Utterly Mad

(There's  about seven thousand dwarven soldiers who were recalled from foreign actions to handle this, and four thousand dwarven mercenaries(from various companies) volunteered their service at the pay rate of the average dwarven soldier, no additional costs or pay, just the same that all the other dwarves were getting)
((also, I do believe you said this is the day before, so I'll give a short summary of what's happened that night and then go to the opening of the central shafts))

The chosen Dwarves thanked Haralus for their prestigious assignments and Durrin himself expressed his great gratitude for being given his position. Slade however seemed in complete and utter shock as his advisor stared at Lyrkan for a moment before whispering something to Slade that seemed to go unnoticed. After a long while of thanks and congratulations from those who would be remaining above ground everyone turned to the silent Slade. With what appeared to be great difficulty he got out "Thank you your Highness, I never thought I would receive such an honor! I shall serve you to the best of my abilities."

The Next Day

The armies were gathered together while the shafts were opened. It was opened by a mix of mages and engineers working in tandem and took almost an hour. Haralus observed the armies as they waited, with the knights and soldiers of Harrowfeld looking impatient, the Elven soldiers remaining rigidly in formation, and the Imperial soldiers discussing things amongst themselves while they waited patiently with a few offering help to the engineers that was quickly dismissed.

In the end the shaft entrance was uncovered, with it's seal being moved out of the way and the engineers making sure the entrance would not collapse...which is about when a creature rushed forward and speared one of them on a sharp pointed claw before flinging the body into one of his fellows. Without hesitation the Imperial Berzerkers charged forward with their weapons lifted over their heads.

In contrast the men of Harrowfeld recoiled at the sight of the thing before charging at it so as not to appear the cowards, and Elves followed close behind in formation that seemed to be so well drilled that Haralus doubted if they would ever break it without order.

The first soldier to reach one of the beasts was a berzerker who brought his hammer down on top of the thing...which bounced right off the hard shell and caused the man to stumble backwards a few feet while one of his compatriots charged right past him and leapt on top of the thing and started slamming the hammer into it's shell until a resounding *CRACK* could be heard.

This was soon followed by the deafening sound of Fire Throwers as two of the beasts that were charging out of the shaft fell dead and rolled onto two Harrowfeld knights who were rather unfortunate in their position. The first of the Elven formations crashed into one of the beasts and it fell to the ground as the Elves climbed on top of the best and flooded all around it, enveloping it in a swirling mass of flesh and singing steel.

Haralus caught sight of a Fire Bearer spewing fire onto a group of smaller creatures that were following the larger beasts out of the depths.  Most of these smaller creatures fell to the ground and shriveled up as fire consumed their bodies but they quickly overran the Fire Bearer and started crawling up his legs before causing him to fall to the ground and be swarmed by them. One of the Fire Bearers comrades turned his weapon on the mass of creatures as Imperial soldiers rushed past him to engage the creatures.

The fight last only ten minutes before the rest of the monsters turned and ran away back into the depths of the shaft. The Imperial soldiers started dragging the dead monsters off of the dead and wounded and started yelling for the healers as they could. The Fire Bearer who had been swarmed was one of the first that was uncovered, and the Ranger who had pulled him free of the pile slowly stood and took hold of his Fire Thrower. He slowly lifted the weapon to aim at his fellow soldier before Borrin personally walked over and motioned to the ranger.

Haralus saw Borrin, the gift that Haralus had sent being worn on his belt in place of his usual sword, kneel down and speak briefly to the man before standing and giving the ranger a quick nod. A healer was rushing over when the sound of the Fire Thrower going off resounded through the air and Ranger lowered his weapon. One of the swordsmen knelt to take the Fire Bearer's necklace before going and putting a hand on the shoulder of the Ranger.

Meanwhile the men of Harrowfeld were trying to keep theirs alive, but Haralus saw a few of their wounded that simply would not live through their wounds, some with large holes in their chests from a claw that pierced their armor, some that had lost one or more limbs.

The Elves had taken the least number of casualties, but they still sought treatment for those that could live and comfort for those destined to die. The Dwarves also treated their wounded and dead, with the nobles themselves wading through the bodies to find those that might be saved.

The first blood had been spilled in this endeavor, with the sons of all the Kingdoms present lying on the ground bleeding and dying. The eyes of the world were watching this with great interest. The commanders rallied their respective forces and awaited the order to move into the shaft.

One of the dwarven commanders approached Haralus and said "That was...honestly better then what I thought would come. Irregardless the men are ready and waiting your Highness."

((I'm somewhat surprised at the lack of interest even in the more grand roles like being kings or some kind of pope, but I've learned that sometimes people just aren't interested in what I make.))
((Total dead: One Hundred and Fifty. sixty Harrowfeld soldiers, ten Elven warriors, One Imperial fire bearer and fifty imperial berzerkers, and twenty nine dwarven warriors.

Also, going to assume that the additional Imperial forces on the way were addressed in the meeting))