These ruins are so old that even the Dwarves have forgotten about them, the guide said.
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It is hard to believe that dwarves would ever forget a burial site of their ancestors, least a site of worship and devotion to their old cults. And yet it must be true: the site was in ruins, unkept fauna creeping up on the statues, pillars crumbling, and large blocks of granite cracking under the relentless wear of the elements. To knowingly let a burial site fall into this state would be the most shameful sin to any dwarven society.
The first Dwarves to ever wander these land erected this site, the guide continued,
back when the Dwarves were still one with the stone that begot them. This is of course nonsense. Dwarves were never stone, nor one with the stone. But it is true that early dwarven societies had not yet discovered metallurgy and made all their tools from the very stone they also built their dwellings in.
Back then, the Dwarves did not torture the stone that they owe their lives to by burning its ore out of it, burning the soul out of their own mother.
The old wife tales say that when the dwarves discovered metallurgy they were punished by their celestial mother and forgot their ability to merge with the stone, turn into stone, sleep for aeons and awake when needed. More likely, the most talented dwarven artisans and craftsmen ceased to become stonemasons and pursued the new arts of metallurgy and smithing, slowly allowing ancient secrets of the crafts of their forefathers being forgotten. When nobody knew anymore how to make statues so lifelike one may imagine them move, it is reasonable for the tales of dwarves turning into stone to emerge in the villages close to ancient dwarven sites.
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The locals say that the runes have emerged again, the green flicker under the stone becoming brighter and brighter by the day. And some wanderers have recalled being pursued by the awoken statues at night. `Wanderers' --- most likely thieves taking from the stones, searching for artefacts to sell. An easily frightened bunch. Prone to mistaking an owl for a dwarven warrior emerging from the stone!
Be it as it may, the site was ruined but still marvellous to behold. The dwarves of old were truly the best stone masons to ever have wandered this planet.
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Mostly styrofoam with some Mantic dwarves for statues. Any comments of the workings?
Pictures arent too great, will try to take some better ones another time.
EDIT: in case pictures don't work (they do for me on several devices/ browser without being logged in on flickr.. but maybe its still somehow stored in cache for me):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/150342686@N05/