If it wasn’t for Ziggy, Andrew would have had little way to tell time. Without the games he had loaded into Ziggy he would have surely gone insane. It had been 5 days since he had any significant contact with the crew. Doc had given him a few updates and the Captain or Uhla would assure him that they hadn’t forgotten him, usually through recorded messages delivered by Doc. Andrew had started to wonder if he had been duped and this was all a way to get him into some slave smuggling chamber even though he had to admit they had no reason to do this. They had all the weapons and he had what the power of blurred vision and what amounted to a long distance jab. They had no reason to go through this charade, it would be extra work with no real upside. The mind plays terrible games while it’s bored and Andrew’s was no different. He started to wonder if Linny had met a similar fate if she had been trafficked in some small chamber like this when she was smuggled from the Elven prison. If that story was even true, for all he knew she had been in the next room being experimented on by some Elven degenerate. All this ran through his mind and back again in the days of his solitude.

  He played videos of Linny and his better times, but they only made him miss her more. Made him worry more and when he thought he might go mad with the grief, he heard a sound that made him jump.

  The panel at his feet started to slide open. When no face appeared he feared the Fouriers had found him and the game was up, but just before he tried to use his blur skill Uhla’s face appeared.

  “You coming out? Or has that place grown on you that much?”

  “Is it safe?”

  “As safe as we can make it. We had to come up with an issue that caused Doc to have to take internal sensors offline, as the distrustful bastards seemed to always leave someone to monitor the ship and especially the cargo areas. All that to say we don’t have much time, but we wanted to get you out and let you at least stand and work out any of your sore muscles.”

  She wasn’t wrong, having been stuck in the cramped room with little room to move his body was extremely stiff and ached with a depth he was not sure he had felt before.

  “Thank you, do you mind helping me out? Those muscles seemed to have lost the will to move.”

  Uhla grabbed his boots and pulled him out with a strength her build belied. As he began to move his soreness seemed to increase for abit before starting to ever so slightly ease.

  “Thank you! I needed that.”

  “Walk around a bit, but don’t wander too far. We only have about 5 minutes before the excuse will start to seem suspicious and Doc will be forced to turn the sensors back on and then well then we’ll all wished we had turned you in. “

  “I really appreciate that yall haven’t. I had a question if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “I don’t”

  “If these Fouriers are so generally distrusted and disdained, why are you so scared of them? Aren’t the pretty low in the Dwarven hierarchy?”

  “No, they are actually second only to the Stuermhalen clan and that’s why we Sruthan, who are the bottle of the social caste system, fear them so. They’re bastards the lot of them and don’t hesitate to rub their status in our faces or worse. They also don’t have the morals of the Stuermhalen or hell even the rest of the Dwarven Nation for that matter. It’s a generally held belief that even though it’s been over 120 thousand years since we ratified our constitution the Fourier still believe us all to be vassals under their vast empire.”

  “So, why doesn’t the Nation put them in their place?”

  “Because they have money and what do the standard clans care what happens to us Sruthan? We’re just drifter outcasts and bums in most people’s eyes. Even though they often seek us out when they want missions like this done or want to have a good time.”

  “There’s got to be more than that keeping them in second. I mean from what I’ve heard they pretty much treat everyone like they’re lesser.”

  “There is. Also, there are groups who even in other clans who openly want them to rule again. Ones who hold to the old ways. See the Fouriers were the first to unite the clans. So, some believe they were destined to rule even though they did it through guile, destruction, and coercion. Hell the only two clans that never kneeled where the Al-Din and the Ovatos and only the Al-Din exist today.”

  “What happened to the Ovatos?”

  “Nobody knows actually, it’s one of the great Dwarven mysteries actually. While the Fourier’s siege of their final caverns (this was before we were a space faring people and before we were a republic) were very well documented.

  The first Khagan of the dwarven people was Andress Fourier. He was likely the second most bastardly dwarf to ever have existed, followed only by his blood thirsty daughter Enona.

  Back to the story. After coercing, backstabbing or betraying his way to being the most powerful dwarf on Volundr, the story goes he came with his full army to the Ovaton gates bidding them to kneel. Having heard of his ways they merely say ‘Thank you, we have all that we need and will open our gates to none at this time, for we have heard of your ideas of friendship.’

  Andress, seeing no way to easily breach the gates, removes his army to a nearby cavern loyal to him and sends in his infiltrators hoping to learn more of this mysterious new clan. For 2 years none returned.

  Not wanting to be seen as weak, he put the Ovatos clan to siege. First diverting 3 rivers to flow into the Ovaton cavern. After a week an emissary came to the walls to thank the Khagan for his kind give of water to drink and to swim in but finished with ‘Even with such grand gifts we do not see the need to let one such as you into our gates.’

  Incensed at being made a mockery of, he had great fires created and built great fans to blow the smoke of the fires into the Ovaton caverns. Again, a week later the emissary emerged to thank the Khagan once again.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  ‘Thank you yet again for such a generous and thoughtful gift. As you know we have been unable to gather wood for our fires and so we thank you for such sweet smoke so we could still smoke our food. As kind and thoughtful as this second gift is, my Khan sees no reason to let you in and begs you to leave.’

  With this Andress commanded his generals to attack. The force was the largest single Dwarven army the world had seen to that point and accounted for one quarter of all troops in the Fourier army. Despite this seven months later the walls still stood, with only the slightest of blemishes.

  In response Andress brought in another quarter of his army, but even with the numbers his forces were unable to breach the wall. So, three months later after a push that had ended particularly badly Andress slew his top general and took direct command himself. Bringing even more of his army to bear.

  A week later with losses unpalatable by his previous commander, the doors to the wall fell to the raucous cheers of his men. For they had thought this siege was at an end. To their surprise and dismay there were no defending troops to be seen. Only walls beautifully carved into statues of their great leaders, each doing their part to hold up the cavern, as it was said they did in life. They also found a grand staircase of perfectly carved steps, which was said to be a few hundred meters wide and descended 500meters to a second wall. Unlike the first, this all had no doors which could be seen. The only portals were narrow windows to allow the Ovaton defenders to rain death down upon any attackers.

  Andress though noticed one other detail it seemed the others had missed. There was a massive pipe cleverly carved into the west wall of the cavern and it ran from the breached wall into the second one. It was so cleverly carved that it could almost be missed as a natural part in the stone. When they approached it, one mystery was solved. For they could hear a river of water flowing through it. The river they had diverted to flood their enemy out.

  To Andress’ joy he found a hatch large enough to fit 20 dwarves in without having to squish them in. With this he devised his plan. He called up his greatest demolitions experts and had them craft a bomb which could fit into the pipe. They too happily obliged him, seeing into this plan and believing this could be the end of their siege. When they opened the pipe to put the bomb only one commander questioned the water pressure pushing out from that hatch when it was removed. Only that one commander warned this this might be a trap and only that one command was shoved into the pipe and sent on his to ‘scout’ where the bomb might go.

  With that out of the way they loaded the massive cylindrical bomb into the pipe. Andress himself lit the fuse. Declaring how no mere wall would stop the march of the Fourien Empire, before his troops sent the bomb on it’s way. Andress eager to get this done with moved his troops down toward the second wall, but keeping a distance from it as not to be pestered with cannon fire and waited for the bomb to find its mark.

  The bomb did its job, and the wall crumbled under the force of it. Revealing a wall of water from floor to ceiling now released from its confines. Rushing forth and obliterating everything between the first and second walls. Including Andress himself along with a full third of his army.

  See the Ovaton knowing they couldn’t win against the numbers arrayed against them had set a brilliant trap. They had created a set of walls to act as dams and allowed the river water to fill up between those two. The water entering at the bottom and exiting the top to ensure enough water was there to ensure the destruction they needed.

  As the waters settled a large lake now laid between the Fourien Empire and the clan of Ovatos. Knowing Andress’ daughter Enona and her rage, Nevolno Surbelav, one of the two remaining commanders, ordered the river be set back to its course so the lake might drain.

  Enona, now crowned Khagan arrived from the Capitol. Coming to ensure this debacle would come to an end. Finding her armies waiting for the water to recede. Enona became incensed at the lack of progress towards her father’s goals finds Nevolno and before even greeting him stuck a dagger into his heart and having his body thrown into the lake.

  ‘My late father abide the sloth I see before me. He would want us to besiege these traitors by land or by sea. Nevolno should have understood this yet did nothing but wait. No more! I demand boats be made so we might bring down this new wall.’

  Many of her personal advisers told her of how this plan would likely end in folly and that even if they breached the walls the lake would just pull them down into the cavern. Killing more of troops. Her only response was to stick a spear through that adviser. Asking if anyone else had a better idea.

  Hearing none they created large rafts and attempted to move them across the lake so they might besige this final wall. After weeks of her rafts being obliterated before they got to the wall, Enona called her council and declared.

  ‘You represent the greatest minds in all of Dwarven history, yet you can’t find a way to breach one little wall for me? Well I have decided what you lack is an incentive. From this day forth I shall drown one of you in this damnable lake, until one of two things happens. I either A) run out of you people or B) that wall comes down.’

  It was only two day and two advisers later when one of them realized they were going about his in all the wrong way. After the last debacle they hadn’t even considered to try the previous trick another time. This time though they build a bomb three times the size of the previous one and from the water’s edge rolled it down the steps to the base of the new wall. There they detonated it and watched as a great Whirlpool appeared and the lake disappeared though the new hole.

  Enona rode with her army into the newly breached gate only to find nobody home. The entire cavern had been abandoned and not even a body could be found. Yet as they explored the caverns they found signs that people had been there only hours earlier. Cook pots were found still warm and some personal items left as if the owners would be back any moment.

  Still to this day we know not where the Ovaton went or how they went there. Only their traps were there to defend their homes.

  Enona threw a great feast to honor her fallen father and her victory. The feast went for the full day and when she tired of it, she returned to Ovaton Khan’s rooms with her harem and men and women. So that they might have a private celebration.

  That was the last that was seen of her, her harem, or their guards. Hours later they were found all dead, not a mark on them. On Enona’s corpse was a letter ‘You may have defeated us, but your line will never win’

  That’s what is known as Enona’s Folly which…..”

  Andrew had paced some while entranced by her story, enjoying the sensation of being able to stand. Both he and Uhla had lost track of time and it was only a warning message from doc that made them realize how much time had passed while they had been talking.

  “The system will be back online in less than 2mins”, Doc warned.

  With this Andrew begrudgingly got back into his hovel and has Uhla started to seal him back in his stopped her.

  “Thank you for telling me that story it really helped to keep me from focusing on the unease of this place”

  She merely nodded and sealed him in.