The mine’s entrance was bathed in the fading evening light, though an inky blackness stood oppressively two dozen yards on the far end of the wide cavern. Stepping under the cold stone and what must have been tons of earth over our heads, there was no need yet to enable our Darkvision as we began our investigation of the excavated inner chamber. Loose debris was scattered about our feet, an odd assortment of twigs and fallen leaves, giving the place an eerie feel. The abandoned look fell in line with what Marrek told us earlier, how the miners were ordered to stay out by the Magistrate after Corm was found murdered.
The mouth of the cave was wide enough for three men standing abreast to pass and was close to ten feet tall. Materializing from of the darkness beyond, two metallic rails, akin to miniature train tracks, ran down the center of the stone room. It was the system Mammoth’s miners used to lug their precious minerals from deep below the earth. A dozen or so mining carts were strewn around the spacious cavern, though none contained ore after a quick inspection. From the main tracks, many more rails branched off like the limbs of a tree, scattering to all corners of the excavated space.
The open foyer must have been carefully carved out by hand long ago, given the artificial feel of the room. The walls were smooth, with the ceiling and stone floor cut at perfect ninety-degree angles. Multiple teams working side by side could unload their booty simultaneously without bumping into each other. The room was contrasted by the tunnel beyond, the rough and uneven walls a stark relief as the tunnel descended into the gloom. Mining picks, backpacks, moldy tarps, and bits of chain were indiscriminately scattered throughout the room. It looked as if the tools were dropped in haste, leaving the entryway in disarray.
Seeing nothing of interest, we moved to the opposite side of the cavern where the tracks led down into the mine. Just before the darkness, on the wall was a panel board. It reminded me of an old wooden key cabinet used in hotels or by valets. Perhaps forty or fifty pegs hung in rows, each holding a small clasp bearing a tiny, amber-colored jewel. “What do you suppose those are for?” Stella asked from my shoulder, peering her face close to one as I examined it.
“Here,” Tallos said from my side, pointing beside the cabinet. He was looking at a placard of some kind. It was covered in dirt and grime causing me to overlook it. Tallos ran a hand across its surface, brushing aside an oily residue. “It’s written in Common. It says those are mining lamps anyone can use as long as they return it before leaving.”
Unhooking one of the earring-shaped clasps, I stepped close to Tallos. “Attach the lamp to your clothing and speak ‘illuminate’ to enact the magic contained within,” I read aloud. “Seems simple enough, let’s give it a try.”
The small gemstone was shaped like a teardrop with the back of the pendant sprouting an inverted fishhook clasp, allowing me to easily attach it to a fold of my kimono. Placing it on my right shoulder, I spoke the trigger word, “Illuminate.” A beam of light, narrowly focused like a spotlight, shone directly away from the petite jewel. Our eyes were already adjusted to daylight, so the sudden brilliance and accompanying discomfort quickly subsided.
“Let’s each take one,” I said, handing a pendant to both Tallos and Stella. Stella looked at me with raised eyebrows, unsure of what she was supposed to do with it. “It’s not for you, silly. It’s for Ripley. See if you can help her activate it since she can’t speak to command word.”
Holding the bauble between her paws, Stella floated over to Ripley, hooking the gem to her chest. Nothing happened at first, as Stella wrinkled her nose at the device. “You need to say ‘illuminate’ for her, Stell,” I said as I gave her a thumbs-up.
Stella, heeding my words, floated close to the face of the pendant. About to call a warning, but Stella beat me to the punch, “Illuminate… Ahh!” Immediately, an intense beam of light blasted her square in the face causing her to curse and jerk her head back.
“Nice one, Stell,” I said, my voice full of bluster as I offered her another thumbs-up.
Tallos followed suit, though kept his eyes clear of the device, soon adding a third ray of light to the mix. “We all have Darkvision, so we don’t exactly need to use these. If we need to move stealthily though, we’ll need to turn them off,” he offered as he adjusted the bauble, so the beam was angled to his liking.
“My thoughts exactly,” I replied, uttering the trigger word again, dispelling the light. Saying the word several more times, we discovered there was no delay in how frequently the gem could be activated and deactivated. “Let’s have them on for now, but we’ll be ready to switch to our Darkvision if needed. Everyone good to go?”
Heads bobbing in agreement, we stepped into the darkness, our spotlights casting countless shadows across the uneven stone walls and rough ceiling. The tunnel narrowed slightly though remained wide enough for both Lowki and me to stand side by side. The tracks at our feet were securely bolted into the stone by steel spikes so there was no need to worry about knocking them loose. However, we did need to be careful to avoid tripping over them. The rails had an oiled sheen and appeared to be well-maintained. The greased scent was picked up by the steady, constant breeze flowing around us. The cool air tickled our exposed skin, raising goosebumps in its wake. The warmth of daylight faded from our bodies with each new step into the gloom, its chill clawing away any of our previous comforts.
Small protrusions of rock and boulder outcroppings threatened to snare our clothing as we passed. Not long into the tunnel, coming at normal intervals, stood thick beams that supported the sides and girded the stone ceiling. The rough-hewn supports firmly reinforced the natural passageway, helping to protect against possible cave-ins. A groan of shifting wooden beams brought with it a spike of panic as a reminder of the thousands of tons of earth over our heads. Being trapped by a cave-in was definitely a fear I would prefer to avoid at all costs.
The passageway had a slight downward grade, with many narrow offshoots branching away through dozens of connecting tunnels and passageways. Each tunnel had its own set of cart tracks, though, for the time being, we decided to keep on the main set until we found something of note. We did explore a few of the side passages at first but with the constant need to bend low or walk sideways, finding only dead ends, we ceased investigating each side passage. Beyond the distant echoes of dripping water and countless cobwebs strung across the coarse walls of stone and dirt, we found little.
Moist earth filled our nostrils and, as we pressed on, the air began tasting of ozone from the presence of so many different minerals and rocks. Motes of dust were kicked up as we passed, filling our mouths with the taste of gritty sand. Passing a waterskin to Tallos after taking a swig of water myself, the emotionless stone and musty air followed along like odd companions. The sound of our boots scuffing across the dirt and scraping over pebbles heralded our passing.
Lowki and I remained in front of our group, with Lowki scouting ahead at times, but far less often than we normally did. He also didn’t travel quite as far ahead considering he usually returned in under a minute. I got the distinct impression that Lowki was battling some type of anxiety, probably his version of claustrophobia from the unrelenting press of the cold stone around us. I sympathized.
Ripley acted as a rear guard, often pausing to gaze behind and around herself in case something approached from the flank. It was a genuine concern with all the unexplored interconnecting passageways we passed by. Tallos situated himself in between Ripley and me, his strung bow held at the ready.
“Interesting,” Tallos said, coming to stand beside me as we examined the first real intersection. The central rail split off in both directions of the ‘T’ intersection before us. “Judging by the many tracks in the dirt, it looks like most miners trekked along the left path. To the right, if you look here, is a relatively recent set of tracks. You can tell from the lack of dust that has yet to accumulate within each footprint. It also looks as if whoever made these tracks had been running. See how much further apart each track is?”
“Yeah,” I replied as my tracking skill highlighted the footprints. “Whoever left these ran down the middle of the metal rails. Another set of tracks, I’m guessing was the pursuer traced near the wall, also at a sprint by the look of it.
“We should follow the right path,” Stella suggested from my shoulder. She pointed a claw in that direction. “I think we can conclude the person in the middle, no doubt running for his life, had been Corm.”
“Let’s kill our light gems and switch to dark vision,” I offered before uttering the trigger word. “Let’s switch to Darkvision for now since this is the first sign of trouble we’ve found. We don’t know what we’re up against and I’d like to keep the element of surprise on our side if we can.”
“Seems like a good idea,” Stella said as she flew over to Ripley’s shoulder lamp. Whispering the trigger word, Tallos doing the same, we were covered by an impenetrable darkness.
A sudden rush of panic streaked in my chest, though was quickly dispelled when I switched over to my low-light vision. With the many curves and turns taken to reach this point, the ambient light was incredibly low, though was enough to sustain us for now. Normally my Darkvision would light up the space around us as if a full moon was out. Here, in the near-lightless tunnel, it was more like we stood under a heavily overcast crescent moon. It was enough for now. “Alright, let’s be on guard,” I whispered to my companions. “Let’s be ready to drop into stealth at a moment’s notice.”
Shortly after, Tallos clicked his tongue, singling to the group to pause for a moment. “This is interesting,” Tallos whispered as he eyed up the narrow passageway. “I don’t think we noticed it before, likely from the shadows cast about from our lamps, but in Darkvision it’s quite obvious. Do you see here?” Coming close to him, Tallos traced a finger across a small depression in the stone. It was like a thin riverbed was carved into the stone, running all across its rough and uneven surface. “I’m pretty sure this was a silver vein, long ago mined. Judging by the size, likely on a minor one, only a half inch across.”
Pressing on, another oddity appeared as my tracking skill highlighted something different about the footprints along the tunnel wall. “This is strange,” I said quietly, waving Tallos over to me. “You see here? There’s a new set of tracks on the other side of the wall. They’re older than the pair we’ve been following, based on the accumulated dust Tallos talked about earlier. These… they’re not spaced out like the person who was running. These are closer together. It almost looks like the person had their back pressed up against the wall while shuffling sideways. Though, I can’t imagine why any miner would move in such a way.”
“It’s like someone was hugging the wall as they moved around each bend,” Tallos said as he pressed a finger to his lips before turning his gaze to me. “Just like someone who was carefully scouting as they moved.”
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“The footprint is wider than I would have expected too,” I added as we continued to investigate the tracks. “Whoever made these was clearly wearing thick boots. I don’t think they were human or, in our case, elves. See here, our tracks are long and narrow. Those are wide and shorter. Any ideas, Tallos?”
“Perhaps a Halfling, Dwarf, or other short race,” Tallos offered though his voice lacked certainty. “It could also be goblin-kin, though the soles of the tracks are even and not broken as you’d expect of their shoddy footwear.” Tallos paused a moment, looking over at the tracks on the opposite side of the tunnel. “Now that you mentioned it, the tracks that were following our retreating Corm, those are just as wide as well.”
“I think you’re right,” I agreed, nodding along. “Let’s drop into stealth from here on out. Lowki, when you scout ahead, try to stay close. No more than thirty or forty feet, alright? I’d like you to stay relatively close. If you spot anything, anything at all, report back immediately.”
Lowki bowed his head low, a soft rumble of acknowledgment escaping between his sharp teeth. Without the slightest sound, he bounded down the tunnel, quickly disappearing from sight. His talent of moving unseen and undetected still amazed me. To his ears, we probably moved down the tunnel like drunkards as our boots scrapped across the loose stone. The only thing heard when he trotted off was the sound of our own breathing. Hopefully, his skillful nature would allow him to remain undetected against whatever foe was ahead.
Activating sneak, our party crouched low. I summoned Frostrend into a hand, though mentally commanded the weapon to hide the glow from its typical arches of lightning that ran along its length. It wouldn’t do if my stealth was broken by the light. In this darkness, I would probably cast the area around us like some blazing bonfire. Stella hovered off my shoulder, mirroring our crouched stance though she certainly didn’t need to. She could be as quiet as Lowki, if not more so if she desired it.
We crept onward, with Lowki making regular appearances. He would come into view around a bend and, when we made eye contact, would turn around to pad silently back the way he came. Each time made it clear, that he was finding nothing ahead. Multiple passageways and tunnels forked around us, some narrow enough we’d be hard-pressed to pass through, as we continued to follow Corm’s trail.
While most of our attention was directly firmly ahead, it was hard to not notice the widening sections carved out of the stone. Nothing appeared to have been recently mined, though I wasn’t sure if that mattered or not. Even though our breath was now showing in the chilled air, beads of perspiration slipped down the back of my neck from the foreboding sense permeating outward from the unyielding stone. Dust motes were kicked up from Lowki and our passage, causing the air to taste earthy.
Tallos clicked his tongue, signaling to the group once more. Staying in stealth, I moved over to a section of the rough stone that had caught his attention. Halfway up the wall was a scorched, sooty section about the size of a melon. Running a finger across its surface, the grimy substance moved easily at my touch, confirming my suspicion it wasn’t months old.
Looking around, I motioned for Stella to come close. My stealth skill gave no hint we were near anything hostile, so I risked asking a question. “Stell, does this look like something our fire bolt spell would create if it blasted against the cave wall?” I asked slightly above a whisper. I had considered sending a System message her way but wanted Tallos to know what we were saying.
“Yeah, or something very similar,” Stella replied in a muted voice.
Tallos focused intently on the marred section. “I’m feeling confident whatever killed Corm was not a beast or some random creature. This was clearly the work of magic. Such an attack would likely cause the mortal wound that was described.”
The innate pressure from my stealth skill, like a sixth sense, remained calm throughout the conversation. Alleviating the worry, we might be giving away our position by continuing. “Corm likely came down this tunnel, the same as we have been but got jumped by whoever cast this spell. He almost got away too but whoever chased him had been able to catch up with him just outside the mine,” I proposed.
“Had he not gotten far enough away from the mine, I’m betting no one would have found his body otherwise. Corm stumbled upon something and, whoever did this, killed him for it,” Stella added, a bit of heat tinging her words. “At least his death wasn’t in vain. It’s given the city warning something is amiss in the mines.”
“The question remains, who did it?” I asked as Lowki came around the corner, checking in with us again. Seeing us paused and deep in conversation, he came over to a shoulder against my side, eliciting a rub from me, before returning his attention to the tunnel.
“Best guess,” Tallos said with a shake of the head. “I’m more and more confident this was the work of some type of dwarf. I’ve heard little about the stout race, but they are certainly capable of casting spells like this. Combined with the stocky boot prints, if I was a betting elf, that’s where I would put my coin.”
“Are all dwarven races here hostile to surface dwellers?” I asked, somewhat perplexed. While my knowledge of the race was based solely in fantasy and fiction, I was aware some dwarven races were innately hostile to others. Yet, there were far more examples where dwarfs were welcoming and friendly with outsiders.
“Not all,” Stella responded before Tallos could. “Most freely trade with other civilized races. However, some deep dwellers are quite antagonistic to anyone from the surface.”
“Alright then,” I replied. “If we see any dwarves down here, let’s be sure to keep our guard up and not assume they’ll be friendly. Based on what we’ve seen, these are likely hostile and are our prime suspect so far.”
Silence descended once more, only the sound of our collective breaths detectible in the enclosed space. The chill breeze still glided about us, bringing with it a new scent mold, and mildew. Not long after, we found several stagnant and rancid puddles of water staining the jagged floor. Water was seeping from the walls, mildew forming along the many cracks of the stone as a result. Within several of the standing pools were collections of tiny animal bones, likely from mice or bats.
Continuing forward, patches of unmined silver ore were spotted, the finger-width mineral snaking randomly within the stone. Curiously, the area around us appeared to be getting slightly bright, though I had no idea why that was the case. The thin veins of the silvery mineral grew in size the further we ventured.
Finally, when the tunnel was comparable to standing under a full moon, I motioned for the group to halt. Still absent any warning from my stealth skill, I motioned Stella and Tallos to come close. “Something’s generating light in here. It should be getting darker, not brighter.”
A gleam from the wall caught my eye as I spoke. It looked to be coming from one of the many veins of silver. Stella gave me a questioning look before following my gaze to the cold stone next to us. Moving my face closer, I realized why our Darkvision was working so much better now. The ore was glowing, or at least emitting a small amount of light. Our Darkvision amplified what little light reached this deep, and the silvery mineral was casting off some of its own.
“That vein is glowing,” I stated before switching back to my regular vision. My suspicion was immediately confirmed. “Yup. Switch off your Darkvision. It’s coming from the silver.”
Lowki approached once more, curiosity spreading across his feline features as he tried to figure out why the group paused yet again. Glancing about, he didn't see anything of interest, so pondered what must be grabbing our attention. When he saw my focus rooted squarely on what appeared to be a blank stone wall, he cocked his head to the side. Finally shaking his massive head, Lowki returned his attention to the tunnel leading away. It was up to him then to ensure his friends remained safe while they were absorbed by nothing more than a wall, oblivious to everything else around them. He sighed heavily, but not so much as a whisper of its passing could be detected. Such was his talent, he mused.
“Have you ever heard of such a thing?” I asked as I marveled at the fascinating ore. The silver did not cast enough light for us to abandon our Darkvision, but I suspected it was only going to glow brightly as we pressed on. With enough of the cave becoming laced top to bottom with the stuff, it might just do the trick.
“Take a look at this,” Stella said, pointing at a particularly bright section of the wall. Coming close, trying not to stumble over the loose stones along the jagged ground, I peered intently at where her paw was pointing. A prompt appeared in my vision when my face was inches away from a stream of silver two-finger widths across.
Living Silvern Argentum – Mineral (Epic)
A prized material often used in the construction of magical gates and teleportation devices. This rare component is usually only found in regions of incredibly dense silver ore and usually comprises less than 1% of the total ore in an area. While it is primarily used as a stabilizing agent for magical transportation, whispers have hinted Living Silvern Argentum may have other wonderous properties.
“I think I’m confident this is what got Corm killed,” I said after reading the message. “This stuff seems to be incredibly rare though. The message says it should only account for one percent of raw silver, yet we’re surrounded by the stuff. Any idea about the ‘wondrous’ properties mentioned in the description, Stella?”
“Nothing more is available quite yet,” Stella replied after checking her system menus. “I think you’re right, though, this stuff is only increasing in abundance which shouldn’t be the case.”
“I wish I had taken one of those picks,” I quipped. “I bet this stuff is expensive.”
We continued in stealth for perhaps another half hour, the pathway absolutely exploding into multiple forked and diverging pathways. We were having a hard time following the trail of Corm’s attacker. We had traveled such a distance that the iron rail accompanying us ceased far back. We only had the boot prints to keep us heading in the right direction.
Thanks to my tracking skills, and the occasional support from Tallos’ keen eyes, were we able to carry on. While we switched back to Darkvision many minutes ago, with each passing minute, the tunnel grew brighter in our vision. Only minutes later, we were altogether able to disengage our Darkvision as the tunnel was bathed in silvery light.
While not all veins cast off the intense sterling glow, much of the ore was now as wide across as the palm of my hand. Some rivers of the precious mineral even run from the top to the bottom of the tunnel around us. There must be an absolute fortune of the stuff down here.
Tallos caught my attention, motioning me over. As I approached, he pointed to a particularly thick vein of the silvern mineral. He traced a finger along the vein as it seemed to traverse through a pair of nearby passageways. “Unless I am mistaken, those two separate sections of the ore are the same vein. It’s running from this wall across to the other side.”
“Wait,” I stuttered. “Are you saying many of these veins are interconnected?”
Tallos nodded his head. “Yes, I believe they are,” he replied. “Not all of them, for sure, but the deeper we go the more interconnected they are becoming.” A split second later a prompt appeared in my vision.
Congratulations! You have discovered a hidden quest, “The Living Conduit.”
Through your careful inspection, you have uncovered a long-lost aspect of the Living Silvern Argentum. Unbeknownst to nearly all surface-dwelling races, the conduit created by interconnected veins of this wonderous ore reaches far across significant portions of the continent. While surface races will mine the precious mineral in the hopes of creating magical gates capable of transporting goods and people across vast distances, the keen acumen of several subterranean races has long known of the mineral's most powerful property. In its natural state, and with the right application of magic, those few knowledgeable enough can use the conduit to travel wherever Living Silvern Argentum’s spider-like tendrils reach. While it’s only possible to enter and exit the conduit at certain node junctures, anyone fortunate enough to find such an area will find a wide world opening before them.
Will you be fortunate enough to locate such a junction? Are you brave enough to travel to a far, unknown place? Only you can decide.
Objective One: Locate a Living Silvern Argentum travel node.
Objective Two: HIDDEN.
Accept: Yes/No.
“Well, I think this answers the mystery of where these dwarves came from,” I whispered. “This silver ore appears to allow magical transportation. It’s no wonder why they would kill anyone discovering this ability.”
“Oh, we need to figure this out,” Stella said excitedly as she followed a particularly dense section of silver, bouncing in the air from paw to paw. “Can you imagine it? Boom! You’re broken into your constituent parts, compressed down to smaller than the width of a needlepoint, before being thrown a thousand miles away in an instant? Oh, I can’t wait, this sounds awesome!”
Tallos was suddenly backing away from the wall, his gaze unfocused. “What?” Tallos asked sharply, appearing to go white in the face.