Kolose pauses for a long moment, thinks for a moment, then speaks.

"Ask him perhaps if he remembers an old lady passing by recently."

His face twists up as he seems about to spit in Stena's direction before realizing he's in his dwelling.

"Keep a civil tongue in your head, overlander."

He chides her, moving towards the blanket.

Galingal keeps his hand on the hilt if his rapier as the duergar approaches the blanket. There was something wrong with that orb.

He bends down and lifts the blanket, the orb rolling free, the sound heavy and dull against the zhurkwood planks.

"What have we here...", he muses softly, reaching for it.

"Erm... Hold on, I don't think you should..."

Kolose says this, but is likely not understood.

Listening to Kolose, but not otherwise acknowledging him, she will ask after being reprimanded,

"You seen any old woman on mushrooms making deals Duergar?"

She would be mildly amused by this man if she wasn't annoyed by the delay.

As he reaches for the orb again she repeats Kolose's warning, albeit with very little urgency,

"That's the orb you were staring at when we came in. Don't look at it."

Presuming he looks at and freezes she shakes her head.

"Okay. Take his weapon before we do that again."

It's almost as if his body is moving without his direct intent, as he replies, "Old woman? No, just my wife, and she's not old, or a drug user!"

He looks confused when Stena mentions the orb, but at that point his hand was almost closed around it. As he touches it, he smiles and sits against the wall, giving a happy sigh as he pulls it to his chest and gazes into it. There is a swirl of grey across it.

Kolose blinks a few times, a soft sigh escaping him.

"My guess is that touching that orb shows him... Something not quite real. A better world. Albeit a fake one. Hard to convince someone to let that go..."

((From outside, the whole interior is a bright white blur to Kolose, but he can look at it without any additional discomfort as long as he isn't standing in the bright light.))

Galingal shakes his head when the duergar goes back to the trance he was in before. Without waiting, Galingal moves forward and disarms him, taking away the dagger, and any other weapons he finds.

"He might be no help," Galingal says, but then decides that now that he's disarmed they can try again. 

Like before, Galingal wraps the sphere in the blanket and pushes it away.

(Ah, so I also can't see into bright light? Got it! Initial description seemed to suggest I was only "blinded" while actively being in it)

"We don't have time for this."

Stena states and once the Duergar is back,

"You remember us? You need to help us fix the lock to bring your wife back. Once we get it working we'll tell you where she is."

"Whuuu- I recognize you, you've been here before, right? Grulda, dear, offer our guests some ale... Grulda?", the duergar looks around in confusion.

"Fix the... oh, where is she? You know where she is?", he grasps at Stena's arm desperately.

Stena looks down at his hand on her tense arm and takes a slow breath, relaxing her fist and gently, if stiltedly, patting his hand.

"Yes. We know where Grulda is. Help us fix the lock and we'll take you to her. What's your clan? My name is Stena."

She'll start guiding him out to where she guesses needs to be fixed.

"Right over here."

In common,

"Let's get this lock fixed. Get him some water and food so he can make it happen. Galingal, keep that thing covered."

"Oh... I'm Thorum. Of the Flamebleeders. You're not bad, for a surface dwarf. No offense.", he pats her hand back, distractedly.

He moves to the poles of the lock mechanism, and pulls down on one protruding from the large wheel. It doesn't budge. He puts his full weight on it, and it still doesn't budge, so he lets go, and wipes his hands on his pants. 

"It seems broken. Can we go see Grulda now?"

"Thank you. We have to fix it to see her Thorum."

Stena keeps her tone as sympathetic as she can manage, mostly out of pity for the diluted fool.

"How can we help?"

Galingal slips the bundled orb-sphere into his pack, careful not to look at it or touch the bare surface.

He then looks around for anything that might help unstick the lock mechanism.

Perception: 20  

Kolose is biting down on his tongue to keep his mouth shut, but eventually can't help but speak up. Even if he tries to compromise ever so slightly with what he eventually says.

"This isn't right... Can't we try and do anything to help him? After we get him to fix the lock perhaps?" he says, his mind mentally rewinding to what the duergar had just said. Invisible cogs churned inside his head, fueled by knowledge that remained locked within the fog in his mind... But made some connection none the less.

"Perhaps you can ask how long ago it is he remembers us visiting? It sounds like he is under the impression it was much longer than the few moments it actually took."

"That... that usually works." He rubs his hands on his thighs again, a sheen of sweat covering his befuddled face.

Galingal notes that there is another lever protruding from the mechanism, but it didn't budge under the weight of the duergar, and seems unlikely that simply more weight will make a difference. There is a growing worry that it is something more complicated than just a stuck pulley, given the whirlpool sucking and gurgling outside.