Grumbar Yawns {Soon/Tonight}

[Wynna]

In the early hours of the morning {of March 6, 2010, US time zones}, while the Marches slept, the elemental lord of the Earth, Grumbar, rolled over beneath his earthen covers. Fields rolled like water, houses shook and hovels were flattened. The people of the Marches, from Settlestone in the northwest and south to Rivermoot; from Sundabar on the far side of the Nether Mountains and up to the dwarven citadels felt the quake and woke, staring wild-eyed and fearful at their heaving rafters, or stumbled outside under the thankfully stationary face of Selune. Many cried out to their gods or offered what placations they could to the primordial power of Earth...their prayers and screams lost in the sound that accompanied the quake. The roar was said to be like nothing mortal ears could withstand, beginning with a low rumble from deep in the bones of the earth that swelled upward and around the Marches before erupting like a bubble of magma belching dizzying audible shockwaves. It is said the ears of those in caverns beneath the earth bled, so powerful was the sound. Such a small movement from a god to bring so much change...but such is the nature of deities. Neither angry nor happy, merely part of his nature, Grumbar's reflex will have lasting effects. As he settled back into dormancy, the earth above sank back into new formation. Clouds of dust and the clatter of falling rocks seeking new stability followed for hours, and the chain of reactions may not yet be done even now, but the god himself has lapsed to sleep and no more primary quakes are expected.

When the quaking ceased, the residents of the Silver Marches lay still or wept or crept forward to survey the damage, as was their nature. The servants of Ilmater at Rauvenwatch Keep determined through prayer to their god that casualties were remarkably low: a shepherd crushed beneath a toppled tree in the Moonwood; a barbarian Uthgardt falling to his death from a high pinnacle when it collapsed. The Gem of the North lay remarkably untouched due to either deific favoritism or the mythal or strong foundations, but other centers of civilization were not so fortunate, chief among them High Hold. It is said the very course of the river was moved there, and the horizons visible from the hold shortened by the collapse of walls of rock onto the swamp.

What was familiar has changed and what was unknown has been revealed. Not the first time the earth has moved in the Silver Marches, and life will go on. Those certain of their horizons may be surprised, though, both at what has been taken away and what may be revealed to exploration. The only thing certain is that change happens...and will likely someday happen again. It is what you do with it between times that makes the difference.