The Old Tunnels

I'm passing through some of the oldest parts of the delve.  This journey is much more interesting than I thought it would be – the Dzarraf people living here are polite and friendly, yet there is an air of old-world charm about them.  The broad highways and small settlements are fascinating.  We seem to have lost much of our artistic flair in the last few centuries of expansion deeper into the mountain, perhaps because of the speed with which space is dug these days, but some of the carvings up here are a work of art.

It's almost like a different world.  Although my people originally built all of the delves right out to the surface from here, they're so different to our more modern dwellings.  In those days the digging was slower and the Dzarraf were fewer in number; and the Gnaeblin used to live out in the mountain plains among the woodlands and down into the valley beyond.  But there have been many years between then and now.  Since then the Gnaeblin slowly moved into our outer halls when we had no longer any need for them, and we've grown as a people and we've grown with our neighbours.

These days this part of the delve relies heavily on the Gnaeblin folk for their food and other supplies.  Unlike much deeper in the delve, they use surface-grown wood for some of the buildings here.  It gives everything a contrasting 'newness' against the ancient buildings and fantastic architecture.  I'm pretty sure some of these caverns were first put together 1200 years ago – they're among the oldest Dzarraf dwellings from just after the time of the Great Disaster – and that's a long time, even for a Dzarraf.

Of course, I've been through here before.  But I was only a child then, and the quality and beauty of the architecture here was lost upon me.  How it fills me with pride now, and I find myself in awe of the achievements of my people.  Even my bodyguards have been speechless at some of the carvings and columns we've seen.  I've already taken a couple of unscheduled stops to admire the work of my forefathers, and if this carries on, I'll probably be late for my meeting with Banneghenn.