Testimony of Urist McHellskeep

 In March of the year 745, Age of Myth, A strange Dwarf emerged from a mine in Dodok, a city of Anvlore. This Dwarf spun tales of insanity to his fellow Dwarves of Dodok, which everyone brushed off as the poor man being insane. Perhaps spending too long in the mines had messed with his head... At least, that's what representatives of Dodok are saying. My name is Johnny Slingshot, and I gather information from the corners of the world. I heard a rumor about this Dwarf during my time in Yggdrasil, and took the opportunity to visit Anvlore for the first time. I decided to interview Urist McHellskeep, who I surprisingly met on the road to Dodok. He told me he had fled the city before he was locked up; apparently people his situation is meant to be kept secret. I had a long talk with Urist while enjoying a meal by the campfire, a talk that stretched on until he eventually lost consciousness. I recorded what he allowed me to record, as there are parts of his testimony which he specified were not to be disclosed to the public.

Urist began by explaining where he'd come from. He lived deep within the earth, under the Camber mountains in the remnants of an ancient fortress, secluded from the surface. This fortress was incredibly well defended, protected by all forms of traps and monsters. Urist told me that several years ago, around 12 years in fact, many of his Dwarven brothers ventured into the caverns beneath the fortress. When they returned, they spoke of a huge vacant area underground full of ores, cavern soil, and a labyrinth of natural tunnels which could be easily fortified. Urist told me that there this area was perfect for expanding the fortress, and over the course of several weeks, more and more resources were brought from the fortress to this new location. 

"They kept returning, singing the praises of their new location. They sent up ores and material from this new location. The Plump Helmets (which are mushrooms, apparently) that were brought up from the new area had been of noticeably higher quality than the ones grown in the irrigated mud of our farms in the fortress. Dwarves would over time leave, never to return. This was due to more and more homes being made for these Dwarves in this new area, allowing Dwarves to move from the upper fortress. 

After around three weeks, people stopped returning from the lower layers. This was around the time our king, Vabok Stimberas, had moved to the new fortress himself. We had lost all communication with our new fortress, and the mail system we set up stopped returning any information. Dwarves started straight up leaving for the new location, but they never returned either. Eventually, all that was left was me and the miners of the fortress. They set out on a tunneling expedition to the new fortress, and lo and behold, they never returned either. I had no contact with anyone or anything for the next several years after this. I spent most of that time doing what I was best at, planting and growing Plump Helmets. I spent all my time taking inventory of all we had left, and even tried leaving some food at the entrance to the caverns. I would often walk up to the cavern entrance to see what was going on, but I was always stopped by some form of cave-dwelling monster. I have absolutely no battle experience, and was completely incapable of defending myself against such creatures. Elk Birds, Cave Bears, Giant Cave Spiders, there was nothing I felt even remotely comfortable fighting against.

I never mustered up the courage to leave for the surface. There was an even more powerful monster waiting for me up there, being our greatest defense mechanism we've made so far. There was a huge machine we had used to guard the entrance, a machine in the form of an elephant. I remember watching the Dwarves work on it, though I can't remember much. It was enormous, I remember that much, with two giant tusks equipped with high power drills. The machine killed several monsters and thieves attacking us from the surface. I was powerless to do anything other than remain down here.

This was until a group of adventurers appeared. They had bypassed the traps, and had claimed to have slain the mighty Elephander. They approached me, and even traded their rations for my Plump Helmets. After hearing that the machine had been slain, I hurried through the upper layers of the fortress, reaching our old excavation mines. I left those mines, and survived the journey to the surface. I was greeted by armed Dwarves, who appeared to be guarding the mineshaft. I was interrogated by the Dwarves of Dodok, and I was told not to talk about my home to anybody. Naturally I wasn't content with this arrangement, so I spread the word of the fortress to anyone I spoke to. Eventually, I was informed by a newfound friend that the guards were after me, and that I needed to leave quickly. I ran from the fortress, towards the west, where he told me to go."

My conversation with Urist lasted many hours, as he informed me of many more subjects which he does not want publicized. I'll make this information public as quickly as I can.

-Johnny Slingshot