Subject: Moving on

Surin is good to go.

Subjet: Turn

Sorry I did not get anything out yesterday. It was a busy night and I did not get to bed until 1:30 AM.

I have an auction to run this morning and then hopefully I will be able to write something this afternoon.

Subject: On to the Underkingdom

The dwarves and the party, along with Maximus and the Lady, start the long winding descent down into the valley ahead. The sun dips behind the high mountains and everyone is soon riding in deepening shadows. The pace is fairly brisk, even with the dwarves afoot. Going down hill seems to make everyone move just a bit quicker. After a short while Daral calls out "What type of dwarves are you, marching in silence. Patrol Leader, sound off." The valley then starts to echo with the sounds of dwarves chanting marching cadences, their deep voices booming out over the stone hills.

As the party heads down trees start to reappear. Small scraggly things, not much use for anything. They have been marching at a good pace and at the end of the second hour they take a sharp turn in the road and the entrance to the Underkingdom looms before them. The walls of the path they are on become more shear and the road narrows to only several dozen feet across. Up on the mountain side defensive positions can be seen. Some of them have ballistae, some have trebuchets, and others have odd looking war machines. About a mile ahead the road runs through a large gate and dead ends into the side of a mountain. The mountain soars several thousand feet above the road.

Where the road dead ends there is a huge gate complex; stone walls, towers, battlements stand out from the hillside almost 200 feet. A large stone gate almost 50 feet across and 60 feet high stands astride the roadway, the huge stone doors, almost 30 feet thick, standing open. Under the watchful eyes of several hundred dwarves the party marches up to the gate. When they are about 30 feet from the gate a voice calls out "Halt. Stay where you are until you are recognized." Seconds later the tromping of dwarven feet can be heard coming from the tunnel through the wall. A group of 10 dwarves march out and meet the party.

The one in the lead speaks first "Report" Daral responds "Force Leader Daral, reporting back. These others are the Ambassador from Bhyo and her escort." The Force Leader gestures to Maximus and the Lady. "These others" he points to the party "are on a mission from Schon in the name of the Order of the Silver Sword." The first dwarf nods "You are expected. Report to Force Commander Garvin." Daral nods. The other dwarf turns to the party, Maximus and the Lady "While you are in the Underkingdom, you answer to the King. If you have any questions about what is acceptable, ask a dwarf. Any questions?" The dwarf then stands aside and Daral leads them into the dark tunnel.

OODM: I will write more tomorrow. If any one has any questions for the gate dwarf or Daral let me know.

Subject: On to the Underkingdom

Harp has no questions for this witness, your honor.

Subject: On to the Underkingdom

No questions from Surin at this point. Although he does show somecuriousity about the various war machines.

Subject: Archives

Ok I just finished updating the archives. I did over 17 days worth, more than 120 entries. But it is current as of yesterday.

I will probably not write anything tonight, but probably tomorrow, either just after noon or after 10 PM.

You have until then if you want to ask the dwarf anything.

Subject: Thanksgiving

My brother and I will both be out of town Thur-Sun next week. We are going to our sisters place for Thanksgiving, family picture and our Dad's big surprise 70th birthday party.

I am going to see if my wife will bring her work laptop along. If she does I might be able to post from the hotel. If she does not I might be able to post from my sisters house.

We will see.

Subject: Food

OOC: Does roast dwarf taste like chicken?

Subject: Food

How the hell would I know?

Subject: Food

OOC: What about roast Orc?

Subject: Food

I was just thinking of a question we could ask but I did not want to really do it in the game.

Given that half those dwarfs we just left were cooked by a large fireball, I thought it might be on someones mind.

Roast 1/2 orc is tough and stringy.

Subject: Computer problems

Ok my computer guru is doing his vodoo on the main machine. Hopefully I will be able to get something out tonight.

On another note, the high school marching band my oldest son is in took 13th place at the Grand Nationals yesterday. They missed going to finals by one place. They did the same last year.

Subject: Food

It's great with the proper spices.

Oh look! Mund just happens to have several pounds of spices in his pack. How interesting.

Subject: turn

Ouch. My condolences.

Subject: Marching band

I got more on the story last night.

There are three rounds of performances: Prelims, Semi finals, finals. 84 teams compete in prelims, 32 in Semi's and 12 in finals.

After the prelims the school was in 10th place with a score of 87.??. So they made Semi's. At their Semi performance the scored a 90.?? but ended up in 13th place.

Only .75 points seperated 8th place from 13th place in semis.

Subject: Turn

I was going to try and get the turn out this morning but I have to go get a filling replaced. It should be this afternoon.

Subject: A place to stay

The Force Leader takes them into the winding paths of the entrance to the Underkingdom. He points out features as they pass but the information soon becomes too much for the party to keep straight. The warrens are surprisingly bright with glow globes every 20 feet or so. The halls are larger then Ally would have thought until Ragnar reminds him that the dwarves like to build big. The party enters a large cave, easily several hundred feet across and at least a hundred feet high. It is filled with people, mainly dwarves but the occasional human or even gnome can be seen. It has all the trappings of a large market place.

Daral leads them on until they come to a large gate system with several dozen dwarves standing at attention. They are all dressed in full plate and have heavy dwarven axes in their hands. Daral calls out as they approach "Force Leader Daral reporting to Force Commander Garvin. I have emissaries that need housing." An older dwarf, one with several large scars across his face comes out of a small office near by and looks them over "And they are?" he asks. Daral points to the Lady and the Centurion "The Bhyoian Ambassador and what remains of her escort." Garvin nods "My Lady. The Byhoian Ambassadorship has been empty for almost half a year. We welcome you." The Lady gives a gracious bow but says nothing in return.

Daral then introduces the party "An party from the Order of the Silver Sword. This dwarf" he points to Ragnar "is their leader. They seek audience with the King." There is a strange tone to Daral voice when he says this. "They do, do they? Don't they know that the King is very busy. They will have to make an appointment with the Steward." His tone relies how likely he thinks that will be. "However, we will find rooms for them out of respect for the Order." The Force Commander turns and starts issuing orders. Soon the Lady and Centurion are led off to the Ambassador's quarters and the party is led off to a suite of rooms.

The suite of rooms would be comfortable for 4 but is crowded for 8. They look like they were made for human sized visitors. The furniture is all proportioned for humans or elves or half elves. Two chairs are brought in that have slightly different proportions for Ragnar and Surin. Food is already in the room. There is a large table in one of the rooms with 10 chairs. The patrol of five guards who have been assigned to them tells them "If you need to relive yourselves or clean up let one of us know and we will get you a guide to the common washrooms. We are here to keep you from getting lost. If you ever get lost just find a dwarf and tell them you need to find the barracks of the fifth of the fourth of the first of the second of the second. Is there anything else I can get you?"

OODM: What do you want

Subject: A place to stay

OOC: I expect we should go ahead and talk to this steward, even if Garvin appears to think its a waste of time. Ragnar will want to go find him fairly quickly, but probably not with everyone. Does anyone have a particular desire to have their character go with?

Subject: A place to stay

Kal's going to want to go. He considers himself very cordial anddiplomatic. ;-)

Subject: A place to stay

Harp will ask to be shown to where the drill area is. He wants to spend some time training and drilling on his martial skills. After a couple hours of that, he will return to the quarters, clean up, and then spend some time praying to the Battlelord.

Unless Ragnar wants him to go with him as a representative of the Order.

Subject: A place to stay

Salix will ask if there is any place that is open to the sky outside (maybe a garden of some type). He has the feeling that they are going to stuck underground for a while and will spend as much time as possible above ground while he can. If a garden can be found, he will spend some time tending the plants, giving them encouragement to grow.

Subject: Surin wants to explore

At this point the party has not really been sitting around for verylong. Surin wouldn't want to cause a real incident without cause- butif an opportunity looks good enough, he'd jump.

Subject: The Reception

The next couple of hours are a bit disorganized. Harp asks to be shown the way to one of the training grounds, Salix asks to be shown to one of the farms outside of the warrens and Ragnar asks for an audience with the Steward. One of the guards hurries off and returns an hour later. "First Steward Minlon is busy preparing for the reception dinner for tonight. He will meet with you tomorrow, at the third hour after noon. In the mean time you should clean your selves and prepare for tonights banquet. The King will be there." After he has reported he returns to his duty outside of the party's quarters.

Harp has an uneventful time at the training grounds. He tries to spar with some of the dwarves, but they seem to distrust him. The couple who do work out with him do so half heartedly and he learns almost nothing. Salix spends several hours outside at one of the few patches of arable land. After talking with the workers he realizes that they are the dregs of dwarven society as far as skill and intelligence are concerned, barely more than simpletons. He also realizes that they is not nearly enough cultivated land to support the large crowd of dwarves he has seen so far. Still, the druid finds in comforting to be outside and work with the dwarves tending the land. A couple of hours before the dinner a runner shows up to bring him back to his quarters.

At one bell past the evening bell a new set of guards show up to escort the party to the reception. "It's in honor of the Byhoian Ambassador, you know" one of them says. "This is the first new Ambassador that the King has welcomed." The other dwarf elbows his companion in the side hard enough to make him stop talking. "You will be in the back of the hall, but should have a good view" the second says. He was right about that. The party is about as far from the head table as can be and still be in the reception hall. Most of the tables are filled with dwarves in some sort of order that the party can not figure out.

At the head table there is room for almost twenty people. All but five of the seats are filled by the time the party has been seated. A loud voice rings out over the hall "His Lordship, Ambassador Calieri of Camlost." There is a smattering of applause as an older man, finely dressed, walks in through a side door and to one of the open seats at the head table. He is middle age, fairly heavy, with a bald head. He carries a white staff that has a red gem set in the head. As he gets to his seat he places his staff in a stand behind him.

The voice rings out again "His Lordship, Ambassador Tripin of Undulant." This time a much younger man, very tall and very dark of skin walks in. His hair is black but he is dressed in a fine white set of robes, trimmed in gold. He uses a finely wrought walking stick, but does not really seem to need it. He takes the open seat on the opposite side of Calieri.

The voice rings out a third time "His Lordship, Ambassador Elspeth of Tornado." A man of medium years walks in, dressed in very non nondescript robes. He is a bit shorter than Tripin and as dark as Tripin is, Elspeth is pale. If the man wore white robes, he might be lost. The only thing that stands out is his flaming red hair. He takes his place next to Calieri and sits.

A fourth time the voice rings out "Her Ladyship, Ambassador De Blum of Byho." The Lady walks out resplendent in a magenta gown. Her golden hair has been done up in a fancy braid and she walks with a commanding step. She takes her place at the table next to Tripin. Only one spot at the head table remains.

The hall falls silent as the voice rings out for what is probably the last time "His Highness, King of the Underkingdom, Defender of Dwarfdom, Hammer of Moradin, King Barden." A stocky dwarf comes into the room. He is dressed in fine purple and gold robes. He moves quickly to the open spot at the head table and speaks "I welcome the Lady De Blum to our court. Her beauty is only surpassed at our joy of her safe arrival. May there be many more years of profitable alliance between our two countries." He picks up his wine goblet "All hail Byho!" Everyone in the room picks up their drink and joins in on the toast.

OODM: Does any one want to do anything during dinner? Let me know and I will try and write more tomorrow night. I have a few e-mails to send to people.

>hr />
From: Derek

Subject: The Reception

If there are any Dwarves sitting with them that are amiable, Allistair will ask some general questions.

"Why is it that everyone's title seems to be numerical, i.e. the first of third of second of first of etcetera etcetera. Is it genealogical or something? Like tracing one's paternal lineage by birth order back to a common ancestor?"

"Are there many wizards here in the Dwarven kingdom? I'd be interested in meeting some, or at least visiting their library if it's permitted."

Otherwise Allistair will just politely eat, and answer any questions others might have for him.

Subject: At the reception

Harp will eat quietly, making general conversation if prompted. He knows that 1/2 orcs are not seen in a friendly light and will do nothing to arouse suspicions.

Salix will ask about any creatures that might live in the underkingdom. While he has spent most of his life in the forests, he will be curious to learn about any animals or plants that live underground. He knows they exist, but he had never spent much time learning about them.

Subject: At the reception

If Harp gets any answers about underground critters, Mund will ask about which ones are good to eat.

Subject: At the reception

It was Salix that asked about underground critters. Kevin is still playing both. However, Salix was unable to get the dwarves to open up to him.

Subject: At the reception

Surin will make general conversation. If there is any wawy to askabout dwarven politics (for example leading in with conversationsabout the various clans), he'll do so.

Subject: At the reception

Mund will tell the story of the rasslin' he had with the centaur at the Great Tree, with Surin as a bear, etc., trying to get one of the dwarves to rise to the bait and rassle him. All in good fun.

Subject: At the reception

Salix sits at the table, taking in the converstation around him. His friends are scattered about the table, a smattering of the local dwarves in between them. Determined to make the best of what he is sure to be a dark, damp adventure to come, he attempts to engage the dwarves sitting at his side in some general conversation about the animals that populate the deep. A couple of gruff answers later, it becomes painfully obvious that the reputatoin for suspicion that dwarves were known for had some basis with this group. He was unable to find out anything from those around him. If he had not known better, he would have thought these dwarved rude, but he knew they were just being there normal standoffish selves.

Subject: At the reception

Ragnar's heart sinks as the king Barden is introduced. Their information was out of date! He was not skilled in the skills of the court, and he felt that he was suddenly out of his depth. What had happened to King Dar. Would Barden still be friendly towards the Order? So many questions that he needed answered, and yet the dwarves he had been with did not seem particularly talkative.

Finally, Ragnar decides that while he may not have the smoothest tongue, he can only try. He turns to whichever dwarf is closest and mentions "I was under the impression that the king was named Dar, but my information seems out of date. How long has King Barden been the king?" If his question is answered, he will try to find out any other details of what happened to Dar, as well as anything he can find out generally about dwarven politics.