Cana IV

Cana was quickly coming to realize that she wasn't going to be able to look for her friends anytime soon. At one point she was going to Altdorf, and then suddenly she was being sent back to Zhufbar to meet the king because she got lucky while taking down a Greenskin stronghold.

Along the way, she learned more about the dwarfen nation, which they referred to as the "Karaz Ankor". Apparently, it consisted of many different, semi-independent realms called "Karaks", which were ruled by local kings. Those kings then owed fealty to the High King, who ruled from a massive mountain stronghold called "Karaz-a-Karak", which was the capital of the Karaz Ankor. This dwarfen empire was said to span the entire length of a massive mountain range called the World's Edge Mountains. However, Cana also would find out that their empire had fallen into troubled times over the ages, and it showed. Now that Cana looked, she saw that the structures were cracked and old.

"I present King Morgrim Ironforge," Gorik said, "King of Zhufbar."

"Your Majesty," Cana said, bowing slightly. Morgrim looked carefully at her, though it was hard for Cana to see much of his expression behind all that facial hair.

"So you are the human that was found atop of the mountain?" the king asked, leaning on his hand, "I have to admit, that is not a common place to find anyone."

"Well, it wasn't like I actually chose to come here," Cana said with a meek smile, "It was sort of on accident."

"I won't venture a guess as to the accident in question. Is it true, you alone brought down an entire orc fortress?" Morgrim asked, leaning forward.

"A lot of it, I'll admit was luck and timing," Cana said, "I don't think I could do that again if I tried."

"An accomplishment is an accomplishment," the king said, "And we here in Zhufbar believe in commending accomplishments. What kind of magic did you use?"

"Its called Card Magic, and its exactly what it sounds like," Cana answered, pulling out her deck, "I use these cards as conduits for my magic, which allows me to cast various spells with them."

"Can we have a demonstration?"

"I can't use the spell I used on the Greenskins obviously," Cana said, "But here's something." Pulling out a card, she thought it in the air.

"Card Magic: Fire!" The card suddenly spontaneously combusted, sending fire arcing over the room. Many dwarfs recoiled back in surprise, but they all looked more impressed than frightened at the sight of it.

"Truly impressive," Morgrim said, "But I must ask, why did you call out the attack the way you do?"

"Its something of a magical incantation. It activates the spell."

"This is certainly a fascinating magic. I'll admit, I am not thoroughly familiar with the magic of humans, but as far as I know, they possess no magic like this," Morgrim said, "The ancestors may have willed your coming to the Karaz Ankor." Cana didn't try to think about that.

"You should be sent to Karaz-a-Karak," Morgrim said firmly. That earned some surprised glances.

"Your Majesty, is that really appropriate?" one older dwarf asked, "She is still a stranger."

"She brought down an army of Greenskins, along with an entire fortress on her own using a strange magic. That should be enough reason for her to be allowed to meet with the High King." Cana honestly wasn't sure that she wanted to meet the High King, but figured that she didn't have a choice, and maybe she would get some better means to look for her friends with the ruler of the Karaz Ankor.

With that, it had been decided that Cana would go to Karaz-a-Karak, which she found out was to the south, located at the highest peak of the World's Edge Mountains. Gorik had been the one to volunteer guiding Cana to the city, which she was thankful about.

"So," Cana said, joining him as he stood at a table with a map, "are we going to need another pilot?"

"We will go by land," Gorik answered simply, barely looking up.

"Really?" Cana asked in surprise, "But isn't it far?"

"Not as much as you might think," Gorik answered, "Karaz-a-Karak is here, and Zhufbar is here. Going by the bridges, we will probably be there within a couple days at the most." Cana noticed he was right, and it didn't seem especially far.

"You guys have bridges between the mountains?" Cana asked.

"Along with the Underway, they are probably some of the greatest dwarfen engineering achievements we have under our proverbial belts."

"Well, with that, I'm going to take a break," Cana said, as she left the room, "I'm going to need my energy to cross the mountain range."

They left the following morning, after they had all gotten some proper rest. The bridge truly was impressive. They were wide enough that Cana estimated more than ten people could walk across it shoulder-to-shoulder. It was so long, that Cana could only barely see the other side at the end.

"How many mountains will we have to go through?" she asked as she and Gorik walked across it.

"Only a few," Gorik answered, "The bridges only connect the largest of the mountains."

"Is there anything the dwarfs can't do?" Cana asked with a smile.

"Quite a number of things I'd say," Gorik admitted with a sigh, "Its a shame not enough of us are willing to admit it." Cana looked at him carefully at that. Figuring she wouldn't get much more information in that regard, she turned her eyes to the West, looking over the lands. Her position gave her a fantastic view down out of the mountains and to the lands beneath. However, those lands were not a particularly pleasant sight. A mist lay over them, obscuring almost al the land. What little of the land Cana could see was dark.

"What's that place down there?" she asked, pointing. Gorik glanced over, and his brow furrowed at the sight.

"That land is called Sylvannia," he answered, "At one point, it was part of the Empire, but now it is a cursed land. And that is not an exaggeration. It is literally cursed. It has been so for centuries."

"How?"

"The undead," Gorik answered, spitting on the ground at the mention of them, "Of the vampiric variety."

"Vampires?" Cana asked. She'd read plenty of books that featured vampires (including a crappy romance novel), though she always thought them myths. Granted a lot of things she'd seen and experienced she otherwise thought as myths were confirmed as well.

'While the counts of that land have never decided to threaten us, which I thank the ancestors for, they have been a consistent plague on the lands of men for ages. I pity those poor souls who are at their mercy."

"I'm not going to have to down there am I?" Cana asked, cringing at the mist cloaked lands..

"No reason you would need to."

"That's good to know."

Note: So Cana's off to see the High King (that sounds like a song, doesn't it?) at Karaz-a-Karak.

I will admit, that I'm not the biggest fan of the dwarfs. While I adore high fantasy, and all their races, of the races, the dwarfs are my personal least favorite. I do like them, just not as much as some of the others.

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