Durlag's Riddles

Riddle 1
There was no warning. but it would not have helped. There was no need to prepare for hard times, because hard times would never come. So we were assured, and so we believed. The great Trollkiller was our provider, and he would protect us. We put down our swords to Live the life he always wanted: we lived as family. Suspicions were for outsiders; guards and weapons were for wartime. There was no warning, but it would not have helped,

We crafted as we were told. We built this place to prevent all from entering. We trapped every inch of every step, and made sure that to enter meant death. We have killed many over time, though it is not our will. It is all to protect against a repeat of the past, though the challenges ensure it will repeat. A mountain to climb; a river to cross. Because it is there, they will come. We crafted as we were told.

We carne to kill, but not without reasonsss. We were here before, asss were the Tentaclesss, Their underground wasss near, and the tower intruded on their expansionsss. Asss well, the bait was too great to passs. The dwarvesss did not hide their wealthhh; did not ssstop the rumorsss of waisst-deep gold! The invadersss came and ssstill come, but not without invite. We came to kill, but not without reasonsss

Answer
paraphrasing...durlag blames himself

Riddle 2
Stone Golem- We followed Durlag, we were his people: his family. Durlag Trollkiller, son of Bolher Thunderaxe the clanless, formed this place with the spoils of a lifetime of adventure. It was majestic in those times, and we took what we needed from the fortune around us. We grew strong and proud and Durlag felt he finally had a home. We were the future, his family, and if we were lost, then so was he. That was the fear that hid, that was beneath. We followed DurLag. We were his people.

We entrenched this place against all that would come. We built retribution in the trip wires and vengeance in the fireballs. We worked the hatred into every nook and cranny, just as he wished, but our actions were guided from elsewhere. The foundation was the fear that it could happen again, and this was to be prevented at all costs. This was the mortar that held him together. We entrenched this place against all that would come. Friend and foe alike.

We were the fear made flessssh. We came to the home that Durrrlag built, and we hid In the people that he forrrmed. With tentacles to guide. we poisssoned the clan, and the nightmaresss of Durrrlag came true. Our mastersss said they could tassste his rage even in the air, but alwaysss there was the fear behind. We were the fear made flesssh, but it was already here.

Answer
It began with you and your need for a home. It grew with your clan, you feared losing them. It manifested in the invaders that came, but you feared their coming already. It became your home, where it keeps you safe.

Riddle 3
This is not my face. The invaders came and took my true face, burying it with my body and my comrades. I was among the last, but not the very last, and I saw the horror to come. My child rose against me, though it was no longer my child. It wore her face, but I knew her to be dead. The dopplegangers came from within. and we could not fight ourselves. Better to die than to kill ourselves. What would be left of a man that has had to kill his family...and himself? I was among the last, but not the very last.

We were hired after the battles were done. Durlag called upon us to make his visions true. We did our best, but his visions grew darker and soon we could not see. We waded through his fallen, and we waded through his cold. Near the end we feared for our lives, though not as much as he did. I was never truly sure whether he wished to keep the intruders out, or himself in. Both, I'll wager. We were hired after the battles were done, and we did our best.

It began with usssss...and the mastersss...The tentacled ones directed and we assssaulted quietly with cover of night. We took of the weaker firssst, hiding aiiidsst the childrrren. None sssaw the arrival, none noticed the isssurrgence, and none sssurvived the final rissse. When Durlag realizzzed the deception it was tooo late! His own family sssought his life, and he ssslaughtered their falssse facessss. It began with usss, from the wessst.

Answer
From the west it came, and then the south. The east held it next, and now it rests in the north.