Fields of Ice

[Amaterasu]

Amaterasu's and Oki's first impression of Dwarfholm was... well, not very impressed. When the Fur-Selkies arrived before the entrance to the city two days after the start of their travels, they had expected a palace-city sitting atop a mountain and overlooking the plains, or maybe an impenetrable fortress of some kind, from what Urist was telling them about. Instead they were met with a large hill and a pair of iron gates. Certainly nothing to sneeze at but it was nowhere near what they had imagined.

Urist on the other hand beamed as he dismounted and led the Fur-Selkie by its reins, while motioning to the two others to do the same. There was a good strip of land left to ride them but seeing as he was the expert on this matter they followed suit. As they came closer, they soon realized why: multiple dwarves hidden in the snow stood up, as if appearing out of nowhere. Amaterasu gasped and Oki involuntarily reached for his sword when he saw the guns in their hands, though Urist's warning gaze made him calm again. Amaterasu quickly realized that they were wearing wampa hides on their backs, and that was what hid them from sight. They could have walked right by them and not seen any, had they stayed in hiding. Beneath the hide they wore insulated armor, keeping them warm out in the snow. What an idea...

As they came close to one of the dwarves, that one narrowed his eyes before laughing. "Urist, ya son ov a bitch! Yer alive! We thought ya dead, along with yer comrades, after them damn trolls sent..."

"They sent something? Don't tell me it was the heads of..."

"Aye, that it was." The dwarf spat into the snow. "With their beards cut off, no less. Whoresons, the lot of 'em. We thought they'd kept yer head fer their voodoo magic."

"Tha's odd though... we killed the lot o'them, I ain't thinkin' that any of 'em got away. How'd they find em?"

"No bloody clue. Maybe reinforcements. Ya never know with the whoresons. And who're yer friends right there?"

"Right. The names ar' Amaterasu and Oki... Ama is a Prime and Oki isn't, but dey both hav' helped me. I'd be one of the heads sent to ya if it wasn't for Ama, ya see. They're both doin' King Bruenor's tasks, ta prove 'emselves. But lemme tell ya, they're friends o' the dwarves if I ever seen some."

"Ar' they now? I guess that yer bringing the stuff then?" asked the unnamed dwarf, addressing Oki and Amaterasu for the first time.

"We do", said Oki. "But if you don't mind we'd rather unpack them inside... unless you are to judge us here and now?"

"Heh. Nah, I ain't. But even if tha King's lettin' you folks in we still gotta do some form o' border control, ya know. Can't let any troll spies into Dwarfholm."

"That makes sense", Amaterasu spoke up as she reached up and poked the rolled-up wampa hide hanging from her Fur-Selkie's saddle, then pointed at the bags that were red on the bottom side, containing the severed heads of two trolls. "Is that enough proof? I can open the bags and show you their contents if you want."

The dwarf wrinkled his nose. "Nah. I believe ya, lass. Go on through. An' I got to thank ya for rescuing Urist, by the way, if what he says is true."

"Anyone in my position would've done the same."

"Nay, lass, they wouldn't. Not in the Omniverse they wouldn't." He sighed and stepped aside, to which the other dwarves followed suit. "Go ahead. An'... good luck on yer fight."

Amaterasu frowned as they passed through the gates which opened as one dwarf stationed right against them spoke a few words through a slit in it. It led into a long tunnel that was illuminated only by an occasional torch, but Urist grabbed a lantern from a box next to the entrance and turned a valve, to which the lantern lit up. "Urist... what did your friend mean by fight?"

"Ah ain't sure, but... Ah'm sure that I know what he means. Jus' not remembering it right now." He muttered a curse. "There's a few skater-planks over there, put em under yer Fur-Selkie's bellies then strap 'em on. Here, lemme show ya." He grabbed something from a pile of items that Amaterasu had first mistaken for a heap of dirt, and showed them that it was a large wooden surface with wheels attached to the bottom. With Urist's guidance they strapped those wheeled surfaces onto the Fur-Selkies's stomachs. The animals could move on surfaces other than snow that way, without cutting up their bellies in the process. With the process taken care of they began their trip through the tunnel, again with Urist at the front of the group. It was shorter than what Amaterasu had anticipated though, only taking slightly over a minute before the tunnel opened into an open cavern...

... and that was when Amaterasu realized what Urist had been going on about all that time. No, not only that but she was awe-struck completely. Dwarfholm wasn't just an underground complex, a cave where the dwarves had made their home, it was an absolutely massive structure, a metropolis, built into the rock so naturally that mother nature and dwarven craftsmanship seamlessly merged. The decorated pillars, the large gates that led into all sorts of side tunnels, the enormous towers built into stalagmites... it was surreal. She was completely stunned by the dwarven architecture, unable to do anything but to stare wide-eyed as the longer she looked the more marvels were revealed to her. Eventually Urist made her snap out of it with a yell. "OI! Ya can admire tha scenery when yer mount's in a stable. It's gonna get hot 'round here!"

"Huh? Oh, yes! Stable! Sorry, I'm coming!" Even so, it was hard to not stop and marvel at the amazing sights all around her. Luckily Urist knew his way around and there was a stable not too far from the entrance which, as with the stables in the village they had departed from, had cold temperatures and was thus suited to hold a bunch of animals that would die of heatstroke in temperatures above freezing. There was a relatively high fee to leave them in there, but Amaterasu paid it happily. If they wound up not needing them she could break them back down for Omnilium after all.

"I first thought you were blowing stuff up when you told us about Dwarfholm, but... I owe you an apology, Urist. This city is more magnificient even than how you described it." She bowed her head at the dwarf. "I had no idea how crafty the dwarves could be. The marvels that you could accomplish underground like this."

"Aw, c'mon Ama. Yer makin' me blush!" the dwarf said but chuckled at the compliment. "Well, anycase. Yer gonna want ta talk ta one of da king's advisors... get yerself formally introduced, an' present yer trophies. Both of ya, I mean," he added with a look towards Oki.

"I got my items right here", the wolf-man replied and lifted up a bundle containing his wampa hide and the severed head - Amaterasu had her own bundle with the same contents. Urist was carrying the cobalt ore backpack. A quick double-check confirmed everything, then they went on their way.

Getting an audience with one of the advisors was the easier part: King Bruenor valued Prime allies and thus simply naming that detail about herself got Amaterasu and her group escorted to the chambers of an aged dwarven woman (not that Oki or her would have known she was a woman had they not been told so, because her beard was manlier than Urist's) where Urist took the lead. He explained about Amaterasu's heroic intervention when he and his group were fighting the trolls, how she had kept him from certain death and brought him to a settlement for medical treatment. Then he explained about Oki's situation, how he had hunted a wampa not to gain the dwarves' attention but because it had been threatening the village by attacking the miners and small-game hunters. He concluded by how he could vouch for both of them being honest and good people.

The advisor eyed them both while Urist went on with his tale, before waving her cane towards Amaterasu and beckoning her to come closer. "Lemme tak' a look at ya", she said. "Show me yer hands." She grabbed Amaterasu's right hand with her boney fingers with surprising strength, turned it palm up, and grunted before letting go. "Fer a woman yer hands are too hard, fer a worker yer eyes are too sharp. I can see the glimmer. Yer not just a trickster tryin' ta wiggle their way onta the King's table... yer a Prime, and not a weak one, nay. Did ya already confirm yer prowess in combat?" When Amaterasu blinked, the woman waved her hand and let go of Amaterasu's. "Ya know! Show me yer trophies."


"Oh! Of course. Both of us are actually applying, not just me."

"Ah don' need ta take any second look at yer friend there. He's a warrior through an' through. So show me yer trophies, the both of ya."

Amaterasu and Oki rolled out the wampa hides and took the troll heads out of the bags. Only one look was needed for the heads, but the hides were inspected much more closely. She asked questions about how they had slain them, how they had behaved and such. But the hides confirmed every detail of Amaterasu's and Oki's stories: there were slash marks where slash marks were supposed to be, the cuts where they had skinned the beast, scrapes and bruises that the wampa had gotten during its lifetime, the characteristic smell of one... it wasn't a fake. These hides told a story, too much to just be summoned with imagination. When the Cobalt came the woman snickered and remarked that they needed to bring a chunk, not a minecart's worth of it, and only needed a few seconds of inspection to confirm that it was good ore, mined from the bowels of the earth and not summoned. She then looked at them both expectantly, and when neither presented more, raised an eyebrow. "So? Where's yer proof o' victory?"

"Uh... what proof? The troll heads? We presented those."

"Nay. The proof that ya won against one o' us. Don' tell me ya didn' do it?"

Urist smacked his hand against his forehead. "OF COURSE! Lady McLoric, I must apologize... that is my fault. I completely forgot about the spar, neither of them were aware of this."

"Pardon me, but... a spar? We have to fight someone else?"

"Aye. Ya gotta fight a champion, an' win ta prove that yer strong enough ta be one of us. It ain't so bad that ya didn' do it yet though. Ah'll send word to the general, ta pick out two guys for ya an' bring ye ta King Bruenor once ye win."

"Okay... I thank you kindly for taking the time out of your day to aid us", said Amaterasu and bowed her head, as did Oki. The woman waved her hand.

"Jus' get goin' already, an' be sure ta put up a good fight, aye? We can always use allies 'round here."

"We will", said Oki with a grin as they exited the room. "You will not regret allowing us to join you."

✓ Wampa killed and skinned for its hide.
✓ Troll slain and proof of its death obtained.
✓ Cobalt ore chunk mined.
✘ Dwarven champion defeated in spar.