The First Goblin King

The Dungeons

        Pickaxes rained blows down upon the solid rock. Adair had been at it for an hour without stopping. The Goblin newcomer, which Vlor later found out was named Crag, must have been new to the underground. He couldn't seem to swing the pickax hard enough to break through the rock and into the ore beyond. Try as he might, he just could not extract even a single piece. He suffered along for close to and hour, and in that time produced no ore.

This did not go unnoticed by the task master. He came over and began to rain blows upon the Goblin, hitting him with his pointed prod and fists. Adair threw down his own pickax and rushed the task master,  dragging down the others he was chained to when he lunged. Adair threw the man down to the ground. They fought savagely for several minutes before the task master picked up a large piece of rubble and bashed Adair in the head with it. Dazed, Adair fell back, and the task master jumped up, joined by several  other Varanthian guards who had heard the commotion. The Goblins gathered around, stunned at Adair's actions.

        "To the dungeons!" he roared at the guards, pointing his finger at Adair, blood gushing from his busted lip. They all fell upon Adair, unchaining him from the others, and dragging him back into the cart and up to the surface. Adair's vision was going in and out, and his head ached. The pain was nothing, though, compared to what was to come.

       Adair remembered little of this journey towards the light, his head throbbed and the approaching brightness hurt his eyes. A heavy chain was fashioned round this waist, and next he knew, he was being drug along the wide streets until they reached a large, black structure that was situated deep within the city.

As they got closer, Adair could hear the screams and wailing of both man and woman alike. Adair shook his head and tried to dig in his heels, to back away from that awful place, but he was roughly drug to the intimidating building. There, they met a man who was dressed in a brown leather pinafore of sorts. There were bloodstains all over the front, and a pointed tooth was plastered to it. The man had on a black mask, hiding his face from view. Long, lanky brown hair could be seen, and two malicious eyes glowed from deep within the mask, but that was all Adair could make out of the man.

"Bind him fast, boys!" The dungeon master spoke with a gravelly voice.

The guards removed the heavy chain from around his waist, and removed the manacles from his wrists. The guards took two ropes and tied them about each of Adair's wrists. They then fastened the ropes to a set of hooks above his head, and the dungeon master began to turn a wheel which pulled the chains taught, lifting the king off of his feet and hanging him up by his arms.

"What is this man's crime?" the dungeon master asked gleefully.

"He attached Wynchester." One of the guards said, pointing a finger at the helpless king.

"Try not to kill him," the other guard leaned in to whisper to the dungeon master, placing his hand upon the man's shoulder. "Seth would be very displeased if he were to be robbed of his prize." The guards backed out of the room, closing the door behind them.

"Well, well, King Adair," the dungeon master snickered, "attacking the task master? We can't have that, now, can we? We must be taught a lesson, blood will be taken for blood, flesh for flesh."

The dungeon master began to beat Adair then, first using his fists, then lashing out with all manner of implements and instruments. He had been warned not to kill the king, true, but he had leave to teach him a valuable lesson. The dungeon master had honed his arts through many years of torturing prisoners, Kaels, Goblins, Elves, and Dwarves alike. He berated Adair, taunting him, telling him that his companion, Gleek, had lasted but two hours in his care.