The Gilded City of Rendkeln

[Xerillum]

Deep within the far northern mountains is Rendkeln, the seat of the dwarven monarchy. Atop a large hill is a castle, completely covered in gold, overlooking the city of 3,003,011 dwarves, most living in poor conditions, with typhus and diptheria running rampant. But if you enter the castle by way of a causeway above the stinking pit of the city, you are greeted by a picture of luxury. Marble walls with pure gold sconces take up the view, with rare artwork and animal skins. In the main hall, a dwarf sits in a gold chair, coated with diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. Since the death of the old King, Tor Liek, who ruled fairly, the kingdom has been taken over by his cruel brother, Tor Gulder. The castle was built during the reign of Gulder, and displaced 100,000 people. Gulder rules his kingdom with an iron fist, but the townspeople are tired of warring with the goblins, and hungry... rebellion is a powerful prospect for many of the citizens...

[Rainspattered]

An undead dwarf (sentient, not mindless), uses an enchanted spyglass to take stock of the cities' checkpoints, blockades, and any other hindrances to entrance.

[Renrik]

((what is the population of the city made up of, including nobles, citizens, and any second-class citizens?))

((Man, the I can unserdtand why dwarves are so grim. I'd be, too.))

[Xerillum]

The city has 3 million in poverty, and 10 nobles. There is a middle class of 3000 soldiers, but most of those are guarding the fortress. Only 100 are on the outside perimeter, because of the overpowering miasma in the city around the fortress.

[Renrik]

A few goblins sneak into the city late one night, past the guards.

Jees, Krannagh, you'd think they'd post a guard.
Yeah, ya'd think. But Tor Gulder isn;t a good king
So I can tell. Look at the condition of this city. It's worse than Dockside and the slums combined.
Why? There's plenty of wealth in the dwarven empire to go around../
Because Tor Gulder a corrupt despot who lets his people starve.

The goblins hide in the slums, acting as beggars ((I assume there's probably some small, hated gobbo population in the city. If not, then they hide in the slums anyway. People probably won;t notice them too much.))

[Rainspattered]

The undead dwarf makes his way into the city. He walks among the downtrodden millions, passing out leaflets with a single word in old dwarven, a language most dwarves would know, but is rarely spoken any longer; "Revolution." On the inside, there are two more words "Our land." The message is clear; a revolution to restore the former glory of the dwarven kingdom.

[Renrik]

((heh. Basically what the gobbos were about to start doing, once they got their secret printing press up and running. Still, I like the short-and-to-the-point message. It becomes a slogan of types when you can do that.))

[Xerillum]

((actually, the dwarves are very tolerant of the goblins. The king, however... not so much.)) A lot of dwarves get the fliers, and a group of kids take materials that they can find, and make makeshift weapons.

[Renrik]

((the childs' revolution...))

The goblins hand out fliers as well:


People of the dwarven nation! The goblins are not your enemy. We fight not out of hatred for you, for we know that you are good people, but out of defense for our people against your armies. We know that this war is not wanted by you, and that you do not hate our people. We do not take joy in fighting your sons, as do you not take joy in fighting ours. We know that you, like any sentient creatures, wish to be left in peace and to thrive. But fight we must, yet we fight not against you, but against opression. We fight a foe that opresses us both, in our homeland and in yours.

That foe is Tor Gulder!

It is Tor Gulder that drags on this war between our people, causing daily the deaths of more of our sons and of yours. It is Tor Gulder who diverts the funds of his people away from helping his citizens and towards opressing our people and his own. It is Tor Gulder who is the puppet-master, who forces our people to fight and to kill, all for his profit, his gain, taking, by the blood of his people, the wealth of ours, and once having so stolen our resources, does not use them to reward his men or to help his people, but only to grow fat in his gold-plated nest as he watches the slaves dance for his amusement.

We urge you, our dwarven brothers, to take part in ending this war and his slaughter. In bringing your sons home safely, and in restoring peace between our people. We urge you to cut the strings of manipulation and fight back against the fist of opression that strangles us both.

[Xerillum]

The entire populace receives some form of flier. They build varying weapons, and wicker armor. They organize training for the youngn's.

[Rainspattered]

((OOC: Anyone mind if Kroshak calls "dibs" on Tor Gulder's death? Or, at least a duel to one of their deaths?))

[Xerillum]

((No, but it's whoever gets there first... Xerillum's going to be there next week, and I will not be on, so don't post. You won't get a response.))

[Renrik]

A train of four carts, bimming with axes and swords, sits in the hills outside the city. The goblins give the coordinates to a group of dwarven revolutionaries.

[Pollux]

"How the hell is this dump a 'gilded city'?", wonders Castor as he enters through the gates.

[Renrik]

A charactature of Tor Gulder is being spread among the city, showing the dwarven king as a greedy puppeteer controling goblin and dwarf alike.

[Xerillum]

A large fllet appears on te horizon, and fires cesium elementals at the sea around the walls, blowing a large section clean off. Inside the city, the dwarves rebel, killing the guards on the wall, and climbing ontop of the causeway.

[Rainspattered]

Fionn Ironfrost, his battlehammer raised and ruined armour donned, climbs with undead strength to the home of the Dwarven king.
((if Kroshak was allowed to call dibs, they're off because he's dead.))

[Renrik]

Some Federation troops watch from a faroff ridge.

The commander surveys the scene, as a young lieutenant comes up behind him

Sir? Do we aid them? Should we attack the city?
No. This is a dwarven revolution. If they do not free themselves, then nobody can. The future of the dwarven race must be decided by the dwarves. We have orders not to interfere. We shall not interfere. Our role here is as observers. Do you understand?
Yes sir... permission to speak freely, sir?
Yes?
I wish them luck, sir.
As do I, lieutenant. As do I.

[Xerillum]

A centurion of black armored dwarves lines up on the causeway, eliminating peasants. They mass on the line and charge over them, while all remaining soldiers fire poisoned arrows at them. THey are trapped in between the closed gate and the soldiers. A few throw firebombs at the wall, weakening it. There are 500,000 rebels left.

[Renrik]

((one against 5000 are not good odds for the centurions... the rebels could just bludgeon the dwarves to death with their hands...))

The native goblin population and GSA insurgent set up a series of guarded feild hospitals in the slums. ((sure, we won't provide military aid, but the Federation is OK with sending humanitarian aid.))

[Xerillum]

The guards on the roof pour flaming oil on the town, It burns Section C to the ground. ((THe city is divided into six walled sections. THe causeway is one of them.)) A small spark rises from the flaming section and sets the gare aflame, setting Section B on fire, which in turn, sets Section A on fire. The rebels drive the centurions into the flames, some soldiers welded to their armor. In Section F, A team of rebels uses an old junky tunneler to break into the Royal Sewers, and 200,000 of the dwarven rebels on the causeway head in.

[Renrik]

The goblins in the hospitals begin to form bucket squads to stop the fires.

[Xerillum]

A metal gate with char marks on one side blocks the entrance, as a scorching jet of flame, vented from the volcano that Rendkeln sits upon to power the palace, flies through the tunnel, killing the dwarves. On the surface, the dwarves knock down the gate and swarm into the Inner Ring of the castle, attackind and killing fleeing aristocrats.

________________________________________

In the castle's power station, Tor Gulder gets on a Lavaboat to escape from the castle. He leaves instructions to use the secret weapon, and escapes on a lava flume.

[Renrik]

The GSA, still considering Tor Gulder a criminal and an enemy, await n the countryside to cut off retreat f any dwarven aristocracy who attempt o escape. If cought, they shall be handed over to the dwarves for trial.

[Xerillum]

Deep within the castle, a rumbling noise occurs, and the volcano that the entire castle and surrounding countryside is on erupts, sending massive chunks of rock into the sea with twice the power of Krakatoa. Magma disintegrates the Palace of Gold, and the ash rises in a poisonous cloud, carried south by a wind. A pyroclastic flow falls, the remaining sections and the countryside in its path. several vents open up, spewing sulfur dioxide. Gulder escapes.

[Rainspattered]

Ironfrost, a breathless undead, needs to take no note of the poisonous air, only avoid the chunks of magma as he watches Gulder escape on the flume. Certain by the smug look on the king's face that the undead dwarf is in clear sight, Ironfrost makes a killing motion across his neck and mouths the word "Someday" to the fleeing king.

[Xerillum]

((THe flume is underground in a lava tube))

[Rainspattered]

((Ironfrost has been chasing Gulder for posts, he probably followed him up to the edge of the lava tube, leaping out to grab him before he reached the flume, and missed. As Gulder started to escape, the gestures were made. I didn't really make the timing clear, sorry.))

[Renrik]

The Federation, seeing that the Palaceof Gold has been toppled, sends humanitarian workers and a diplomatic envoy to the city to help put out the flames, repair the damage and heal the wounds (if the dwarven revolutionaries accept the aid.))

The Federation sends out elite commando teams to find and capture Tor Gulder and bring him to the dwarven people for justice.

[Xerillum]

The lava also decimates the city as a whole, leaving about 10,000 living dwarves.

[Renrik]

((.... thats.... well over 90% casualites.... ouch.))

The Federation has opened the facilities i their military hopsitals at the dwarven border to anybody who needs them, and have sent GSA squadrons to set up feild hospitals for wounded revolutionaries.

[Xerillum]

The Aszarkian Fleet lands on the island, and soldiers begin to rebuild.

[Renrik]

((wait, wait wait. Is Aszarkia taking over the dwarven lands now that the dwarven lands are in turmoil, or are they just helping the dwarves out and leaving them in control?))

[Xerillum]

((They're helping out.))

[Renrik]

((OK, so they aren;t invading. God. We don;t want to have to fight a war on behalf of the dwarves' independace. They can have their own state.))

The Federation brigades arrive at the city to aid the dwarves and Aszarkians in rebuilding, helping to make the city a better place than it was before, with space for living and a decent infastructure. They work under the designs of the dwarves, and under the command of their own officers.

[Xerillum]

A cargo barge arrives from a nearby river, laden with stone and wood from the forests that run up the shore.

[Renrik]

Federation diplomats arrive, requesting to speak with the new leaders of the dwarves, if the dwarves have yet chosen new leaders.

[Xerillum]

Dregs McGillicutty steps forward. Hi!

[Renrik]

((Dregs... McGillicutty... is the new leader of the great dwarven empire?))

[Xerillum]

((Yep. He did a good public image campaign))
Hi, there! I'm Dregs. What's you name?

[Renrik]

The goblin diplomat, who, by the looks of him, must have been a great warror before losing his arm, bows.

I am Dreadfell, from the Thaull river. I am a diplomat of the Federation. I have come to speak with the leader of the dwarven people, and to understand the views of the new dwarven government.

[Xerillum]

Well, you're talkin' to him!

[Renrik]

It is good to meet you, McGillicutty. Are you the commander of the revolutionary forces, or are you elected?