** spoiler omitted **
"Actually, tha's a bit of a tale, y'know. However, I've an important message to deliver to Forfaðir á Hæst, concernin' the dragon god. It seems he's abou' ta march a host down 'ere, an' we gotta make sure they're prepared for their comin'. If ye've got some spare mounts, I think we could part with some valuables to pay for 'em. It'd make the goin' much swifter fer us."
To himself, Kjolmar thinks, I thought we were supposed to arrive at Anaph Pell immediately, yet already armies are on the march? Did more go wrong with this spell than we thought?
Kjolmar says to the dwarf, "My companions an' I would be honored."
There are a bunch of dwarves up ahead, like Kjolmar. Kjolmar told me to come getthe rest of you, as they should be friendly. Kjolmar said Dwarves don't work for the Dragon God, and he would know better than I.
Krathok gives the impression that he would be comfortable moving forward to greet the Dwarves.
Doing his best to hold his wings against his back and cover them with the cloak Orion carefully moves toward the dwarves.
The dwarves approach with Kjolmar and a woman in heavy sliver-colored armor in the lead. They stop before you and dip their colorful banners in greeting. Heilbrigður. Forfeður hafa sagt okkur um komu þína, þótt þeir vildu ekki segja að við vorum send til að vernda mönnum. The woman greets you. Leyfðu okkur að ríða til jarðsprengjur. Við getum snúa þér yfir til the fyrirtæki af eigin góður á daginn. She nods to you and especially it seems to Krathok. None of the dwarves seem to notice or care about Orion's Draconic features.
Kjolmar shoots through the collective, "Anyone wanna say somethin'?" He then waits for a reply, and translates it to Dwarven if he gets one. If not, he has nothing he'd personally like to say.
::Nothing personally, no.::
Krathok eyes the dwarves warily, but is eager to follow them to where they are leading.
Xaidan - "Obrigado."
"Thank you."
Orion says to the dwarf leader with a very respectful nod.
The dwarves offer you a hand up to join them on their mounts, and as they ride away with you in tow ask curiously about how you came to be in this place with no supplies or proper equipment.
Kjolmar explains to them that the group was being teleported by a powerful mage (not mentioning it was a dragon), but something went awry with the spell and they ended up here.
Krathok warily joins a dwarf on a horse, and rides in silence.
Orion rides quietly, listening to the conversation vie the collective.
The dwarves seem very surprised that you were teleported here, and a little bit apprehensive that you move in circles that include beings capable of teleportation. As you reach the smoke that you saw the previous day, you can see that it comes from a vast open mine worked by dozens of figures. However, you head for the walled compound next to the vast pit.
Quodak, while interested by the mine, doesn't stray from the group.
::I've never seen such a large hole. That must have taken forever to dig out.::
Kjolmar will make gruff conversation with the dwarves, doing his best to be the face of the group despite his poor social skills. He tries to get their opinions on dragons in the midst of it, to know whether they'd be resistant should they learn that the party was sent by one.
As you ride into a walled compound next to the huge mine and down a relatively wide thoroughfare towards an imposing edifice, the tallest behind the walls. to your sides, narrow alleys branch off for the length of the road, leading into a warren of more buildings arranged in walled compounds. As you pass, Dwwarves going about their business stop and point at the strange sight of foreigners in their town, especially Orion as at least some of them seem to have noticed his draconic features.
The building you are headed for is built in the same style, but with a three story facade featuring squat red towers flanking a large, silver gate.
The Dwarves you are riding with are reluctant to speak about the Dragons. Only the woman who spoke to you before seems willing to talk at all, and the other riders remain silent.
Krathok eyes the dwarves warily as the group rides into the compound...
Int:
Sense Motive:
As the group passes the mines Krathok's gaze lingers upon them... a sorrowful look in his eyes.
Quodak keep track of what's going on, or at least he thinks he does. He, at least, seems to have figured out where they're going, in general, although it doesn't seem important enough for him to tell the rest through the collective.
Kjolmar will speak to the others in the party through the collective, "We are headin' into their ancestral temple. I don' know why they would let us outsiders in, but be very respectful. Tis a great honor they do us." Besides the thoughts, he remains silent, doing quiet prayers to his own ancestors as they go along.
Gorak watches, but remains silent.
Int
Sense Motive
As he doesn't speak dwarven, Moredrel will ride along in silence, watching the riders and the streets.
Through the collective, "If they do us honor, it's because they want something of us. I'll be respectful, but don't let the honor get in the way of your judgment."
As you pass through the gates of the central building you can see that they are embossed with row upon row of images of dwarves engaged in various activities. The great silver gates close behind you and your guides deposit you in a small courtyard from which you are shown into a side chamber.
The room is low ceilined and dim, lit by flickering oil lamps. There are enough low cushions on the floor for each of you to sit around a container of coals. The dwarves stand outside to ensure that you do not wander, and you are clearly meant to wait for something.
Kjolmar plops down near the coals, eager to warm his hands over them. He says nothing, but looks around a great deal, very interested in what's going on.
Krathok warms his hands by a brazier, preferring to stand as it helps with his general unease.
Orion crouches and sits. The confined space makes him uncomfortable. Falling from a great height isn't much of a concern for him, but being crushed is quite another matter.
Quodak will take a seat on one of the cushions, warming his hands as well, and clearly impressed by the architecture of the dwarves.
As you sit in the antechamber of the temple, you hear a great commotion outside and shocked shouting in Dwarven. Looking outside through your room's small windows you can see a red glow of fire approaching the wall of the temple as guards run towards whatever the commotion is while townsfolk run away.
Kjolmar, though interested, doesn't move from his spot. However, he will watch the windows carefully, and listen for anything else indicating what the problem is.
Quodak will leap to his feet, and rush over to a window. After seeing what's going on, ,even though he doesn't see much, he rushes out to help the guards however he can.
Krathok does not move to follow yet, though is ill at ease.
Orion joins the others in their rush to help the guards and find out what is going on.