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Welcome to the Halmae (updated 2/27/07)
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<blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 1166934" data-attributes="member: 5808"><p><strong>Part the Eighth:</strong></p><p><em>In which: The party reaches the Dwarven mines.</em></p><p></p><p> The first thing the party notices is the sound, a low level rumble of activity, punctuated by the occasional >CLANG!< of metal on rock.</p><p> </p><p> Rounding a bend in the road, the party begins to notice sentries—several Dwarves, armed with axes and crossbows, watching them from behind an embankment. The Dwarves wave them along the road with little comment.</p><p></p><p> The Stoneshaper Mines soon come into view, an enormous encampment outside a gaping hole in the side of a low hill, disappearing deep into the bowels of the earth.</p><p></p><p>Dozens of Dwarven teamsters load cargo into horse-drawn wagons, while others unload chests from carts coming out of the mines, pulled by massive, ox-sized lizards. Reyu is amused to note that the lizards are kept upwind of the horses.</p><p></p><p>The party is greeted with caution, but no hostility, and Gurn Stoneshaper is soon sent out to meet them.</p><p></p><p>“Alexandra sent you?”</p><p></p><p>The party nods.</p><p></p><p>“I won’t sell.”</p><p></p><p>“Why not?” Reyu asks.</p><p></p><p>Gurn harruphs. “Wizards and their unnatural experiments.” (Lira elbows Edmund hard to keep him quiet). “I’ll be no part of that.”</p><p></p><p>“But if you didn’t want to get involved with wizards, why did you agree to sell to her in the first place?” Reyu persists.</p><p></p><p>“I didn’t know what she was planning to do with it.”</p><p></p><p>Lira, hoping it will help their case, switches to Dwarven. “What was that?”</p><p></p><p>Gurn blinks, surprised by either the language switch or the question. “Don’t you know?”</p><p></p><p>“We’ve just been hired to carry out a transaction, we’re neutral parties here.”</p><p></p><p>“She was going to… she was going to grind it up into powder.” The Dwarf has difficulty even saying the words. “A beautiful diamond, flawless and she was going to… ignorant humans.”</p><p></p><p>All eyes turn to Edmund. “But...but...but,” he splutters, “but that's preposterous! Why would she possibly want to pulverize it? Of course, diamond dust is useful in certain spells, but you use small stones for that. They're much cheaper. Only an idiot would think she would pay 1500 gold for a diamond only to crush it to bits!” Gurn scowls at the implied insult, and Lira elbows Edmund again to get him to stop “helping.”</p><p></p><p>The Party is eventually able to convince Gurn of the logic of this argument, and Edmund offers to swear profuse oaths that the diamond will be kept intact. The party manages to stop him before he promises anything too drastic.</p><p></p><p>They then ask Gurn why he thought Professor Alexandra was going to destroy the diamond.</p><p></p><p> “Well, a little while after I send word I found the stone, a woman shows up, human. She was the one who told me what the Professor was going to do.”</p><p></p><p> “Just a random woman?”</p><p></p><p> “No, she’d been here once before… maybe a year ago.”</p><p></p><p> “Was she warning you about wizards then, too?”</p><p></p><p> “No. She’d come to make a purchase. Nothing exciting, some small, cheap precious stones. Little bit of just about everything that comes out of this mine.”</p><p></p><p> “Why did you believe her when she told you about the Professor?”</p><p></p><p> The Dwarf considers. “Well, now that you mention it, it <em>is</em> a bit odd, but she just seemed like someone you should trust. Nice girl.”</p><p></p><p> Reyu pulls out the piece of vellum the party found among the bandits’ gear. “Did she read something to you, maybe off something like this?”</p><p></p><p> Gurn runs one hand through his beard. “Yeah, why?”</p><p></p><p> Reyu and Lira exchange a look. The look says: <em>scroll of charm person.</em></p><p></p><p> Gurn takes the news that he was likely the subject of a mind-affecting spell fairly well. Feeling rather bad about the whole affair he agrees to send the diamond back to Professor Alexandra with the party, for the original price he and the Professor agreed upon, despite Alexandra’s offer of an additional 500 gp. As conversation turns to less contentious matters, Reyu asks one last question: </p><p></p><p>“This human woman, did she only come to warn you about Professor Alexandra?”</p><p></p><p> Gurn considers. “No… she was also looking for some onyx.”</p><p></p><p> “Did you sell it to her?”</p><p></p><p> The dwarf shakes his head. “She was after one really large piece; we didn’t have anything like that.” He shrugs. “We don’t get a lot of onyx here. I told her she’d have better luck in the Ironroot mines, or maybe in the Forgefire mines, up near Dar Thane.”</p><p></p><p> Lira jumps in. “Did she say what her purpose was?”</p><p></p><p> “No. Just that she needed a big chunk onyx for it.”</p><p></p><p> Gurn lacks any more information on the mysterious woman, but he offers the party a tour of the mines, which are not only a marvel of engineering, but gorgeous as well. A series of solid tunnels leads to a network of huge caverns hundreds of feet tall. The walls are covered with scaffolding, where hundreds of Dwarven miners work, the >tink, tink< of their picks echoing off rock faces that sparkle in the reflected lights of dozens of torches. </p><p></p><p>Although the Dwarves invite the party to dine with them, they politely decline the always tempting option of stewed lizard and instead opt to cook for themselves. </p><p></p><p>Most of the party does try some of the fabled Dwarven ale, although only Thatch and Lira are able to drink it without suffering extended fits of mixed coughing and gagging. Lira’s head for ale coupled with her fluent Dwarven make her very popular with their hosts.</p><p></p><p> “Are you sure you have no Dwarven blood?” one of the miners asks as Lira finishes her second mug.</p><p> </p><p>“Not that I know of,” she replies with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, she’s short enough,” someone in the party mutters, but in the crowd and noise of dinner no one can tell who.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="spyscribe, post: 1166934, member: 5808"] [b]Part the Eighth:[/b] [i]In which: The party reaches the Dwarven mines.[/i] The first thing the party notices is the sound, a low level rumble of activity, punctuated by the occasional >CLANG!< of metal on rock. Rounding a bend in the road, the party begins to notice sentries—several Dwarves, armed with axes and crossbows, watching them from behind an embankment. The Dwarves wave them along the road with little comment. The Stoneshaper Mines soon come into view, an enormous encampment outside a gaping hole in the side of a low hill, disappearing deep into the bowels of the earth. Dozens of Dwarven teamsters load cargo into horse-drawn wagons, while others unload chests from carts coming out of the mines, pulled by massive, ox-sized lizards. Reyu is amused to note that the lizards are kept upwind of the horses. The party is greeted with caution, but no hostility, and Gurn Stoneshaper is soon sent out to meet them. “Alexandra sent you?” The party nods. “I won’t sell.” “Why not?” Reyu asks. Gurn harruphs. “Wizards and their unnatural experiments.” (Lira elbows Edmund hard to keep him quiet). “I’ll be no part of that.” “But if you didn’t want to get involved with wizards, why did you agree to sell to her in the first place?” Reyu persists. “I didn’t know what she was planning to do with it.” Lira, hoping it will help their case, switches to Dwarven. “What was that?” Gurn blinks, surprised by either the language switch or the question. “Don’t you know?” “We’ve just been hired to carry out a transaction, we’re neutral parties here.” “She was going to… she was going to grind it up into powder.” The Dwarf has difficulty even saying the words. “A beautiful diamond, flawless and she was going to… ignorant humans.” All eyes turn to Edmund. “But...but...but,” he splutters, “but that's preposterous! Why would she possibly want to pulverize it? Of course, diamond dust is useful in certain spells, but you use small stones for that. They're much cheaper. Only an idiot would think she would pay 1500 gold for a diamond only to crush it to bits!” Gurn scowls at the implied insult, and Lira elbows Edmund again to get him to stop “helping.” The Party is eventually able to convince Gurn of the logic of this argument, and Edmund offers to swear profuse oaths that the diamond will be kept intact. The party manages to stop him before he promises anything too drastic. They then ask Gurn why he thought Professor Alexandra was going to destroy the diamond. “Well, a little while after I send word I found the stone, a woman shows up, human. She was the one who told me what the Professor was going to do.” “Just a random woman?” “No, she’d been here once before… maybe a year ago.” “Was she warning you about wizards then, too?” “No. She’d come to make a purchase. Nothing exciting, some small, cheap precious stones. Little bit of just about everything that comes out of this mine.” “Why did you believe her when she told you about the Professor?” The Dwarf considers. “Well, now that you mention it, it [i]is[/i] a bit odd, but she just seemed like someone you should trust. Nice girl.” Reyu pulls out the piece of vellum the party found among the bandits’ gear. “Did she read something to you, maybe off something like this?” Gurn runs one hand through his beard. “Yeah, why?” Reyu and Lira exchange a look. The look says: [i]scroll of charm person.[/i] Gurn takes the news that he was likely the subject of a mind-affecting spell fairly well. Feeling rather bad about the whole affair he agrees to send the diamond back to Professor Alexandra with the party, for the original price he and the Professor agreed upon, despite Alexandra’s offer of an additional 500 gp. As conversation turns to less contentious matters, Reyu asks one last question: “This human woman, did she only come to warn you about Professor Alexandra?” Gurn considers. “No… she was also looking for some onyx.” “Did you sell it to her?” The dwarf shakes his head. “She was after one really large piece; we didn’t have anything like that.” He shrugs. “We don’t get a lot of onyx here. I told her she’d have better luck in the Ironroot mines, or maybe in the Forgefire mines, up near Dar Thane.” Lira jumps in. “Did she say what her purpose was?” “No. Just that she needed a big chunk onyx for it.” Gurn lacks any more information on the mysterious woman, but he offers the party a tour of the mines, which are not only a marvel of engineering, but gorgeous as well. A series of solid tunnels leads to a network of huge caverns hundreds of feet tall. The walls are covered with scaffolding, where hundreds of Dwarven miners work, the >tink, tink< of their picks echoing off rock faces that sparkle in the reflected lights of dozens of torches. Although the Dwarves invite the party to dine with them, they politely decline the always tempting option of stewed lizard and instead opt to cook for themselves. Most of the party does try some of the fabled Dwarven ale, although only Thatch and Lira are able to drink it without suffering extended fits of mixed coughing and gagging. Lira’s head for ale coupled with her fluent Dwarven make her very popular with their hosts. “Are you sure you have no Dwarven blood?” one of the miners asks as Lira finishes her second mug. “Not that I know of,” she replies with a smile. “Well, she’s short enough,” someone in the party mutters, but in the crowd and noise of dinner no one can tell who. [/QUOTE]
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