But who, really, is that scruffy dwarf?

The hordes of undead were arranged in a way that would remind Dain of bowling pins, if such things had existed in the catacombs of Tsar. Nevertheless, Dain tore across the battlefield towards them, through them, lazily drawing dusty circles in the collapsing formations of skeleton archers. He felt like how gods must feel, sundering entire armies with his breath. As his powerful dervish funneled undead warriors into a rattling bone shower, his mind wandered back to his years in Tsar.

Soon after the incident which had garnered him the attention of the Catacomb Guard, he was assigned to a wise old naturalist for further training in addition to the regular patrols underground. The elven druid taught him to to understand and control his burgeoning connection to the natural world. Spellcasting came easy to Dain, especially manipulating the earth and stone, but that was all quickly forgotten when, one dreary autumn morning, his teacher had been replaced by a thoughtful-looking badger.

Dain was stunned when he entered the training hall to find the creature tumbling around on the equipment. Then he was utterly floored when the badger started talking to him and identified itself as his teacher. His life was changed forever when he learned that he could change his own shape too. Animal and plant forms held little interest to Dain, but his teacher saw how quickly and naturally Dain took to elemental forms and adjusted the focus of his training immediately. In the weeks that followed, Dain grew in strength and personality as he discovered the power of his new ability. From that moment on, the Catacomb Guard lost a reclusive dwarf and gained a boisterous wrecking ball.

Outside his head, the battle still raged. Briefly distracted by the need to rescue a dying comrade on the battlefield, Dain returned to mowing down a ragged unit of zombies and once again found his thoughts turning back to years earlier.

Dain quickly surpassed his trainer's meager combat expertise, and then that of all the warriors in the Catacomb Guard. Lady Tolah took responsibility for his training directly, organising for him to learn from mystical monks, respected duelists and unexpectedly-paroled barroom brawlers. He absorbed everything and made it his own, becoming a veritable force of nature. His training sessions became legendary in Tsar, with some enterprising adventures guilds and fighting schools paying Dain to train in their halls, then selling tickets to the spectacle.

His reputation and ability grew and soon the greatest teachers in the land were being brought to Tsar at great expense to the city. Through it all, Lady Tolah was quietly pleased. The results spoke for themselves; the catacombs of Tsar had never been more peaceful. If only it could have stayed that way forever...

This battle was won, but another great and sinister host was on the horizon. Dain knew in his heart that he was where he was most needed, but during the quiet of the night, he fervently prayed that his adopted home was faring well without him.