How many dwarves are there here?

The battle with the dwarves, gnomes and whatever those fish men were having ended the party gathered up and healed their wounds. They had a prisoner and needed to decide what should be done with him. It was decided Ruurik would round up all the more moral party members off to the side where they could plan out their next move while Raifer and Cade interrogated the captive.

The prisoner was quite cooperative but made it clear he expected to be tortured and killed. He answered their questions openly and provided answered regarding the arrival of the Gnomes in Sudalon, their being welcomed as emissaries and the growing influence they had on the kingdom royalty. Something like 10 or 20 of them had become very important in Sudalon and almost seemed as if they almost had carte blanche for their behavior and actions in the kingdom. He shared that Al-Alin was the new enemy as it was now ‘common knowledge’ they wanted the Adamantium mines north of Sudalon the dwarves were mining with the aid of the Gnomes who had found the veins. Al-Alin dwarves were bad, evil and rotten. The information got even more detailed regarding the gnomes and their new fangled equipment and the composition of the military force headed for Al-Alin. They were at least 2,000 in number along with siege equipment and were heading south along the wasteland looking for a convenient place to cross. For his cooperation the dwarf was offered food, water and humane treatment as their prisoner back in Al-Alin where he could see for himself they were not the evil beings rumor had built them to be. But he was made to understand any treachery or attempt to escape would void that agreement.

Raifer decided it would be a good idea to send back as much info as they could to forewarn the dwarves of Al-Alin. Garan, Warrex and Alydra would be sent back as guards of the prisoner and as the wards of the message. It was suggested that Al-Alin reach out to the potion salesmen along the waste and mix in phony wares amongst their real protection vials in an effort to reduce the number of their fight capable force. A further request was sent to perhaps send along more Talking Crystals as the main target was now believed to not be Sudalon but rather Gulfmoor and the party would be extending their trip to that kingdom too. Additional requests were sent asking to try to reach to their contacts in Sudalon to attempt a reverse propaganda campaign promoting how good Al-Alin really was, that the Sudalon royalty was under the influence of Mind Flayers and greed over the Adamantium had corrupted them.

But before they left, one last investigation was under way. The group found one of the floating vehicles used by the Gnomes. They wanted to destroy or dissect it for extra information. Ruurik found one of the touch plates and tried to pry it open but was unable. His next effort involved using his battle axe. Two mighty swings of the weapon and the plate was cloven on its hinges and laid bare the inner workings underneath. There they saw multi colored veins and clockwork gears. The opening was wide enough for a small or slender hand to reach in and Jerri volunteered. He reached in and tried to pull at the veins but could not yank them free. He noticed a place where they were secured down by some ligament. Grabbing around that location he pulled again and the bunch came loose sending a great shock through Jerri and Cade, who was standing by to help. The bunch of red, green and black veins contained some type of thin copper and had been secured by a leather strap was now free and in Jerri’s hand. Jerri also spotted some blood or fluid oozing inside the device. When they finally were able to extract some of this it resembled pitch or oil. All of this material and information was also sent back with the team to Al-Alin. The party decided to press on as quickly as they could to Umbriola hopefully to gather more information and supplies and perhaps spread word that an impending attack from Sudalon was on its way.

They moved as quickly as they could and made it to Umbriola about an hour after sun down. They found a nice inn, rented rooms, stabled their horses and wagons and went to find food, drink and the location of a place to get supplies the next morning before turning in. They found a decent restaurant and bar where they could get food. In the bar area there were two dwarves apart from everyone else who seemed to be the only ‘adventurer types’ in the establishment. Raifer tried to sidle up and overhear their conversation but was coldly rebuffed when he tried to engage them. When the two dwarves left Tyrade followed them but soon lost track of them in town only to find they had doubled back on him and surprised him as he was returning to the inn. They instructed Tyrade to leave them alone and then proceeded to walk over to the inn where the party was staying.

By this time Raifer and the remainder of the party had already negotiated a deal for food supplies for their travels and made their way back to the inn. They met the dwarves outside the inn and some very uncomfortable words were exchanged as both sides verbally parried for information from the other. Eventually they decided to step inside and have a quiet conversation. Eventually the dwarves identified themselves as citizens of Oolm, another dwarven kingdom further north and east of Al-Alin. They had heard rumblings of unrest in Sudalon and were there to investigate. The dwarves told them they were in part looking for this group of travelers. Word of this group had made its way around and they had killed 2 Sudalon assassin teams in Zumbrota and had the odd Sudalon medallion to prove it. As Raifer revealed more of their information the Oolm dwarves revealed that Gulfmoor was a Gmonish kingdom that worshipped Cthulu and had been destroyed some 200 years ago and fallen in to the sea. It was no more. But this information struck a chord with Raifer. The odd devices, the fish head like creatures. It all began to remind him of some of the things he had seen long ago on an island in the 10,000 Island chain where Oolst the dwarf had found his very special battle axe. It all added up to the conclusion this was connected to the Cthulu religious zealots attempting to restore the pantheon to the world.

All of this now in the open the two dwarves agreed to travel with the party if they could get them in to Sudalon. They needed first hand evidence to bring back to Oolm which would justify their honoring treaties with Al-Alin and join up to oppose Sudalon. They introduced themselves as Armin Dwarfellow and Hammer. Everyone agreed to be out and on their way as soon as they could in the morning. The food supplies would be ready by noon, the group would be able to run in to the inner city to gather up weapon and adventuring supplies and a group would go visit the local woodsman, Jeb, to get maps of the area north of Umbriola and towards Zumbrota to speed their trip.

In the morning Marci, Justin, Ilykia and Meercon were up and over to Jeb’s by 5:30. As they approached his secluded cabin they heard sounds of thrashing abouts in the water and then grunts suggesting a fight. They split and went around the cabin from both sides. As they made their way to the rear of the cabin they found 4 of the fish men attacking Jeb. Quickly jumping in to action they drew their bows and began to fire, Meercon charged in with his sword flashing. Arrows flew and struck their targets and swords were sunk into flesh as the fish men jumped Jeb and proceeded to rend him with their poisonous claws. One tried to jump Meercon but was rebuffed and Justin was slashed with the vitriolic claws. Ilykia was able to drop one with a string of arrows and Meercon dropped another with a sword slash. But as the battle was turning Jeb was struck one last time and his struggling ceased. The fish man was ganged upon by the group and quickly destroyed while the last tried to retreat back in to the lake on which Jeb’s place backed up on. But the group was quick with their bows and Meercon was able to catch up to it and the combination was enough to end its life.

The conflict done, Justin used prayers to revive Jeb as they helped him back to his bed. Ilykia was sent back to get Raifer and the group and local authorities to help Jeb. The local police brought a sizable group of at least 40 to search the area around Jeb’s. Healing was provided and Jeb agreed to give the group copies of his maps to aid their travel and take them to a provisioner that would give them great equipment at a very good price. It just happened to be his brother Jim. The group purchased all the equipment they could think of to bring and made their way back to the food vendor to stock up their other supplies so they could get on their way.

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