Incoherent Babbling

[Curlymafurly]

You have spend your entire life in the ancient Dwarven City of Tzverga. A true dwarf, you were weened on ale and shaved with an axe, but that life is now over. Your Uncle, Kolgorn, has just died while on an expedition into the Deeps. Your mother sought a better life on the surface when your father disappeared in the mines 4 years ago, and your Uncle was all you had. Now you are alone, and in a society where blood means everything, you must forge your own name on the great Kerisec Wall, form your own house, and make your own legend.

[Last_Words]

Off to the pub to listen to the old battle veterans' stories of unresolved adventures.

[Curlymafurly]

You step in to the Fenkeg Inn, one of the oldest breweries in the city. You sit down at the cold stone bar and order up a mug of Schwamm Whiskey. The sharp smell of distilled mushrooms and cave water reminds you of your father coming home late after 12 hours of mining and 12 more of drinking.
The Granite walls of the inn make it quite loud on nights like this, but you distinctly hear a voice you've never heard before say your name.

[Last_Words]

>.O;

[Curlymafurly]

You remain silent, looking in to your brew instead.
The man steps behind you and puts his rough hand on your shoulder.

"We need to talk"

[Last_Words]

"What be it ye be wantin of? Cantch'ye see I'm busy.. grumble"

[Curlymafurly]

The man takes a seat beside you quietly. His face and beard are both covered in soot, but not his clothes.
"I hear you're looking to go into the Deeps" he says in a low rumble, as if he doesn't want others to hear.

[Last_Words]

I stop a moment, taken aback, pondering who could have told him this aside from my mother perhaps, but her hermitic tendencies since father and now worsened by uncles' passing leaves me baffled. I look at the stranger with a respective expression in silence.

[Curlymafurly]

The man reaches underneath his beard and into his shirt pocket. He carefully slides an old piece of paper behind your mug. It is covered in scribbles and folded quite hastily.
Before you can ask more, the man gets up and leaves the bar.
You can hear two dwarves fighting in the back of the inn. They seem to be yelling about a map, but you can't quite tell with the echo.

[Last_Words]

In spite of my inebriation I am able to put two and to together and realize this is likely the map that is being quarreled over.

I pocket it nonchalantly, pay for my drinks and exit the bar in a similar fashion, wishing to avoid an unnessecary fight considering

the severity of the situation.

[Curlymafurly]

You step out of the Inn and into the great stone city of Tzverga, illuminated by Aran Crystals and the lava stream below. You make your way across the Ankaran Bridge to the Golbrek district where your uncle's house is.
Availability of space in a dwarven city is limited and the Re-consolidation Mandate of Thane Whiteheart allows next of kin one week to purchase the home of a deceased relative. Unfortunately, your mother left with what money your family had and you haven't the Silver to pay for it yourself.
You enter the home carved in stone, sit down, and light the oil lamps.

[Last_Words]

I hesitate to read the map for a long moment, cursing my mothers' disloyalty inwardly. Gathering myself and absent mindedly forgetting the folded paper in my pocket, I look around the room and recall the memories, of gaity and sterness alike, attached to the objects which remain there and the walls themselves.

[Curlymafurly]

You contemplate your memories for some time, trying to find some emotion suitable for the situation.
An hour passes.

[Last_Words]

Realizing the time, I hastily pull the note out of my pocket and turn up the now fading lamps.

[Curlymafurly]

The paper is indeed a map. Despite its scribbled nature, it appears quite accurate. It shows Tzverga city as a circle in the middle with many long lines branching from it, many of which are mines organized in neat rows.

One line in particular, outlined in red, catches your eye, it appears to branch off from an old mine shaft and travel far to the right of the circle in the middle. The end of the red line has been circled in red many times.

[Last_Words]

Grabbing a quick bite to eat and any other available supplies I may need, I then depart for the location immediately.

[Curlymafurly]

The back of the map is covered in unreadable scribbles, as if written in complete darkness, but one phrase you can read is repeated several times.

SHAFT 47

You make your way across the city and into one of the vast excavation halls where all mine shafts sprout from in the city. However, the hall ends at Shaft 40. You look around in confusion, perhaps you have been lied to.
You see a dwarf leaning against one of the Basalt pillars.

[Last_Words]

I greet him and inquire about the possibilty of any further shafts in another location, thinking I must have been turned around somewhere.

[Curlymafurly]

The man looks at you. You notice that his face is covered in soot.

He hits his fist against the wall behind him. You immediately hear the rumbling of stone as a small passage way opens up next to him. As you approach the hole, he stops you.

In a low rumble he says "I'm going with you"

[Last_Words]

"Are you the one from the pub?"

[Curlymafurly]

The man stares at you, you can't make out the expression in his face through the soot.

Both of you make your way into the hole as the wall closes behind you.

It is dark.

[Last_Words]

After some time of walking, the unnerving silence gets the better of me and I ask: "Do you know of my family? My Father or Uncle?"

[Curlymafurly]

The man stops for a moment. After a second, he murmurs:

"No.....no."

You continue on. You notice the man has a limp.

[Last_Words]

".. Are you injured?"

[Curlymafurly]

The man gives an acknowledging grunt, and continues down the cave.


You travel for some time down the straight mine tunnel until the man suddenly stops. He puts his ear next to the rock and gives a single tap with his finger.
He then knocks the wall through with his elbow, revealing a large cave. There is a slight stench of sulphur.