All right ... I'm going to do some creative editing with the dwarf necromancer story.
I feel you're telling us about these characters, not showing us. (How can we show? One way is through dialogue. Don't tell us, "Jorasic was a dwarf with black hair that had streaks of grey as if it had captured the motion of falling stars during a moonless night.". Rather: "Jorasic's black hair rustled in the wind. The grey streaks reminded me of falling stars on a moonless night". See the difference?
I also didn't like the name "Jorasic" - it reminded me too much of "Jurassic", as in "Jurassic Park". But hey, they're your dwarves.
)
So let me see... *cracks knuckles*
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The Eye of the Storm, despite its name, was not the center of a massive storm. According to legend, this is where the Eye of Gruumsh fell. It struck the world with so much force it created a massive crater and wiped out an entire species of animals that lived in this region for nearly a hundred years.
The crater was nearly forty feet deep and one mile wide. The inside of the crater was now a jungle of animals, in some cases, solely unique to the crater itself.
Scaling down a massive crater can be nerve wracking.
“Our kind has a very long lifespan, but doin’ things like this can shorten yer life!” Jorasic Stonecutter grumbled. His black hair rustled in the wind, and the grey streaks reminded me of falling stars on a moonless night. He, my half-brother and I climbed down the side of the massive crater.
"Och, dinnae fash yerself, Jorasic!" Nord called out cheerfully and shook his white beard. "We'll be home fer dinner, nae worries."
"Aye, weel." Jorasic stroked his beard fiercely.
"An' dinnae do that! Ye'll ha' no beard lef'!"
"Ye just watch where yez puttin' yer feet, Nord Forgehammer," Jorasic said. "Yez got nae common sens'!"
And then there was I, Bart Stonechipper.
"Where is we, ha'-brother?" I said.
There was no reply.
"Nord?" I tried again.
"The Eye of Gruumsh," Jorasic said dolefully. "Dinnae forget, Nord, that yer da died fightin' them damnable Drow. Bart's da was his best friend, and he took care o' yer ma--"
"Yeah, I know." Nord balanced himself against the cliff. "An' fell in love wi' her, married her. An' Bart's me step-brother. Watch yer step, Bart - this here's a doozy!"
Ah, family. Ye could count on 'em, even if they’re half-brothers. They agreed to go on this expedition, and they knew it could be weeks.
Jorasic was a master. Gi' him leather, an' he could make anything from it.
Nord took after his da and become an armorer.
I walked a different path. Me ma and da often pondered if they raised me right. Y'see ... I dabbled in Magic. It’s true, most Dwarves don’t venture into understanding magic – but that’s what appealed to me.
When I was a lad, I seen Dwarves craftin' fantastic weapons and armor, but no one knew had to craft a spell. The more I researched the Arcane World, the more I realized how diverse it was. The one so few understood - or dared to dabble in, perhaps - interested me the most. It had the most to offer.
Necromancy.
"Bart!" Jorasic’s voice pulled me from my reverie. “We almost to th'bottom?”
“Look for yourself,” Nord teased. "Oh yeah, I forget - yer 'fraid o' heights, ain't cha? What was it ye always said? ‘If we were meant to enjoy heights, the gods would have made us taller!’ Right?"
“Ha! Ye can jus' let go of th'rope an' meet us at th'bottom, Jorasic!” I edged my way down the side of the crater.
“Funny, comin' from a wizard who can make himself as light as a feather!" Jorasic complained. "Why you didn’t do that to begin with, huh?”
“You would have never let me cast it on you,” I shouted. “That's 'cos you don’t trust magic.”
“No," Jorasic's face was pale. "I don’t. Especially that weird, dark magic you spend your time learnin'. Unnatural, you know. Leave the dead be.”
“Ha! I don't care what you think, Jorasic," I chuckled. "I don’t sit in the Great Tombs at nights, nor do I raise the dead an' speak to 'em.”
It was a small sacrifice, but getting Jorasic to talk about my choice to study Necromancy kept him focused on the discussion, and away from thinking about the drop. Don' look down, under no account look down, 'cos down there was aughhgaaaaaa--
We finally reached the bottom. "Phew!" Jorasic removed his helmet and wiped his brow. "'Tis good to feel solid earth 'neath yer feet again."
"So, ha'-brother" Nord said, “what's this gapin' hole i'th'ground?”
I stood in the crater felt the energy crackling all around me. Was it a'cos of the Fall of the Eye? All I could see was a jungle that had sprung up at the bottom of the crate. By the sound of things, it teemed with life.
“Depends on which story you believe.” I slung my backpack over my shoulder. “The most common story is this: Corellon Larethian shot an arrow at Gruumsh and struck him in the eye, and the Orc God’s eye came crashing down onto the world below. Infused with magic born of any deity, the energy emitted from the eye changed the world around it.”
"Is that true?" Nord looked at me. “The orcs believe that Gruumsh is infallible, so there is no way Corellon could best him.”
“So what are here to do?" Jorasic tugged at his beard and looked around. "Collect energy signatures or something?”
“Yes,” I said. It was the truth, but not the whole truth.
A human escaped Orcs and came to Iron Keep seeking shelter. We took him in, and since he seemed wizardly, he caught my attention. I began speaking with him and he shared an ancient human tome on history, which spoke of ancient reptiles that roamed the world, looking like wingless dragons. The tome explained that many of these beasts died in the extinction event of The Fall of the Eye.
We set up camp near the crater wall; the jungle looked too dangerous to be in at night. Then I heard Jorasic’s trembling voice whisper, “What in the Greystone is that?”
A lizard about the size of a chicken stood on two legs. Its head tilted and turned quickly, like a chicken or pigeon. I studied the human’s tome of history for as long as he had let me, and knew immediately it was a Compsognathus. Few were even known to exist outside of the crater, so that seemed to lend some truth to the lore found in the tome.
The ‘dinosaurs’, as they had been called, lived in this region; and some still seemed to thrive in the crater. I made a sound at it and waved my hands, and the Compsognathus quickly darted away; but it visited us throughout the night with about sixteen others of the same kind.
I took a small cup, placed it on the log and filled it with water. When I didn't drink it, Nord asked me if I was waiting for something.
I smiled. “It’s something I read in the human’s book. It’s the best way to detect larger species of dinosaurs.”
Just as we unpacked our bedrolls, we heard an explosion.
“What was that?” Jorasic shouted.
We stopped what we were doing and glanced at one another.
"Jorasic!" Nord said. "Stop tuggin' at yer beard like that!"
The boom came again. then once more. There were long gaps. The water shimmered in my cup. I counted between the booms. It wasn’t an explosion, but a dinosaur. Against the moonlight I could see a neck that seemed to stretch for miles. It was attached to a large, round body on legs were like tree trunks.
“An Apatosaurus,” I pointed.
"W-why are we here?" Jorasic was beside himself. “The thing could eat us in one bite!”
“Good thing they’re herbivores,” I said.
“Wouldn't stop 'em from steppin' on us or eatin' us!” He said.
Excavating was a slow, painful process, but the following morning I started to excavate some of the area.
"What're you here to find, cuz?" Jorasic said. "Fossils?"
"Aye."
Last night I felt energy and magic coursing through my veins. It gave me a new idea, which neither of them would approve of - probably with good reason. I chipped away at the side of the crater’s wall and looked back at the others.
Nord was the one who taught me how to fine-tune using a hammer. He pounded metal with it; I gently chipped away at the crater wall.
Jorasic worked on some leather, cutting and stitching and hardening it. He was fascinated in spite of himself by the reptiles that dominated the crater. He was still jumpy every time he saw a new one, wondering if it was there to devour him, and I had to reassure him each time that he was safe. The baby raptors were a concern, though, but there were adult ones somewhere. Still, there was no need to tell Jorasic about them.
Two days of chipping later, I found what I was looking for: the fossilized skull of a “Thunder Lizard.” The fabled Thunder Lizard was said to have some relation to Wyverns. Diagrams showed that the beast stood over thirty feet tall, had an endless row of teeth, enormous clawed feet, and small, ineffectual arms. This is what started the theory that they were related to Wyverns; over time, they developed massive wings.
Neither Nord nor Jorasic could figure out why I was so excited about finding a fossil. They had been with me in plenty other places where I’d found some.
They both agreed to stay. Jorasic wasn’t pleased about it, but he agreed to stay; undoubtedly Nord's enthusiasm influenced him. It took two weeks - and Jorasic constant reminders about “being eaten alive” by insects - before I was able to clear the massive skull from the wall.
“Do you plan to take that thing back to Iron Gate?” Nord asked. “Hefting it up the crater wall might be a problem.”
“No,” I said. “It will stay here. But I want to study it.”
That was a lie. By the end of those two weeks in the Eye of the Storm, I had magic crackling from my fingertips.
The next morning, I took the large skull out to a small clearing in front of the jungle. Using the notes I took from an ancient Necromancy tome I found in the Greystone Library, I traced the symbols.
I sat down in front of the fossil, faced it and began chanting the words from my notebook. An unusual wind picked up; still as I chanted the words. Pages began to fly away as I read the last line, as if someone was tearing the pages away.
A green light of energy formed in the fossil's eye sockets.
The wind toppled me over, but I quickly scampered to my feet and saw the head levitate.
“What have you done?” Nord said.
I didn’t answer. The head floated further upward. There was a burst of green energy. I rubbed my eyes. The light enveloped the skull and began to flick and flash.
“Is that forming… a
body?” Jorasic said.
The thunder lizard stood tall. Almost thirty feet tall, small beady eyes with new life stared around in momentary confusion. The Tyrannosaurus Rex tilted its head up and roared.
“What have you
done?” Nord said.
I snapped out of the trance and looked up at the Tyrannosaurus Rex. “I can’t believe it worked,” I said.
The beast looked over in our direction.
“Run!” Jorasic yelled.
We scrambled into the small crevice the skull came from. After an hour, the beast gave up on us and began looking for an easier meal.
“You’ve unleashed a new beast,” Nord whispered.
“It will never be able to climb out of here,” I said as we climbed out of the small hole.
“How did you even do that?” Nord said. “You looked like you were in some kind of trance.”
“The energy here,” I said. “I can feel it in me. It’s awakened something in me.”
Jorasic and Nord shared a glance. Jorasic’s beard was pure white, whiter than I'd ever seen.
“We leave now, boy," Jorasic said. "I don' feel right with that ... thing.”
“Yes,” I nodded. My limbs felt heavy. I could hardly keep my eyes open. “We ... let's get out of here.”
We reached the top of the crater. Behind me, I heard the Tyrannosaurus Rex roar again.
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Hope you like it!
I took some time over it and, gave Jorasic, Nord and Bart a separate "voice". But you created them and gave them their characteristics (like Jorasic's fear of heights). I'm just editing the story around the edges.