As we left the cavern of hot springs behind a good two dozen armed and armored guards accompanied us. Although calling them guards might be a bit of a misnomer. Certainly, some of them were heavily armored. Mostly those who had accompanied Gib the Younger, the one who had called out to us. There were more of them though and most of them were only lightly armored in comparison. Overall I got the impression of a scouting party rather than a group of guards. I was a bit wary due to their sudden appearance but in general I was glad for the additional company as well.
If nothing else it would mean that Gash'zur and I could get some real sleep now for a change. I had high hopes for more balanced meals as well. Gib and his party of goblins and forgeborn had been quite polite so far, as they led us towards Hearth Forge, their home but at the same time I wasn't quite sure where that left me and Gash'zur. Were we guests or prisoners? Or maybe a little of both? They hadn't asked for our weapons at least, which was a small reassurance. Not that I actually felt like trying anything. Right now accompanying them seemed to be the wiser choice.
I had questions though. Maybe I could even get some answers. “Please excuse my curiosity, but how did ye know when and where to find us? I'm sure we were not exactly subtle but I don't think we exactly announced our presence either.” I tried to match our hosts form of speech as well as I could but it was not always easy. Thankfully neither he nor any of the others seemed to mind. Quite to the contrary. They seemed quite curious whenever I slipped up.
The dwarf, no, the goblin, blushed a little which looked quite curious, and scratched the back of his neck. “Yes, we were aware of yer presence. But, I'm terribly sorry, I'm not at liberty to tell ye how we came to know.”
One of the forgeborn, who looked pretty much like any of the armored goblins thanks to a thin patina covering what would have been skin and not armor, piped in at this point. “Security is a matter of more than just thick gates, solid walls and skill at arms. Especially down here. Especially if ye know that the Fallen One holds a grudge against ye.”
I nodded. It was understandable enough. If they really had a city down here they had probably learned to survive in this not quite hospitable environment the hard way. Managing information and maintaining secrecy was probably one of the most important lessons one could learn in that regard. I decided not to press on. They probably already had said as much as they could. Pressuring them for more information now would probably have been impolite. At the same time I was a little worried. Maintaining secrecy might mean that they wouldn't let us go after taking us to their city. Not just like that anyway.
Gash'zur seemed to be taking it in stride anyway. “I doubt we would have noticed a good scout. Not in one of the more lively places like the cavern with the hot springs anyway. And not in the state we were in. You know how it always was with Tortho and some of his more experienced men and women. If they don't want to be seen, they won't be seen.”
I somehow doubted that it was just experienced scouts that took notice of us but I nodded anyway. As I did I took notice that all those within earshot payed close attention to Gash'zur. More so than they did when I talked. It took me a moment to realize why. She hadn't bothered to adapt our hosts way of speaking. Curious. Were they having a hard time understanding her? Or were they curious about the way language seemed to have changed on the surface? Was it possible that they had been unaware so far? Was their self imposed isolation so throughout? Was that even possible? Well, maybe it was. As far as I was concerned goblins had just been figures from old stories until a few hours ago after all.
The giantess in the meantime kept talking as my thoughts went off on that tangent. “We tend to observe any known entrances to the Deep Dark near our ancestral homes as well after all. There are stories about things lurking in the depth. Old stories about old things. I don't think there are any records about any of them surfacing at any time in living memory but we never stopped being watchful.”
Gib nodded, as did some of the others within earshot. “Skinwalkers and worse. Much worse. Those things usually only become a problem if you head down even deeper. Still, better to keep a watchful eye on everything.”
Now I perked up again. “Skinwalkers?”
The goblin looked a littler uncomfortable for a moment but in the end he decided to explain anyway. “It is a term used to describe various kinds of shapeshifters. The worst of them can mimic people with great accuracy. I'm no expert, thus please excuse my lack of knowledge regarding the details, but supposedly they can even steal the memories of someone they duplicate. We go to great pains to make sure none can slip into Hearth Forge. They're a right nuisance.”
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I nodded. Before I could speak up though the forgeborn from earlier did. “Enchanted mirrors and spells of true seeing are some of the most common countermeasures. They don't take well to strong spirits either. They can make them loose control, them spirits. And although them skinwalkers can steal memories, they have can have trouble with strong emotions. Its eerie if ye see it, how they tend to hesitate or falter before displaying any hint of real emotion. Supposedly they can't cry at all.”
Oh, now that was some good information! Hopefully I would never actually encounter any actual skinwalkers, but it was good to know how to expose them. Skinwalkers hadn't been the only thing mentioned though. “And the things worse than skinwalkers?”
Now Gib almost missed a step and some of the others turned to look my way. The goblin ran a hand through his beard. “We don't really like to talk about these things.” He looked around as if to make sure nothing was lurking in the shadows. “Them is things with too many eyes.”
The forgeborn took over at that point. “Things with too many tentacles.”
Gib nodded even as another goblin, who's name I didn't know yet, picked up the conversation. “Things with too many teeth.”
Gib nodded again. “And beaks. Beaks and teeth shouldn't really go together like that. Especially not on tentacles. Let's just hope ye never encounter them things.”
There was much nodding all around us.
Gib cleared his throat. “If ye really want to know more we might be able to arrange a tour of the Museum of existential Terrors. Let me warn ye though. You can't unsee what you see there. Just forgetting, even if for just a little while, can be hard. I had nightmares for days when we toured the museum when I was still a young one.”
Again there was much nodding all around.
I could only take it all in in bewilderment. Gash'zur didn't fare much better although she must have known at least some of the tidbits, at least in passing, our hosts shared with us.
Finally we slowed down as we left the last set of narrow passages behind and entered a larger cavern once more. Over the course of just a few dozen paces the character of this cavern changed completely. It started out as a natural cavern at our end. Over the course of its length the walls, as well as the floor and the ceiling, smoothed out though. On the other side the cavern terminated into a mostly smooth wall with massive metal gate set in its center.
It was all plainly visible as well as crystal studded pillars to either side of the gate and at our end of the cavern spread plenty of light. Plainly visible as well were the roughly two dozen heavily armed and armored guards, goblins and forgeborn created in the image of goblins, awaiting us.
I couldn't help but notice the arrow slits in the wall and the movement behind them as well. The cavern might only have been a few dozen paces wide, but that probably gave them more than enough time to identify and shoot any hostile intruders. And of course there were mirrors set into the walls at various angles. I wouldn't be surprised either if at least some of the guards were using spells of true seeing or some other kind of divination. The thing about the skinwalkers hadn't been a joke.
Our escort fanned out in such a way that everyone was in plain few of the guards and we just stood like that for a little while to give them a chance to properly look us over.
Finally one who had kept to the back so far moved forwards, carrying an armload of metal flasks. It seemed like we had been expected. She stopped in the middle between our group and the rest of the guards. “Welcome to Hearth Forge. Let us share drinks and be merry!”
Gib responded in a serious tone. “Let us drink and be merry!”