Rumblings Travel Fast

Within the mansion of the city's Lord:

Lord Alden, a portly, middle-aged man whose comfortable girth belied his status as a formidable warrior, listened intently as his Captain of the Guard breathlessly delivered the urgent report. Alden's normally cheerful, ruddy face grew slack, his eyes wide with stunned disbelief.

"You said... what?" he sputtered, struggling to process the words. "The forest elves... have summoned giant golems... and they're marching to attack the city?!"

The city guard officer nervously mopped the cold sweat beading on his forehead.

An army of elves? It sounded utterly insane. He still wasn't sure he believed it himself.

But the way those mercenaries told it... sheer terror in their eyes, voices cracking, almost weeping. They were convinced