With the winding path to Stonegarden behind them, the party returned to the mountain fortress.
An unsettling silence greeted them, with far fewer guards on patrol than they were used to. As they neared the entrance to the holy city, the party debated their next move: should they go public with the truth about their quest, or should they speak to the Belderanians royals first?
As the hunters grumbled about not being paid, Rudever offered, “I feel complicit in Kristov’s choices. I’ll throw in some silver for the effort.” Lucia and Sturmberg followed suit and with their payment settled, the party turned to the newest members.
Grimnir, who had once planned to die on the quest or leave the city forever, now chose to stick with the group, reasoning, “It’s safer in numbers.” He was welcomed, though Lucia couldn’t resist a quip: “The last dwarf we brought with us got both his arms chopped off before being killed. So just be careful.” To which Grimnir replied, “I’ll be sure to get some bracers.”
The fearless wolfkin, Zarah, was also accepted, though on a “trial basis.” When she pointed out that her time with them “down there wasn’t a trial?” Lucia slyly responded, “Well, you were stuck with us, so it doesn’t really count.”
Once again faced with many branching choices: telling the truth about Scarne, informing the Belderanians first, finding the missing prince, the party debated longer as the sun grew higher in the sky. Princess Arvia said the choice must be theirs, but she was inclined to keep the truth secret. The princess admitted that while she is biased due to the impact it would have on her clan, she was more worried about how the revelation would change dwarven society. The grizzled dwarven warrior Lupendus Firm echoed her sentiments, but followed that guidance by saying the dwarves could stand to benefit from change.
At an impasse, Rudever the druid resolved to use arcane methods to divine the best way forward. Calling upon his fickle magical ability, Rudever cast the Truth Path spell and delved into its visions. His spell worked and showed him a young person lost in subterranean tunnels. Coming out of his trance, the druid told the party he believed they must find the missing Belderannian prince Trondeval first before heading to the royal court.
Heading into Stonegarden’s marketplace, the unusual group of adventurers walked slowly through the many stalls and were surprised at the increased number of guards. Spotting a trader without customers, Grimnir maneuvered the party toward the dwarf’s direction. The merchant told them the fortress was still abuzz about the “ancient dwarves” and “strange adventurers” who dared the depths of the mountain before telling them how all the clans were searching for the prince. He also mentioned that Stonegarden shook from something down below.
Grimnir pulled the merchant aside and pulled back his hood, causing the dwarf to gasp. “Grimnir! I told you to bring your business to the side entrance. I have a reputation to keep,” the merchant said. The tired dwarven thief looked ruefully at the trader and spoke, “Yes, I’ll move everyone along shortly, but first, you need to tell us what’s really going on.” Grimnir knew the trader to be a fence on the black market and one of his better customers in times past.
“Fine, fine,” the merchant huffed. “It sounds like old King Turik is taking a turn for the worse. There have also been sightings of orcs in the forests nearby. The clans are at a boiling point, and so everyone is racing to get the prince and thereby get an upper hand in all the intrigue.” Thanking the merchant for his time, Grimnir led the party back toward the catacombs.
Once out of sight of the dwarven cityfolk, Zarah the wolfkin drew herself up to her full height and began searching for the prince. The huntress took point and led the way through the dark, musty tunnels before the party stumbled upon an unbelievable sight: the prince himself, surrounded by orcs behind a metal gate.
The prince, a dreamer allegedly obsessed with elvish culture, spoke of a grand alliance between their races. But his companion, the orc leader Alarag, was brutish and mean-spirited. The princeling pleaded with the adventurers to let him and Alarag in so they could parlay with the gathered dwarven royals.
The group was wary of the choice. Grimnir had no love for the fortresses’ leaders but felt it was his duty as a dwarf to protect his people, saying, “My biggest fear would be for the orcs to invade the market.”
Zarah agreed and pointed out that the orcs would undoubtedly try to rush the gate and storm the city if they had the chance. As the orcs started to get restless and angry, the party hatched a plan.
Lucia walked closer to the gate and convinced Alarag that the gate was jammed and couldn’t be opened. The orc didn’t see through her ruse and agreed to march his band and the prince to the front gates to start a parlay. The adventurers were worried that Alarag would use Trondeval as a hostage, but knew there wasn’t much they could do about it. The issue was only made worse as Lucia discerned that Alarag had no intention to peacefully talk with the dwarves.
Once the warband turned face and started walking into the dark tunnel on the opposite side of the gate, Grimnir collapsed himself tight against the metal bars and used his assassin’s tricks to squeeze through. Meanwhile, Rudever once more called upon his arcane skills. Intending to call upon a spell that would scare the orcs into confusion, he accidentally opened a rift in reality.
The portal started to swirl with energy before a large, clawed hand tore through it from the Mog, and a shadowy demon grabbed the terrified prince. Trondeval screamed in terror as the massive arm pulled him through the void. The orcs were indeed terrified by the event and ran howling deeper into the lightless tunnel.
With the prince gone and the orcs scattered, the party stood in shock on their side of the gate. It was Grimnir who broke the silence as they all pondered what to tell the dwarves — “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my line of work, sometimes the less you say the better.”
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