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Following the trail away from the mine entrance, the enlarged group continue towards the squat citadel sitting on the hillside less than a mile away. Having made up some temporary litters, the bodies of the four dead mercenaries are taken with them, and a short time later, the group come at last to the thick stone walls of Citadel Felbarr, 10 yards high and said to be nearly as thick. In the middle of the wall facing the young Redrun River is a massive and majestic stone gate with two towers roofed with tiles of a dark red stone that is unfamiliar to you, nearly as formidable as the wall in which it stands.
Above the gate on the parapet stands a group of heavily armed dwarves. After a brief exchange with the guards, the massive gate is opened to admit the group.

The interior of the huge citadel comes as something of a shock. There are a number of new structures inside the walls, but much of the citadel stands empty except for rubble where stone buildings recently having been demolished and wooden buildings having been burned. There are, however, a number of newly erected stone buildings within the walls, including a large hall (for the dwarven king Emerus), still partly under construction, a huge weaponsmith's operation from which belches a steady stream of smoke and the sound of smithy-work, and a large inn called The Orc Skull. Although the citadel is in the hands of dwarves again, there also are many human adventurers inside the walls. Everyone seems to be well-armored and heavily armed.

Recognising Larz as a priest of Clangeddin, several armed dwarves come up and greet him in dwarvish, offering their respect. It turns out that there is a significant temple to Moradin here - the House of the Reconquering Forge - but no shrine to Clangeddin - a little surprising given the amount of battle that this place has seen. Several human fighters also offer their respect to Herod, as a priest of Tempus, but few even recognise Milo or Vaslin for the faiths they follow.

The mercenaries greet several others, humans and dwarves alike on their way to the only place for non-locals to stay - the large Orc Skull Inn. Pushing their way in, the group see that the tap room of the Orc Skull is large, easily capable of holding a couple of hundred people. Furniture (all made of stone) on one side is more human sized, but the majority of the inn has furniture more suitably sized for the dwarven locals. Even at this early evening time, the tap room has a goodly number of people sat around, drinking and eating. The building extends even further, several passages leading off towards numbered bed chambers.

The walls of the main tap room are decorated with hundred of orc skulls - thankfully clean of any remaining flesh - but a grisly reminder of the dwarves recent triumph over the previous occupants of the citadel.

As the group move further into the inn, a human man steps forward, coming from the direction of the bar. "I ain't seen your faces around before" he states flatly, wiping his hands on a greasy apron, "so I'm a-guessing you're looking for rooms. Eight silver a night" he adds with a grin. "Includes breakfast, but dinner is extra, another five." He shrugs. "And we don't have a lot of variety here I'm afraid. If you want booze, then we only got two types. Star Brew beer from Silverymoon for 5 copper smiths a tankard or dwarf schnapps from Mithral Hall at 2 silver roses per shot."

Cleo typed:
"As for a room, he and I are sharing," she points to Merrell.

The innkeeper looks between Cleo and Merrell, raising an appraising eyebrow. "All our rooms are singles apart from three large twelve sleeper dorms - so your may find yourself a bit cramped" he says.

Cleo typed:
"Make sure the sheets are freshly washed or at least clean and aired. Also what about a bath?"

"All our rooms are clean" retorts the innkeeper, a little offended at the suggestion that they wouldn't be. "But you won't get silk sheets here, that's for sure!" he growls. "As for baths - well, the dwarves ain't that hot on baths, so we only have the one bath in the whole establishment. This ain't exactly a tourist destination yet."

Leading the group towards the bar, he goes behind it and pulls out a large ledger, in which he starts to write down names against room numbers - giving them directions to their rooms. "Note - the only locks on the doors are bolts on the inside - so keep your valuables with you" he warns.

"You want food now?" he asks, the ledger dealt with.

As the group book into the inn, Scest and his fellow mercenaries trickle away to meet with other people, promising to return later and raise a glass to their saviours. Scest also makes noises about needing to submit a report.