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"Very well" says Lord Percival, "if you insist. What weapons are you taking with you, if any? And would you like any gift to offer to Grimley, or whoever has taken over after him?"
"A gift is wasted on those dwarves" says Malfey, "they are clearly criminals and the only question is how to bring them to justice. Your Lordship owns the mine, after all, they are just the miners."
"I appreciate the sentiment" says Lord Percival, "but I am thinking of the reality of the situation. We must endeavour to get them out of the mine peacefully, if possible. I am also thinking of Fr Michael, I don't want him used as a hostage - that would be very difficult for us".
He thinks for a while.
"I think you could ask them if they are running low on any supplies, and offer to provide them in return for more trucks of coal. That would start to get things back to normal, and besides, we need the coals - the truck you brought up is very welcome, but it won't keep us provided for long"

"Adan suggested it," the cleric said, giving credit where credit was due. "It was already near the shaft."

"I think that sounds like a good and reasonable plan," Galiena nodded to his proposal, relieved that Lord Percival seemed to have a bit more common sense than the elven woman. "As for weapons, I have my mace," she patted the weapon that hung from a metal ring on her belt. "But I hope not to need it."

"Anyone else need anything before we venture to the coalface?" she turned to the group, not wanting to speak for the others.

No one else speaks up, so the party return to the shaft. The cage creaks slowly down, into the blackness of the pit.

Eventually you get to the bottom. The scene is a s before, there are rail tracks going off to the north east and north west, and the little path to the south which leads to the dwarves' quarter.
"We must have alerted them by now" says Adan, "why no greeting party?"

The ride down in the cage seemed less fearsome this time around and she stepped out with less apprehension. "It seems possible they are in some kind of trouble," Galiena said. "Otherwise, like you said, why no greeting party?

"Do you know which tunnel has the diamond pipe?" she asks Adan. "Seems we should try that first as it was at the heart of the matter."

"To mine coal, think of a cream cake with a layer of cream in it." says Adan, "The cream is the coal, which you've got to get out. So you dig two tunnels, then the coal face goes between them. As you drive the coal face forwards, you let it collapse - keeping the tunnels propped up. So both of these tunnels should lead to the same place, which is the coal face. But diamond pipes are vertical. The map says that the diamond pipe is to the north west. They must have created some permanent structures about it, because you're digging a vertical or near-vertical shaft down. Then you need to grind and sift through tones of rock just to find a few diamonds, and they're obviously doing that underground. So they must have carved out a large hall to crush and sift the rocks."

The cleric didn't quite understand the mining process completely, but supposed it wasn't strictly necessary for her to understand it all, though was again grateful to have Adan along. "Let's head down the western side then..."

The western side is a railway track, inside a very small tunnel. Adan can stand upright, but everyone else has to stoop. You immediately understand the wisdom of Lord Percival's words. If it comes to a fight in the tunnel, non-dwarves will find it almost impossible to wield their weapons.
However there is an empty truck. The choice is between the party settling in the truck, with one person to push it, or to go forwards on foot. The latter option means an uncomfortable stooped journey for all except Adan. The former means you will be sitting down, so even less able to fight.
You listen, and you can hear the sounds of hammering in the distance, up the tunnel. Something is obviously up there.

She was both slightly relieved and perplexed by the distant sound of hammering. So the dwarves were not all dead. Between 3 rides in the cage and busting down the chief's door, surely the dwarves must have been alerted to their presence by now. Were they trapped somehow?

"I'd rather stay on my feet," Galiena said, thinking more of needing to climb awkwardly out of the truck upon meeting the dwarves than of the actual combat possibility.

She addressed the group as a whole before they started down the tunnel. "Listen, we still don't know if we're dealing with a hostage situation or not. I propose that once we draw closer, only two of us approach right away," here she looked at Adan, hoping he'd be one of the two. "The other two," she shifted her eyes to Malfey, "hang back a little just in case things get ugly. That way they can hurry back to get word of whatever it is we're dealing with to Lord Percival."

For Adan it is easy, for Malfey not too bad, but for the two humans it is difficult to traverse the dwarf-sized tunnels. You keep on banging you heads on the rough ceiling, not helped by the gloom. The hammering becomes decidedly closer, then stops, so as planned, Galiena and Adan mover forwards, Malfey and Scott hang back.

You get maybe five hundred more yards up the railway, when Galiena feels her foot catch against something. She calls out, then a rope net descends from the ceiling, trapping both her and Adan.

"Adan, how does one address the dwarf chief?" she asked quietly, not wishing to get off on the wrong foot by unintentionally insulting him... whoever 'him' might be in case Grimley really had been killed. "I....ohhhhh!" she let out a surprised cry as the net fell on top of them, but then almost immediately started trying to untangle herself and Adan, expecting the 'welcoming party' to be emerging from the darkness ahead any moment.

"Call him Sir" says Adan, "And Chief Grimley in his presence."
However it's almost too late. Four dwarves emerge from the rubble at the side of the tunnel, and surround you. Malfey and Scott run back to the shaft.
"Surprised to see you here, brother" says a dwarf, to Adan, "who are you and why have you come?"

"My name is Galiena, Sir" she answered, trying her best to not sound nervous as she looked at the speaker. She doubted he was the chief, but showing an extra bit of respect here would probably not harm her chances of keeping this peaceful. "With no word for so long, we were sent to ensure there had not been some kind of collapse or other danger. Lord Percival also wants to know if you need anything he might be able to provide."

She kept her hand away from the mace on her belt, putting her trust in their sense of civility.

"We're not just anyone" says one dwarf, "we're the committee. Now there were four of you, where are the other two?"

"We're not just anyone, we're the committee."

Galiena's brow scrunched slightly, uncertain what she had said to elicit such a response. But certainly their demeanor went beyond simple caution, bordering on open hostility and she felt the need to buy Malfey and Scott at least a few extra moments to get back to the cage. Oh, I hope they did indeed go back... she thought.

"They should be along in just a moment..." she said, trying to turn slightly in the entangling net to look behind, then stared into the dark tunnel for several long seconds as if waiting for them to emerge from the darkness at any moment. "The man is very tall," she said when it seemed the dwarves might be getting impatient with the wait. "It is probably taking him a little while to work his way here..." she added, still looking that way.

"Wait for them" orders the dwarf who appears to be in charge. The other three ready their axes - these are handaxes, not double-bladed battle axes, but still lethal weapons. However Scott and Malfey do not appear. "They must be going to the shaft, comrades Makin and Angthorn, cut them off - quick".
Makin and Angthorn run as quickly as their short dwarven legs will carry them, down the shaft.
"This mine is dwarf property now" says the dwarf in charge, "we claim it for the dwarves. No longer will we be oppressed, and no longer is anyone allowed down here without the permission of the committee and comrade Ursa. But we won't harm you. In fact we want you to come over to our side, especially you, brother.| He gestures to Adan "This animosity between McCains and Dunstans must stop, we should unite against our common enemy, which is the longshanks oppressor."
"We'll there's talk on the surface of sealing the shaft" says Adan, "fellow dwarves, you must have some answer to that. Or we're all going to suffocate".
Makin and Angthorn come back,
"They got to the cage", they explain, "we thought it best to let them go."
The dwarves unwrap Adan and Galiena from the net. They take Adan's pickaxe and Galiena's mace.
"Welcome to dwarf mine", says the dwarf in charge.

Thank you... she thought to her deity as the news came back that Scott and Malfey had made it safely back to the cage, realizing now she'd been a little too quick to dismiss Malfey's warnings as simple elven bias against the dwarves.

She let the "committee" take her mace without protest. Even if by some miracle she could have fought her way past these 4, she would not have found what became of Fr Michael. And she could not help but suspect that she would find out very shortly where her friend was being held, though unfortunately she'd be in the same boat.

"It is worth opening some kind of communication with those on the surface," she urged softly. "They can't bow to any demands if they do not know what they are."

The dwarves march Galiena and Adan up the tunnel. Eventually you come to a huge hall. There is a dwarf on a device with pedals, and a big propellor.
"This is our fan" says the dwarf in charge, "it's a rather unpopular job, but it must be dwarfed (manned) all the time. With diamond mines, dangerous gases are much less of a problem than with coal mining, but we've still got to keep the air circulating. So this fan runs constantly. The dwarf pedals, and a chain is connected to the fan".
There's a huge pit, going deep into the earch.
"This is the diamond pipe", explains the dwarf, "the diamondiferous rock occurs in near-vertical pipes, so we have to dig down. That means you need a winch.,"
There is a machine with huge rollers.
"This is our rock processing department. You need to mine tons of rock just for a few diamonds. But the diamonds are harder than the surrounding rock. So when we crush it, the diamonds remain as chunks. Then it is sifting by hand to recognise them. That's why we have so many oil lamps in this region. It's a hard job that requires constant attention. Then we ship the rock out on the trucks."
"This is the diamond mine of the dwarven union. We all work together, and hold everything in common."
You are then led into a small chamber, hewn from the rocks.
"Now you say you were sent to us to negotiate" he says, "what is your offer?".

She paid careful attention to what he showed her as well as taking note of how many dwarves she sees.

"Then we ship the rock out on the trucks," he told her, when they were in the 'rock processing department'.

"Where do you ship it to?" she asked. Perhaps they'd created another entrance to the mine that was unknown to Lord Percival. Otherwise, they'd surely be running out of places to dump the excess rock.

She ducked again as they are brought into the smaller chamber. "Are there supplies you're running low on? Lamp oil or ale or even food?"

((Are all 4 of the dwarves in this chamber, or just Mr. Trotsky? ))

Galiena believes she has seen ten dwarves working at the mine, plus the four who arrested Adan and her.

"We put some of the rock in the old coal seam" says "Trotsky", "but that's exhausted. Now trucks full of crushed rock are building up below the shaft, we need someone to haul them to the surface and dump them on the slag heap."

The other three dwarves leave, and you are left with Galiena, Adan, and "Trotsky" in the small rock hewn chamber.
"Eat this" says Trotsky, and gives Galiena a small, plain biscuit. "This is cram. It's the food of the dwarvish people. It lasts almost forever and can be stored in a very small space. It also fills you up. We're not short of food. But ale we're short of. The committee has banned the consumption of hard liquor. But ale we can't easily ban because the water is not fit to drink, and we're running low on it. Also on oil. However I'll have to ask comrade Ursa about this. But we can make use of a human woman in Dwarf Mine. Someone to cook and clean for the dwarves, and mend their clothing. Could you be that person?"

She took the small biscuit from him and looked it over for a moment to buy herself a few seconds to think. How does one even cook with this? she wondered. Or would I be expected to make these things? From what? Rock?

Trotsky, she suspected, was trying to get some kind of reaction by suggesting she be their live-in maid. Fine, she'd play his little game. "I am well skilled in those tasks, Sir. And might even consider doing so graciously and willing while negotiations are under-way, provided you send Fr Michael and Adan back to the surface.... tonight. Let them curry your list of demands to Lord Percival and I will remain and be of what help I can."

It certainly wasn't a perfect solution as it didn't end with her leaving as well, but it would give those on the surface a clearer picture of what was going on here, plus get Michael out of harm's way.