The tunnel entrance to Tinker Town was decorated with moving gears and smoothed metal. Loud clanking seemed to come from behind the walls as she walked under the archway and she was certain she heard something explode somewhere past the exit, out of sight. Sighing, she continued down the hallway, standing well clear of the walls that moved as a piston, up and down, hypnotically. Finally emerging in what can only be called a small throne room, the leader of the displaced gnomes, the High Tinker Mekkatorque, was speaking with several of his advisers, all of them at least a head shorter than Seona. His bald head stood above the others only because he stood on a large platform, twin gears arching up on each side. The group was oblivious to the goings-on around them, far too interested in whatever subject they were conversing about to worry about the various people coming and going.
Not wanting to intrude, though Seona was far from the only person walking through the room, she gave the group of busy gnomes a wide berth, instead walking to the right and into another tunnel, this one leading to a much larger, rectangular room with two deep, narrow troughs in the floor. A few other travelers passed her, some on riding rams, and at least one on a large, armored elven sabre cat which she made sure to give plenty of space to. In front of her was the Deeprun Tram station of Ironforge, built by the gnomes to link the human and dwarven capitals. Ingenious and practical, it was, at least in Seona's opinion, the best thing the Gnomes had ever built... especially since it always seemed to work perfectly and didn't backfire. Small, metal benches stood in neat rows in the center of the station and Seona made for one of these, to set her bags down as she waited for one of the trams to arrive.
The seemingly infinitely long, twin tunnels that ran from here to Stormwind each carried one train. Large, cylindrical columns of stone and metal with square bases held up the ceiling. Geometric arches kept the metal rails suspended above the troughs for the tram to speed along. The machinery working under her feet made various strange noises, some beeps, some clangs, each echoing down the tunnels into the darkness, though lights strung up in intervals kept it dimly illuminated in places. The air was still, smelling of dust and a strange, musty scent of the earth and stone, mixed with metal and oil. Everything here was built in steel and iron with some panels showing more wear and tear than others. Blinking lights on a large screen displayed information impossible to discern for probably anyone, especially one such as Seona. She giggled to herself, thinking that even the gnomes probably don't know what the screen displayed. An occasional rat dashed by, making for trash bins or hiding in the shadows of the corners, sometimes disappearing behind loose panels.
One of the many wisps of hair that had fallen loose from her bun brushed her cheek. The air was stirring, and a low, whistling moan emerged from the tunnel nearest her, a sound from the wind being pushed before a tram. Grateful that she hadn't needed to wait too terribly long, she stood, pulling her heavy pack back onto her shoulders. The tram followed the wind into the station, slowing quickly to a stop before her.
The tram was suspended from the single rail above, it's three cars lining up with the three small disembarkment platforms built in to the trough walls on the station's floor. They bridged the gap, making it easy for riders to step from the train to the ground. The cars themselves were little more than open platforms suspended from above, with a short railing around the outsides. Columns made of metal and a strange, green-glowing crystal sat at each corner, anchoring the suspension frame to the platform.
Seona made for the nearest car, the middle of the three, and stepped lightly aboard. The black metal floor of the car was scuffed and scratched from countless traveler's boots and pets, but was still sturdy. She moved to the front of the car and placed her packs down. Gripping the railing, she leaned over just a bit to look down into the trough below, past the complicated-looking link between her car and the one in front of her. Few other travelers were in the station at the time, and only one other boarded the tram, in the last car behind her. A human man, a warrior, from the look of his large broadsword and chainmail, though he looked a bit ragged around the edges with scraggly hair, and a beard that looked like it needed a trim. He was relatively forgettable, though, and she turned back to examining the car. After only a few moments more, the tram shuddered and began moving out of the station, slowly at first, then much quicker, picking up speed as it moved into the long tunnel.
Seona, keeping at least one hand on the railing, looked up past the front car into the dark. Hanging lights seemed to flash yellow and red to complement the steady green light of the tram as they passed by, quickly fading away again into the shadows. Wind rushed passed, pulling even more strands of hair from her bun, deafening in its roar. The tram dipped down a few times, getting further beneath the earth, and the glow from the green crystals soon seemed to fade as they emerged into a tunnel made of what looked like glass.
The tram passed under a part of the ocean, and Seona was in awe of it's blue-green beauty. She had no idea how deep they were, but the water was completely surrounding them, only the glassy tunnel walls keeping it from flooding the entire tunnel. No surface or land was in sight, aside from the ocean floor. Giant strands of seaweed waved in the silent current of the ocean, and glittering bubbles rose from the sand. As they sped past, Seona made out the silhouette of a sunken ship from one of the wars before, perhaps the first war, it's sail still suspended from the mast, billowing in the water as if it were searching for an elusive wind. Most of the ship was embedded deeply in the sand, and she said a silent prayer for the sailors that must have perished when it sank.
As quickly as the ocean tunnel had come upon them, they were through it and away, once again enclosed in the deep darkness of the tunnels, red and yellow lights flashing as they passed. Perhaps, Seona thought to herself, I'll come back and walk down the tunnel to stare out into the ocean. How often will I get such a chance otherwise?
The tram began ascending again, going up little hills in short bursts, and Seona knew they were coming to the end. The wind moaned again, whistling as the tram pushed it into the station ahead. The small paladin stooped and grabbed up her packs again, holding the rail for balance as the train slowed to a stop. This station was nearly identical to the one in Ironforge, still made of metal and stone. It smelled a little better though, as if fresh air came down into the tunnels more often. Seona watched the human warrior disembark and she followed suit, hopping off and moving clear as others boarded, more humans and elves in the mix this time, with even a few of the strange and alien Draenei as well. She ducked out of the way of the taller folk, making for the exit tunnel, hoping that the trip through Ironforge and the wait and ride on the tram hadn't taken too long. If she was lucky, it was still a few hours to sundown here in the human city of Stormwind.
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