Posted: May 30, 2000 at 22:25:20: by Maedhros
: Gandalf and the Balrog fell in the water and sank. Gandalf was burned horribly but the water did extingiush the balrog. Somehow they passed through and opening far below and came up out of the water at the never ending stairs. The Balrog was now a creature of slime and Gandalf persued him all the the way to a window at the top of the mountain. Where the Balrog burst back into flame. : I have several questions. : Why didn't he relight his flame as soon as he came out of the water? The only reasons I can think of for Durin's Bane to reignite his (it's?) flame at this time are:
For a fearsome special effect.
He had to dry up a bit before he was hot enough to.
And
He wasn't able to think about it at the time, and because he intended to run from Gandalf, he didn't see a reason to. : Did the dwarves make these stairs? Did they labor for thousands of years delving deeper under the mountain? They don't seem to lead anywhere. They probably did make the stairs, and the stairs probably lead to a Mithril vane (it was in Moria after all). : What in the world did they do with the tailings from their mining? It must have made a mountain in itself. They probably (as you said) sold the nicer rock to Elves for city developement, and the rest may have had its use. Maedhros
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