Session 124

General Summary

• Back in time again, the party members are now a team of dwarven private investigators (and their sentient badger companion) named "Mysteries Zinc".
• Pendel's automaton changed it so that Dwardazik wasn't the only survivor of the NWND 7 mine collapse, but one of two: Nikko Rubymist has also survived, and he's trying to pin the whole collapse on Dwardazik. It's up to Mysteries Zinc to prove his innocence.
• After getting some more details of the story from Dwardazik, the party proceeded to the mine to investigate, but they were stopped by the guards. They returned to the station to question Nikko, learning:
• Nikko is an incompetent miner, probably a corporate spy for the clan. He was saved by a metal golem, probably the automaton.
• Nikko thinks that the Stoneturners are the ones who collapsed the mine, mirroring Dwardazik's opinion that the other clan are the only ones who would risk their own people's lives for their greed.
• Scouts from both clans found something called "The Mothernode" hidden somewhere deep within the NWND 7 mine, saying that it's dangerous.
• The mine collapse happened right as the foreman (from a neutral clan) was about to direct the miners in the direction of "The Mothernode".
• Marshall patched through another "dissonant signal", this time sharing a conversation from Antiem Rubymist's chambers where a scout had just reported in. The gist is that Antiem wants to mine out "The Mothernode" using the chaos and uncertainty from the mine collapse and ensuing investigation as cover.
• Dazki stole some police badges, and they returned to the mine to investigate further. They were allowed in this time.
• They found where the automaton had been crushed by the rubble. Near it, they found a tunnel that led to a larger cavern.
• Inside the cavern was a gigantic crystal and (apparently) a duergar arguing with (apparently) an umberhulk.
• After a bit of combat with some actual duergars that resulted in the crystal falling down into the Underdark, the two in the front were revealed to be the Stoneturner-Boulderhearth and Lionheart-Rubymist scouts who had originally discovered "The Mothernode".
• They were both apparently trying to mine out "The Mothernode" for their own clans.
• They had both independently tried to collapse the tunnel safely in their own way, to keep it hidden from the others while they mined it out — but without working together, the collapse was much larger than either one of them had intended.
• The party released the two scouts to the guards to have them interrogated.

Full Recap

Prologue

Rumkey: There are only two key witnesses to the NWND 7 mine collapse. (He slams his pointer against the board again.) One Mr. Dwardazik of the Stoneturner-Boulderhearths — a hearty and tenacious miner — and (SLAM again) a Mr. Nikko Rubymist — a man who, quite frankly should never have been allowed in an active mineshaft.

Dwardazik's Timeline (Survivorship By Us)

Rumkey: Both have been sequestered for now, and while information from D. Boulderhearth has been inconclusive (at best), the story from N. Rubymist has been far more fruitful. Neither clan is currently interested in getting the Lawmaster involved, but if the mineshaft is found to have been intentionally (or maliciously) collapsed, then it will be necessary to bring the dwarfslayer to justice.

Dwardazik looks around uneasily. A detective raises his hand and then quickly steps up to address the captain.

Detective: But Officer Rumkey, if it is found out that the collapse is due to a Boulderhearth conspiracy, then that would give the Rubymist almost full access to the remaining NWND gem mines! Not only would this decision affect those we've lost, but the future of those still with us!   Rumkey, slamming his pointer (against the stone table, this time): Which is why we still need to do our due diligence here, even though our current evidence points to the Boulderhearth as being guilty. We can't afford to get this one wrong. You each have your roles. Get to work! DISMISSED!

Kesmet hands around a mirror so that they can see themselves as others do: they're all dwarves, except for Grogery, who seems to be some kind of sentient badger.

Dwardazik: I'm not really sure how to proceed here. Maybe if we investigate the collapse, we'll be able to find our own evidence of what actually went down? ...which, I know, is the Rubymist. But maybe you guys can offer a different perspective about what's going on here? As much as I hate to say it, maybe I'm biased.   Marvin: I'm not surprised, in this case. Also, given the nature of what's going on here, I don't think we can refer to our friend by his real name. Might raise suspicion.   Dwardazik: "Longbeard" it is.   Some small side discussions for a little bit.   Rumkey: What the heck are you lot still doing here?! Get all out!   Kesmet: Yes sir, Mr. Boss Man, sir!

They leave the room, Dazki seeming unusually down as he does.

Kesmet: Hey, Corvin, you OK?   Marvin: Yeah, I know it was kind of rough back there, but it all turned out all right. ...I hope?   Dazki: I'm... ... ...sorry, I've...   Marvin: You and your beloved made it out of there. Maybe not necessarily unscathed, but you made it out. You've faced much worse with us.   Dwardazik: We can talk about this later, Corvin? Or —   Dazki, taking a deep breath: OK. Repress the trauma. Don't fucking deal with it. Got it.   Marvin: Uh... a lot to unpack there, but... we will deal with it later.   Grogery: Did we actually cause something to go wrong in the past?   Dazki: I don't... think so?   Dwardazik: How would we know?   Dazki: It doesn't matter. I'm used to feeling like a failure around my family. It's fine. Whatever. Move on, let's go.   Grogery: There are some things we will talk about when we're done with this little adventure time thing.   Marvin: So, we weren't given any orders by the captain. Longbeard, I know it's uncomfortable, and you have brought it up (though not necessarily in great detail), but we're going to need to know exactly how this all went down with the cave-in.   Kesmet: Yeah, you had some beef with the Rubyfeet? You were saying they wanted to betray you or somethin'?   Marvin: We're gonna need specifics here.   Dwardazik: Look, I don't know, OK?   Marvin: You clearly know something. You were there. We need to know what happened. Right now, it looks like they're investigating a younger you, being blamed for the cave-in. How did it go down? Were you on trial? Were you charged with something?   Dwardazik: All I know is that this investigation was going down, and it was being really difficult, and they sent me away to go do a "special merchant mission", and I never figured out what the hell was happening, OK? ...maybe I am guilty, but damnit I know it was those Rubymists!   Kesmet: Well, how were you "maybe guilty", then? Oh, are you talking about the guy that I blew up in that one weird room?   Dwardazik: Yes.   Grogery: OK. What do you specifically remember happening here, from your point of view? Because we know the mine collapsed, but none of the actual details. You — and, obviously, that Rubymist dwarf — were down there somehow. Probably doing something. And then, the mine collapsed. And that's why you're the two main suspects, right?   Kesmet: I think the dude said that they were the only two witnesses.   Grogery: Only two surviving witnesses, maybe.   Dazki: So, what do you remember happening in the mine? Maybe we can start from there.   Dwardazik: ...wait a minute. Something doesn't seem right. (He closes his eyes to think for a bit.) Wait a minute, I'm the only survivor!   Kesmet: What about that Nikko guy?   Dwardazik: How is there another survivor?   Marvin: They must have changed something.   Kesmet: That must be the automaton. If you're the only survivor, then they must have inserted him into the timeline?   Dazki: How do you know that you're the only survivor?   Dwardazik: That's what I was told. But I also feel like I know that Nikko is guilty.   Grogery: You were the only survivor. Nikko originally didn't survive.   Dazki: Well, he was told that he was the only survivor, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's true.   Marvin: Do you remember there being another person there named Nikko?   Dwardazik: It's too difficult to really remember.   Kesmet: Sounds like we need to pay the site a visit. Check it out, see if there's anything there.   Marvin: Yeah. We should head to the mine.   Dazki: I'd also like to talk with Nikko, but I don't know if that's going to be possible, if he is being held by the guard.   Marvin: The chief made it sound like we're a part of the force? Should be possible.   Kesmet: Well, we were in the briefing room. Presumably, we all work for the police, somehow.   Dwardazik: All I know is that I was never tried for anything official. I was basically sent away, to not be a problem for my clan. And I respected that. I understood that I was basically exiled, and they gave me a pathetic little job to be a merchant, and I was going to go do it just fine, when I'm quite happy to get my nails and hands dirty in the mine. Only thing I know is that there's no way I can be convicted guilty here. Gotta find evidence, otherwise shit's going to get weird.   Marvin: Not to sound insensitive, but was it like an informal banishment?   Dwardazik: Might as well have been.   Grogery: Might have been that the evidence was inconclusive, and to just ease tensions, they'd just get you out of the country for a period of time.   Dwardazik: I don't know what all the delicate reasons are. The complicated political reasons. But that's the result.   Dazki: I would like to know the exact story before we go to check out the scene of the crime.   Kesmet: Yeah, Dwardazik, you still haven't told us, like, what happened. You're just saying that, in your heart, you know it's the other dude's fault.   Dwardazik: You have to believe me. I don't know what happened.   Kesmet: So, from your perspective, it's just: you were working, everything's fine, and then all of a sudden, BOOM, collapse? And then you alone —   Dwardazik: From everything I understood about that mine, it was safe. I know none of my clan would have jeopardized our lives. It must have been a plot by the Rubymist, but I cannot prove it.   Dazki: It could've been an accident. Someone could've made a mistake, too. All we're asking is: the five minutes before the collapse, what do you remember?   Dwardazik: All right. I was originally talking to a fellow dwarf. We were going to start focusing on the far wall, because we were going to make a side vein. I approached it, I was by one of the supports, inspecting the rock. I was plotting out a couple of areas where I wanted to start digging first. My head was in the stone, I was focused in on it.   Dwardazik (cont'd): All of a sudden, I heard a shaking. The support next to me started falling towards me, and that's the last thing I remember until waking up, with that support saving my life from the rocks above me.   Dazki: OK.   Dwardazik: I do remember a couple of yells here and there, but in the mine, I couldn't tell if it was coming from in front of us or from behind.   Dazki: Well, I guess we should head in that direction, and you can maybe point out where that support was, and any other key features of the mine.   Marvin: That sounds good. The more we know, the better.

They head to the mine.

Grogery: I have a feeling that we're kind of laughingstock detectives. We're just gonna have to prove 'em wrong.   Dwardazik: How do we want to approach this? Maybe you guys should take the lead on this. I'm going to just follow along, I think.

Dazki tries to walk under the yellow rope confidently, like he belongs there, but he is stopped by a guard who claims to be from the Wonderbeard family — a neutral family not aligned with either the Stoneturner-Boulderhearths or the Rubymist.

Guard: This area is for real detectives.   Dwardazik: Wut? We are real detectives!   Guard: Yeah, sure you are, pal. Why don't you go be detectives over there, in the sand pit?   Dwardazik: Why don't you go mind your own business, over there?   Dazki: If you two are done having a pissing contest, can we get in there and, y'know, actually work, please?   Guard: No? How about no.   Dazki: Why?   Guard: You're not real detectives! You don't have a badge, you don't have training — you're just a joke!   Dazki: Then it won't possibly hurt to let us in there, because we won't come up with anything that your skilled eyes wouldn't have already noticed.   Guard: Nobody else is gettin' hurt in this mine. Especially not amateurs.   Marvin: Then why the hell are you in here? I saw you trip over the sand just walkin' over here! Who trips over sand?!

They try a few different ways to try to get past the guard — Grogery even runs around making a scene and distracting everyone — and trying to gather whatever information they can from outside, but they are ultimately unsuccessful: they will need to come back with proper documentation if they want to make any progress here.

Back to the Station

Dazki heads over to the pit area and looks around, trying to find some of the detectives he recognizes from earlier. He approaches one of the detectives who just came through the door.

Dazki: Hey, so, learned anything interesting? What's the deal at the crime scene?   Detective, very loudly: Man, that Nikko guy is like a steel trap, man!   Dazki: Oh? Why do you say that?   Detective, still loud: He just says the same stuff. I think they've taught him what to say.   Other detectives have started paying attention to this conversation, because this guy apparently only yells.   Dazki: Hey, hey, keep it down. We don't want to disturb your coworkers.   Detective: Who let you lowlifes back here, anyway? Just because the Boulderhearths say you should be on this case doesn't mean that the rest of the world thinks you should be here.   His secretary chuckles.   Dazki: Look. We're here. Just play nice, pretend it's fine, and we'll be out of your hair before you know it, OK?   Detective: I don't get paid enough for this.   Dazki: Man, the sooner this gets solved, the sooner we can be out of your way. If you help us, it gets done quicker. But I can see you're not willing to do that, so, have a good day. We don't mean anything by this, we're just trying to do our jobs too, OK?

He gives a halfhearted wave and walks away (Sleight of Hand 20) with a document labeled as an "Eyewitness Statement" which the detective had had on his desk. Dazki looks it over and shares it with the party once he gets a safe distance away.

Grogery: That "golem" was probably the construct. It existed in my thing, maybe it was there in Dazki's too.   Marvin: Guys, I just had a thought. Not a great one. The whole point of this is to make sure that events proceed as we remember them, such that we do all leave and meet up in Ashport? Longbeard, I'm afraid that if we clear your name of this, that won't happen.   Grogery: We don't necessarily need to clear his name, just put enough of a doubt to get him back into the same position that sent him to Ashport originally. So that they can't confirm whether or not he did it, and then they send him out of the country until things quiet down.   Marvin: Right. So, not convict, but not clear.   Grogery: Right now, there seems to be a much clearer case against Dwardazik because of Nikko's testimony. So we might need to find something that disproves his testimony. Without necessarily clearing Dwardazik.   Marvin: Right. I know that's not what you want to hear, friend, but them's the breaks.   Dwardazik, with a sigh: It makes sense. With all this time travel. But I want you all to know I'm innocent.   Marvin: We believe you.   Dwardazik: But let's do it. Let's find out how guilty "I" may be.   Grogery: Maybe we can go try to talk to Nikko while we're here?   Dazki: Makes sense to me.   Marvin: Let's do that. I think it's too early to head back to the site.   Grogery: If we reveal some previously-unspoken info from Nikko, maybe they'll have to respect us enough.   Dwardazik: Remember, we do have the authority of my clan.   Dazki: Doesn't seem like that means much right now.   Kesmet: It sounded like your clan wanted us on this case, so maybe we're private investigators?   Dazki: Yeah.   Grogery: If the Boulderhearths were willing to hire people like us for this, then they must have been desperate.

They go to Nikko's cell.

Secretary: Badge number?   Marvin: Private investigators, authorized by House Stoneturner-Boulderhearth.   Secretary: ... ...Badge number?   Marvin: Two-five-zero-seven.

Dazki also sneakily (Stealth 30) takes a look at the slate to see what he can glean off of it. Kesmet, seeing that he's about to try something, wants to use Minor Illusion to make a crashing sound behind her — but (Deception 10) all he can manage is the sound of a screaming gopher. Marvin puts his head in his hands.

Dwardazik: Does that mean we can go in?   Secretary: What's your badge number, son?   Dazki, motioning to Marvin: He told you.   Marvin: Yeah, and they're with me. Listen, we all know mistakes happen, but we need to speak with Nikko. I told you my badge number. Accidents happen. But we're gonna have to report this to the chief if we can't speak to Nikko. I'm sure you've memorized the numbers well enough to even recreate that slab, right? (Persuasion 28)

Marvin: Thank you. I hope you have a lovely day.   Secretary: Make it quick, and remember — no Boulderhearths.   Dazki: You got it.

Marvin: Nikko Rubymist, I presume?   He seems a bit confused, but he's immediately antagonistic.   Nikko: Depends. Who's askin'?   Kesmet: Mr. Nikko. We're some guys, wanted to talk to you. You want a piece of candy? (He offers one of his caramels.)   Marvin: Matchstick, we don't need to play coy.   Kesmet: I was just offering him a piece of candy!   Nikko takes the candy.   Marvin, lowering his voice: Nikko, we were hired by your clan to investigate. We're trying to get your name out of this.   Nikko: ...my clan hired YOU?   Marvin: Yes, you did an excellent job. And excellent work gets rewarded. We're gonna make sure you get out of here.   Nikko: Yeah? So, you believe me?   Marvin: Yes! Everything went according to plan.   Kesmet: The golem story, with the golem part, was a bit weird, though.   Nikko: It happened! It seriously happened. They don't believe me here, but that's not part of it.   Marvin: Exactly! And, because it was a """golem""", they won't be able to tell it apart from the rubble, anyway! It's perfect!   Nikko: Well, I mean, it's a metal golem. And rocks are stone. You are dwarves, right?   Dazki: Oh, we didn't have the information that it was made out of metal. We assumed it was one of the more common stone ones.   Marvin, sarcastically: And of course, Nikko! Of course we aren't dwarves! (He points to Longbeard, who lives up to his name) Just look at how short that beard is! How could that ever pass for a dwarf?!   Grogery: ...I'm not a dwarf...   Marvin scratches Grogery behind the ear.   Nikko: I don't really understand this "plan" you're talking about... ...but I want in!   Marvin: ...you're already in.   Nikko: Perfect!   Marvin: You performed your job perfectly. All the evidence got washed away in the rubble. Only one survivor besides yourself, and you'll get off scot-free!   Nikko: Wait... was the plan to collapse the mine? Shit, that makes so much sense!   Marvin: Yeah. Did they not brief you?   Nikko: Well, I know that those Stoneturners were sniffin' around where they weren't supposed to.   Marvin: Exactly. And now, no one will ever know! The sniffing stops with the badger.   Nikko: They would... nooooo, no. The Stoneturners must've collapsed that mine. They're the only ones who would put their own men in danger.   Marvin: Of course! And that's exactly what everyone will believe.   Kesmet: I'm still uncomfortable about the whole golem thing.   Nikko: Oh! It was, like, this... almost like a metal man, you know? Like a golem.   Marvin exchanges a look with everyone else; they seem to get it now.   Grogery: That's super weird. Where did it even go?   Nikko: I don't know, it just seemed to come out of nowhere and saved my frickin' life!   Grogery: But, like, how?   Nikko: Shit, it blocked the rubble, man! I don't know, it's all a blur. But tell me more about this "plan"!   Grogery: Where did the golem even go? It's not anywhere in there, we were just over there.   Nikko: Oh, it's gotta still be in that rubble. Have you seen all that rubble?!   Dazki: There was a lot...   Grogery: How did you get out if the golem didn't get out?   Dwardazik: You know it's going to be dangerous to other people, right? We don't want any loose ends.   Nikko: I need to know more about this plan, though. I want in!   Marvin: You're already going to increase your ranking within the clan when you get back. As a hero, for stopping the Boulderhearths from making so much money on all the ruby that was below the mine.   Nikko: I didn't do any of that sort of stuff.   Marvin: Of course you didn't! Of course you didn't! That's what everyone will believe, thanks to your testimony. And if we can go over your testimony one more time, to make sure the story is right?   Nikko: Oh, yeah, super. Definitely. The Boulderhearths were sniffing around there. Apparently, they found something really good. Except that, we found it first, and then they lied about it, all right? So, I was down there, and I'm like, "we're gonna find out who really found that thing", right? And then our scouts, they come back. The Boulderhearth scouts are all like "I found this amazing thing first", and then our scout correctly says that he found it first, but that we can't go over there because it's too dangerous. So nobody tells the foreman shit, all right? So the foreman just goes on his own way. But the Boulderhearths, they're bein' greedy!   Marvin: ...OK. And so, we gotta make sure we're on the same page. Because we want to be saying the same thing was found, right? Did they go into any further description on what they found?   Nikko: The "Mothernode"!   Marvin: Gold? Gems? Iron?   Nikko: Bah, nobody tells Nikko. Nikko gives information, Nikko doesn't take it.   Marvin: And who did you give information to while you were down there?   Nikko: Nikko doesn't talk. He's no rat.   Marvin: Nikko...   Grogery: So you didn't tell anybody who else was down there?   Nikko: Nope! But the foreman, he was gonna go to the dangerous part of the mine.   Dazki: Who was the foreman in the mine that day?   Nikko: Same one as normal.   Dazki: What was his name? Or her name?   Nikko: Uhh... I don't know. But don't worry, it wasn't one of them stinky Boulderhearths. Neutral party on this mine.   Dazki: Could you give us a description?   Nikko: Short guy with a beard.   Dazki: What color was the beard?   Nikko: Listen, we don't got time for this! All I know is the Boulderhearths haven't seemed to take a hit from the mine collapse. They're still rakin' in the gems!   Marvin: So, obviously, there must have been some kind of mining stake established once the discovery was made, right?   Nikko: ...they must've collapsed the mine so they can have the Mothernode all to themselves! But we're not gonna stand for it.   Dwardazik: ...wouldn't they be collapsing it on their fellow dwarves, though?   Nikko: That's just like 'em!   Dwardazik: That is true...   Nikko: Greedy, and caring about precision over anything else!   Dwardazik: They must have quite the large amount of honor to their clan, if they're willing to sacrifice themselves for the betterment, eh? Sounds awfully selfless.   Nikko: Well, listen. They're not havin' it. If they're still out there, and they're still rakin' in bank, we've got to tell Antiem.   Grogery: So, hang on. It was a "dangerous" zone of the mine. The Rubymists and Boulderhearths both knew this. But —   Nikko: The scouts said it was dangerous.   Grogery: And you were there?   Nikko: I don't know my ass from a hole in the ground.   Marvin: So, what exactly did you say to the investigators?   Nikko: I ain't no rat, I didn't tell 'em nothin'! The Boulderhearths collapsed that mine, and their "hero" is the only one that made it out.   Marvin: That's all you told 'em?   Nikko: I swear, I didn't spill anything!   Marvin: Now, Nikko, if you said anything else, we need to be on the same page, or else we don't have our stories straight. You know it would be embarrassing for the whole clan if we were caught with our stories mixed up, right?   Nikko: Nothin's mixed up!   Marvin: Nikko. What's the full story that you told the detectives?   Nikko: ...don't you have the statement?   Dazki: I think we're done here. We should go let Antiem know that everything is proceeding according to plan. Did you have a specific meeting place with her? A drop location, anything like that?   Nikko: I don't get to talk to Antiem.   Dazki: Fair enough.   Marvin: OK, Nikko. You'll be out of here soon. Don't worry. We'll be back later.   Nikko: All right. All right.   Marvin: Just stick to your story about the big metal golem, OK?   Nikko: OK.

They leave and discuss among themselves.

Marvin: OK, so it doesn't really seem like he has much that can implicate the Boulderhearths.   Dazki: No, but he said it was common knowledge that the mine was unsafe?   Dwardazik: The mine was not unsafe. Frankly, what's confusing is the fact that all these people... I never thought that the Rubymists were that popular, and not just because of who I was hangin' around with. So, it seems strange to me that everyone seems to be on the Rubymist side. Maybe they've got it out for us, but... I dunno.   Kesmet: If he's saying that everyone knew that the mine was unsafe, but Dwardazik's saying that the mine was fine, then we need to find out what people think. Was everyone convinced that it was unsafe, or did the scout come back and say everything's fine?   Dazki: Right, was there a miscommunication somewhere...   Kesmet: Or was this all just an elaborate plot to get rid of Nikko?   Dwardazik: It was probably all a plot by the Rubymists, I'm just saying. Because they always like to use their druidic magic, things like roots and animals and stuff, and ripping apart the earth all willy-nilly. And they do it damn fast, and it's risky.   Marvin: If we find evidence of newly grown flora and fauna disturbing various rock formations —   Dazki: Again, we don't want to prove Dwardazik completely innocent.   Kesmet: If we find the "golem", then that might lend credence to his story and might make them think "he's not crazy".

Dissonant Signal

A tinny voice in the air begins to speak.

Marshall: Hey, I'm picking up a dissonant signal?   Grogery: You don't say!   Dazki: OK... go on.   Marshall: Location of origin: Rubymist main treasury chamber. Relevance confirmed. Want me to patch it through, guys?   Grogery: If you would.   Marshall: OK, I'm gonna patch it through now.

Voice: Your grandness, all of these investigators threaten our operation. The Boulderhearths have already taken measures to delay investigation, by involving those incompetent Mysteries Zinc folks. They also think that protecting that scapegoat of theirs will make our scapegoat spill the beans first. What is your next move?   Antiem: Whatever they paid to get those losers involved, we will spend twice as much to get some actual investigators, to find the correct evidence. The unexpected survival of Nikko already gives us an advantage. The more resources they spend on defending themselves, the less resources they have to mine the Mothernode.   Voice: It will be done. One last thing before I go: the umberhulk situation is ready. It should keep any curious thieves at bay for now.

Marshall interrupts.

Marshall: Hey, that lady seems really serious. You know her?   Dazki: We might have an idea who she is.   Marshall: OK. Hope that helped!   Kesmet: Thank you, Sky Voice. (...wait, we're underground.) ...Roof Voice?   Dwardazik: Do we really trust what we just heard?   Dazki: Yeah. They didn't know they were being spied on, and they thought it was a conversation in confidence. So, yeah, I think it's probably 100% true. I don't know that you were necessarily a scapegoat, but I know that she views you as a scapegoat.   Grogery: You have a negative opinion of the Rubymists. Obviously, they have a negative opinion of the Stoneturner-Boulderhearths. They probably just presumed (incorrectly).   Dwardazik: That's what it is. I don't know what to do. Do we try to figure out this plan? Do we try to find this golem? I know that we know what we have to do, but how does one do that?   Grogery: OK, well, the Rubymists paid a ton of investigators to find the "correct" evidence.   Dwardazik: To frame me.   Grogery: Would there be a chance for us to find evidence of this corruption? What is our actual objective here?   Dwardazik: Our objective is to somehow convince them that going through the court is a waste of time — and that sending me to Ashport so they can deal with it later is more important (or easier).   Kesmet: Who sent you there? Who do we have to convince?   Dwardazik: It must've been the heads of my clan. Waelas Boulderhearth and Orfila "Ory" Stoneturner.   Kesmet: What if we pay them a visit and tell 'em, "hey, it's not looking good for Dwardazik", and we convince 'em to do that, bypassing the legal bullshit completely? And then they'll think it's for the best and send their son away?   Dwardazik: Won't work. It needs to be advantageous to both clans for me to leave. That means that the Stoneturner-Boulderhearths need to have some kind of leverage on the Rubymists for them not to pursue this.   Dazki: All right, so we deliver the golem to them.   Grogery: We deliver the golem to the Boulderhearths. It's evidence that what Nikko said was true, and they don't want it to be found. While the Rubymists also don't want it to be out that one of them summoned a steel golem to save himself? That seems like it would be out-of-character for them.   Marvin: Something that they would have premonition to do, if they had the mind to do that pre-emptively?   Dwardazik: Seems reasonable to me. I don't really think there's a better lead.   Grogery: We just need to find the golem.   Dazki: Well, we know where it is. We just have to get back into the mine site.

They get back to discussing ideas for how to get past the guards at the mine. Some duds, and then:

Dwardazik: Remember what that dwarf guard said? Either paperwork or a badge. And you know what cocky-ass detectives like to do? They like to flash their badge so fast that people can't even see it! And what do you just so happen to be really good at doing? Illusions.   Kesmet: That's what I strive to be known for.   Grogery: So, he would just make illusions of badges that will hold up as we're walking by?   Kesmet: Can Dazki's "sticky fingers" get us an actual badge? It would be easy to use Minor Illusion to put some things on it than it would be to make a whole badge.   Dazki: I'll see what I can do. I'll meet you guys up front in, like, ten minutes.   Dwardazik: OK.

Dazki sneaks around (Stealth 26) and lifts a badge for each non-animal person (Sleight of Hand 20), one of them being named "Dick Gravesucker" (Dazki: "The chief thought it would be a joke, ha-ha, laugh it up, but he goes by Richard G."), and returns to the rest of the party.

Dwardazik: Damn, man! Thank goodness you're on our side!   Dazki, slapping him on the back: I wouldn't turn my back on you.   Dwardazik, squinting: But... that's normally what you have to do, because you sneak out in front of us.   Dazki: You know what I mean. I'm always gonna be on your side. You're my friend.   Dwardazik: But... a lot of times, you're across from me, when we're trying to get an advantage in killing our enemies.

Oh Look, They're Back At NWND 7

Dwardazik: NWND 7, man. This place just never goes away.

They walk past, flashing their badges.

Dazki: Can you show us to the support pillar where "Dwardazik" was at?   Dwardazik: Sure.   Grogery: Random question, Longbeard: is your passenger still there? Because your passenger isn't a Warrior of Light.   Dwardazik: Gemineye wasn't here in the past and isn't here now. Just like Barry isn't with us.   Grogery: Just curious.   Dwardazik: Why are you curious? Are you trying to get rid of Gemineye?!   Grogery: No, I'm not trying to get rid of Gemineye.   Dwardazik: Then why? What are you askin' for?   Grogery: If we end up in a fight, and random stuff starts happening around you, then I wanted to know if we need to keep an eye on that, because that might get us noticed. And we're trying not to be noticed. The thought just occurred to me, and we haven't see anything happen yet.   Dwardazik: That makes sense.

Dwardazik: Just past over here, and around this rubble. We might have to climb up a little bit to get over this top. Most people wouldn't be brave enough to try to climb over this until it's been cleared, but frankly, we don't have anywhere else to go.   Dazki: So, Dwardazik, could you look around for me a little bit while we're on our way? Is there anything that seems like it would come from a collapse of an unstable mine as opposed to some kind of an accident?

Dwardazik: Hmm. When you look at it like this, the obvious conclusion would seem to be that it was a miscalculated explosion that would cause the entire mine to collapse. But, you know what? I remain unconvinced. I'm pretty sure that the holes that they pack with explosives are only drilled so deep, so you can't put that much powder in them to begin with. I'm just thinking that maybe the Rubymists were using their magic while something was being blasted, and that's what caused the whole thing to collapse.   Dwardazik (cont'd): ...wait, damnit, it doesn't matter! We don't care what happened. We just need to find leverage. Ugh, I'm getting distracted by this.   Grogery: Seems like what went wrong is that if the Stoneturners were the only ones in here, then their precision would have been just fine and nothing wrong would have happened. If the Rubymists had been here on their own, then there wouldn't have been any explosives. It's the fact that they were both in here, competing for the same thing, getting in each other's way. That's what made the earth too brittle in the wrong places, and then the Stoneturners working in an environment where they didn't know all the variables... yeah.

Dwardazik: Grogery, you'd be a great defense, and I trust you. With my life, to be honest. But, I think you're speaking a little bit too much sense here. And right now, if you speak that kind of sense to the wrong person, I'm probably never gonna make my way over to Ashport.   Grogery: This is something we can't really provide as evidence. It's part of the walls. It would be an awkward thing for either the Stoneturners or the Rubymists to try to argue around "well maybe if both of us hadn't been here"... that's the complication that would get them to try to send you out of the country while stuff blows over. But you can't exactly pick this up and show it to somebody.   Dwardazik: That is a good point. Might be able to use it as a counterargument to say that both sides are at fault, and that it should be handled outside of the courts.   Kesmet: I'm a little concerned that the one voice we heard sounded like she had other plans to screw her own man over, and Dwardazik. They were trying to get some sort of project off the ground. Should we be concerned about that?   Dazki: Yeah, it sounded like they had umberhulks coming to the area.   Kesmet: What is an umberhulk?   Dazki: Big monster.   Dwardazik: It's not good.   Dazki: So we need to look around as quickly as we can and see if we can find that automaton, I guess.   Dwardazik, heading over to one support beam: So this is where "I" must have been found, assuming that all this still happens.   Dazki notices a small weasel skirting around the party and disappearing through a hole in the rubble.   Dazki: Hey! That hole over there... some kind of little animal just squeezed through there.   Dwardazik runs towards it and starts throwing rocks out of the way.   Dazki: Longbeard, is that safe? We don't want to collapse anything on top of us even more...   Dwardazik: It'll be fine.   Dazki grabs him and moves him back.   Dazki: How do you know it'll be "fine"?!   Dwardazik, pointing up: Look at the rock. The cavity over here has already been formed into a dome. The unsupported material is already on the floor. The chances of another collapse on the same spot are pretty miniscule without a disturbance somewhere along a fault. And frankly, there isn't a fault. Look how it's sheared on the top.

Dazki: OK, I think we need to continue this way. The automaton might have been through here.   Dwardazik: See? I knew my intuition was correct. (He throws the stone to the side.)

They crawl through the tunnel.

Grogery, pulling his head back into the tunnel: OK. Dwardazik, don't freak out. But. I feel like if anybody but us saw this and reported it to the authorities, we would probably get the objective that we want. You should look in there and help us figure out how to proceed, but we should probably be discreet about all of this, OK?   Dwardazik nods.   Grogery: OK. First of all: giant crystal in there. I think we've found the "Mothernode" that people have been talking about. Secondly: the umberhulk that was mentioned, so all right, we've got evidence of that. And, did you know if the Rubymist were working with duergars or not?   Dwardazik: If you were to accuse someone of that, you would easily be starting a fight. That is almost the most traitorous thing you could have stated. But I would believe it.   Grogery: Well, uh, I'll let you take a look over there now.   Dwardazik looks and comes back.   Dwardazik: Thing is, nobody's going to believe us. We're just a bunch of nobodies to these people. The only way we're going to get anything is if we get some evidence. Like an umberhulk horn or something.   Grogery: If we bring one of these guys to testify that the Rubymist hired them to mine this out after the mine collapse, then there you go.   Dwardazik: OK. Let's go in there, and let's ambush the hell out of 'em.   Grogery: Remember, we need these guys to be alive in order to testify. If one escapes, then we might be able to make do with one, but we can't if both are dead.   Dwardazik: Just their presence is enough evidence. Let's go.   Grogery: Again, we need them to testify against the Rubymists and not leave it as an open question, like, "did the Boulderhearths bring these guys here?". We need them to talk afterwards.

Kesmet goes invisible and sneaks into the chamber to see what's going on. The others also enter.

Duergar: You thieving weasel! I knew you lot were here, scraping up our leftovers! You greedy fucks are going to jeopardize this whole endeavor!   Umberhulk: Me?! (He realizes that he yelled that way too loudly, and he lowers his voice.) You're the one suckling the Rubymist tit, my friend. Find your own jackpot.   They begin fighting one another.

Dwardazik climbs a wall to get the high ground, and Kesmet goes the other direction to split up and look for clues. Kesmet bumps into an invisible duergar, who attacks him.

Combat Summary

• Grogery used Hold Person to lock down both the duergar and the umberhulk. It worked on both.
• There were several other duergar scattered throughout the cavern. One of them, who started near the crystal, grew huge. On seeing this, Marvin used a Dissonant Whispers, forcing it to run away. Unexpectedly, it ran behind the crystal and started trying to dig underneath it.
• Grogery began dragging the paralyzed umberhulk, and he didn't drag it very far before a bit of its armor broke loose, revealing a dwarven leg underneath. He would eventually drag it all the way to the crate in the corner.
• The large duergar was completely focused on breaking the crystal.
• Dwardazik got so angry at the duergar that he attacked, ignoring the plan to bring them in for questioning. The first strike of his mace immediately knocked the nearby duergar unconscious, allowing him to go to another duergar and attack it a few times, killing it.
• Before the large duergar could finish breaking the crystal, Kesmet slid down the sides of the walls to get closer to him.
• Dazki also started moving in to get closer to the large duergar, but (Athletics 0) he stumbled hard down the face of the ledge, dropping his glasses.
• Kesmet ran in and looked through the hole that the large duergar was trying to slip through. He saw a bunch of glowing yellow eyes down there, and quickly pulled out three sticks of dynamite that he had picked up earlier. He lit them and set them down next to the large duergar ("keep an eye on this for me, would you, man?").
• Grogery tried to tie up the umberhulk with some chain, and Marvin redid his shoddy job.
• Kesmet dashed over to Dwardazik and used a quickened Dimension Door to get both of them safely out of the way of the dynamite explosion with barely seconds to spare.

Dwardazik: Damn! The fact that that gem is gone... what a beautiful gem...   Grogery: Isn't the real gem the friends that you made when you travel to Ashport?   Dwardazik: No, they're not a gem. But they are special.   Grogery: Anyway! We have this man tied up, and he seems to be in a costume!   Dwardazik pokes it.   Grogery: Maybe we should see who's really behind that mask!

Dazki takes the mask off. It's a dwarf he doesn't recognize. But Dwardazik does: it's Lahrberta Lionheart-Rubymist! He's the scout who had originally said that this area is unsafe!

Grogery: He was trying to warn people away so that they could mine the Mothernode for themselves! And when the Stoneturner-Boulderhearths went after him, he had to make sure that they wouldn't be able to take it before he could!   Kesmet: He was trying to scare them away!   Grogery: And he would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for — bah, I can't keep this up anymore.   Grogery: We should drag him back to the station.   Lahrberta: If you're gonna drag me back, you gotta drag the other guy back, too. I ain't takin' the fall for their greed.   Grogery: What, the duergar?   Dazki: All right, fine. It's all good.

Grogery: ...oh no... are the Stoneturner-Boulderhearths dressing up as duergar, in order to also get in on the action?! This is too complicated!

Brogarik Stoneturner-Boulderhearth?! Editor's note: I guess he wakes up now.

Grogery: Wait, were you guys actually colluding here?!   Brogarik: No collusion! We found it first, and we would've safely collapsed the mine, without anybody getting hurt! It would've been our gem only, as it should've been!   Dazki: Doesn't matter. We're taking you to the guards, and they can deal with it.   Lahrberta: It was the Rubymists that found it first, and we would've safely collapsed the mine.   Grogery: And now the duergar get to have the crystal, because you guys couldn't play nicely with each other.   Dwardazik: Wait, does that mean I killed my own clan?   Brogarik: Oh no, those two were actually — we didn't even know they were there.   Kesmet: The invisible ones? They were actually duergar?   Brogarik: Yeah, I didn't think they'd get through a hole so small in the crystal.   Lahrberta: That's because you've been too greedy mining!
Brogarik: No, you!   Dwardazik: Well, I at least feel a little better knowing that that actually was a duergar...   Grogery: You probably would've seen their makeup run while you were smashing them around with your hammer.   Dwardazik: And they probably wouldn't've put up as good a fight... stupid... how dare you betray the clan?!   Brogarik: I didn't betray the clan! We had the best interests at heart! The Rubymists don't deserve this gem!   Dwardazik: You killed your fellow clan members when you collapsed the mine.   Brogarik: We would've collapsed it safely if the Rubymists hadn't been involved!   Grogery: Did it occur to you that if you stayed out of it, then nobody would've gotten caught in the collapse? Yeah it sucks that the gem would've gone away, but there are some things more important than money.   Lahrberta: Yeah, like, maybe if you hadn't blown up all of our weak stuff, it would've totally been safe! And we could've had the gem to ourselves!   Grogery: And if you guys hadn't been weakening the tunnel, they would've been able to extract it without — it's a MIRACLE that Nikko even got out of there alive! Do you not even care about him?   Dazki: Look. We get it. Both clans were being greedy and duplicitous, and didn't care about anything except personal financial gain. Whatever. LET'S GO.

They shove the two down the hallway, Dwardazik in front to block them from exiting and Kesmet behind to collapse the entrance with another stick of dynamite that he had picked up.

Dazki: Here. Take them. They'll tell you everything that happened, and why.