Master Belnarr nodded breathlessly, his stocky legs pumping and breath coming in short bursts. Blast his short legs! If only the Phantom weren't so tall. "Two... levels..." he panted, reaching an empty shaft that extended vertically both ways into darkness. "Hey, ye lazy halfwits," he grunted in no pleasant humor. Three more steps took him right up to as many gnomes, blissfully snoring their camaraderie away on each other's shoulders. "What does Laddie Grey keep ye 'ere for, eh? T'drink the mead and get hungover?"

The gnomes jerked awake with indignant cries. Two hustled to attend the lift, while one lingered behind to shake a stubby finger at the dwarf.

"Yeah yeah," Belnarr grumbled, not taking his eyes off the moving chain. Somewhere at the top of the shaft was a wheel and axle, embedded into the stone side of the shaft itself to better preserve integrity. Oh, the genius of dwarven innovation!

Presently the lift screeched to an earsplitting halt on their level. The stonemason-and-architect-in-one smacked two gnomes over the head - the third one promptly tripped him when he tried - and hopped onto the platform.

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The last saffron and vermilion tinges of the sun were just fading over the western mountain peaks, when Falch'nus and company emerged from the tunnel. Five minutes ago, Torhanne had returned from scouting the tunnel Eledhe had taken. He had reported urgently that they had company approaching and rapidly. Not eager for a second encounter with this Phantom Grey - especially not in the legend's own territory - Falch'nus had decided to make a swift departure.

This endeavor had not been a perfect failure, he reflected. His exchange with Eledhe, though brief, had proved most beneficial - and not only for the pact he'd struck with her. She'd fed him a taste of valuable information. Now he had a lead. As always he sent Dirral to reconnoiter ahead, and as he and the rest of his men started back down the foothills, he wondered at the Regent's ulterior motives for wanting this Heartshard. The Regent was not a moral man. If Eledhe's description of the artifact's power was accurate...

Falch'nus brushed these thoughts away. He couldn't afford to turn back now. Ever had he and his guild remained neutral in all affairs, politics especially. Whether or not the Regent was... qualified for the artifact in question was not his problem. Whatever the status quo, his guild would always find a way to prosper.

Yet, pragmatism or no, these troubling thoughts stayed with him the rest of the night.

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The Phantom shifted impatiently through the entire short lift down, as if by doing so he could hurry it up. Not a moment after they'd stepped off he was barreling down the passage, mind racing.

What were they doing to his Keep - his Keep! - was the prevailing thought in the Phantom's mind, followed closely by whether or not it meant discovery and how he could prevent it. He knew every step of these tunnels, but as was proven, not who was where in them.

Eledhe ran full pelt into him coming around a corner and nearly fell over upon smacking into such a very solid object. She caught herself and pointed breathlessly the way she'd come - "Scouts, not sure they saw the entrance, if you hurry you'll catch them - " and was required to do no more acting when the Phantom took this at face value and sprinted past her with a call over his shoulder for the rest to follow.

He very much wished Kjan wasn't otherwise occupied, as often he didn't quite trust his own instincts. Good to have two on the job. In any case, the moment he stepped out of that ragged hole any thought of scouts was driven from his mind.

"Stars," he breathed, stepping down the mountainside to step inside the perimeter of the roughly exposed chamber, studded as if by a jewel with a crystal pedestal in the center.

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pirateoftherings wrote:

Kjan was on his feet not half a second after the blast shook the Keep. He opened his mouth to reply to the Phantom's question with a sardonic retort, only to find that said Phantom had already departed and left him behind. Again. Turning toward Jate, he forced a smile and swept an arm dramatically toward the door. "Well, 'guest,' shall we investigate?"

"Without a doubt," Jate replied, trying to ignore the mocking tone. Whatever was shaking the Keep had to be bad for the Phantom, so it had to be good for him. While "investigating" he might find someone to help him out of the place. Thoughts whirling in his head, Jate followed Kjan out the door.

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going on a journey through my old claims

Feuer was glad that he had been missed - once again. Which being overlooked was good in this place, Feuer wished that when he gets back to the "real world" -where there will be no risk of getting hit on the head by a stalactite and getting knocked out, might he add- it won't be that way with the girls. Feuer liked girls. They're fun.

As Feuer proceeded to go deeper into the rocky mountain underground Keep, he kept on looking back behind him to make sure he wasn't tricked and had been spotted all along. That would end in a painful ambush or trap, and he liked and preferred neither.

Looking back was not as good as looking ahead, as it turned out. Feuer was busy tryign to peer into the darkness and walking backwards when he tripped and bumped his head into a man.

Oh dear Feuer thought, and turned around to stare at the person he'd run into and the youn g man by the doorway. He hoped thry could solve this peacefully, or at least let him explain.

If not... Feuer fingered his sword.

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Ash stopped abruptly at the sight of the chamber, panting slightly from the run. He glanced at Jais, hoping his friend was at least as confused as he was.

"Where- what is this?" he asked quietly, his voice echoing against the rocks.

Kjan strode purposefully through the corridors, pausing occasionally to assure some distraught mother or worried shopkeeper that he was sixty-seven percent certain the Keep was not about to collapse in on their heads, though that was a rough estimate and subject to error. He used the sounds of shouting and general commotion as a guide in tracking down the Phantom. Kjan had learned many years ago that if one was searching for the Phantom, one only had to look as far as the nearest place of chaos. Whether causing the chaos or attempting to subdue it, the Phantom was almost invariably smack dab in the middle.

All the way, Kjan also kept glancing back to confirm that their newest acquisition was, indeed, still following him. Eccentric, Kjan may have been, but a far cry from stupid. The commotion caused by the explosion was more than enough of a distraction for a prisoner (though he didn't really think the young noble qualified as a "prisoner" just yet) to escape unnoticed, just as he'd done many times himself, and the Phantom obviously considered their guest to be of great value, so Kjan made doubly sure that Jate stayed in his sight at all times. Personally, he found the young noble to be rather interesting as well, if a bit lacking in conversational skills. So far, their entire trip had been made in absolute silence, a state that Kjan found to be rather awkward, especially when your companion thought you were of questionable sanity and not to be trusted in any way, shape, or form. (Unrelatedly, he had spent many a moment of absolute silence in the presence of My Lady Silvryn).

Thus, he took it upon himself to engage in the dreaded art of obligatory pleasantries. "Do you have any siblings?" he inquired casually as they continued to follow the masses.

Following after Kjan, Jate took the opportunity to see the strange place he had been brought to. People scurried through the corridors, some stopping to speak to Kjan and almost always continuing on with a more peaceful countenance. Halls stretched further on to his left and right, disappearing into blackness or running into lit rooms. Thoughts ran through his mind, more often than not concerning the Phantom. A strange man, that one. Kjan's voice broke through his reviere.

"Do you have any siblings?"

Jate shrugged. If the man wanted small talk, Jate had no objection. "A black sheep brother in the merchant business, another following in Lord Ralkaien's steps, and a sister of seven. I have no doubt that there are more --my lord isn't the most moral man." Jate fingered the ring on his right hand.

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going on a journey through my old claims

((Question - who did Feuer run into?))

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Kjan considered the comment before shrugging slightly. "My father actually isn't too terribly immoral, comparatively. Sure, he's proud, greedy, self-absorbed, egocentric, stingy, callous, prone to partiality, and an absolute misanthrope when the mood strikes him, but at least he's usually somewhat straightforward in his dealings when it's to his benefit....Really, in my experience, morality isn't exactly a common -or preferred- trait among the nobility."

As an afterthought, he added, "Present company excluded, of course."

[well i think i ran into Kjan, but i'll do another post ]

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((Ah, apologies. Must not have caught that, since Kjan and Feuer were originally in different parts of the Keep, and Kjan is nine years Feuer's senior (making Kjan not so much of a 'young man' to him). ))

"It was a secret, once." The Phantom interjected abruptly, sounding less than pleased. "There's evidence that now it isn't, quite." As if remembering he turned, squinting, to scan the roughly bared mountainside under noonday sun. There was a shallow impression in the mountainside caused no doubt by the explosion they'd heard. Absently the Phantom added it all up in his head. To think, the very artifact he'd been seeking - right here, in a chamber less than half a mile from the edges of the Keep. At least, it had been here. So somehow someone else had known.

The Phantom's first instinct was to be suspicious of his information sources, but he pressed it down. Someone else had known, he reminded himself, returning to that train of thought. They knew only as much as he did, then, if they searched here for the Heartshard. So who had it been, and why were they not here still?

Once again he scanned the mountainside. Nothing. Eledhe, just climbing out of the hole a second time, received a piercing glance and a raised eyebrow.

"Scouts?" he inquired, stepping towards her. "With explosives?"

Eledhe spread her fingers in a gesture resembling a shrug. "I saw only a few just retreating. Who can say what they were about?"

The Phantom eyed her a moment longer. "I'll wager you could," he muttered loud enough for her to hear. Eledhe wry smile indicated she would be happy to explore the possibilities at a later time.

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[hm, well then... I'll wait a little while to reenter since i have to find a good spot to jump in again]

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"You're too kind," Jate murmured dryly. The words, though, he continued to mull over. Nobility, that one. How high was his father? And what led a noble -albiet somewhat of a strange one- to side with the Phantom? Thinking to himself, Jate hardly noticed as he and Kjan wound their way through the Keep. Muttered voices brought his head up. It seemed they were nearing the place the Phantom was. He wondered what all the noise had been about, but was sure it would be explained shortly.

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going on a journey through my old claims

Kjan's steps automatically quickened as he noticed a slight alteration in the usual dimness of the Keep's lighting. The further into the tunnel they went, the brighter and purer the light got, despite the fact that this particular passage -as far as Kjan could recall- only ran parallel to the mountainside and never actually led to an exit. However, as they rounded another corner, it became evident that someone had decided to alter this particular aspect of the Keep's organization. Throwing up a hand the shield his eyes from the far-too-bright sunlight, Kjan stepped through the rough hole.

As his legs automatically carried him down the slope, Kjan reflected dimly that sleep deprivation was really not all that unlike a hangover- his head hurt, his limbs were responding out of obligation only and not due to any particular desire to do so, and he really wished the bright light would just go away right now. Nonetheless, he had a feeling that sleep would not be soon forthcoming, and he couldn't very well extinguish the sun, so he shook off these sentiments and focused on letting his eyes adjust well enough to actually see what was before him.

Coming to a stop just short of the second gaping hole, Kjan let out a low whistle and looked up at the Phantom. "Ours or theirs?" he inquired by way of greeting, gesturing vaguely toward the hole.

"Theirs," Silvryn replied shortly, her gaze never leaving Eledhe. The mercenary knew far more than she was revealing- that much was evident, though not much of a surprise to Silvryn. It was the nature of a mercenary to be fickle; she'd often wondered why the Phantom chose to employ them. More often than not, it was only question of when they would turn on you, rather than if.

The Phantom, oblivious to the slight animosity between the two females currently present, was staring with some intensity at the crystal pedestal studding the half-ruined chamber's center. Or what had been the center. He was also muttering to himself under his breath, as if reasoning something out.

"Heartshard forged by dwarves...dwarves only knew about it..." he was saying, scanning the chamber. It almost looked as though no passage had ever led in or out - but looks could be deceiving. Likely along some stretch of smooth wall there was a hidden dwarven entrance. Nonetheless, it was very unlikely that whoever had blown that wall apart had known where to find the chamber without the assistance of a dwarf. Dhiraen Jewelsbane?

He brushed the thought aside. No matter who it was, it was now imperative that that artifact be found before - well, whoever else was looking for it. Dwarves. Dwarves knew how to get into that chamber, they must know where it had gone.

"Belnarr! Khraven!" he barked, turning. "I need to know what happened, and why that Heartshard's not there anymore. We're going to visit the dwarves."

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