The Dwarf Town

The dwarves led the weary warriors along the gorge. They followed it for the better part of three miles before it ended abruptly. “This is a dead end,” several of the younger warriors grumbled. They halted and watched the dwarves stride to the rock face. The head dwarf stopped and shouted something in Dwarvish. The walls suddenly split open revealing a lit corridor. Nat could not believe it. The tunnel was carved out of solid rock and must have taken years to dig! He quickly headed down into it following the surviving warriors and the dwarves down into the tunnel.

The tunnel seemed to stretch endlessly downward. It had a gentle slope that made walking easier and faster. The floor was pounded flat to make walking easy and there was nothing on the floor to trip over. There were not even cracks in the floor. It appeared to be carved from a single slab of rock. Ceiling was a bit low…the horses could all barely fit and several of the taller men like Nat had to duck a bit to fit through the door. The doors closed silently behind them without any visible source to close them.

They followed the straight tunnel for what seemed like hours and hours. The light never changed down here apparently and sense of distance was obscured. But finally something changed. They reached an intersection. Another tunnel, just like the one they were traveling, cut through at a right angle. Upon the wall were placards in strange runes. The dwarves did not stop to read them but Nat paused to see if there was anything he could understand. There wasn’t. Up until now there had been no other traffic. No other dwarves to be seen but suddenly some dwarves pushing and pulling little carts passed by nodding and greeting the dwarf warriors in passing. They stared curiously at the humans. A few frowns were directed towards them as well but for the most part the dwarves seemed curious as to what the humans were exactly.

Continuing further down, they passed more intersections with increasing frequency until they were literally within the heart of an underground city. Each block was cut out of solid rock and had houses delved into it with ingenious patterns. The houses were small for a human and in order to enter the doors Nat would have to bend double practically. But they looked comfortable. Dwarves were bustling here and there pulling carts and working steadily. Here a mason was carving something out of rock there a blacksmith was fashioning spears. The dwarf women were short with long wavy or curly hair that hung to their waists. They paused in making bread and tending strange looking gardens to peer at the passing company of warriors. As they continued through the caverns the ceiling rose and was soon lost to sight. The dwellings here were more lavish. They arrived and found themselves facing a literal castle…only it was underground. Its parapets rose forbidding above them and the gate opened. A dwarf company, dressed in glittering armor rode out on what looked to be ponies. In the lead, an old dwarf sat. A glittering crown rested upon his head. He dismounted and greeted Tyrom, “Welcome to Dwarkinburk. I am King Dwarlin the IV.” The two exchanged pleasantries and then the dwarf got to the point. “The only reason we have aided you is because you are the enemies of the goblins as well. But this is queer for you are Moravians are you not?”

There was much confusion and Tyrom explained “we were hunting goblins who had captured our families.”

“Ah yes…they have gotten out of hand and now you wish to combat your own allies,” the dwarf nodded. Tyrom started to explain again when the dwarf cut him off. “Obviously you do not know that the King of Moravia has made alliances with the goblins many times. Long have we fought the goblins for control of these mountains because of your king. You may not realize it, but the goblins of old roamed all over the land in tribes until thirteen small kingdoms were joined to create Moravia. Then they were forced out of your lands. They wandered in the east after that. But your king, King Damian I believe he is called, is a twisted man. He fears for his empire and his goal is to eliminate all competitors. Above all else he fears what the power of the Dwarves could do to him and his armies. So he went seeking the goblins and showed them our home here in these mountains. He somehow united the goblins enough to set them upon us dwarves…long had we been allies with Moravia…before any of you were born. But now the King’s greed for power and jealousy has cut off all our contact with Moravia. This is why I was surprised that you were fighting the goblins. It has been long since goblins have bothered any Moravians. The king was good at controlling them, though I know not how…”

Through this entire story Nat stood in complete shock. Everything he had learned was collapsing. Dwarves were real, Goblins did exist, and now the King turned out to not only be a tyrant but also an evil traitorous ruler who set Goblins upon his own subjects! Nat glanced at Dyl and could see him coming to the same conclusion. They couldn’t go back. Tyrom and the Dwarf king began discussing what to do.

“As to your families, we intercepted a goblin patrol with the women and children. They are safe and sound in Corath,” the Dwarf king was saying. “It will take you another 5 days travel to reach Corath. So you may rest here this night. Tomorrow I shall send some guides to take you to Corath.”

That night Nat and Dyl discussed this turn of events. The dwarves had shown them around and Dyl was impressed with dwarfish armor and weapons. The most unique weapons were the dart tubes the dwarf warriors used. A friendly dwarf had demonstrated it. Using a piece of flint and spring, he ignited a black powder which exploded and launched a steel dart into the target a short distance away. The explosion and smoke surprised Nat who leaped backwards away from the dwarf. He laughed and asked their names. He then introduced himself as Kryrock Broadsword. Nat glanced at the broad sword in the dwarf’s belt.

“What do you use the blasting powder for?” Dyl was asking.

“Ho that? We use it in our mines. It is great for crushing rock. We also use it in our catapults and dart tubes.” Kryrock then launched into a grand explanation of the usages of blasting powder.

Nat and Dyl visited Gronth. Gronth was being held in a jail cell by the dwarves. Kryrock accompanied them and argued with Gronth over several trivial matters. They had a good discussion and the four had a sparring match in the cell with dwarf guards watching. Kryrock deemed not to be out done by Nat or Dyl and that was why he participated. He seemed to think it an impressive and reckless thing to talk with a goblin and even more so to go into its cell alone unarmored. “How many goblins have you talked to?” Dyl asked him later at which point Kryrock couldn’t think of any others. “That’s what I thought,” Dyl muttered. “All goblins seem to be different. Not just mindless brutes either as Gronth proves.”

That evening they ate a strange meal…it consisted of a strong stew, good ale, and lots of meat. No one knew what the meal was…it was dwarfish and tasted fine to Nat so he helped himself. That evening Nat and Dyl toured the castle and then went to bed. They had a hard days travel ahead of them.