[Rewritten] The Tale of Zustid & Babin

[Bartooliinii]

The Tale of Zustid & Babin
Or
Dwarves of Auld
​

In your hands is the story that has come to be known as the origin myth of the Dwarves. It details how the Dwarves of Altera came into being in a time far before our own, when Altera was raw and its many mountains yet unnamed...

Altera was very new and all the Gods were busy, in their own way, to shape and decorate the world. Korog, God of craftsmanship, came up from underneath the bedrock and scraped a hole into the stone. In this space, The First Cavern, he crafted 'Zustid' from the rocks that he had scraped away. Zustid was made out of bedrock, the hardest of all stones in Altera. He was much taller than a Dwarf and did not quite look like any Dwarf you'd find today, yet he was Korog's first creation. Korog taught Zustid like a mentor would teach his student. In order to do so, he gave him a language to converse in; Horgaahn. A tough language, so as to make it easier for Zustid to speak it, with many sounds like rolling sotnes and crushing rocks. Korog then tasked Zustid to shape the world beneath the surface. Zustid was to carve giant caverns and endless tunnels. He felt thankful to Korog that he was brought into being and devoted centuries of his life on making subterranean tunnels and caverns. He needed not tools, because he was made out of bedrock after all. Being made of a rock harder than all other rocks, he could mow through the stone like a knife through butter.

Century upon century passed and Zustid became so skilled in making caverns, that it was no longer a challenge to him. Now that he did not have to use his full attention to dig, he had room to listen to himself. Thoughts sprang to mind in the shape of Horgaahn words and the first thing that he felt was unease. For the first time in his life, he felt uncomfortable. He had moments that he even felt like he would rather not continue digging through the stone anymore. Now that he was incredibly skilled at it, his focus was drawn away from it and he found himself to be a lonely figure in a dark place... Zustid needed a friend.

He wandered through his tunnels until he reached a very specific cavern. Not wide, but tall like a church's tower. At the bottom of it was a pool of lava, dimly lighting the walls of this enormously tall cave. He stood there, trying to grasp what it was that he was feeling. He had no clue how to describe the loneliness he felt. Still in thought, he climbed the tall cavern to the very ceiling. Once he arrived at the top of the narrow shaft, he continued up by digging further. As long as he felt conflicted about his feelings, he would dig up and up and up. Suddenly, his hand grabbed not rock, but air! He retrieved his hand in surprise, looking at it. Then he was blinded by a flash of sudden light. Climbing out of the hole, he stood in air, on top of a massive rock. He felt the strange sensation of wind whipping about him, the rain ticking upon him and he heard the thunder rumbling in the distance. He looked around him into this strange new world and saw mountains, trees, clouds, lakes, rivers, grass! Things that he did not know the name of. Disturbed, he pondered why his creator had not told him the names of everything in this world. Did Korog perhaps now know of these things? Was he not the creator of everything that ever was? He then suddenly realized the nature of his feelings, with the force of the lightning that struck all around him; Doubt. The uncertainty... It made him climb back down and find his way to The First Cavern, where he had been created, to meet Korog there.

With the rumbling of continental plates shifting across each other, Korog rose from beneath the bedrock to meet his devout. Zustid needed not Horgaahn to explain his feelings, for Korog recognized a change within Zustid. To remedy the doubt and uncertainty, he presented Zustid with a gift.

"You need not know of that which you have no words for. Your domain lies elsewhere. To prove it to you, I give you the remedy to your doubts."

With that, Korog disappeared once more underneath the bedrock. Zustid, comforted by his God, returned to the tall narrow shaft that reached all the way up to the air. The dim light at the bottom of it had disappeared, however. The rain from the sky above had turned the lava to obsidian. Walking over it, Zustid realized this tone was like no other he had ever felt before. Certain that this was the gift Korog had talked about, he reached for it and pulled out a mighty chunk of it with both his hands. He looked at it and beheld the chunk turning into something that was not unlike himself. Somewhat shorter, but otherwise identical. Before him stood now an obsidian version of himself, which he aptly named Babin. Korog had given Zustid a friend...

Zustid taught Babin how to speak Horgaahn and the two busied themselves with conversation, taking away Zustid's doubts and opening his mind to much he would never otherwise have had the capability of to perceive. Zustid walked with Babin and showed him the many caverns, caves, tunnels and shafts he had dug. From the dark hollows to the dimly lit lava lakes, all the way back to The First Cavern. Babin admired Zustid and they talked and walked for another century. Then, when Zustid had taught Babin all he knew, Babin taught Zustid something in return for the very first time. Babin took a rock and chiseled it into shape with his bare hands, for no rock was harder than Babin, except for Zustid. Babin's carving was more delicate than Zustid's and the latter looked with great delight how the first created tiny statues of themselves. Zustid saw the elegance of it and gathered many types of stone for Babin to work with. As such, Zustid and Babin continued to fulfill their purpose to their God; to shape and decorate Altera. They spend decades carving the statues and had no other reason to do so than the fact that they enjoyed the process of crafting them. In time, they had created them with every type of stone they could possibly find, safe bedrock and obsidian. The more they crafted them, the better they looked. Then, for no particular reason, they stopped to look at their work with satisfaction. They had once again reached the pinnacle of mastery in their skill. They took the best masterpieces to The First Cavern and proudly waited for Korog to appear. With the great trembling and rolling of rocks, Korog appeared at the scene and glanced upon their work...

He recognized how Babin had relieved Zustid of his doubt and how the pair of them had aided him in his task to decorate Altera. He peered at the little stone people and acknowledged the immense skill with which they had been created. Yet, Korog felt they were not perfect. Rather, they seemed like a very well made prototype of sorts.

"We have crafted these to help you, Korog"

The pair of them said and Korog knew it to be true.

"Then now, they are Stenahárr. But let them be Horgâr from now on."

The mighty God spoke. Suddenly, each of the stone statues cracked. The lines showing across their limbs and faces, cracking and twisting. Pieces of stone fell off from their appearance and, shedding the stone like old skin, the first real Dwarves of flesh and blood were revealed from underneath, as if they had always been there.

"The Horgâr Horde. Let them a journey to their home begin. Teach them our language, and teach them all you know."

He spoke and disappeared once more under the bedrock. The Horgâr Dwarves were equally loyal to Korog as to Zustid and Babin, though they had minds of their own and possessed deeper thoughts than their initial creators. Teaching them Horgaahn and the crafting of stone took Zustid and Babin no more than a decade. Soon, these industrious creatures set to work. Unlike Zustid and Babin, their structures were brittle and they could not carve stone with their hands. With their creators' help, they made tools from the bountiful ores within caverns. Their resourcefulness astonished Zustid and Babin and left them to watch the busy Horgâr Dwarves with much satisfaction. Zustid and Babin sat on an outcrop of rock in a giant cavern as they watched the Dwarves running up and down, crafting and building. The pair watched as the Dwarves built temples dedicated to Korog, but also to Babin and Zustid. They were never needy, for the leading priests of the temples were always able by some divine force to summon mighty feasts and barrels of fine ale that would never run out. The Horgâr Dwarves carved stairways up to Babin and Zustid's faces, where mighty rituals of craft were performed. Around the sitting pair, they created huge thrones which surfaces were covered in precious stones and gems. Above Zustid's head they set a gigantic emerald and above Babin the largest shining diamond they had ever found. In time, the Dwarves turned this ancient cavern into a giant hall, lined with stone bricks, with the thrones at the very back; The First Great Hall.

Zustid looked upon the hall and felt content. Knowing his age had come to an end and his purpose had been fulfilled, Zustid's eyes turned to solid bedrock after many a century and he fell asleep on the throne. Babin, whose task was not yet completed, stayed around for a few decades longer to advise the Dwarves and be a friend to them. They continued to prosper and multiply, creating more great halls to live in, although slightly less grand than the first great hall. Together, they were called The Horgâr Halls. Time went by and a system of society came into being, where the Dwarves from the First Great Hall were richer and higher on the social ladder than those from lesser halls. At this time, the first Horgâr Dwarves had already lived out their lives and were entombed within the stone. The first generation spent, Babin looked and saw in his wisdom that the Dwarves had begun to lead a life in which he need not take a part. It was something beyond anything he had ever imagined. Roads were build between halls, different neighborhoods with different crafts. Babin, certain his time had come, looked once to the side where Zustid sat, sleeping, then looked back to the hall and his eyes turned to solid Obsidian as he fell asleep on the throne as well.

The Dwarves continued to venerate Korog and the two who now sat motionless upon their enormous thrones. They lived out their lives in the Horgâr Halls in peace, ever mining for what they needed and performing exceptional crafting skills in Korog's name, which was always rewarded with mighty feasts by the religious leaders. In time, a king took the place of Babin as adviser to his Dwarves. He did not make decisions on his own, but was revered beyond any other Dwarf for his wisdom. This was the time of Dwarven Bliss, where Korog was close and the Dwarves knew no quarrels.

 

[Bartooliinii]

The book you hold in your hands tells the story of the time of Dwarven Bliss to the adaptation into the lives Dwarves know at this current age.

The Dwarves had always mined in all directions. They knew little else than the life in the caverns Zustid had dug, so many centuries ago. It took another few centuries until they found their way to that fateful narrow shaft, so tall that it leads all the way up to the surface. The place where Babin was created. The Dwarves looked up and saw a light they had never seen before. The passing of day and night, unbeknownst to the Dwarves, was a curiosity that enthralled them. They crafted a mighty winding staircase over the course of decades, hewn from the stone, leading all the way to the top of the cavern. Then finally they reached the top...

Out they went, to feel sunshine on their face, the cold of the rain falling form the skies, the merits of lumber, the softness of grass on a summer's day. They struggled to find the words for it in Horgaahn and could thus not tell their kin exactly what it all was like. So their kin had no choice but to go with them and take the Long Ascend to the surface to experience it first hand. Then, on a day that heralded a new era, a Human farmer crossed paths with a Dwarf. They were peaceful, both of them, and tried to understand one another. There, the Dwarves learned the Common Tongue and found it would be redundant to think of new Horgaahn words for surface things when someone already had invented the words.

In the beginning of time, things had taken millennia, then centuries, to develop. Now, as time went by, the Dwarves developed faster than ever before into directions that nobody could reasonably predict. They did trade, like precious ores for cattle, and learned how to make their own food. No longer did they rely on a central figure like a priest to summon royal feasts at set times a day. They did no longer have to live all together in one place, but could move around freely, making their own meals as they had been taught to do by the Humans. Although plenty of Dwarves gladly remained traditional and worshiped Zustid, Babin and Korog like they always had, some Dwarves became further and further separated from their Gods.

The deep Dwarves remained in their Horgâr Halls, supplied by the feasts of Korog. Others exchanged skills with surface dwellers. The creation of tools and masonry in exchange of carpentry and farming. Without a conscience thought, some Dwarves lost their connection to Korog. Generations later struggled to find their way back. They had been taught different rituals than the Dwarves of Auld and were unaware of how dislodged they had become from their creator. But the surface life supplied endless freedom, away from community living and gave the opportunity to get away from responsibilities. Some Dwarves got involved in politics and soon found themselves involved in warfare. Smiths were enlisted to create weapons, not tools. Armor, not bowls and cups. Slowly, some started to realize they have left a blessed place in exchange for the pleasure of the surface. Desperately some sought to find the Horgâr Halls, but the location of the narrow shaft had gotten lost in time.

Dwarves used old libraries to find old books in Horgaahn with vague mentions of long abandoned towns through which they once had traveled. They searched in vain. Some claimed to have found a proper way back to the Horgâr Halls. The halls they found may have been great big abandoned halls, but most do not believe that they are truly the Horgâr Halls of old. Some Dwarves have decided to live out their life in this world as their ancestors had decided to do when they came to the surface. They do their best to honor Korog. They have adapted and found a way to combine Korog's doctrine with the harsh surface life. Others seek endlessly for the lost halls, searching through the documents for a glimmer of a hint on the whereabouts of possible ways back. Some have even made up their mind as to where the halls may be and set off on treacherous journeys through monster infested tunnels.

Were the Dwarves always here, on the surface, and is this story of Zustid and Babin nothing but a myth? Or did the Horgâr Halls really exist and should all Dwarves be finding their way back there, if they are truly Korog's Children?