Hargeld received him warmly and heard from Snorri's lips the tale of the Grinning Moon, only the barest details of which had been passed to him, since all knowledge of Chaos cults was supressed to keep contamination from spreading.
Snorri had to wait ten days before the Anvil was made available to him and Hargeld warned that at most fifteen weeks were free before another would need the Anvil.
Hargeld received him warmly and heard from Snorri's lips the tale of the Grinning Moon, only the barest details of which had been passed to him, since all knowledge of Chaos cults was supressed to keep contamination from spreading.
Snorri had to wait ten days before the Anvil was made available to him and Hargeld warned that at most fifteen weeks were free before another would need the Anvil.
Snorri settled in to begin work on an amulet of restoration. The joy of working with an Anvil of Doom settled on him as he worked and the weeks flew by. Then six weeks after he began, he set his Hammer of Forging to last strokes. With smile of pride he completed the rune and felt the power fill the amulet.
Still, he had work to do and the next day he was back at the forge and Anvil. Flush with success, he grew careless. Although the rune was sound, as he made the last stroke on the axe-head, it split and all was lost.
He still had four weeks left, though, and threw himself into his work. With more care this time, he worked against the deadline. With barely a day to go, he gathered his forces and prepared to make the last incision. Success! The rune took power from the earth, and Snorri knew that when he put a haft to the axe-head, he would possess an Axe of Cleaving.
Snorri ran his finger along the axe-head and wiped his brow. A smile crept upon his lips and with excitement he began to visualize they haft he sought to complete his weapon. Oh the joy he would experience telling Grimr and Halr of the experience!
A few days later, Snorri returned to Karak Kadrin. Although the wonders of Zhufbar were always pleasant to behold, it was still better to be at home. Halr and Alfhildr were happy to see him and impressed with his new work. Both seemed to be hiding something, though. A pleasant secret of some kind.
When Harald arrived the next day for dinner, the secret was out. Harald wore around his neck a medallion with the stylized bearded helmet of Grungni. "Yes, Snorri," he said. "Haakon and Wulfstan Sigewulfsson have accepted me into service. I am a Templar of Grungni, one of the Order of the Stone Wall!"
Snorri bellowed a celebratory shout and slapped Harald on the upper arms in joy. "A better choice could not be made!" With calls to Alfhildr Snorri called for ale to drink to Harald's success (for he had missed the initial pleasantries).
Grinning widely, Harald drank with Snorri and then spoke, "And I have a favor to ask of you. The armour of the Order is gromril. Often passed from hand to hand. Only a runesmith can work it. I have spoken to Wulfstan and he will arrange for the order to provide the gromril. Will you, my friend, forge a breastplate for me?"
Snorri nearly dropped his ale, which spoke to the great surprise of what Harald had just asked. With a wipe across his lips, Snorri stood up "Templar Stonebreaker, it would be an honor!"
Within a few days, gromril ore had been supplied and Snorri was hard at work. Harald was by every day for fittings and conversation. One day he brought Ketil the Fourfingered with him.
"I think I know how to deal with the warpstone vein," said Ketil. "In fact, the Grinning Moon gave me the idea. First we cut a shaft up and over the vein, to get an idea of the extent of it. Then we seal the tunnel. Then we drive a shaft angling slightly down from Goblin Vale and almost but not quite intersecting the cursed vein. Another shaft drops down from the lake bottom here," he sketched on the table in a pool of spilled ale. "When that shaft is in place, we set charges here and here and here. The first opens the shaft to the lake bottom, the second and third connect the cursed vein to the shaft to Goblin Vale and pulverize the warpstone."
Snorri chuckled at the far-fetched idea and laid his hammer aside. "Here," he said to Harald handing him the breastplate, "see if this fits snug. There is still work ta be done." Wiping his hands on the heavy apron that hung over his broad chest Snorri walked over to Ketil's makeshift diagram and grunted analytically.
"The idea," explained Ketil, "is that the water pressure will force the powdered warpstone out and into the Vale. The vale is already accursed as a road for goblins into our lands, this will poison it and block it to them and get the warpstone out of our hold. Then we reseal the shaft here and the lake can refill."
With his fingers acting like a makeshift compass, Snorri traced around Ketil's drawings and he began to nod. "Ambitious it is, I think it might work only by Grungni's powerful right arm!" The Runesmith clapped Ketil on the back, "when did ye figure to undertake such a task?"
"Haakon is showing my plan to the Engineer's Guild, if they approve it, immediately!"
"Aye, the problem with the warpstone requires haste." Snorri glance over at Harald and saw that the breastplate was pinching slightly, "give it here, I see where the problem is." The dwarf shuffled back over to the anvil and expertly picked up his hammer to begin working the metal again. Above the rings he called out, "I'd be interested to see yer plan out, if ye wouldn't mind another strong arm along."
"I'd be honoured to have you look things over," said Ketil. "It is a major undertaking. I wonder how much we ought to tell most of the miners, though."
"Enough to take the necessary care," offered Snorri. "Tis not a job to be taken lightly, we aren't digging a well after all." Putting the breastplate aside he asked, "I'd expect danger, we better be prepared ta meet up with the worst."
"Aye, but if we tell too much the Grinning Moon might learn of the project and try to sabotage it," said Ketil.
"Tis true. Have them prepare fer a job and leave the location secret until ye leave." Snorri began to count on his stubby fingers, "how many men do ye think ye'll need?"
"The more we have the faster it will be done," said Ketil. "But we have time if we need it. Let me think. We can drive a shaft here and start working this way and this. Four locations. Round the clock work would be twelve teams."
"Think ye the greenskins will make some rumbles?" Snorri asked, the bile rising in his mouth at the mere mention of the creatures. "We canna chance losing one man to the beasts. We will need some to put axe to green should the situation warrant it."
"I think," said Harald, "that is where I come in, and the rest of my order."
"Aye," said Ketil. "I would think so. A few of the Stone Wall to stiffen the miners, perhaps a Slayer or two, and maybe a few crossbowdwarves should be able to hold the shaft against any raiding greenskins."
"Ah, then the only obstacle will be time," said Snorri pleased at the situation.
"True enough, if the Engineers approve the plan," said Ketil.
Approve it they did, and soon Harald's visits were fewer as plans were laid. Finally he showed up for dinner and told Halr, Snorri and Alfhildr that he was off to Goblin Vale for two months on the first tour of duty guarding the tunnel mouth.
Snorri wished him well and celebrated a swift return with ale. "I will see you soon, as soon as I finish some work at the shop."
The project was well underway, and Ketil the Fourfingered stopped by the smithy now and then to tell Snorri of its progress. One day, there was a troubled look on his face as he waited for Snorri to finish.
"One of the workers on the shaft from the lake is missing," said Ketil. "An Engineer. He knows more details of the project than most of the miners, enough, perhaps to be dangerous. He's been gone a week. We keep hoping he will turn up, but he doesn't. His lodging hasn't seen him for a week either, which is disturbing."
Snorri wiped his hammer and placed it into the loop on his apron. Rubbing his hands together he spoke, "Aye, that is troublesome. I'd like ta take a look and see if I can help. Tis too serious of a project to have something like this happen and not investigate." Snorri puttered around the shop, "I can leave with ye in two days, once I inform Grimr of me projects."
"No need to go," said Ketil. "He was working on the interior shaft here inside the hold."
"Most distressing then," Snorri mustered. "Then who or whatever took him, could be among us. Come, let us go." Snorri grabbed Bonesplitter, his axe, and gear for an initial peek at the scene of the engineer's disappearance.
"Where do you want to go?" asked Ketil.
"His crew saw him at the site, that's the last I know," said Ketil.
"Then at the site, we begin." Snorri fluffed his beard and indicated that Ketil should lead. "Pr'haps there will be something there that can tell us where he went after being seen fer the last time."
The two headed off to the lake shaft site. The Engineer, Dumble Doreson, had been working on the upperward driving part of the shaft. When they arrived, they were kept back for a few minutes since a blast was just about to be set off. A moment later there was a muffled thump, and ahead they saw some dust and a few pieces of rubble fall. "OK," said the foreman, "All clear now." He moved in with his crew who rolled carts forward to begin loading the rubble.
"Here was where he worked," said Ketil. "But he has not been seen here for a week." His voice dropped. "The foul rock lies there," he pointed down and out, "about thirty feet through the rock."
Snorri began to walk about the area looking for any signs of Doreson, a footprint, scraping, or something that could mark that he had been taken.
Ketil followed him around helpfully, "The workmen said that he left them as usual, after talking for a few moments with the incoming engineer. They saw him return up this tunnel and thence out of sight."
The two went up to where the access tunnel turned and line of sight to the dig was lost and searched around there for a while, fruitlessly. They continued their search until they reached the point where the access tunnel intersected the main shaft down to the mines. From here Dumble could have gone up or down, or headed off into any number of mines both active and played out.
"Did he say anything unusual to the incoming engineer?" asked Snorri looking down the shaft, "like he was going to check on something?"
"The engineer said that all he did was talk about the work they had done on his shift and the status for the next shift - as usual," said Ketil.
"Did he leave any notes, or plans?"
"There are drawings and notes that are regularly updated by the engineers, so I suppose so," said Ketil. "I saw nothing like that at his lodgings."
"So you have seen his lodgings, and there was nothing of note missing?" Snorri asked trying to determine if they were investigating an abduction or desertion.
"So you have seen his lodgings, and there was nothing of note missing?" Snorri asked trying to determine if they were investigating an abduction or desertion.
"They looked untouched," said Ketil. "The owner of the house said he had not come from work that day. His belongings were all still in his room."
"Then we will proceed that he was either taken or lured away," Snorri said as a matter of thinking-out-loud. He rubbed his hands against the rough stone wall, "do we know what his specialty is, what of this project would have fired his forge the most?" Snorri kneeled down and looked at the multiple paths that he could have taken.
Ketil shook his head, "He was a member of the Engineers guild and foreman of his shift. He was one of the Engineers who originally reviewed the project and knew as much about it as any dwarf."
"And during these planning sessions did he ever say anything about the project that concerned him?" Snorri pried.
"Not in particular. His speciality is climbing shafts, which is why he's working where he is ... was. He had some concerns about the opening the shaft to the lake and then the refilling," said Ketil.
"Climbing, you say," Snorri stood and looked upward.
Snorri and Ketil began the long climb to the top of the mountain and the small lake in question. As they walked Ketil asked Snorri, "What do you think happened? I don't see Dumble just running away ... unless he was part of the Grinning Moon! But, then he would take his possessions wouldn't he? If he was taken, do you think it was by the Grinning Moon? What would they do to him?" He trailed off.
"I would never accuse one of our own as a deserter, although it appears that many of our breathren have embraced the Grinning Moon," Snorri spat. "Methinks Dumble was a hard worker who lived in the stone and as he worked he became a target. Whether it be the Moon or greenies, he was taken fer his knowledge." Snorri ascended a rock, "At least that is what I'm hanging me hammer on now."
They walked upwards for another while. "It's been some time since the greenskins penetrated this far into the hold," said Ketil. "I don't know if that idea scares me more than the Grinning Moon or not." After another few paces, he continued, "If it was the Grinning Moon, what would they do with him?"
Snorri stopped and looked to Ketil. "I'd imagine they'd torture him to find out what the plans were and seek to sabotage the operation. Either to harvest the warpstone, or use it to contaiminate the lake and bring Chaos upon us all."