The Game of Fates (14 page)

By
the time Durik and Manebrow were done with their discussion, Kiria had finished
explaining the rules of the company to Myaliae and was about halfway through
the story of their journey to the Krall Gen when the two leaders exited the
quarters.  Standing, she bowed her head to the two of them and spoke, “Are you
ready, sire?”

Durik
was a bit surprised.  Kiria was not in the habit of calling him ‘sire.’ 
Perhaps it was a sign that she was accepting her new station in life with more
grace than he’d given her credit for up to now.  “Yes, we’ve done a good amount
of reading, and I think we’re both familiar enough with it to hold our own in a
discussion.”

“Well,
then, shall we get to our discussion?” Kiria asked as she moved toward the door
to the quarters.  Her lithe step and the sway of her hips were intoxicating. 
Durik had to look away.

Moving
aside, he let her pass, taking a deep breath to refocus himself.  From where
she’d been sitting Myaliae stood and excused herself, stating she was off to
pack her equipment and bring it to the quarters.  It wasn’t long before Durik,
Manebrow, and Kiria were seated around Durik’s table.  As Kiria began to spread
out her maps, books, and parchments, Durik grabbed her hand, the sudden touch
startling her.

“I
know what Khazak Mail Fist would have us do,” Durik said, releasing her hand
and looking her in the eyes.  “But I do not feel that the Hall of the Mountain
King is where the object of our quest lies.  The voice and visions… they are
directing us toward Demon’s Bridge,” he said, referring to the visions that he
now knew Morgra had given him.  “And while we were reading the scroll on
Demon’s Bridge, it was made clear to me that the Kale Stone is to be found in
the old Dwarven Mining Outpost far below Demon’s Bridge.”

Kiria
hesitated for a moment, taking in this new information.  “Oh.  Well then,” she
said as she began to collect up her books and papers on the Hall of the
Mountain King, “we should discuss what is known about this outpost then.”

Sorting
through her various materials, Kiria pulled the scroll that Durik and Manebrow
had been looking at earlier out of the mess, then finding the book she was
looking for she placed it on the table as well, carefully packing away the
rest.

“Let
me see now,” she said as she poured over the scroll.  “Ah yes, the Krall Gen
Warrior Contingent Leader’s Scroll on Demon’s Bridge.  Let’s see… warren of
passages… river exit… fishing rock… giant spiders… Aha!  Yes, the Castoffs’
Stronghold in the old Dwarven Mining Outpost.”  Sitting again, Kiria opened the
book she had left on the table.  After thumbing through several pages, she
looked up at the pair of warrior leaders who were waiting patiently for her to speak.

“Here
in this book on the history of the Hall of the Mountain King it speaks of the
origin of this Dwarven Mining Outpost.”  For several moments Kiria leafed
through the pages of the tome.  Eventually she began to speak.  “What brought
the dwarves here originally was the presence of a rather large vein of gold
that ran through the underdark in what used to be the pass between the northern
and southern valleys.  That vein of gold was mostly exhausted by the time of
The Sorcerer, though it was still active clear up until the beginning of the
War of the Races, at the end of which The Sorcerer separated the races with
massive geological changes… such as the Chop which he created right over the
pass where many of the original mines that this outpost supported used to be.”

“So,
when The Sorcerer made the Chop, did it not collapse this mining outpost?”
Manebrow asked.  “With such a huge event happening, I can’t imagine the outpost
surviving.”

“Well,
as you probably already know, our race was created after that event, and the
dwarves had already fled the area as the hordes of the brutal races were
driving them before them.  And, if there were any members of the brutal races
here, they certainly didn’t leave us any record of that event.  We do know,
though, that however The Sorcerer created the Chop, he did it without
completely destroying the outpost and some of the mines it supported.”

“We
have a record of the outpost after the Chop was formed?” Durik asked.

“Yes,”
Kiria nodded.  “Actually, I’ve copied some passages from the annuls of our gen
that were written by a kobold named Nimminar.”

Durik
and Manebrow looked at each other blankly.  Neither of them had ever heard of
him.

“Nimminar
was an outcast from the Krall Gen that lived a couple of hundred years ago during
a time when the Krall and Kale Gens were not the best of friends.  Apparently
he lost some contest for leadership of the Krall Gen, and therefore even though
he was the son of the recently deceased lord of their gen, his brother, who won
the contest and therefore took over leadership of the gen, banished Nimminar.

“Nimminar
had heard of the outcasts that lived in the underdark below our valley even
then, and so, being determined to win back leadership of the Krall Gen, he went
into the underdark and began organizing the disparate outcast groups into his
own gen of sorts.  Well, in his quest for power he discovered the old Dwarven
Mining Outpost and made it his seat of government.  Later, when his attempt to
overthrow the Krall Gen failed and his forces were surrounded and slaughtered,
he came to live with our gen.  That’s how we have his account.”

Durik
leaned forward, “so what does he say about this outpost, and what do you think
we’ll find there after all these years?”

Kiria
nodded her head.  “To answer the implied question first, yes, it could still be
overrun by the outcasts.  In fact, I’d imagine it is occupied, assuming it’s
still as intact as it was two centuries ago.”  She paused and pulled out a
piece of leather that Durik recognized as the map that they had gotten from the
orc outcasts on their way to the first night’s resting place.  Laying it out on
the table, she pointed to the depiction of the Chop and the marking of an orc
lair next to it.  “On this ragged map we got from those orc outcasts we slew,
however, it shows that they came from the vicinity of Demon’s Bridge, so it may
be that the Bloodhand Orcs have captured not only Demon’s Bridge, but the
Dwarven Mining Outpost as well.  We’ll have to see.”

“And
what of the layout of the actual outpost?” Durik pressed.

“The
outpost itself has a very simple, yet solid layout.  Essentially, you’ve got
one main entrance, a couple of main passageways with several smaller
passageways leading away from them, and several rooms, living quarters and
storage rooms mostly, all of which have thick walls in between them to ensure
structural integrity.  The only real interesting structures within the outpost
are three: a large open barracks room, a small throne room that was originally
a council chamber when the dwarves still owned the place, and an underground
garden, amazingly still alive two hundred years ago thanks to magical lights in
the ceiling and a rather ingenious water seepage system.”

Manebrow
and Durik both raised their eyebrows at the mention of the magical garden.

“The
outpost was built several hundred feet below the surface,” Kiria continued,
“and not a hundred feet above the ancient track that our valley’s river used to
take when it plunged below the valley.  The river, however, has since found a different
course and apparently the wells in the outpost were mostly dry when Nimminar
lived there.”

“Is
there any mention of traps or secret rooms and such?” Durik asked.

Kiria
shook her head.  “If they exist, Nimminar didn’t discover any during his short reign
down there, or at least he didn’t mention them if he did find any.”

Durik
had one more burning question, but he just couldn’t bring himself to ask it. 
The vision of Morgra still sat very much in the forefront of his heart, though
his mind had been distracted.  He still had yet to come to grips with it,
however, and as such he decided that now would not be the right time to bring
up something that felt almost too sacred to mention.

“Did
you have any more questions?” Kiria asked, seeing him lost in thought.

Durik
sat forward, “Well, I think that’ll have to do for now.”  Turning to Manebrow,
he continued, “Do you want to check on the status of the second meal while I
see how our operation is coming along?”

Manebrow
nodded and the two of them stood up.  “We’ll talk much more, Kiria,” Durik
said.  “There are many questions left unanswered and I’d like to know as much
as I can before I step foot in the place.”

Kiria
stood, “There isn’t much else in the writings of our gen.  Perhaps there is
more in the writings of the Krall Gen that my aunt can help me find.  I’ll work
on that in the meantime.  Perhaps we can speak again this evening.”

Durik
looked her in the eyes and nodded.  “Aye, that we will.  Until then,” he said
as he and Manebrow turned to leave.  Behind them, Kiria slowly exhaled as she
relaxed, and began to ponder on her role in the company and her relationship to
the others in it, especially to Durik.

A
s Durik approached the low hut
where the forge was located he was surprised to see Gorgon and Ardan both
pushing wheelbarrows, one loaded with limestone and the other with bricks,
toward the sunken door of the hut.  “What are you going to do with that?” he
asked as first Gorgon and then Ardan noticed him approaching.

Gorgon,
looking about himself to ensure no one in the other nearby huts was within
earshot, beckoned for Durik to come closer.  Durik was made only more curious
by the fact that, whatever they were doing, the brash warrior Gorgon actually
felt the need to be secretive about it.  Walking forward, he put his foot up on
the low stone embankment next to the sunken door and leaned closer to Gorgon. 
In the meantime, Ardan pushed his wheelbarrow full of limestone through the
door and out of sight.

“I
didn’t want to say it too loud,” Gorgon started, then glanced around again,
“since, as you know, they don’t know how to forge steel here in this gen.” 
Gorgon got a somewhat sly grin on his face, “but we do!”

Durik
was both surprised and pleased, as well as concerned.

Gorgon
saw the concern on his face and spoke quickly.  “Oh, don’t worry, we’ll
dismantle the additions we’re making to their forge once we’re done, since Lord
Karthan hasn’t seen fit to give this secret to the Krall Gen yet.”

“I
wasn’t so concerned about that,” Durik said.  “Tell me, where did you get the
limestone and bricks?”

Gorgon
looked shocked, “You’re not accusing me of stealing, are you?” he said.

“That
wasn’t the question, but I
was
wondering where the materials came from,”
Durik answered.

“Well,
I’ll have you know it was Ardan’s female friend, who recently opened up a
trading shop I might add, that acquired them for us.  ‘Anything to protect my
love and his party’ as she put it.”

Durik
patted him on the shoulder.  “I shouldn’t have doubted you, Gorgon.”

“Rightfully
so,” Gorgon answered, then looking around one more time hauled his wheelbarrow
full of bricks through the door.  Ardan’s voice could be heard inside briefing
Tohr.  In a few moments Tohr stepped out the door with Ardan just behind him. 
“Remember, no one outside our company is to come in here.  I don’t care if it’s
Lord Krall himself!”

Durik
shook his head and laughed to himself.  He was proud of their ingenuity and
skeptical at the same time.  However this whole episode worked out, he was sure
that they’d at least get some sort of armor out of it.

Before
leaving the area, Durik stopped by and informed Jerrig at the leatherworking
shop that the design was probably going to change a bit and that he probably
should go and talk to Gorgon.

Jerrig’s
eyes shot open wide and he quickly left to consult with his companions in the
metalsmithy.

Durik
wanted to take Myaliae at face value, but the council of the other night had
left him in doubt as to how much support the Krall Gen was willing to give to Morigar…
and the group he traveled with.  To calm or confirm his fears, Durik had
decided it was time to pay Lord Krall another visit.

The
visit itself had gone pleasantly enough, but strangely enough Lord Krall only
acknowledged that Myaliae was being allowed to accompany Durik’s group and, as
such, was part of Durik’s Company.  Lord Krall had left it unspoken, but it was
clear; Myaliae was under Durik’s control and not Morigar’s.

 Durik
had not known how to respond, and the silence had grown uncomfortable.  About
this time, someone had knocked on the door, interrupting them.  Durik, thankful
for the interruption, had hastily excused himself.

Durik
now sat with the rest of the company around tables in Lord Krall’s great hall
waiting for the pair of servants that were preparing the meal to finish cutting
the meat and straining vegetables out of the cauldron.  His company was not the
only group there.  Krebbekar and the two scouts, as well as the remnant of Lord
Krall’s house guards who weren’t on the trail with Krall were also there,
seated around tables of their own.  There was much chatter among the groups. 
As the meal was about to be served, the first platter was taken back through
the door that led to Lord Krall’s chambers.  No one expected that Lord Krall
would join them.

Kiria
was making the rounds through the members of the company, dragging Myaliae in
tow and introducing her to the rest of the members of the company.  It was
obvious to all that the members of the company were quite happy to have her along
with them.  Having been offered numerous places to sit on the benches, Myaliae
finally acquiesced and seated herself between Gorgon and Jerrig.  Kiria sat
across the table from her and the pair of young females took well to the task
of lightening up the conversation.

Durik
looked on in admiration at how quickly his company had accepted its newest
member.  Of course, she was a rather pretty addition to the company, and he was
sure that helped at least a little.  Durik, for one, was almost overjoyed to have
a healer with the company, and one with quite a bit of alchemical or magical
skill too, according to Manebrow’s report.

Soon
the meal was served and the company ate in peace.

Morigar,
youngest son of Lord Krall and soon destined to set out with the company on his
own perilous quest, was not interested in the inner workings of Durik’s
Company, or any of the information that they had at their disposal, nor did he
make the effort to break the ice with the company, preferring instead to stay
safely cloistered within the inner chambers of his father’s great hall.  When
Krebbekar came to him to show him the company’s Standing Orders, Morigar
refused to even look at them.  When Krebbekar mentioned that they should find
out what knowledge the Kale Gen warriors had about the Dwarven Mining Outpost,
Morigar dismissed the idea, stating that he was sure that whatever knowledge
they needed could be found in their own gen’s archives. 

Krebbekar
was about to go to Morigar’s father, Lord Krall, to bring some sense to the
arrogant idiot that was his son, but he thought better of it.  After all, if
something ever happened to Morigar’s older brother Krall, Morigar was next in
line for the throne.  He had to give him as many opportunities to learn as he
could.  Of course, Krebbekar was determined to step in before Morigar screwed
up too badly.

Later
that evening Krebbekar sat at Durik’s table and began to get the uncomfortable
feeling from the many references in the discussion around the table to places
he did not know that Morigar’s pride was holding him back from gaining much
needed knowledge.  He began to get that sinking feeling in his gut that, unless
he worked to fix the situation, it would only get worse, and probably cause
unnecessary death and pain on the part of Durik’s Company or his own team.

Krebbekar’s
dilemma grew.  In his heart he knew that someone had to bring Morigar to his
senses, but he also felt that going to Morigar’s father to get Morigar back in
line wasn’t the way to get this quest off on the right foot.  He also knew that
Morigar wouldn’t listen to him.  He was at an impasse.

Krebbekar
sighed.  For now he would have to do double duty—his normal duties and what
Morigar should be doing.  As such, he arranged to meet with Durik’s lore master
Kiria the next day to go over whatever information the company was willing to
share.  If Morigar wasn’t willing to get the information they needed to be
successful, then Krebbekar would.

As
if Morigar’s failure in his initial jockeying for power over the company didn’t
make his attitude sour enough, that night when Krebbekar told Morigar that
Myaliae, one of their own Krall Gen healers, had been sent with the company,
Morigar exploded.  Angrily he stormed off to talk with his father.  After much
whining on Morigar’s part and a few sharp, but true words from Lord Krall,
Morigar exited his father’s chambers with his tail between his legs. 

For
the rest of that night and most of the next day Morigar wouldn’t see
Krebbekar.  Later that night when Morigar finally emerged from his quarters,
Krebbekar could see that he was still bitter.  He received Krebbekar’s report
about the study session he’d had with Kiria without interest.  Krebbekar left
as soon as he gave his report to avoid any more of the uncomfortable silence.

The
time was passing quickly, and though Krebbekar was growing more and more
confident in Durik’s Company, he was growing less and less confident in
Morigar.  In his heart he felt there would be trouble, but he let his mind
convince him that he and the two scouts Lord Krall was sending from the Border
Guard to accompany them on Morigar’s quest could make up the difference.  After
two days of working on the preparations for this quest with Gormanor and
Lemmekor, he had become confident in their abilities and dedication.  They had
a good reputation in the Border Guard before they had come to him, and watching
them go about the preparations in a very skilled and thorough manner, Krebbekar
could clearly see why.

Morning
of the company’s fourth day with the Krall Gen started with no surprises. 
After Gorgon and Ardan had fitted the forge to make steel the real work had
begun.  Despite their dedication, the two metalworkers soon had found that they
needed help if they were going to get the work done in three days.  As such,
Durik and Manebrow had both pitched in to help out in the blacksmithy.  Jerrig
was soon asking for additional help in the leather working shop, so Kiria and
Myaliae were assigned to help when they were not taking care of the animals.

The
second day of making armor had passed thus, with everyone working furiously,
and now on the morning of the third day of making armor, the company’s fourth
day with the Krall Gen, both Gorgon and Jerrig felt that they were on track to
get the armor done in time.

It
was exciting to see.  The Kale Gen had never been an armor-making or
armor-wearing gen.  In fact, before the Bloodhand Orc Tribe had gained the
skill a decade or so before, they’d only seen armor in old books.  Now they
were building something that could possibly save their lives.  The
possibilities of better protection brought great enthusiasm to the group of
warriors, and there was much excited discussion about how they could make each
part of the armor better.

The
thinner steel of their armor was much lighter yet stronger than the heavier
cast iron of the armor Krebbekar had lent them to use as a pattern.  Because of
this the group had felt that they could use more of the steel to protect other
areas.  Though there had been many different ideas, in the end it was Kiria’s
books that provided the guidance they needed.

On
the morning of the second day of armor making Kiria had brought out a picture
of a human warrior dressed in armor made of metal scales, all sewn onto a
backing of hardened leather and padded with cloth backing on each scale.  She’d
shown it to Gorgon and Ardan.  The two warriors looked at each other and got a
big grin on their faces.  The scales could be put on the suits of leather armor
that they were already building, and would only be enhanced by the shoulder,
waist, shin, and forearm guards that they were making in following the pattern
of the Krall Gen armor.  With Durik’s blessing, they quickly agreed to build as
many suits of this scale armor as they could.  The unspoken motivation, of
course, was that this armor would be better than anything that the Krall Gen
had.