Taken from the after battle report from the expedition to reclaim Karak Ungor

  Hail Hengist Stonebelly

  The orders were carried by a trusted courier his corpse was found despoiled by the cursed Night Grobi!! His name has been entered in the Book of Grudges against that hated races account!

  The new Dwai Thunderers came to us via Zufbar when they heard of your quest to regain Karak Ungor. They are armed with gifts from a manling yes, but a Manling unlike any other! In the technical arts he was incise even then. He visited here as a child I recall the scene, he managed to corner a Rune Smith called Thorgum Steelfist and was questioning him in pure Khlazid!! He was sputtering with shock before he answered the manling Childs question which seemed to satisfy him before he was lead away from the Rune Smith by a very embarrassed a Dwai Egineer. Afterwards I asked Thorgum what the child asked him and replied 'he asked how to refine Adamantium from Gromil, and i told him seeing little harm in it as the child must have been taught stock phrases and such by his keepers some scruffy looking engineers' i shrugged at this thinking that the Rune Smith must have drunk too much Bugmans finest and forgot all about it.

  That was until twenty years ago when the child returned as a man, asking permission to drive out the Grobi from a small mining hold in the Grey Mountains in the manling tongue it translated as Greypeak if I recall correctly. I will tell you more of this later when you return triumphant from your quest!

  These engineers are to be given your upmost assistance in the matter of the drive to clear and fortify the Ungdrin leading up to Karak Ungor and write me back on the receipt of this missive with your progress so far!!

  From your High King

  Thorgrim Grudgebearer

  Hail Thorgrim Grudgebearer

  Upon receiving your missive a number of things became clearer where this manling got all his ideas from at least it was good Dwai engineering!

  I also have further experience of two things so far in this campaign that I did not before possess.

  One that some things never change the Night Grobi seek to flee before us before and entrap us as always. However when you have these New Thunderers with you that is quite hard to do my king as we have struck down thousands of the hated foe!!

  Two the resupply via the traction railway has enabled our Throng with food, ammunition and the reinforcements you sent with your message to gain the tunnels almost to the outskirts of the main Karak!!

  It is not unfair to say that we are making more progress than any other expedition to date in reclaiming this Karak and if this succeeds maybe other lost holds might be reclaimed?

  There are constant attacks from hidden entrances to the Ungdriin via hidden entrances and abandoned regular ones. the small groups of Thunderers and other solid Dwai warriors stationed at the way posts have taken such a toll of them they now seek to perform sabotage rather than attack directly.

  As part of your original instructions we are clearing as many of the old outlying holda and mines as possible. The things these foul Grobi have done to my ancestral halls and mines almost drives me to swear the slayers oath i tell you that this time we will purge them from these places never to return!

  The engineers have also taken to setting sneaky what i assume must be manling traps and devices in these holds as we clear them as not enough good Dwai are ready to reoccupy them until the Grobi menace has receded.

  As we approach the edge of the main deep delving the worry of how to clear these tunnels and find all the hidden entrances and crude Grobi works is building in my mind!

  I would like to petition you for more Dwai and as much as it pains me to ask for more of these manling devices and maybe some of these strange manling engineers and troops as well?

  Your obedient servant

  Hengist Stonebelly

  After battle report written by Hengist Stonebelly spring 2501 to Thorgrim Grudgebearer and reply

  Hail Thorgrim Grudgebearer

  I hope this missive finds you well and i wish to thank you for the latest wave of reinforcements, even though they included some manlings and some of their 'wizards!' This dabbling with the forces of Chaos will come to no good end in the fullness of time! Though I do admit they have proven useful in the short term along with the troops that travelled with them!

  Here follows the account of the first days of our main assault upon the Night Grobi in Karak Ungor

  The resupply through the underway is steady with 'trains' of supplies arriving at least twice a day laden with good Dwai beer (though not as good as the Bugmans we used to drink as beardlings!) food, ammunition for the handgunners and all the other equipment that an army of a size such as this needs to take the fight to hated foe! This is continuing even though the Grobi still try and interfere as much as they can. Last week they tried flooding the tunnel with their foul spores but the 'masks' you supplied earlier proved again able to protect us from this vile un-Dwai tactics. Though what else can you expect from the greasy little beggers! This attempt failed to interrupt our resupply, however more worryingly they tried to cut the cable that draws the trains of carts to our present position with some kind of giant shears two days ago. This devious stratagem only failed because the cable is a Gromil alloy, if it had been good Dwai steel they would have cut it and been able to hijack the cargo and no doubt through weight of numbers slay the guards!

  They have also attempted to destroy one of the way stations where the stationary steam engines are located that power this new yet useful transport system. It was only due to pure chance that a contingent of Troll slayers were resting there while passing through from the slayer keep to aide us in our battles. Though the Grobi came in great strength none of them were able to claim their dooms before the cowardly scum ran from their axes and hammers! This quest I must say has drawn the largest number of Slayers i have heard of in a while, though i expect the task of reclaiming one of our sacred Karak's has something to do with it!!

  The approaches to the deep delving are now clear and the night Grobi are retreating to the lower workings, no doubt they intend to rally their foul fellows and strike us from the shadows!

  The desecration is saddening to see, broken statues and shrines to the ancestor gods lie befouled by countless years of these evil childlike scum's activities. I dread to think what the workings and the main hold will look like after seeing the outer edges of this the home of my ancestors!

  The original plan to clear the hold top to bottom was altered when Henries Falstaff from the 'light order' and his colleague Ricter von Deadwood from the 'gold order' said that a combination of their powers along with the apprentices that they had brought with them might be able to plot a better path through this deadly maze that the Grobi have made of this place.

  I must admit i was dubious at first and i readied our army of mostly good solid Dwai to start the process of scouring the deeps to start the process proper of reclaiming this place.

  However at least in this instance i was proven wrong, i am not sure what foul ritual they performed to achieve the results that they did but it involved a lot of chanting. To make things worse they were speaking in what seemed to my ears to be an Elfish tongue of some kind, though not having heard any spoken for at least a century or more i could not be sure.

  This did not endear them to me or any of my fellows that heard it, but results speak louder than words. After several hours a great light that burned the eyes even through the blindfolds that we had fashioned at their urging was released. After a few minutes the 'Gold' wizard Ricter said that we could open our eyes. To my amazement the wall of the tunnel to our right had been transformed from well hewn stone shot through with veins of various metals to a map. There was a view vertically as if the earth had been sliced to reveal the extent of the delving and multiple depictions of the horizontal tunnels. It was a good thing that the wall was of a great height and the surface was carved by solid Dwai hands as the map was complex beyond measure, especially if you were not used to the intricate nature of older Karak's.

  Ricter then explained as I gazed at the map working out routes and planning the attack in my head, 'that the pulse of magical light filled all the open spaces and the mind of my friend and colleague then transmitted this information to me and i magically rearranged the metal in the walls to accurately depict the extent of these workings' however they did it this information was to prove invaluable in the days and months ahead!!

  The first throngs found little resistance in fact there were several encounters with seemingly confused or injured Grobi wandering the tunnels seemingly at random! The manling wizards explained the magical light might have damaged the delicate eyes of these dark loving swine! Well I remember thinking at the time some good can come of warpcraft afterall!

  Several groups of rangers armed with these new pellet firing handguns fed with a 'magazine' penetrated the main warrens of these Red Eye Night Grobi. They came upon them dead seemingly having tried to claw their own eyes before dying in a most satisfying manner! They had been unmade with mere 'manling magics' though the 'light' wizard Henries Falstaff explained it had been a side effect rather than an intended spell.

  Indeed he looked most ill even for a feeble manling and I was lead to understand that the practice of these spells can kill them outright, I much prefer good solid Runecraft and well wrought armour and weapons. I do allow that these new weapons brought by the manlings could be improved by good dependable Dwai engineers and craftsmen.

  Alas there were many other warrens that were totally unaffected by spell as we found out as two groups of rangers were ambushed from a lair hidden by chance behind a rich seam of iron that that shielded them from the spell and concealed them from the magical sight of the wizards and their apprentices until they sprang their trap!

  As they passed the main entrance to the warren the crafty Greenskins released five giant squigs that smelling the scent of Dwai charged through the thin divide of rock followed by four fanatics whirling their overlarge balls and chains and cackling with insane drug fuelled abandon.

  These were followed by a motley mob of Night Grobi by all the accounts of the survivors. Young and old mixed with cripples and females, the squig tenders were the only organised force and they were more concerned with driving the squigs forward before the fanatics could slaughter them!

  Stupid creatures really, the manlings helped again in our battle as well. As soon as they attacked the wizards could now see through the barrier that the magnetic ore once protected them from and could direct our local reaction force in that sector to them.

  The ranger let loose with volley after volley which I am afraid only maddened the creatures, though it was very effective in killing all the fanatics, effectively shredding them in to a mist of Grobi bits. The only thing that saved the few survivors of the Ranger squad was the 'shaped charge' that one of them managed to attach to the lead and biggest squig before being grabbed by another and bitten in half. Their victory was short-lived as the explosive did kill the squig, I am afraid to report that the force of the explosion caused a cave in. Under the weight of the debris it caused this level to open up into the tunnel below carrying most of the survivors of the squig attack to their deaths. In the few seconds that passed before the charge exploded they had managed to kill most of the two squads of lightly armoured rangers.

  The reaction force of two throngs of Iron breakers and one of Quarrellers soon arrived to help drive back the remains of the Grobi force that had not joined our brothers in death. This was done with great dispatch and we settled that grudge straight away exterminating them one and all, after bridging the rather large void that now extended for a small section of the tunnel floor of course.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Another notable battle that took place was on the third day of our scouring of the lower delving. The track of the underway brought several more of the manling wizards they came to replace those who had become too exhausted to continue and some travelled with our forward reaction forces.

  They also brought a steady stream of other manlings in great numbers! I was now convinced that at least manlings commanded by this 'engineer' were trustworthy. If you had not assured me in other communications that this was going to happen i would have struck them down as it seemed like the perfect recipe to steal our ancestral lands!

  In the end you were correct the majority of these manlings were there to work only at the direction of this 'engineers' journeymen that led them. They cleared the dead Grobi from the tunnels, following our warriors in the aftermath of battle to help secure this my home almost again!

  The main Karak the higher you went became almost mournful, everything of beauty had been defaced, every treasure removed i grit my teeth and pull my Beard at the new Grudges that must be entered by yourself in the Sacred Book of Grudges as soon as possible my liege!

  There was little structural damage other than neglect and earthquake damage as even the Greenskins after they had their fun had left this gloomy tomb to itself!

  This soon changed with the help of these manling engineers. Though i most assured when a large contingent arrived from Zufbar to help in the regeneration of this once fair city! There was of course a constant infiltration of small groups of Grobi though undiscovered tunnel, some under the twisted protection of their 'magics' struck hard. This large infusion of workers however allowed the refortification of the approaches to the mines and the deliberate collapsing of several areas filled with Grobi tunnels and no mineral wealth of value.

  The restarting of the pumps and the water system helped drain many rich seams that had lain hidden from the foolish scum for thousands of years. Many in fact we had flooded ourselves to save them being pawed by such unworthy little dirty claws when we lost the original fight against them! However it was the large, though primitive engines that manlings brought with them that helped restart the forges in half the time that our engineers said could be achieved. Once they were installed they worked reasonably well! Though I am relieved to report that our engineers managed to improve all of them in a few days!

  The size of the casting was most impressive for the pistons especially. In fact they had to be lowered down one of the air shafts and reassembled in the devastated forges and furnaces and mine shaft heads.

  There will no doubt be many more fights to be had but let the word go out to all Dwai the heart of this hold beats once again!

  Hail Hengist Stonebelly!

  The News of your victory precedes your latest missive and i am most glad to report that all Dwai are cheering your name and quaffing good ale in your honour and all your stout warriors and engineers! Even the manlings are being hailed for the first time for some while as our brothers in the fight against disorder once more!

  There are several more forces closing with your over ground clearing the Grobi from every forest and cave. Several armies from the Empire are also involved the whole operation like some giant hunt driving Grobi above and below to theri deaths. I have no doubt they will return as soon as the troops go after the campaigning season though I hope by this time the series of outposts the Imperials are building above ground and the progress you are making below ground will have re-established a firm military presence over at least the local area.

  There are many fertile valleys and swift mountain rivers in this country. In times past they were farmed by your ancestors and kept in a beauty that this world will not soon know again! The Manlings have been given permission to establish settlements in return for direct military and manpower for our renewed works paid for in good Dwai steel, jewels and freshly mined gold. It pains me to do so but with this incitement we can help build and maintain against the forces of the dark that I have no doubt are gathering to strike down this light in the face of their desire to end our blessed race!

  There are of course many good Dwai settlers amongst them but the majority are manlings, bear with me friend we will make your halls resound with the sound of hammers and the peaceful life of crafting more beauty into this worlds once again rather than holding onto to sacred heritage with our fingertips fighting all the way!

  I digress, the new plan which was at least in part put forward by the Engineers ambassador then of course improved be me and my key military Thanes. This in part i have already described and some is in the course of being planned on the fly! These manlings are making me hasty I must admit. They even suggest that i invest some my share from the spoils now flowing along the renewed underway in Nulun of all places! You would assume that they have their own workshops and places of high engineering?

  I might agree to this as just what is owed a loyal friend. They demanded nothing from me! Or I hear from you? They tell me all they want is but a chance to slaughter the foe! I will write you again soon my old friend with i hope more good news to report

  Thorgrim Grudgebearer

  Letters between Hengist Stonebelly winter 2501 to spring 2502 Thorgrim Grudgebearer

  Hail Thorgrim Grudgebearer

  My King the news is less than good at present I am afraid, apart from the difficulties inherent in restoring even the basic services after so long in the grubby hands of our most hated foe. The water aqueducts from the highest peaks are befouled from neglect and need to be cleared of debris and dens of Grobi! They have stolen the steel fittings from the sluice gates and the counter weights from the waterwheels. The wells are mostly either poisoned with warpstone or fouled with who knows what. The majority are being sealed and filled in and new boreholes excavated. Don't even ask about the sewers, they were either destroyed or repurposed to twisted fungi farms and the like! It will take months before you can be certain some Night Grobi wont pop up while you are on the throne!

  There have been signs for several months that the Hated Ratmen have a lair in the greatest depths of my fair Karak, this has now been confirmed! It is not extensive but one curious thing is that they attacked our Ironbreakers in a berserk rush with no organization. There were large numbers of Rat Ogres and various other strange beasts but they seemed emaciated and strangely more manic even than usual for their foul creations of Chaos and perverted technology. We are keeping a keen eye out for more activity; I thought that you might have need of this information even though I am not sure what it portends?

  So not only must we be on guard for the Grobi with their constant snipes and raids, now we must keep another eye on those furry vermin! The modern world is complicated in a way that our ancestors could not imagine! The new layered method of defense and the permanent presence of a manling wizard are a low cost way to pay for security in the face of this danger, another thing to thank the engineer and his advisors for! Though I do wish that we had less reliance on these outsiders no matter that they are led by a Dwai Friend say I!

  The Manling troops have at least withdrawn as per contract and the settlers are doing well breaking the ground on the old fields. They are digging out dust filled irrigation channels, turning the earth with teams of horses and fine new steel tipped ploughs before they leave. They are also working on restoring some of the system of terraces and paths that service them. This means that the progress of these hardy folk is much accelerated ready for the spring planting The earth in these valleys has ever been poor and hard to till, but these manlings seem happy enough with it. Especially after they saw the infrastructure that my ancestors left to be ignored by everything accept the weeds it seemed.

  The rebuilding of the Dwai settlements themselves is being directed by our engineers and miners alongside the Manlings, there is a mix of housing for both races being constructed along with grain silo's etc. The defenses are being renewed and strengthened in coordination with a defense plan that takes account of the geography and the ranges of the new weapons. The new tools from the Manlings I admit are a game changer in this turbulent world that we find ourselves in today.

  Though we have many strong Dwai backs and some friends from the Empire, our labor problems have been solved somewhat! Increasingly there have been family groups and small clans of kislev peasants making their way into our territory. Last week the entire population of a small town from the north of that threatened land made their way to re-found their homes in our lands. The government of Kislev is doing its best but they cannot stop the constant bleeding of raids and small armies ravaging the countryside at will!

  We have a need for more master craftsmen and a Runesmith to help complete the complement of my hold, With the advent of the Airship mail ships I intend to travel throughout the main Karaks to recruit the Dwai I need and strike the bargains that I hope will secure my clan and Karaks future. On the return journey I will pay my respects to you and your court!

  Your loyal Thane and friend

  Hengist Stonebelly

  Dear Hengist

  I am sorry but not surprised to hear of your difficulties in restoring your fair Delving Karak to full functioning glory! However if you need any more assistance please let me know. I hear that some of the machinery from Zufbar is worth looking into regarding your water and other infrastructure issues!

  The foul Ratmen worry me, they are acting strangely and out of character throughout our karaks, mines and holds, no one is quite sure of the reason for this but if any knowledge reaches my ears I will inform you of it. I am sending missives to the engineer to see if he knows of anything regarding those irrational creatures!

  The times are indeed very dark but nonetheless we must bear in mind that the first step against the dark might be the hardest but it is also the most satisfying. It does not matter that the tools are not made by our hands as long as they can be used to strike the foe! Do not worry my friend; look carefully on your journey south!

  These Manlings at least keep their word, at least so far! The sight of a true functioning Dwai field and terrace system is a sight to behold! At different heights different crops, different slopes, different varieties there is nothing like it! I hope if there is enough settlers that your Karak can feed itself rather than rely on imports that might become scarce during these darkest of periods!

  The defensive plans that the engineer and his apprentices have implemented for you are the way to go in the face of the numbers we face these days. A 360" defense over ground and under is the only way to keep the oathless ones from our doors, families and our Gold!

  Kislev worries me, if they fall the empire will lose its shield and the sword will be at all our throats! I know that the Imperials are sending three armies to push back the Chaos scum in the spring. Those troops already in country are building fixed defenses and waiting for coming storm.

  Runesmiths and engineers are in short supply I am afraid. The hope that you have caused is spreading, so many are out trying to regain some of the glories our past! I wish you well in your quest and I look forward to your visit!

  From

  Thorgrim Grudgebearer