"Hard to to say Miss Lia. Seems to shine in between cracks of rock. Have'ta be in the right place, too."

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Gark does not detect any intentional deception, although Scran does seem to be puzzling over something.

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"Right, then..." Ragkohm says after finishing his third drink and standing up. "Hope yer up for a hike, 'cuz it's up a ways up the mountain. Keep my tab open, Rai... Might be back later."

Once the group steps outside, Ragkohm speaks up again, "Draconic, ya say...? Ha ha! Had me goin' fer a second there, lass! If a dragon was in the area, it would've come after me the moment my first pick struck this hill and I'd be either a permanent fixture to the mountain or half a world away!"

"Still, it be strange that those three be hearing those voices... But, it does give me an idea on what may creepin' around in the mine. But what don't make sense is what in the world they would be doing here."

"What is this about this red light?"

As the group is gerring ready to follow the dwarf, Gark quietly asks Scran “you never finished what you were about to say about the words in the same dialect. What were you going to say?”

"That's still something I'm trying to figure out. Never actually gave it a though before talking to you folk."

"I said some dialects of Simple Draconic use the same word for 'heretic' and 'thief.' Most of those dialects are used by kobolds. But what's getting me is it makes no sense for them to be here, right now."

"They used to have dens all throughout this range but moved out hundreds of years ago. Nobody knows why, they just up and left. Them moving out is what allowed all these mining projects to get started in the first place. Why would they come back...?"

”thats good information. Thanks.”

Then Gark catches up with the main group. Reminding himself to collect his half up front. 

Ragkohm leads the group on a fifteen minute walk up the mountain to a small shack.

"Here we are! Come on in. Don't mind the mess, I've been plannin' on makin' plans to get the place in any sort of shape." He says as he opens the door

He is not wrong. Papers and parchment are strewn all over every conceivable surface off of the floor. You could even swear that you see some on the ceiling.

He takes a look around for a moment, "Ah, yes, right here!'

At what you assume is a desk, he starts various papers to the side revealing a large, rolled section of parchment. He unfurls it and pins the edges with a couple of books.

"There she is... Beauty, ain't she...?"

You see something like this...

 (Best seen in a new tab)

 Nephina waits as the group exits the tavern thinking of joining after a while she decides she has nothing better to do and might as well get some more coin exiting the tavern she spots the group enter a building. As she approaches the door she listens for a second then knocks.

Valentia takes a look at the map, as soon as Ragkohm shows it, and she soon starts to ask some questions about it. "So, this is the map to the entirety of the mines? I assume these 'x' marks are meant to refer to the paths that were collapsed, huh? So, when we enter the mines, from which side on the map are we going to be walking in?" After that, when the sounds of someone's knocks from the other side of the door are heard, she stops and looks back, waiting for someone closer to the door to open it.

Ragkohm shakes his head,

Hearing a knock on the door, Ragkohm wonders, "Who can that be...? Can't be one of my men, they know they don't need to knock if the want somethin'."

"Come on in!"

 Ragkohm shakes his head, "Aye and nay, we were still trying ta see if the new branch was any good, so this is a little old. The X's are branches that weren't producing any ore so we abandoned them. The collapses happened between the x's. The only one of them that hadn't fallen yet is the bent one not next to an x. Where I'm sendin' ya is the circle with the question mark."

"Any other questions?"

Hearing a knock on the door, Ragkohm wonders, "Who can that be...? Can't be one of my men, they know they don't need to knock if the want somethin'."

"Come on in!"

"No questions, at least for you." Lia says with a glance over the map.  "Show us to the entrance and we'll go in and check this out..." She traces the circle with the questionmark and tries to see if she can tell which path leads from it to the entrance. 

Opening the door Nephina steps in "Sorry about that is this the group going into the mine?"

 "Aye, it is. Plannin' on joinin', eh? Better late than never!"

"You didnae miss too much. Just goin' over the layout of the mine."

"Yes that was my plan." Neph joins the group at the table and looks over the map

"Right then." The old dwarf continues and points to the end of the branch that is the least complex on the left side of the parchment, "Entrance to the mine is right here."

"Once you reach the main concourse, get into the mine cart to yer right n' release the brake. The furthest it'll take ya is 'ere." He traces his finger to the first bent branch. "From there, yer walkin'. You'll be going some 400 feet before ya see the end of the mine and the entrance to the new branch is on yer left."

"Before ya go, gotta give ya something, courtesy of big guy here," He gestures to Gark. He ducks under the desk, you here some shuffling and some choice words.

After a moment he gets back up with a small pouch, he reaches in and starts laying down four stacks of coins, "There ya go! Half of the payment, as agreed. The other half comes when th' job is done."

"If everyone's ready ta go, I'll need ta come with ta unlock th' gate. From then on, it's all you."

"I am ready."  Lia says with a nod, picking up a stack of coins and placing them in her own pouch.  she glances to the others, biting her lower lip as she waits to see if everyone else is set.

"I'm good to go whenever" picking up the stack of coins and putting them away

Gark picks up the stack of coins with a respectful nod at the dwarf, then turns toward the door.

Valentia pockets the last stack of coins left and nods to her allies. "Yes, I think I'm ready. Let's see how well this goes for us."

"Very well, no time like the present!" Get leaves his desk and leads the group outside and further up the mountain.

It takes ten minutes to get to a wooden door with horizontal iron bands and a heavy-looking padlock on its left side.

Ragkohm fishes in his pockets, he eventually produces similarly heavy-looking key and goes to unlock the door. As he does he addresses the auburn-haired newcomer, "Y'know, I don't think I caught yer name... Mighty rude of me."

A loud clunk soon follows as the padlock opened and Ragkohm swings the door open, "There ya are! Best of luck to ya!"

"I'll either be doin' some paper back at the office or back at the bar. So when ya finish up, ya can find me in one of those."

"Sounds good."  Lia says with a nod to the dwarf.  she tucks her white hair behind and ear as she glances to the others of the group.  "Let's do this then huh?" She gives them a smile, then leads the way into the mine.