Niwirtar (meaning "winter-land" in Human) was a mountainous area far north of the Oldlands valley, separated from the warmer world by a lonely mountain pass. Framed by the cold seas, its edges riddled with fjords and islands, it was home to no civilization other than scarce mining camps, sea raider hideouts and other minor settlements. But even of those hardy folk, not all knew there was another Niwirtar out there. The one
under the hundred year old ice and unforgiving mountains. (Technically it is probably a region all its own, but the difference is academic.)
Down from the limestone grotto of the sea-cave, Kib made her way past some irregular formations of calcite and chert. It would've been a nightmare to traverse for a non-dwarf, but Kib's stone sense was quite enough to find the otherwise hidden path to the deeper levels. Pain in her injured leg had subsided by now, and she focused on keeping alert for any sounds of monster presence. Nothing. Just the gurgling water somewhere below.
This was going to take a while. Even with her dwarven expertise, the underground option was the long way around, but Kib always preferred the rational choice at the expense of potential boredom. She homed in on the sound of gurgling, soon finding herself in another grotto. She could see this was now the cave biome proper: rivulets of clear water made their way along the mycelium of tower-caps dominating the area; fireflies flitting around illuminating the pitch blackness. She saw a small bat resting its wings at the top of the highest tower-cap, readying for a hunt. Time to make camp?
Kib considered cutting down one of the tower-caps for material, and was in the process of choosing the least gnarled one, when a mound of orange underbrush rustled in a corner. As a
thing rose up from its resting position, its long mane previously near-blending in with the color, it stared at Kib with its large eyes, assessing for danger, thick hooves padding the moist earth. Just a draltha. Whew. Still, Kib knew she would not be welcome to stay long enough to do carpentry without provoking the giraffe-like being.
She left the creature to continue its interrupted nap, packing her meager camp to go farther down the tunnel. No compass needed--thank Maar for the dwarven sense of direction. But just a short distance in, the tunnel became sloped, then took a sharp dive into a vertical shaft. She tossed a pebble in: twenty feet or so. By the sound of it, probably another grotto. Not a hard climb down, but she would not be able to climb back without tools.
Kib retraced her steps to the copse of tower-cap trees. There was a large crack in the floor across the room, water flowing down into it; Kib had not previously noticed it due to distance. She would bet it was a path climbable down and up, and the water had to go somewhere. But of course, the slumbering beast was in the way, Kib had already alerted it once, she was not too keen on doing so again.
Make a choice:- Descend through the shaft to the new grotto
- Sneak past the draltha and examine the crack