Hobart came to retrieve the group and led them down several flights of stone stairs to the fountain's area below in the large first cavern. From the floor level, the fountains were very tall, three times Tad's height. Some were shaped like large pots flowing into one another from the top. Some had small dwarven children statues carved to hold a vase dumping water. Some sported lizards or scorpions.

The area had a pale yellow light emitted from large mushrooms placed evenly in deep stone squares full of soil. The light was not bright, but thousands of dwarves milled around talking to one another or laughing and drinking from mugs they filled at the many stations along the boulevard, each with kegs stacked behind serving ale.

To Tad, everything looked shadowy and dark. His friends, though, seemed to not have issues in the low light. He needed to get some sort of dark vision spell. Not being able to see in this low light would not be acceptable if he had to stay here for a long time.

Tad and the others were shown to the seats across from the council's stone benches. Tad presumed it was to talk with them. In the central area of the fountains was a large round platform with half-moon rows of seats on it. In the center was a large stone coffin with a dwarf image carved into the top. Next to it were three other coffins, but they were lower. A line of dwarves stretched back into the crowd, where more people joined as the line moved forward. The dwarves each moved forward and paid respect to the fallen. Then they left the platform on the other side. Most walked over to a keg stand and grabbed another mug of ale, and wandered back into the crowd.

At the table, Ararmut sat with a dwarven woman that Tad thought might be his wife.

Ararmut greeted Beothorn and Marena, then looked at Tad, "Welcome, Thaddius, my wife Kizza, and I wish to welcome you to the Hold and look forward to your performance. "

Tad nodded and took a seat next to Beothorn as his companions found their places on their side of the table.

"I saw some of Rotgut's fight with that Orc. I do not think I could perform well enough to celebrate someone as brave as he was. I'll do my best, though. " said Tad.

Ararmut nodded, "I think you are going to be asked up in a few minutes. You will be performing from those seats behind the sarcophagi up there. "

"Do you want me to wait until you say prayers for him? " asked Tad.

The dwarf looked at him for a few moments, "Thaddius, this Hold does not worship a deity. Has anyone told you of Pantheon wars? "

Tad was having a hard time hearing Ararmut and leaned over the table some, "No, they didn't. How long ago was it? "

Ararmut whispered something in his wife's ear, and she got up and walked away into the crowd.

"The time of wars was over two thousand years ago now, which is only a few generations in dwarven terms. We do not know what started the war, but it was a pantheon war between the gods. Great armies marched over the lands. Mountains and oceans changed places. This land was once a lush and green place. We had a diety then, a mighty dwarven god who came to us and told us what was to come and gave us a choice. He feared we would be wiped out and forgotten if we chose sides in the war. We could take his names off our halls, remove all statues, and the priests would stop preaching of him. For a diety, this is a true act of love. This we do remember. Our priests could cast spells, heal, and do other things. He offered us an artifact in their place and we haven't been able to cast or forge magic since. This item he created would heal our people in times of need. He foresaw our destruction if we didn't' do this, as the other gods were insane with anger at each other. We did survive, and we still exist. This land is cursed, but those who live under it remain, " said Ararmut.

"This was all green, not sand? What was this war about? " asked Tad. Beothorn and Marena had also been listening to the story.

"We do not know, or perhaps we intentionally forgot as part of the bargain. But we do remember this land was larger. Now it is almost an island. The curse still roams the land. It is said to be looking for the last worshipers of the losing pantheon. It scours the deserts based on the cycle of the moon, it is due in five days as we said before, you will know more about it then-," Ararmut paused as his wife brought back a large platter of mugs followed by a young dwarven woman also carrying a platter full. They placed them on the table.

"Have a drink. Then I'll take you to the platform. Our orchestra will be performing after you, so play what you like. Rotgut loved his dancing and drinking, and a good dwarven wake is about the living more than the dead. This will be a rousing sendoff tonight for these brothers of the Hold. " said Ararmut bowing his head towards the sarcophagi on the platform.

Tad took a mug and smelled the ale. It had a musky smell with a bit of spice he wasn't familiar with. He took a sip, and it was harsh but tasty. There was fire in this water.

Ararmut looked at Beothorn then to Thaddius, holding up his mug. Then he looked at the rest of the visitors at the table.

"A toast, " he paused till everyone had a mug in their hand held up. "To Rotgut, the best miner in generations, may he find peace in the earth. " Then he upended and drained the mug. Beothorn went on to drain his, and Tad trying not to be left behind, drained his …. then coughed and coughed some more. Nico looked a bit green also after draining his. Zanna and Lamruil had only taken one good drink, while Marena was not drinking anything.

Ararmut laughed, "Its good stuff, Rotgut's favorite, Sandflea's delight. Harsh and has a kick to it."

Tad was still coughing. That was much stronger than he thought. Beothorn was laughing and reaching for another mug.

Ararmut spoke, "Ok lad, let's get up there. " he stood and started for the platform.

Tad was a little dizzy. That drink had some punch to it. Nico wasn't looking too good either. "Nico, what do you think that stuff is made from? We could scrub paint off with it."

"I don't know, but the aftertaste isn't too bad. Kind of smooth once you get used to it," said a coughing Nico, who was fumbling to get his cittern off the table where he had placed it.

The four of them made it to the platform. Ararmut spoke, "Start when you are ready. " He then waved the rest of the line of dwarves back away from the platform and left to his seat.

Nico started out with a slow series of chords, and Tad joined in later, continuing the chords as Nico went for the intricate play. As they were finishing the third song, Tad was watching the crowd and noticed how they were reacting. The ladies were swaying with the music and looked very interested, but the male dwarves were not showing what a Carnie would think of as excitement or hooked.

They moved into the last song. This is where Zanna joined in the singing. She sang no words, but the tone was ethereal, and Tad decided this was time to start using the soulmancy of his cittern to bring some feeling to the crowd. He concentrated on conveying the emotions he felt as the Carnival had appeared above the dig site and seeing the combat below them.

Then something happened, a ghostly image of Rotgut emerged from his sarcophagus and raised his ethereal mining pick in one hand and a mug of ale in the other. The ghost drained his mug looked around then faded away.

The crowd gasped, and Tad was almost rhythmically strumming, being shocked by the appearance of the aberration. Zanna and Nico brought the music to an end. There was just silence. That was unexpected. He looked at Nico, then Zanna. They looked as confused as Tad felt.

Ararmut came back up on the platform, followed by a cute younger dwarven woman carrying a platter of ale mugs. She quickly gave one to each of the people on the platform.

Ararmut raised his mug nodding to the others to also raise theirs, and then he yelled out to the crowd, "Rotgut appears to approve! I'll have a drink on that!" Then again, he tilted back and drained the mug. "Who be with me? For Rotgut!" Then he looked out at the crowd. This broke them out of their shock of seeing the ghostly figure of their council member. There was a cheer, and most everyone that had a mug drained it.

Ararmut looked at Tad's group, saying quieter, "Drink up there, Lad. We need to show the crowd that this was part of the music and not some weird alien magic."

Tad and Nico looked at each other. Nico shrugged, the two downed their mugs. Both had coughing fits as they then looked at Zanna. The light on the platform was better than on the floor, and she looked to hesitate then just started drinking the ale and finished the mug. She didn't cough, just took a deep breath after it was gone.

Ararmut turned back to the crown, "Now, let's bring up the wake Sinfonietta and the drum corps and get this wake moving!"

From the back of the crowd, a parting happened. Down the center of the cleared space marched a group of twenty dwarves. Both males and females each holding an instrument or drum. Six of them had drums of various sizes held over their heads following. All marched in step with each other.

"Let us go back to the tables. The real fun is about to begin. Good show there. We can discuss what went on at the table. I didn't expect that. You should have warned me you were going to going to conjure. It's fine now. Let us make some room. " said Ararmut as the group left the platform back to the tables.

One of the overly drunk dwarves in the crowd shouted towards Tad's group on the way back.

"Do you know any men's music, Lad? " The woman next to the heckler cuffed him for saying it, and the dwarf fell over and didn't stand back up. Passed out thought Tad, his wife barely touched him.

Tad thought that was odd and insulting. The songs they had played were popular songs or variations that many traveling groups played. What does one play for a Wake anyway? He has never been asked to do that before.

At the table, the other four councilors were there. Each had brought their spouses except for Yoroula. Beothorn was busy talking to Dhugnath the smith. Tad was glad he made it back to his seat again because that second ale was really making him light-headed. Nico wasn't too steady on his feet either. He was already over there talking to the young dwarven lady who was serving the ale to the table. Lamruil hadn't been drinking the ale, and he now had a much taller glass in front of him that wasn't a mug at all.

"Lamruil, not much for the ale? " asked Tad loud enough so the elf could hear him.

"Well, the young lady there said they had some wine they had traded for, and I asked to try it. It is quite good, really. I'd say this could easily be as good as anything I've ever tasted. " replied Lamruil holding up the glass.

"This is actually my second glass of it. " Then he gave a big smile, kind of creepy looking. Tad was wondering how strong was that wine.

Lamruil continued, "It's also made from grapes. Where do you think they found grapes in the desert? "

Tad gave him an I don't know look then turned back to the platform as he heard the musicians warming up.

The musicians were assembling a large copper horn made from two pieces, and there were flutes and some that looked like metal harps. There were twenty-five in total on the platform, and every one of the seats there was filled with the drums to the side in a row.

They stopped warming up, looking at the drummers, who now had no shirts on had large mallets now raised above their heads. The crowd grew quiet again. The line paying respects to the sarcophagi on the platform descended back to the floor.

Then one drummer started, then a second, they made some patterns as they passed the beat back and forth. Soon, all of them were smashing in unison, occasionally twirling their mallets before striking again. Boom, boom, booom… it went on. Tad was really feeling the ale now, and he raised his hand for another round of mugs to be brought to the table. Then the rest of the musicians joined in. Tad didn't know how to describe it. The pattern of dwarven music and drums was something to behold, though. The sequences were subtle, then violent, with drums going crazy, passing the rhythm around. The crowd this time was all having a good time, and in front of the platform, a long line of dwarves started dancing, ladies on one side, men on the other, back and forth in some coordinated dance cycle where the ladies swirled around the men.

Tad started drinking his third mug. Marena took Beothorns hand and pulled him out to the dance floor to join the end of the line. Neither of them appeared to know the dance, but they were doing well enough after a few minutes.

"Lamruil, you see that? " shouted Tad over the noise of the music and the crowd. The elf was looking well into his drink. Obviously, the elf can't hold his liquor very well, thought Tad as he almost fell over himself, missing the edge of the table while leaning. "See, Boom, boom, boom…. Ha. "

"I bow to your wissddom, " slurred the elf raising his wine glass and smiling that creepy half-gone smile again.

Marena had come back over to the table and grabbed Tad's arm, "Come'on, I think it's past time I have a dance with my son. " she pulled hard.

Tad smiled, he had never danced much, but he was certain he could dance now for some reason. He went out and danced another song with his mother showing him the pattern of the dance, two, four, two, and six. Easy he thought, just follow the drums. He laughed seeing his mother have so much fun. It was a rare thing indeed for them. A dwarven man came over and cut in, taking his mother's hand and nodding Tad off while he danced away with Marena. Then Tad realized it was Beothorn. Who would have thought his father could dance.

Tad had an idea and made his way back to the table, took another big drink from his mug then made his way over to Zanna. "Would you care to dance?" asked Tad, holding out his hand with the biggest cheese-eating carnie smile he could muster.

Zanna looked at him. She was on her third glass of whatever Lamruil was drinking over on the other side of her.

"You call thaaattt dancing? " asked Zanna loudly over the noise of the crowd. Tad smiled on the inside. Clearly, these folks can not hold their liquor.

With the sound of a dare raised as a taunt, Tad responded, "Well, I guess we will have just to show them how it is done then."

Zanna stood up, stretched. Tad's heart stopped for a moment. Wow, was she really a thousand years old? Then she took his hand, and he led her to the dance floor. After a few starts where they paused and tried again, she giggled after almost falling down. Then they started dancing. To Tad, they were clearly the best dancers out there, but then again, he had lost sight of most of the others. A dwarf had tried to cut in at one point, but Tad had just grabbed Zanna's hand and spun her around the burly dwarf as she laughed, and they spun. She has a nice laugh, he thought.

***