Wandering Dungeon

They stepped out of the guild office and headed towards the Plucked Hen that Gelbore had suggested. After a short walk they reached Franks Fineries, which seemed to be a store that catered to the wealthier merchants, or at least the more flamboyant. Inside the windows they saw colorful ballgowns in various shades of reds, blues, and greens, with overly poofy skirts. Well-cut suits hung on the other side of the shop in matching colors. The group turned left and continued down the road until they saw a sign showing a plucked chicken running away from a hand. It rested above a set of heavy, wooden doors that have seen enough use that the carvings of chickens have worn away where people have pushed on them.

"I guess this is the place." Garrett said. "Do you want to get a room and discuss our plans for the next few days, or should we wander the town a little bit since it is still pretty early?"

"We could also just go start on that quest you picked up." Blixie suggested.

Kyle extended a tentacle toward Garrett to get his attention, pointed it at him, then waved it in front of himself to remind them of Garrett's smell.

"Right." Garrett sighed. "We should probably try to take care of that first. Let's see if we can find an armor shop first."

They started walking back toward the main road when Garrett's body was suddenly pulled a bit to the side, toward a small alley. "Do you smell that delicious smell?" Garrett heard a soft feminine voice say from the large shield on his back.

Garrett quickly looked around to see if anybody had noticed April, the living shield, talking. He quickly got everyone inside the small alleyway that April had pulled him toward. "April." He chided her. "You can't just randomly talk. People will get suspicious."

"Sorry, Garrett." She responded. " I just smelled something really tasty and couldn't help myself. Can't you smell it?"

"No, I don't have a nose."

"How can you smell anything April?" Interjected Kyle. "You don't have a nose either, at least not that I can see."

April's large demon face looked confused. "I don't know. I don't remember smelling anything until now either, but I just know something smells really good down this alley."

"Hmm." Blixie said with her chin in her hand. "I for one, smell a mystery that needs solving." She said with a grin.

April and Kyle gave a soft groan. "Not you too." April mumbled.

"What? I thought it was pretty funny." Blixie said.

Garrett chuckled. "What harm is there in checking it out. I'm interested in seeing what she is smelling." The others just shrugged and followed Garrett down the alleyway, led by April's 'nose' while Garrett held her in front of him. After half-an-hour, several turns, and streets crossed they found themselves in an old rundown part of town.

The alleyway they were in ended with the outer wall in front of them and several boarded-up windows to their left. To their right they were surprised to see it opened up into a small, dried-up courtyard with only a few patches of scraggly grass and the skeletal remains of a once mighty tree, withered and split, in the center. Beyond was a small stone building with a slight glow coming from under a metal door and the smell of smoke clinging in the air. A couple of small, rusted chains hung from a post above the door as a testament of where a small sign once hung.

"The smell is coming from here. I'm sure of it!" April said, her eyes practically sparkled.

"If you say so April." Kyle said. "But it looks like the only person here would be a beggar on their last legs considering how hard it was to get here."

Garrett looked at the two. "Well, we're here so..." He walked up and knocked heavily on the door. Three dull thumps rung out in time to his pounding, clouds of rust puffed off the door with every heavy knock. An unnatural quite settled around them as they waited. After what felt like minutes to the group the door slowly creaked open revealing a room bathed in a bright glow and the darkened silhouette of a stout creature.

"Who comes to bother me!" They heard a deep but creaky voice call out. "Ah." The creature called out in surprise. "Finally come to get me demon? Well, I won't go down without a fight!"

The group stood there confused at the rantings of this small shadow before a spindly arm shot out and slammed into the middle of April's face with a dull thud. a second of confusion passed before a small snap was heard from the shadows arm. "Ugh! My arm." The shadow cried out.

"Ow! My nose." April cried out.

Garrett looked at the shadow, then to April, and back to the shadow that had fallen to the ground gripping its arm. "Did that actually hurt April?"

"Why would you ask that?" April growled. "Of course, it..." She paused. "Actually, no it didn't. huh, must have been a reflex I guess."

The group all turned to look at the small shadow rolling on the ground that was now revealed by the glow. What they saw was a small grey clump of cloth with two dark brown, stick like arms poking out. "Are you okay?" Garrett asked as he quickly placed April on his back.

The mass of rags stopped and turned to get a good look at the group. The face of what once must have been a dwarf, before the ravages of time took their toll, looked back at them. "Who are you?" The dwarf asked in a deep crackly voice.

"Sorry sir." Blixie said as she landed on Garretts shoulder. "We didn't mean to scare you. We seem to have gotten a little turned around in the alleys. Could you tell us where we are?"

Garrett offered a hand to help the dwarf up. "It's fine." The dwarf replied. "My eyes aren't what they used to be after so long in front of a forge." He grabbed Garretts hand and was pulled to his feet. "But I could have sworn I saw a demon when I opened the door." Garrett glanced back at April. "Welcome to 'Wally's Workshop'. Finest forge west of the Devils spine mountains." He wheezed before doubling over in a fit of coughing. He held up a hand to stop Blixie from flying over to him. "Don't worry about me. When you get to be my age things just start to rattle unexpectedly." He chuckled.

Kyle looked around the room and saw a large hearth like forge took up half of the room on the far wall that provided the bright illumination for the room. Besides that, the room looked to be in a state of great disrepair. Cobwebs filled the corners and rafters of the room, several broken chairs lay in a corner, and a thick layer of dust clung to everything else. Kyle hmphed and shook what amounted to his head before he caught himself.

The dwarf shot Kyle a glare. "You don't think so?" He growled before sweeping his hand around. "I'll have you know that this forge created the greatest weapons back in the day. Ironjaw, the unbreakable shield; Thunderdraw, the bow that could split the heavens; Caskless, the mug that never ran dry. Everyone wanted something from 'Wally's Workshop'." He started to rant before devolving into another coughing fit and slumped to the floor wheezing.

"Wait," Blixie gasped. "Are you saying that this is the workshop of Walliman Wendal Strongcask?" Garrett and Kyle looked at her confused. She quickly pulled out her book that contained her collection of Legends cards and flipped to a section. "Here." She said as she showed the book to them. "Ironjaw, the unbreakable shield. Wielded by Gorum Stronglegs, hero of Grundok. Said to have blocked the rampage of the fire giant Nedrik." She pointed to a card that depicted a large silver shield that was in the shape of a curled up, shark creature with legs. She quickly pointed to another that was a bow made of charred wood and intricate metal worked throughout it. "Thunderdraw, the bow that could split the heavens. Carried by Endra the elf hero when Ca'rok the Terrible tried to cover the forests of the elves in permanent winter. One well-placed shot pierced the storm clouds and laid Ca'rok low, ending his reign of terror." She flipped a couple of more pages before pointing at a wooden mug with some iron banding that made it look like a miniature cask with a handle. "Caskless, the mug that never ran dry. There were actually several of these created for dwarven heroes so they would never go thirsty. I heard they had great feasts with these. They could recreate any ale or wine that you could desire as long as you had filled up the mug with it before."

"If this is his workshop, and his creations were so great, then why is this place in such a mess?" Garrett asked.

"Walliman disappeared more than a century ago and no one has been able to figure out what happened to him. Some people are starting to think he was just a legend. A name thought up to sell weapons and goods found in the deepest dungeons." Blixie's eyes opened wide before she shot over to hover in front of the dwarf. "Wait since you live here do you know what might have happened to him?"

The dwarf slowly pulled himself off the floor. "A man closes his door for a short vacation and suddenly everyone forgets about him, but I admit I have let the forge get a bit dusty." He held out his skeletal arm and hand. "I guess I never did introduce myself. Walliman Wendal Strongcask is my name, but people just call me Wally."