Rather surprisingly, the theft of the pillows the day before had proven to be at least a little bit effective, because early that morning, as my small group set out once again with our new task, we came across several Dark Iron Dwarves who seemed to be overly sleep-deprived (perhaps a little too much for just one night, but maybe they just work that hard). Some of them walked right past us and didn't bat an eyelid, others were sleeping in chairs, and two of them even tried to borrow money off of one of the Thorium Dwarves for a gamble of some sort that was taking place immediately, judging by their haste. In fact, it seemed to have a more obvious effect than killing the slave driver, yesterday.
Either way, we moved deeper into the Slag Pit. Once again, it was another assassination mission, but this target seemed to be of far higher standing, and his death might actually make a difference. His name was Overseer Maltorius.
We sneaked as best as we could through the dry, hot darkness, and freed more slaves as we passed them. They seemed to be even more sleep deprived than the previous Dwarves, and I can't help wondering if it was due to the lack of a slave driver. Perhaps they could only sleep when he allowed them, and if he wasn't about to give the order to rest, maybe they wouldn't. I suppose it would make sense, but for them to be too scared to sleep unless they're told they could paints the picture of pure brutality. What did that Dwarf do to them to make them so afraid of him?
It took a few hours once again - I really can't describe how huge this place is - and after passing by a shocking site of lava - I've never seen such a thing before, just pure liquid fire if such a thing is possible, and the heat that rose up from that chasm was more intense than I could have imagined - we met up with another Dwarf, named Hansel. He was supposed to meet us here to help take this guy down on the off chance that he had more in his arsenal than we expected - afterall, the slave driver had a Golem, so what would the Overseer have? Well, he had someone, certainly.
Hansel wasn't worried, but he did mention that, if not for this extra person, he'd probably have attacked by himself. I'm glad he didn't. I was told by my brother when I was younger that Ego was the one thing that was guaranteed to get you killed.
Hansel told us that the second individual was the Twilight Lord Arkkus, and that he would not go down without a fight. None of us knew what he was doing there for certain, but it confirmed the Dwarves' suspicions that the Dark Irons had thrown their lot in with the Twilight Cult.
We were as quiet as we could be, getting into position to attack, but the Twilight Lord - a Night Elf, of all things - was onto us quickly. He spoke up and told us he knew we were there, and to come out peacefully so that he could offer us to his 'master'. We never found out who that master was, because before he could divulge any more, Bani, the stoutest and most aggressive of the Dwarves I'd been partnered with these past few days, charged at him. Even now my eyes well up thinking about how foolhardy he was to charge straight at him. The Night Elf stepped aside and Bani ran right over the edge. He yelled as he fell, but it was one of fury, cursing the Elf.
Following this loss, the other Dwarves charged at the Twilight Lord and the Overseer, and I had no choice but to back them up. None of them went over the edge, though they all did suffer some minor magical wounds.
I'm not a mage, but I know how to weave a few spells. I am a Blood Elf, after all. I was able to distract the Night Elf with a few carefully placed spells - merely conjured shadows that made it seem as though more Dwarves were charging from a dark corner - and the Dwarves were able to exact their vengeance and complete the mission. I won't go into detail over what they did, but in the end, both the Twilight Lord and Overseer Maltorius resembled something similer to Alterac Swiss. My stomach turns just thinking about it.
I hope that tomorrow will be easier. I don't know what the time was when we made camp at the next rondezvous, but everyone was quiet. I don't mean to sound insensitive but I cannot help thinking that none of these Dwarves expected to lose anyone down here. Still, I'm saddned by our loss. Despite being the most aggressive of the lot, he was also the first to laugh. And that laugh was contagious.
He'll be missed.
-- Atherya Sunleaf
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