After an awkward night's sleep on the roof of a broken building. Zack and belle climb down. They head toward the center of town. The slums are not a pretty picture. There are essentially ruins of what was once part of the kingdom before the walls were built. The current rule is less than concerned with the people in the slums.

They were all refugees who were able to escape from other lands or outcasts from the city itself thrown out for various crimes. It was a time of extreme poverty. Everyone out for themselves a very grim view on a day to day life.

As they were walking by a water well in town Zack and Belle are reminded of their childhoods. They were all they had they were orphans thicker than thieves they didn't fit in with a lot of other kids.

Belle was a half-elf with long red hair which was tied into two braids that droop over her shoulder. She was gifted in arcane arts and cheeky to boot.

Zack was a human who had a strong sense of morality which was rare in the age. He often was ridiculed by the other children for always sticking his nose in things.

One day some shady guards from the city were collecting taxes from the people and those who didn't have it their carts and shops were being trashed. Zack seeing this lept into action and tried to stop them. Being a kid he couldn't do much, the guards laid into him but he kept getting up.

That's when a dwarf intervened and scolded the guards so severely one fell to the ground crying and the ears of the other bled a bit. They were terrified they fled the scene.

The dwarf came up to the boy and patted his head. You're an honorable lad aren't ya?? He took the kids to his home fed them and, informally adopted the pair he didn't claim to be their parent just made sure they stayed out of trouble.

He raised them as his own and told them many great stories of the past ensnaring Zack and inspired him to want to join the brigade to make things better.

Belle picked up on the magic fairly quickly and would barter and trade for magic books and scrolls as time would go on hoping to be as good as Guntar someday but could never get the hang of any instruments.

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Their trip down memory lane was interrupted when the great horns of the city started to go off. This meaning that now is the time mine was opening up for the day.

They met Guntar outside of his home.

"Ay, you made you cheeky denie"his nickname for them

" Yes guitar, "shall we head to the mine?" Said zack trying to hurry everyone along.

" Yes, let's be on our way." Guntar said slipping on his coat.

They head to the south part of the bowl where there is a winding staircase that goes up and into the face of the mountain. There is a giant hole in the wall.

Guntar says . " doesn't it look as if a giant plunged his hand thru as if to claim the treasure within for himself!"

"It was said to be an ancient dwarf fortress which has been repurposed as an adventuring hall/ mining facility." Said belle reading from one of her many books.

As they get to the top of the stairs they see a giant door with two half-orc guards pale blue skin fangs and over bite. They have scar riddled bodies. The two blocking the door. However To the left, before the door, there is a window with a well-dressed tabaxi fellow wearing reading glasses. Next to him a sign, it saying check in/ pendent merchant.

Guntar points over and said" We must go and purchase the pendant I told you of before we can go in!"

"Hello, new friends. Might you be needing a pendant for entry?? If so fill out those forms and it will cost one gold coin."

They slide the gold coins into the slot and start to fill out the paper.

Zack asks guntar "aren't you buying one sir??"

Guntar reaches into his shirt and pulls out a black rock on a leather string around his neck. "How do you think I've been feeding you all these years lad." He then let out a deep laugh from the gut.

"Fair enough." says Belle.

As they fill out their form the tabaxi opens a drawer and pulls out two white stones and goes over to a rotating sharpening stone on a wheel with a pedal system and starts to smooth out the rocks and feeds string through it.

After that he takes the forms files those away. He then chiseled their names onto them and hands them over.

"These will be your identification in case we find a corpse and, what floor of the mine you can go in."

He wishes them luck and then goes back to reading.

They walk up to the guards and flash the pendants the guards stare at them.

Belle impatiently says "you just saw them made over there what's taking so long!??"

They look up and scowl "Making sure they are not fakes we are boss is scary right grublin??"

"Yes, Dundrim's boss gets very angry we sorry little witch!!.."

they move out of the way and take out their spears, the then put the spear tip into these holes in the floor and turn them. Gears can be heard churning as these giant doors start to open. They head inside and what they see blows their minds.

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