"Should we really be messing with this thing if goblins are involved?
An unregulated gobin swarm could wipe out everything we've built if we accidentally released it!?" Asked Storm.
"The under cities were reinforced with solid steel.
It's very unlikely that goblins found their way inside if it's been sealed like this." Said Grombrim.
" 'Unlikely' doesn't mean impossible, Grombrim. " Exclaimed Storm.
"We'll be careful, besides. Are you comfortable leaving a goblin nest unsupervised so close to the city?" Asked Grombrim.
Storm sighed.
"Fine!! But we'd better not regret this!!
Any ideas how to open this thing?" Asked Storm.
"It's sealed from this side, we'd have to get inside and open it from the other side." Explained Grombrim.
He looked at the door and pointed to one of the holes roughly the same height of Storm's head.
"Maybe I can get through though there?!
Can you give me a boost?!" Asked Grombrim.
Storm laid down with his entire body, neck and head on the ground.
Grombrim climbed up Storm's snout and carefully made his way to Storm's forehead.
As Storm began to rise to his feet again, Grombrim swayed and quickly grabbed Storm's horns to steady himself.
Storm slowly walking up to the indicated hole and pressed his snout up against it.
Once he was secured, Grombrim carefully made his way along Storm's snout and climbed in through the gap.
Storm sat down with the rest of the dwarves and waited for Grombrim.
He maintained a constant mental connection to him so that he could help him if he got stuck.
After a moment Grombrim's voice echoed through Storm's mind.
" I made it through!! Give me a moment to look for a mechanism to open the door with!!" Said Grombrim's voice.
A few minutes later.
A loud creak sounded from the doors and they began to groan as they slowly swung open. A thick cloud of dust flew from the door and struck Storm in the face.
He snorted and sneezed so hard that lightning flew from both his nose and his mouth at the same time.
He rubbed his nose with a forelimb to get rid of the itch.
As the door opened , a large walkway was revealed in front of them.
A large metallic bridge led over a large drop with boiling lava at the bottom.
A massive metalic structure of unknown purpose was located in the center of the city and was the end destination of the large bridge, Which was also the only light source currently illuminating the city.
Several walkways circled around the vast chamber all the way from the roof, up until just above the lava.
Based on the fact that the walkways led right into the lava, Storm suspected that it wasn't there when the city was constructed and that there might be additional chambers submerged underneath it.
Several dwarf sized houses was built along the metal walls of the chamber. As well as tunnels that no doubt led to additional rooms dug out of the caves.
The city was completely dark and lifeless however and not a single trace, neither alive or dead,could be found.
Based on the amount of dust covering the walkways, this city didn't have visitors in centuries.
"Power seems to be out. It's probably in that central structure over the bridge!! Let's go take a look." Exclaimed Grombrim.
They walked though the under city and as they entered the structure, a massive machine appeared in front of them.
Several pipes seemed to lead to a cauldron that was so large that Storm would have been able to comfortably fit inside with room to spare.
Rail tracks held up the cauldron before continuing on to an opening that led to additional rooms.
A large pit was located underneath the cauldron. Two enormous bellows were located on either side of the pit and could provide air to whatever they do in the pit.
At first glance, this seemed like a production line of some kind.
"What do you think this place was used for?" Asked Storm.
His voice echoed down the empty chambers.
"This seems like a smelter of some kind, built on a scale I have never seen before!!
I think I'm able to guess which of the 7 great undercities this is based on what I'm seeing so far!"
"Don't keep me in suspense then!!" Exclaimed Storm.
"This is most likely 'Grundgarum'... The 'Great Forge' in the common tongue.
A city with a lot of history attached to it, including some overlap with your kind, Storm. "
"Dragons helped build this?!!" Asked Storm.
"... Not exactly... but the metal that was used for forging here was so strong, that only dragon's fire could melt it. Several dragons helped maintain the forge year round.
In thanks, the Dwarves of Grundgarum forged 5 legendary suits of dragon armor for the most prominent dragon lords of the time.
The suits enhanced their already formidable powers and almost made them godlike in status." Answered Grombrim.
"Any idea what happened to those suits?" Asked Storm with a hint of envy.
Grombrim shook his head.
"They dissappeared, along with their owners. Some say they were buried with it.
Others believe they're hidden somewhere, waiting for a worthy successor to claim them some day.
Unfortunately, there are no leads among Dwarven kind about where these great dragons might be resting. "
"Hmm, nothing in draconic lore either.
There's something of a 'gap' in our history that we haven't been able to explain.
Almost like it was purposefully removed for some reason. " said Storm.
Grombrim studied the machinery for a moment. After a moment's hesitation, he pulled a lever but nothing happened.
"Hmmmm, we'll need to restore power to the city it seems before everything works. Let's check the other rooms."
They continued walking through the abandoned chambers until they came across a massive room with a large crystal in it's center. Machinery with an unknown purpose was connected to the crystal.
No light could be seen coming from the crystal.
"I suspect we found the power source.
Seems to be dormant however. " said Grombrim
He went over to a console and tried to operate the machinery, but like the rest of the machines, it gave no reaction to his attempts.
"Need to find a way to charge the crystal somehow?" Said Grombrim.
Storm positioned himself in front of the crystal and opened his mouth.
"STORM, WAIT!!!!" Called Grombrim.
But Storm fired a blast of lightning from his mouth before the dwarf could stop him.