News of the Sin Dwarves being discovered in the ratmen tunnels was quickly passed up the chain to headquarters.
It wasn't considered particularly important news at first. Sin Fortress was a special case, after all. It was where the three dwarven clans had exiled their prisoners over the past millennium. Though the Sin Dwarves had formed a unique offshoot, even other dwarves wanted nothing to do with them. The Sin Dwarves had also sunk into depravity, carving out their own territory and joining forces with the Shadow Elves to trade slaves. For a time, they even monopolized passage along the trade route from the Gray Desert to the ancient kingdom of Kallum. As such, the Sin Dwarves had no formal diplomatic relations with the other powers on the continent.
But before long, the news reached the Silver Dwarven Earth Priests overseeing construction of the Locust Great Wall. They immediately sent people to find them, and even sought an audience with the swamped Qin to explain the situation. They demanded that the prisoners among the Sin Dwarves be handed over to them.
The reason was simple.
The acting lord of the Frost Dwarves, Badel Frostwind, had yet to return to Frosthold in the Great Wilderness. The last place he was reportedly seen was near Sin Fortress. This information came from the ratman Black Servant Sen, who had once served as Lord Badel's guide, so it was considered highly credible.
The Silver Dwarves might not care what became of the Sin Dwarves, but they had to find out what had happened to the Frost Dwarven lord.
The Frost Dwarves had already lost one lord. If his successor also vanished mysteriously during the insect calamity, Frosthold would likely be in trouble. Mother Gaia currently needed faith from the material world to forge a