"This Is Life Itself"

After the battle, we found the lone dwarf on the ground. He was in bad shape.

Through cracked and bloodied lips, the dwarf spoke. "You are not known to me." He gazed at all of us and focused his attention on Tiny, our Dwarven Cleric. "Kill me now or kill me later. It is your choice, brother."

"We should make sure that Garg doesn't finish him off," suggested Carlagnios. Garg glared back at him.

Tiny looked back at the dwarf. "You have nothing to fear from us. I don't work for the Lord Chimera."

"I don't believe you," the dwarf replied.

"But I'm a dwarf! And we destroyed the teardrop in the sky and stole these mounts!"

The dwarf sighed. "The Chimera can turn anyone to his will."

Tiny thought for a moment. He asked, "Do you know who Po is?"

The dwarf nodded.

"Do you know what this is?" asked Tiny, holding up his warhammer.

"Is ... Is that Loom?"

Loom responded through Tiny's mouth, "Aye. The Same."

"Then... you must have met Berit." We did remember the dwarf who had given Loom to Tiny.

"Yes," Loom responded.

"She never made it back to us," the dwarf explained, "so we never knew if she was successful in her mission."

"Yes, we did meet her -- it must have been three months ago."

The dwarf quickly sat up. "You must come with me."

Tiny healed the dwarf's wounds while we searched the dragon's bodies. In the mouth of one of the dragons, we found a long and large gold chain. Kale carefully separated it from the dragon's mouth and put it into the Bag.

We found nothing else and joined Tiny and the dwarf again. The dwarf introduced himself as Pesker the Younger. He led us on our mounts across the sky. After a while, he motioned for us to stop and land.

"We cannot fly any further. Otherwise, we will be seen in the sky and attacked."

He led us the rest of the way on foot. We stopped at a keep with four stone towers. At the top of each tower was a giant ballista. As we approached, the ballistae swiveled to follow us.

"We can leave our mounts here. They will tend to them for us."

We entered the keep and followed a set of stairs down. We reached a point where the stairs were flooded, and we could go no further.

"Let us wait here."

As we waited, the water slowly receded (almost as if it were being drained out), and we were able to continue.

We were led through a damp passageway, and Pesker warned us, "Move along and do not touch anything that is wet. The liquid is a venom that we use to discourage intruders."

"Oh, neat!" said Tiny.

"Uh, we should keep Tiny from touching that," Ryn cautioned.

"Hey!" Carlagnios yelled at Tiny. "Don't touch that, Tiny!" he snarled, slapping Tiny's hand. Tiny pulled back his hand and looked sorely disappointed.

As we continued through the passageway, we noticed giant stones hanging above us. It seemed like the stones could be dropped to block the passageway and prevent further intrusion.

We finally reached another flooded area (which Pesker called "a water lock") and waited for the water to be drained out before we continued.

"Why is this area so well defended?" asked Ryn.

"We have help to do this. I'll show you."

We continued until we reached a towering steel wall with a picture of Moradin shaping dwarves.

The wall slowly moved to the side, opening up the way to a yawning room containing a large city. The floor was in tiers, leading downward. In the center of the city was a long and large set of leafy green vines.

"Welcome to the Siege City," declared Pesker. "Melora's gift provides us with food and shelter. She protects us with the venom behind us. And the plant keeps us all alive."

He led us to our quarters and told us to rest there, while he let the elders know of our arrival. "Bale here will take care of your needs," he said, motioning to a human next to him.

"Hello, I'll be your translator here in the city. I can translate between your Common tongue and Dwarven. I'll also keep the rooms clean. If you need anything, I can get it for you or tell you where to find it."

"Where did you learn your languages?" asked Firinne.

"I learned Dwarvish here, and I learned Common in school."

"When did you go to school?" asked Carlagnios. "Was it a special school?"

"Did you have to take the short bus to get there?" asked Garg.

Bale looked confused. "I can also help you around in the city." He pointed to a large, square building. "That is the Temple of Moradin." He pointed to the base of the plant in the middle of the city. "And that is the Shrine of Melora. It is open only to those who have been invited." He waved his hand across the city. "And the rest -- is the city. That's it."

"He's somewhat simple," Tiny whispered to us.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully.

The next day, we were met by an acolyte. He was dressed like a junior priest of Moradin. "I'm here to take you to the Temple of Moradin," he told Tiny. "Is it true that you carry Loom?" Tiny nodded and let Loom speak to the acolyte.

At the Temple of Moradin, we met a priest named Ionel Brownstone. He wore a bushy beard and had to push it aside whenever he spoke.

"You have come a great distance," he told us.

"Yes," Tiny replied. "We used a rope to get to this world."

Ionel raised his hand. "Before we speak, would you join us in a prayer to Moradin." He glanced at Carlagnios and his Jagged Great Axe. "Your new warriors look strong. Would they like to pray with us?"

"I will pray with you," said Carlagnios. "How do you pray to Moradin?"

"Let us kneel in prayer." He began to chant, and Carlagnios followed his words. "Moradin ... Patron of craft... Seeker of soul ..."

After the prayer, he gave Tiny a suit of magical Dwarven chain mail, and he gave Carlagnios a pair of gloves that he called "Dwarven throwers."

"The 100 are long gone from this world," Ionel noted.

"Yes," said Kale, "They're now in our world."

"I wonder," said Ionel, "did they go the same way that we did? We originally came from your world. Where are you headed?"

"We seek the Centenarch," replied Kale. "To get there, we need to find our way to the Bonebreaker."

"Ah, I have heard about that place. There is one who is a scholar and a powerful mage. He would know more about this. I can bring you to him."

He led us to a small house with a sign above the door. The sign was in Dwarven and read "House of the Magus."

We were met by a short, stocky dwarf carrying an axe and wearing chain mail. "I am Gyuna Brassfitter," he said. "I am a mage."

"I am Kale, a student of the Lycium Arcanum."

"Ah, I see that you are wearing leather armor," noted Gyuna, chuckling beneath his breath. "So many magicians are content to sit in the back of the battle. I, on the other hand, like to be in the thick of things."

He paused and gazed at Kale. "I sense... that you have an object of great power."

"Yes, we do," replied Kale, handing him the coin with the dove and chimera.

Gyuna examined the coin. "This coin is the seed of contradiction. This was used to grow the Cthona." He looked up at us. "Do you know why the worlds are separate? The contradiction holds the worlds apart.

"The stone men were the guardians of the contradiction," he continued. "The 100 brought the contradiction to this world in order to gain their powers."

He stopped at looked at each of us. "Which one of you has touched the seed of contradiction?"

"I did," replied Kale, "and Carlagnios and others. Why? Is it dangerous?"

"I don't know if it is. So, you need to find the Bonebreaker? I have visited it on three occasions. It is in a wild country that is very treacherous. As for the mountain itself, it is really more of a hill. Over time, the weather has worn it down."

"Yes, we need to go to the Bonebreaker to cast the Ritual of the Challenge," said Kale, showing Gyuna the ritual.

"These are dark magics that use the Cthona," noted Gyuna. "My dwarves can lead you to the Bonebreaker. But you will need to visit the Shrine of Melora first."

He led us to the shrine at the base of the plant in the center of the city. He introduced us to Callum Ironeye, a human priest.

"This place, and all within it, are holy to me and to everyone around us," said Callum. "Come, follow me."

He led us to a room inside the plant. The room was damp, and sap dripped from the ceiling. Tiny looked around in awe and whispered to us, "This is life... all around us."

"The nectar of this plant is possessed with natural energy," he said. He handed us three bottles of the nectar. "These will help you to heal your wounds and regenerate your bodies."

He went to the back of the room, lifted up a chest, opened it, and removed a bundle of cloth that wrapped a vial. He motioned to Firinne.

"Take this," he said.

"What is it?" she asked.

"This... is life itself." he answered. "Once in a while, the plant gives up a drop of life. If you drop this on a table, the table will sprout leaves and branches."

"Interesting," Kale remarked. "Could this be used to... grow a tree ship?"

Callum nodded. We looked at the vial more carefully and realized that it closely resembled the tree ship bottle that we used in the City of the Orc King.

"Take this to the Bonebreaker, and use the drop to resurrect the fossilized stump."

With that, we left for the Bonebreaker, continuing our quest for the Centenarch.