Murphy's Law Once Again Played Out Perfectly at the Brass Dwarves' Fortress

The Brass Dwarves' Fortress had been sealed off by an unknown force.

Almost overnight, all communication with the outside world had been completely cut off. Smoke clouds like sea fog drifted around the entire Gorgon Pass. They didn't hurt anyone, but stepping into them was like entering a maze.

On the first day of the lockdown, the elven rangers sent scouts to try to pass through the layer of smoke. The result was deeply disappointing.

They couldn't get out.

No matter how long they wandered, they always ended up back in the sealed-off area on the same side. After several attempts, the higher-ups called off the operation. Losing a few people wasn't the worst thing that could happen; what the commanders feared most was that the scouts might bring something else out of the smoke with them.

The soldiers gathered at the Brass Dwarves' Fortress to defend against the gnolls were all elite fighters. They were well informed. Lord Payn of Chardo Port had said he'd seen something similar in the Sea of Mists, and the elven ranger-general, Lady Felosia Emmagil, had encountered the same kind of vile fishman creatures.

She wasn't the only one. The Sangai commander here, "Sun Priest" Umon, also knew a fair bit about these things.

They'd always believed that the appearance of such smoke meant an evil force was lingering nearby. No one said it outright, but everyone knew the culprits were the shadows of the Warp.

Both elves and Sangai were long-lived races, and their kingdoms knew quite a lot about the Warp. But just like the way people in a certain world referred to that scoundrel, who would mention such a dangerous and loathsome name in polite company?

Most importantly, relations between the elves and the Sangai had never been good. They were