Ferron was sitting his chair, pondering about his next move. As he was deep in thought, something begin to tickle the back of his mind. It was as he had almost remembered something, but did not know what. 

The god closed his eye, and allowed his perception to wander. He was suddenly pulled towards the north. As he was concreting, his own thoughts betrayed him, [color=DAA520]"What if all I create turns to ash. My great castle lost to the void. My great works demolished and defamed. My children killed or enslaved by a wicked god. That I will never pierce the veil of the core, or perhaps worse I will and find nothing. What if the veil of the core is to protect the world from some great horror. What if all shall fade away, and I will be alone in the black canvas of the void, forever trapped within nothingness itself." [/color]

He paused, and allowed his vision to return to the dwarven village. There he looked out of the open temple doors, and saw his children hard at work. He cast his doubts out of his mind, and refocused himself, he begin to internally monologue to ensure himself, and to spite the influence that had slipped into his mind, [color=DAA520]"I am a cautious god, but I am not a fearful god. I shall defend my home. I shall defend my art. I shall defend my children. I will first learn of the secret of the core, and then once I know it is safe, I will claim my prize. I shall stand against entropy itself I need to, and perhaps I will fail. But I will not fall easily." [/color]

As he was casting out the fearful thoughts from his mind, he found the source of his distress. It had seem as some divine influence had been affecting his ore, and it had partially seeped into his mind. He would need to guard his mind more carefully going forward, but such a large amount of ore being influence was concerning. He removed his influence over the rare metal, and as he did, he felt as though it began to change right as his perception left it. 

Ferron was left in a dilemma. He did not feel as though it were safe to leave his dwarves, for however a brief window, as they would be left within the dark and be vulnerable to divine meddling. However, if he left this along, it is possible that it will become a greater threat. 

He summoned a small council of dwarves, and explained the situation to the group. The dwarves were left speechless, unable to find an answer to the corundum. All except for one, Crom, the strongest of the dwarves who answered, "I shall go out of the gates myself and see what the problem is." 
The other dwarves immediately rejected the proposal, but Ferron silenced the other dwarves, and paused to consider the proposal, [color=DAA520] "So be it, sending a scout seems most reasonable, however you will not use the gate, and you will listen to my instructions carefully. I need to prepare the tools that you will require for your journey. Wait for me in the village plaza." [/color]

All of the village gathered around Crom, most treating this as though it were his funeral, but Crom was excited. Unlike Cob, Crom loved the village, but there was an appeal to the outside world. 

Crom did not even notice the other dwarves growing silent as Ferron arrived. When he did, he immediately stopped his boasting. Ferron glared at him, [color=DAA520]"If you wish to return safely, it is urgent that you follow my instructions. I do not know what threat we face, or even if there is a threat, however something has influenced the metal within a region in the north without my permission. This must be investigated." [/color]

The first tool that Crom was presented with was a rod with the forked end, Ferron explained, [color=DAA520]"This is a divining rod, and I use to enhance my own perception. This is the tool that you will use in order to inspect the region. It will guide you to where you need to go, and will also guide back home. You are to use the divining rod to guide you to the location until it begans to shake, at which point you are to immediately stop. Once you are done with your task, whisper a prayer to me and I will use it to lead you back."[/color]

He then presented Crom with a silver cloak, the god looked at the dwarf sternly, [color=DAA520]"This your protection. This cloak was quickly made, but was designed to protect you from whatever may be causing this distress. You are not to draw closer to the source than you need to as I do not believe it will be able to handle much." [/color]

Then he handed Crom the final tool, an amulet. One of the dwarves asked if Crom would need to food for his journey. Ferron chuckled, [color=DAA520]"This will be how he travels. This is a quicksilver amulet. It will grant him an ability that I possess. By tapping the center, a thin layer of mercury will cover his body and allow him to quickly move through the earth itself. Once you arrive at your location, you shall look above the earth, and look around in all directions and report what you see. Do I make myself clear in all of my instructions." [/color]

Crom nodded, and after having a quick meal within the village. He tapped the amulet, and begin to walk into a cave wall, quickly approaching his destination. It was not long before the divining rod began to shake, and the dwarf popped his head out of the ground. He saw the crater and its desolation and the area outside of its radius. While everything on the surface was a new sight, the desolate region somehow seemed wrong and scary. Though, something about him resented that fear. He thought to himself that he was not scared, and began to move closer to the source. 

He immediately regretted his choice and his fear become immense. He immediately begin to move through the ground towards home. He did not even have to think about his next action, he felt fear and so he ran to the safety of the colony and his god. He did not notice that his cloak was torn. 

Once he returned to the village, he had found all the dwarves waiting for him in the plaza. A lot of relief passed through the crowd as they saw him safely returned. He immediately approached Ferron and handed him the divining rod, and told him what he saw. Ferron asked him if he encountered any trouble. Crom answered no, but Ferron had noticed that his cloak was slightly torned. But he decided to leave it be for the moment, but he will keep an eye on the adventurous dwarf. However his mind immediately began to think about how he should proceed. 

[hider=Summary] For me, this is a long post. The TL:DR is that the fear-spiral was influencing metal in the region that Ferron had a passive awareness of, and this alerted him something wrong occurred after feeding his paranoia. After he resolved himself to move forward, he cast the metal from his perception but as he did he felt it slowly begun to change. He gathered a group of dwarves and asked for their council on how to proceed. One dwarf volunteered to go in Ferron steed, and while the other dwarves opposed it, Ferron accepted it and equipped him with divine items. A divining rod to guide him, a silver cloak to protect him, and a quicksilver amulet that allowed him to quickly move through the earth to reach his destination. He observed the region, but ignoring Ferron warning approached the region and run in terror back home. He lied to Ferron about his encounter, but Ferron noticed that his cloak was torn and decided to keep an eye on the dwarf.[/hider]