Rana - April is nearly at an end. Maidens from The Roost filed down past the guild halls. Braids and bright ribbons adorning their heads. Bridesmaids accompanied a girl of no more than twenty. The procession filed by en route to a certain future. My own uncertain circumstances did not accommodate frills and lace. Not that I could afford it if I want to.
The boys were busy inking a deal to buy the old brewery from the Shatterhammer family. For my part I was invited along to aid in clearing the old storage house set in the Windhollows. As kids we were told ghost stories about the old mines. The adults went to great lengths to ensure that kids had a healthy fear of the old mines. Stories and limericks mockingly called from the deep recesses of my memory as we entered the hole in the mountain.
Hakeer’s hulking frame blotted out my view of the passage ahead. He had joined our group and entered onto the payroll less than a week ago. Somehow his presence calmed my misgivings about entering the place of childhood nightmares. He was a man of few words until danger lurked near by. He took the lead as we delved deeper. His soldier training was evident in his methodical nature. At times he seemed to pause as if waiting for orders from some unseen commander. Then after a deep breath he would push on.
The mines were separated from the storage area by a rock and mortar wall. It appeared that someone had pulled out the rocks from this side. Likely within the last few weeks. We pressed on into the old mines after surveying the scene were a few men had died from whatever malevolent entity was holdup in tis place. The witnesses had described it as an angry spirit. Some of the details didn’t square with what I knew about spirits, which didn’t make me feel any better.
The mine appeared to be formed around a main chimney like cavern and a second smaller one. hallways and chamber connected the two shafts. A central lift system once serviced the main cavern, but only the support structure and a few rotting ropes remained.
Danin and Hakeer chose to take us down the smaller shaft that had a walkway that descended to the lower level. A clicking sound would rise and fall in the chambers. It was ominous to think that so many creatures were living in this relic. It turned out the sound was coming from a colony of blind cave crickets, some as large as me.
We were not half way down the first course of walkways when a nightmarish spider descended onto Danin. The enormous creature seemed to envelope the dwarf, who was stuck in some unseen webbing. Hakeer, roped to Danin, attempted to split the spider with a flying acrobatic attack only to slide off the side of the creature to his own peril. We unleash the fury of our weapons on the creature and soon the threat was eliminated. I couldn’t see Danin for the Spider’s mass. The poison had worked perilously close to his heart. I was angry with myself and the others for our selfish bickering while Danin nearly perished.
We spent the next hours finding one dead end shaft or another. Confirming the documented mine shaft on the map we had discovered near the entrance. We had worked out way back to the main cavern where we discovered a second platform that was once served by the lift. A few abandoned chambers surround the platform that was significantly diminished in its structural soundness. I estimated that if more than three of us were on the platform at a given time the structure may not bear the load.
A teeter-totter handle was connected to some kind of a pump system that overlooked the shaft. It was humid enough in here to validate that water must be somewhere below. Clearly this was no place for a fine dress and frilly ribbons. I’ll consider braiding my hair, but only to keep someone or something from trying to use it as leverage in a fight.
