The others had stopped some thirty feet beyond the stairs. When Jarek caught up, they were looking into a familiar cavern. The passage continued beyond the cave opening, ending at a pair of doors barely visible in the darkness. Malark’s flickering torch cast light across stacks of crates, piled barrels, and sacks of all types spread across the cave.
“Have we been here before?” Adran ran his hands over a crate and walked into the cave. “I think this is close to where we found those two captives.”
“Ah! ‘tis th’ cave and tunnels!” Jarek hurried past Adran, across the open space to the far wall. He stooped to look close to the floor, then moved toward a partially hidden tunnel. He inspected another spot near the cavern floor, the stood and smiled. “No worries, Mr. Elf. ‘tis th’ plunder cave ag’in. We been here before.”
“How can you be sure? I admit, it looks familiar, but after three days down here, everything is starting to look the same.”
“I marked our way. Been markin’ since we came through tha’ nasty trog tunnel. No time to map, so I marked.”
“Marking? How?” Serphina was wandering through the cave, inspecting crates, and kicking the scattered sacks. “I haven’t notice you doing anything.”
“Ye dinnae notice? Well…” Jarek took a small object from a pocket on his vest. “I use chalk. Mark our passage with some runes of me own. Small and hidden-like. Come ‘ere. I’ll show ya.”
Seraphina walked over to Jarek and he knelt and pointed.
“See? There close t’ th’ floor? Tha’ little mark?”
Seraphina stooped over, looking carefully. “That tiny mark? The little squiggle?”
“I made tha’ mark. Gotta know where t’ look, or ye never see ‘em. An’ orcs are too stupid t’ care.”
“You are positive we have been here before?” Adran’s eyes were flinty.
“As positive I am that I am a dwarf, and you are a twit elf who never believes bearded ones.”
“Jarek!” Seraphina’s voice was louder than she meant.
“This whole venture, it is always him. I am tryin’, lassie, I really am. Don’t matter none. Th’ elf will never trust me.”
“He isn’t wrong.” Lia had taken a seat atop a large keg and was bouncing her feet off it, drumming lightly. “Anything he says, you counter it. Elves are better. Dwarves are dumb. The Seldarine can take Moradin. My sword is sharper than your hammer.”
“I do not.” Adran was frowning. Looking from Seraphina to Lia, and back. “And swords are sharper than hammers.”
“See?” Lia shook her head. “Still doing it.”
Malark had wandered across the cave opening to inspect a pair of doors, uninterested in the conversation of the others.
“Ye do, elf. Ye do. I tried to be better. Called ye by name, ‘stead o’ ‘elf’. Never mattered to you.”
Adran kept looking between the two women, hoping one would support him.
“Not getting any help from me. I am still just one step above the ‘beard ones’. Isn’t that what you called them, Jarek?” Lia snickered and tossed her hair, pulling some forward and starting to braid a tress.
“Ay, lassie, ‘tis. Why dint th’ elf like you?”
“He doesn’t think I am a real elf.”
Jarek looked perplexed. “How cannae nay be a real elf? Ye look like a’ elf.”
“Parentage.”
Jarek stood still, looking from Adran to Lia and back. “Beggin’ yer pardon, miss, yer parentage?”
“Since both my parents are not elves, I am not considered an elf by the rest of the Tel’Quessir. A half-blood. An accident. Since I take after my father in appearance, non-elves think I am an elf. Those outside the elven realms that know I am mixed blood, don’t care.” Lia shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“Seems harsh. Not many tall folk seem t’ go for dwarven women, so the rare crosses are very much a curiosity, a’ never outcasts. At least in me time. Migh’ be some dwarven folk who wanna keep the blood-lines pure. Drunk talk, if ye ask me.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore. I am never going back, so their opinions don’t matter.”
Adran kept opening his mouth to say something, but the other two never looked at him, or paused.
“Seems sad. Dint ye wanna to see yer kin?”
“Only my father, and he is gone, so…”
“Oh, lassie, I dinnae know…”
“Not your fault. It was a long time ago. We better go stop Malark from wandering off. I don’t think he is done killing greenskins.” Lia slid off her barrel-seat and headed after the big man.
Seraphina walked past Adran, patting him on the arm. “He was trying. Even if you didn’t notice, Mr. Adran.” She kept going, joining Malark and Lia as they inspected a stout set of doors at the end of a short passage.
“Fine lassies, they are. Methinks yer a lucky bastard t’ have any friends at all.” Jarek picked up his hammer and stomped off, not bothering to look back.
Adran stood alone in the cave, looking at the floor. He sighed, and drummed his fingers on a pouch. Looking around at the scattered supplies, he kicked a small sack across the room, and turned to follow the others.
————————-
“Hear greenskins. Talk loud.”
Malark had his ear up to the door, listening to whatever was beyond.
“How many?” Seraphina leaned closer.
Malark shrugged. “Sound same. Many?”
“Many?” Seraphina’s voice pitched up. She put her ear to the door, closing her eyes as she listened.
Lia was pacing, loading her crossbow, and murmuring. Jarek, for once, was quiet. Adran stood further back, apart from the others.
“At least a couple voices. Three for sure. They seem to be arguing.” Seraphina spoke as she pulled back from the door. “Can’t leave them waiting forever, can we?”
“Can we handle another large group?” Lia asked.
“Do we have a choice?” Seraphina still had her ear to the door.
“Sure. We can sneak away, and go down to the Forge, leave these gits alone.”
Jarek shook his head. “Nay, we cannae leave them. Yer big friend is right, all the greenskins need t’ die.”
Malark smiled his grimace-smile, shaking his head in agreement. He put his hand on the door handle and looked at the others.
Seraphina shrugged and drew her blades. Lia winked at Malark and shouldered her crossbow. Jarek growled an oath and hefted his hammer. Adran, still back from the others finally spoke.
“Might as well. Go ahead Malark.” He half drew an arrow, crouching in readiness.
Tearing the doors open with a snarl, Malark rushed through, blocking any missile shots for a moment. Jarek and Seraphina followed him in, with Lia coming close on their heels. The room was filled with barrels, sacks and crates. Piles of loot lined the four walls leaving a small space in the center that was crowded with rough straw pallet-beds indicating at least some orcs slept here. Seven of the beasts were in the center of the room arguing over something, with a bleeding wolf cowering beyond them.
“Tha’ be the one tha’ ran!” Jarek hurled a hand axe at one of the orcs.
Malark waded into the group, swing his axe in great, two-handed strokes, scattering the orcs. Lia hit one with a well-aimed bolt, then slung her crossbow and let fire envelope her hands. Seraphina charged another orc, separating it from its fellows with ferocious blade strikes. It parried and swung, backing away in defense. Adran moved in, bow up, targeting the wounded orc pawing at the bolt imbedded in its gut. His shot hit in the armpit, burying the arrow deep and dropping it. Numbers were nearly even now. The wolf sprinted from the room, moving so fast none of the party had time to swing at it.
“Leave it! The wolf isn’t the threat!” Adran was drawing and firing as fast as he could.
The orcs regained their composure and fought with desperate defiance. They knew they might be the only survivors in the fast, and despite the danger did not give into fear. Scarred and grizzled, they seemed to be this band’s veterans and would not mewl into death like lesser creatures. Malark took two for his own, knocking every attack aside and dealing death cut by cut. His bulk and the messy room kept their fight apart as he pushed the two orcs into a corner. Seraphina parried and slashed, stabbing when she could, dancing out of range when she had to. Her fight was efficient and deadly, and she was next to bring her foe down. Lia sent bolts of fire and ice flying, burning and freezing any orc she could see. Jarek crushed the life from one orc seconds after Seraphina cut her foe down, and began battering another in turn.
Smashing Jarek’s hammer aside, the orc leapt onto the stunty priest, grappling him to the ground. All snarls, bellowed oaths and curses, the two rolled and punched, knocking into the piled loot. The orc dropped his axe and wrapped his hands around Jarek’s thick neck, trying to strangle him. Gargling and gasping, the dwarf tried to roll the heavy orc off.
“Gggg… Gggrrr…” he growled and gasped.
Seraphina bounced off a barrel, leaping over one of the pallets holding both swords in downward grips. She buried the blades into the orc, narrowly missing Jarek underneath the brute. Blade tips protruding, the lifeless orc collapsed on the dwarf. Pulling the blades free in time, Seraphina saved herself the shame of wounding a friend.
Coughing as he tried to take a breath, Jarek only could nod his thanks as she looked down. She climbed off the dead orc, helping Jarek throw the deadweight off. Jarek got to a knee, drawing deep breaths, one hand on the floor to steady himself.
Adran had traded bow for sword and was dueling one of the brutes. With Lia at his side, he sliced a deep gash on the beast’s arm, cutting something important, for the arm fell limp. Reaching forward, Lia sent one last flaming mote into its face, dropping the bloody orc to the messy floor.
Malark sported a handful of superficial cuts from his ongoing battle. Both orcs he had cornered were gushing blood from deep wounds, staggering more and more with every passing moment. Sensing victory, Malark beheaded one of them, then smashed the other to the floor, stomping on its face and killing it. He was wheezing, days of tough fights finally wearing down the huge man. Covered in fresh blood, his own and orcish, he was a terrifying sight.
Each of the party found a little space to find themselves after this brutal fight. Wounds they had carried all day were freshly opened, and oozing. Cracked bones ground painfully. They were in bad shape, and needed to rest. Sipping water or wine, and seeing to wounds, they gathered the last reserves of strength they had.
Seraphina was the first to rise. She started searching the cluttered, messy chamber. Tossing filthy hides and blankets aside, and rummaging in the open crates, she found a large orange-yellow stone hidden under one of the pallets, the stone glimmering in the torch light. Holding it up, the facets caught the light.
“Ah! A regal topaz!” Jarek, hauled himself to his feet and sauntered painfully over. “That is a rare stone, indeed!” He took the stone from Seraphina and held it close to his eye, examining it closely. “A good ‘un, too. Worth a fair bit ‘o coin, miss.” He handed the stone back and began searching the room with her.
A few minutes later Jarek picked up a tankard on one of the tables and heard rattling in it. Dumping the contents into his hand, he palmed several black stones streaked with pale white, some faceted, some smoothly polished.
Seraphina stepped close to look at the stones.
“Are those gems?”
“Ah, miss, t’ey are. Onyx. More common than tha’ beauty you found, still worth some coin.”
While they admired the stones, Lia uncovered a corroded iron cauldron hidden amid the barrels and crates. The jangle of coins was heard as she pulled the cauldron across the flagstones. Malark stomped over and helped her heft the cauldron onto one of the tables. Gold and silver coins filled the iron vessel, glittering in the sputtering torches. Lia scooped a handful up and poured the coins back into the cauldron.
“More coins. We are going to need a pack train to get all of this home.”
“All this, plus what we left in that smelly brute’s room.”
“And all the coins we hid in that tomb.”
“Poor ponies.” Seraphina smiled sadly. They are going to be loaded down.”
“All of us will be, lassie. All of us!” Jarek laughed a hearty, loud laugh. “Me thinks we should scout around the rest of this level. I think we might have been everywhere now.”
“For real? We can finally rest for a bit?”
“A long while, I hope.” Lia yawned. “I really need some sleep.”
“I have a plan.” Jarek clapped his hands together and grinned.
The party gathered around him, one eye on the door, the other on the smiling dwarf.
“Me and the wee lass will go scout around. I am certain we have seen every part of this level.” Jarek tapped his head. “The map is clear in here. We have been in every chamber on this level. Barring some secret places we have yet to find.”
“Should we look for them?”
“We kin, if we want to spend days and days here.”
“Which we don’t want to. Not really.”
“Me thoughts, too. We cannae stay forever. We need t’ find the Forge, and then we kin return with the good news.”
“And enjoy our hard-earned gains.”
“So, the plan?” Lia was playing in the cauldron of coins.
“I take Serphina and we go scout around. She is sneaky and quick. You lot start moving everythin’ we have found to the stairs. Stash things with those two we found. When we get done, all of us kin move the treasure down to the sepulchers. Tho’ commoners kin help, too. Get everythin’ safely stashed down below, then go open the Iron Door.”
“Sounds easy enough. But how about me and Seraphina do the scouting and you three do the heavy lifting?” Lia smiled sweetly.
“Well, ‘cuz you two don’t know yer way around!” Jarek blustered, his cheeks reddening.
“I think we could do ok. Left, right, right, two lefts, and another right. Sound good Seri?”
Seraphina laughed, her eyes twinkling.
“Are you sure it wasn’t right, left, right, right?”
“Pretty sure. We will be fine. Let these strapping lads do the heavy lifting.”
Jarek looked from Lia to Seraphina, and back. He harumphed and snorted, but didn’t reply.
“She’s just teasing,” Seraphina said, laughing hard. “I think we would get hopelessly lost.”
“Speak for yourself.” Lia tossed her hair and slung her crossbow. She picked up a couple of small sacks and looked up at Malark. “Grab that cauldron. You can stash it on the way to the barricade. Then we’ll go get those two chests from the smelly brute’s place. Good luck getting that smell out. After we move stuff, I want to make something to eat. The fire was burning, and they had pots and water. Plus, there is plenty of looted food. Root stuff, dried meats, hard tack. We can eat pretty good.”
“See you three soon!” Seraphina pulled at Jarek before he could comment. “Let’s go exploring.”
A couple hours later the party was finishing up a hearty stew made from scavenged food. The orcs carried piles of loot back to the fast, and had sacks and barrels of food stashed all over. Barrels of water allowed them to scrub a large cauldron somewhat clean before they got to work. Courana eagerly helped, chopping and cutting the root vegetables before adding them to the pot. She stirred and stirred, tending the stew until it was ready. “The least I can do for rescuing me,” she simply stated when others tried to help. A watery beer was a welcome diversion from water, however pure it was deep underground. Satiated, they made their way back to the stairs, and the toil of moving the gathered treasure deeper underground. The task took several more hours, and by the time they finished they were sweaty, dirty, and exhausted. A quick trip to the freezing cold stream let them clean up, but chilled them all. They had carried firewood from the kitchen cave, and soon had a crackling fire casting light across the dwarven sarcophagi. Wrapped in blankets, they decided on a watch rotation, and quickly fell asleep.
Several times during the night the watch-keeper heard noises in the Glitterhame. Claw or foot on stone, shuffling through the dark. Each time the noises faded with no threat. Hours later the party ate a simple meal of dried foods, and began to make preparations to descend into the Forge.
“What about us?” Geradil was standing close to Adran, looking at the elf. The fire had burned low and only a faint orange light shone. “You can’t leave us here. I heard things in the dark. Whatever it be, you can’t leave us.”
“Take no worries, laddie. There is nothing down here tha’ll come up here amid th’ graves. You can bet your last crowns on that.”
“Ain’t got no crowns to bet.” Courana shook her head sadly.
“Never you mind, you will be safe up here until we return. No creatures will disturb this place.”
“You did.”
“We did because our cause is just, an’ these be me distant kin. We invited you, an’ ye’ll be safe here. Dwarf’s oath.” Jarek was solemn, making the warrior’s sign when he spoke. “Plus, we shant be gone long. ‘Nother day at best.”
“A day?” There was panic in Courana’s voice. “Just us, in the dark?”
“Ye cannae come with us, miss. You cannae. Its deeper an’ more dangerous. We dinnae go to any corner w’ou fighting somethin’.”
“He’s right.” Seraphina rested her hand on Courana’s arm. “We have been in fight after fight. It’s dangerous.”
“And it’s not dangerous leaving us alone?” Geradil was panicky.
“Less dangerous than the next fight. I told ye, no creature will bother you up here.”
“And we are supposed to just stay here in the dark?”
“It’s not as dark as ye think, laddie. Wait ‘til the fire goes out. Ye’ll see.” Jarek turned away, and headed down the stairs, not giving either of the former captives a chance to reply.
The others followed. Seraphina last of the Four.
“There was thick dust on the stairs to this ledge when we found it. He isn’t wrong, nothing has come up here in years. The tombs are undisturbed. It’s ok, it’s safe here.”
“But the dark…”
“Try and sleep, it’ll pass the time. Soon enough we will be back, and we can leave. If you want to go on your own,” Seraphina pointed towards the stream cave. “Go towards the stream, then turn right. Go a ways on, and you’ll come to a larger cave. There is a tunnel in that cave that leads to the outside. But you’ll be on your own. Might be more orcs out there. Might not.” Seraphina shrugged. “Your choice. Outside on your own, or wait for us. We’ll escort you home. Promise.” She turned away and started down the steps, pausing to look back. “Try and rest. We’ll be back soon.”
Fading into the darkness of the Glitterhame, Seraphina looked back one last time, barely making out Courana and Geradil standing on edge of the ledge, watching them leave. She waved, unable to tell if they could see her or not.
Jarek was bouncing with excitement. He was nearly running as he crossed the Glitterhame, approaching the Iron Door. He was waiting, key in hand when the others finally arrived.
“This is th’ key, it fits!” He was flushed, breathing fast as he turned the key in the lock.
They all heard the loud click of the latch releasing, and then a series of clunks, before Jarek looked back at the others. He pulled on the handle, swinging the heavy door open. The door opened with barely the sound of metal on metal, there was no grinding of corrosion or screech of stuck parts. It was more a vault door than a simple metal door, heavily built with massive round locking bolts studded around the perimeter. The air beyond was stale and dry, with the faint scent of ash and metal.
“This is it. The door to the Forge!” Jarek ushered the others in, then pulled the door closed, locking it behind them. “No sense leaving an open door for others t’ follow.”
“Who would follow us?”
“Those two silly villagers. Nay enough sense to stay put when dangers lurk.”
Looking around, they found themselves in wide passage, turning to their left a short distance beyond. Jarek again led the way, approaching the turn cautiously. He leaned around the corner for a moment, then stood up, looking at the others.
“Stairs. A long set o’ stairs. Dwarven carved.”
“Which way?”
“Up, o’ course!”
p.s. I spent a lot of time trying to generate some battle scenes to add life to his chapter. The AI generators I am using really can’t do it. I tried a new one that supposedly can, but either reddit is wrong, or its a steep learning curve. Sorry.