Quest What remains

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

Kjaran had seen his share of ruins over the years but nothing on the scale of this. Fallen fortresses, abandoned cities, they'd looked nothing like the ones before them. Cyclopean blocks of stone that seemed to have fused together, through magic or some other wizardry?

"Don't eat her" he warned the dwarf who took his mare. Placid enough, her disposition suited him. He always felt like horses were planning something. Loosening his shoulders, he half drew his sword from his scabbard, tapping the metal for good luck.

"Hark" he said, the screeching reaching even his ears. Metal on metal. He wasn't sure who was going to venture further into the ruins first. He had a bad feeling about this.

 

[Magnan Smithson]

"Aim for the arm holding the weapon. A lot of enemies you'll encounter are just morons who picked up a weapon and believe they're invincible. They'll swing as hard as they can, and over extend. They..." The ancient knight continued to talk, quietly but with something approaching vigour as he advised the pale Kravosh next to him on the do's and dont's of combat. Granted, the majority of his techniques relied upon a shield, but he knew enough about mages to know the pale man could most likely produce something to the effect of a shield with magic, which was something each of his kind seemed to be abundant in. He himself had never understood the arcane arts, but he was fine with this. Let the mages sit in their towers with their books, he would rather be moving.

Hours later, when the group stopped within the ancient ruins, Magnan couldn't help but be in awe of the buildings around him. The blacksmith in him couldn't discern anything from the structures in front of him aside from the fact that they were quite amazingly well built, and the lich found himself looking around for something to potentially take home with him to study. If he could replicate the effect, he might be able to have the advantage the next time he found that half-giant. Unfortunately, nothing stood out, but he decided to keep an eye out anyway. It was too valuable a chance to let it go to waste.

Following behind the man who had hired them like a steel golem, silent and intimidating, Magnan kept an eye out in the direction of the scraping noise, wondering just how dangerous it was going to be.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn picked his way through what might have been a sprawling building once. What was left of the walls joined up in a cross-cross pattern. In a few places they jutted upwards like jagged knives. He couldn't get a sense of what the building might have been but it must have been several stories high. Perhaps as large as one of the buildings that formed the college of Elbion.

"The sound is coming from close by," he called out. "Spread out but keep line of sight."

Most of the walls remaining were barely above waist height. Given how tough the stone was, something remarkably powerful must have levelled the city.

With a wave, he indicated for Fife to stay close. "Some say the mages of the world grew jealous at the new things being made in the Age of Wonders. More power in the hand of any peasant than a trained wizard. They say they leveraged all of their combined might to strike the city down. Others say it was the dangers of experimentation that destroyed the city. No one knows. It was thousands of years ago and barely anything remains of that age," he told his young apprentice.

---

Somewhere in these ruins is a trapdoor that is well hidden. The sound comes from below. The door has faded magical seals that have long broken, but some of the physical locks remain. Feel free to find this.

 

[Fife]

She eventually made her way back to the front of the group, though admittedly kept turning back to gawk at the literal goblin who followed after them. A goblin! No amount of accosting from Raigryn could have made her keep her eyes ahead and mind her own business, anxiously looking back at it at irregular intervals.

Her tutor's focus seemed renewed, but the hard line of his features suggested that there was something amiss. Arriving at the ruins, she couldn't blame him. They had only just arrived and she was ready to leave them, but she and Socks walked beside Raigryn and Dusty as faithfully as always. The wasted lands had been creepy, but the eerie black structures were just uncanny enough to make her uncomfortable in a way she couldn't describe. Raigryn's commentary offered little comfort, even when he remarked that the wasted lands were shrinking, and the metallic screech on the wind had her shaking in her boots.

Fife slid out of the saddle, handed Socks' reins off to a dwarf, and hustled to catch up to Raigryn's longer strides. He didn't need to tell her to stick close; she was spooked enough and would be easy prey to anything hiding in these ruins, waiting. It didn't make sense that anything could be living here, but it was difficult to tamp down the feeling once it latched onto her. Staying close to Raigryn's side, she clutched the strap of her satchel across her chest, looking around anxiously as he told her more about the ruins.

The sound of metal on metal came again. She jumped and sucked in a sharp breath, stepping halfway behind Raigryn and pointing toward the sound. Though she could point the way, she certainly wasn't going to be the one to go check it out.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

Having spent the majority of their trip so far boasting to the other dwarves of the exploits of his younger sisters's training, and her ability to due a bit of magic, he had kept a careful eye on the mans son. Or squire, Belduhr hadn't quite kept his attention on the man during introductions. He tagged along to learn of the blight lands, not worry about familial ties. The two of them being the same height made him feel a sort of camaraderie with the lad, as Belduhr's healthy sense of self preservation made him very aware of their surroundings.

After the goblin discovery, the group of dwarves had kept an eye on the small creature. At least one of them always keeping a careful watch over the little demon. They were wary of it, but as it was, it didn't pose a threat to them by itself. Uneasy jokes about dealing with it in dwarvish were made and Belduhr did his best to tune out the other dwarves.

Belduhr followed well behind the group as they entered the ruin. He removed a pair of spectacles from a pocket in his mantle and wore them to better examine the walls. The scholarly dwarf clad in a tunic, breeches, a leather and fur mantle, the glasses connected via a small silver chain that wrapped about his head and ran back to the mantle. His cloak bore a hood that was currently up as he stayed close to the human that led the group. The other dwarves were content to stay with the horses, but this was an opportunity to learn what had resided here in the ruins.

The odd sounds that came from around them made him worry, and he kept himself closer to Fife than to Master Vayd. "The texts I've come across also mention very little pertaining to the Age. Though I have come across many journals that detailed such jealousy, Master Vayd." Belduhr spoke quietly as he kept his spectacles on and looked around them, keeping roughly an arms length between himself and Fife.

"Young master, you had better be careful. Your father looks like he can handle himself, but you look better at eluding trouble than dealing with it." Belduhr addressed the young man, taking a careful look at the goblin behind them.

 

[Faelin K'Abveirin]

From the wall he moved over the floor. Quite a bit was covered in debree from ages past. After a bit of mulling about.
-Thump- -thwack-
He smacked the ground with a walking stick, the dust flying high over the floor.

»The underground is hollow, suppose it's no 'natural cave', an extension of the building, yes « Faelin spoke out, looking out at the party whilst leaning against the stick.
»There's probably a way in. And if it's somewhere burried...«

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

"Good ears lad" Kjaran said, giving Fife a pat on the shoulder. He moved past the master and the apprentice, eyes squinting towards the source of the sound. He drew his scian and kept it low. No point using the big sword in this half light. The smaller blade would be enough to fillet anything coming at him out of the dark.

He found something there, more by stumbling across it than design. He half tripped, narrowly avoiding braining himself on a lump of masonry. "Can one of ye bring a light up? There's something here". He stooped to check with his free hand.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

One of the dwarves brought up a lamp, Raigryn followed. He dropped to his haunches and peered at the door curiously.

"He's my apprentice, not son," he said to Belduhr Brighthand. His tone was polite, but he was clearly preoccupied by the trapdoor. "These were magical wards. I don't recognise them but I can't sense any magic left. Anyone know better?"

He didn't step on the trapdoor. It was large enough that ten men could stand abreast on top of it. He pointed to the circle of runes around the hidden handle.

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

One of the adventurers had thumped the ground and found it had a rather odd sound. Suggesting to the others around them that there might be something of a tunnel below them. Belduhr wasn't terribly surprised by this fact. One look at what remained of this perhaps once glorious place, and one would imagine that a series of tunnels, basements, and underground complexes could be hiding beneath their feet.

Being a dwarf, the prospect made him almost giddy to find the entrance to such a discovery. Shortly after, another man had quite literally stumbled over something and called for a light to examine the offending object that had tripped them. Another dwarf brought a light and Master Vayd spoke quickly after his observation and had the scholar sputtering.

"I apologize for the confusion. I-" Belduhr began before catching sight of the door and losing interest in his explanation. He adjusted his lenses a bit as the light made the markings clearer. His face scrunching up as he squinted at the entirety of the scene before him.

"Seems a mix of elvish, dwarven, and a sprinkle of human markings judging by the script." He noted as he got on hands and knees to examine the work closer. "The work itself seems to be a mix of the races also. Perhaps a show of how closely the group's worked together?"

He pushed himself up a moment later and began examining what he could. His questions seemed entirely rhetorical as he pulled the other dwarf with him without asking, his hand pointing to some text here and there all the while his head bobbed back and forth in thought.

"It seems simple enough. Essentially a warning about unlocking the...door?" Belduhr informed the man as his confusion was plainly heard in his last word, repeating it once more as if speaking it would clear away the confusion. "Door?"

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

"Let's be about it then" Kjaran grunted. He put down his sword and grabbed the trapdoor handle. He heaved upward.

There was a loud audible click.

Kjaran froze. Others dropped to the ground or dived for cover. One dwarf tumbled backwards over a wall. One. Two. Three.

Nothing.

Kjaran's eyes were wide. He let out a strained laugh, relief in his voice. "We'll never be luckier". With a grunt, he opened the trapdoor the rest of the way.

It was hard to make out what was there in the gloom but a proffered torch showed stairs, a wide platform, and a railing. Kjaran retrieved his sword, stepping back from the trapdoor edge.

 

[Faelin K'Abveirin]

-crrr-rrr-rrrr-rrrr-rrrr-rrrr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-krrrhk. He could hear with his keen senses, the brief tingling of some form of mechanism that ran underground just as the door was beginning to open. A quick schling and then a BANG.
Faelin only recoiled and held onto his hat, yet most of the others covered, but why? The elf was not aware of any situation, or at least encountered a situation that would require such.
yet...
A weird smell leaked out...slightly burnt...highly flamable, but only trace amounts of. Most people were not adapted to scent these, but the burn was quick to whiff innthe air. Faelin gazed at the floor, coated in many uncovered holes that wwere small in size, barely noticeable.

But it? they...rusted, the pipes were rusted or filled with rocks and the gas... too dilluted to catch ablaze.
»Was something supposed to happen? Smells slightly scorched round here.«

Though he quickly stopped paying attention to his own words... the groaning clacking sound from before only got more intense as the trapdoor was opned.

 

[Vigil]

The knightly man spoke to me. Words flowing of how using as sword not just for swinging, but as a correct tool, with deliberate strikes and actions. Not something you flail around.The journey with the group was a strange one for me. While the traveling took a couple hours to finally reach some form of a destination, The Knight was kind enough to provide me with contexts over this time. In all honesty, I expected ideas much more inline with "this is how you swing, this is how you hold it." When in truth, using a sword was more so an art form that your mind and body had to be physically ready to use. As he said, swinging it without a care was useless.

However we had to stop speaking as we came to the ruins. I was more interested in looking around. While the rest of the group was wondering off together, I stayed behind and was looking at some rent tapestry. Ones that barely had anything left. Barely a stubble, but the cloth wasn't expensive. At the very least, it didn't feel like it, and the coloration was not one of various "royalty" colors such as purples, and blues. Making those colors was difficult under the right conditions into the cloth. So many higher society cultures used those colors for themselves alone. This was not one such.

However, as a loud creaking of something came to my ears, I made my way to catch up with the group. Slowly seeing they had opened the door into the floor of the ruins. While I couldn't directly see it at the moment, when I turned around to the other side. Seeing that they were messing with it. I shook my head.

"Those are runes. You are lucky they were performed on wood, and without being sealed by blood."

The wood on the door was cracked and aged. Markings and the faded nature suggested it was dead. However, seals needed to be perfect in order to function. One misstep could mean the spell would backfire or become something else entirely. Made upon wood, showed that this seal was long broken by missing parts of the ring, and breaks in the circle of the rune itself. I jutted my chin out to the Darker skinned elf

Well considering the rune on the back shows half the sigil for a firebolt, I would assume that if you attempted to open the door in the hayday, it would have fired a bolt into your chest. I looked it over again. Most of the run was too complex for me. However, I knew about half of the symbols on there. Three in a row meant fire, two more was arrow or an attack.

"Honestly, I recommend not taking steps down there at the moment. While wood can fade and crack, stone would not be so easily done. Unless someone has Nullify magic, or knows about the runes, Taking a step down here would be like sticking your hand in front of a dragons mouth and expecting it not to bite you."

 

[Magnan Smithson]

Watching silently from where the others were peering into the room, Magnan listened to Vigil for a moment, weighing certain pros and cons in his head. Eventually the armoured Lich came to a decision and stepped forward, greaves shaking the earth around him as he steps forward, shouldering as gently as he could through the mass of smaller people and pausing, somewhat hesitant, at the entrance to the room. Peering into the gloom of the room, the blue pinpricks of flame behind the ancient visor seem to intensify for a moment, before a rattling sigh emanates from behind the metal. He couldn't see anything beyond the stairs and railing. From what Vigil had said, there was little doubt there were traps down there. That being said...

The lich grunted, bringing his shield up to bear as he took a step down into the darkness, not bothering with grabbing the torch. Boom, his steps echoed out among the stone. It was only a few feet down when the first trap activated, the walls suddenly illuminated with the light of flame as a vwoosh echoed out and as flame materialized into being from the wall, crashing into the armored back of the titan and spreading along the metal for a few seconds, before snuffing out and allowing the darkness to close back in. Another two after that, the clatter of arrows could be heard crashing against steel and stone. Momentarily, the steps stopped as Magnan found himself grateful for the lack of light, the undead pawing at the arrow lodged in his eye socket, before pulling it out with a sound of annoyance.

Continuing on steadily, there were apparently no more traps upon the stairs, as the rest was relatively easy going. The steps were a little too small for someone of his size, but Magnan made do as he reached the base. Stepping off of the stairs, he only had a moment to try and look around before click echoed out from beneath his feet and the stone beneath them slid away, the giant dropping a few feet as the sound of steel tearing steel screeched out. Looking down, he slowly lifted his hole riddled boots out of the pit of what looked to be spikes, clambering back up and onto the flat base of the steps. As he does so, a the shield on his arm pulses blue, illuminating the room around him for but a moment as an ethereal blue light raced along his armored form and towards his feet. Watching with silent alarm, the lich watched as the metal began to fill that with same blue light, before the holes from the spikes disappeared alltogether. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the light faded away, leaving him in darkness. Turning back towards the stairs, he looked up in the direction he had come from. "Okay, it should be safe. Come down. There is a pit of spikes at the very base, and it's too dark for me to see what's here, so be very careful." His deathrattle voice calls out.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Magic always has an end," Raigryn said to Vigil. "It's an immutable law. The runes have been here thousands of years. Belduhr Brighthand makes a good point. I have never seen runes like this, with influences from several cultures. Or...several cultures were influenced by this," he muttered.

The clattering from down below started as Magnan dealt with the traps in his own particular fashion. If Raigryn had thought traps might have been even vaguely likely he would have had the dwarves bring a locksmith or engineer. Failing that, a thief. If it hadn't been for the noises they wouldn't have found this door in a year of searching. That was exciting.

He turned to Fife as he tried to surpress a grin. "Come see? Stay up here with the dwarves if you want." This was now becoming an adventure. His sword stayed on his back, but he touched his store of Avarice in case he needed to summon a barrier. Nothing bothered him as he followed to steps down to a wide, square platform. The air was still and musty. He walked forwards until he reached some kind of metal fence. He didn't dare lean on it as he peered past it. Peered down.

What light they had brought was enough to see the ground fall away. A smooth tunnel had been carved that led down in a slope. There were straight grooves carved into the floor of the slope.

"How strange."

---

Those that come down will find themselves on a wide platform.
It is in fact an elevator platform - imagine a 45 degree underground track like this.
There is a lever to start it moving down - no one knows what a lever is
If the lever is pulled it will get half way down the 30m track and grind to a halt.
If no one pulls the lever there are emergency stairs set into the rock beside the track
If you look down the slope carefully you might catch sight of a green glow far below.

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

When Master Vayd spoke of the culture being influenced by what they saw, it brought a strange thought to his mind. "You have a suspicion that they might have found something already here and took it as their own?" Belduhr addressed the man. He had never pondered the possibility but it made sense with what they were given.

Belduhr stepped aside as the armored man pushed through and took the stairs first. Only a slight bit of protest came from the dwarf which fell on deaf ears as he descended. The first trap that sprang had the scholar stepping back as if it would get him too.

When the man had reached the bottom and called up to them, Belduhr waited for Raigryn to go first, following shortly behind him as he tried to it step on the man's heels. He was intesnly curious to what may lay beneath their feet, and since the traps were seemingly dealt with, he wasn't about to stay up too and leave discoveries alone.

At the bottom, he pulled the lantern from his hip and fetched flint and steel from another pocket. The wick caught and he quickly covered it back up as he took to looking to the platform. He edged carefully towards the edge where Raigryn was and hesitantly peered over through the fence and after a nod, quickly brought himself back to the center.

"Either this slab takes us down, or this platform is meant as a landing for steps perhaps. Might be something-" Belduhr cut himself off as he once more looked about, catching sight of the stairs off to the side.

"AHA! Stairs. Probably safer than whatever this thing is supposed to do if they aren't trapped as well. Though at this point I don't imagine traps would be so prevalent as most tend to-" Belduhr sailed into thinking aloud as he stood off to the side and gesturing towards the stairs and back to the platform. Most of it was spoken so quickly that it became gibberish.

 

[Fife]

She watched cautiously from behind Raigryn as the group searched for the sound and subsequently discovered the trapdoor. Her brow was knotted in worry and only loosened momentarily when the dwarf misspoke, calling her Raigryn's son. She quickly looked at her tutor, who was able to correct him for her. She had to admit it made her a bit sad, if only a smidge, but his frankness was likely due to his focus in the task at hand.

With no Avarice to form constructs, she shamelessly kept behind Raigryn as the door was opened. There was a twang and a pop, but nothing happened. The big guy in armor (who was almost as quiet as her) went in first. She flinched at each sound of traps triggering, and craned around Raigryn to peer down after him.

With the traps dealt with, the group didn't hesitate to descend into the hidden room. Fife watched with relative horror as they all filtered past her, keen to throw themselves into a subterranean structure bent on obliterating them.

Raigryn looked excited -- as much as she'd seen him be, really. Contemplating her choices, she genuinely thought about staying with the dwarves and the horses. And yet, as Raigryn dipped out of sight in the stairwell and she heard the voices below echoing up...

It was a stupid idea and she was going to regret it, but she hastily followed after them. The scorched wall and broken arrows were alarming enough to make her spry as a deer to hop across the spike pit and scurry back to her tutor's side.

Well, not exactly. Her legs turned to jelly as she got close enough to the edge to look beyond the rail into the strange tunnel below. Backpedaling, she planted herself beside the same dwarf from before in the center of the platform. He would not be her company for long as he spotted a set of stairs and began to ramble on about the nature of trapdoors as he plucked toward them.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Magnan Smithson Vigil Faelin K'Abveirin Fife Magnan Smithson Belduhr Brighthand

Raigryn agreed, walking to the edge of the platform and the gap in the metal fence. The stairs were carved into the rocks, but were very narrow. They could only descend one abreast. The floor of the tunnel down the centre of the passage was entirely smooth and flat other than the straight grooves he could see running the length of it.

"Go seek," he said quietly to the Lunasloth on his shoulder. When the torchlight was turned away he felt her slight weight vanish. He caught a vague sense of her shadow darting down ahead of them. "She will either come back if she finds danger or find some moss to chew until it makes her sick," he whispered quietly to Fife.

As they descended he could catch some light head. It was a full, green grow. Perhaps a stained window was letting light in from above. In truth, he suspected they had found an old warehouse. That would explain the locks. With luck it wouldn't have been raided yet.

His eyes finally managed to resolve to pair of patterns giving off a faint green glow. The dwarf's lantern revealed an empty space of floor.

"Someone must be here," he hissed. His hand twitched but he didn't reach for his sword.

---

There is a blank landing platform ahead

Two alchemical lamps glow a dull green. Some might know these resemble stories of the Bhathairk Undercity

Through a wide door to the right is a large, ornately decorated lobby

Beyond that is a sprawling underground complex in varying states of decay.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

There was something off about the light. Kjaran had done enough tunnel fighting to know what proper pitch black meant. Guided only by torchlight and hearing the sounds echo through the dark. That green glow was unlike anything he'd seen before. It reminded him of old tales of balefire and warpstone, old wives tales told around firelight.

He nodded as he heard the hissed whisper, ears straining for any other sounds. His hand stayed on his sword, not drawing it yet. Friend or foe, the issue would be decided fairly fast if he came at someone with bared blade. He took a slow breath, willing his heartbeat to stay steady.

 

[Faelin K'Abveirin]

The underground was his home, he felt safer among the tightness of four walls and the darkness they created.

His face would turn away from the light, and he preffered to stand away from the line of light. His eyes were made for the darkness, seeing as clearly as if the whole room were illuminated whole.

His face shifted to the ornate door, walking there. »What is this?« His voice traced intrigue.
The room was large, circular and covered in pillars, statues and ornaments circular, or in the liking of the moon and sun. With how well he could see colours they could identify the predominance of blue and bronze. The large celestial dial and clock went over his head, he was not of a kind that tracked time.
To the left and right were grand bookcases, holding books half his size, many of which squarely thrown over the floor.
»This is a shame,« he spoke nearing the books, most were beyond ruin, covered in mold.

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

Belduhr followed behind the group as they descended the stairs. He adjusted his spectacles upon seeing the green glowing lamps, drawing in a sharp gasp as a memory of a certain journal popped up.

"I know of these lamps!" the dwarf happily exclaimed. "They are detailed in Gildesh the wizards personal journals! It is said that these are nigh unbreakable, though I hardly believe the account. It is also said that the flames never diminish! Fascinating to find them here! I will have to write my associate about these and confer with him on-" again the dwarf began to ramble before following behind the dark elf into the other room. His head poked through the door before truly entering, his lantern pulled from his hip and held into the darkness as he squinted.

His light revealed the books as the elf spoke on the state of them. "Truly a shame, and the final death of a people." Belduhr lamented as he used his foot to try and open a book on the floor, only to have the corner break away from the rest of it. A heavy sigh coming from him as he drew near the shelves, holding the lamp aloft as he scanned what remained there.

"Surely there must be something that has not been so thoroughly destroyed by time." It seemed though, that time was truly a worthy opponent, as every single spine he could see was in the same state as those on the floor.

 

[Fife]

Glancing nervously between the others and the edge of the platform, Fife slowly made her way to the stairs as Raigryn did. She didn't dare stray far from him, hastily slipping in behind him. It was black as pitch beyond the light of the torches, and she didn't dare stray too far from him.

She couldn't see much, but she heard plenty. That metal screech sounded again, and she heard Raigryn say something softly. Turning toward him, unsure if he'd intended to get her attention or not, she noticed that Jocelyn was no longer perched on his shoulder. He leaned in, quietly explaining her absence and a lot of clues finally put themselves together regarding the strange pet's purpose and the vague comments of the demise of prior namesakes.

When they caught sight of the strange green light ahead, she was decidedly behind him, though well enough away as to not risk getting swiped by his sword should he draw upon it. The dwarf was beside her again, and he seemed excited to see the light -- apparently, he saw far better down here than she did. He and the elf departed from the group rather suddenly, entering a doorway she hadn't even noticed until they were disappearing through it. She remained, lingering near Raigryn. She didn't like this place one bit.

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn stood directly underneath a lantern. He couldn't tell if the green glow was from a flame or the colour of the glass. The casing itself interested him more than the flame. He reached up and touched it lightly with a finger.

"Not hot," he observed. He ran his hand around the sphere. It was smooth, almost perfectly spherical.

"I don't know of anyone that can still work glass like this," he said. "One single piece and perfectly smooth of this size..." he shook his head and them moved to follow the others. He walked slowly so his apprentice could keep up, sensing Fife's apprehension.

He turned to look at Fife, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head to the ancient clock. Raigryn had shown the boy some sights before, but for the first time they would both laying eyes on something wondrous for the first time.

Raigryn walked for the door on the other side of the room. It was wide enough that two ogres could have passed through. He stopped and dropped to his haunches. Running his finger across the floor he could feel wear marks on the stone. That platform had been too big for people.

"There could be more," Raigryn called towards the dwarven scholar. "Given the size of the entrance maybe a mine. Or maybe they brought things down. Or both."

Pushing open the door he was met with tens of green sources of light. His eyes had to adjust to the view. Something resembling a wide street, not too dissimilar to any dwarven underground city. How the lamps were burning was a mystery.

---

The underside of the city has a very steam punk feel. Rooms of brass instruments and alchemical experiments.

They will see several streets have been hastily barricaded. Several buildings bear marks from doors having been forced.

Several golems can be found further inside, mostly ripped to pieces. They are not functional.

 

[Kjaran Mak Aodha]

The light was eerie but Kjaran relaxed as he started to get used to it. The green lights were easier on the eye than a mining lamp. He wondered what artifice powered them, whether it was alchemy or some other form of sorcery. The sense of unease lingered though, one could never feel comfortable in the depths of an abandoned city.

Striding forward, he marvelled at how each sound echoed through the cavernous halls. He stepped through a ruined doorway, part of the wall smashed through as if a boulder had hit it. The crumpled remains of a barricade lay there, smashed to kindling. Kjaran knelt to look at the bones. However the warrior had died, they were at peace now.

He frowned as a glint of bright metal caught his eye. It was a curiously hard metal with small cogs and gears on one side. The dwarf's axe had remnants of the same around its notched edge.

 

[Fife]

Passing into the room behind her mentor, Fife looked around with curiosity and awe. The metal structure on the one wall was massive and complex, made of bits of metal that all seemed connected somehow. It was impressive, but she didn't have the slightest idea of what it must have done when it was functioning. Whatever it was, the look Raigryn gave her indicated that it must have been something very interesting, if he hadn't seen anything like it.

As neat as it was, however, the disrepair of the room made her nervous. She kept close to Raigryn as he moved toward the far side of the room. Bits of broken metal and books littered the ground, a fine layer of dust muting any colors in the darkness.

He pushed open the massive door, and Fife peered carefully around him as he did so. When first she saw another green glow within, she softly whistled Raigryn's name and pointed from under his shoulder. When he finished opening the door it revealed a street not dissimilar from those in Belgrath, illuminated by those eerie green lanterns.

With darkness no longer threatening to separate them, Fife allowed herself to drift a but further from Raigryn. She was a curious sort by nature, and though the destruction and disarray of the massive hall made her wary -- and very uncomfortable for reasons she couldn't quite articulate -- a greater question began to tickle at her mind. What had happened? Who had made this place and where had they gone?

She drifted after Raigryn but paused when her soft boot stepped on something with a crunch. Fife lifted her foot to look, and it took her brain a moment to process the broken shells she had steppe--

There was a skull close by, a large piece of it missing. Oh. Ohhhh.

Swallowing, she was glad it was hard to distinguish color in the strange dim light as she paled and continued after Raigryn. Fife hadn't expected this much damage to have been done in moments of peace, had she? The lore that surrounded this city in general implied a great deal of death, after all.

 

[Belduhr Brighthand]

The opening of doors down they way drew the scholars attention away from the disheartening sight of crumbling history. An entire people, so completely erased by time and misfortune. He frowned and went away from that as he spied more green lights that led into a street. And to a strange sight of barricades and remains of people, or what they could assume where people anyway. His eyes narrowed behind the silver spectacles as he looked to the ground, the green light making it hard to completely make out the scorch marks and gouges there.

"Some great battle?" The dwarf whispered to himself as the boy stepped on something ahead of him with a hearty crunch to it. His eyes looked, and he quickly hustled to where the lad had been with his lantern to examine the skull. He frowned patting his backside for the tool that doubled as a weapon, closing the distance between himself and Master Vayd in case something surprised them down here.

"A strange sight, even if I have read about such things. It is always a bit alarming to see such places with ones own eyes." He pulled a pipe from his robe pocket while he spoke, and a small tin with it as he packed and lit the small stone device. A strong puff as he held the lamp aloft to look around them since the green light made what he saw a bit deceiving.