Karameikos - Vaults of Pandius

The Rise of 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 Karameikos. 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 of the Lady to herself. She wasn’tdark of hair or eyes either, even if the Ladywas always pictured thus in classiciconographies. She was blonde, and hadgreen eyes. None of 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 ofextermination.“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 of a longterm plan,” he said. “First of 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 offollowers of 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