Snippet #2441353

None of the servants seemed to know much English, though the young woman that James spoke to did her best, giving a bit of a girlish giggle, possibly due to dealing with a handsome young man. She quickly retreated however, only to chatter with another girl in the kitchen in excited German, the gist of which was considering the eligibility of the young men that had come on the expedition.

The elderly man shook doctor Drieburg's hand with a firm grip, though the professor would be able to feel every brittle bone in Lukas's hand,"Thank you, thank you, my family has lived here for quite a while, though I couldn't say how long...I believe there are some records in the library, however." He sat back down heavily with a soft 'whumph' of breath and nodded ever so slightly toward Elaine and Victoria, though he didn't seem quite so concerned with the women. He took a small sip of his beer before continuing,"We believe we found one of the old mines by mistake. You see, my grandson wanted to expand the pantry, so when they removed a few of the stones, the whole floor collapsed. No one was harmed, Gott sei dank." He paused for a moment seeming to try and remember what he was talking about,"Ah, ja, the mine. There is a door down there, though it seems that none of my staff wants to speak about it so much. You may ask them yourselves, but I have not seen this door."

He took a long draw from his mug, considering this information for himself, again seeming to forget what he was talking about,"My family has lived here for a very long time. I was even born within these walls. They built it here on top of the iron mines that used to be all over this mountain. Most of the mines are closed up now, not much need for swords and armor, you see. There were rumors that there was gold and silver here too, but again, no one mines much anymore, so its probably just stories. When I was younger my brother and I would always go sneaking in those mines but we never found much....Did I tell you about the hot springs we have here? They're quite refreshing, the water I mean. Though a bit smelly, like bad eggs."

Lukas started off on a ramble about his childhood again, but it was little more than reminiscing and held little more importance than to go on about all the mines that dotted the mountainside.