Peace, focus and discipline.

  Minvar meditated on these concepts in her room. The rage that burned within her people's hearts needed to be controlled at all times. Thankfully, the females of her race suffered far less than the males. This is why females, not males, dominate most diplomatic and business-related endeavours, especially with outsiders.

  Brutun had been slipping but had found his balance once more with help from their people. Strix had requested time to regain his balance as he slowly lost it. Devaus's wounding on the new floor had put his mental state out of alignment, so he was seeking to find it once more.

  Minvar had been concerned about Xurak at first fighting a revenant in the Dungeon, but he had come and told her that he was still at peace with himself. He had fought several campaigns in the past against the undead, lost many friends, and taken many injuries. But over the years, he had come to find balance with these events even though they were still painful to him. Devaus was recovering in the temple of Ilinia. Nyminar was there, too, but studying to become a better healer.

  A knock at the door drew her from her meditation and thought as she suppressed a brief flash of irritation. She opened her eyes, and as she was sitting on the floor across from the door, she called out.

  "Enter."

  The door opened, and [War Disciplinarian] Sandar entered her room. Upon seeing him, she quickly tried to rise, but he waved her down.

  "Peace, Team Captain Minvar, peace." Came the deep rumble of his voice.

  She did as she was asked and returned to the meditation position. He closed the door and joined her on the floor, sitting before her in the same position.

  "It is good that I see you practising the rights of control." As she spoke, she wondered why he had come to see her. "Several of your team have sought aid in their balance. I have come to see if you require it as well."

  Minvar spent a moment absorbing the figure before her. He was similar in age to Xurak or maybe just a bit older. From his hide, she could see and count numerous scars and burns, speaking to a life of fighting and violence. The broken horn on his head reinforced that impression. Yet he sat before her with an aura of calm, dressed in monk's clothing.

  "The trials my team have gone through have been…. taxing." She admitted.

  He nodded to her words in understanding and then spoke again. "Yes, I suspected they had been. This Dungeon tests those who go into it in ways few have or could. The truly older ones would be as varied as this young one. If I were a younger bull still full of pride and ambition, I would have charged straight here to challenge it."

  "Where you are, an adventurer or a warrior." Asking such a question was not considered rude but was part of the learning process, as he was here to teach and guide.

  "Both. Like most, I started in the military, learning the art of war and control. When I finished my time of service, I became an adventurer. I travelled many lands, and I visited many Dungeons."

  "Then you decided to change your Path."

  "Yes. When I was younger, I was very similar to Brutun. Strong, capable and oh so prideful. As I walked the adventurer's path, I lost focus and control as the years passed. My companions warned me that I was falling into a dark spiral, but I was too prideful to listen. We had much tension towards the end but decided to test ourselves against one last Dungeon. It was sad that my pride and rage brought us to disaster." Minvar could share the sorrow and weariness in his voice as he spoke. She knew the weariness was not from telling the story repeatedly but still carrying the burden of his arrogance.

  "What happened?" She asked, knowing this was part of the way her people learned the value of control.

  He smiled sadly at her. "The rage, of course. That terrible thing that burns in all of our hearts can drive us to such depths of depravity that we are almost as bad as the beasts we are fighting. I lost myself to it at the worst possible time, and those who walked with me suffered. The gods have a sense of irony as they died in that place, but I was spared…. badly wounded, but I lived."

  "What caused you to change?"

  "Shame. Shame at what I had become. Shame what I had done."

  "Why? Surely you are not to blame if the Dungeon's monsters killed your party?"

  "And there is the reason for my shame, for it was not the monsters there that killed my party. But the monster here." As he spoke, he tapped his chest where his heart was, and she understood what he was saying.

  "The rage took you." She said in understanding.

  "Yes, it did. I knew nothing but the rage and lust for blood and violence. Throughout our people's history, we have been forced to contend with it. We were lost to it for countless ages and treated no better than beasts or monsters because that is what we were. When we learned the beginnings of discipline, we became a power to be reckoned with, but again, the rage took us, and we descended back into madness. But in the end, we learned, struggled, and were rewarded with the Path of [War Disciplinarian]. A path that forces the walker to understand war and the importance of discipline or be lost to the madness of bloodlust."

  They both fell quiet after this as they contemplated the words that had been spoken between the two.

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  "Do you fear for my team?" she asked. It took her several moments to gather the courage to say these words out loud.

  He smiled reassuringly at her. "No. Your team has been tested, but as their leader, you have seen the danger and had them seek to find that balance again. The only one I have not spoken to so far is, in fact, you, and that is why I've come today."

  "You are worried about my balance?"

  "At first, yes. But seeing you here now and talking to you, I am no longer concerned. But remember, Minvar, it is never a sign of weakness to ask for help in this matter."

  "I shall remember your words [War Disciplinarian]. But I fear it would be a little harder without one of your number present."

  He smiled at her again. "Actually, it will not be. I am staying within the city as many more of our people are en route to challenge themselves against the Dungeon."

  "More are coming!" She exclaimed, surprised by this news.

  "Yes, the word of the Dungeon and its rewards and challenges are spreading far. Many hungry and young warriors who have finished their time of trials are coming this way. The elders decided it would be prudent to have at least one [War Disciplinarian] here to help guide those who need it."

  "Wise. Best to be ready for trouble." She admitted after thinking about it for a few moments.

  "Agreed. Hopefully, I will be able to help prevent friction with all the other races that are coming as well."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  ## ## ## ## ##

  The ship was no longer swaying as it did at sea, and Thrum was grateful.

  The rivers were far calmer, and he did not always feel seasick. The rest of his party had not mentioned it, but they all knew he hated travelling by water.

  "If the people of the Clan of Deep and Stone who Seek. were meant to travel by water, we would have gills!" He muttered to himself.

  "The human tongue, Thrum!" Val'nira had heard him and admonished him. They all needed the practice, as it had been some time since they were last in these lands.

  "Fine, fine, stop pestering me." He grumbled. The others smiled in their beards but said nothing.

  The ship was broad and flat. Two paddle wheels drove it forward against the wind. The ship bore no sails but had a magic-fuelled engine that kept it moving constantly, regardless of weather or conditions. This allowed them to cross the seeds and reach here at a reliable pace and time.

  Thrum has spent nearly the entire journey across the sea with his head in a bucket or over the side. He was not the only one, but he was the worst. He knew they were close to their destination and would soon be back on solid ground where he would be ever grateful to the gods and the ancestors.

  "Why are we heading to this human Dungeon again?" Tyrax asked. He was the only clean-shaven one in the group. It was a sign of his shame and punishment never to be allowed to have a beard until he had regained his honour. Knowing that one, he would never be as shameless as his class. Many looked down on him, but Thrum quickly saw his importance in his party. As a [Grand Looter], he was one of the most versatile people in any Dungeon.

  "Going because it's a new Dungeon, and money is to be made!" Val'nira snapped at him. She was a [Priestess of Ilinia] dressed in white with sky-blue highlights. Due to her Path, she was the group's healer but often spent most of her time corralling the group or just yelling at them for what they did. She was blonde and immensely proud of her beard. She took great care to ensure it was always braided and well-oiled.

  Gornax and Stonus, the group's frontline fighters, avoided the priestess. A [Hammer Guard] and [Line Breaker], respectively, had learned long ago to avoid getting into arguments with her, as it never ended well for them. Both were generally armed in heavy-scale mail and carried reinforced shields with war hammers. At the moment, they were wearing looser clothes and leather armour, as they were not needed for combat.

  Snortax the [Axe Warrior] and Nev'Tanra the [Siege Engineer], we're quickly moving away from Tyrax. It did not take much for Val'nira to get started on him as he always knew how to wind her up. Thrum rolled his eyes, knowing that he would soon have to step in and break them up. Thankfully, a call from the Watchtower changed that.

  "City ahead!"

  The group quickly forgot their argument and moved to the front of the ship, to the human city they would be calling home for the next few months, at least. Nestled into a valley with some rather half-decent mountains, it looked… crowded.

  The river was surprisingly wide, and purpose-built harbours and jetties on either side allowed numerous ships and boats to be bored at once. The river was crowded with traffic, and several ferry boats moved between the two sides of it. The whole city looked new, and construction was happening everywhere. Buildings were being torn down; new levels were being added or just going through refits.

  There was an energy to the place that was undeniable.

  "Looks pretty crowded," Stonus commented, the first of the group to speak about what they were looking at.

  "Well, at least we got the mountains to explore if the Dungeon isn't too interesting," Gornax added.

  "True. I've heard that these mountains have never been fully explored, and there is still much mineral wealth to exploit on the surface, let alone deeper in the roots of these little mountains." Thrum ensured the group knew there were always options outside the Dungeon if it was not up to their standard.

  "What's the plan?" Tyrax asked his captain.

  "It's the usual. We find lodging and see what the locals have in the way of support services and merchants. Then we registered with the guild and get assigned a slot to go in."

  "Do you want me to ask around the Guild to see what we will face?" Snortax asked, as this was one of the typical jobs he was assigned.

  "Aye. Tyrax, you go out and find your type of contacts and see what they can tell us." Thrum was taking no chances and decided to ensure he had all possible avenues of information covered.

  Val'nira glares at all this, but she stays silent. Several times in the past, the information their [Grand Looter] had found had saved their lives. Thrum had been hearing strange rumours about this place named the Tower in the Shadows.

  The Dwarven ship was docked professionally and quickly, thanks to crews who knew what they were doing. The gangplank was lowered within minutes, allowing the few passengers to disembark. By then, Thrum and his team had acquired their gear from their cabins and were ready.

  They marched down the gangplank in single file, their heavy boots striking the metal walkway as they stepped onto the wooden human-made pier. Thrum went over and spoke to the pier master. He was quickly directed to the taverns, where rented rooms would be found.

  They started going to the nearest street that would take them deeper into the city when Thrum's name was called out. They all stopped and turned their attention to the Dwavern, who strolled out of the crowd.

  "Vantax!" Thum called out in greeting in return. "What are you doing here, you copper-counting scoundrel!"

  Laughing, the Dwavern approached them and held out his hand. Thrum gripped it in greeting along his forearm as he did the same. "The same as you, you poor excuse of a [Runecaster]. There is money to be made here then if you are here?"

  "Aye, and plenty of it to the bold and the brave. This Dungeon is like no other I have heard of." Vantax reported.

  "Truly. Then we need to speak, my friend. Tell me they have decent beer here, at least."

  "Aye, they do. Come, I have prepared since I heard your team was arriving."

  Vantax let the group of his countrymen into the human city and began telling them what was happening.