Hello, Everyone!
I’m so happy to be posting more chapters of Mary Windfiddle’s journeys! :)
In their last adventure, they were just chilling out in a tavern when some dark dwarves showed up and attacked the establishment. Mary and her companions, along with a couple of people they’d met, managed to save the day, and then fell into some arguements with the local bartender.
Now, they’re heading towards Belfast, the home of their cleric Bruno. If you read the letters, you’d know what’s been going on there ;)
Have fun reading!
Mary, Aurum and Bruno reached the lands of the dwarves a couple of days after they’d left Meraket. They crossed the river Braza and went south towards the mines.
The trio passed by a few small dwarven villages. Bruno explained that the main population was living along the river, in the Bay, or by the mountain range called the Teeth. Only the richest and most powerful clans inhabited the actual fortress--and mine--of Belfast.
Which was why, with every next mile towards the big mountain, Mary became more and more suspicious that Bruno might not be just an ordinary dwarf. And when they stood before the entrance to the mine and the guards gave him a salute, she knew that her suspicions were correct.
"Did you know he was a big shot?" she whispered to Aurum.
"No but that's very interesting!" he whispered back. "He doesn't act like one."
The underground city of Belfast was built inside the actual mountain. A big marble staircase lead to doors, more than 30 feet tall, surrounded by two huge granite columns. The city itself was lit by glowing crystals embedded in the walls, and inside of lanterns along the streets. Their light reflected on the gilded roofs of the houses and cast small spots of light which danced on the walls. Columns of unbelievable height rose to the ceiling of the enormous cavern, giving the whole place even more grandiosity.
It seemed that everyone here knew Bruno – or Brunost, as they called him. They greeted him with respect and pointed him towards the center of the city.
"You come at the right moment, Brunost," they said. "The Council is expecting you."
The locals lead them to a big building behind the door of which they could hear an indistinct arguing. When they stepped in, they found themselves in a room full to the brim with dwarves.
All eyes turned to the newcomers. Mary froze at her place and felt her head fill with a ringing noice. It was just like when her parents would make her perform on stage… but, like, a hundred times worse. Later she’d learn that there were exactly 438 dwarves in attendance. That was more people than she’d seen in one place in her whole life!
“Brunost! Just in time!” a dwarf called out. “It’s 219 ‘for’ and 219 ‘against’. We need your vote.”
The Dwarven Council had been in session without a break for the past three days. Around the huge stone table in the center of the room, everyone was tired and irritable, shouting their opinions and not taking in anyone else’s. The situation was tense.
It had all started with the bank robbery that Mary and her companions had already read about in Bruno’s sister's letters. When the dwarves had searched the vault of the bank, they had found a message.
An ultimatum.
The Duergar, lead by a stone giant named Agrax, wanted free pass to search for a magical Artefact in the mines under Belfast. They had given the dwarves ten days to think about their request and, if Belfast didn’t comply, had threatened to pass by force. They had at their disposal hundreds of duergar and many beasts of the Underdark, as well as a whole legion of dark elves.
Mary shared a look with her party. So, that’s what all the robberies were all about! The dark elves, or Drow, as they were called, were known to be soldiers for hire and, since they were really good at what they did, they cost a lot. This ‘Agrax’ creature had obviously been gathering money for a long time to be able to afford them.
The Council of Belfast was divided into two major groups. The first, consisting of the clans Ferenc, Harpus, Valkas and Filias, wanted to comply with Agrax’ demands. They didn’t want to risk all-out war for a thing they didn’t even possess.
The rest of the clans--Borgus, Airhammer, Ormus and Goras--wanted to fight. They said that if they let outsiders dig through their mines under the threat of an attack, that’ll create a precedent for the same thing to happen again in the future.
"Also, we don't know what happened to our loggers, the ones we sent after Papios' stolen treasure," the head of the Borgus clan said, glancing at an important-looking dwarf standing on the other side of the table. "The message doesn't mention them at all, they might use them as bait or a bargaining chip when they come."
Bruno listened to all sides before speaking. Then he suggested a third option.
“We shouldn’t risk war with the duergar,” he said. “Even if we win, it could be at the price of many lost lives. However, we don’t know what that Artefact is for. It could be dangerous. It could be used against us. So, why don’t we try and find it before the duergar? We have seven days left until the stone giant's deadline, we can send search parties in the farthest reaches of the mine and, if we don’t find it, we can then prepare – either for war, or for compromise. And," he looked at the dwarf who had spoken last, "as far as the loggers are concerned, I myself have a reason to try and find them. As you know, my brother Saami joined them when they went in. My party," he gestured towards Mary and Aurum, "has already agreed to go down the tunnels with me and find them."
There was little debate after his speech – some of the dwarves pointed out that if they hadn’t found a magical Artefact in their usual digs through the mine, there was little chance of finding it now.
But after a while, they all agreed to try it out. Bruno had managed to postpone the big decision.
Ooh, that might be bad! A war between dark and light dwarves? And our heroes caught in the mix? I wonder if they’d manage to help Bruno’s kind! Also, are we going to meet his family?
Well, we’ll see what’ll happen in our next part.
Hope to see you there!
Take care and be well!