We headed out of the throne room towards the right side of the entrance to the city. While walking the king updated us, “We were digging in the south lower tunnel and broke into another tunnel. That happens sometimes but they are always natural tunnels. This one wasn't natural and it wasn't one of ours even though it felt like it could have been. A small team went in and found an ancient laboratory of some sort. The team returned and brought some tools back. They felt Dwarvish in make but more advanced somehow.” We arrived at a door. The king unlocked it then led us to another door. Before opening this one he spoke somberly and very seriously, “Don't touch anything.”
We walked into a large segregated room with beds. It was a makeshift infirmary. On the twenty or so beds lay dwarves. Each dwarf had rigid white chains attached to them and to all matter of surfaces, mainly the beds and walls around them. The king continued to explain, “The chains are made from their own bones. Breaking them causes great pain to whos bones they are then they regrow after a few minutes. Touching them or the bones will spread it to you.
Kat sighed, “We need to kill its origin then dispel the afflicted. This was from a trap in the laboratory?” The dwarf king nodded, “Yes, in the second room they explored. They found thick black metal boxes with a type of glass cover on them and inside were sleeping….smaller dwarves. The team fiddled around with the stuff in that room before they triggered the curse or trap as you call it.” Kat was clearly thinking or planning, “How long will it take to get down there?” “Four hours down, more hours up.” Kat looked at me, “Now or in the morning?” “I'm good to go if you three are.” Tal and Pem both nodded. Kat nodded as well, “Then we leave now.” “Wonderful, Thok will show you the way.”
“Can I join them father?” Nuralin asked her father, the king who turned to me, “Will you protect her?” She glared at her dad and started walking off “Of course sir.” “Good. She will take you to Thok. May Orlone protect you.” We quickly caught up to Nuralin and followed her along the right wall where we had seen the dwarves training. Eventually we made it to an area full of smithing furnaces and anvils. Nearby in the wall were holes with large metal gates hanging above them. “There's Thok there by the mine entrance.” Nuralin pointed to a dwarf near the hole in the wall. He was the beefiest dwarf I'd ever seen. Probably just over five foot tall and nearing three hundred pounds of muscle. With no introductions, he said “Follow.” In a very deep baritone voice and down we went.
The small dark damp windy caves with my new size were making me a bit claustrophobic. Nuralin loved to talk and so she told me all about dwarves. They reached maturity at forty and she was almost fifty. Some dwarves have lived to be six hundred years old. They are not as lusty or fertile as humans. They love fighting and smithing but drink like any other race. Maybe less because of their lack of fermentable things.
There were many crossroads and side paths, some we took. Oddly, I felt like I knew the way back. After about four hours we arrived. Once we climbed down into the hole we all instinctively stretched, especially poor Tal who couldn't stand all the way up for the last four hours.
Looking around, the first thing I notice is the tunnel walls are completely smooth. Like a machine cut smooth. The dwarves were good but you could still see pickaxe gashes in their tunnels. Thok spoke his first words since we started walking but he speaks Dwarvish so Nuralin translates for us. “We only investigated this way.” and she points to a small door at the end of the tunnel. I wondered out loud, “How is it carved so smoothly?” Kat cleared her throat, “Magic or importance. Now let me lead from here. “Detect magic.” She said as she headed to the small door and squeezed through. We all followed her and Tal almost got stuck but we helped him out.
This room was definitely a laboratory of some sort. Kat was staring at a vial and went to touch it when Pem smacked her hand, “Do not touch anything, remember?” “Oh. Right, we keep moving.” Kat led us through another corridor tunnel and she went through another small door. Kat put her hand up, “Stay here. I will dispel the trap.”
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After a few minutes I start to get worried when Kat finally walks to the door, “It is safe now.” We all quickly enter the room, even Tal who now knows how to get through these small doors.
This room has the same smooth stone walls as the laboratory and corridors but is much larger. The only thing in this room is many of those Black boxes the king mentioned. I instantly knew what they were, “Life pods.” I said matter of factly. Pen poked me, “How do you know what these are?” “Oh, well I'm an alien from another planet so of course I know about..” Kat started speaking, “These are filled with the magic liquid from the vials in the laboratory.” She headed over to the nearest one so I joined her. We peer into the clear top and laying in the green magic liquid is a naked, clearly female being. Not even four feet tall. Dwarf like but curvy not stout with big blue black hair. A rounded face and her skin looked almost earthen like a dried lakebed. Kat gasped, “These are gnomes.” “Are you sure?” Pem asked. “Yes. I have read much about the dead continent and when it was called Findor gnomes were one of the three main civilizations that lived there. They had the ability to fly over here and traded occasionally with our ancestors. That is where most of our knowledge of the dead continent comes from.” “How does a continent die?” I ask. “Around three thousand years ago giant waves struck Magarnia’s western coast killing many thousands. A few months later our ancestors sailed over to find the entire coastline ashen and barren. The few expeditions over the years have resulted in many deaths and no new news.”
After a few minutes of us all checking stuff out, Nuralin returned to us after looking in every pod, “There are four males and thirty two females. I look to see Kat tinkering on one of the boxes so I start walking over to her, “Kat what are you doing? We all agreed not to…” A loud hiss came from the life pod she was tinkering with and a moment later she was in my arms while we both stared.
The glass slid down and the green liquid started splashing around. I let go of Kat and walked towards the open pod. Peering into the pod I see that the female gnome isn't breathing, then she opens her eyes. They are pink. She took a deep breath like she had been underwater for a long time. She sat up and looked at me, “A human here? How?” Her voice was high and delicate sounding. Pem ran next to me, “You are a gnome correct?” “Ah good, a civilized race. Of course I am, I'm clearly not a dwarf. Hey elf, what year is it?” The gnome asked as she hopped out of the pod. “Eleven eighty four but…” “Ah good not much time has passed.”
Kat was now there, “Eleven eighty four since the dragon invasion ended.” The gnome went wide eyed. “Before that the year was twenty eight seventy three.” “Over three thousand years…Is Findor..?” “It is known as the dead continent now…” She dropped to her knees and after a minute of silence she spoke again, “Nearly a billion people…" She sighed, "This was an emergency measure in case the war escalated beyond any hope. Well, I guess it did.” She stood up to go check and headed over to another black box while still very naked and layered with green goo. “Stupid greedy power hungry kingdoms!” I think I understood, “So this is a repopulation facility to make sure your kind survives?” “Huh, not a dumb human.” She looked to Pem, “Can it do magic now as well?” “He is the most powerful among us.” “Explains why he is here then.” She looked back at me, “Sorry. Your race was very uncivilized last I saw but yes this is one of ten repopulation facilities. Now it will take a while to wake everyone up.”
After about five minutes of waiting around I walked up to Kat who had just been watching the gnome who was still nude check each pod. “We should head back up and dispel the dwarves and maybe send supplies down here.” Kat's eyes never left the gnome, “This is all so fascinating. A real gnome…the knowledge she has….yes we should dispel the dwarves, sorry.”
Nuralin and the four of us left Thok and the gnome behind. We traveled back to the makeshift infirmary. I did know my way back. Nuralin went to report to her father the king about the gnome and our success.
“Tom use detect magic.” “Detect magic.” All magic I have seen so far has been light and glowy but in the cursed dwarves I saw purple so dark it was almost black. It looked like veins throughout their bodies. “Now once you see the curse magic, simply imagine it disappearing.” I imagined all the purple magic veins to simply disappear. “Dispel magic.” Everything went white again. “Tom!” I heard Kat yell. I had just dispelled all twenty dwarves.