Boolah's cocoon was beginning to crack. Once it had broken and Boolah stepped out, he was twice the size he had been. The title of Underboss now seemed fitting. Senani informed him of what had transpired and introduced him to Rattrap. Rattrap was impressed with Boolah's intelligence and strength. Senani told Boolah to go to the armory and find a Dwarven weapon that would suite him and look for a suit of armor. Boolah complied. After seeing the number of items in the armory Boolah was rather impressed. He settled on an Epic Dwarven longsword and managed to find an Epic set of Dwarven Armor that entirely fit. He would look the part of Underboss in Drowmere.
Senani then went back to the guards in the real world. They then continued the journey to Drowmere. The group managed to travel a day before Fred contacted Senani. All the undead goblins had entered cocoons. Senani was ecstatic. In a standard tribe of 400, you would be lucky to have 5 elite goblins. Senani now had 229 undead goblins in cocoons. If he and Boolah arrived with them in tow, Senani was sure more tribes would join him.
Soon Senani's group began to see large tracks. The dwarves and orcs recognized them as the tracks of cave trolls. Flint told Senani he suspected there were at least 3 trolls. Trolls were extremely large ugly creatures. They came in various colors; these were brown and green. They stood twice as tall as Senani, and Senani is 6 feet tall. Senani and company travelled forward until they could see the camp. In the middle of the camp, they could see the trolls cooking what appeared to be 3 dwarves on a spit. There were other beings squirming in bags nearby. Senani again summoned Bear and the wolves to surround the camp. He then called Boolah and Rattrap and the rest of the goblins to surround the camp as well. Then Boolah, Rattrap, Kaz, and the rest of the guards Senani brought along ventured into the camp. Senani let Boolah do the talking as Trolls occasionally worked in goblin tribes.
Boolah said, "Release the Dwarves on the spit. They belong to the Goblin Overlord and King of Solamnia, Senani of House Sloth. If you do not release them, you will invoke his wrath."
The trolls were not smart creatures. When they heard they would anger an overlord, they pulled the dwarves off the fire, removed them from the spit, and lay them next to the wiggling bags. Upon hearing what Boolah said, the dwarves lay still and pretended to be dead. A goblin overlord could be nothing but bad news.
One of the trolls spoke, "Where overlord? Who be you?"
Senani commanded all his troops to move in so that the trolls could clearly see them. Then Boolah spoke, I am Underboss Boolah. A portion of my army surrounds you. Join my tribe or be exterminated."
The trolls looked around them. They had never seen dwarves, orcs, humans or even a minotaur travel with a goblin tribe. Seeing this they were overcome with fear. They immediately begged Boolah to let them join House Sloth. Senani teleported them to his land grant and made them join the guild officially. They would serve under Boolah.
Senani then moved over to the dwarves. The undead dwarves accompanied him. Senani spoke, "Our meeting may be strange; however, I am Senani. I am a Goblin Overlord and the King of Solamnia. I entered this camp to rescue you. I mean you no harm."
Flint then spoke, "Speak brothers. Senani is now me King. I vouch fer him."
The dwarves began to rise, and the undead dwarves moved to cut open the bags. As suspected inside were more dwarves. All appeared to be alive and in reasonably good health. Since Flint had gotten their attention before he allowed him to speak again. "I don't recognize you lot. Where are ye from?"
One of the dwarves stepped forward and spoke, "I am Duran, King of Gronmar. If what you say is true, I am in your debt for saving me and my kin."
Flint responded, "Gronmar? Is that not part of Drowmere now? All the dwarves from Gronmar be dead or so the tale goes."
Duran responded, "We are the last of Gronmar. When our land was over run, we fled to our kinsmen in the hills. We came to see how many enemies were in Gronmar. It would appear more than we anticipated. We will not be able to reclaim our home."
Senani responded, "Serve me, and I will return Gronmar to you. I am here to conquer all Drowmere. I will claim half the wealth of Gronmar, and you will build a guildhall for House Sloth within its halls. Each of your clan and all warriors that join you will join House Sloth. I will allow you to oversee all dwarves in your halls, though if I call you must come through the portal, I will place in the guild hall immediately and come to my aid."
Duran Considered Senani's offer for a full 15 minutes. Then he responded, "Half of the wealth of Gronmar would be an extravagant sum. In normal times I would say far too much, but these times are not normal. If you can do as you say, I will agree to your terms. You saved the lives of me and my kin. I swear my fealty to you, and me and my kin will join your guild. Senani then brought them to his land grant to join the guild. After they returned to the real world. Duran then spoke again, "You said I will oversee all dwarves in my halls. What of the 8 dwarves that travel with you?"
Senani responded, "They are mercenaries and currently answer to Kaz. Once we claim Drowmere, I will discuss their oversight with Flint. It will be his decision as to where they will reside."
Senani then called 50 undead humans to loot the troll camp. He then called the trolls as well. Once the loot had been piled up, Senani examined the pile. There was nothing significant. A bit of silver and a bunch of junk. Nothing of dwarven make. Senani transferred the silver to his treasury in the castle then had the trolls lead them to where the dwarves had been captured. He then asked Duran if there was anything hidden nearby.
Duran responded, "My wealth is all in Gronmar. The armor and weapons we carry are all we possess. We have no caves or dwellings in which to hide wealth. Your weapons are all of Dwarven make and are far superior to ours."
Senani then moved with his group back towards Drowmere. When he arrived, he was informed by Fred that the cocoons were breaking. Once Wolf exited his cocoon, he teleported to Senani. To Senani's surprise he was in the form of a human. He then transformed back into a bear. Wolf had become a Werebear. Senani told him to transform into human form and go back to Maximus to train. He needed to know how to wield a weapon. Wolf hesitantly agreed and returned to the land grant. He then called Boolah and the undead goblins. Upon arrival it was as Senani had hoped. He now had 229 undead elite goblins. All of which had been training with Maximus for months. Senani and Boolah summoned the rest of their army. Including the 15 dwarves under Duran's command, Senani now had an army of 1,301. 738 of which were goblin kin. They began to move towards Drowmere, Fred at the center, Maximus, Dmitri, and the house guard surrounding him. Senani, Boolah, Rattrap, Kaz and the group they had traveled with lead the way.
Senani and Boolah moved towards the first group of goblins they saw at the entrance to the cave system of Drowmere. The goblins fled. Boolah called for the tribe leaders to meet with him. As the goblins fled, they gave the message to the leaders of their tribes. The leaders met in private and discussed what to do. Counting was not a goblins strong suit, but they figured between the 19 tribes in Drowmere, they should outnumber the invaders. The tribe leaders moved together to meet with Boolah and Senani. They brought the might of their entire armies to bear.
Senani had his 229 undead elite goblins directly behind him and his normal crew. Then the wolf pack, then maximus and the house guard with Fred in the middle, then the rest of the goblin tribe. When the tribe leaders saw this, they were not as certain as they were before. Senani and Boolah moved up to the middle of the land between the armies. One contained 1,301, the other over 7,000. The tribe leaders came in to meet them there.
Senani spoke, "I am the Goblin Overlord and King of Solamnia Senani of House Sloth. Join me now or die here today. This is Underboss Boolah, swear your loyalty to him and join House Sloth and you will be spared."
The goblins may not have been able to count, but seeing the army closer, they could tell they had a lot more in their army than Senani did. They decided it would be best to fight. Senani and Boolah pulled out their swords and slew all 19 of them before they could even turn around to go back to their armies. Fred moved up to the bodies and raised them all at the same time. The goblin leaders moved in line with the 229 undead elite goblins. When the goblins saw that their leaders had moved to fight with the army, they were facing they were scared senseless. They all got down on their knees and begged to be allowed into House Sloth. Boolah and Senani were happy to comply.
Senani then teleported all the new recruits to the land grant to register as members of House Sloth. After all of them had registered Senani transferred them all back to Drowmere. He sent the goblins to bring him all the corpses and loot they had. He made them make three piles, one for valuables, one for weapons and armor, and the last for the dead.
The goblins had gathered a great deal of wealth. Mountains of gold, gems, crowns, gold encrusted weapons, it was amazing what centuries of killing and pillaging had gained them. Senani transferred all of it to his treasury at his castle. Money would no longer be his problem. He then looked at the pile of weapons and armor. It came in all shapes and sizes, there was Dwarven equipment, orcish equipment, goblin, human, all manner of gear. Senani gave Duran and his dwarves first pick from the Dwarven gear. They each came out with a full set of artifact grade Dwarven plate mail, and an artifact grade Dwarven battle-axe for each hand. Duran knew the value of such gear and weapons. He would never be able to repay Senani.
Senani then had the orcs and humans equip themselves. They also equipped artifact grade plate mail and artifact grade swords and shields. Next was Kaz, he chose a set of artifact grade chain mail for better mobility. He could not find a helmet that would fit, and he already had epic weapons, so he chose to remain as is. Senani then followed suit, he chose a set of black artifact plate armor like that of Dmitri. He then found an artifact sword and dagger to replace his hunting knife. He then transferred the remainder to his armory. Last it was time to view the corpses. There was a much wider variety than he had expected. There were goblins, hobgoblins, trolls, giants, dwarves, and all manner of bones that were not easily identifiable. Senani ordered Fred to begin with the Dwarves then the giants. In total there were 25 dead dwarves and 3 giants. These were all placed under Kaz after they were revived and equipped. Next were the 10 trolls and 75 hobgoblins. Last were the 300 goblins. This took Fred 3 weeks to revive.
With the new recruits, Senani's army now stood 10,000 strong. He then requested Duran led them to Gronmar. Duran gladly obliged. The deeper they moved into the caverns the more signs there were that they were entering into a Dwarven kingdom. There were pillars and carvings of regal dwarves. The ground was smoothly carved. It seemed more like a temple than a cave. Duran then touched a wall that looked like every other cave wall. When he touched it, the wall began to open?
Duran smiled from ear to ear, and said, "Finally after 400 years, dwarves are walking into Gronmar. Senani, how do you plan to rid Gronmar of the Overlord? I have never seen anyone attack a dragon and live to tell the tale." "Quest Received, Kill the ancient red dragon. Reward, Integration stone." An integration stone will allow you to fully integrate a System stone with your own, thus gaining the abilities and strengths of both systems. Your system will gain the grade of the highest of the two systems."