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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Medriev" data-source="post: 4570734" data-attributes="member: 21864">Chapter 5 - Gray Dwarves and Dark Elves (Part 2)The trading post was a sturdy building of grey stone carved into the cavern’s east wall. A sign above the door displayed an emblem of a hammer and manacles. The front door led to a counter, where two dwarflike creatures stood. They had skin of a sooty hue, bald heads, and stiff beards of rusty orange. “You don’t look like merchants or mages,” said one of the duergar in heavily accented Common. “”What’s your business here?”“We seek Murkelmor Grimmerzhul,” said Lavren. “You know of him?”“Can’t say that I do,” answered the same duergar. “We can ask around and see if we can get a message to him.”“A message?” rumbled Erlmoor, and the others could tell that he was only just restraining himself. “Tell him we want to buy some elves.”“Buy elves?” answered the other duergar. “Don’t know what ye’ve heard about this Murkelmor but we sell no elves in our clan.”“Of course not,” said Telkya. “We must be mistaken. What do you sell here?”“What ye see, elf,” answered the duergar. “Ye want to buy any of our wares?”“A nice front,” snarled Telkya, starting forward suddenly. “Now tell us where we you take the slaves or I start smashing things.” She drew her sword from her belt.The duergar reacted immediately, both reaching into their beards for the quills with one hand and drawing warhammers from their belts with the other. They opened their mouths to call out but Lavren began to curse them before they had chance. Purple rays lanced out from his wand, one striking the nearest duergar and the other striking the wall behind the other. Litiraan darted left and with an uttered incantation loosed flame from his wand as the duergar ducked down behind the counter. Telkya began chanting, loosing a searing bolt of flame at the nearest duergar and blasting him back against the shelves behind the counter. Erlmoor circled around to the left of the counter and with a roar, unleashed a spray of acid at the duergar. He draw his sword and lashed out but the dwarf brought up his warhammer and parried. Dulvarna ducked behind the dragonborn as the duergar lashed out at her but she drew her sword and parried the hammer. She twisted the hammer to one side and then brought her blade back but the dwarf, more agile than his form suggested, leapt back beyond the reach of her blade. An arrow from Enlishia’s bow drove into the shelves above the counter and the duergar began shouting in their own tongue, presumably summoning aid.The second duergar threw a quill from its beard that drove into Lavren’s arm and then turned to face Dulvarna and Erlmoor beside his companion. The other dwarf lashed his warhammer in low to strike Erlmoor’s leg painfully and force him back a step. The door beside Lavren opened then and another gray dwarf stood there, its warhammer at the ready. It lashed out and struck the elf’s already wounded arm, sending him reeling back from the doorway. A second duergar appeared beside the first as Lavren struggled to put some distance between himself and the doorway. He turned and loosed black, crackling energy from his wand that struck the lead dwarf in the chest. Litiraan moved to aid Lavren, loosing a silver bolt into the duergar and Enlishia turned her bow upon him but the dwarf came through the door undaunted anyway.Erlmoor brought his blade down beside the counter and smashed the collar bone of the duergar before him. The dwarf staggered and fell back his warhammer drooping in his hand. Dulvarna saw her chance, swept her blade out and beheaded the duergar. The other dwarf roared and lashed out with his hammer but Dulvarna drew back and the weapon only glanced off her sword hilt and bruised her hand. She ducked to her left to allow Erlmoor to round the counter next to her and together, the two warriors drove back the duergar.The wounded duergar rushed to the right as he came through the southern door and lashed out with his hammer to strike Litiraan in the side and send the elf reeling away from him. The second dwarf came through the door and rushed at Lavren, lashing out with his hammer and bringing it down in a crushing blow on Lavren’s shoulder. The elf sagged and all but fell, his left arm falling limp at his side. Desperately, he tried to draw his sword from his left him with his other hand while retreating before the relentless duergar. He limped back from the gray dwarves and raised his wand as best he could, trying to conjure flames from within the gray dwarves but none would come. In front of Lavren, Litiraan drew his sword, slashing the blade at the wounded duergar he faced. The dwarf ducked and grinned, recognizing the wand in the elf’s left hand and knowing that Litiraan would likely rather use that than a blade. Behind her brother, Telkya called a column of light down on the remaining duergar behind the counter and as the divine light burned it, Erlmoor and Dulvarna surged forward, the dragonborn chanting a prayer as he came. His blade glowed gold as he plunged it into the shoulder of the duergar and the gray dwarf fell back. Dulvarna thrust her blade in low, piercing the leg of the duergar just above the knee. The gray dwarf grunted as the leg gave way and he all but fell before his enemies. Behind him, the duergar heard the door open and he knew his leader had come. With a roar, he lashed out with his hammer but Dulvarna leapt back out of his reach. The gray dwarf glanced back over his shoulder, saw his leader enter the chamber and knew that he was saved.</blockquote>

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