The goblins had spoke about being merry but the whole thing still looked rather formal to me. Except for the actual drinking. That they did enjoy. Curiously enough it wasn't just our escort who received drinks. The gate guards, or at least the goblins among them, all had a cup as well. I could only assume that they didn't see too much incoming traffic. Otherwise they probably would be dead drunk before long which kind of would defeat the purpose of having them on guard duty. In the end it seemed like a curious compromise between watchfulness and a show of mutual trust.

And of course Gash'zur and I received our own cups. Cups appropriate for our stature. They must have really been expecting us. I accepted my cup and knocked it back without thinking much about it, much like the goblins accompanying us had. That, as it turned out, was a little reckless. I started regretting this course of action almost as soon as the moment the liquid entered my mouth. I wasn't much of a drinker and these spirits weren't anything like the drinks I was used to. I even made the mistake to swirl the drink around my mouth.

Oh Maidens! It wasn't that it tasted bad. Quite to the contrary, it had a nice and fruity taste that left me wondering what they used to distill it, but at the same time it burned its way across my tongue and as I finally managed to swallow it, down my throat. My eyes widened while my field of vision narrowed briefly at the same time and as I sucked in a deep breath, the burning got even worse for a moment. Well, at least I had managed not spit it back out. That had to count for something. Right?

Out of the corner of my eyes I noticed that Gash'zur fared only marginally better than me. Well, at least I wasn't suffering alone. I felt a deep blush spread across my cheeks as I was gasping for breath and turned to glare at Gib. “You weren't joking when you mentioned strong spirits! Maidens! I think you could use that stuff to clean your gear!”

It almost seemed as if they had expected this reaction, or at least something like it. Several of the goblins and forgeborn chuckled, not bothering to hide their amusement. Gib in turn scratched the back of his head and shrugged. At least he had the decency to look a little embarrassed. “Ah, sorry about that. Come, let us head inside.”

As he spoke the gate guards made room for us and our escort while the heavy gate slowly ground open. It didn't open like a normal gate either. It was lifted upwards like a portcullis. In an emergency it probably could slam shut again in the blink of an eye. As it opened it revealed another pretty much identical gate just a few paces beyond the first one and this second gate remained shut tightly.

Apparently that was normal though as our escort started filing into the room in between the gates. Thus I followed them and so did Gash'zur. The last of our escort filed in after us and the outer gate started closing again. As it came shut I could hear heavy bolts locking in place. Only once the last of those was firmly locked did the inner gate start to open. These people appeared to be pretty serious and throughout concerning their security. Very much unlike the dwarves of Gothol'gathrak who had been rather sloppy to say very the least.

As this second gate opened, just as ponderously slow as the first one, it revealed a third gate of similar make beyond it. What was more curious was that my ears popped slightly as the second gate started opening. I looked down at Gib with a raised eyebrow.

He seemed to ponder his answer for a moment. Quite possibly he was contemplating if he was at liberty to tell me or not, as he had phrased it earlier, as this was most likely related to the city's defenses. In the end he must have come to the conclusion that he could tell me, at least a little. “Higher air pressure on the inside. Keeps bad air from getting in.”

I nodded. That sounded sensible enough. It probably would keep some other things out as well. But still, three gates? I couldn't help it, that still felt like overkill to me. I decided not to voice that opinion though. After all there might be things down here, possibly the things he had hinted at already, that might justify such extensive security.

We shuffled forward into the second air lock and the whole process repeated itself. I was getting a little restless as it was taking a while. Being packed in pretty tight with all the others didn't exactly help either. These gates probably weren't designed for large groups or with tall people like me and Gash'zur in mind.

As the last gate opened I breathed a sigh of relief as I could finally see what lay beyond. And what a sight it was! I had been impressed when I first got to see Bleak Peak but this was something else entirely. Hearth Forge might not have been as big as my father's capital, the population probably was smaller, but it was a marvel to behold from top to bottom and the other way around.

The city was built into a cavern larger than any I had seen so far. Or rather it was built into some of the massive rock pillars supporting the ceiling high above. I couldn't even really tell how many of these rock pillars there were. Some were massive, glowing crystals bathing the cavern as a whole into a diffuse light. It was brighter than any other place I had seen down here so far, brighter even than the hot spring cavern, but not too bright.

Those pillars not providing light were at least partially hollowed out as far as I could tell. There were tunnel openings all over, as well as windows. Most were ringed by numerous walkways and galleries at various heights as well. And these galleries were in turn often connected to other pillars by wide bridges.

We passed another squad of guards who were on duty on the inside of the last gate. They exchanged lighthearted greetings with our escort. All the the while some of them kept a close eye on us though.

As we left the gate behind I could see that the exterior walls of the cavern were worked into countless terraces reaching from the lake taking up much of the bottom of the cavern almost all the way up to the ceiling. And these terraces support all kinds of plant life. It wasn't just mushrooms, moss and lichen either. There were trees! Actual trees! Trees, bushes and all other kinds of fruit bearing plants.

I stopped to take it all in. It was bright but not too bright. It was warm but not too warm. The air was different as well. It was a little cooler and it wasn't as humid as it had been outside but more importantly, it smelled alive! And the noise! My eyes widened as a little insect landed on my arm. I brought it up to get a closer look before it took off again. My eyes snapped back up to the edge of the cavern's ceiling. Finally I realized that I was seeing there were no rock formations and I couldn't hold back any longer. I even forgot to adapt my speech patterns to match theirs. “Bees? You have bees down here!”

Gib nodded proudly. It was obvious that he wasn't the only one taking pride in the city either. “Bees and all the plants it takes to keep them and us all happy and healthy.”

He looked at the closest glowing crystal. “The light is dimming already. Seems we arrived just in time for the evening meal. Lets get ye two a room first though. I think ye might just appreciate a good bed even more than a good meal.”

My mind was still stuck on the bees as I followed him towards a bridge leading to a rock pillar that was set a little apart from the rest. “Bees … does … does that mean you have honey?”

That earned me some good natured chuckles. Gib looked up at me. “Lets see if we can get ye something sweet for your evening meal then. Mashed ashroot with honey is till a thing with your people, is it?”

“Ashroot? You have ashroot as well?” By now I had tears in my eyes. I dared to get my hopes up. “You wouldn't have a little butter to go with it as well?”

This time he shook his head though. “I'm sorry. No milk. No butter. No cheese. Not the real deal anyway. There are some alchemists who can make a halfway decent substitute from the oil of Helianthus seeds but it not quite the same thing.”

A substitute for butter made from plant oil? Helianthus? That name didn't ring a bell with me.

Gib must have noticed my confusion. He pointed at a terrace a few levels below us and realization dawned upon me.

“Sunflowers? You have those as well!” I fell silent after that last outburst. It took all I had to not start laughing like a madwoman. Finally I managed to muster enough resolve to speak again. “I think I really need to sleep over this all.”

Gib agreed. “Take your time. Wouldn't want to overwhelm ye completely. There are people who want to talk to ye but I think their questions can wait until tomorrow or the day after.”