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(Page 1 of 2) Grungi the Mad by Liam Cotterill
 (3 ratings)
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Foreword
This story takes place after the fabled Great War (see character description). As such, this proves the bitter enmity between elves and dwarves at the current place in time. Our hero is a dwarf residing in the city of Brionne, south of The Wild forest where, after the Great War, a rich deposit of ore was discovered. A large multitude of dwarves, men and women, traveled south from Karak-Zigak, the only all dwarf city left standing. Grungi is a lord among dwarves, though he knows it not, due to his loss of memory when he took a fall in the Great War. Let us begin...
Grungi the Mad
Grungi scoured the earth in front of his like an eagle. Every rock turned up leaf, broken branch and crushed grass was taken into account. Somewhere in the surrounding jungle, Grungi heard a horn. He had been tracking the elves for a week now, never ceasing in his goal to reek slaughter and devastation into the ranks of the elves that killed his kin.
* * *
Seven days ago, Grungi would never have thought in a week he would be starved blooded and maimed. It had started like a normal morning, he had said goodbye to Mrs. Grungi at 8 o'clock and headed for the mines. As he walked his normal rout to work, he did not notice the elfish eyes that, had he known, were following him so intently. As he entered the equipment hold, he heard a strange chorus of birdcalls, but he thought nothing of it, as his head was set on the precious stones he would soon uncover. At 9 o'clock, his small group of diggers began the journey into the deepest part of the labyrinth known as the mines.
It was eleven o'clock before the news reached Grungi and his crew about the elfish ambush. Exactly twenty minutes earlier, the last groups of dwarves were preparing to enter the mines when suddenly they were pinned in place by a rain of elfish arrows. Twenty dwarves made up the beleaguered party. Out of these unlucky individuals, only two made it the one hundred meters to the mine entrance. Out of these two, only one made it far enough into the mines to raise the alarm before receiving thirteen black tipped arrows in his back.
Grungi and his motley mining party ran to the mine entrance where the gruesome scene had unfolded. As the other mining parties were cleaning up the destruction and entrails of the slaughtered mining party, Grungi's party equipped themselves for battle. Stuffing packs full of food, explosives and tools, arming themselves with axes, picks and long knives, the party set of after the elves by one o'clock.
* * *
Grungi bent low to the ground to examine the remains of a campfire.
"Still warm, two, maybe three hours on top of us, tops!" exclaimed Grungi. None of the eight other dwarves disagreed with him, as he was the biggest and ugliest of them all. The party trekked on, always on guard for the slightest movement that could hint of an enemy, or that night's dinner.
As they entered a clearing, a chorus of birds whistled, all different yet the same. Orrick, the youngest in the party, walked up to Grungi and whispered,
"I don't like this.
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