The Demon Invasion

It is now obvious that their descending mines would inevitably intersect with another set ascending, but the first Dwarf whose pick broke through a wall into a clearly artificial tunnel must have believed he found another Dwarf’s claim. The construction was all wrong, though. The tunnel was a hexagon, not a rectangle as with dwarven mines, and it was lit by bottles of purple glowing gas rather than the red, long-burning torches.

The dwarves had found the labyrinth of the Demons. They lived in the deepest parts of the earth, but had expanded upward. The discovery of the Dwarven mines seems to have enraged or excited them just as it made the Dwarves confounded and fearful.

The Demons invaded the Dwarves 1100 years ago. They came at Karm Lema with swarms of misshapen creatures from other planes; they threw bolts of fire and sent magical plagues across the city. The Dwarves saw many of their fine buildings destroyed, but finally held a line and kept the Demons back.

Battles in three dimensions are confusing—both Demons and Dwarves could tunnel around the front lines to make sneak attacks on the rear ranks. You could also undermine the floor or the ceiling and try to trap your enemy in rock. It was brutal and horrific, as all war must be, but victory required cleverness and strategy in addition to strength and courage.

The Dwarves were well armed and knew these caverns like their veins. However, the Demons seemed to have endless ranks of imps and goblins to throw at the Dwarves, and slowly even the powerful forces of Karm Lema began to lose ground.