Afterword - Book 2 - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 3: Momentum Shifts

(Original Chapter Title: Broken)

Welcome to chapter 31 of the OG draft (i.e., books 1 and 2 combined)! No, that's not a typo. Editing is hell.

I'd promised I'd have more to say about the dwarf! A true behind the scenes: Cut plans.

The dwarf has an actual backstory, but er, as I wrote (and edited) it became obvious that there was no way to share it. He plain didn't want to talk to people, let alone open up about his past, and Ranthia wasn't the obnoxious sort that would try to pry someone out of their shell.

He was a Khazad dwarf that served as a prized [Blacksmith] in one of their underground cities. He created masterwork armors that were as beautiful as they were functional, and he was so in demand that only his city's elite had any hope of commissioning a set from him. Even that kept him busy, and he took meticulous pride in every suit that he made. Up until the day that one of his suits of armors failed a key champion of their city and resulted in their death.

It was irrelevant to pretty much everyone whether or not there was some possibility that the armor had been sabotaged or improperly equipped. His armor had failed and had cost them one of their most important soldiers. But it wasn't just those in power that took umbrage to his failure, it hit him hard too. In the end, he became [Forsworn] and created an oath-type skill to never create anything permanent ever again. If his designs were so unreliable, they should have an ephemeral existence at most. In essence, it made conjuring metal absurdly cheap, mana-wise, but it lasts for a fraction of the time that it should. Also, he can't use a forge without the most severe possible violation of his forswearing.

As an outcast from dwarven society (hence the extreme baldness, carried a bit further than it should have out of a desire for revenge) he found his way into the shimagu war efforts and decided to tag along with humans. They seemed to have ideas to use his ephemeral creations, and that suited him well enough. They even stuck a pair of amateurs with him that he could spit advice at when he felt like it (rarely).

Thus their nameless base was spared from the need to import metal.

That surely won't bite them in their ass.

I also had no way to convey this, but the grand shimagu offensive was costly in the extreme. They assembled the greatest force of what they had on hand that they could, then sent it off with every twin that could be cajoled into cooperating. The one that drove Ranthia off wasn't the only one there.

Had they fought, they would have been wiped out. But the army was in a forced march to strike their true target. They had no interest in engaging with every minor base they passed and getting sections of their forces bogged down.

But would other bases make the same judgment call as their commander?

War truly is hell, but being alone, behind enemy lines? Well, it turns out hell has layers.

They may be dealing with the leftovers that hadn't been able to keep up with the grand offensive, but the shimagu definitely don't seem to be running out of bodies to throw at them.