— Keira —

After a fairly awkward conversation with Marsaili things went much smoother from that point. By the end of the first night traveling with the dwarven soldiers they fully entered the effective range of the city's system, beyond which point the road was pristine. It was also clearly within the range of the city’s defenses.

Even though it was obvious the road was almost entirely unused since the village’s fall, they didn’t encounter any more monsters. Instead they saw the occasional harpy scout flying above and twice met with mounted patrols. In each case the patrol was simply investigating them as Keir's group was traveling an abandoned route in the dead of night. The fact they were traveling with a well regarded general of Stoneshield ensured each encounter was quickly diffused. Mostly, Keir’d spent her nights chatting with Alasdair, Marsaili, and or Antheia and her days mostly reading.

Mere hours before sunrise on the second to last night of travel the small road joined up with the main road leading to the front entrance of the dwarven city.

The road was reasonably busy with trade caravans and the occasional small group or individual passing throughout the day, many of whom were obviously confused to see a group so close to the city camped out along the road in the middle of the day. The army tents and soldiers on guard with the sun resistant undead prevented any real concern however so only a few travelers actually stopped to speak to them.

It was only as they began packing up their camp under the curious gaze of the travelers setting up their own camps that tension and nerves began creeping up on Keir. While traveling it was easy to push aside concerns about the destination and the problems she might find there in favor of the immediate issues of travel.

As first the carved and sculpted cliff face and eventually the heavily reinforced and enchanted ornate gates set part way up it came into view in the distance it was hard to think about anything other than what she might find in the city concealed within and beneath the mountain.

The sun obviously wouldn’t be an issue which would be nice but it was also the least of her concerns. Even before leaving the village, Keir had been a bit worried what kind of reception a group of undead would receive. She no longer had to worry about her group being turned away or accosted at the gate with their escort of almost a hundred dwarven soldiers. Instead she would be taken directly to the castle and brought before the king of Stoneshield, along with Alasdair and Antheia. The others would apparently be kept under guard by the majority of the forces traveling with them.

As the small distance separating them from the city gates was eaten up with every step Keir strategized as best as she could with Antheia. Occasionally she or Antheia would clarify something with either Alasdair or his mother but for the most part they spoke in Tidal, the common trade tongue spoken in the sea.

It was likely overkill as Marsaili was a bit blunt for espionage, as were her troops. She was however completely loyal to her liege and her land. Anything said in her presence might as well have been said directly to the king.

The consequences of failing to find the expertise and resources the village required were too dire to allow for them to approach with all their cards on the table from the start.

As they ascended the switchback ramp towards the gate, each moment seemed to stretch into minutes and all too soon they were standing before the imposing sealed gates. Up close the bright rune forged steel gates looked like they could effortlessly shrug off the onslaught of an ancient dragon or powerful enchanted siege weapons. Concealed by the ornate scrollwork and statuary carved into the cliff face around the gate were numerous enchantments and embrasures.

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As Keir was studying the formidable defenses Marsaili was speaking to the guards on duty in rapid fire dwarven through the enchanted speaking grate on a pillar at the side of the road. Keir couldn’t understand what was being said but she trusted her companions would speak up if there was something she needed to know.

As she had largely been tuning out the conversation Keir was slightly surprised when the large gates began opening almost entirely silently. She was even more surprised at how smoothly and quietly the gates moved when she saw they were easily over two feet thick.

Keir gripped the handle of her sword a bit tighter as she walked through the gate into a long tunnel still sealed shut by an easily impressive gate in the distance. From the way several of her group eyed the many murderholes within the several hundred feet long tunnel, Keir wasn’t the only one feeling tense at the prospect of being trapped in such an obvious, albeit ornate, kill box. Fortunately, whatever the dwarves had planned it seemed treachery wasn’t it. Mere moments after the gate closed behind them the gate ahead opened letting in the dim glow of artificial night from the city beyond.

For just a moment Keir almost forgot her tension as she walked through the second gate. Revealed beyond it, by the light of countless crystals glowing a dim purple, was a cavern that stretched for miles in any direction with a ceiling hundreds of feet overhead. Scattered throughout the city were multiple city block wide pillars that connected the ground to the ceiling far above. The paths spiraling up the pillars along with the doors and windows lining them showed the city extended into their interiors. Countless metal and stone walkways were suspended between them connecting the pillars like a complex spider web of spellwork and engineering.

Even as late as it was there were plenty of windows glowing and people going about their business, Even if the crowds were clearly much smaller than they would be during the day.

Before Keir could resume walking she felt an armored hand pat her shoulder in a rough but friendly way and Marsaili chuckled before saying “Aye, It’s a mighty impressive sight. Once all tha’ politickin’ is out’a tha way I’ll show ya to the right people.”

Some of the tension returned at her words, but it wasn’t as strong. Keir gave her a grateful smile and said “That would be great.But first,let's take care of your orders. Lead on to wherever we are meant to go.”

— King Dalthorian Stonesheild —

Dalthorian leaned back in his chair stretching his back with a series of pops even as he set aside his steel pen. With an audible sigh of relief he flexed and messaged his cramping hand and wrist. Despite the late hour he wasn’t exactly sleepy. In fact he could barely remember truly needing sleep every day, it had indeed been centuries since he needed more than a few hours every couple of weeks. That was simply one of the many perks of reaching the legendary tiers.

Logically speaking given the sheer amount of mana infused in every part of his body, even the stiffness in his back and arm from spending almost a full day and night dealing with his backlog of documents and correspondence were likely psychosomatic. As he went over his remaining workload mentally he stretched again and picked up his pen again. He may not have been able to justify taking a proper break but he was almost finished. He should be able to finish before sunrise and then he could either get a few hours of sleep or maybe get started on forging a proper handle for the ax blade he’d finished recently.

Before he’d actually put pen to paper however he was interrupted by the sound of a voidsteel gauntlet knocking on the door to his study.

Rather than just drop the pen again he returned it to the case set into the desk and said “Ya may as well jus’ come in Gorazin.”

After a moment's pause the door swung open revealing Gorazin dressed in his obsidian black plate armor aside from his helmet, which he held in his left hand. Clearly he’d hurried over as his cloak was absent and while his beard was still ornately braided his sandy brown hair was tousled and messy.

Even as Gorazin walked into the office he said “General Stonefury who rode out with Minira jus’ arrived at the gate with some’a the leadership of Still-Leaf village.”