The combination of hail and lightning made the ascent a tricky task, but they persevered as they held onto their grappling hooks like spiders tethered to a web.
Only they were dwarves, and the web was one of the many mountains of the Storm Peaks.
“Boarmantle, give me some room will ye? This is a tricky one, we’re almost there!”
“Wit was that? Its hard to hear ye!”
“I said-”
The crackling sound of thunder and a rumble emanating from the mountain itself followed, then the shriek of a loosening hook and a primal scream of terror, which slowly became apart of the tearing wind and booming thunder, and eventually ceased to be.
Ten became nine.
Nine became seven.
Seven became four.
The expedition set up camp atop the peak, a looming ridge had thankfully given them enough cover from the elements, yet the cold, the biting cold, that was something they could never escape from in this cursed land.
Setting up his tent, Dulnus quickly entered it with the rest of his supplies in tow. Setting himself up for the night, the dwarf made sure his pillow was positioned properly before trying to get some semblance of sleep.
The next day he woke up. The wind had ceased, the thunder abated. Upon opening the flap of his tent, the dwarf looked at the other tents his kin had set up.
“Ye all up yet? Lads?!”
Silence.
He checked the first tent, and upon opening the flap his eyes widened in shock. Delgir laid stiff on the ground, his skin a frozen pale blue.
Pollus was the exact same, frozen solid within the second tent, shortly followed by Bergen. Dulnus exited the last tent and looked over the edge of the mountain into the misty depths.
The sound of rustling startled the dwarf, yet it was slowly replaced by an internal dread. His gaze remained fixed downwards, afraid. Despite the fear, the strength of the mountain coursed through his veins, and with that came an expectation to face his fears head on.
Slowly, he turned around.
His kin succumbed to the cold, yet their eyes blazed a deathly blue, their shambling corpses trudging out of the tents and towards the Mountain King.
His weapons left in his tent, Dulnus raised his fists up in preparation, yet even his martial prowess paled in comparison to his dead kin.
They trudged towards him, until eventually reaching out to him with dead arms.
Sitting up, Dulnus breathed heavily in shock; the dim lantern on his nightstand being the only immediate source of comfort to him. Wiping away a torrent of sweat from his forehead, the dwarf sat back on the bed, his head resting softly against the pillow.
It was another night of terrors, one of the many scenarios that plagued his mind; the result of decades of warfare. The dwarf slowly turned and stood up from his bedside, grabbing his smoking pipe and tobacco from his nightstand. Topping up his pipe, Dulnus slowly made his way over to the balcony overlooking Thelsamar, puffing out rings of smoke as he settled his nerves under the night sky.
Northrend loomed, and with it the realisation that Dulnus may have to face fears better left unearthed.