After Alexis finishes his note, and as he’s placing it thoughtfully in the bones, he whispers to the rest of the group.
“Do you think there are enough dwarves to take and keep Dura-Intun? Not sure how we could get enough humans up here to hold it. Any thoughts?”
21 thoughts on “Dura-Intun For The… Dwarves?”
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Telosh waits to see if any of the other have any thoughts, and then looks to Alexis.
“I have no idea how many dwarves there are in the world Alexis, I didn’t think there were any… this close to the surface? Only one has ventured hear since the rest left, right?”
Telosh gestures to the bones behind them.
“The armies are busy, there’s a reason it’s us and… Skellor’s crew up here, right?
Telosh wink’s at Alexis,
I’ve no interest in trading the axe for an army, human or dwarf, or otherwise. Do you?”
Telosh looks first to Alexis, then in turn to Gustav, and Ethelred.
“The armies of Aegir and Sutheron are busy, but this mountain would also make a very powerful location. The visibility of the land around. But it’s also very isolated currently. Without the Greyfax estate, it’s hard to imagine any way of getting reinforcements up here.”
“As for ‘the last dwarf’, I’m sure there are more behind this door (or at least somewhere). This might even be a way to get to other dwarven cities. It was said that the dwarven cities were all connected. I’d never given it much thought until now. So much tunneling seems like a waste when you can just travel in the sunshine… but I’m not a dwarf.” Alexis shrugs.
“Now that I’m thinking about it, maybe this poor, brainless fool” Alexis gestures to the bones “was a scout that was sent to see the nature of Dura-Intun. If so, it might be a while until they send another one. Although if he was a scout, then how was he going to get back through this door to tell all his friends what he found here? Or did the other scouts run when ‘poor brainless’ here got snagged by the beaky-creatures?”
Alexis stays where he is, but looks around a little, clearly thinking.
Telosh looks at Alexis quizically for a moment, then, without sighing, engages him in his speculation,
“Tunnels between dwarven cities could be useful to human armies too… Where are the other dwarven cities?”
“That is a question that few have the answer to, and whomever they are, they are keeping the information in the dark.”
“Nadden-Tor is the most famous of the Dwarven cities, and presumably it must be close to Sutheron. Hell, it could be in Mount Lanos, somehow hidden in Mount Sutheron, or possibly in the mountain range to our north. It could be one of the mountains that makes up Middle-Bar” Alexis shrugs, but also seems to thinking for a moment.
“But knowing that an known dwarven city was here the whole time, definitely makes me think more about Nadden-Tor. If the Dark Hand weren’t such a clear threat, we could consider finding all the old dwarven cities and bringing that knowledge back to Sutheron.”
“Hmm, well, what’s next then? We’ve finally secured some treasure, that axes, some swords, a few coins… and we’ve killed a few of the Dark Hand’s ‘made’ orks…”
Telosh looks to Gus and Red…
The words ‘treasure’ and ‘what’s next’ echo in Red’s head.
“Opening this door. But we seem stuck, without the proper tools to do this. Now if you don’t care about the door and want to really test this ax… we have options is what I am saying. There is always a way, it just may not be tidy or acceptable.
But if we are not to mar this door, then it would be wise to spy on the Dark Hand and see if they are still in the caves on the other side of the mountain. I fear the earthquake we felt was them getting what they were after. It reminds me of a weaker version of what happen after we found the Eyes.”
Alexis narrows his eyes at Ethelred.
“We are not desecrating this ax like you’ve done with that sword. For the sake of the gods, you should just let me sell it for you if you’re going to abuse it like you do. It’s said that items of power can lose their power if they are committed to too many ignoble tasks.” Alexis shakes his head.
“As for where next, I agree with you about scouting out the Dark Hand. They’re why were here, and without the mules – for which you both have my condolences – we can be much stealthier.”
“What is our objective with the Dark Hand? Who are we going ‘report to’ about our ‘scouting?’ How do we make sure Skellor and his goons,” Telosh winks, “don’t get their hands on The Axe?”
Alexis looks quizzically at Inkam.
“Are you used to ‘reporting’ to someone about all your previous ‘scouting’ activity?” Alexis moves on from a question that is clearly rhetorical.
“You’re right that we have enough that we could head back to Sutheron to sell our treasure and warn people about the Dark Hand activities. We could even let the right people know about Dura-Intun.”
“Personally, I think we need to see what Skellor and the ‘Made’ are doing here. If we can help it, we need to make sure they can’t get their hands on any more items of power. Or, at least, try to figure out what they got while we were trying to find a back door.”
After listening to much yapping, Gustav speaks.
“I want to know what caused the earthquake. We may be able to steal whatever Skellor and the Made found and avoid much consternation later.”
Alexis’ brow furrows questioningly.
“You don’t think the earthquake was caused by the Arru-Noroth like the orcs said? Or is there some aspect of the earthquake you want to investigate? The energy from the stink-lizard shaman is pretty much depleted from his ritual, but perhaps you have some ideas for digging deeper into the blood ritual?”
After a moment when Gustav doesn’t speak “and are you suggesting that the earthquake and saving the artifact from the Dark Hand are related? Or are you just saying two separate things you want to investigate?”
Telosh smirks a bit and looks at Ethelred. With the slightest bit of exaggeration, just enough to make certain the word is clear, Telosh silently mouths one word:
Evidence.
“Ethelred just said he thought the earthquake may have been the Dark Hand getting what it wanted. I based what I said off of that.”
“Ah. I see.”
“Then it sounds like you are also interested in scouting the Dark Hand.”
“Yessir, the Dark Hand has a long reach and fast feet. We should get to know them more.”
He turns to Alexis, “I’m all for it, frankly I’d like to do more that just scout them, but I’m concerned about The Axe falling into their hands if our scouting… goes sideways, what do you think?”
Alexis gives a small shrug “it’s a risk we’re going to have to take. It seems the alternative is to rush back to Sutheron, stash everything we don’t want the Dark Hand to have and rush back. Or trek over to the citadel of Pulathi, try not to get in a brawl with the Kobolds there, stash our goods in the vault, and rush back.”
“I’m worried we’d lose too much time.”
“Can we wrap it or stow it in such a way that it is not so… obviously an object of power?”
Alexis gives a little smile and unties the ax from his backpack.
“This is a significant weapon of war. Hard to hide while we’re on the move. If we decide to go to Sutheron, we might make a fake coffin for it. In the meantime, we’ll have to make do.”
Alexis looks at the ax in his hand and gives it a little swing. Alexis’ smile broadens.
“The earth quakes, the dark hand muck about, the items of power are retrieved.. there is many pieces moving here. Are they all connected? Have Alexis and Telosh ask the gods!
“We came here to work against the interests of the Dark Hand. We had hoped to find a back door into the Dwarven caves. We have found 2 such paths, but both have complications. One is a door, a mighty but still just a door. Given time and materials could easily be breached.
“The other path leads us through the ‘smooth’ checks. They, sadly, are much more of a challenge to deal with than the door.
“We are out of paths to follow to get into the city. Turning our eye back to the Dark Hand and the caves on the other side is one option. There is still the ‘smoke’ rising from the mountain. There is the other mountain as well we could explore. The world is open to us.
Let’s make a plan!”
Alexis looks at Ethelred to say more.