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Litheme
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I think we can take advantage of the state our "invaders" are in. They do not seem bothered by us walking around and doing stuff. I have even made a little experiment, much to Gar's dismay. I had walked over to nearest Goblin Lasher.

'Hello, how are we feeling today?' No answer, he just stared at me blankly. Let's see.... [goblin]'Hello, how are we today?[/goblin]

[goblin]'Rather well, lady-dwarf. Why do you have plump helmets instead of ears?'[/goblin] He answered before falling asleep. Yes, we can definitely use it for our advantage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Ok, listen carefully.' I said in a hushed tone to other reclaimers. 'This may be difficult, I'm going to talk to the goblins and you are going to take their weapons and armor away. Just remember, do not do it forcefully. Politely request their armaments. If you follow this instructions everything will be fine.' Looks on my associates faces were priceless.

'You want us to walk over to the goblins and ask them politely to give their weapons to us?' Said Karnii.

'We will try.' Interupted him Gar.

'Very well.' Said Griffin.

[goblin]'Can I have your attention please? We are impressed with how wonderfully you have taken care of our Fortress! You kept the place cleaner than it was ever before!' I said trying not to pay attention to massive amounts of junk littering every single room and corridor. 'We would like to repay you in kind! Please give us your armor and weapons and we will clean, repair and improve it using our metalsmithing skills!'[/goblin] I knew it worked when one of the lashers walked over to Gar, who was barely hiding panic, and handed over his whip, saying:

[goblin]'Go easy on the polish, I like my whips to be a little matte.'[/goblin]
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It is taking a long time to convince other goblins to give up their armaments. One of them is still holding on to his copper scourge. Nothing major, I'll take it from him myself as soon as I have some time. I think I know what had afflicted this poor bastards. Volcano fumes are hardly healthy in small doses, to races other than dwarves that is, and they had spend here whole two years. I almost pity them. As soon as We manage to disarm the last one I think we will relieve them from their misery.

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Litheme
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I have gotten used to the dungeons in the Mountain Homes. They are certainly much roomier than usual arangements in other holds. Definately next few weeks will be rather comfortable. Maybe next winter I will let them catch me deliberately, to stay in warm place during the cold season. As long as I do not do anything that warrants hammering that is or unless King takes direct interes...

'You, fraudster! Get up! King wants to see you.' Well Fu...

~~~~~~~~~~~

'So you are miss Litheme? I must admit, it is rather rare name. Wasn't there a Forgotten Beast called the same way?' Asked the King.

'Yes, Your Highness. I was named after it by my... associates.' I like my name, it is a token of my skills.

'Well than, miss Litheme, You must be wondering what I want with you. Do not worry it is nothing that is a danger to you, not any immediate one anyway. I was told you had managed to fool human caravan to think you are our broker and managed to... acquire all their possessions., pawning them before our Guards managed to sniff you out. Is that correct?'

'Yes, Your Highness.' I replied, deciding that honesty may lower amount of Hammer Blows I may have to endure.

'You may be pleased that we managed to recover all those goods and limit the political fallout resulting from your.... practical joke. Usually you would get 10 hammer blows for endangering our diplomatic position but today... today we have a need for someone of your talents.' King looked at me and when I stood there, confused, without uttering a word he continued. 'We may be persuaded to wipe your slate clean, if you do us a little favor. You see, there is a fortress that needs reclaiming, It is currently occupied by at least one squad of goblins.'

'Am I really the only person? You may need a Champion or a Militia Commander or....' I started in panic.

'Oh, no, no. I believe there won't be any need for violence. I believe you know the goblin language? With your abilities I know you can persuade them to give up the post. I will sent six other individuals with you, some armed just in case. Good luck.' And that was it. I got a delayed execution order. Convince goblins to peacefully move out of a place. Well, maybe I will be able to run away.

~~~~~~~~~~

I won't be able to run away, he is sending a Guardsdwarf along.

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I have survived. So did many others. We had ventured back to Mountain Homes. I have seen so many die under whips and scourges of that damn ambush. I myself had been disarmed and had to head butt my opponent to get away. I know that Jackal died, possibly along his family, so did Urist-soon-to-be-dead. CrazyFire and Peregar did not survive either. On the other hand HissinWallnuts, Bsnott and Flame are accompanying me back to Capitol. I will convince King to help even if it kills me. NOBODY KILLS MY SUBORDINATES AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!

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We were led to the Kings Audience Chamber in the City of Woundassault, our Mountain Homes. It was as beautiful as during reign of Atis Amemerib, when I saw it the last time, in Year 2, before he was killed by a rampaging elephant. I know Minkot Etolmonom was queen after him but she was killed by a cyclops in the same year she became the Monarch. Funny, aparently she wanted to talk to him and convince him to settle down in a cave close to the City, seems like her name, Passpapers in human tongue, did her justice. Now we are ruled by Tun Nishlurit. I know very little about him, he had been King for around 4 years now but very little is known about his history or ties to the previous Monarchs.

I took Bsnott, Flame and HissinWallnuts with me as my associates and former citizens of the Murderwheel. I hope they will be a help in the negotiations.

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'So you are saying that goblin ambush, payed for by elven pockets, had managed to remove you from the outpost? You? I have heard much good about you, mister Exodius, and this is definitely very disappointing.' Said Tun.

'I know, Your Majesty. You know the reasons for my.... break.... from service in Mountain Homes, they are all in my files. I would be most flattered if you would consider my sloppiness in that situation a fault of a prolonged absence of service. I was simply out of shape. It will not happen again.' I answered in a very respectful tone.

'I believe it will not. However you must understand I will send another party to reclaim Murderwheel while my council and I consider what to do with you. For now you are under house arrest in your old familial mansion. As for your friends, I want to see them one by one, for investigations sake. Ohh, do not give me that look, mister Flame, there will be no torture involved, we simply want to make sure the story adds up. Guards! Please escort mister Exodius to his home. Mister Bsnott, mister Flame and mister Hissinwalnuts, please follow our Steward, he will show you to the guest rooms. You will be given all the courtesies any other of my guest would receive. This audience is concluded.'

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I wasn't home for a very long time. I do not think of that place as a home anymore, my home is Murderwheel now, and if I manage to get back there I swear I will build a Shrine to Ral, the Wolverine God of Volcanos.

An Ambush! Two squads at least! They killed majority of the last wave, I would run out and help but they have archers. We are not prepared for this, this should not have happened. I ordered immediate lock down. Not everybody was happy about it. Bsnott for once. And Liaison from the Mountain Homes wasn't a fun of this decision either. I had to punch him in the face a few times until he stopped panicking. Unfortunately it was all done for for our brave migrants but just before the lock down the Elven Caravan managed to sneak in, unharmed even though they passed straight through one of the hostile squads. Or so Jackal claims, as he was looking through the fortifications. It was very suspicious to me from the very start, so , as I was learned in their tongue, I went to eavesdrop on them while they unpacked in the Depot.

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[elvish]'You know, It is funny how those bearded fools allow us in.'[/elvish] Said Elf number one.

[elvish]'Shush, do not speak about it now!'[/elvish]. Said Elf number two. [elvish]'You never know who may be listening!'[/elvish]

[elvish]Oh stop being paranoid. Even their broker doesn't speak our language! They will never know we brought the goblins here.'[/elvish] Said Elf number One, and than he looked at me when I entered the depot. 'Oh hello there dwarven friend.' He said, showing a very fake smile.'We are not ready yet to trade with you. If you would give us just a few more *blarghle*bhlarghle*bhralrghle*' His last sentence ended inconclusively but I cannot say I blame him. It is rather difficult to talk with a battle axe sticking out of your forehead. Elf number Two quickly joined his friend in that big forest in the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~

It was several months now since I ordered the lockdown. Another migrant wave came by and than left, not necessarily from where they came. I had lost all hope for getting rid of this menace, until I heard a shout.

[human]'OI! ANYONE IN THERE? WE KILLED THE GOBLINS, YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!'[/human] I never was happier to hear that primitive human language. I cried out to open the gate. Our happiness was not long lasting. There was one squad humans missed. And that squad came after us as soon as we opened the gates. Many have fallen, including Urist-soon-to-be-dead and FireCrazy. Many others managed to flee from them, including me. It was a third time in my life I had to abandon what I had prized the most. First my Grandfather, than Scourge of Urist and now this. I will be back, for sure, and hopefully others as well. I know I can persuade the king to reclaim that place. If we do it fast enough we may be able to fortify and prepare ourselves much better than last time.