Boulderfist Mountain rose into the sky. Its top was hidden by the clouds. The road they were on merged with a few other roads. There was only one way in on the surface, so it was necessary. She could see the huge entrance just ahead.

There were two massive stone statues on either side of a huge gateway. Each was of an ancient hero of the clan that had fallen defending his home from invaders. Dozens of dwarves guarded the mighty gate, though they didn’t stop anyone from entering the mountain.

Thokri said there are gates that lead to the actual city inside, and they stop you at those.

She knew she had to take the wagon to one of the warehouses to store it. According to Thokri, animal drawn wagons, carts, and carriages aren’t allowed in the main city except for special circumstances.

They rode through the gate, and she looked at the huge stone doors. They were carved with half of the stone one’s screaming face so that when the doors closed, that’s all an invader would see. Much to her surprise, the doors shimmered with some kind of magic.

“I thought dwarves didn’t use magic,” Anna said.

“We don’t, but we can carve the runes,” Thokri replied.

“Oh, I remember you mentioning them once… You never told me what they were exactly,” Anna said.

“Aye, lass. That’s because I don’t know for sure. Only the runecarvers do,” Thokri replied.

“Oh,” Anna said.

Just past the gates, there was a huge open space with gates on the left and far wall. The right wall was where the warehouses were located. She knew this because of the sign hanging just inside the gate.

When they reached the right wall, Thokri made a sign at the dwarf that was guiding the wagons. He made a sign back, and Thokri replied. The dwarf motioned for them to go through one of the ten gates that lined said wall.

Once inside, she was amazed by the sheer size of this warehouse.

You could fit Fishport in here!

Dwarves guided them deep into the labyrinthine warehouse before they reached a stall with an open gate. They got off the wagon, and a few dwarves started to unhook the horses. The party retrieved their personal belongings from the wagon, and then the dwarves unloaded it into the stall.

Once that was finished, they pushed the wagon into the stall, and then a few of them started to take the wheels off in preparation for long term storage.

Thokri was filling out a huge stack of paper and talking with one of the dwarves. Anna wasn’t really paying attention to what they were talking about though. She was too busy looking around the warehouse. A dwarf rolled a hand cart over.

“Load up the cart,” Thokri said, putting his pack and coin chest in it. Thokri leaned over when she put her things in the cart.

“I’ll pull the cart, lass. We don’t want everyone knowing about you,” he whispered.

She just nodded, unsure of why he didn’t want people to know about her, but she trusted him, so she let it go. Thokri lifted the front of the cart using the handles, and they started to walk out of the warehouse.

“I want to see my kin before we do anything else,” Thokri said. Barika patted him on the shoulder.

“We’d never dream of keeping you,” she said.

He grinned at her, and they started for the gate that led to the main city.

If one were coming in the gate, it would have been the one on the far wall with the one on the left leading to the foreign market. That was a place where non-dwarves could buy and sell things. Other races weren’t allowed to own or rent property in the city and needed a pass to enter.

Normally, at least according to Thokri, the passes were a silver a piece and only good for a while, but if a dwarf vouched for you, you could get one that was good for up to a year for free.

They waited in line at the gate, and when they got to the guard station, Thokri put down the cart and walked over to the table covered in papers where an older dwarf man sat.

“You vouching for this lot, lad?” the older dwarf asked.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

“How long they staying?” he asked.

“Few months at most,” Thokri replied.

“Alright then, I’ll have you fill out for a long-term pass. That way, if anything happens, you don’t have to come back,” the older dwarf said.

Thokri nodded and was handed six sheets of paper. He started to fill them out as Anna watched people come and go from the city.

“Alright you lot. Have any of you visited the mountain before?” the dwarf asked.

Anna looked back at him and shook her head no. The rest of the party did as well. He nodded.

“We dwarves don’t live like your people do. You get that, right?” he asked. They all nodded.

“Good, now what I mean by that is that if your people do something a certain way, and it’s not how we do it, then do it our way. This is our home, not yours, and we don’t care what your elders, kings, masters, or gods tell you!” he said.

“Have you had trouble before?” Barika asked.

“Aye, lass. We have, and it’s usually from humans,” the guard replied.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Really, what kind of stuff do they do?” Voekeer asked.

“Fuckers love to argue with us when we tell them they can’t do something. It’s aways but we do this back home, or our god says to do this. Shit, a few months ago, a whole fucking crew of them marched in here and demanded to see the forge lords saying they were obligated to forge new armor for some kid they said was their chosen one!” the dwarf said. Thorki stopped writing for a moment and just looked at the guard.

“You’re shitting me, right?” he asked.

“Not about that I wouldn’t,” the guard replied.

“Forgive my ignorance, but I’m not sure why that’s so offensive,” Voekeer said.

“Lad, if some humans came to your village and demanded that the elder’s drop whatever they’re doing and reshoe their horses, and when they get told no, start hollering about how the gods demand it, how well would that go over?” the guard asked. Voekeer looked shocked, then disgusted. “Aye, lad. You get it,” the guard added.

Thokri finished with the papers and handed them to the guard who looked them over. He took six little necklaces that had numbers on them, marked the number on each piece of paper, and then passed them out.

“Those are your passes. Wear them whenever you’re out. Only exceptions are the baths, but you got to leave them with your things there. Also, don’t lose them. This one is free, but if you got to replace it, you have to pay ten silver,” he said. They all nodded. “Now, go on and get,” the guard said, pointing at the gate.

They passed through. Thokri took the lead, and they started to walk down a street that despite being inside of a mountain was still paved with stones. The street was narrow compared to the ones in human and elven settlements.

Being inside of a mountain, there was a stone ceiling above them as well, and the buildings on each side of the road were carved out of the mountain itself.

As they walked, she noticed that there were other streets of similar size leading off to the left and right every hundred yards or so. Each of those streets were constructed the same.

She got a picture in her mind that the inside of the mountain was carved into squares. Doing some basic math in her head, she was able to guess that each of these squares had about a hundred little buildings in them, give or take of course because some of the buildings were bigger than others.

She thought about how big the mountain was and then remembered that there were levels going up and down and blinked a few times at the sheer number of people that could live in this place.

“You okay?” Elaine asked. Anna just nodded yes and then went back to looking around.

Every building was carved with intricate designs, and most had murals of various scenes from the dwarven legends painted on them.

“I can’t believe how bright it is in here,” Elaine said.

“Did you think we lived in some cave, lass?” Thokri asked.

“Well, no, but I know you can see in the dark, so I figured there wouldn’t be much in the way of lights,” Elaine replied.

“Bah! Just ‘cause we can see in the dark doesn’t mean we want to,” Thokri said. Elaine looked around and nodded.

“I get that,” she replied.

“Everything being grey gets boring after a few days,” Anna added.

“Aye,” Thokri said.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, but do you still see mana’s color in the dark?” Lyreen asked.

“Yeah, for me, mana glows, so it’s like seeing the sparks from a camp fire at night,” Anna replied. Lyreen nodded obviously thinking about Anna’s answer.

They walked for hours before Thokri pointed at a building.

“We’ll stay here for the night,” he said.

“What do you mean, stay here for the night?” Lyreen asked.

“Lass, my home is five floors down and in the center of the mountain. It will be days before we get there,” Thokri replied.

“Wait, what? Why didn’t you say that to us sooner?” Lyreen asked. Thokri shrugged.

“Didn’t think about it,” he replied. Lyreen glared at him for a moment.

“My feet hurt anyway,” Elaine said, cutting in.

“I got foot cream if you need some,” Anna added.

“Will you rub my feet too?” Elaine asked.

“Yes,” Anna replied.

Thokri parked the cart next to the inn, and they unpacked it. Once they had their things, they went inside.

The inn was similar to the ones they’d stayed in for the last few months, though a great deal smaller. There was a sign hanging on the back wall with the prices for food, drink, and a room.

Not bad. Only a little more than the inns on the road.

She’d learned that the more people there were, the more expensive things tended to be. The oldest dwarf she’d ever seen sat in a chair with a blanket over his lap. He looked at them and smiled.

“Come on in and sit. One of the lasses will have something out for ya soon. Drop yer coins in that jar over there,” he said in dwarven.

Anna and Thokri took their coins out and put them in the jar. The others copied them, then they went to sit.

“You’re an odd-looking crew,” one of the dwarves said, speaking common.

“You can say that again,” Voekeer replied.

“Adventurers I’d say,” another added.

“Aye,” Thokri replied.

“Strange work for a dwarf,” the dwarf said.

“Aye, so’s wagging your gums, lad, but there you go,” Thokri replied.

“Bah! I’m speaking the truth, lad. Ya just don’t want to hear it!” the dwarf replied.

“What are you trying to say, lad?” Thokri asked.

“I’m saying that you’re not a proper dwarf! Running around with elves and humans doing what the stone one knows! You should be with your kin, lad!” the dwarf said.

Oh, no. I should to something. Thokri looks pissed!

“HEY, LASS! BRING US SOMETHING STRONG! WE GOT TO SETTLE SOMETHING!” Thokri shouted at the barmaid who was filling mugs to bring them. The dwarf laughed.

“Yer on, lad,” he said.

The barmaid started to fill mug after mug and set them on a tray. Thokri moved to the seat across from the dwarf, and they glared at each other.

“What’s going on?” Voekeer asked.

“This is how dwarves setting little things,” Anna replied.

“I thought they just punched each other out,” Elaine said.

“No, they do that for fun. If they’re mad at each other, they do this,” Anna replied.

“Seriously?” Lyreen asked.

“Yeah,” Anna replied. The elf mage just shook her head and sighed in an exasperated fashion.

“Remember what the gate guard said, child. This is their home, and these are their ways. It’s not for us to judge them,” Barika added.

“I know, I know,” Lyreen replied. The old man hobbled over and sat next to the two of them.

“Alright, lads. I’ll tell ya the rules in case ya forgot. Ya can’t touch each other or the drinks, and the first one to fall out loses,” the old man said.

Both dwarves nodded. The barmaid brought the tray over and set it next to them. The other dwarves got behind the rude dwarf. They patted him on the shoulders and started to take some of the ales. Anna got up and walked behind Thokri. She took an ale.

The dwarves glared at her, and she glared back. Anna looked at the rest of the party and motioned with her head for them to join her. Each of them took an ale like she had.

“What are we doing?” Voekeer asked.

“We’re his friends, so we have to stand with him,” Anna replied.

“Do we have to drink?” Lyreen asked.

“Yes, but not as much, so don’t worry,” Anna replied.

“Alright lads, get to it,” the old dwarf said.

Thokri and the other dwarf downed a mug and then slammed it on the table. They each took another mug and started to guzzle it. Anna drank from her mug and made sure to glare at the dwarves as best she could.

She noticed that the dwarves were avoiding looking at Elaine. Anna turned to see the necromancer was smiling creepily at the dwarves instead of glaring like the others.

I guess that works, too.

“What’s the matter, lad? Not used to a real drink anymore?” the rude dwarf asked.

“Bah!” Thokri replied.

The rude dwarf just laughed and downed another drink. A few rounds later, Thokri started to sway some.

“Not looking so good now, are you lad?” the rude dwarf asked.

He doesn’t look that drunk. What the fuck is going on?

Thokri picked up another mug and started to drink it. About halfway through, he fell over, smashing his face into the table. The dwarves roared with laughter.

“See, I told you he was no dwarf!” the rude dwarf said, causing the other dwarves the laugh even harder.

Anna yanked her belt knife out and slammed it into the table.

“Say he’s not a dwarf again, and I’ll shave you, lad!” Anna said speaking dwarven. The dwarf laughed at her.

“I’d like to see you try, lass!” he replied.

She pulled the knife from the table and smiled.