SouthSpire Underdark
Awoken at 4:30 am and off to the train!
On the Train
The train has two engines, one on either end, and 5 cars in between. One engine is cooling down, one engine is heating up. There are gnomes and dwarves lined up at a ticket booth.
We purchase a private area in the train and relax. And then don’t relax as the train accelerates to 180 km/h. We move so fast that the lights in the tunnel turn to a blur of light lines.
The trip from Southspire station to Thanehold station takes 2.5 hours, which is insane. At the end of the trip, the train begins to run through several waterfalls, a way to slow the train down. After this, they use mechanical brakes to slow down the train to a stop at Thanehold station.
Thanehold station is very ornately carved. Lots of beautifully carved pillars and arches. There are carved depictions of great moments in dwarven history.
It is larger and more populous, with shops around the station for both food, drink, and souvenirs. There is a heavily guarded tunnel to the stairs to Thanehold, that we are not permitted to go anywhere near.
We return to the train and move on to Eastspire station. Each car has a connection to the other car, but moving from car to car exposes us to the underdark elements. It is very fast. So fast.
We are now at Eastspire station. Advised to catch the midnight train going to Thanehold.
Just a small town dwarf
Living in the underworld
He took the midnight train
To Thanehold
Just a city gnome
Born and raised in Everlife
She took the midnight train
To Thanehold
eastspire Underdark
We begin to head up the stairs to the Eastspire guard post. The upstairs are very difficult. We travel upstairs for hours and hours. Eventually Codex almost passed out, so he gets polymorphed into a lizard and Maude carries him for an hour so he can rest.
After 8 hours of stairclimbing, we end up at the Plainspire Guardpost. We meet Duren, Lieutenant of the Plainspire watchpost. We show them our Salvage rights paperwork, and enter into the guardpost.
eastspire Guardpost
The guardpost is fairly simple. There is a small tavern, a guardpost, a barracks, and more stairs up.
Everyone here are guards. There are no civilian dwarves here. Meet a dwarven cleric named Thari, who helps us recover a bit.
We are introduced to Tari Aidenson, the Captain of the Guardpost. She is friendly enough. She is missing a few fingers in one hand. She advises us to be careful in Eastspire, the dwarves don’t go there, and the city is not structurally sound, it is constantly collapsing.
We sleep to morning, unconscious to the world.