Chronicles 1 - Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Dragonlance

Author:Dragonlance [Dragonlance]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The gully dwarf guard, never taking his eyes off the formidable-looking group, backed into a

stinking, filthy hallway, then broke into a run. He began shouting at the top of his lungs. "An army!

An army has broken in!" They could hear his shouts echo down the hallway.

"Bah!" Bupu sniffed. "Glup-phunger spawn! Come. See Highbulp."

She started down the hallway, clutching her bag to her chest. The companions could still hear the

shouts of the gully dwarf echoing down the corridor.

"An army! An army of giants! Save the Highbulp!"

The great Highbulp, Phudge I, was a gully dwarf among gully dwarves. He was almost intelligent,

rumored to be fabulously wealthy, and a notorious coward. The Bulps had long been the elite clan

of Xak Tsaroth-or "Th" as they called it--ever since Nulph Bulp fell down a shaft one night in a drunken stupor and discovered the city. Upon sobering up the next morning, he claimed it for his

clan. The Bulps promptly moved in and, in later years, graciously allowed the clans Slud and Giup

to occupy the city as well.

Life was good in the ruined city-by gully dwarf standards, anyway. The outside world left them

alone (since the outside world hadn't the foggiest notion they were there and wouldn't have cared if

it did). The Bulps had no trouble maintaining their dominance over the other clans, mostly because

it was a Bulp (Glunggu) with a scientific turn of mind (certain jealous members of the Slud clan

whispered that his mother had been a gnome) who developed the lift, putting to use the two

enormous iron pots used by the city's former residents for rendering lard. The lift enabled the gully dwarves to extend their scavenging activities to the jungle above the sunken city-greatly improving

their standard of living. Glunggu Bulp became a hero and was proclaimed Highbulp by unanimous

decision.

The chieftainship of the clans had remained in the Bulp family ever since.

The years passed and then, suddenly, the outside world took an interest in Xak Tsaroth. The arrival

of the dragon and the draconians put a sad crimp on the gully dwarf lifestyle. The draconians had

initially intended to wipe out the filthy little nuisances, but the gully dwarves-led by the great

Phudge-had cringed and cowered and whimpered and wailed and prostrated themselves so abjectly

that the draconians were merciful and simply enslaved them.

So it was that the gully dwarves-for the first time in several hundred years of living in Xak Tsaroth-were forced to work. The draconians repaired buildings, put things into military order, and generally made life miserable for the gully dwarves who had to cook and clean and repair things.

Needless to say, the great Phudge was not pleased with this state of affairs. He spent long hours

thinking up ways to remove the dragon. He knew the location of the dragon's lair, of course, and

had even discovered a secret route leading there. He had actually sneaked in once, when the dragon

was away. Phudge had been awestruck by the vast amount of pretty rocks and shining coins

gathered in the huge underground room. The great Highbulp had traveled some in

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