The dwarf guide led yourself and the group of tenfortune seekers along a forgotten trade road to the Dwarven Capital in Ered Luin known as Nogrod. The secrecy seeming odd. Afterall there were enough of you to easily sway any bandits or more evil things from bothering you. You felt it prudent not to ask, yet. After a few days travel you entered through a small inconspicuous side entrance tucked away behind thick scrub almost as if hidden. Once inside you followed the rough hewn passageway further into the mountains, for how long you could not tell. At points the ground rose and others it could dip sharply. This was no ordinary straight cut angular passage so typical of dwarven construction. One of the mercenaries had asked if the dwarves had made this tunnel in haste but Dakhak had shrugged non committedly and carried on his way at a faster pace. It was hard to keep up and no one asked anymore questions about the tunnel even when it had widened suddenly to a star shaped chamber with a black rock in the centre. This stone had been covered in runes of an unknown style and was perfectly circular (about 20feet in radius). This room had made your head fill with a buzzing noise and your bones had gently vibrated. Dakhak had got very serious at that point bidding you to keep to the sides of the room and on no circumstances touch the dark plug, as he had called it. He had hurried through here very quickly. Before long the tunnel became a bit more squarer and it began to widen. Then the paved floor started and after a few minutes more walking you entered a broad tunnel with many others similar tunnels like the one you had left branching off either side as you followed it slowly upwards it. After a little longer you heard the sounds of smithying and before you got close enough to see these craftsmen you had been hustled off down a smaller side tunnel by Dakhak. This led to a dead end. The guide after a few moments casting about pushed part of the wall and it had released a trap door which slowly opened itself in front of you. Steps led down into the unlit stairway. Dakhak bid you go down them, handing out a few torches which he promptly lit from the lanterns in the room. He led the way. After a steep climb down of about a hundred feet, the stairway sometimes taking tortuous twists your group came to another seemingly dead end. However most the group spotted the latch on this side before Dakhak pulled down on it and led you into a plush chamber. There he asked you leave your equipment before ushering you into the next room telling you to sit with the Dwarf in there.

You are in a large shadowy square cut hall. The blue stone ceiling reaching 30 feet high above you. Around you sitting at a large heptagon table inlayed with gold are your companions. They appear to be studying a richly dressed dwarf. He seems to be in his late hundreds and is resplendent in ceremonial armour (it looks too gaudy to be of use in battle). He stands as you begin to take in the rest of the room and clears his throat indicating he would like your attention. All eyes turn towards him. "My name is Khand. I am, for all purposes, your employer. I will be your contact here. I am grateful you have come and ask you to trust me. You are known to the dwarven kind though I cannot tell you why, at least not now. I wish to tell you a story but it must never be told again outside these walls. I must ensure this by asking each of you to swear on a great artefact from the elder days, the Arkhand!" With this word appears in his outstretched palms a huge blue faceted gem, it must be over a foot in height and width. Strange whispers and mutterings fill your head but flit in and out so quickly you cannot understand what they say. He continues, a deep resonance in his raised voice, "This gem has the power of the mountains in it and this oath must not be taken lightly. Should you break your oath then terrible to you will be the consequences. Should you not wish to take the oath then no malice is wished upon you and you are free to leave this mountain with a purse of gold. Stay, take the oath and you will leave with a chest of gold and more! Who wishes to take the oath and become a dwarf friend?"