After walking around a bit I enlisted a few dwarves to carry some bins for me and made my way to the meeting hall. As we were walking, more and more dwarves started following. What I picked up from the banter was that there hadn’t been a serious attack, and they hadn’t had an honest job for awhile. They had carved out a nice place for themselves and were growing comfortable. They were growing soft. Upon reaching the meeting hall I took up a position near the center and had the bins placed in front of me.
I looked out into the faces of fifty plus clean and well fed dwarves. “I have a job in mind and I need two score dwarves.” They looked around at their friends to see who was going to volunteer so they could go back to drink and dice. I kicked over the bins and the contents spilled onto the polished stone. As one hey looked at the treasure and then back to me with bemused smiles. They didn’t get it.
I grabbed one of the picks that lay at my feet and held it up in front of me. Looking at it I continued, “We are dwarves that have carved out a comfortable little hovel in this remote part of the world. We have seen some conflict and we have held our own. We are dwarves after all.” I smiled and they laughed. “We have grown to more than 150 dwarves and boast of more than a few legendary craftsdwarves. Every year our notoriety grows. We truly have accomplished something.” They started cheering. ”Which means we have something that is worth taking.” They stopped.
“Our defenses have numerous holes. Our military is small and poorly equipped. We would not survive a large and sustained siege... Or a titan... Or one of the fell beasts that lurks in the caverns below... Or all three at the same time.” They were still.
“What I need is a dwarf to lead a mining expedition into the rock below us.” One voice called back, “How deep?” Turning toward him, “As deep as you can go. I suspect there are multiple layers of caverns below us, each full of vast treasure and certain doom. I need you to find a way around them. Below us are vast underground lakes. I need you to find a way around them and I need you to not disturb the creatures that slumber therein. I need you to find a safe path to the great magma sea.” They started to move.
As the mass of well groomed dwarves started to turn away one dwarf came forward and took hold of the pick in my hand. There was a look of determination in her eyes and as I pulled the pick away, she held fast.
After a moment I let go, said “Tell me when it is done”, and walked away to the sound of Spizha assembling her team.