably cold. Studying the runic etchings along the tunnel walls, Drovir started to notice patterns.
“The runes are changing from travelling to defensive, we must be approaching the outer walls of the city!” he remarked.
“Finally!” Grimb'ald responds.
Grimb'ald turned the corner and was met with a long dark corridor with a bright white light at the end.
“What in the tits is this mockery for. There shouldn’t be light down in these depths.” Grimb'ald’s concerned statement was one which echoed amongst the other members of the party. As they closed in on the light, they could see through the haze and into what it was. They stood at the edge of the tunnel, looking out into a huge expanse. Everything was covered in ice and snow as far as they could see. They saw before them a chasm that had opened up and consumed a large portion of the city that they were searching for. The remainder was now just an empty husk embedded on the other side of the chasm, exposed to the elements.
It’s as if the planet had been carved up, taking the city of Kor'than with it.
“By the queen, this isn’t right.. It can’t be” Shan'avar exclaimed. “There were millions of dwarves living here… MILLIONS of them”
The rumblings that they had felt throughout their journey had now made more sense, the ground itself here was a weapon and it was one that could strike again.
“I hope that somedwarf made it out of there. We need to keep searching.” Dro'vir, feeling the weight of guilt on his broad shoulders, frantically started searching for signs of life.

This is a submission for my first ever Summer Camp in 2024 - I hope you enjoy my writings and I'm looking forward to hearing your feedback!