Ludd the earth elemental, well before he received his name, was a certain patch of dirt, buried under a hill. Undisturbed, he lay for centuries—not quite conscious, for nothing had awakened him. Then, one day, there were some gentle vibrations coming through the ground. Not enough to awake this patch of dirt, but enough for the earth equivalent of cracking an eye open. Then there was a lot of shouting. Then there was a huge thud, as Red Mine collapsed over the top of Ludd. He didn't mind. It was a soothing boom, a nudge of energy, an enlightening.

  Enough to wake him up.

  Ludd became much more aware of his surroundings. He moved. He could move now, a slow swimming through the dirt and clay that surrounded him. He had no direction, for he was still buried far beneath the earth. He moved, simply because he could. He came across something that was not of him. Something he could not swim through. It was the corpse of a man. Ludd studied the corpse for a time, then moved on, swimming slowly through the earth. He came across another corpse, then another. Then one that was different. Ludd saw light for the first time. It was a blue light, coming from the eye of one of the corpses. Fascinating. Ludd reached out and plucked the eye. It wasn't flesh, it was not quite dirt. It was closer to the rocks that wove throughout the earth, places that Ludd could not swim through. Ludd inspected the stone, admiring its light. Then, in curiosity, he placed it against his face and pushed it in, right where an eye should be.

  Ludd's clay mouth fell open in wonder. Suddenly, he could see. Despite all the dirt and clay surrounding him, Ludd could suddenly see all the rocks and all the corpses floating in the earth. On several of the corpses, certain objects shone brilliantly in Ludd's vision. Mostly knives of different kinds, and one pair of boots. There was a pull to them, something that drew Ludd in, the same way the eye had. Ludd swam over and began to collect them. It was hard, to drag them through the earth. They didn't quite flow the way Ludd did. Still, some instinct told Ludd to bring all these objects together. He didn't know how, but they had value to him. Somehow.

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  Ludd was swimming over to another corpse when something else came into his vision. It was another elemental, like him. Unlike him, this one was still sleeping underneath the earth. Buried too deep. Ludd left the corpse and swam over to the elemental. He looked the creature up and down. He reached out a hand.

  Poke.

  The other elemental shifted, then turned its head to look at Ludd. Ludd smiled. A simple, earthy, toothless smile. He had a friend. Ludd swam away, back to the corpses, and the other elemental followed. The other elemental couldn't see like Ludd could, but if they stayed close, it could follow Ludd's movement through the earth. As they explored their surroundings, Ludd found another elemental. Then another. Soon he had six friends, swimming slowly through the earth after him.

  New skill acquired! Leadership - Elemental (Basic)

  Ludd and his new friends swam from corpse to corpse, inspecting all the wondrous items that were not dirt. As they went through the mass grave, they found more corpses higher up, then higher up still. The last few corpses were at the very top of the world of dirt and earth that Ludd knew. What was above that? Ludd did not know. But his eye could see. Funny shapes of trees and animals that moved. The sight captivated Ludd, and he swam closer and closer to the surface.

  Then, one day, he broke through, and stepped into the world above.