General Angerforge

As one of the eight generals under the King of the Mountain-Modimus Anvilmar-General Angerforge commanded the dwarves' finest troops, the King of the Mountain's royal guard, with a firm hand. His military achievements were outstanding, and he always led from the front in battle, something even the sorcerer-prince could not match. In every battle, he made his soldiers feel that their general was right beside them, so his men affectionately called him "General Angerforge the Rock." His weapon was a two-handed axe named Black Roar.

After the War of the Three Hammers, the Dark Irons had lost their former glory. Choosing to serve his own people, General Angerforge quietly guarded the East Barracks, the route anyone heading to Shadowforge City's throne room had to pass through.

But out of his sense of duty as a loyal Dark Iron dwarf, General Angerforge was not content to sit idle in the East Barracks. His keen eyes constantly watched every stirring throughout Shadowforge City like a hawk.

That evening-in truth, outsiders found it difficult to judge the time in the underground world, but the Dark Iron dwarves always had their own methods-a Dark Iron soldier entered the general's office from outside. He was one of the few people allowed to enter without being announced.

"Something isn't quite right, General. There have already been two unusual incidents today, one at the mine and one in the central hall," the guard said doubtfully. "Although these incidents seem ordinary and haven't caused any serious consequences, I suspect someone has infiltrated our territory."

"Assemble the guards! It's time we gave Shadowforge City a thorough cleaning!" General Angerforge said eagerly. He looked as though he had been holding back for a long time-as a dwarf supremacist, Angerforge was deeply dissatisfied with the Twilight Cultists filling Shadowforge City's streets and alleys. There was also considerable evidence that the Twilight's Hammer did harbor designs on Shadowforge City, and they had been up to plenty of things behind the scenes.

The general picked up Black Roar from the weapon rack by the door and headed out. He did not notice anything unusual about the shadow in the corner. Given the angle of the torchlight on the wall, that patch of shadow was a little too large.

A burst of shouting rang out outside in the loud voices peculiar to dwarves, followed by the sound of Dark Iron soldiers marching away in step. Whatever sort of day the Twilight Cultists had been having, General Angerforge, intent on finding fault, would not let them enjoy what came next.

Silence returned to the office. About five minutes later, the shadow in the corner writhed a few times, and a black beast emerged from it. Its beautiful black coat provided perfect camouflage. Even staring straight at that spot, it would have been difficult to notice a living creature hiding there.

The black panther sat on the floor, then raised its forelegs. Its fur began to recede, its body grew slender, and its face began to change from beast to humanoid. A few seconds later, a Night Elf stood in the middle of the office.

He shook his shoulders and walked toward the shelves behind the desk.

"Intelligence..." he murmured, running the fingers of his right hand over stacks of parchment on the shelves and occasionally opening a few pages to read them. Clearly, however, none of these were what he wanted.

As time passed, the Night Elf began to grow anxious. He knew he did not have unlimited time. He had to move faster.

Angerforge wouldn't leave the intelligence somewhere so obvious. He must have somewhere else to hide things, he mused to himself. Secret chambers, hidden doors-weren't the good things in adventures always hidden in places like those? He tapped along the walls as quietly as possible, listening for a spot that sounded different. Fortunately, the dwarf's office was very simply furnished, so this would not take him long.

A few minutes later, he finally found it. On the wall beside the shelves, a stone brick gave a dull echo when tapped. There was a hollow space behind it!

The Night Elf leaned closer to examine it. With his darkvision, he saw that one corner of the brick looked exceptionally smooth, as though frequent rubbing had polished it to a shine. Happily, he pressed that spot-he was not worried about any traps underneath, since few people installed such things in their own offices, especially in Shadowforge City, which the Dark Iron dwarves considered impregnable.

With a low grinding sound, the brick slid aside, revealing a small hidden compartment before the Night Elf.

"Whoa-looks like I have a talent for being a Rogue..." the Druid said delightedly to himself. He carefully peered inside the compartment, then reached in and pulled out a palm-sized stone tablet.

He held the tablet close to the torch on the wall and examined it carefully. Before he came, Diago had told him the distinguishing features of what he was looking for.

The writing on the tablet was not dwarven cuneiform, but some kind of simple script formed from three or four strokes. It looked rather like the claw prints left by a passing lizard; on some, he could even make out lifelike little dots left by dewclaws. According to Diago, this was an ancient draconic script that contained mysterious and powerful forces.

It was a script the dragons had once used in ancient times, though dragons rarely used it anymore. After all, Common was more concise and precise in its descriptions, unlike Draconic, which had many vague and nebulous aspects. To mages, however, this was precisely what made Draconic powerful, because some of these Draconic words still appeared in many spell incantations passed down from ancient times. As for dragons, few spells could affect them. These creatures, among the first born on Azeroth, simply had far too much resistance to magic. Draconic spells were among the few means capable of threatening them. Turning an opponent's own spear against their shield was a good way to deal with them on any plane.

"This is it!" He clenched his fist and pumped it through the air. He glanced around furtively like a thief-which, in fact, he was-then stuffed the tablet into the pouch at his waist. A few seconds later, he vanished into a patch of shadow again.

The door opened slowly with a low rasp from its hinges. From the shadows, Masley peered outside. No one was in the passage beyond the door, and he crept toward one end of the corridor outside. That spot looked no different from anywhere else. There were only two Dark Iron cannons wrapped in protective covers, several piles of cannonballs, and a few wooden crates stacked against the wall, casting a patch of shadow.

Masley crept over in Stealth and knocked on the outermost crate: knock, knock, knock-two long, one short, in a clear rhythm.

"Well? Did you get it?" A human suddenly emerged from the darkness behind the crates and asked eagerly.

"Piece of cake!" The Night Elf emerged from Stealth and returned to his humanoid form. He waved the tablet proudly, showing it off, then handed it over.

By the light of the lava, Diago examined it carefully. "That's right, this is it. Masley, beautifully done!" he praised him sincerely. He had never imagined the problem could be solved so easily. Truthfully, with the Night Elf gone for so long, he had already prepared himself for a major fight.

"Where's the next stop?" Masley asked, somewhat excited by the praise. He could hardly wait to show his skills again.

They followed the corridor above the enormous stone gate, encountering no guards along the way. General Angerforge's actions had made things somewhat easier for them. Huge, elongated windows-or rather, firing ports-opened along this stretch of corridor, with several Dark Iron cannons aimed outside through them. But there was no glass or anything similar fitted into the windows, nor was there any need for it. This underground world never had to worry about rain, and there was very little wind. The occasional movement of hot air heated by lava was almost negligible. Looking down through these windows, they could overlook most of Shadowforge City's inner city.

Another marvel of Shadowforge City, designed by Franclorn Forgewright, was its construction on two levels. This was the distinctive feature of underground architecture: it made full use of every inch of space within the mountain. Such a wonder could never be seen in other cities-aboveground, could you imagine building a fortress over a city's main thoroughfare? Would you dare build residential districts above factories?

Passing through the long, winding corridor, they arrived at an enormous room. In truth, remaining in Stealth for so long was an ordeal for the adventurers, including Khanifa. The tension of constantly worrying about being discovered tormented their nerves. This enormous barracks barred all civilians from entering, even gladiators with some modest fame.

This was a huge golem assembly workshop. Standing in the shadows by the entrance, they looked inside. Four massive square stone pillars stood in the center of the hall, their edges sharply carved and their tops shaped like inverted trapezoids, supporting the dark rock ceiling. The pillars were black, their surfaces exceptionally smooth and gleaming with a metallic sheen.

This was the production and assembly workshop for Heavy War Golems. Many enormous hooks hung from the hall's ceiling, carrying golem components to wherever they needed to go. Beneath them, nearly a hundred dwarven technicians worked feverishly. In fact, there were more than dwarven craftsmen here. Some dwarven mages had also been assigned to the workshop, as enchanting and charging certain important components required their services. From time to time, completed war golems were operated and led away, dispatched through underground passages to the Great Forge or the Burning Steppes to the south.

Looking between the massive stone pillars, they could see a smaller room on the opposite side. Diago knew that the target of their journey, Golem Lord Agamand, was inside that little room.

Note: Rogues and Druids in panther form could conceal their bodies while in Stealth, but they could not make their shadows vanish completely as well. At most, they could make them look fainter and more blurred.

Thus, they generally chose to move at night or within the shadows of other objects.

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