The Forgotten Race

The days pass by as Shelly watches with curiosity, learning many new things she didn't know before as the dwarves fashion long things called planks and beams out of the tall things called trees. Dwellings start to pop up one after the other as the dwarves work together to make homes for each and every dwarf that will be coming to this world. Shelly follows a group heading to the dark forest of trees that the herd is fearful of, she stops and watches as the dwarves go to the edge of the forest and start to bring more planks and beams back to the camp. She hears a dwarf shout, "Timber!" as a cracking fills the air, followed shortly after by a heavy crash. She sees one of the trees laying on its side when another shout is heard, she watches the tree make its way to the ground with a loud crash. Other dwarves begin to remove parts of the tree and toss them into a large pile, with different dwarves beginning to work on the tree.

Three months pass by when the camp is finally constructed as Asulfur looks towards the forest from the wall, watching the dwarves making their way through the forest from Erebor. They start to get closer to the gate as he turns his head and shouts, "The rest of the expedition is here, open the gate!"

Gesi and another dwarf unbar the gate and pull it open to let them in, standing aside as the first few dwarves walk past her into the large camp.

Commander Banil stands on a platform in the camp square, watching the dwarves wander further into the camp. He waves his hand and says, "Every dwarf that is arriving, please gather 'round!" He watches them for several moments as the last few dwarves gather around then raises his voice and loudly says, "Welcome to your new home, fellow dwarves! This camp is called Dark Watch, for there are goblins and wooden wolves in the forest that you came through. It also comes under attack once or twice a week, so don't be alone or unarmed if you go out past the gates. There are lands northwest, next to the river just beyond the wall to grow crops. We will need a few brave families to begin working on growing food for us all, I will need a few hunting parties formed to keep a steady supply of meat for us. So welcome home! So find a place to live, and make yourselves comfortable. We will wait until after the coming winter before we even think of beginning to explore this new world.

6 years later in Erebor, on the other side of the pool portal

King Ornir picks himself up off the floor after the most recent tremor, getting more concerned at having to close down two other shafts due to the instability of the cavern's walls. Sighing, he looks to a couple of guards and says, "Come with me you two, we are going to cavern 6 to see if it is still sealed up." He then makes his way down the path towards the mines, hoping that he is wrong with his idea.

After walking for several minutes, they reach cavern 5 as beads of sweat start to roll down the king's face. He stands before the sealed doors and places a hand upon the floor to test the temperature, holding his hand there for a few moments before releasing a sigh saying, "I feared this day would one day come... I only hope there is enough time for us to warn Dale and get our citizens to safety. One of you must send a raven to Dale, tell them our mountain is about to die. Have them evacuate the city and head for Laketown, we will handle our own evacuation."

One of the guards salutes him and says in a male voice, "Yes my king, at once!" He then takes off running for the front gate to send off a raven, wondering where they will go when they evacuate Erebor.

The guard nears the front gate when he hears dwarves coughing from the dust hanging in the air, and stops to investigate what happened. He then calls out, "What happened here!?"

A different dwarf then coughs and replies, "That last shake caused a rockslide that is blocking the gate, it is going to take a few hours to clear up!"

The guard looks outside and still sees daylight peeking through in a few places and says, "Well better get started on clearing the rocks, we are evacuating Erebor."

The dwarf waves his hand in front of his face to clear away the dust and coughs saying, "By my beard, WHY!? It was only a little rumble!"

The guard shakes his head and says, "Dale has to evacuate to Laketown, our mountain is dying and we need to warn them."

The dwarf's face goes pale as he then nods and shouts, "EVERY DWARF THAT CAN SWING A HAMMER OR A PICK HELP US ON CLEARING THIS ROCK!"

The guard then returns to his task of going to fetch a raven to carry a message to Dale, reaching the ravens' hall a few minutes later, and grabs a quill to start writing a message for Dale to evacuate.

King Ornir makes his way back out of the mines and looks to his other guard saying, "I want you to go and begin moving our scrolls, books, and every other piece of knowledge to the camp in the new land first. Then start on moving the women and children, have them cart or carry whatever they can on their way through the pool to the base camp. Also, send as many masons as we are able and go tell them to find us a mountain to call home. Once a suitable mountain is found, they are to begin immediately."

The guard nods and salutes him saying, "At once, my king!" He then takes off to start on his tasks as the other guard passes by him.

The king looks at the returning guard and says, "Is it done?"

The guard bows and salutes the king and replies, "Yes, my king. There has been a rockslide that was caused by the shaking, but the dwarves are already starting to work on clearing it."

King Ornir looks at him and nods saying, "Good, now go up to the secret door and make sure that it is clear as well." He then watches as the guard takes off for it, then continues to find a guard to gather the remaining guards to begin evacuating the women and children first.

Three hours later, in Dark Watch

Asulfur continues to watch as dwarves continue to bring scrolls and other literature to the camp when he sees a dwarf running towards him wearing the royal guard armor and says, "What is going on, why are the scrolls and books being brought here?!"

The guard looks at him and says, "They were the king's orders, this camp is requested to start searching for a mountain to call home. Once a suitable mountain is found, begin immediately. The masons will be on their way shortly to help with construction as we evacuate Erebor."

He looks at the guard with wide eyes saying, "In Durin's name, WHY!?"

With a solemn look in his eyes, he looks at Asulfur and answers, "Because the mountain is dying, there was another violent quake that caused a rockslide that buried the front gate and is being cleared."

Asulfur looks away from the guard and nods his head saying, "Thank you for informing me about the current state of Erebor, you may return to the king and help in the evacuation. We have work to do." He then leaves the wall at a fast pace to get Banil.

Banil is looking at a map of the surrounding areas they have examined when his door bursts open, causing him to look up to see his second in command standing before the table and asks, "What brings ya here today, Asul?"

He looks at his superior and says, "Well sir, I heard that the king is evacuating Erebor because the mountain is dying. The lore and knowledge are already being brought here, and he wants us to start looking for a suitable mountain to call home. When we find one, we are to begin immediately. The masons are on their way and will be here at any time, so where do we start looking, sir?"

The commander looks at the map and says, "We can't use the mountain closest to us straight north, it's too skinny. The mountains a bit further to the north and east are infested with pony-like black insects that capture dwarves alive and suck the juices from their bodies, the mountains straight west or the ones further south and west may work. Gather a couple of parties to go scout them both out, make sure they are fully geared, and take their pickaxes with them to take a few samples."

Asul nods his head and says, "Yes sir, I will start immediately." He then exits the room and goes to find Gesi for a scouting mission.

A few days pass by as Asul and Gesi travel together towards the western mountains as Gesi pokes the campfire and looks to her friend saying, "I will take the mountain to the north, you take the other one."

He looks to her and sits beside the fire as the thirty other dwarves with them lying asleep and says, "That's fine with me, just as long as we can find one soon."