The Boss leans over to Thorzak and says, "Get these ones inside so we can get a handle on this before it spins any further out of control." Then to the crowd that has gathered, he waves his hands as though shooing a flock of gawking birds. "And what are the rest of you standing around for?" he roars. "The Train doesn't stop! The Mission never ends!"
"The Train doesn't stop, the mission never ends," the crowd chants back before dispersing to whatever tasks they had been attending to before the Endowed caught their attentions.
With a shuddering thud, the dome behind the boss splits open. At the base it's wide enough for three men to walk abreast, narrowing as it reaches the apex of the dome. The inside is full of lush vegetation and the smells of a warm summer day. "Come on, come on," he says waving to Ludwig in particular, "quickly now. Musn't leave it open longer than absolutely necessary."
Once they have all gathered inside, the dome clanks shut once more, and warmth quickly drives the frigid cold from the bones of the Endowed. The Boss in particular is quick to shed his cold weather garb, which he hangs on one of a set of metal bolts set in the wall of the dome near the hatch door he had used before striding forth into the dome.
At the peak of the dome is another of the crystal orbs, radiating with all the heat and light of the sun itself. The walls of the dome are stacked with tiers of vegetation; immediately recognizable are such species as wheat and corn, though the identities of the rest are less obvious. Metal tubes ring the walls, each sprouting a series of rubber hoses along its length from which water drips directly onto the base of the plants at a steady pace. Presuming that these are all crops, there is easily enough food here to maintain a fairly decent-sized village.
On the floor, directly beneath the sun orb, is a sturdy work bench covered with much of the things that one would expect to find in a garden or on a farm; trowels, shears, gloves, small heaps of spilled soil. There is also a fair amount of laboratory equipment such as microscopes and preserved samples. Clearly the Train takes its botany studies quite serious.
Reaching under the table, the Boss retrieves a rolled-up hide, which he proceeds to spread out as much as he is able across what free space is available in his workspace. On the interior surface, a map has been painted. It's a bit on the crude side and almost certainly not to proper scale, but it's difficult to say since the White Wastes have never been fully explored by Telmurians. The northernmost parts of the continent form a pair of peninsulas that resemble a pair of horns, while a great ice cap fills much of the space between them.
"Gods above, where to even begin with you lot," the Boss sighs. "Look, we're something of a... diplomatic corps, you might say. We maintain the Peace between," he says, pointing to one part of the peninsula on the west side of the map, "the humans," he says before moving his finger to a corresponding point on the eastern peninsula, "and the orcs. We've done so for generations, and I'd like to continue doing so at least until I've passed from this world and don't have to worry what either of them get up to anymore.
"Now, the 'dancing line of color in the sky,' as that one called it," he says, tracing a rough path that runs from near the tip of the eastern peninsula directly over where he indicated the orc settlement lay, "is the source of a great deal of trouble, apparently. We've been told that the chief of the orcs became possessed of some other-worldly power. Then, like a complete idiot, he declared that he was going to march north to contend with 'the fear god's lackey.' That's a direct quote, as I understand it. Well, he did just that and was never heard from again, so now they're holding a moot to determine who should be the next chief. We're to be there as independent observers to monitor the proceedings. We don't officially have any say in the matter, but we're not completely without influence, and we do what we can to make sure the most bloodthirsty of the contenders don't ascend the title and stir up trouble with their neighbors across the way. Do the same thing with the humans, too. They're a good ways apart, but resources are scarce in this part of the world, so there's frequently disputes over fishing rights, that sort of thing. Our lot is to reduce the friction where we can."
Standing straight, he looks over everyone in turn. "And if they find that we've brought humans--or anyone close enough to pass for a human, as I doubt they've anyone alive who've ever seen an elf, what power we have is lost and they'll be at each other's throats in a heartbeat. After tearing out our throats first. You, they'd probably settle for eating," he concludes, pointing at Ludwig.
