Fucking bloody troll shit soup. That was the most intense and scary conversation I have ever had and I was only watching, with my life hanging on the line. That was many times worse than dealing with Longstrider. At least with Longstrider I knew the rules. These weird foreigners! I gather we are only alive because Wiremu learned some Orcish phrases from Kopje. That makes as much sense as holding a conversation with a goblin, ie. none.

Koza and Velikan just scare me silly. I am glad they went back into the forest. I find Snøfrid straight up annoying. I am glad she has latched onto Wiremu. It will be nice to be with others for a night. I know Wiremu wants to stay but I really want to get back to a town. I wander back to where we have put our packs, trying to get my thoughts in order.

“Come on lass, come and help me prepare the evening meal.” A dwarf with a braided red beard is speaking to me. Ashby I think his name was, the Herbalist / Cook. I nod and follow him over to the food prep area. He shows me what he is doing. Velikan brought back a wild boar. He had helped himself to one of the legs and the rest was for us. Koza had skinned it and Ashby was halfway through butchering it. He showed me the roots he had collected and wanted me to wash them and chop them for roasting in the embers.

He chatters away about his day and that in the morning he would try to go out foraging for herbs and vegetables. He was quite proud when he showed me his herbs. Some dried herbs he had brought with him and then the selection of fresh and drying herbs he had foraged. Which would be best to be used for the pork and which would bolster their health. Some were better with the mountain goat meat. There were also mushrooms. He was planning mushroom sauce with the pork, but he pointed out the ones that were poisonous. When I asked why he had poisonous mushrooms and herbs, he said that with the right preparation some of them could be mixed together to minimise the poison effect and it would attack different diseases and ailments. What he didn’t use on the trip he would sell in town to other herbalists and alchemists. It was quite a profitable side business for him.

I asked why they were out here. He looked at me as if I was daft.

“We are looking for minerals, gems and metals to mine, of course,” he replied.

“How long have you been camped here and how long before you move on?” I asked.

“We've been here a three day lass. We will probably be here another four while Thyrrni finishes mapping the valley. If she doesn’t find anywhere good for us to mine we will move on to the next valley.” was the reply.

“What are you looking for?” I asked.

“Mostly high value and low weight materials. We will take the silver and gold if we find it, but heavy materials are hard to transport. We are more interested in the gems and the specialised materials. This is a high risk prospecting adventure. The risk is we won’t get more than enough to cover our costs, but we might also do very well. I know I will do well, even with my cut to the team.” He said, glancing at his herb collection.

“How is it going so far?” I enquired.

He winked at me, “Let's just say we are about halfway through the time we allocated to the trip, which was six months, and nobody is grumpy. We haven’t made enough to go back early, all rich, but nobody’s grumpy.”

“So what happens if you find somewhere to mine?” I asked.

“If Thyrrni finds somewhere for us to dig and it is deep with no access we will let Snøfrid loose with her explosives. If there is a cave system then Snøfrid will be more selective and her and Borje will go in and check for stability. If it is inhabited then Koza and Velikan go in. Once the site is accessible then we will mine in shifts.”

“You mine at night as well?” I asked surprised.

“Of course,” he said. “We ain't out here on holiday. No one is ever allowed into a mine without Darksight. That and Cold Resistance at 10 are the minimum requirements. Up in these mountains I doubt Erik will let anyone in with less than 15 in Cold Resistance. Safety First!” he declared.

“You all have Darksight and Cold Resistance over 15?” I was checking.

“Lass, all dwarves have Darksight and we have been training our Cold Resistance since we were babes, usually while still in our mothers arms. The lowest of us are in our mid twenties, and that is probably Snøfrid who is not even a dwarf.” He laughed.

Troll shit, that was going to put a wrinkle in Wiremu’s plans. I wasn’t all that sad about that though. I was a bit upset that my prized and bragged about Darksight was just standard for dwarves. I guess it made sense, but it drove home that I was well outside my home culture. My only secret now was my Advanced Skill, Spatial Awareness, and I guess they didn’t know exactly what shadow skills I had.

I got a level in Cooking for helping with the dinner. Cooking under someone who knows their herbs and spices definitely makes a difference. The conversation didn’t go very late. When I bunked down by Wiremu I shared what I had learned and as expected he wasn't pleased. He could see a prime opportunity to learn slipping from his grasp. To be honest, after I spent the afternoon helping Ashby, I was feeling more comfortable with the idea of spending longer with them. As long as Koza and Velikan kept their distance.

The next morning I changed my mind, violently. They were all crazier than goblins, trolls, ALL OF THEM! They all had rocks for brains! They had a morning routine like Branik had established for us and it started with a dip in the stream, but they all did it together, NAKED! If you have ever heard that expression, ‘hairy as a dwarf’s ass,” that is no joke. Dwarves have hair everywhere! Even the women. For the women the hair is lighter and more spread out on their face and breasts, but otherwise they are just like the men.

Snøfrid went in too and she didn’t have hair anywhere but on her head. They don’t care about nudity. Wiremu just stripped and joined them. He looked positively scrawny next to the stocky dwarves. They made fun of me as the ‘soft human’ till I very quickly stripped and dipped in, then got out and used my Shadows Embrace to run to my pack.

That is another thing. They didn’t just just dip, a quick wash and then get out. No they lounged and joked as if it was the warmest of bloody baths. They were complaining it wouldn’t do much for their cold resistance and they were looking forward to the winter snow! They are all crazy!

Koza and Velikan joined them and that was even scarier. Koza was covered in scars. Some were obvious claw marks. Some looked like he shouldn’t have survived them. I thought with modern healing methods there wouldn’t be much scarring. When I looked closer at Velikan he was the same.

Wiremu was the next one out. He was white and shaking and had to be warmed by the fire. I looked at my Cold resistance and it was now at 8. I knew Wiremu’s was two or three points higher than mine. I definitely needed to get back to civilization. I went to start the oats for the morning porridge, at least they wouldn’t make fun of me if I was doing something at the fire.