“I’m a frayed knot. You tie off one loose end two more take its place. Like a hydra’s head.
My work never ending, I roused another group and led them west to follow up on some dwarves I’ve been liberating. The saying: ‘Good help is hard to find’ is known as a truism partly because of how accurately it tracks reality. As soon as I assembled my strike force several roster changes became necessary. Our fresh-faced barbarian left citing ‘bad odds’ and ‘certain death’. I don’t hold a grudge against her though because her absence made room for some serious firepower that would save our lives.
I led this new group up into the mountains toward the dwarven fortress, but we were quickly distracted. Our monk, Oogway, spotted a hidden entrance along the path and we set out to investigate. Inside this outpost that we found purely by happenstance was a battalion of the very dwarves I was seeking. I won’t bore you with the details of another battle won by my heroism and glorious leadership. Instead I’d like to give you a few details that may help you survive your own encounter should I not be around.
These dwarves are tricky foes. You’ll know them by their triple-lightning bolt emblems. They’ll likely outnumber you and have abilities similar to your own party. I’ve witnessed them:
- Using axes and javelins in melee and at range.
- Shooting heavy crossbows and then taking cover.
- Using both cover and terrain to their advantage.
- Hiding their true numbers from sight to lure you into overextending your lines.
- Casting large area spells, mostly icy in nature but with the occasional fire ball.
- Counter-spelling our most powerful casters.
- Counter-counter-spelling our most powerful casters.
- Casting powerful magics which summon numerous small demons in a large area. The demons bite and slow you.
Some suggestions:
- Where there is one dwarf, there are two dwarves.
- Where there is cover, there are three dwarves.
- Watch your flanks.
- Take cover to cast and know what’s needed for targeting.
- Keep escape at your back and don’t overextend or let them get between you and the exit.
If you know something that hasn’t made the list, I’d be interested in hearing it.”