Deeper she walked in the halls of the miner
Seeing great secrets as secrets she kept them
Stealing not knowledge and walking in honour
Guiding her path with the truth-light of Humakt
Dwarven machines were a ground for the battle
Mile-high and metal1Alleyn has ‘Mighty in metal’ they towered above her
Tall as a palace and stout as Ernalda
Berra walked fearless both on them and through them
Finding the root of the evil beneath them
Berra smote spirits and cowardly trollkin
Fighting through steam and the splashing of water
So sharp was Wind-tooth they parted before her
Then to the Dwarf who was storied by legends
Berra brought proof of the work in the tunnels
Heads of the trollkin and troll that had led them
Heads too of miners to keep them from rising
Asking no money she stood by Koraki
Only a shield from the Bat would she ask for
Let all his people come hide from the horror
No iron she for nor gold for her keeping
What Really Happened
The group continued the task set to them by the Dwarf, by going back to him, taking the unconscious Valseena. Rajar knocked himself out by standing up too quickly after putting her down. However, the Dwarf ordered down a lesser dwarf, ‘Version X1138’, and they continued with him alongside. Berra and T’Dwarf had a fascinating discussion about swearing and rudeness out of context. Permission was obtained to call him X, in that he was told it was appropriate to respond to it. T’Dwarf had some orders for X, including telling people what a Pump Room was if they got close to Pump Room 3. The group discussed tactics as they walked, with Berra finding out what was good and what was not, and warning X not to use a shield to protect her, which was deemed to be a flaw in her design by a very amused Varanis.
Going back past where they had previously fought the spirits, and continuing, they found that the lights were flickering again. There was a discussion over what to do, and Berra cut it short by stepping forward before her Spirit Block ran out. She therefore fought off a spirit easily. Soon after that X explained the purpose and layout of a Pump Room, and a little after that they reached it. The big round door, which looked like it was made of metal, was closed. X opened it with his hand in a hand-shaped cavity, and it swung open away from them.
Inside there was a lot of mist. Berra and X went through first, with Berra twisting to avoid X’s clumsy limbs. Seeing stairs and dark shapes, Berra charged down the stairs, finding a Dark Troll but failing to kill it before X arrived to end the job. She then spent some time trying to work out where the ladder was to get up to the rest of the enemies, as she did not know what X’s jargon meant. By the time she had found the lantern that Suuraki had left on the pump shaft to mark the way, it was time to come down, as X had managed to stop the pump, which had a broken bearing and was labouring and in danger of a catastrophic failure. There were a few trollkin to finish off, but Berra did not get to dish out much violence. Instead, she ordered the careful retreat, including taking the bodies of many dwarfs, and those of the trollkin – the dwarf heads were taken back just in case they otherwise somehow got infected.
T’Dwarf took a briefing and they had a meal with X, finding out just how different dwarfs were to humans.
Session Quotes
“It’s important not to protect me with your shield.” – Berra
… – Version X1138
- 1Alleyn has ‘Mighty in metal’
