[Raleigh]
It is late in the evening when I wake. I'm lying alone on a soft bed in a sunlit stone hall. Delicious scents and boisterous voices drift to me from down a dark hallway cut into a stone wall to my right. Slowly I struggle to push myself up into a sitting position and discover that my muscles are severely fatigued. On the ground beside me lies my chest and Gump curled up sleeping in his cage. Opening my chest I fetch the remaining peepeye meat. Quietly as to not wake Gump, I slip the meat through the hard wooden bars. I smile to myself, Gump will thoroughly enjoy the peepeye when he wakes up. Lying on an identical bed next to mine sits Edward. “So you're finally awake.” says Ed with a tired smile.
“Ed.. What happened? Where are we?”
“You don't remember?! You jumped off the front of the boat and obli… you’ll see. Can you stand?”
I slowly swing my aching legs out of the fresh linen sheets. Holding the wooden bedhead to steady myself I slowly placed my weight on shaking legs. My legs feel as if they were made of lead. Tentatively I take a step towards the hallway, muscles scream painfully in protest but I didn’t stop. I took another step, and then another.
“How are your legs doing?”
“They’re, all-right.” I reply through gritted teeth. I try to take another step and fall roughly to one knee on the hard stone floor. Edward rushes over smiling. “Don’t push yourself tough-guy.”
“Yep.”
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Wrapping an arm under mine, Edward lets me put my weight on him. Together we shuffle across the room and enter the dimly lit tunnel. After a few moments of slow shuffling we reach a large wooden door left ajar. “In here.” says Edward.
“How do you know?”
“I’ve been awake for a while now. Some of our host’s have introduced themselves to me, they are friendly, don’t worry. They told me once you woke to take you through and into this room to meet their lord.”
I grab the door handle and pull the door open just enough for us to pass through. Shocked by what I see, I let my jaw drop in wonder. The cavernous room that we're standing in is intricately carved out of stone, gold adorns the ceiling and huge statues line the room. In the center lies a massive beautifully carved timber table, an object of wonder in itself. Lines of gold artfully crafted to look like veins spreads throughout the whole room. They golden veins glitter in the dim light provided by the hearth and lantern that litter the room. These golden lines all lead to a large throne that sits at the head of the table. The throne is cut out of a single piece of stone, all hard edges. All in all it looks like a brutal chair to sit upon. Upon the throne sits a dwarf that towers above all other dwarves in the room. I notice that the dwarf is observing me keenly. “Let's go meet the lord of the mountain.” mutters Edward. As we walk towards the throne of stone, we draw much attention from the many dwarves seated around the dark brown table. By the time we arrive at the waiting lord’s throne all conversation has died in the room. “Welcome to my hall. What are your names?” says the dwarf with a thick accent and a voice that sounds like the rumbling of distant thunder.
“My lord, my name is Edward and this is Raleigh.”
“My name is Thrak and It is my pleasure to host you here at Caladhburn. … There is some business I must discuss with you two. Please, follow me.”