Erazz
Lord of Altera
OOC: The story did happen and it's about 80% accurate on dialogues and other elements.
A meeting with the dwarf king
by Erazz Toria
My horse was thirsty, it rushed straight to the lake's water as I entered the dense forests on its western edge. From Westerway, over the hills, between the pines, trough the grasslands, I crossed the border that our nation shared with the dwarves. The forest was silent. Felt ancient. Old roots spread across the land as a carpet of wood and grass laid all its magic to rest.
The journey was rough for the horse to carry me. We walked along side each other, carefully dodging the sturdy branches and roots. If you wonder on how I knew the way to The Dwarven Kingdom, well... I had a letter that described it. The letter was from Krummi Stenahurr, the former dwarven king. It was an invitation to write of their dwarven legends. It was to my owe and amaze that one week from the letter, one of the travelers that visited Westerway's inn told me that Krummi is dead and Thrain of Clan Frostpeak is now the new king.
I knew little of Krummi. Stories arrived close to my ear of this dwarf and his ambitions, dreams and how he realized most of them. He seemed like a capable leader, they did stir a lot of respect for him. I knew little of dwarves to be honest. I've read books of them, their history, their lore, but never met one in person. Put all these together and the need of political agreements (I quickly sent a new letter to King Thrain asking for a meeting).. and …well.. here I am now, at the edge of this forest. A bit different from the books, for a dwarf to live in a forest tho', I thought to myself.
"Come! We must press on."
In the letter it was said to walk East, until you reach a ruin. The Kingdom Under the Ruin they called it.
"I hope, for the best of us, this ruin is big enough to be found in this forest."
I never gave a thought on bringing guards with me: An old man, yet still capable of holding armor and sword, still capable of going on adventures. Yet, the forest's floor made me mumble words when it became too hard to cross...old men. Light became dimer and dimer as I ventured deeper into the forest. Time was, also, not on my side. Crossing the forest deeply lengthened my journey. But, alas, it stood in front of me, in the moonlight's mist: The Ruin of Tahkul-Rimtar.
It was indeed large, larger than I expected. It was 4-5 times larger than Westerway's Town Hall. I stood amazed at its grandness for a couple of seconds swiftly being interrupted by the howling of wolves. I quickly took the horse with me inside the ruin. It had cracks and openings at any point you would look at. It had four towers in the center as large as the old tower in Westerway.
"Ah, four towers, see.. that must be the The Central Hall. It's said in the letter that I must get there first."
A book shoved at my feet by wind. I had no time to read it, just the title: Dwarves of Auld; put it in the horse's saddle pocket and moved on.
"I must be close to the library." And indeed I was, I could see the books from The Central Hall. A small part of them remained in their shelves, rest were scattered on the floor, or, I presume, missing.
"Left here.. dead end. Trace back, one, twooo.. center? the horse neighed.. ok my friend, we'll go that way if you wish so!" Through a short corridor and I could hear the bangs from the forges.
"We must be close!" The bangs began to be louder and louder as I approached an lighten up entrance. "This must be it. How come there is no one here. Dwarves must feel very safe in their underground cities."
A spiral staircase led me to a gate where a dwarf was sleeping on his axe, snoring. The gate was closed, I had no way of getting in. I had to wake him up, but before I could do one more step, the horse neighed again and the dwarf woke in shock almost falling.
"Baah, who goes there?! Ya' tricky elves.. Oh, a human. What's your name and business in The Dwarven Kingdom old man?"
"My name is Erazz of Westerway. I come here for a meeting with your king, Thrain of Clan Frostpeak."
"Wesssterr.." ,the dwarf mumbled; "ok you can pass", he said after examining me, "I will escort ya' so don't do anything foolish." The dwarf quickly opened the gate stepping on a plate. Echoes of a mechanical wheels, levers and other contraptions began contesting the bangs of the forges. "This way, we shall leave your horse to rest here. Ya' shall wait with it until' I return. I must inform the king you are here"; and the dwarf vanished down some other stairs towards the banging noises.
I was already enjoying the sights of this city. The winding stairs to the living quarters and halls had House Yeradure's banner in the middle. There was almost no sweat pouring from the walls of the cave, so the banner remained intact. The wool did look old, yet still holding its colors strong.
"Aye! Let's go Erazz of Westerway, King Thrain awaits ya'!" the dwarf took me through some corridors and down a series of steps, when he suddenly stopped and told me: "Behold! The Horgâr Halls! The pride of our kingdom! Many riches lay here once, aye, many..."
The dwarves did not seem to care about the details on their corridors, yet The Horgâr Halls... ah, those were magnificent. I don't know what the dwarf was thinking when he said that many riches laid there, when I saw the halls filled with gold, diamond, iron, emeralds and other ores... you could buy Westerway two times with what the halls had in there...
"It's still an astonishing view; you say there were more riches here?"
"Aye! Many more..."
I crossed by The Forge where many dwarves quickly stopped working to get a glimpse at the old man escorted by the guard. They quickly resumed work generating loud bangs when their hammers slammed the hot iron. We passed through another gate and the dwarf told me to wait, he took a right and quickly returned, guiding me to The Hall of Nobles.
"King, here is Erazz of Westerway!"
King Thrain stood on his high throne, lowering his eyes on me.
"Hail King Thrain, Clan Father of the Frostpeak Clan, King of the Dwarven Kingdom of Tahkul-Rimtar, Lord Under the Ruin!" I said keeping my head down and bowing.
"Come in, Erazz of Westerway! I've been expecting you." He said with a thick voice.
"Your Grace, I am here on a diplomatic mission and by a letter that the later King Krummi sent to me." At the sound of Krummi, Thrain raised his head. His body was larger than all the dwarves I saw in the forge. His ice blue eyes almost looked through me. He seemed lost in his mind when I mentioned Krummi. "Sire, our town, Westerway and our house, Toria, are new and young. We have no diplomatic relationships with any of the Houses of Altera and we do not seek any if it doesn't suit our needs. Our borders colide, blend, on the edges of the forest to the West of Tahkul-Rimtar and East of Westerway. It is in our interest to have a mannered interaction between us. And I do not fill these Great Halls with empty words. I am sure your grace would appreciate our wares." I quickly began unpacking the bags I brought with me from Westerway, it was a burden to carry them from the horse through the halls, yet I hoped it was worth it."We give to the dwarven kingdom our finest furs, the finest leather Altera can lay its hands on. Westerway is surrounded by all sorts of landscape, from mountains to forests, hills and plains. Thus' we host all kind of animals." I quickly threw the pelts I took from Westerway on the floor. The king became interested, he shoved himself closer to me on his throne looking at the pelts.
"Renlar! Take these to the storage!" he said to the dwarf who escorted me. I finally got to know his name. As I watched Renlar rush to the storage, a very short and broad dwarf came into the room. He seemed like a mystical man, blind and with tattoos of dwarven words all over his body. He slowly walked to the side of Thrain's throne and listened to our conversation.
"Your grace, we pride ourselves with being hard working folk, we work the land and our animals live in the best conditions a sheep, a pig, or any animal could ask for. Thus', there is plenty of food and we took it upon ourselves to have great meals with tasty goods. Our sheep produce the cleanest, pearl like white wool you could ever buy in the Northern Kingdoms." Renlar returned and I quickly put the wool in his hands to present to the king. "To the storage, Renlar!" he said again. You must excuse me here, I forgot the third type of item that I gave to the king, I am sure it was interesting, but I had an excuse: "Sire, I give you our most tastiest goods of all, our salted smoked beef"... ah the smell, the smell of that smoked beef, held in only sea salt and using only charcoal, not coal... the smell almost made the king fall of his throne.
"Now you've got my attention!" he said when I took the food out of their leather coverage.
"Sire, you will find none like us in Altera. Our ambition, our pride, our traditions and honor can be equaled to that of the older and greater houses. Our skill, hopefully proven with these gifts, showes that we are worthy at least of taking into consideration. Let us trade, let our people blossom by cooperating and let the relationship between the Men of Westerway and The Dwarves of Tahkul-Rimtar grow. Our lands need tools, our men need weapons and armor and there is no finest of them than a dwarven made blade, plate or hammer. Let us trade, your grace, it is in our best interest."
"I will not accept only a trade agreement, Erazz of Westerway, I will give you more. By my words be bound, our dwarves will protect the city of Westerway if ever under threat and I expect your men to do the same."
"I accept your grace and thank you! There is yet one last think I've not concluded in this discussion. King Krummi, invited me to write poems, stories and songs about this place. Can these hands still write about the greatness my eyes saw in Tahkul-Rimtar."
"Aye! You can Erazz of Westerway!"
And that is how I concluded my meeting with the great dwarven king. He did not say many words that day, yet there were no more needed to be heard. Renlar escorted me back to the forge and gave me a dwarven iron axe as a gift. Dwarves asked me if I wish to stay, yet, Matthew, my eldest son was busy on a build in Westerway and I was eager to see his work and tell him of my travel to Tahkul-Rimtar.
A meeting with the dwarf king
by Erazz Toria
My horse was thirsty, it rushed straight to the lake's water as I entered the dense forests on its western edge. From Westerway, over the hills, between the pines, trough the grasslands, I crossed the border that our nation shared with the dwarves. The forest was silent. Felt ancient. Old roots spread across the land as a carpet of wood and grass laid all its magic to rest.
The journey was rough for the horse to carry me. We walked along side each other, carefully dodging the sturdy branches and roots. If you wonder on how I knew the way to The Dwarven Kingdom, well... I had a letter that described it. The letter was from Krummi Stenahurr, the former dwarven king. It was an invitation to write of their dwarven legends. It was to my owe and amaze that one week from the letter, one of the travelers that visited Westerway's inn told me that Krummi is dead and Thrain of Clan Frostpeak is now the new king.
I knew little of Krummi. Stories arrived close to my ear of this dwarf and his ambitions, dreams and how he realized most of them. He seemed like a capable leader, they did stir a lot of respect for him. I knew little of dwarves to be honest. I've read books of them, their history, their lore, but never met one in person. Put all these together and the need of political agreements (I quickly sent a new letter to King Thrain asking for a meeting).. and …well.. here I am now, at the edge of this forest. A bit different from the books, for a dwarf to live in a forest tho', I thought to myself.
"Come! We must press on."
In the letter it was said to walk East, until you reach a ruin. The Kingdom Under the Ruin they called it.
"I hope, for the best of us, this ruin is big enough to be found in this forest."
I never gave a thought on bringing guards with me: An old man, yet still capable of holding armor and sword, still capable of going on adventures. Yet, the forest's floor made me mumble words when it became too hard to cross...old men. Light became dimer and dimer as I ventured deeper into the forest. Time was, also, not on my side. Crossing the forest deeply lengthened my journey. But, alas, it stood in front of me, in the moonlight's mist: The Ruin of Tahkul-Rimtar.
It was indeed large, larger than I expected. It was 4-5 times larger than Westerway's Town Hall. I stood amazed at its grandness for a couple of seconds swiftly being interrupted by the howling of wolves. I quickly took the horse with me inside the ruin. It had cracks and openings at any point you would look at. It had four towers in the center as large as the old tower in Westerway.
"Ah, four towers, see.. that must be the The Central Hall. It's said in the letter that I must get there first."
A book shoved at my feet by wind. I had no time to read it, just the title: Dwarves of Auld; put it in the horse's saddle pocket and moved on.
"I must be close to the library." And indeed I was, I could see the books from The Central Hall. A small part of them remained in their shelves, rest were scattered on the floor, or, I presume, missing.
"Left here.. dead end. Trace back, one, twooo.. center? the horse neighed.. ok my friend, we'll go that way if you wish so!" Through a short corridor and I could hear the bangs from the forges.
"We must be close!" The bangs began to be louder and louder as I approached an lighten up entrance. "This must be it. How come there is no one here. Dwarves must feel very safe in their underground cities."
A spiral staircase led me to a gate where a dwarf was sleeping on his axe, snoring. The gate was closed, I had no way of getting in. I had to wake him up, but before I could do one more step, the horse neighed again and the dwarf woke in shock almost falling.
"Baah, who goes there?! Ya' tricky elves.. Oh, a human. What's your name and business in The Dwarven Kingdom old man?"
"My name is Erazz of Westerway. I come here for a meeting with your king, Thrain of Clan Frostpeak."
"Wesssterr.." ,the dwarf mumbled; "ok you can pass", he said after examining me, "I will escort ya' so don't do anything foolish." The dwarf quickly opened the gate stepping on a plate. Echoes of a mechanical wheels, levers and other contraptions began contesting the bangs of the forges. "This way, we shall leave your horse to rest here. Ya' shall wait with it until' I return. I must inform the king you are here"; and the dwarf vanished down some other stairs towards the banging noises.
I was already enjoying the sights of this city. The winding stairs to the living quarters and halls had House Yeradure's banner in the middle. There was almost no sweat pouring from the walls of the cave, so the banner remained intact. The wool did look old, yet still holding its colors strong.
"Aye! Let's go Erazz of Westerway, King Thrain awaits ya'!" the dwarf took me through some corridors and down a series of steps, when he suddenly stopped and told me: "Behold! The Horgâr Halls! The pride of our kingdom! Many riches lay here once, aye, many..."
The dwarves did not seem to care about the details on their corridors, yet The Horgâr Halls... ah, those were magnificent. I don't know what the dwarf was thinking when he said that many riches laid there, when I saw the halls filled with gold, diamond, iron, emeralds and other ores... you could buy Westerway two times with what the halls had in there...
"It's still an astonishing view; you say there were more riches here?"
"Aye! Many more..."
I crossed by The Forge where many dwarves quickly stopped working to get a glimpse at the old man escorted by the guard. They quickly resumed work generating loud bangs when their hammers slammed the hot iron. We passed through another gate and the dwarf told me to wait, he took a right and quickly returned, guiding me to The Hall of Nobles.
"King, here is Erazz of Westerway!"
King Thrain stood on his high throne, lowering his eyes on me.
"Hail King Thrain, Clan Father of the Frostpeak Clan, King of the Dwarven Kingdom of Tahkul-Rimtar, Lord Under the Ruin!" I said keeping my head down and bowing.
"Come in, Erazz of Westerway! I've been expecting you." He said with a thick voice.
"Your Grace, I am here on a diplomatic mission and by a letter that the later King Krummi sent to me." At the sound of Krummi, Thrain raised his head. His body was larger than all the dwarves I saw in the forge. His ice blue eyes almost looked through me. He seemed lost in his mind when I mentioned Krummi. "Sire, our town, Westerway and our house, Toria, are new and young. We have no diplomatic relationships with any of the Houses of Altera and we do not seek any if it doesn't suit our needs. Our borders colide, blend, on the edges of the forest to the West of Tahkul-Rimtar and East of Westerway. It is in our interest to have a mannered interaction between us. And I do not fill these Great Halls with empty words. I am sure your grace would appreciate our wares." I quickly began unpacking the bags I brought with me from Westerway, it was a burden to carry them from the horse through the halls, yet I hoped it was worth it."We give to the dwarven kingdom our finest furs, the finest leather Altera can lay its hands on. Westerway is surrounded by all sorts of landscape, from mountains to forests, hills and plains. Thus' we host all kind of animals." I quickly threw the pelts I took from Westerway on the floor. The king became interested, he shoved himself closer to me on his throne looking at the pelts.
"Renlar! Take these to the storage!" he said to the dwarf who escorted me. I finally got to know his name. As I watched Renlar rush to the storage, a very short and broad dwarf came into the room. He seemed like a mystical man, blind and with tattoos of dwarven words all over his body. He slowly walked to the side of Thrain's throne and listened to our conversation.
"Your grace, we pride ourselves with being hard working folk, we work the land and our animals live in the best conditions a sheep, a pig, or any animal could ask for. Thus', there is plenty of food and we took it upon ourselves to have great meals with tasty goods. Our sheep produce the cleanest, pearl like white wool you could ever buy in the Northern Kingdoms." Renlar returned and I quickly put the wool in his hands to present to the king. "To the storage, Renlar!" he said again. You must excuse me here, I forgot the third type of item that I gave to the king, I am sure it was interesting, but I had an excuse: "Sire, I give you our most tastiest goods of all, our salted smoked beef"... ah the smell, the smell of that smoked beef, held in only sea salt and using only charcoal, not coal... the smell almost made the king fall of his throne.
"Now you've got my attention!" he said when I took the food out of their leather coverage.
"Sire, you will find none like us in Altera. Our ambition, our pride, our traditions and honor can be equaled to that of the older and greater houses. Our skill, hopefully proven with these gifts, showes that we are worthy at least of taking into consideration. Let us trade, let our people blossom by cooperating and let the relationship between the Men of Westerway and The Dwarves of Tahkul-Rimtar grow. Our lands need tools, our men need weapons and armor and there is no finest of them than a dwarven made blade, plate or hammer. Let us trade, your grace, it is in our best interest."
"I will not accept only a trade agreement, Erazz of Westerway, I will give you more. By my words be bound, our dwarves will protect the city of Westerway if ever under threat and I expect your men to do the same."
"I accept your grace and thank you! There is yet one last think I've not concluded in this discussion. King Krummi, invited me to write poems, stories and songs about this place. Can these hands still write about the greatness my eyes saw in Tahkul-Rimtar."
"Aye! You can Erazz of Westerway!"
And that is how I concluded my meeting with the great dwarven king. He did not say many words that day, yet there were no more needed to be heard. Renlar escorted me back to the forge and gave me a dwarven iron axe as a gift. Dwarves asked me if I wish to stay, yet, Matthew, my eldest son was busy on a build in Westerway and I was eager to see his work and tell him of my travel to Tahkul-Rimtar.
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