The War of the Shrine: Setup 2

Rigal Rocksplitter nodded his head in satisfaction. The map was correct...a large pyramid, no doubt left behind by the Old Ones, rose high above the desert floor.

How it had remained undiscovered for years despite being in the middle of open space mystified him, as did the lack of any growths.

Even more curious, a Goblin shrine was within easy walking distance of one side, and what appeared to be a Grudge pony statue eternally straining to move a coach was also in the clearing.

He shrugged and began ordering his men to set up camp. They had arrived too late in the day

to begin investigating the shrine.

With the patience inborn in every Dwarf, he knew tomorrow would be soon enough. With the ease of an old campaigner he began arranging his men in a defensive perimeter around the mighty pyramid.

His recently humbled twin Lagir objected. "Why do we have to cover all four corners? No one knows we are here."

Rigal allowed the contempt he felt for Lagir to bleed into his voice. "These type of things have a way of drawing attention to them self once they are discovered. Just because we are the first to arrive does not mean we shall be the only. Set the perimeter."

Wordlessly, Lagir moved off to relay Rigal's orders to the various captains. Soon the Dwarf army settled in for the night, leaving the watch to the misfortunate souls selected for sentry duty.

In the late hours, the prudence of Rigal showed through as the sound of thousands of footsteps and hoofbeats sounded from all directions, coming to a halt only a few hundred yards from where the Dwarfs were camped.

The stalwart dwarfs were unperturbed. Quickly they began to don armor, striving to be silent. They were silent...for Dwarves, that is. But silent for Dwarves rivals the most ferocious thunderstorm for din and it was soon obvious to the approaching armies they had been beaten to the prize.

Soon campfires flickered to life on every side of the pyramid and an uneasy silence descended as the various aspirants to possession of the pyramid waited for sunrise to reveal the situation.

As the first rays of light broke upon what would soon be a bloody field, he climbed to the apex of the pyramid.

South of the pyramid were hundreds of Orcs and Goblins. Rigal nodded speculatively. Surely they were drawn here by the mork Shrine.

To the north were vast hordes of Northmen...Marauders, Warriors of Chaos, the fearsome Knights, a few Dragon Ogres.

Even the typically fearless and stoic Rigal blanched as he saw the sheer number of Wizards. He knew from long experience how much carnage they could wreak.

Swiftly he did some mental arithmetic. Even if the Dwarfs could concentrate all their forces on the northmen, he did not have enough at his command to withstand the fearsome warriors...and though he knew he would break the Orcs and Goblins, he still had to devote forces to doing that.

Slowly he turned and looked to the West. There he received another surprise. Wood Elf armies seldom strayed far from their beloved forests, yet here was a force large enough to contain Treekin and even two of the massive, terrifying Treemen.

A quick glance to the East revealed yet more Elfs, these from the haughty, royal courts. He grimaced as again he say some of the powerful, High magic using mages the elves were famed for.

Slowly he shook his head. If he could concentrate his forces on any one of these armies...any two outside the massive Chaotic army, he could lead his Dwarfs to victory. But surrounded on all four sides...things looked grim.

His best hope was clear. Somehow he needed to pit the enemy armies against each other. But how?