67

You follow this brick-lined tunnel for a mile before you reach a cavern that is filled with heat and noise. At its centre there stands a huge smelting furnace belching scarlet fire and evil-smelling gases. Great iron chutes feed the furnace with a stream of crushed ore, and from a vent at its base you see a river of molten copper flowing away along a great stone channel. The wagon track enters the cavern and passes beneath the channel before disappearing into a tunnel in the far wall.

Twenty of Shom’zaa’s minions occupy this smelting chamber where, with wicked glee, they amuse themselves by torturing dwarven warriors whom they have captured in battle. A wretched prisoner is hung from a chain and dangled above the blazing furnace until he succumbs to the heat and poisonous fumes. Then the body is fed to the fires and another is hoisted aloft to take his place.

To the left of the entrance archway you can see an iron prison cage. It contains more than fifty dwarves destined for the furnace.

If you wish to try to release these dwarven prisoners, turn to 222.

If you choose to attempt to reach the exit to this cavern without being seen, turn instead to 153.