A week had passed after the elven flying ship The Sidreal Companion crashed into what was left of Argentum Prime. Void Mistress Anneli and her sister Nomi, ship expert Fingar, and conflict manager Thungal had been the only ones to survive the crash. Argentum Prime, once a thriving jungle-city adjacent to a river, was not a barren wasteland, with no river and a mysterious mist that obscured everything more than a city block away. During this week the four had kept their heads down and recovered from the crash. During this time they saw what appeared to be a large dragon fly overhead, from time to time, but didn't see or hear anything else.
After feeling a bit better VM Anneli began to examine the ship, top to bottom. She started out at the mast, which infuriated Fingar, who claimed that she had no idea what she was doing, because that mast was beyond secure. When VM Anneli asked him to prove it Fingar went down below and came back up with an axe. He swung at the mast with all his might and barely left a dent in it. VM Anneli wasn't impressed, until Fingar showed her that the axe was made of mithril, almost supernaturally sharp. The weakest point in the whole ship was the area around the rudder, and that was untouched. As far as Fingar could tell there was no sabotage, nor was there any issue with the Sidreal Companion before she crashed. VM Anneli was confused: how did the ship crash, then? Fingar had no idea. But something wasn't adding up.
Far off, somewhere in the fog, they heard a cry for help. Nomi and Thungal came up from below, upon command. With her big sister watching VM Anneli commanded everyone to move out. They picked their way cautiously through the ruined streets. They found a female dwarf, collapsed from exhaustion. She begged them to run as fast possible: Rahbarl's forces were coming! VM Anneli picked her up and began to move her to a nearby builing, out of the way of the street, so she could rest, but the dwarf insisted that they get out of the area immediately. VM Anneli pay her any heed, but hoisted her up the rotting stairs with Nomi, Fingar, and Thungal close behind.
Footsteps from a huge... thing... could be heard, off in the fog. Out walked a troll, fifteen feet at the shoulder, with a goblin on his back. Tossing and catching a stone, the goblin called out to the dwarf, asking if she wanted her pleasure rock back, since all females dwarves were stone fuckers. Out of the mist came another goblin, this one astride an enormous wolf, who was clad in armor. The female dwarf gasped with fear... which the wolf heard. He began to sniff his way toward the building they were in. VM Anneli tried to distract the group below by firing an arrow somewhere, anywhere, to get them to look away. That only made it easier for the wolf, who looked right up at the huddled group. The wolf howled a chilling note, something straight out of the bowels of Hell. Chilled to the core, VM Anneli, Fingar, and Thungal froze in fear.
Nomi didn't; she pulled out her sword and hit Thungal on the back of the head with the hilt, causing her to fall to the ground below.
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