The Plights of Wallace Noble: A Memoir Alkenstar's Most Wanted

Chapter 6- Avem

I spent a few days in New Amaran helping out people build the barracks. As I was investigating the ruins more all by myself, a black-clad man suddenly appeared to me and drew out his pistol at me. I saw this guy once at Hellside at the warehouse entrance to Beggarton and with him is a wanted poster of me. Whatever this guy wants, he'll not get it. He also said that he works for a certain "Avem." Did you know how many people have I heard who said that name? Most of them come from Beggarton. Whoever this Avem is, he's quite a big shot. You know what happened to the guy after that, if it's someone who not a law enforcer that has the guts to point a gun at me. And there he goes again, saying Avem's name.

Remember that fight I had with those seven guards back at Alkenstar? One of them told me that my uncle is not kept in Alkenstar, and that he was transferred to somewhere else. Tordek, who just came back from Martel, did some scouting and this Avem person is staying at an abandoned mine away from Martel. Obviously, Tordek and I prepared for the occasion.

I know I am about to go into a trap. They may or may not have my uncle; call me reckless and suicidal, but we have to try.

We both arrive at the abandoned mine and this Avem guy is surrounded by his underlings- 20 in total. Said dude suddenly initiated a grand hide-and-seek, so his 20 men suddenly dispersed and hid among the abandoned facilities... and so did Avem.

You know what happens when these things happen- people get stabbed by the needle. However, this is one of those weird moments I use that shortbow I had- remember the time when Tordek made me explosive arrows? This is one of the moments I used it. In my line of sight, I see two of Avem's men near each other- perfect! I fired one explosive arrow on that one person holding a crossbow who fired at me. The guy got hit with a side dish of explosions...and so did his teammate. The guy who got hit exploded on sight, and his teammate was alive to see his friend get blown up as he gets hit by the explosives as well.

Most of the henchmen were taken care of, and I saw Tordek. We patched ourselves up as we face Avem and the remaining four henchmen. Tordek decided to face the remaining henchmen while I face Avem.

I faced Avem, just walking around the giant wheel. We exchanged blows and I had to back off to recuperate. Seeing my strategy as some form of cowardice, he shouted "CHICKEN" in different languages. Name it- Common, Garundi, Keleshite, Dwarven, and I would not be too surprised if he did it in the unusual ones like Gnoll, Giant or Orcish. I tried to fire bullets at him, but he's too strong. We faced near the edge of that one giant opening going down the actual mine and that's where I miraculously delivered the final stab to Avem. With fire coming out of his mouth, he said to me one last time the word "chicken" before he fell down the hole.

Looking around the abandoned area, we didn't see Uncle Martin.

We saw a lift going down to the mine area- 50 feet deep. At the bottom, we saw mineral deposits identified by my Dwarf friend who, like almost all of his kind, knows stone and mineral like the back of his hand or the length of his beard. We also saw the gear Avem wore and the gun he used, with bullets and gunpowder to take in, and also some other stuff (like potions.) Tordek also gave me a warning about the place- Avem's body is missing, yet his stuff remained undisturbed. He had one conclusion, and it's also the same reason why such a prosperous mine is abandoned: Duergars... and like every other Dwarf, he is filled with anger at the mention of the name of the gray-skinned ones.

Little crash course on one of Golarion's most avoided races, the Duergar: According to Dwarven stories, the Duergar were once Dwarves living under the surface in a place now known to the modern world as the Darklands. All of a sudden, Torag- the chief deity of the Dwarven Pantheon- called upon the Dwarves to leave the Darklands for what the Dwarves called "The Quest for Sky," meaning they will go up the surface world and settle there. Most agreed, while some were insecure or just didn't want to. They got left behind by the Dwarves who took the journey upward and they developed some hate for their brethren. All of a sudden, Droskar- a minor Dwarven deity of toil and slavery who is evil and is said to be a former student of Father Torag- offered survival for the ones who remained in return for their reverence. They agreed, and as a sign of the bargain, he turned their skins gray and the males became bald, becoming the gray-faced Dwarves or "Duergar" in the Dwarven tongue. For the rest of their lives and the generations to come, the Duergar toiled and enslaved, following the words of their new master. Until now, the Dwarves and the Duergars share bad blood, like the bad blood between Dwarves and Orcs (which explains Tordek's attitude at the mention of Duergars.)

Because we realized that Duergars may be around,the mines were abandoned because apparently, there is an opening to theDarklands. Since we are in no position to fight, we had to leave.