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[Nivim]

 Ask him if "closer to the underworld" simply means down. Then ask him if he's willing to tell you about his healing skills and other training; we could probably spend the rest of our time down here learning some "formal" aura training. Before we go though, place a few microphones around the room and put the resulting walkie-talkie in your pocket. Perhaps add a suitable (nailed down, steel frame,) wooden cot/bench to each cage as well.

[quip]

Ask him if "closer to the underworld" simply means down.

I think it'll mean close to death, thus we probably should see if hanging around a tomb or the hospital would get us closer.

[AntiAntiMatter]

Give the goblins luxurious accommodations and allow them to mingle freely. Ask the shaman how to get close to death.

[Argonnek]

"How would I get close to death?" you ask.

"Why are you asking me?" he replies. "I didn't get close to death. I died. Instantly. You didn't give me a chance."

"Right... Do you have any suggestions at least? You are the one with the training."

"Like I said. Closer physically to the plane of death. It's a very real place, but those who access it always die. Or you could get yourself stabbed. You'd be closer to death then, too." He smiles for some reason.

"How would I know I'm close to the plane of death physically?"

He shakes his head. "You don't."

You think for a moment. "Are there any stories about it? Any legends about brave adventurers entering into the underworld and never returning?"

"Yeah, plenty. But I'm a healer, not a historian. I wasn't forced to remember hundreds of tales of complex suicide missions."

"Did your group have a historian?"

"Yes. I think he was the first to die in the assault, though. I saw him run through by a dwarf with a spear."

Your options seem to be find the underworld, or get stabbed. Neither one is very good, though. You feel that you will awaken soon, so you start widening the hallway into a room. Once that is done, you cover the floor with some of the grassy moss you remember from the caverns. You create a few treeshrooms, then some beds. You place tables and chairs, and fill some barrels with ale and meats. It's all an illusion, but it will probably make them more comfortable. You retain the ceiling and guarded doors, but dissolve the cages.
The goblins walk through the grass, some of them going to the beds, others to the tables and ale. The shaman, however, walks over to you.
"Why are you doing this?" he asks.

"You've done me no wrong." You reply.

"But you killed us in the land of the living without a thought."

"Different circumstances. Anyway, would you mind teaching me some of your healing magic?"

He makes a face at you. "You expect you enemy to teach you how to heal?"

"A great philosopher of my people once said: "It is right to learn, even form the enemy." Besides, I don't consider you my enemies. I'm more of a mercenary than anything else."

He gapes at you for a moment. "That quote sounds like an elven one to me. But it is true nonetheless. The older shamans at the academy had a long and drawn-out process for teaching it, but they are teaching goblins with no experience."
He explains to you how to focus your aura into another in a positive way, and how to create and destroy minuscule amounts of material. He explains that creating and removing tissue is vital when treating wounds involving arrows or darts.
He begins to explain how to heal poisons, but doesn't finish his first sentence before you slip out of the dream state.

[AntiAntiMatter]

Examine your surroundings.

[Urist McCheeseMaker]

We're probably still on the hospital bed. Rest up a bit, then consider this: we can heal people now. We can whore out this ability to gain some respect, but don't forget to tell them that you're still cautious about it. Dorves.. are notorious for getting themselves hurt or killed.

[quip]

Go search the area around the fort for the historians corpse, or to find any survivors still left. Maybe we can find something on the battlefield which could help us, also ask a Dorf about Dorfish afterlife, it may be simmilar...

[Argonnek]

You snap open your eyes and look around. You are still in the hospital, but you are no longer alone. The hall is filled with the moans of the wounded. You click on your lamp and see that there are dwarves with short beards - or none at all - wearing purple armbands and helping the dwarves in the beds. One of them looks you over then leaves to attend to another. You see the dwarf you met after you killed the goblins in the bed next to yours. He is missing his left arm.
You look away and get up. Part of you wants to heal the dwarves around you, but the method you use seems to require that they have an aura. You walk out of the hospital and follow the map to a field of mud. You see some of the purple mushrooms growing, and a few that have fallen over. You pick up the one you are directed towards and move it to the stockpile. You walk across the hall to the dining room and look around for someone to talk to.

You see the dwarfette who spoke to you before and decide to ask her.
"What do you want?" She says to you moodily.

"I just had some questions about dwarven culture," you reply.

"Really." She seems somewhat angry at something.

"What do your people think awaits them after they die?"

"Either Armok's fiery bosom or nothing, depending on who you ask." She takes a long drink from her tankard.

"Armok's fiery bosom?"

"Yes." She gives you a look that said that she did not want to be talking to you right now. "A place where there is no water, just booze and burning elves and goblins. The food is infinite in amount and variety, and there are no vermin to steal it."

"Burning elves and goblins?" You take a step back.

"Yes. The elves with their ridiculous restrictions on woodcutting. We wiped them out long ago." She barked a little laugh. "They had no trouble adapting to the caves, but the goblins think they were wiped out by plague or cave beasts. No, it was us dwarves who killed them with a barrel of infected beast blood."

You decide that you have heard enough and leave.

You pass through the halls, more confident in your knowledge of the fortress layout. You pass by the trade depot, the goods stockpiles, and the workshop areas. Eventually, you find the entrance and leave into the caverns.
You walk out into the wilderness and follow your memory toward the former site of the battle. You pass by some landmarks and use the knife to mark them. You can rely on the map to get you back to the fort, but safe is better than lost. You eventually find the area where you stole the souls of the seven goblins. Six, you remind yourself; you killed one of them. You turn your head to the side and continue to the main battlefield. At some point while you slept, the dwarves had stripped the goblins naked and left their bodies to rot.
After a short while, you find other bodies, also stripped, laying in the congealed pools of blood they left behind. It occurs to you that you wouldn't recognize the historian even if he was right in front of you.

[Nivim]

 Check the map just in case there's something we can do while we're out here, then return to the fortress. On the way back, take a break on top of a mushroom-tree, check for nearby threats, check your own aura, then meditate with a maximum scan in mind. We came down here because of a massive aura that probably screamed at us, where did it go?

[quip]

Check the map just in case there's something we can do while we're out here, then return to the fortress. On the way back, take a break on top of a mushroom-tree, check for nearby threats, check your own aura, then meditate with a maximum scan in mind. We came down here because of a massive aura that probably screamed at us, where did it go?

[Urist McCheeseMaker]

Try not to attract its attention, actually. Be "stealthy", as far as you can, and just check for anything that catches your attention. You know it's fucking big, and you know you don't want -it- to notice -you-. And it seemed to notice you the last time simply because you were actively scanning.

[Argonnek]

Sorry for the delays, I over-scheduled myself over the weekend. Anyway...


You glance at the map, but it just points back to the fortress. You feel some contempt towards the menial peasantwork they have you doing, so you just climb up onto a nearby treeshroom and turn off your lamp. You meditate in the darkness, searching for the large, screaming thing you detected before this entire fiasco started. You look first at the short range, seeing nothing but bugs and a few things that are kind of like elks and kind of like birds.
You ignore them and focus on things farther away. Nothing interesting, but there seem to be more vicious creatures below you. The stalk and kill each other, and a few of them are almost sentient-looking. These you take note of, as they might be valuable. If not as allies, then as slaves. Some part of you sees the previous statement as horrific, but you silence it and focus.
You look for more distant disturbances, and hit the jackpot. Far, far beneath you lies an area with dozens of auras, all crawling over each other as if they are trapped in a large room. While interesting, this doesn't answer the question you had when starting this: What was that thing?
You keep searching, and after an hour of intense concentration, you find your goal. It is huge, more so than it seemed when you first saw it in the hospital. It doesn't seem to notice you, but you wouldn't be surprised if it does notice you and is just hiding it.

After making a mental map of the beast's location, you jump off of the treeshroom, turn on your lamp, and head back to the fort.
Somewhere along the way, you notice a splashing in a nearby pool. You come closer and see that it's a dwarf child! He's drowning! You reach in and pull him out. He flails for a moment, then starts sobbing uncontrollably. He stands up and jumps right back into the pool. You pull him our again, then take a position between him and his attempted suicide spot.
"Boy! What's wrong with you?" you demand. "Why are you trying to kill yourself?"

"Thikutlitast," he moans. "Thikutlitast... Thikutlitast..." He repeats it over and over between sobs.

"What? Do you speak my language?"

He just repeats that same phrase again. From the way he pronounces it, it's two words contracted together to make a name. Deciding you've had enough, you grab him by his shirt collar and smack him hard across the face.
"YOU WILL CEASE THIS BLUBBERING IMMEDIATELY! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?"

He shuts up and gives you a pained look. You put him down and walk with him ahead of you until you reach the fort. You keep your hand on his shoulder as you cross the bridge, making sure that he doesn't take the opportunity to jump. Once you both are well inside of the gate, you release him and he runs off. As you watch him go, you think you see a hint of an aura inside of him. He turns a corner, however, and disappears.

[AntiAntiMatter]

Follow him.

[Urist McCheeseMaker]

..
So, what. The dwarves are the metaphysical equivalent of the undead? They only grow an aura when they -want- to die?

Follow the little fool. If nothing else, we can befriend it and throw it at monsters that would otherwise try to eat -us-.

[quip]

..
So, what. The dwarves are the metaphysical equivalent of the undead? They only grow an aura when they -want- to die?

Follow the little fool. If nothing else, we can befriend it and throw it at monsters that would otherwise try to eat -us-.

You can tell a DF player by thier desire to use childeren as portable shields...