Day 279 (257)((247))

Day 279 (257)((247)):
By the time Cara knocked on our door, we were up and about. She sat with us in the nearly empty common room. She told us the tale of how this item came to be and why the Ogre Mage would think it could grant him godhood.
"In ancient times, a dwarf miner of extraordinary power lived, some claim he was a god. This miner earned the title The Master Miner. Even other master miners called him Master. It is said the very earth obeyed his every word. He could find rich veins of metals and large deposits of gems of excellent quality. He brought much wealth to his land and fame to both it and him.
"One day, he and his crew encountered a creature deep in the caves. His crew was unharmed, but the Miner got one of his legs bitten off, all the way to the hip. His crew killed the creature and rescued the leg. They quickly got the Miner to a healer. The healer decided that regrowing the leg was better than trying to reattach the chomped one. As the new leg grew, the Miner pondered what to do with the old one. Struck with inspiration, the Miner stripped his old leg down to the bones. He wired the foot bones to keep it shaped like a foot. Clay was shaped over it to make a stone foot. The two lower leg bones were fashioned into a wand, which remained unadorned save for the material that bound them together. The thigh bone was the most worked. Plates of every natural metal was laid upon it and attached to it. Gems were also embedded on and in the bone. Hide with the hair still upon it formed a crude handle. It is this one we have at Gowgornok. It holds most of the Master Miner's powers. It can reshape earth and stone, find metals and gems, form strong tunnels where it is too hard to dig, plus make walls of protection and repel projectiles of stone or metal. The Foot, it is said, allows the holder to pass through stone and earth as if through air and to walk on lava as if on a cobble stone street. The unadorned leg bones can summon creatures of the earth, like elements, the Stone race, and the like that live underground.
"It is our speculation that, by having all three, they can reclaim all of the Master Miner's powers and skills. Whether they do or do not have the other two, we cannot let this Ogre Mage get this item."
We thought on Cara's tale as we finished eating.
"If we understand correctly," Lisa began, "you fear he will use the power of this empowered device to wreak untold damage in his bid for godhood. Also, if the Duergar get it, they will do the same or worse and much more if they have the other parts."
Cara nodded as we ate, worry hanging over her like a cloud. We sympathized with her and her plight.
As we were heading out, a male gnome and a male dwarf entered. Cara brightened up when she saw them. Rapidly, she told them who we were and that we had agreed to help. The men, in turn, brightened up a little bit, some of their worry was lifted. We all exited and retrieved our horses. The two gnomes rode ponies and the dwarf a short, but stout, horse.
The morning crowd barely acknowledged us as we headed out of River Helm or, as they called it, Elv Ror. Sandorn, the male gnome, took the lead, but kept looking back at us. Horbar took up the rear, growling and grumbling all the while. Cara, try as she may, could not get the two men to speak with us. Set easily kept up with my horse without impeding anyone else. Bo and Dawn stayed with their partners to avoid upsetting our guides and those around us.
It was past mid-day and many miles outside of town before either man spoke.
Horbar rode up beside Callie, "Forklare din klaer," he barked at her.
"Konge Gorval gitt dem til meg," she replied.
Horbar nearly fell out of his saddle. It was hard to see if it was her response or the fact she responded in fluent dwarfish. Horbar returned to his spot at the rear. We did not hear a word from the men until we made camp. The men secured our horses and asked if we had any food we could not eat. We let them know that we did not. This lifted us a bit more in their sight. Cara tried so hard to get them to treat us with some civility. The men kept their distance as they attempted a fire and retrieved food for us to share. They grumbled as they worked the fire as all the wood they could find was wet. After about an hour, they threw the wood in anger and stormed off.
"Set, they can't light the fire. The wood is too wet for them to get it to burn. Would you try to light it?"
"Dragon fire is very hot. I will try."
Set approached and pushed the wood back into a pile. The men stood off and watched. Set puffed a bit to build up his fire. Soon, a steady stream of smoke began rolling from his nostrils. He focused on the wood and blew a strong concentrated flame. The wood steamed as the water evaporated. It was not long before the wood was burning brightly and crackling cheerfully. The men did not speak, but began assembling the food and cooking pots. They piled some more wood that Set proceeded to dry without setting them alight.
As we ate, our companions sought food in the wild. We ate in silence, receiving harsh looks from the men and desperate ones from Cara. Dawn trumpeted before she entered the camp. To us, she told of plentiful game of good size. At the feet of the men, she dropped three large rabbits, heads gone and blood drained. She settled at Alice's side and set about cleaning her feathers. Horbar picked them up and checked them all over. Deciding they were fit, he took them off to the side and skinned them. The guts he was about to throw into the fire when Dawn cheeped and pulled them from his hands and proceeded to eat them. Horbar placed the rabbits in the smoke to cure. He had just sat down when Bo arrived. He placed a large duck in front of the men, headless, bloodless, and devoid of most of it feathers. Sandorn picked it up and examined it. Approving, he slit its belly and dumped its guts before Bo, who proceeded to eat them. He removed the last of the feathers and cut off the feet, which Dawn and Bo got one each. Sandorn added this to the rabbits in the smoke. The men remained silent, but I could feel the questions stirring in their minds. Set returned and landed a bit awkwardly. Walking on his back legs and holding something in his front claws, he approached the men and Cara.
Carefully, he spoke aloud the words, "A ... gift".
The three of them held out their hands. Set opened his front claws and small black things tumbled into their hands and over their feet. The way Cara squealed, I feared Set had frightened her, but the speed with which they gathered them up told us that the gift was well received. Sandorn grabbed his provision bag and they stuffed everyone of the black things into it as Set returned to my side. I praised him for both the gift and his clearly spoken words.
Sandorn, finally, addressed us without anger, "Ladies, do you know what these are?"
We all shook our heads as we had never seen them before.
"They are called truffles, a rare and expensive mushroom. Such as we have here takes months to gather. Pray tell, where did he find such bounty?"
I turned to Set. Mentally, he showed me the place where he had unearthed the truffles. I relayed the location to everyone else.
Then, he asked the question that was foremost in their minds, "Why have they done this?"
"Our friends are very perceptive. They felt the lack of trust between us and wanted to fix it. This is the only thing, to them, that has any real value. Coins, items, and things we value mean nothing to them. Sharing food is sharing friendship," I explained.
They looked at the rabbits, duck, and truffles and began laughing. We seven were very confused.
Horbar explained their mirth, "We were of the impression that your friends were for show, worthless beasts of privilege. That was part of our anger. Some of the tales we had heard placed you at the tables of kings and clothed in fine garments. We thought you would treat us like servants and expect us to treat you as superiors or royalty. Seeing you in common clothes, we thought you were mocking us. Telling us our king gave you those clothes did not help matters. We've been expecting you to order us, berate us for not providing a shelter or the poor quality of our food, or some other infraction. The fact that they felt compelled to share their 'valuables' with us to gain our friendship has shattered these notions. We apologize, to all of you, for our boorish behavior. It was ignorance on our part."
We all laughed and shared tales of others having the same ideas. To prevent any snow from covering us as we slept, we cast a shield over our camp. We all went to sleep in a much better mood.