The Rise <strong>of</strong> Dhrom DhumHe is right, and he even collected severaldocuments to support this - very old humanand elven chronicles that describe the hills asinhabited by goblins from many centuriesago. He is also ready to address his petition tothe Western Defense League and any foreignambassador in <strong>Karameikos</strong>, with the goal <strong>of</strong>embarrassing the King or exposing hishypocrisy if he refuses without grounds thegoblins’ claim for independence. If PCs areinvolved, they should resort to diplomacyrather than violence, as Dhrom Dhum hasmany warriors that know the hills very well,and could be rather difficult to defeat. Indeedthe underground areas under the Wufwoldeare so extensive that even the task <strong>of</strong> simplyfinding Dhrom Dhum would be reallydaunting.ARGOS WILL“You will do as commanded,” said the darkgreen robed figure.The big goblin shifted on his feet, troubled.“But the runt has always been our enemy,” hesaid, disgruntled. “We exiled him”.Because my stupid minions failed to killhim, he also thought.It’s the will <strong>of</strong> the Green Lord and you willobey,” said the figure in her quiet voice, withjust a slight note <strong>of</strong> irritation.Kosivikh shivered. In his life he had survivedmuch and feared very little. Indeed, he fearedonly the Green Lord and the witches in all theworld. And one <strong>of</strong> the witches was nowstanding quietly before him. He almost hadn’tthe strength to reply again, but thensomehow managed to speak.“He worships another immortal. Theshamans <strong>of</strong> all the hordes will bedispleased.”The figure made a sound. It sounded almostlike a laughter, but it terrified him.Your immortals are not here. I am here. Andthe Green Lord is near,” she said.As a whelp, Kosivikh was taught it wasfoolish to defy immortals and shamans,unless you were powerful enough to do it.He bowed before the dark green figure.We will ask Dhrom Dhum to join the goblinkingdom as his loyal subjects,” he said. Healmost choked on the words and felt sick. Hedidn’t look up, but he knew the witch wassmiling.What this meansIn the past, the green dragon Argos hasactively tried to kill Dhrom Dhum, as theonly goblin leader unwilling to bow beforehim. But the idea <strong>of</strong> creating a goblinkingdom amuses him so much he hasdecided to join it. Not overtly, obviously, buthe is sure the event could only beadvantageous to him.122THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1
The Rise <strong>of</strong> Dhrom DhumIf the goblin succeeds, Argos could one dayreplace him with a more suitable ruler; i.eone he can better control. If the goblin fails,he could use the event to unleash anhumanoid war upon all <strong>Karameikos</strong>. In eithercase, Argos will win.NIGHT’S DARKENCOUNTERShe was not cloaked in a black cloak, or cape,or anything like that. She had a simple andmodest brown dress, with only small silverlinings as decorations on the sleeves. Not inany way a concession to vanity, but areminder <strong>of</strong> the Lady to herself. She wasn’tdark <strong>of</strong> hair or eyes either, even if the Ladywas always pictured thus in classiciconographies. She was blonde, and hadgreen eyes. None <strong>of</strong> this mattered to thegoblin, to whom she was just a human, apotentially useful one. Some humans saidthat Dhrom Dhum was a bloodthirsty savagelike any goblin, and wanted only to slaughterevery man and woman alive and eat theirbabies. That wasn’t true. He was therebecause he was willing to ally with somehumans to stop those who were encroachingon goblins land. He wouldn’t eat babieseither, he wouldn’t even enslave them. Hestrongly believed cruelty was stupid, and itwas far more useful to adopt enemy prisonersinto the tribe rather than exterminate them.Humans said humanoids are bloodthirstysavages, but they committed the worst wars <strong>of</strong>extermination.“And so are you sure there will not bereligious conflicts between us?” the womanasked, interrupting his thoughts.Why should there be?” he asked. “Ourimmortal Ladies have similar philosophies.Some say my Lady spawned yours,” headded, smiling.“It could be,” the woman shrugged, earningmore points in Dhrom Dhum’s opinion. “Yetwe believe in undeath. Will your peopleaccept it? Will you?” the woman asked,looking at him with her intense green eyes.Even Dhrom Dhum found the eyescharming, and he imagined they wouldappeal greatly to a human male. “I thinkyour ‘undeath-for-all’ is something <strong>of</strong> a longterm plan,” he said. “First <strong>of</strong> all we shouldgain independence for my people and yours.Independence and recognition, forcing theking and all the other rulers to accept andrespect our existence. Don’t you think thatwould be enough for a start?”The woman smiled, too. “I suppose it wouldbe,” she said. “Yet you and I will have to facethis religious debate sooner or later, don’tyou think?”“I look forward to it,” he replied.The woman kept on smiling and nodded.Dhrom Dhum made a little bow before her.And so the alliance between theNightstalkers and the Darkers was done.What this meansThe Darkers, a secret organization <strong>of</strong>followers <strong>of</strong> Nyx (see the article onKoskatep), has waited centuries to openlypractice their religion. The new goblinkingdom could give them that chance. AndDhrom Dhum could use their magicalexpertise and, - if necessary - their ability increating powerful undead.123THRESHOLD: The Mystara Magazine Issue #1