As Murdoc begins his conversation with the goblin priest, Magus Patham's mechanical familiar, previously having remained next to its injured creator, seems to perk up. It waits for the Priest to finish talking, then settles down. In the mind of its creator, it announces that it's "Processing". Patham, with help from a Woundbinder, manages to sit up, finding that his ribs have already begun to repair themselves, likely as a result of the overloaded Geothaum interacting with the enchantment on his polymer canteen. True recovery is unlikely to come soon, but so long as he breathes carefully and doesn't move much, he's conscious and able to interact with those around him. The tend is currently being shared with two of the dwarf battle-medics-turned-emergency-doctors, and, on another cot, a badly injured goblin woman with her child.
Porkins' efforts to maintain surprise if necessary having proven somewhat pointless, he retrieves his squad and heads back to camp, quickly moving to help the Serfs retrieve bodies.
The Dam team finds no further damage to their project. While a small team volunteers to remain behind and monitor the Dam, it might now be advisable to check on the Moody dwarf in the cavern workshops, and on the upper fortress itself, since no news has been received in the aftermath of the Fall. Do any live? The shockwaves came from above, surely the residential areas, storage, and workshop block must have taken the brunt of the damage.
The goblin Priest appears momentarily surprised by the Mayor's speech, then cautiously replies in the same language:
"Ah, one of the steelborn can speak a tongue beyond his own. How singular. I am glad to hear that your folk remain safe under stone, this day is not one that would be improved by further death, further glory for the Blood God. I thank you, again and true, for this gift to me and mine of sanctuary in dark days."
"By and by, where did you learn this dialect? I have not heard it spoken beyond my own memory since I was myself young."