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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ilgatto" data-source="post: 9731448" data-attributes="member: 86051">Duergar & Daemons Part VIII: Back to the Surface – ContinuedNight 65: Some time that morning, our noble heroes notice that the normally stale air becomes more humid, that the temperature rises (from some 8 to 12 °C), and that molds, oozes, slimes – pause for effect – and fungi, lichen, and snot are appearing on the walls. Later that day, the tunnel opens into the first of a series of caverns, one after the other, where water drips from the ceilings and the sound of, perhaps, flowing water gets louder as the company proceed.Eventually, these caverns lead the company to a large cavern with a large lake in it. To the left of the lake, they notice about fifty smallish, bison-like creatures, to the right they see numerous buildings built mostly from mud and grouped together so that the whole rather resembles three interconnected links in a chain.“What is this?,” Sir Eber says. “An Underling settlement?”“Yes,” the guide says. “Rothmen. Rude folk. Troublemakers.”“And now what?”“We sleep.”“How long to the surface?”“Two days.”The guide approaches the buildings and knocks on a large gate, which, uniquely, is made of wood. A smaller door in it opens and a conversation in the language of the duergar follows, with the rothman behind the door obviously putting up some considerable resistance. Eventually, though, the door is opened and the company enter a courtyard with doorways in four buildings around it. The guide points to one of the buildings and says that our noble heroes are to spend the night in there, and that they can use all of the facilities the place has to offer.“Beds, salt, water, bread, stove, bath,” he adds.“Ah!,” the chevalier exclaims, and so he is off to have another bath. When he returns about an hour later, he instructs the guide to order six of the finest rothé steaks and put them on his tab.And so our noble heroes spend a night in relative comfort.Night 67, Day 68: When they left the cavern of the rothmen yesterday, the company followed the stream that feeds the lake for some time, passed through another series of natural caverns, each permeated with a steam-like fog that transformed them into veritable saunas. But they soon left them behind as the tunnel started to slope upwards, and they spent most of the day walking.But late today, after yet more trudging through the seemingly endless tunnel, they finally get to what the guide announces to be the ancient tin mine of the duergar. Although this means that the duergar have actually been stealing tin from his ancestors, Navarre quickly decides to forget about the matter when the guide points to a narrow crevasse in the ceiling and tells them that they are almost at the surface now.For the next three hours, the company have to negotiate many narrow passages in what turns out to be a fault in the bedrock. Our noble heroes have had to remove their armor and they find the going to be exceedingly hard as they spelunk, climb, and wriggle their way up through all manner of passages and openings all but too narrow for their physiques. Every now and then, the duergar guide appears, much reduced in size, to point them to the next impossible passage.And then, when they emerge from a final narrow crevice, our noble heroes find themselves in a man-made tunnel, obviously part of a mine.“Gentlemen,” Navarre declares, stretching his back. “Welcome to Dauberval.”The guide instructs our noble heroes to keep walking until they get to a ladder, and then disappears. Sweating like pigs, and with their muscles and joints aching, our noble heroes move further down the tunnel until they find the ladder. They have to climb many, many ladders more until they finally see light at the end of a long tunnel to the right. Eager to feel the sun on their faces again, they start down the tunnel in haste – to find that they actually have to close and shield their eyes against the bright light the closer they get to the exit.Eventually, though, their eyes stop hurting and they find themselves on a plateau overlooking a valley where pine trees gradually make way for the deciduous forests of Dauberval. There are mountains to their left and right, and giant eagles soar in the afternoon sky overhead. Navarre greets them as is the tradition in Dauberval.“The castle is to the left!,” he cries after this, thrilled to be home. He points to a ridge to the right. “The capital and the river are behind that ridge!”“La, la, la, l-a-a-a!,” the chevalier sings at the top of his voice.And he is not the only one to be happy to be out in the sun again after what now almost seems to have been a dark and evil nightmare. There is the shaking of hands, the slapping of backs, and a lot of boisterous guffawing and breathing in the fresh mountain air.“Last one there’s a rotten egg!,” Navarre yells, pointing to a pool at the edge of a meadow below and starting down an old track leading to it at speed.When they reach the pool, our noble heroes throw off their gear and clothes and jump into the water, splashing about like small boys in a tub. After some time, Navarre leaves the water, shaves, and throws himself into the tall grass to take in the sun. Next to him, Sir Oengus is already starting a fire.“Now that’s what I call a bath, old beast!,” Navarre says to his noble friend when the chevalier throws himself into the grass next to him“A-a-a-h, mes amis,” the chevalier says, sighing contenedtly. “Now all that is missing is a good Lillac!”“Hmm,” Navarre muses, closing his eyes…… to be rudely awakened from his reverie when Sir Suvali announces that he is going to ‛scout ahead’, spreads the wings of his flying contraption and takes to the air.“I often wonder what his problem is,” Navarre says, watching the sorcerer disappear. “He isn’t a virgin, is he?”“Tranquille, mon cher, tranquille,” the chevalier murmurs.Eventually, the sorcerer returns.“There’s an old miner’s camp down the trail,” he says. “It was abandoned some time this year. We will camp there.”And so our noble heroes gear up again and start for the camp.“Is there something to hunt in these mountains?,” Sir Eber asks when the camp is in sight.“That would be poaching, old boy,” Navarre grins.“Then I ask for permission,” the ranger replies, flexing his muscles.“Permission granted,” Navarre laughs, executing a gallant bow.Some time later, when the sun is setting and they have dined on a freshly killed buck, our noble heroes discuss the Underdark, the traitorous Mim, and the chevalier’s plate armors for a while. Now aware that the easiest entrance to the Underdark is actually in Dauberval, Navarre has become quite a bit more interested in the trade deal the chevalier has cemented with the duergar queen.“We shall have to throw some coin at this track, old bean,” he says to his noble friend. “Lots of goods to be moved to and from that mine up there. No use having these men trudge along a goat’s trail, I say. Too much time. We shall have to put up some sort of defense system as well. Wouldn’t want bandits taking a shot at it or worse.”“Absolument,” the chevalier agrees. “An elite unit charged solely with protecting our trade. Do take care of that, would you? Best leave the finances to me.”When, eventually, the stars are out and our noble heroes are almost asleep, it is the chevalier who is the last to speak.“I have fallen all silent,” he says, before closing his eyes.Day 69: After a long night’s rest and a quiet breakfast, our noble heroes continue their descent to the river in high spirits. Some four hours down the road, past three deserted farms, they reach a farm where chickens roam and a pig is rolling in the dirt. When the farmer appears and hollers something unintelligible, Navarre approaches and embraces the man before he can react.“Well met, old fruit!,” our noble hero exclaims. “I do declare! Excellent farm you have here! Well played, old boy!”The farmer recognizes the son of his lord and master and falls to his knees.“My lord,” he stammers. “Forgive me? I didn’t recognize…”“Not at all, old boy, not at all!,” Navarre cries magnanimously, helping the farmer back to his feet. “I say! What news of Mim?”The farmer grovels some more until he seems to come to the conclusion that the noble gents must be mad. Still, clearly of the opinion that he can never be too careful, he hollers to his wife to lay the table and serve a copious lunch.“And don’t forget the beer, me beauty!,” Sir Oengus yells after her.When our noble heroes have graciously enjoyed the lunch thus provided and some of them have drunk a lot of beer, Navarre, among the latter, addresses the farmer one last time before leaving, putting his last coins into his hand – all of five silver and ten copper coins, to be exact.“Now listen here, old sport,” he says, forgetting himself again and winking at the farmer. “Best start thinking about the future and all that. Soon to become quite busy around here, you see? Good opportunity to make a decent coin, I say. Best be prepared.”Some time after midday, our noble heroes reach the river and then the capital, where it seems to be business as usual. Folk are up and about, hawkers sell their wares, women do the washing in the river, artisans are at work in their ateliers. Barges arrive and depart, and Sir Oengus inquires after news from Nisibis, to find that there are no barges from Nisibis in Dauberval since Mim has blocked all access to King’s Lake.“Blighter has his barges at the river mouths,” a bargeman says, forgetting his manners. “No one is allowed through.”“Not for long, matey,” Sir Oengus says. “How many barges?”“I couldn’t tell you, lord,” the man says. “Strange barges, though, clad with copper all and with large crossbows on deck.”“Well, shiver me timbers!,” Sir Oengus exclaims. “I’ll have him swingin’ from the yardarm for that, by thunder!”Navarre and the chevalier speak to several merchants and artisans to see if they can get samples of the goods for the queen and at what notice. They are told that business is slow because of the blockade and that the high and mighty are not doing much about it, as usual – if m’lord would pardon his French.The noble duo eventually end up at the leading wine merchant’s, where Navarre inquires as to how much wine the man has in stock, and whether he could get his hands on some five hundred liters of it.“I have a hundred barrels of the finest vintage at your disposal, my lord,” the wine merchant says, wringing his hands in joyous anticipation. “An excellent choice, if I may say so, my lord!”“No need for that, old boy,” Navarre says. “Not for what one would call a connoisseur, you see.”“Of course, lord,” the wine merchant replies, his grin fading. “Might I suggest the Rignac?”“Never heard of it,” Navarre says. “How much is that per liter?”“That’ll be five silver, my lord.”“Excellent, excellent,” Navarre says. “Have twenty barrels of the stuff ready in a fortnight, will you?”“Certainly, my lord. If my lord would…”“Yes…, yes,” Navarre says, impatiently waving a hand. “Have you something I can sign? A document of some sort?”“Of course, Sir,” the wine merchant says, now no longer with even a trace of a smile on his face. He prepares a letter of payment, which Navarre signs with a flourish.“Well played, old boy,” Navarre says, shaking the man’s hand. “Pleasure doing business with you and all that. Won’t regret it.”About half an hour later, at around five o’clock in the afternoon, our noble heroes reach the Dauberval family barrows.“Right on time for drinkies, old boy,” Navarre says to the chevalier when they enter the gate.“Et les hors d’oeuvres,” the chevalier agrees.“Ah! Brun!,” Navarre yells, waving at the master-of-arms. “Father around?”“Yes,” the man replies, before disappearing into a barrow.Only slightly embarrassed, Navarre hails a servant.“Get monsieur my father, would you?,” he hollers.“The duke is busy,” the servant says. “You’ll have to go see him yourself, lord.”“Bloody servants,” Navarre manages. “Tant pis! On y va!”Our noble heroes enter the main barrow and proceed to the great hall, where Duke Dauberval and his war council are inspecting some maps on a table.“Father,” Navarre announces his arrival. “Do you have a moment?”“Son!,” the duke says. “Jolly good of you to join us! Sit down, will you?”“How goes the war?,” Navarre asks, taking a seat and gesturing to his noble companions to do the same.“Splendid, splendid!,” the duke says. “We’ve got the man right where we want him.”What follows is a rather impersonal account of what has happened so far, most of which our noble heroes already know. What they did not know is that Mim keeps Albert Murphy as his prisoner on Apple Island.“I do declare!,” Navarre all but exclaims. “This simply won’t do, father! The man must die for his crimes!”“As I’m sure he will, lad,” Duke Dauberval replies.“What is wrong with the fellow?,” Navarre fumes. “The man has made a farce of the support I – all of us! – promised him at the inn! It is an outrage!”“Yes,” Duke Dauberval says, now looking at his son for the first time. “I was wondering about that.”A lengthy conversation ensues, which doesn’t tell our noble heroes much more than they already know. The rebel army was defeated at Diamond Castle, upon which Duke Mim marched on Apple Island and proclaimed himself King of The Forest. Palava soon acknowledged his claim and then Big Beach was taken by their joint forces. Mim currently controls King’s Lake, with some of his and Palava’s troops reportedly fighting in Bagabuxsha, half of the duchy already in their hands. Dauberval, Sarazin, Nisibis, and Weald have formed an alliance against the usurper, while Wyrsn is controlled by bandits.When the conversation gets to what our noble heroes have been up to, Navarre struggles to interest the assembled Dauberval nobles in their discoveries. It would seem that his esteemed betters are not ready to start believing in fairy tales just yet and, much to his chagrin, he has to admit that his tales of gnomes, dwarves, and giants do seem a bit out-of-place at the table.“Eh, bien,” the chevalier cuts in. “We did what we said we would do. We crossed the mountains to end the revolution and delivered its leader to the royalists to face a court of justice. After that, we went on to investigate the new lands and the creatures living in and below them.”He continues by informing the nobles that he and his noble friends have managed to lay their hands on a supply of plate armor and that these should be used to equip the soldiers of the alliance for the assault on Apple Island. However, this, too, seems to be a bridge too far for the assembled noblesse.“Plate armor?,” Duke Dauberval asks, raising an eyebrow. “And what do you suggest that will bring us?”“A force to be reckoned with, your grace,” the chevalier replies glibly.“Surely, Sir, you are not suggesting we abolish tradition?,” the duke asks irritably.“It would seem that we have no choice but to move with the times, mon duc,” the chevalier says smoothly and with a slight bow of his head.Still quite unable to accept the fact that Albert Murphy has not been properly tried for his ‘revolution’ and offensive notions of change, Navarre cannot believe that he finds these last words to be the undeniable truth of the matter.Despite the misgivings of the Dauberval nobles, the chevalier manages to keep the subject of plate armor and his heavy infantry alive, and he even gets the duke to talk money with him. Thus, our noble heroes learn that the duke can put some twelve hundred gold to the effort, and Sarazin about a thousand, which would perhaps be enough for just four armors instead of the ten the chevalier has ordered – not to mention the next shipments. When Navarre mentions this, his father says that four armors will be more than enough – one for himself, one for Sarazin, and the other two for their field marshals.Much time is then spent on discussing gross national products and how much of it is spent on the war and on such things as keeping the commoners happy and fed. This leads to some impatient remarks from Navarre, who is not only pretty miffed at the chevalier for having taken over the conversation, but who also has, of late, rather developed a preference for solving nationwide problems within a couple of ten-days. He argues that it is the sacred duty of the nobility to protect the commoners of The Forest and that it has always been so that these same commoners pay them for it. As such, he says, it would seem that the commoners will have to suffer for a bit while their betters solve the problem of Mim and restore order so that life can continue. When the duke and the war council seem to frown at this, obviously regarding war as a part of life rather than some problem that needs to be solved, it becomes clear to our noble heroes that they are now faced with the classic conundrum – the impatience of youth versus the traditional ways of their elders.“I’m off to the tavern,” Sir Oengus says, obviously bored to death with the proceedings.Lost in thought, Navarre looks after his noble friend and then notices that the sorcerer is also nowhere to be seen. How long has the fellow been gone? It must have been hours since the talks with his noble father began! And why hasn’t anyone brought in any refreshments? Where is the banquet? The cider? By Olm! Navarre vows that he will personally see to it that Albert Murphy is hanged for all the wrongs he has caused.“If your grace would allow me?,” the chevalier resumes. “I would suggest that we could do with more coin regardless.”This does seem to agree with the Dauberval nobles and there is a nodding of heads, a knocking on seats and tables, and some ‘hear, hear!’s.“Might I therefore suggest we make haste with reinstating operations at the diamond mine?,” the chevalier continues. “We have retrieved numerous papers detailing exactly such an operation and we should not hesitate in the matter.”“Good thinking, Sarazin, by Olm!,” the duke says, smiling generously. “What do you propose?”“We must instruct the workers at the castle to start clearing the mine,” the chevalier says.“Bring in the engineers from the college,” Navarre suggests, trying to get back into the conversation. “Put them in charge of operations as soon as possible.”“That will be difficult,” the duke says. “The alumni have dispersed since the start of the war. They are absolutely everywhere.”“Then we must round them up and get them to the castle,” the chevalier says.The subject is discussed some more and then Duke Dauberval calls for a scribe and issues orders much to that effect.In light of what has just been said about gross national products and everything being tied up in keeping the commoners happy, Navarre wonders who, exactly, will have enough money to spend on diamonds and, consequently, whether mining them will actually add to the coffers of the realm. Still, he doesn’t really have a head for money and when no one else seems overly bothered with this, he starts to make a point for allocating some of the funds to constructing a road to the old tin mine, even suggesting to use some of the workforce now obviously meant for Diamond Castle.This seems to be Sir Suvali’s cue to enter the room and start asking for money for ‘matters we discussed earlier’. Since nobody understands what he is on about, the sorcerer mentions Sir Eber’s duel against the duergar king and that he thinks he can get his hands on another potion of super-heroism. Annoyed at the sorcerer barging in like this and disrupting the proceedings, Navarre suggests he try and barter some item for his potion.“Some of the magical oil will likely do the trick,” he says to the sorcerer, who looks at the DM and then says ‘yes’ when the latter nods. Navarre hands Sir Suvali one of his vials and then, when the sorcerer has left, the Dauberval nobles seize the opportunity to call an end to the meeting and get some dinner served.Later that night, Navarre speaks to his noble father alone, mostly to see if he can determine what the duke really thinks about him and his noble companions speaking of ice giants and dwarves. After mentioning the subject once or twice, he is both distraught and miffed to realize that the duke rather seems to think that his son has, perhaps, lost his mind and, moreover, that this actually doesn’t really seem to bother him that much – boys will be boys and all that. Indeed, when he shows his noble father his dwarven chain mail to lend some weight to the notion of subterranean dwarves, the duke doesn’t seem impressed.“Splendid, splendid,” he says. “Have someone put it up in the hall, will you?”Navarre flushes in anger but decides to let the matter rest, and he informs after Mim and Apple Island instead. He learns that the traitorous duke has some three hundred fighting men and around two hundred mariners on and around Apple Island, and that he has twelve barges armored and armed like the Varis.Our noble hero eventually takes his leave of the duke and calls on madame his mother, who seems glad to see him as only she can be, and then tells him to go to bed and see his father first thing in the morning. When he tells her that he has already been to see the duke, she says that she is proud of him and bids him goodnight.And so Navarre spends the rest of the night getting drunk with the chevalier, Sir Eber, and Sir Oengus, with his mood not improving much when it turns out that all his noble fellows are now concerned with is ‘cracking Jenny’s tea cup’ and bedding ‘some wenches’ as soon as possible – the more sordid said lasses be, the better.Day 70: Late that morning, our noble heroes are rudely awakened from their drunken slumber by Sir Suvali, all ruddy-cheeked and chirpy, who informs them that he has managed to obtain a potion of super-heroism as promised. After a copious brunch, our noble heroes set out for Sarazin, where an inconclusive final note seems to suggest they spend a total of eight days.</blockquote>

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