Remnants of Lost City Discovered in Mine

A team of explorers led by Chitter, squirrel, journeyed into the Wound in the World Friday night to determine the true identity of the mysterious organization calling itself Annelid Amalgamated. The initial team included Valleyminks, Beltrami, Patashu, Austin, BunnyHugger, JasonRDT, Pyro, Enkeli, Natasha, Zeta, Zenkuro, and Azure, though others caught up with the group later. The explorers found a kobold named Ingfi Daelf, the last remaining resident of a city that once occupied the Wound. Daelf admitted to posing as a representative of the fictional organization in order to keep explorers away from dangerous devices and magic left behind by the former residents.

During previous exploration, Azure, fox, admitted to having invented Annelid Amalgamated in order to provide motivation for others to venture into the Wound. He was surprised when an alleged representative of the presumed-fictional organization, Humus Pierpont Slithe III, appeared and spoke to the explorers. Friday’s expedition set out to determine whether Slithe was a real entity or somehow generated from Azure’s imagination.

A team of volunteers gathered at the entrance to the Wound and elected Chitter to lead the exploration, despite his evident reluctance. The explorers made their way back through previously-explored territory and to a large door. Natasha, superheroic ‘toon coati, presented an ID badge found during the previous expedition and used the translation provided by JasonRDT, wolf-dragon kitsune, to declare herself to be “Ingfi Daelf.” The door opened, revealing a sort of membrane behind it that would permit things to be passed through.

Chitter declared that passing through the membrane “seems like a bad idea when we don’t know what’s on the other side.” JasonRDT offered to go through first, and then Zeta, squirrel, stated that she would go through instead. Chitter stated that as leader, he should determine when anyone can go in. He directed everyone to stay while he went in and looked.

After a few minutes Chitter returned, but JasonRDT suddenly decided to proceed, and went in at the same moment, passing Chitter on the threshold. Chitter was evidently annoyed by this, stating, “Nice of him to trust me to look around for two Frithing minutes.” Chitter reported that he saw what looked to be a workshop, and a creature “like a gnome or a dwarf” that did not notice him.

The party proceeded inside, finding JasonRDT talking to the wormlike creature, Slithe, encountered in the previous expedition. Azure stared at Slithe intently. Slithe disputed the party’s claims that sie was only a figment of Azure’s imagination, but when Natasha whispered something about Don Quixote to Azure, Slithe suddenly developed a set of windmill vanes.

Natasha showed Slithe the ID and asked if sie had heard of Ingfi Daelf, and suddenly Slithe was gone, replaced by Daelf, a short person with a gnomelike appearance. Chitter and JasonRDT confirmed that this was the creature they had seen prior to the rest of the team’s entrance. Daelf admitted that Slithe was a ruse, borrowed from Azure’s imagination, to stall the explorers while he finished cleaning up the mine of potential dangers.

Daelf explained that there had previously been a city of kobolds deep inside SpinDizzy, stretching almost to the bottom side of the planetoid, but when SpinDizzy was damaged and the Wound created, the kobold city was left behind in space. Daelf remained behind to clean up, but was finished now and would be departing through a portal to rejoin the other kobolds.

Daelf offered to show the explorers where the other kobolds had gone. He led them through a portal where they saw a cluster of asteroids with kobolds using machines to temporarily lash them together in order to permit movement from one to the next. The explorers entreated Daelf to leave the portal to SpinDizzy open to permit visiting, and he insisted that the portal must be closed to prevent “people wandering over unannounced.”

Daelf escorted the explorers back through the portal and explained that the foundry had been left behind as a way of making up for the trouble caused by the Annelid Amalgamated ruse. In response to a query from Zeta, squirrel, regarding what resources had been left behind, Daelf answered, “Vast mineral wealth, of course. Y’see the orichalcum is in vast deposits, gems, minerals, ores of all sorts. We’ve a way of enriching the earth around us, when we live together, and all around where our city was has been enriched.”

Daelf’s last words to the explorers were “Goodbye, then.” He then returned through the door. Some of the explorers discussed what he meant when he said that the kobolds’ presence enriches the earth, with BunnyHugger, devilbunny, speculating that the process of mining somehow leaves behind something even more valuable as a byproduct. Azure said, “Perhaps. We shall just have to see. Or build a rocket,” referring to the possibility of returning to the place where the kobolds’ city was lost in space.

Chitter replied, “Build a rocket if you want, but I’m done being leader now.”