Friends in a Foreign Land

Madora cleared her throat, getting everyone’s attention. “Will ye do it? If so, we’d like to get ye geared up and headin' out by midday.”

With a final look around to confirm with her group, Celeste answered, “Aye, we’ll do it.”

“Glad to hear it,” Madora answered before looking to Sid, “Go get yer supplies ready. We’ve got a few things to do on our end, and then we’ll meet ye near tha western gate.”

Sid bowed his head to the group, “Thank ye. I will see ye shortly.”

As he left Madora addressed the group, “When was tha last time ye all shared yer skills and abilities with one another? In tha last few patrols, it was obvious ye’ve been focusin' on what ye can do, but not on what yer party can. If ye’re goin' to work together, ye need to know each other’s abilities.”

Liam spoke up first, “Well, most of my skills are around being able to repair and build things. The last combat ability was [Anvil’s Echo] back when I hit level eight.”

“That’s the one that disoriented all of us when you used it, right?” asked Miguel. Seeing Liam nod he continued, “Yeah, we don’t like that one. Can you target it to only effect who we’re fighting?”

“Maybe if I could level it up, but I’m still at level one because you lot won’t let me practice it!” snapped Liam.

“Calm,” spoke Madora. “It’s too late now to worry about it. Plan on not usin' that for now, but when ye get back, we’ll train it up a few levels. How about tha skill that makes tha blades swirl around ye to hit anythin' close to ye?”

“That’s [Steel Tempest]. I have it leveled to three and it looks really cool but the last time I used it in combat we were fighting a cavernclaw and the swords just got stuck in its carapace. They injured it, but I lost those swords until after it was dead and I was able to retrieve them.”

“That’s good to know,” Madora said before looking to Miguel, “How about ye?”

“I have a [Taunt] skill that I’ve managed to level up to four. [Power Strike] is nice but sometimes it has the same issue as the skill Liam just talked about. If I hit something too hard, sometimes my axe gets stuck. But I did unlock [Crushing Blow] at level thirteen. It works better with hammers than axes but it’ll let me ring someone’s bell. That’s why I’ve taken to carrying both an axe and a war hammer.”

“That’s good. Always remember that the tactics that work on one monster may not work on the next. Adaptability will keep ye alive.”

Celeste spoke up next, “I have two recent spells that should help. One lets me detain someone by stopping time in an area. Another allows me to make changes to gravity in an area, which I can use to make us lighter so that we can move faster or make a boulder lighter so we can move it. Both only cover a small area right now but the area will get larger as I level the spells.”

“That second one may be able to help ye all get to the miners quicker. Almost like a Hast spell.”

“Oh, I have that one as well!”

“Really? Then I’d recommend usin' both of those as often as ye can without depletin' yer mana too far. The faster ye can get there, the better, and it’ll give ye a chance to level those spells.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Looking over at Wendell, Madora asked, “How about you?”

“I’ve learned a number of element attacks, and I’ve leveled my psi-blade to seven. At this point I can cut through most steel armor like butter. The mana metals are surprisingly resilient to my blade, though.”

“Aye, would I be correct in assumin' our resident ranger is tha most prepared for this trip?” Madora asked while looking at Dakota.

“Yes ma’am. I have several archer abilities that should allow me to hurt most anything we come across. I’m also confident in my ability to track whatever it is that’s bothering the miners.”

“Okay, it sounds like ye should have tha skills. This will be tha first time ye’ve left town without myself or Tarra with ye. Let me leave ye with an old dwarven sayin', ‘Bards sing as swiftly of defeat as victory; engage only in battles ye are destined to win.’ Know when to run. Yer job isn’t to defeat whatever ye find; it’s to get the miners back safely. That’s where the honor lies. If ye have to execute a fightin' retreat all the way back but save the miners, ye will be honored much more than if ye die to some unknown threat.”

By midday the team was heading out of Kan Ladur following a map they had been given. Each was loaded down with supplies, both for them and for the mining crew already there. Miguel was nervous about having left Deandra with Mardora, but he knew he needn't worry for her safety.

Once they were out of sight of the city guard, Celeste rounded everyone up. "I have a bad feeling about this job. I don't think we have the days it'll take to reach our destination." As she spoke they all received a notification, an invitation to join Celeste's party. "Please accept that invite. It will make the next part easier for me. Madora said to move as quickly as we can so we will." Celeste's hands started to move around in various motions before beginning to glow. Then the glow spread to the rest of the wizard before surging forward and encompassing the entire party.

[You are now Hasted. You will move 100% faster than usual for the duration of this spell.]

[You’ve entered into an area of reduced gravity. Your weigh has been decreased by 25%.]

"How long will these last?" Saxon asked?

"One hour for [Haste]. The gravity reduction will last until I stop casting it. When [Haste] wears off, we'll stop for water and food. Then do it again. I don’t know how long it’ll take but I say we run until we get there."

"Let's do it," Liam said.

At that, the whole party started jogging forward. As they got used to the new speed, they started to run. Before they knew it, an hour had passed. Celeste gave everyone five minutes to drink and eat a snack before she cast [Haste] again.

This pattern continued all day. The only changes were when Celeste's spell leveled up so the speed would increase. Celeste had gotten Haste to 4th level by the time they arrived close to the camp. She could now boost the group by 150% for three hours at a time.

The party walked up to the camp and found a haggard looking group of miners. Some were keeping watch, several were sleeping, and only 3 were actually mining. When one of the miners on lookout spotted them coming down the tunnel he called out. "Go away! Leave us be!"

Without missing a step, Dakota responded, "Sid would have our asses if we returned without you."

Once they were within 20 yards of the camp, the miners turned guards were standing side by side, blocking the path. At this, the party stopped. One miner called out, "We were told help wouldn't be here for days. Maybe we're losing our minds, maybe we're not. But we know it's not been days. Who are you really? Are you the lot that's been stealing our things? Interrupting our sleep?"

Miguel motioned for everyone to stay back while he took two steps forward. "Sid told us you were in an odd situation. We didn't think spending a couple days walking was the right call. We used a bit of magic and we ran all the way here. We're tired, but it's obvious we're not as tired as you lot are. Let us enter, and we can show proof of who we are as well as provide some supplies that we were asked to bring."

The miners looked to one another, but before they could make a decision another voice echoed from further down the tunnel. "Let 'em in Jonal!"

The miners jerked at the order but immediately stepped aside as Jonal answered, "Yes ma'am, Foreman Ehde," Jonal replied.

As the miners parted the group started forward and found the foreman to be a stout looking dwarven woman. Ehde was taller and far more muscular than Celeste. What really caught the group by surprise was her facial hair. While they’d seen a few dwarven women with a beard and mustache, Ehde’s was on a whole other level and hung nearly to her knees.

Realizing the guys were staring, Celeste stepped forward and clasped wrists with Ehde. "Pleasure to meet you foreman Ehde. I'm Celeste and these morons behind me are Miguel, Liam, Dakota, and Wendell."

Ehde studied the group for a moment before letting her gaze drift back to Celeste. "You and the human will need to be careful, not having a beard and all. Nothing to filter the air before you breathe it. Might make you sick." Turning and walking toward a room off to the side of the tunnel Ehde continued, "Thank you for coming so quickly. Recent events have us questioning everything. We work round the clock down here, 25/5. No days off until we're back home. Now that you're here I'll let my crew get back on schedule with thirteen hour shifts. I'd recommend you split your group the same way. I'd like one person near the camp watching everyone who's sleeping and one watching the crew mining. We're getting near shift change so figure out who will be staying up and who will be sleeping."

"That's all well and good, but we need to hear more details about what's been going on. What has come up missing? Where have you heard fighting? And most importantly, where did you see blood this morning?" Liam rapid fires.

Ehde turned to him and paused before answering, "Let's get the supplies you brought stowed away and I’ll share the story, then I'll take you around."

So, the crew did as was suggested and unloaded all the supplies they had brought. Ehde thought it odd when they declined the offer to stow their packs as well but wasn't going to question it. She then lead them around to various offshoots explaining as they went.

"I'm going to assume you lot know nothing about mining, and that's okay since you won't be doing any of it. But it'll be useful to know a few terms while you're here. The tunnel you came down is just referred to as the tunnel. Nothing fancy. These offshoots are exploratory tunnels. You see, there's a huge vein of coal off to your left. What we want to do is dig around it. Once we have some adits on each side, then we're done." Seeing their confused looked, "Oh, sorry. An adit is a tunnel that follows a seam. Once we know how big the seam is, we return to Kan Ladur and make a report. The clan heads then schedule for a full operation to come down and actually mine out the deposit. We should have already completed this job, but things are weirder than you know." Pausing next to where someone had marked the wall in chalk Ehde looked back at the group. "Forgive me but I gotta ask. I understand why the human doesn't know anything, but I was told that none of you knew anything about rock and mining?"

The group all looked a bit embarrassed before Liam spoke up. "We apologize for our ignorance. We weren't raised in or near a mountain, so we were never taught these things by our family. It is why we're here now. We seek to make up for the mistakes of our parents. And we brought our friends with us."

Ehde watched them all for a few seconds as if she was waiting for someone to say it was all a joke. Then she shook her head and said, "Well, we can't be held responsible for our parents' decisions, I suppose. At least you are here now. Though I do wonder why you have a gray dwarf and a human as friends. But that's none of my business. I'll teach you enough to do the job. Walk over to the far side of the tunnel and put your hand against this tunnel wall. Then I want you to close your eyes and just try to feel what's in the wall. Give it a minute or so, then come back to me and do it on this wall."

Everyone did as ordered, even Wendell, though he was sure he wouldn't learn anything. After a few seconds, a couple of folks jerked as they felt something pass through them. Ehde just motioned for them to stay quiet. Eventually, they all stepped back except Wendell.

"Come now, try the other side."

Once lined up on the other wall they all resumed concentrating and, much quicker this time, they all stood with smiles. Except Wendell.

"What did you feel?"

"Value," Miguel said.

"Yeah, I felt this side was more important than the other," Liam said.

"And you?" Ehde asked Celeste

"Same," said Celeste.

"Warmth," said Dakota. "Not that you asked me, but it felt warmer than the other side."

Ehde eyes widened. "Really?" she said, drawing the word out. "You may have a gift there gray one. We'll have to test that further at some point. But getting back to the issues we're having, I want you to try again, but about 10 yards down on the left. There'll be another chalk mark on the wall."

The party walked down to the mark and did as asked, but they all looked confused by the results.

"What did you sense this time?" Ehde asked.

"Nothing," said Celeste, Miguel, and Liam.

"Empty," said Dakota.

"Pain," said Wendell, clearly stunned.

"What?" Liam asked, stepping up to Wendell, who still had his hand on the wall.

"There's… there's something. No. There's someone in there. And they're in pain. So much pain."