On closer examination, the dwarves' equipment, while well-maintained is primitive. Their armor is not sealed and there are none of the subtle bulges that would suggest force field atmospheric containment. They don't have a single energy weapon, or even a handgun between them. Their leader has an antique crossbow of all things.
The dwarf seems happy with celestial speech.
"Your group has so many races. What are Starfinders? And what are those creatures behind you? I like not their smell. "
Wazasha approaches Grathus, then swerves and sidles up to Idir. "Space goblins, now dwarves. What do you think about this?"
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Idir's face scrunches up and down pensively as he considers Wazasha's question.
"At the moment, I'm not sure WHAT to think, as I can't understand the language they're conversing with Ms. Farella in. But considering their...equipment, I suspect these dwarves are very different from their Star Citadel cousins. Most likely from a Vault similar to the one I previously visited in my last expedition here."
He considers warning her to be careful in conversation with them should the dwarves start talking with the camera crew, lest they subject these dwarves to EXTREME culture-shock...but then realizes she'd probably be the opposite of careful to get exactly that reaction out of the dwarves and says nothing else.
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Luanna first telepathically advises Wazasha and the crew that she will speak first with the dwarves in Celestial and explain to them the situation, which may take some time. She asks if they have any way to translate celestial for the audience so she doesn't have to interrupt things to translate herself. She promises her allies she will give them brief telepathic updates.
Then she speaks to Ylga. "I am proud to be able to the first of our people to greet you. We are all from places far distant. There is indeed a surface where you may find safety. We come from beyond the surface, from other planets around other stars. Those who smell bad are not dangerous and are documenting what we discover as we explore the interior of the planet. They are ... technically dead, but not in a bad way. Starfinders, as our organization's name implies, explores the greater realm of the stars. We come from various places where intelligence has graced many different types of beings. I am also a doctor, so if any of your people need medical attention, we will do what we can to help. Now, what can you tell us of what is below? What are the dangers of exploring deeper? "
Wazasha, over comms, "Celestial? We can do that for the audience. I'll even patch it back into everyone's comm feeds except Luanna, but we're on a five second delay. Give me a couple minutes. We can't translate for the team, though. "
Ylga stares at Luanna. "Dead, but not in a bad way? Stars? You speak the language of truth, but I understand nothing.
You came from below. Didn't you see the orcs? For lifetimes we've dug upward to escape them. We thought we'd left them behind, but recently they found us again. They're smaller than the legends say, and they use magic now --rays of fire that we have no protection against. "
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"We only just arrived entering from the surface. We only encountered a couple of goblins and some kind of scavenger. No orcs yet. If you want to get to the surface, we can direct you to where we came in. How long has your people lived here? Can you share a little of your history? I promise we will explain more about our history, but that may have to wait until we finish our exploration."
"We have to go down to get to the surface? For lifetimes we've gone up. Who are you? You came from the surface?"
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Luanna sighs. "We are from the greater universe that contains all things, including this planet and these tunnels. From this area it looks like a natural cave complex but down below," she gestures toward the hole through which she and the others climbed/flew, "you will see a tunnel made out of metal and things you probably cannot imagine or understand how they work. This was created by someone very powerful and advanced for purposes we know not. How many generations have your lived here?"
"We've always in this world, but our father's fathers started the Quest for Sky. If you are asking us to go down to get to the surface, then we need to consult the whole clan. Will you come with us to our quarters?"
Ylga looks sharply at Luanna. " Sequence initiated," she says in ackwardly dwarf accented common. Switching back to celestial she continues, "You speak the language of the rock spirits. I've heard them in the stone.
And welcome Idir of herd Fernas. You are properly courteous."
Along the way to the dwarves camp:
Wazasha pulls Luana and Ferrox separately aside for a brief moment in the Box. "What do you think of developments with the dwarves?"
When Luanna gets back to Yiga, she asks, "How do you measure time's passing? Do the words 'day,' 'night,' 'month' or 'year' mean anything to you?"
Ylga replies in celestial. "We measure time in cycles of waking and sleeping now. My mother told me that in the Hall of Brudan before the orcs came time was measured by bowls filled by water the dripping from a stalctite. A full cycle was 74 bowls. "
The trip to the dwarven quarters takes only about 30 minutes of spelunking. There are some squeezes through tight (especially for Grathus) crevices in the rock, some natural open chambers, and places where crude tools have hewn through the stone.
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Ylga replies in celestial. "We measure time in cycles of waking and sleeping now. My mother told me that in the Hall of Brudan before the orcs came time was measured by bowls filled by water the dripping from a stalctite. A full cycle was 74 bowls. "
Luanna repeats the question in celestial and after hearing the answer, she asks, "How many cycles do your people typically live?"
If Yiga is curious, Luanna explains cycles on Castrovel. A cycle of walking and sleeping is called a day and corresponds to the time it takes the planet to rotating once, with about half that time in daylight and half in darkness. Then she explains that there are 180 days in one orbit of the planet around the sun.
"Oh many cycles. It's hard to count now that we are digging for Sky. The Library of the People kept a toll of cycles. My mother said we lived for many hands and feet of hands and feet of hands and feet when te cycles could be recorded there."
She's fascinated by the idea day and night. "There will be many new things when we reach the sky."
**** THE MARBLEHEART CAMP ****
You step into a large natural cavern. Stone buildings are scattered across the cavern's floor. With some pride Ylga says, "Here are our quarters. We've lived here for cycles nearly a hands and feet of hands and feet. "
Most of the buildings are sturdily built and have features you might have seen described in a medieval romance like reinforced doors, arrow slits, and other modest fortifications. But others have fallen into ruin.
In the north wall the stone has been carved to resemble a building facade. The door in the facade is blocked by a large fractured stone mass. Many residents are gathered in a clearing in front of the mass. A few work with picks, hammers , and shovels to get through the rock. Around the village other dwarves scramble over and around the collapsed buildings, pulling stone away and casting it aside.
The expressions of Ylga and the other dwarves with you darken when they see the collapsed buildings and notice a large rift in the cavern floor running right through the center of the settlement. "Earthquake!" They immediately run down into the cavern to help.
Wazasha cackles over the comms. "Finally. Maybe we'll get some ratings now!"
The team follows the dwarves down to the cavern floor. The village dwarves willing accept your help despite communication difficulties. After an hour or two of work, you've extracted a pair of children, and an adult from the rubble. You've also excavated four dead bodies. There's a large number of wounded, but the worst injuries you've seen are come broken limbs. Wazasha seems pleased with the blood and emotional distress of the dwarves.
Most of the dwarves have gathered in front of the rock mass in front of the towering columns of the building facade.
Wazasha breaks in on your comms. "You'd better get over there. Apparently it's some kind of temple and their high priest is trapped inside. Fan's are voting now, but I'd say they've picked up on your do-gooder vibe. It's running three to one for you to rescue the priest."
Ylga is speaking with some long-bearded dwarves, but she turns at your approach. " We think our chief priest, Holsin Nolskrit, is trapped in the House of Torag. We think it's going to take hours, or even days to get through this mass of rock blocking the entrance. But there might be another way." She gestures behind her.
The rift in the village floor narrows here, where it runs through the temple wall and forms a fissure. A silvery fluid pools at the bottom of the fissure and flows slowly toward the main portion of the rift.
Wazasha over comms: "Excellent! The fans are loving this. They're voting 9 to 1 for you to try the fissure. You guys could win their hearts AND save the priest AND score big for the Starfinder Society. Happy fans mean a happy Zo!, and a happy Zo! is a generous Zo!"
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Luanna checks that her medkit is securely attached to her belt at the small of her back. She takes a moment to put on an Enviro Mask in case any toxic gases were released in the fissure. She turns on a lantern for light and starts working her way into the fissure.
Luanna and Idir make ready to squeeze through the fissure. Ferrox and Grathus look less certain. The lashunta dips in a toe. At least the fluid is not acidic. Her armored boot doesn't disintegrate in a foaming mess.
a PC can identify this as a synthetic lubricant, much as would be
found in a mechanical engine or hydraulic system. The substance
isn’t directly harmful to the touch.
It's tight but you maneuver through the fissure.
Once through, you are in what was once a rectangular stone room. The fissure has broken through a corner of the room created a pool of the fluid and a small beach. An intact portion of smooth flooring leads through an archway, then up stairs.
PC's who got wet find that the fluid spreads across their clothing, and is simply hard to remove. It is also quite slippery. It's hard to maintain your footing.
The stairway leads to a larger room that has niches carved in the wall, filled with the dwarves' various goods and supplies.
From the large storage room you can look through another arch into a large bare gathering hall whose walls bear several detailed carved likenesses of dwarves performing great deeds of forging and heroism.
In some cases, you have to squeeze into or through an area that isn’t as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. While squeezing, you have the entangled condition (see page 275), which includes moving at half your speed.
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Luanna is not an athlete, but she makes a try at staying dry. Once through, she proceeds cautiously, peering about curiously. She thinks to the group, "Someone went to a lot of trouble to convince these dwarves they are in natural caverns. Maybe the system is getting old and failing. We know another section had clones involved in a different sort of experiment."
Luanna and Idir find their way into the hewn stone storeroom, quite dry.
It's a squeeze for the big dragonkin, but he manages to maneuver his bulk through the fissure. Ferrox is less fortunate. As you gather yourselves on the beach in the storeroom, you here a splash from the fissure and the insectile ghibrani slogs into the small pool, dripping in silvery fluid.
He strides up the gritty beach easily enough, but on the smooth stone his feet slide about. Unbalanced, his carapace flares as he falls, but he manages to get his dry hand on the wall to catch himself. After a moment he starts moving again, this time in a cautious shuffle.