Well now. At least I’m toasty warm as I rest up. I am physically completely recovered from my near brush with death, though I am mentally exhausted at the prospect of moving onward. Fortunately, I’ll have time to recover whilst the others sleep to recover from their even more grievous wounds. But as often, I am ahead of myself again. I have only a single question. Why do Dwarves never stop digging? If only they’d restrain themselves just a little, so many problems would be averted.

But here we are in the aftermath. Against my recommendation, the group was determined to rescue the last living dwarf from his impending doom. Damakos came up with a plan that went something like this:

1. Damakos would enter the chamber and in a furious tone and aggressive manner announce himself as a special representative of The Emissary sent to determine the cause of the apparent lack of progress. He would demand that the dwarf be turned over to him for interrogation with his special methods, and possibly sacrificed on the dwarfs own altar above if he failed to divulge the information required.
2. The horde of Orcs (once again, led by another “biggest Orc we’ve ever seen”) would be cowed by his manner, and buy into his bluff as a representative of their superiors and turn over the prisoner.
3. Damakos and the prisoner would then boldly march out of the chamber and climb the stairway.
4. As the enemy followed behind, we would attack them with the mini-ballista and knock them to their dooms.

Plan B was thus:

1. Everybody rush in and save Damakos’s bacon while he retreated (hopefully with the dwarf) towards the entrance.

I placed myself at the corner where I could observe the encounter. Damakos boldly strode into the chamber. Talk about some serious guts. Surprisingly, Plan A seemed to be working rather well up to a certain point. He cursed out the soldiers, berated the “biggest ugly” for his inept handling of the interrogation, and briskly stormed his way all the way to the far end of the chamber, right through the ranks of enemies. But this requires a little description.

The chamber beyond the bend is around forty or fifty feet wide. Roughly rectangular extending away from the entrance. It is around eighty to a hundred feet long. Large. Spaced along the left and far walls are dwarven forges where they did metal work or somesuch. Along the ceiling in the fifteen foot wide entry hall were iron pipes carrying away smoke and heat. The right-hand wall was a mass of partially collapsed stone in which could be seen the bodies of several dwarves. The ceiling of the chamber extended upwards far enough to not bother measuring. The far right corner of the chamber was a scene from Hell itself. Towering flames roared out of control dozens of feet tall, billowing and writhing. The heat blasting forth was so intense I could see combustibles like a pair of leather boots spontaneously burst into flame though more than five feet separated them from the actual flames.

Add into the chamber a shaman, the “biggest ugly yet” a war-painted freak, three huge orcs with great axes, and I’d guess eight normal bad-ass orcs with clubs. And of course, a single living dwarf being manhandled by the biggest ugly.

Now that the stage be set, Damakos boldly marches up to the prisoner and biggest ugly. He even gets a rope around the dwarfs neck and starts back before biggest ugly threatens his life. That’s when Plan B went into effect.

Damakos threatened Biggest Ugly for “daring to challenge his authority” whilst the rest of us moved to take advantage of the surprise. Seriously, Damakos should be on stage. I had a brief urge to shoot The Emissary’s Interrogator. As weapons were brought back for swings, I turned back the group and gave the “Plan B” signal – my finger drawn across my throat. There was a flash, a boom, and a whoosh from behind me. I turned back and saw Damakos elsewhere from where he’d been as Gil Jh’Dek charged past me around the bend. Yamis and Brokenglass followed as I lined up on Biggest Ugly with the ballista. I planned on pushing him into the raging inferno at his back, but the bolt dinged harmlessly from his shield.

Damakos retreated to Gil Jh’Dek’s side, and I noted a freely bleeding gash across his belly that hadn’t been there moments ago. In the confusion, I guess I missed the blow. It looked very painful and probably fatal. I pointed it out to Yamis in case he hadn’t noticed. Gil Jh’Dek layed about himself with Roarstraag dealing blows evenhandedly. But he got as good as he gave, and there were many more of them than there were of him. He quickly began showing serious signs of distress.

I’d backed behind the corner to reload the ballista, when suddenly there were two orcs standing right in front of Yamis. One had left himself wide open and I took a hastily aimed shot with the ballista. I missed, and dropped the ballista and before he could react took two steps forward and thrust with my rapier. I took him high in the shoulder, and mostly disabled the arm. I was just a hair slow pulling back and his friend nearly put a lump on my head but I managed to duck it just in time that it was only a glancing blow.

Beyond, I could see that Gil Jh’Dek was in a bad way. He looked to be going down any moment. Damakos was similarly in predicament and would soon be worse off if Gil Jh’Dek were to fall. Biggest Ugly had moved between Damakos and Gil Jh’Dek and the rest of us. I saw an opportunity if I could get there in time. I nodded at these two Orcs to Yamis and he grinned. I bowed slightly to the ork in front of me and said “I leave you to the tender mercies of my companion” as I fainted low with the rapier. As his attention was drawn downward, I leapt up and with one hand grasped hold of the piping running along the ceiling. A kick of my legs and a twist of my torso flung me up and over the startled orcs head and I was off, charging at the unaware back of Biggest Ugly. Ding. Darned plate armor. Biggest barely spared me a glance and a look of disdain twisted his ugly visage as he turned away.

Good. I prefer it when my enemy ignores me. Another berserking orc moved in behind me. Only a twist that set my spine popping prevented his overhand chop from cutting me down, though it left twinges for the rest of the combat. Just then, Biggest Ugly spun around in a full circle with his blade wildly flailing around. I couldn’t follow it, and it layed open my left arm from shoulder to elbow and knocked me into the wall. Gil Jh’Dek was on the ground. I’m not sure when he fell. I thought he was dead, but then he lashed out with his axe and hamstrung an orc who thrust his blade into Gil Jh’Dek and killed him. Or so I and everyone else thought.

I gathered myself and thrust deeply into the back of Biggest Ugly’s knee, hoping to cut the popliteal artery there, and did indeed inflict what looked to be a significant wound. But my main goal was to assist Gil Jh’Dek and I used the momentum from my slam into the wall to rebound in a somersault past my assailant, and around to the back of the orc who had just slain my friend. Or so I thought.

I’d thought Damakos was a convincing actor. Gil Jh’Dek can play possum better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He wasn’t dead and was soon on his feet yet again. Together, we made short work of the berserker.

During all of this, I’d lost track of the Shaman, though there was evidence of his magic here and there healing his minions. That’s when I heard Yamis order in a voice that “could not be ignored” that someone should get themselves back to the fire from whence their foul blood had been born. Followed immediately by the howling shrieks of someone on fire. As he stumbled back out of the raging inferno, the dwarf whom had been forgotten rushed over and slammed him with a glowing hammer.

“Finish him off Gil” I said as I moved to assist Damakos against Biggest Ugly again. Gouts of flame from up the hallway announced Brokenglass, and Yamis followed taking out the orc berserker I’d left behind in an almost casual manner.

Chaos ensued as I engaged Biggest Ugly again. I tried to keep opposite Damkos, and also keep just a step or two away so his whirling blades couldn’t reach me if he pulled that spinning move again. I was partially successful, but Damakos went down hard. My last potion of healing slipped into my palm as I parried my way to his side and slipped him the precious liquid.

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a finely made rapier half burried in small stones. I fought and parried my way towards it, but Biggest Ugly managed to slam me to my knees. I bounced right back up, but I’m afraid my wardrobe is again destroyed beyond repair. My knees wobbled, and my vision swam as I lined up just one more thrust. I went for the seam under the armpit, and succeeded. I know I had delivered a mortal wound, but Biggest Ugly wasn’t done quite yet. He was preparing to finish me off when out of nowhere Yamis’s flail crumpped on top of his head.

That’s when I saw Gil Jh’Dek. Dead. Yet again. Brokenglass was trying to bind his wounds, but he wasn’t breathing. Yamis moved to the dwarf who had somehow gotten himself smashed by Biggest Ugly and administered to him. I assisted on Gil Jh’Dek. It was very much a close thing. I breathed for him for several precious minutes as Yamis, Brokenglass, and even the battered Damakos stitched, bound, and cauterized his bleeding wounds. Finally, he turned his normal off-blue color and his diaphragm twitched correctly on its own.

That’s about when I collapsed in a heap. I waved off Yamis as I didn’t think I’d expire without his immediate and constant attention, unlike the dwarf, Gil Jh’Dek, and Damakos. Eventually, he declared them stable and ministered to my wounds with Pelors blessings and praises for my efforts in his divine work. Etcetera, etcetera. The upshot, I feel fine if drained. My wounds are closed and healed.

Now, Mr. Danen Greef tells us the inferno in the corner is the remains of a tunnel the ancient dwarves had dug. Guess where it leads? Through the mountain and out the other side. What is it about a mountain and a dwarf that makes them say “I must dig a hole through to the other side, or down to it’s roots”? Anyway, these tunnels also go to The Vents where the Farstriders went. Danen says there is a control room there which will let him flood them. Rather than letting the orc army come through and fight them on THIS side of the mountains. No time to go back to Overlook and give the warning shout.