Grudges born

'This shall not stand.'

The dwarf crumpled the letter in his fist, barely able to contain his anger. 'Tell me, Gottri, when did the umgi fall so low? We were their teachers once- how could they stray so far?'

'I do not know, lord.' Gottri swallowed hard. He had expected this reaction when he brough the Marienburger's message before his master. 'No dwarf would accept the terms of this contract they propose-'

Gottri's master bellowed, shaking his fist at him with the letter still in it. 'This is no contract! This is a declaration of war!' He opens the letter again, reading the offending lines aloud. '"While the newly claimed territory will be divided by members of the Expansion Effort, we will offer any of your house who agree to provide military support a discount in future trade, of no more than-"' he stopped then, exasperated. 'Have they forgotten that this "newly claimed territory" is our hold?' He cast the letter to the ground. 'Not only do they intend to take what is rightly ours- they expect us to help them do it!'

Gottri nodded, his eyes downcast. 'And for a paltry sum at that. They treat us no better than common beggars.'

The lord ground his teeth. 'All the gold in Marienburg would be insufficient to atone for this disgrace. This, this... insult, demands blood!'

Gottri nodded. He had expected as much- earlier messages from Marienburg announcing their intent to claim the lost hold were enough to send most dwarfs over the edge, and this latest missive was the last straw. He knew what would come next, and when his master uttered the words, he supported them fully.

'Fetch the book.'

Two servants solemnly left the throneroom, returning minutes later, bearing a massive leatherbound book between them. Behind them the grudgekeeper Mordrin followed, his braided white beard almost touching the floor. In his hands he carried a silver plate, upon which the needed utensils were born.

The dwarven lord sat in his marble throne, sighing as the book was placed before him. Without hesitation, he took the knife from the plate offered by the grudgekeeper, and drew a bloody cut across the palm of his left hand. Squeezing, he let several drops fall into a jar of ink. He let the grudgekeeper bind his wound while dipping his quill into the mixture of ink and blood. Then, solemnly, he penned the words onto an empty page.

'For their ambitions upon dwarven land,' the dwarf announced, 'for their disrespect towards us, we place a grudge upon the umgi of the Dragonback Expansion Effort. For their transgression, all those who follow them shall pay in blood, until none are left to support their nefarious ideals.'

He then lifted his pen, nodding, and the grudgekeeper's assistants took the book away again.

'Contact our allies,' he told Gottri. 'Sound the horns, ready the fleet. If the umgi want a war, then the dawi shall provide.'