By the time the ringing in his ears stopped and his vision was no longer full of stars, Ulgrin found himself on the floor.

“Augh… did anyone get the maker’s mark of the cart that ran me over?” He groaned, barely capable of making a coherent statement. His head hurt something fierce, but a probing hand found no bleeding wounds on his person. Just bruises and a thin layer of foul-smelling ash.

Around him quite the commotion had started. No panic, though. He supposed in a place like this explosions were a normal everyday occurrence.

“Oh, jeez. I’m sorry! Goat crap!” A feminine voice spoke worriedly. “Oh no, they’re gonna take away my license for this aren’t they?”

“Of course we’re going to take your license! This is the fifth time, Alyss!” A stern and official sounding man replied. Ulgrin’s vision swam as he tried to focus on the two people in front of him.

The first was a young woman, likely of the human race. A rather short individual, given the fact that she barely matched his own height. He was only barely considered above average for a dwarf as well. A pair of light blue eyes stared out from behind a pair of cracked spectacles. Shortly cropped and rather unkempt dark hair framed her youthful face; the edges singed pure black.

Besides her stood an angry looking elven man. Elves had a complicated relationship with Dunvi. But if he was being honest, he didn’t quite care for ancestral grudges or competitions. Like most of his kind he had a graceful and lithe build. Hair just a shade darker than white was currently being patted down to stop pearls of smoke from reigniting.

He finished putting out the flames and glared down at the young lady. “You should know by now that there is no reason to be running in these halls. The fact that you’ve tripped and fallen five times is your own! Now you’ve injured a potential customer.” Judging by the fancy tunic, Ulgrin assumed the man to be a member of the staff.

“Eheheh…” She said, nervously rubbing the back of her head. “That wasn’t my fault this time sir. You see, someone left a sheet of paper on the ground. Anyone could trip on that.”

“And the fact that it was you only proves my point. Excitement is no cause for ignoring proper safety procedures.”

“But sir!”

“No ‘buts’. You are a member of the Guild and are to be held at a higher standard than any two-copper merchant brewing healing salves! It’s been three months. I’d have thought you would learn this by now.” Letting out a heavy sigh he turned to the supine dwarf and looked down. “We deeply apologize for the actions of one of our members. Any injuries you have are going to be compensated well.” Ulgrin could hear the subtext of ‘please don’t report us to the guard’ in his begging tone.

Clearing his throat and getting to his feet again, Ulgrin dusted himself off. “No worries here,” he replied. “Not that I haven’t felt worse with a ram’s horn.” He coughed up a cloud of dark smoke. “See? All fine.”

The elven man bit his lower lip and nodded before spotting the crate he had dropped. “Oh, but it seems we’ve damaged some of your goods. Please allow me to -” he stopped as Ulgrin raised a hand.

Examining the box he found the telltale tinkle of broken glass. Peeking inside, it was quite a mess. “Eh, it isn’t so bad. This stuff was gonna be ground up into a liquid anyways?” He poked one of the shredded hearts. Squishy.

The young ‘Alyss’ darted in with a gasp. “Are those giant shrieking salamander hearts? Oh, they’re fresh too!” She immediately grasped one of them with smudge-stained hands. “We don’t get these in such freshness! Do you know how much pickling a salamander’s heart ruins its qualities?”

He paused. “No, but I can guess.” Reagents tended not to last long, and those that did were never of high effectiveness. Hence why they were so expensive.

“Well, you’d guess correctly!” She replied despite the fact he hadn’t yet made one. “Why, these hearts could have as much as three times the potency. “ She held up the oozing heart and grinned manically at it. “No problems after all, boss!”

Boss-elf didn’t let up. “Don’t think you can wave some ingredients at me and think things are fine. I meant what I said. You’re out! I’m revoking your membership.” He crossed his arms. “I expect you to vacate your room by the seventh bell and make sure to take every last explosive out of there!”

Alyss immediately stopped, shocked. “But… I…”

“No ‘buts’!”

She slumped over like a kicked lystrosaurus, the bloody heart squelching as it fell back into the crate. “This was my only chance… You can’t do this…”

“I can and I will. We can’t have you risking the lives of customers. We have enough explosions as is!”

Ulgrin held up a hand. “Are you sure? It was an accident, sir. Nobody’s hurt and none of my things are damaged. Might need a cleaning.” He sniffed himself and scowled. “A deep cleaning. But revoking her membership? Being kicked out of a Guild is a big deal.” He knew that all too well. It was a black mark upon someone’s profession.

“Just because you weren’t hurt doesn’t mean the next one won’t. Not everyone possesses your kind’s durability.” He scoffed. “If you don’t request compensation then stay out of it. This is Guild business and I wouldn’t expect a…” He paused, holding back the curse. Ulgrin presumed it had been something like ‘anvil-headed’ or ‘stone obsessed miner’. “Apologies. This is my job.”

The unfortunate Alyss merely sniffled. “It’s okay. He’s right. I’m a burden on the Guild.” She stood up and retreated into a hallway, barely holding back tears.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Ulgrin watched her go and sighed. This didn’t feel right.

Turning to the elf, “Hold this.” He shoved the leaking crate into the man’s arms and strode after the youth. It was hard to tell just how old humans could be, but she only looked a few younger than his twenty-five summers.

Following after her, he walked down a fairly maze-like hallway.

Peeking into an open doorway, he found Alyss sadly starting to put away things. She stood in a fairly small workspace. One half of the room was dedicated to an artisan’s workshop. Beakers, baubles, and burners filled shelves and tables. Messy. Opposite it was a large granite ritual circle drawn upon the ground.

Judging by the runes involved, he assumed it capable of creating fairly powerful barriers. If there were explosives to test then it would no doubt be important to have.

“Are ye alright?” Ulgrin asked worriedly.

Alyss jumped several feet into the air, letting out a shrill squeak. “Ah! Oh. Huh?” She turned and looked at him with confusion. “Mister dwarf, why did you come here?” She pursed her lips. “I ah… don’t have any money to pay for any repairs if that’s what you want.”

“None of that. Just wanted to ask if there’s anything I could do. I’m the one that cost you your membership.” He scratched at the back of his neck. “Ulgrin Hoofhome. Perhaps if I talk to your Guildmaster we can come to an arrangement? It was just an accident after all.”

She gave a sad smile, sitting at a stool. “Too late for me. This was a long time coming, I guess. Senior Chemist Alfryn was right. I’m just gonna cause trouble. Too many mistakes, I’m afraid.”

He sighed. “What do you plan to do now, then? The life of a Guildless practitioner isn’t a great one, I’ve heard. Harder to sell when you don’t have a whole group’s seal of approval.”

“I dunno!” She replied, replacing melancholy with fake cheer. “But I’ll figure it out. Like I always have. Maybe I’ll just wander out and search the wilderness for ruins or something. Always wanted to try my hand at that. Who knows what secrets the ancestors hold? Nobody would complain if I blew up a monster, right?”

He paused. That was… similar to his own goals. “Hm.” Ulgrin pondered that for a moment before coming to a conclusion. “Then, would you like to join me? I’m founding an expedition of my own. I actually came here to the Mithral Halls to hire adventurous folk. You’d fit the bill.”

Alyss’ eyes widened and she instantly regained some of her earlier excitement. “Really? Where do you plan to investigate? Have you uncovered anything yet? Fought any big monsters? How much do I get paid? I call dibs on any alchemical recipes we might find!”

Ulgrin held strong in the face of a flurry of questions. “Rohl. I’ve received a good lead there. Me personally? No. Just taking up the legacy of my kin. Do you count giant salamanders? As for pay…” He grumbled about that for a moment. “A certain amount of coin, but also a share of the loot. An ancient recipe would count.”

“Haha, I’m so glad I exploded you!” Alyss said, grinning widely. “Eh, err. Not that I did it intentionally or anything. Or feel any kind of joy at blowing you up. Just the circumstances, hehe.”

Shaking his head, the dwarf gave a chuckle. “I get it. Quite the turn of events. Fate has brought us here.”

Alyss shrugged. “If that’s fate, then screw it for making my life such a pain. That doesn’t excuse all the other misfortunes I’ve suffered.” She shook her hand at the sky. “Let’s just say that coming to Vunverdern wasn’t my first choice. My home was Argentum, believe it or not.”

“I’d ask what brings a human so far from their home, but if it pains ye then I shant.” Ulgrin replied, holding out a hand. “That makes us partners, then.”

“Partners!” She replied happily, shaking it with great fervor.

Several minutes later the Senior Chemist arrived with bloody hands and an annoyed expression. Still, his anger did not overcome his desire for a good deal. The two spent a good deal of time discussing the payment for these hearts. Alyss gave him a begging expression half-way through the deal. Damn alchemists. Ulgrin relented and had one of the hearts saved for her personal use.

“You won’t regret it!” She replied with a smile. “I’ll be able to use this to make something good. Perhaps a regenerative potion?”

“You’ll know better than me,” Ulgrin replied. “Whatever is most useful.”

Finished with that and leaving a cursing elf to deal with a crate full of bloody and leaking hearts, the two worked on packing up Alyss’ things. It wasn’t much, to be honest. She sheepishly told him that much of the equipment was on loan from the Guild and that left her with only a few necessities. Still, she promised him she could still brew quite a few things.

Ulgrin turned to give her an odd look as they left. “So what can you make exactly? Explosives?”

She nodded, one hand adjusting her smoke-stained suspender over her black coat. “Yup. Love ‘em. The bigger boom the better, I say! Dunvi blasting powder is my favorite ingredient.” She had somehow ended up with a lesser share of things to carry. Him and his bleeding heart. “Sadly, I’ve only got a few containers of that stuff left. Um. Might have borrowed it from the guild. Hope nobody notices?”

The dwarf’s eyebrow raised to even further levels. “I hope. Let’s get out of here before they notice you having borrowed anything else. Gods above and below, now I’m working with a thief.”

Alyss pouted, “M’not a thief… Borrowed, it’s borrowed. I’ll pay them back eventually.”

“If you say so,” he replied, grunting as he carried several bags of things and carefully trying to keep them from smacking into one another. Vials were expensive. At least the comfortable weight in his money pouch was worth carrying.

With a not-quite native to guide him, Ulgrin and company eventually arrived at the promised inn that Captain Seeks had described. Now that they had left the smog-choked industrial sections things had returned to some semblance of quality. Not quite as opulent as the richer districts, but a respectable amount.

While gypsum had been used for foundations, most of the houses seemed constructed of quarried dolomite. It figured they’d find another sedimentary rock to use, given how difficult it was to transport stone long distance. He suspected the river channels played an important part in that.

The Dripstone Delve was a respectable looking building. Tucked between two condominiums, it seemed a fairly popular establishment. Warm and glowing flames lit the stone interior. Plenty of rugs had been laid out for comfort and aesthetic purposes. Tallcap-wood tables filled the rectangular chamber and were occupied by a varied assortment of patrons.

Naturally his dwarven eyes navigated towards the bar that sat in the back corner. Tucked away into a cubby that receded into the wall, he saw rows of kegs filled to the brim with good ale. Several doors were constantly opening and closing as workers carried platters of food out to hungry folk.

A rumble beside him had Ulgrin momentarily worried about an earthquake, but he turned to see it was just a hungry human. She gave a shamefaced shrug. I hope she doesn’t drain my pockets before we leave. Gods, I made a mistake, haven’t I?

Moving up to the counter, he spied a furry fellow cleaning a mug. For a moment he had assumed them a catfolk, but upon second glance revealed their more lionish appearance. Golden fur that must have been a pain to keep clean in an environment like this filled his feline face.

“Welcome to the Dripstone Delve,” the man said, nodding as they approached. “Thirsty? Hungry?”

Ulgrin gave a look to his companion. “Yes to both, but we’ll also need two rooms.”

“Got it. You can call me Lionel. Or just ‘Barkeep’.” He gave a toothy grin full of fangs. “Most who partake in the inn’s heavier drink tend to forget.” He reached down below the counter to pull forth two rather cumbersome blocks of wood. Attached to them were keys. He supposed it was to ward off thieves. Lionel named a price and Ulgrin winced but complied. “Breakfast and dinner are offered, but lunch and second lunch are on you.”

Definitely more expensive than his town might have been, but not too bad.

Turning to a chalkboard, Ulgrin eyed the menu. Definitely some good choices here. Rather exotic, compared to his choices back home.

Alyss began practically salivating beside him. “Oh it’s been a long time since I’ve eaten good. A girl can only eat so much bread and potatoes before she’s sick of it.”

“Don’t go too hard, lass.” Ulgrin replied, giving her a Look. “I’m paying you a reasonable amount, and expenses are part of that.”

“Way to ruin my fun…”

Ulgrin settled upon a seafood platter that notably lacked any kind of seafood. Rice was a rarity in his home. It was also surprising how good a ‘weed’ like seaweed could be. He supposed it would be riverfood? Something along those lines. Why they name it that, I have no idea. These are freshwater eels! Today he was washing it all down with a nice dark ale, bitter and hoppy.

His companion had gone for a more meaty diet, practically carnivorous. Alyss also ate like she hadn’t eaten a day in her life, which, judging by her skinny figure, was closer to the truth than not. His mother would be practically appalled.

With that the day came to a close with merriment, and Ulgrin retired to his quarters a happy and full dwarf.

The first party member is acquired! I've decided to do the 'mage, fighter, rogue, cleric' thing but add my own twist on the scenario for this group. None of them will quite fit into those holes, but it'll be close enough.

Lexicon of Words and Terms Used:

Blasting Powder - A similar chemical concoction to gunpowder. Not as powerful as the real stuff, but still packs a punch.