As the beam of lightning struck the crystal, it hungrily began to absorb the energy source.
The crystal began to glow and the sounds of several machines could be heard awakening at once.
Lights suddenly sprang to life all around them. The crystal seemed like it could hold a near limitless amount of energy , so after 5 minutes of constant barrage from his lightning, Storm closed his mouth and ended the attack.
Grombrim immediately stomped over to him and accosted him.
"What the hell were you thinking!!?" Yelled Grombrim.
"You said it needed a charge? I charged it?" Said Storm.
"You can't just throw lightning at a power source and hope it will do the trick!!
If your lightning power output was too high, you could have shattered the crystal!!"
"It worked before in a dwarven settlement located in the Dark Forest? Why wouldn't it have worked now?" Asked Storm.
"Just because it worked on one power source, doesn't mean it will work on all of them!! They're considerably more complicated than that!!
And don't even get me started on powering up ancient machinery without first checking for faults.You do realize that if some of these machines were damaged from infestation or neglect, then this whole place could have blown up!!?" Exclaimed Grombrim.
"That... didn't occur to me, sorry!" Said Storm.
Grombrim looked around.
"Well, it seems fortune has favored you again, because it seems like everything is working as intended. We'd best go shut everything down before something goes wrong though. "
They made a quick pass through the entire structure and Grombrim stopped in each room and ensured that the machines would turn off, before moving on to the next.
Now that there were lights around the facility, Storm was able to make out much of the machinery.
Apart from being a power source, it also seemed like the facility was indeed a smelter of some kind.
They found several storage rooms that contained ore still waiting to be smelted.
In the deepest part of the structure, they found a massive round door that was made from solid steel.
"A vault of some kind?" Asked Storm.
"Yes... must be at least 10 inches of solid steel. Nothing could break through this..." said Grombrim.
"Nothing?" Asked Storm as he slightly opened his mouth.
"Don't even think about it!!" Yelled Grombrim.
Storm closed his mouth and seemed to pout.
"Needs some kind of code?
Maybe my team can crack it given enough time to study it?"
He looked around the room.
"Seems like everything is shut down.
Let's leave this building for now and explore the rest of the city." Said Grombrim.
As they left the building, Storm saw that it wasn't just the smelter that came back to life.
Several lights had sprung to life all around the undercity.
Down below, pumps seems to have activated because the lava had been partially drained from the lower levels.
The walkways that were submerged underneath the lava a moment ago was glowing red from the heat, but seemed to be otherwise undamaged.
As Storm began to walk towards the walkways that led lower, Grombrim quickly stopped him.
"The metal is still to hot! You could burn yourself!" Said Grombrim.
My scales should be able to handle it!
I may not be fireproof like most dragons, but they can still take more heat than humanoid skin!" Said Storm.
"Even if that were the case, the metal might be damaged from being constantly submerged under lava.
It could break completely from our weight, I'll deploy teams to test for damage and to explore the rest of the city.
I think this is enough adventure for now. Let's return to the city above and make some plans for this discovery. "
Storm and Grombrim left the city and assigned a group of dwarves to continue cataloging what they had discovered.
As well as a large contingent of Rakasha and Gnoll guards to protect the prospecting team from any dangers they might uncover while exploring the city.
Two hours later, they called an emergency meeting with the other advisors to discuss what they had discovered.
As well as the potential ramifications.
"I feel it would be best if we just resealed the undercity and forget we ever found it!!"
I'd prefer not to wake up to find the city overrun with goblins!!" Exclaimed Kalipso.
"Early reports from my teams indicated no goblin presence in the city.
Believe me, if there were goblins, then there would have been signs of infestation. " said Grombrim.
"Then what happened to the city? Why was it abandoned?" Asked Razor.
"Seems Omega trapped them in the city.
He couldn't breach the defenses, so he laid siege and hoped to starve them out.
After the city lost it's power source, the population killed themselves rather than go through a slow death through starvation." Explained Grombrim.
:Why didn't Omega sack the city after they died though? Couldn't he just raise them and force them to open the doors for him?" Asked Augustus.
"The magic wards around the city kept his magic from affecting anyone beyond the gates.
Those wards have cracks in their defenses now, and Omega might have been able to get in if he wasn't imprisoned before. " Explained Grombrim.
Grombrim's prospector team had continued to explore the city after Storm and Grombrim left. In the deeper storage rooms, they uncovered a grim sight.
Ranks upon ranks of Dwarven bodies, still well preserved even after all this time were laying in a large storage room. Several bottles were scattered around the room.
The Dwarves had no marks of battle on their bodies, and seemed to die quickly and peacefully. The team suspected that the dwarves all agreed to drink a fast acting poison, rather than wait for starvation to claim them.
Storm intended to have the bodies laid to rest in the catacombs with the rest of the people who gave their lives for the city and the cause. It seemed only fitting that they be laid to rest with the other protectors of the city.
"The city is much too valuable to simply be locked up again." Said Storm.
"Wouldn't help even if we did..." said Grombrim.
Everyone looked at him and waited for him to elaborate.
"We can keep the city a secret for a time, but eventually the other clans will hear about it.
I'm not going to lie, Storm.
They won't be happy that a non dwarf is holding on to such a relic from our forgotten past. They will no doubt approach us and offer substantial compensation to take charge of it in your stead.
We must tread carefully. " Explained Grombrim.
"Can't I just hand it to your clan?" Asked Storm.
Grombrim was absolutely speechless.
"Thank you... you have no idea what a huge gesture that is... But I must decline..." said Grombrim.