The entrance to the Zeruhn mines was at the extreme western edge of the city. The area around the mine's mouth was full of Humes and Galka in mining gear, all milling about. There were several entrances into the side of the mountain, but I was guessing that the largest shaft was the one I was looking for.
As I crossed the open area, a large Galka wearing filthy mining gear stepped in front of me, with his hand up, palm facing out.
"What are you doing here, Hume?" he said in a rough tone. "You don't look much like the mining type to me."
"I'm here to see Makarim," I said, willing my voice not to shake. "On official business," I added, hoping it would allow me to get on my merry way.
"Official," scoffed the Galka, waving his hand dismissively. "You Humes all talk so big." He smirked, looking around at his fellow miners, who all seemed to smirk back. "You know somethin'? This city'd be nothin' without the power of the Galka. Who do you think carved out this forsaken mountain?"
"I wouldn't know anything about that," I said evasively, attempting to step to the right and around the Galka blocking my path. Unfortunately, he stepped right along with me, and continued his tirade.
"Yer damn right you don't know. You don't look like you know much." He laughed loudly, obviously pleased with his own sad joke. "Let me tell you something, Hume," he continued. "It's us Galka who built this city, and we never got a word of thanks from the Humes." He almost spat out the last word. "And now y'think you can just walk into our mines. On your official business."
"I've got a message for him, is all," I said with a shrug, thinking madly to find a way out of this confrontation. "If you could just let me by-" I broke off suddenly, and made a sudden step to the left, attempting to spin around the Galka and make a dash for the mine.
Lucky for me, he wasn't expecting that maneuver. I broke free, and began running for the mines entrance, thanking fate that I hadn't had a heavy lunch today.
"Yeah, you keep on running!" came the shout from behind me, presumably from the same large Galka. He sounded winded, as if he wasn't used at all to having to move quickly.
I made it easily up the slope, ignoring the stares of the two Galkas standing outside the mine entrance. I was sure they had seen the entire confrontation below, but they didn't say a word as I passed between them and into the mine.
The tunnel was actually pretty roomy, despite everything I'd always heard about mines. I suppose they had to make it large enough for the Galka to move around without any problems. There were torches along the wall, but they were pretty far between. I didn't mind much, because it gave me the chance to test out my new ring.
I help up my hand, and as if on cue, my ring began emitting a soft light. It grew until it encompassed my whole body, and extended into a sphere. I could see well for about ten feet, and had dimmer visibility for another ten feet after that. It would certainly make walking around easier, and hopefully wouldn't make me an easy target for anything out in the darkness.
I shrugged, realizing there was little I could do about it, and kept walking through the tunnel, which quickly took a turn to the left, and then back to the right.
After a couple more small turns, I reached a crossroads. I stopped, and looked around for some kind of clue which path to take. I was about to try the right-most passage when I spotted a Galka standing by the gate straight ahead.
"Excuse me," I said, walking closer to him, "I'm looking for Makarim. Do you know where I could find him?"
The Galka turned, and looked me over briefly. "Makarim?" he asked, one corner of his mouth curling up in a smirk. "Probably down in the west leg. I heard Dodoi found some darksteel down there." He chuckled, shaking his head, and turned back toward the gate.
"Thank you," I said, and turned away, before I realized I still had no idea where exactly that was. "I'm sorry," I interjected, turning back towards the Galka. "Which tunnel is that down? I'm new to-"
He cut me off with a wave of his hand and chuckled again, saying, "Down the tunnel to your left, then take a right turn. Cut across the big chamber, hanging right, and Makarim should be in that tunnel. If not, just ask one of the miners down there. They should be able to help you out."
"Thank you," I said again, with a short nod of my head. I turned, and headed down the indicated passage, hoping I wouldn't get too lost. It led steadily deeper into the earth, and took a sharp turn to the left about fifty feet in. I proceeded slowly, taking my time to make sure I kept steady footing on the smooth rock passage.
At the foot of the slope, a passage broke off to the right. I paused a moment, trying to recall the exact directions from the Galka. "I know there was a right turn in there somewhere," I muttered to myself, turning between the two passages. After a short moment, I shrugged, and continued on the main path.
Surprisingly, it led to a dead end after just a little ways in. I turned to go back to the split, when something glimmering in the corner of the passage caught my eye. I walked forward, and crouched down to examine it more closely.
A sudden rush of movement behind me nearly knocked me to the ground, as a tall, segmented worm rose out of the stone floor. It turned what I assumed was its head, a writhing mass of feelers, toward me, and made a loud hissing noise.
I drew back, not taking my eyes off the worm. I had thought the mines worms to be non-aggressive, but I might have made the mistake of invading this one's nest. I braced myself, and pulled my staff off my back. I certainly couldn't get around this worm, so I would have to go through it.
I charged forward, swinging my staff hard as I closed into range with the worm. The contact made a horrible squishing noise, and the worm's hiss rose into a high-pitched shriek. It swung its body around, and then, faster than I had imagined it could move, it swung its mass of feelers toward me.
I tried to ward off the blow, but the worm slithered around my worthless parry and raked its feelers down the front of my tunic. They left a mass of thick gel, and the skin underneath suddenly starting burning.
I shouted from the pain, and brought my staff back into position. I swung again, this time aiming a little higher on the worm's body. I swung true once again, the staff connecting with its "head", just below the mass of feelers.
The worm shrieked again, its movements visibly slowing down from the bludgeoning it was taking. It made another swipe, aiming its feelers at my head this time, but I was able to deflect it with a quick blow from my staff.
I stepped forward, and choked up on the staff, taking a short, powerful swing for the same spot just under the worm's feelers. The blow struck true, and the worm let out one final shriek before collapsing onto the stone floor.
I propped my staff against the wall, and took a moment to examine my tunic. Other than being smeared with a thick gel and not smelling the greatest, it was fine. I pulled it up quickly to check the skin underneath.
The skin on my torso was an angry, irritated red color. The pain had actually faded to a sharp tingle after the fight, but touching the skin was still painful. I sighed, and pulled the tunic back down over my torso.
"I suppose I should see what that shiny thing in the corner was," I muttered to myself, grabbing my staff from the wall. I walked over to the same spot again, crouched down, and began brushing dirt away from whatever had caught my attention in the first place.
After a moment, I had uncovered a large rock shot through with bright silver veins. I slipped it into my pack, making a mental note to bring it over to Fatimah in the guild to see what it was worth.
I straightened up, and turned from the dead end, re-tracing my steps back to the passage that branched off. "I knew there was a right turn somewhere in there," I muttered to myself as I followed that tunnel.
It quickly opened up into a huge cavern. I could see several Galkas and a few Humes along the walls, mostly wielding pickaxes. Luckily the cavern was big enough that the noise wasn't overwhelming. I picked one of the Humes who wasn't chipping away at the wall, and walked towards him.
"Excuse me," I called when I got close enough, "I'm looking for Makarim. Do you know where I could find him?"
He started a bit, then a slow smile rose to his face. "Makarim?" he asked, looking me over. "What do you need with the overseer?" He looked on the verge of laughter. Why did everyone have the same reaction when I asked for Makarim?
"I have a message for him from Musketeer Rashid," I said with a smile. "I'm led to believe it's important, and I'm having a hard time getting straight answers from people here." I shrugged, and added, "I guess we'd better hope no one asks me for a detailed report. I'd hate to get anyone in trouble."
I actually wouldn't hate it at all. If this was the way these miners routinely treated people, they deserved whatever would end up coming to them.
The miner nodded his head, the smile slowly fading from his features. "Makarim's down that passage," he said, pointing west, "and hug the left wall. Should be at the end of the tunnel." He fell silent, turning back to the closest miner. From his reaction, I judged the conversation had reached its end.
"Thanks," I muttered, and set out to find Makarim and pick up his report. I was ready for this assignment to be over.
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