When the Wood Elf Corps followed the Dwarf Leader, Copperbeard Ironhammer, to the Dwarves' home,
they discovered that the situation at the Dwarven settlement was far more dire than they had imagined.
Beside an extinguished fire deep within the cave, dozens of Dwarves were huddled together.
Their faces were ashen. Wrapped in only thin animal hides, they clung to one another for warmth, barely surviving.
In a corner, a few Dwarf women were trying to use the last embers to boil a soup of tree bark, giving the last of the food to their children.
The Dwarf children were even more terrifyingly quiet. They didn't even have the strength to cry.
When the Dwarves in the cave heard footsteps, they thought the Dwarf Leader had returned.
Even though they all knew full well that the Dwarf Leader couldn't have brought back more food under the circumstances, the brutal winter still made them cling to the desperate hope that he had managed to bring back something to eat.
