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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spyscribe" data-source="post: 1993540" data-attributes="member: 5808">Part the Ninety-FifthIn which: someone in the Sovereignty is pleased to see the party.Evor’s father is the same bargeman who was up on deck before at the time of the “accident.”  (And Lira does notice, when she really looks, that his beard is just a bit shorter than she would expect on a dwarf of his apparent age.) After freshly chilled ale, and a demonstration of Evor’s use of animate rope he eventually allows that this could be useful for a dwarf to know.  When Lira mentions a spell that allows a person to breathe underwater, Evor becomes entranced at the prospect of becoming perhaps the greatest lake-wader trainer of all time.  Also, it turns out Evor and his father are both Stoneshapers, and have distant relations in the mines near Dar Und.The rest of the afternoon passes quickly, interrupted only when the barge approaches shore and the dwarves are called to attend their duties, and Lira to finish her packing to disembark.Once the barge has been unloaded, it’s a two day journey for the passengers and goods up the mountain road to the Ironroot mines.  By the second midnight on the road, most of the party members could follow the Sovereign service in their sleep, and a couple of them do.###Thatch watches eagerly as they approach the entrance to the mines.  From what he’s seen of dwarven building so far, he’s hopeful that this will be something to see. He isn’t disappointed.The road becomes a narrow trail, twisting between walls of rock, which, as they approach the mines, Thatch sees have been carved into immense statues of dwarves standing guard, watching over the passage into the mine itself.Upon arrival, the party and the rest of the passengers from the barge pitch their tents in a flat clearing outside the entrance to the mines, while their horses are all corralled in a small paddock the dwarves have constructed for visitors’ use.  Reyu—after making arrangements for a space for Paws in a small side-cave—asks the foreman if he knows an Olek Stoneshaper, cousin to Gurn Stoneshaper from the mines near Dar Und.“Olek?  Sure.”  The dwarf leads Reyu and the rest of the party into a tunnel where several dwarves are clustered around a series of maps spread on a trestle table.“Olek!” shouts the foreman, “visitors to see you.”  A stout, very dwarven looking dwarf comes forward, eyeing the party.  “Oh?”Anvil steps forward.  “Olek Stoneshaper, your cousin—““Gurn Stoneshaper” Lira whispers discretely in his ear.“Gurn, has given us letters of deposit he said we could redeem with you.”He produces said letters and gives them to Olek to examine.  After a few moments the dwarf is satisfied.  “Shouldn’t be a problem.”  He shrugs and continues, speaking as though to convince himself as much as to explain to the party.  “Any friend of Gurn’s is a friend of mine.  You want that all in gold, or some gems too?  Easier to carry…”  Olek trails off then, distracted by something behind Anvil.Just at that moment, Thatch comes forward, bearing the half-keg of dwarven ale which the party got at the same time they obtained the letters of deposit, on the chance that it might help smooth relations.  Anvil turns to see what Olek is staring at.  “We have brought this as well,” he says.Olek’s eyes go wide for a moment, as he eyes the keg.  “Is that… the family label?”The party, as one, nods.Olek takes his pickaxe hanging at his belt and swings it with a mighty THUNK! burying the tip in the table-top.  “STONESHAPERS!”  he bellows.  He turns back to the party, grinning wide.  “Welcome!  Any friend of Gurn’s is a friend of mine!”Every Stoneshaper in the mines is soon gathered, and after Lira chills the keg, the ale begins to flow on a very convivial evening.Well, mostly convivial anyway.  Kiara gulps down half a mug of ale before Annika can stop her, and both women are soon feeling the effects.  Perhaps fortunately, Kiara passes out in Thatch’s lap before the night is too advanced.Reyu sits quietly by as Lira—the party’s unofficial goodwill ambassador in all dwarven matters—confers with Olek about routes into the mountains.“So,” says Lira, after a mug of ale slipping into Dwarven almost by reflex, “I hear there are great tunnels in these mines.”“Of course there are,” replies Olek with gusto.  “Dwarves are the best tunnelers in the world.  Tunnels!” he shouts, which is quickly echoed around the room, punctuated with a great slamming of mugs upon various tables, walls, and heads.  Lira joins in, draining her mug of ale.  Reyu uses the commotion to discretely pass her own, nearly full mug, to the other woman who accepts it without looking.  Once Olek is no longer the center of attention, Lira resumes her conversation.  “Do you know if there’s an underground route to the Lord’s Spine?” she asks.Olek thinks.  “Yeah, we’ve charted that.  Get you a guide and you could be there in six days.” “Is that a quick pace?”Olek shakes his head, “Nah.  Hurry, and you can shave a couple off that.”“Come up anywhere near the Sharpstone Pass?”“Puts you a little past the ridge.  Maybe two more days to the monastery.”Lira nods, and asks about other places tunnels might go, including the Valley at the Center of the Storm, and various random locales with seemingly equal interest, but Reyu can see her eyes brighten at the news.Benedic’s estimate is that over-land, the trail to the Sharpstone Pass and the monastery would take seven days travel.  If they pushed themselves they might be able to pass the Inquisitors undetected, but it would be a punishing pace to gain even one full day on the officials.  Underground, it seems they stand a good chance of gaining at least a day, perhaps two with significantly lower chances of being detected.  And given that the Inquisitor has implied a painful death awaits them if they have lied about their intentions to visit the monks, avoiding her scrutiny is a high priority.Lira quickly makes arrangements for a guide and boarding for their horses while they journey underground.“Are the tunnels dangerous?” Lira asks as negotiations wind down.Olek scoffs, “It’s not like the surface is safe, lass.  Yeah, you got your wild lizards, your stirges, derro--”“Derro?” Lira asks.“Deep dwarves.” Okeck takes a sip of ale, then expands, “Sort of.  Not proper dwarves, they don’t even have beards.  Plenty of those lot never see the surface in their lives.”“What kind of a dwarf doesn’t have a beard?”“That’s what we say, lass.”  He raises his voice to address the room in general.  “Don’t we lads?”This is greeted with loud and lusty agreement, accompanied by more mugs being drained and slammed, although what exactly the room is agreeing to is plainly rather murky to most of its inhabitants.Arrangements taken care of, Lira goes off with a fresh mug of ale to find one of the dwarven wizards to compare notes.  Reyu takes the opportunity to ask Olek about other travelers in the area.“Hmm… not a whole lot from your part the world.  Well… I guess, there was one fellow, came through a couple of months ago, back in September I think, looking to buy onyx.”If Reyu had been drinking, that comment would have caused her to stop.  “Did you sell it to him?”(Note: remember way back, when the party found that Jelliana had been to the Stoneshaper mines before them, convincing Gurn not to sell a diamond to Professor Alexandra?  One of the things she had been looking to buy from him was a large onyx.  Gurn informed the party he didn’t have any, but suggested two mines that would be a more likely source.  One of those was the Ironroot mines.)Olek nods, “Sure.  Great large hunk of it.” The dwarf holds his hands apart to demonstrate.Reyu chooses her worlds carefully.  “That’s… odd.  A friend of mine was looking for onyx a while ago…  What did this human look like?”Olek describes a tall bearded human, who wore a non-sectarian holy symbol of Kettenek.“Do you remember his name?” Reyu presses gently.“Don’t think so,” he scratches his own beard in thought.  “Human names all sound alike…” he trails off, then sits up with a triumphant smile.  “Cyrus he said his name was.  Yep, that’s it.  Cyrus.”(Note 2: When Guardians of the Barrier are ordained they take one of several names.  Cyrus is one of them, so having the same name is not necessarily an indication that this was the party’s former companion.  Also, that Cyrus was still traveling with the party at the time.)Near midnight, Thatch heaves Kiara over one shoulder and carries her out to the tent to let her sleep the rest of the night.  On the way back inside, he is met by the Madame Inquisitor.  Although she is shorter than the fighter by a good head, she still manages to look down at him.“Are your… companions enjoying their stay?” she asks archly.Thatch ducks his head a bit.  “We have some mutual friends.” She sniffs his breath as he rises again.  “I see.”That night, Anvil is the only party member who rises at midnight, and he conducts his prayers alone.</blockquote>

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