Seeing Mithnella's expression Darval had a difficult time swallowing his latest mouthful of food before sputtering.  "What do you mean late?  Everyone knows a Dwarf is never late... he always arrives when he means to... besides it wasn't my fault this time... I swear by my grandmothers beard it wasn't.   I started out on time a few days early in fact because I wanted to surprise you but I ran into a few problems along the way.  I decided to skirt the northern shore's of lake Radlick but was way laid by a small group of trolls who apparently wanted to add dwarf's to their menu.  I managed to escape them only to fall into a deep well where I spent several days sipping on whiskey until a large Ent was kind enough to reach in and pull me out.  By that time I was very hungry since it is very hard to catch anything to eat sitting in the bottom of a well.  So I stopped in a small village for a quick bite to eat.  I'm not sure how it happened but I ended up spending a week... well maybe two... eating salted pork and consuming great amounts of some of the best mead I had ever tasted.  After all a Dwarf can't travel on an empty stomach after all.  Maybe a few other things might have happened as well but I did finally arrive soaked to the bone only to find an empty Elf city."  Darval finished his little tale of adventures and took a long 'sip' of his flagon of mead before belching very loudly.  "Aw now that hit the spot."  Darval said with a wide grin as he patted his belly contentedly.