Warhammer Divine Throne

”Dugan? That bastard, he outright refused my order!” Mentioning Dugan the Ironman made Belgar furious: ”That’s right, it was him. He openly opposed my expedition to the Eight Peaks Mountain, and when I wouldn’t listen, he left with a group of people. I didn’t expect him to end up here? I’ve got a score to settle with him!”

”Belgar!” Queen Komanik scolded her husband angrily: ”I think Dugan was right back then! You didn’t have even one advantage in terms of the army’s size or the certainty of victory on this expedition. Dugan clearly explained it to you at the time! You just wouldn’t listen, and as a result, you were defeated, squandering decades of accumulation! Now everything has to start over, and I don’t need to tell you, are you very proud?”

Seeing his queen angry, Belgar immediately changed his tone, his guilt showing: ”Komanik, that’s not what I meant, what I meant was... I want to find Dugan and ask for his opinions and advice. Restoring the Eight Peaks Mountain is the mission of our entire clan. Dugan will surely be willing to help us and give us some advice.”

The King of Eight Peaks had always been somewhat afraid of his wife, not because he had done anything to wrong her, but because his queen had endured decades of hardship with him, losing their wealth, making Belgar feel very guilty towards her.

”That’s more like it.” Komanik finally stopped being angry. She paused before continuing: ”Belgar, you should send someone down the mountain to the land of the famous human hero Count Laine Macado to find Dugan. For the sake of the Ancestors, he should help us, at least give us some advice, and... perhaps even introduce us to Count Macado, since maybe Dwarf strength alone isn’t enough to restore the Eight Peaks Mountain.”

”No! Dwarves will not seek help from weak humans!” Belgar stubbornly refused, his face turning red: ”This is Dwarf family business!”

Queen Angland immediately asked: ”Belgar, let me ask you, can you deal with the Great Nurgle Demon?”

”I... I should be able to cut off its tongue!” Belgar replied with a hint of guilt.

”And can you kill ’Red Eye’ Egil?” Komanik continued to ask.

”I... I at least won’t be easily defeated!” Belgar kept trying to maintain face.

”Then do you still think you can defeat Count Laine Macado?”

”Of course, I... um... well.” Belgar instinctively wanted to say he was definitely stronger than Laine but realized he’d fallen into his wife’s trap: ”I... I get it, I’ll send someone to call Dugan over.”

No matter how down-and-out Belgar was, he was still recognized by all Dwarves as the king of the Angland Clan. His noble status required him to maintain decorum. No matter what, he couldn’t personally find Dugan; he had to issue a command for Dugan to come see him.

A member of the Oath Guard left Karak Breeze Castle with Belgar’s letter and arrived at the Count’s Domain of Glamorgan, delivering the letter to Dwarf Engineer Dugan the Ironman. Not a single word in the letter mentioned ”defeat” or ”Eight Peaks Mountain.” Belgar only wrote that your king is at Breeze Castle and you should come see your king.

Once Dwarf Engineer Dugan received the letter, he didn’t hesitate. He immediately put down his work, gathered his friend, Broken Iron Warrior Sven Novigrad, and led twenty to thirty Dwarves. Borrowing seven or eight carts from their human brothers, loaded with grain, goods, and many ”sharp ears” treasures, they went to Breeze Castle to meet Belgar.

After presenting Laine’s pass, Dugan and his group smoothly passed through the checkpoints of Bastogne and the Montfort Duchy to find the way into the mountains.

Although the relationship between Brittania and the Dwarves could be described as decent, the relations between the Montfort Duchy, the Paragon Duchy, and the Dwarves of Breeze Castle were not good, especially with the Montfort Duchy. The duchy relied on the tariffs of the Axe Bite Pass to maintain its fiscal balance, making the presence of the Dwarves of Breeze Castle quite peculiar to Duke Fulcard of Montfort.

Fulcard’s understanding was that this was the Gray Mountain Range, the border between Brittania and the Empire. This side of the mountain was Brittania, and the other side was the Empire, clear and well-defined.

So what was with a piece of Dwarf territory inside the mountain?

Fulcard had tried several times to negotiate with the Dwarves of Breeze Castle, asking them to submit or at least become his subjects because, ever since the First Knight King Arthur founded Brittania, there was no doubt Brittania people were the landowners, and everything westwards along the centerline of the Gray Mountain Range had been a sacred and indivisible part of Brittania. The Duke of Montfort had launched strong diplomatic protests against the Dwarf King Rorrek of Breeze Castle.

The Dwarves told Fulcard, we’ve been settled here for five thousand years, and Breeze Castle has been a sacred and indivisible part of the Dwarf Kingdom since time immemorial. We have a stele that the Dwarf expedition erected here seven thousand years ago, would you like to see it?

Or if you really disagree, solve it with force, show your strength with your fists!

The Brittania people glanced at the steep mountain paths and the dozens of cannons on the Dwarf stronghold, then looked at their catapults and decided to continue issuing strong protests.