Dwalin touched the stone walls as they walked, feeling the dampness on his finger tips. The walls themselves were smooth, ancient, and they strongly reminded him of home. He found comfort in the darkness and the way sound blurred with its echo. But he was far from his home, a fact he could never forget.
Putting his nostalgia away, Dwalin spoke, “
These wall are old. Who built these?” Han glanced behind with a similarly curious expression. “
We don’t know really. We simply, found them like this. The city’s full of tunnels. Some were turned into sewers, but a lot haven’t been touched. Makes for good hideouts.” In contrast to his dwarven companion, Mikael had been feeling uneasy. Being underground wasn’t the elven way, especially the Galian way. It didn’t feel natural. Despite this, Mikael tried to keep his mind sharp and asked, “
Do you guys have any kind of map of these tunnels?” Jeri looked at Mikael incredulously, as if surprised the question could even be asked. “
Impossible,” he remarked. “
You couldn’t imagine how complicated the Aqueducts are. But to be honest, we tried. We sent men scouting to map our surroundings in the beginning. Some came back. . . some didn’t. We stopped trying after that.” Mikael didn’t think it was possible, but he suddenly disliked the tunnels even more. “
We built all our doors near Aqueduct entrances though. As long as you can find a door, there’ll be men there who can direct you to base.” Mikael nodded and resumed thinking of other, more pleasant things, anything that’d distract his mind from the closeness.
Ten minutes or so they walked. Every once in a while they’d pass through an intersection, but Han always continued straight, to the southeast. Johannes marveled at how fast they must be traveling through the city. Cutting through all the streets and buildings, the tunnel made for a direct route. At last it ended, ceasing at another metal door.
Han rapped a few times on the center. And without any delay, it opened. Light and noise spilled out. “
That’s it. We’re here.”
The group stepped inside and onto a wooden floor that had been laid over the stone, probably to make people feel more comfortable than anything else. Lanterns hung periodically overhead from the fairly low ceiling. Almost immediately, Imbellem nearly stumbled into a pile of weapons leaning against one of many thick, rectangular pillars; Jacqueline caught his arm as though she anticipated the stumbling before he did. He murmured a thanks but she paid him scant attention, her eyes darting around the room.
There were people. Mostly young men with a handful of women and older faces, people were busily moving about the wide chamber. Some were carrying crates, others weapons, and even food supplies. It was a beehive of activity. Few even glanced at the newcomers, too immersed in their tasks.
On every side of the chamber were more halls and doors, leading to a number of more unseen rooms, an underground network. Now
this was a base. As Han led the party across to the far side, Jacqueline caught a delicious smell drifting from a hall to the east. “
Smells like, pork,” she said, intoxicated by the scent. Jeri chuckled, “
Yep. It’s pork day. Down there’s the kitchen and dining hall.” “
You guys seem to have everything you need down here,” Johannes commented. “
Mostly,” Jeri replied. “
Supplies used to be hard to come by when we were starting out, but with all the support we’ve been getting lately, it’s been smooth sailing. Things are looking good for us.” Johannes felt a surge of conviction by that statement. Things were looking good.
Reaching the far wall, the south wall, Han knocked on a simple wooden door connected to the main room. Surprisingly to the party, a woman’s voice replied, “
Yea, you can come in.” He opened the door and stepped inside, followed by the the rest of the group who filed in one by one. The room was square and not very large, no more than fifteen feet across, but in the center was a large round table that bulkily occupied most of the space. Papers and maps were sprawled all across the top. And surrounding the table were four people.
On the farthest side was an older man, easily in his fifties. With a scruffy face and short hair, he looked weary, but his eyes possessed an uncommon sincerity to them. A woman stood next to him; undoubtedly the one who spoke, her red hair was cut just above the shoulders. It looked like she’d seen combat in her days. When she looked at the party with her dark green eyes, she had the most peculiar look of curiosity on her face, intrigue. Across from her sitting in a chair was a more familiar face - Darus! He set down a paper in his hands and glanced up to see who their visitors were. Slowly, he grinned as he recognized them, pleased. And facing away from the party was another person. Standing over a sprawled map, he was studying the parchment intently. He ruffled his blonde hair in contemplation. Darus nodded toward him and spoke, “
Sir, you might was to see this.”
The person straightened up and turned. His blonde hair was cut short; his blue eyes looked piercing against his fairly pale skin. But he still looked strong. Seeing the faces of the visitors, he too smiled. Johannes then thought to himself, ‘
We did it. We finally did it.’ The man spoke,
“
Welcome. I, am Kelden Delcor.”
"According to this, as well as the direction the men took us, we are headed to that large circle with the letter B underneath it" Thowing a playful expression over the the elf, "Make ya feel any better?"][Private to DM Ryan: Imbellem Tueri rolled 2 using 1d20+1. knowledge check check - tunnels.
