Fimble listens happily as the other chat on the way up through the city. Leaving the waterside, you head towards the eastern side of the chasm. Carved into the rock wall are dozens of houses and shops, and a street-like tunnel system connecting them all. Fimble looks around for a bit, getting his bearings, and then leads you to a lift. "Up we go. Unless you want to take the stairs?" Outside of the lift you can see a spiral staircase heading upwards for a hundred stories.
Fimble pulls one of ten strings coming from the ceiling. A moment later, you are pulled upwards by an unseen force. The going is slow but steady, and eventually the lift comes to a stop. "The lift only stops every ten levels, so we'll have to walk down a couple."
This level is quite extravagant. The buildings are not stores and markets, they are grand houses, carved of marble and granite, much of it obviously imported. They are also rather large, for being carved out of the side of a cliff. Some of the grand bridges across the chasm connect to this level.
Moving down two levels by way of the stairs, you enter a floor with a very short ceiling, only about 5' high. The homes are still grand, but on a somewhat smaller scale. Fimble and Tarag are fine, but everybody else has to stoop. You pass by a gnome in a blue robe with a helmet and a small longsword, carrying a lantern. Fimble knows this level very well, and he guides you to a relatively modest looking house. "And here we are," he announces. He goes to open the door, then pauses, and then decides to knock.
After waiting for a minute, he knocks again. Then finally, a gruff, masculine voice comes from the other side. "It's a bit late. Who is it?" Fimble grins and says, "'Tis I, Fimbus Leyron Aukits Macklerey Gimmons the Third, Illusionist Extraordinaire!" There's a pause, and then the door opens to a smiling, middle-aged gnome.
Both Fimble and Fimbus grin at each other for a moment, and then they embrace. "I have big news, dad. And I brought some friends to meet you. Friends, this is Fimbus Leyron Aukits Macklerey Gimmons, the Second. Care to introduce yourselves?"