The moment Umbra dropped down into the festering sewer was one the mercenary would not soon forget. Rancid rancor that dripped from the excretion stained concrete walls was almost enough to churn the stomachs of even the most stubborn stout hearted of warriors. The putrid was all but suffocating as it burned their lungs with an unparalleled putridness.

“Disgusting.” The Mercenary muttered while following the young faun that had taken the lead into these foul depths. Umbra tried to not think about the smell that the young faun had discovered as something soft squelched underfoot as the mercenary’s foot descended into the darkest shadow.

Initially, there had been a series of pipes that the faun had to climb through to get in or out. But if the commander was going to consider this route as a feasible means of escape by a host of armed soldiers, destitute civilians and politicians, then he would have to consider the ease of access for all involved. He had promptly ordered a group of soldiers to tear a bypass through into the sewage systems below, to which the men and women that did so, did in earnest.

By the time the next dark elf descended, Umbra held no room for any doubt that this was by far, the second most unpleasant experience they had ever encountered. The stench was so palpable that the foul taste congregated upon the tips of their tongues.

“By the gods, What did we eat?!” Vanimar complained while he almost slipped upon a less than savory floor below. His brow grew heavy in the few seconds he looked upon the floor in disgust only for the smell to assault his senses causing the captain to heave and choke for air. After a moment of silent heaving the Drow pulled down the mask covering his face and spat the offending glob of spit off to the side.

“That is foul …” The captain bemoaned as he replaced the wrap of cloth over his lower face and peered off into the darkness. The captain rummaged around the sack of provisions that Raimneth had provided for them and withdrew a mechanical looking lantern that shone a bright artificial light along the walls of the sewage tunnel.

Ignorance as they say, was bliss.

“What an incredible smell you discovered,” Umbra quipped uncharacteristically. Though the offhand comment was rewarded with the quietest of sounds, Umbra knew without a shadow of a doubt that Celandine lips had curled into an amused grin despite not being able to see her face as she led the van.

Celandine so far had endured the rancour far better than Umbra had initially given the girl credit for. It was no easy feat gathering the resolve to traverse such a putrid path and yet the girl had already paved her way along this merky trail at least twice before. To do so again was almost admirable if Umbra didn’t feel a loathing sense of pity that the faun had indeed had to do this three times.

‘I don’t think I will ever get this stench out of my helmet.’ The mercenary quietly lamented, whilst wondering how much of an impact it would make on their reputation or when looking for employment. ‘Better stand downwind for the foreseeable future.’

Four more soldiers dropped down into the tunnel from the latrines each bearing more provisions and tools that would surely help them clear a path should they need to lead the civilians down this route. Troy had even turned up one more time after hearing that Raimneth had declared martial law, but any attempt he made of insisting that he come with them had died the moment he had seen where their path would take them through.

Thankfully the way through the sewage tunnels was a short and easy path as only a few yards away a broken section of the wall had collapsed from rot and damp giving entry to a large cavernous expanse.

The stale air was cold and flat, undisturbed for countless years until the faun's fledgling foray into it’s shadowed depths. Umbra raised their own mechanical lantern upwards to cast more light into their surrounding area and found hoofprints heading in two different directions.

“This way.” Celandine called out with a wave of her hand. Her path led off towards and around one of the many stalactites and stalagmites that surrounded them. Cold and wet to the touch, if Umbra stopped and listened carefully they could hear running water somewhere off in the distance.

‘A part of the sewage system or an underground water way?’ They considered before dismissing the thought in favor of not losing their footing to the dark depths that lay hidden amongst the gloom.

And yet even these desolate caves could not hide the eyes that two of their companions would silently make at each other, or rather a timid reverie in the perspective of the faun. The captain's stolen glances however spoke more of a warm fondness. Umbra personally cared little for their innocent doe like routine and spoke up before Celandine could make a misstep into a puddle of water.

“Then by all means make haste.” Umbra snapped in an irritable tone, snapping the Fauns attention away from the captain and back to their shadowed trail. The sooner they left these caves behind the sooner Umbra would find peace of mind. Dark damp claustrophobic inducing caves brought up some uncomfortable memories that the mercenary would rather not revisit.

Their winding path soon came to a crossroads where the faun stopped to ensure that everyone was still with them when she pointed the route to the right. “That way leads to the shore, that’s the path I had intended to take us," she explained. Umbra noted that the remnants of her hoofprints had indeed gone off in that direction, though it was also apparent she had not yet ventured down the path to the left.

“Keep your guard up, who knows what might be lurking down here,” coldly warned the iron clad mercenary.

“Do you really think anything is down here with us?” The red haired captain responded wearily, his hand slowly reaching for the hilt of the elven sabre by his side. Umbra offered a small shrug and carefully examined the dirt amongst the smooth rocky floor below them. There wasn’t any sign that anything had been through here, but Umbra wasn’t about to rule out that there may have been something down here that did not need to traverse the floor.

“Just keep your guard up, 'tis better to be safe than sorry.” Umbra cautioned as they pushed on into the unknown shadowed depths hidden below the Jagged Mountains. Or not, Umbra found as their path took them along a flat patch of land with suspiciously straight walls.

Light of their lanterns continued to push back the evanescent gloom and gradually started to reveal surprise after surprise that led them to believe that they had found this mine that the commander had spoken of.

The corridor up ahead glowed a dim blue light causing Umbra to hand off their lantern to one of the soldiers accompanying them and unsheathed their battered sword and bid them to stay while they would take a look. Celandine fidgeted from where she was made to wait as her eyes betrayed her inner scholar that begged to be let loose upon this old and ancient find. Umbra paid them no heed and approached the corner slowly and cautiously so as not to needlessly rattle their armour. The mercenary slowly turned the corner to investigate the mysterious light only to pause and stare at the sight before them.

“Wait, this isn’t …” Celandine spoke out loud from Umbra's side, having snuck up unbeknown to the Mercenary to satisfy that scholarly itch. Umbra paid her no heed and just waved to the dark elven soldiers that there was no danger.

The large open chasm was akin to two cliff faces running the length and breadth of a fathomless abyss. Which was to say nothing of the apparent stone city that had been carved along either side with a multitude of bridges and pathways laid about in a labyrinthian-like manner. The dim light that had caught Umbra’s earlier attention were crystal tipped magical torches that had remained lit for many long undisturbed years.

Old wooden structures lay in tatters including the remains of an old water wheel that had fallen off its hinges causing the running water to fall far into the abyss below. Old rusted broken chains dangled in over the chasm as part of some old mechanism that had long since been lost to time. And yet for all of this mine's ancient past, nothing was more prominent than the gargantuan stone statues that stood proud and undisturbed for over nigh a thousand years.

“It’s a Dwarvern mine.” Umbra commented, finishing Celandine's train of thought while beholding the splendour of the dwarven statues of eld, their long flowing stone carved beards along with the architecture around them being composed of sharp corners and bold shapes forestalled any doubt.