Smithing a Tale

Preface

Tellius Realms was my first ever attempt at writing a book. I started it when I was in middle school and then picked it back up every few years in high school, college, and afterward. While I love the characters and story my writing creativity has been focused elsewhere recently. When I was around twenty-five a group of friends asked me to run a tabletop game for them. I chose to adapt the Tellius Realms to have their story begin a bit off of where the original began but eventually the two would come together and then I would see what the players decided. I told them of the dwarven underground city of Krundlebottom, which had been shut off the outside world because of a trade dispute with the gnomes. Since dwarves are stubborn it's been a few generations.

For this story, I plan to have this be a consistent submission. I have notes and content for a long series of short stories which will focus on the key parts of the adventuring campaign.

I present to you part two of the Tellius Realms, the Dwarf Campaign.

Adventure 2: Smithing a Tale

Hello.

The child creature stood before the five dwarves as if nothing strange had just occurred. Perhaps child wasn't the best way to describe it. The crystals of aredium had loosely fused to a shape that resembled a dwarven child however the length of the arms was wrong as they brushed the ground. The hips of the creature were wider than the shoulders and the legs were thicker than even the strongest dwarves. It looked as if it was taller and had been squashed down to match the dwarves.

Orsik had never seen anything like this before and he stood dumbfounded trying to understand this strange creature before him, but only a moment. "You don’t move we are warning you!" He stammered as he reached for his hammer. Rangrim had already taken a defensive stance, Faudin and Krennel stood shielding Earnon who lay upon the bedrolls near the fire sleeping after Faudin had healed him to the best of his abilities.

Hello.

The strange creature didn't move at all. It just stood there.

Hello.

The voice didn't come from the creature rather it seemed to be inside of his head.

"Do you hear that too?" Faudin said as he walked forward. The young dwarf didn't hesitate for a second and approached the creature his arm reaching out.

"Don’t!" Orsik attempted to grab him however Faudin moved forward hastily to place his hand on the shoulder of the creature.

"Hello. We don't mean you any harm. However, if you intend to attack us then my friends and I will defend ourselves and likely kill you."

No harm, I mean no harm. The creature mirrored Faudin's gesture resting its opposite hand upon Faudin's shoulder. I am awoken. Am I the only?

Faudin removed his hand and when the creature did the same he backed away gesturing to Orsik and Rangrim to let down their guard. "The only what exactly?"

I am a member of the gateways. Arms at its side the creature offered no more explanation as if that was enough.

Rangrim took this turn of communication by sitting near the fire with his legs crossed. "I feel like we should share our stories friend, come sit by the fire and warm yourself."

The creature moved to the fire to sit across from Rangrim. The light of the flames danced within the crystals of its body sending a dazzling spectrum across the rock walls and ground. The body seemed to take on a myriad of colors but always seemed to shift back to the bluish-purple that was the gems. Yes, story. A method of conveying information in an entertaining way.

Once Faudin and Orsik sat near the fire, Krennel stayed near Earnon, the crystal creature seemed to shrink. The dwarves realized that many of the crystals which made it up left the body and were dancing above the fire. The twisted and caught the lights of the fire and the lights of the stars to make its dancing spectrum collect along the cliff face.

Our existence is one of servitude and sacrifice. The world that we are in now is not all there is. There are others; some grand and others dismal. A variety of worlds appeared on the wall; a large palace with bright colored banners waving in the wind, a family hiding in a cave during a terrible storm, a group of some sort of a fairy creature with bird wings running from a cat which had the face of man. Our current plane has no name but we can call it growth. The image shifted to show them before they shrunk away to show just the cliff system, then the surrounding countryside until it rested on a beautiful blue and green ball which spun as it was surrounded by a countless number of stars. In the plane of growth, there exists an innumerable variety of life some good, some evil, most somewhere in between. The plane of growth has many shades which complicate all that happens here. Sometimes there is war, sometimes there is peace, life, and death, health and disease, love and hate, day and night, tolerance and prejudice, creation and destruction. At each of these differences, the image shifted to show a version of what was being described. This all makes the plane of growth quite a complicated area.

Two planes are tightly woven together, so much so that they sometimes intermix and life in either is very similar. Here the image showed dwarves, elves, men, gnomes all twisted into vile versions of what was known. Dark pocked skin, black eyes, white hair, and sharp teeth. The sister of the plane of growth is the plane of decay. In the plane of decay, there is much that is the same as in the plane of growth. The key difference being that while the plane of growth is ripe with blacks, whites, and greys the plane of decay has lost its ability to be grey. The sun seemed to never shine, barely punching through the heavy cloud cover. People looked either miserable, tortured, pained, or walked with an air of utmost superiority that others cowed beneath them. Which means that for the people living there it is one way or another. There is no changing minds, lots in life or one's circumstances. She who is a murderer will forever be a murderer until she exists no longer.

My plane, the plane of connection is simpler. There it is simple facilitation or impediment. The process is all that matters. All creatures in that plane live for one purpose, either facilitating travel between the planes or impeding it. My people are impeders. I was once part of a proud network of gateways which were able to do both. Because of this single entity which once regulated travel between growth and decay along with all of the other planes while traveling through the plane of connection we were able to disallow any who desired to spread ideals from one plane to the other. A gloriously vibrant archway filled an orange landscape of sand and trees. However, there were facilitators out there that wanted nothing more than to have open and free travel between the planes. They concocted a plan to destroy the gateways. A fleet of flying ships flew towards a gateway only to collide with it and sending out a wave of light and energy which shook the landscape. When the image lost the brilliant white light there was a giant hole that seemed to lead nowhere and streams of forms flowed in and out of it. The destruction resulted in one entity being fractured into millions of crystals much like this one here. One of the crystals floated in front of the three dwarves.

This is a fragment of the magnificence which was once me or us. Now travel has been opened with little to no regulation between the planes. The only way to fix this is for me to gather the rest of my people and reform the gateways.

The three dwarves who were experiencing the tale this strange creature had just visually and orally displayed for them avoided one another eyes. Orsik looked up into the stars, Rangrim bent his head and looked within, Faudin stared at the creature, all three were silent. Krennel was the one to finally break the silence, "That does sound like a disastrous story, I for one feel like we should help if we can but my friend here is gravely injured and I need to return him to Krundlebottom if I can."

I can help a little, the crystalline creature motioned towards Earnon and some of the floating shards drifted over to him then began to glow and hum in rhythm with the creature and some of the lesser injuries that Earnon had magically knit themselves. The dwarf began breathing easier but the major injuries remained. That is all I can do, but we should be able to move him now.

Orsik stood up, "We'll not be moving at night. We have had quite a spell and we have a lot to think about young one. Besides, we have a tale of our own to tell; relax, make yourself comfortable, and hear of the great kingdom of Krundlebottom and of how we came to be in your acquaintance." With that, the three dwarves took turns reciting their own histories which they were willing to share and the current state of Krundlebottom. During the story the crystal creature played images in the air above them which matched their tales, hesitantly at first as if it wasn't sure how to display what it was being told but soon the dwarves rich storytelling melded with the images to create a wondrous experience for all seated around the fire. It stopped the visual display at its manifestation as if it simply wanted to view this part through the voice of others. Once the story was finished then Orsik volunteered to take the first watch, the rest lied down on their bedrolls and rested after a long day thinking of, perhaps even dreaming of far-off worlds where life was too bizarre to imagine or eerily similar.

The night proceeded without incident with each dwarf getting to spend some time with the strange crystalline creature who didn't seem to require sleep. Orsik speaking of responsibility in the world and during one's life. Rangrim going into a long and arduous discussion of remorse, regret, and a willingness to harness those emotions to shape oneself into your best being. Krennel spoke with the creature about happy things; the warmth of a fire, a friend's compassion, family's love, the embracement of a lover, and the desire to grow old and enjoy them all. Faudin and the creature bonded in a way unanticipated by either.

Faudin sat next to the creature, laying his arm across its shoulder. "You know lad, there are many things in this world worth fighting, dying, and perhaps killing for. And it seems that each of these worlds that your people protected has the same list. However, I find the things worth loving, living, and saving for tend to be the things that carry the greatest value. You see any idiot with a hand can cause harm true heroism is about uniting those around you to come together to create a future for all to succeed. So Shardigan my boy, I think when the time comes for you to fulfill your quest you should think back to this conversation."

What is Shardigan? The creature's head turned to Faudin.

"Why you are. You may not be a dwarf but damn it lad you are with us and I feel like the dwarven spirit of commitment to duty, kith, and kin dwells within you as strong as any of the finest dwarven heroes. So you get a strong dwarven name, of a kind. You are made of shards that’s where it comes from. It’s a proud name which connects you to both of your people, the others like you, and this ragtag adopted family you have found yourself, all while still being yours." With that, the dwarf stood up and started to kick dirt on the fire as twilight began its creeping advancement over the hills. "Well, I suppose we should get the others up."

Faudin bent over to shake Rangrim awake when suddenly the fire burst to light and heat engulfing the sleeping dwarves in a wash of flame. Faudin shielded Rangrim the best he could. "What the hell is that!" he shouted looking around for the source of the treat. He saw in the shadows amongst the trees the outline of a dwarf. "What the hell! Are you daft man!" The rest of the party now awake and singed leaped to their feet. The fire pulsed sending a flare of light enough to see that the shadow amongst the trees was not alone, there were six dwarves in total advancing on the party, the firelight flashing on dirty maces, axes, and picks. Orsik called for arms just as the firelight died and there was a guttural dwarven-sounding battle cry from the tree line.

Krennel stood over Earnon protecting his friend during the fray. Twice during the fight, an enemy stepped close enough to tempt Krennel to leave his ally but care steadied the young dwarf's feet. Krennel watched the best he could as even with his dwarven eyes the darkness they fought in seemed to obscure everything except the occasional flash from a weapon or limb. Orsik called out in fury, "You devilish traitors be damned beware the twisting vision!" There came a quick flash of light Krennel watched as one of the foes ran from the fray headlong into the cliff wall, a rock was shaken loose falling upon the dwarf's head driving it to the ground to lie as still as the stone was now.

Krennel pulled Earnon back from the fireside a few paces placing him against the side of the cliff in a more defensible location. The old man Gherran finally awake and emerging from some ridiculous magical hole that he slept in moved over to be near Krennel and Earnon. From there the two of them watched Rangrim's boot go from one end to the other stepping just outside of the circle of darkness to be visible. Everywhere his book went there was a weapon thrown from the area, a pick sticking into the ground, not two feet from where Krennel now stood. There was an occasional flash of light and growling from wherever Faudin's voice broke through the raucous commenting almost politely about various parts of the opponent's bodies. "Nice strong neck. Great beard. Interesting bauble."

"Don't you think you ought to be doing something to help?" Krennel demanded of the wizard.

Gherran laughed, "Don't you see my boy, I am helping by doing nothing. That is the way of wizards, when we seem to be doing the least we might actually be doing the most." At that moment a mace head which had been broken off from its haft flew towards them, it stopped mid-air as if it had run into a wall and then slid to the ground. "You see, if I had stayed in my sleeper pod, you probably would have been hit."

At one point many shards of crystal emerged from the top of the darkness, rising up to catch the light from the rising sun. The beam shone brightly following a path of crystal shards to wash away the concealing shroud. Krennel watched outlines emerge as Orsik clubbed a foe with a hammer dropping it to the ground, Rangrim reached up and boxed the ears of another, and Faudin placed his hands over the face of the stunned opponent and spoke a quick chant. A bright light flared under his hand and the enemy fell to the ground motionless. The rest of the threats were already down except for the wizard who was just launching a gigantic ball of fire at the dwarves, the contact seemed inevitable until suddenly some shards appeared in the path. The fireball seemed to change direction as if it never stopped and fell directly upon the wizard who had cast it burning the threat to ashes.

Rangrim stepped forward after kicking a fallen enemy dwarf who was beginning to stir in the side of the head. "What was that all about, I had heard that hill dwarves have occasionally harassed mountain dwarf caravans but it has always been a raid. And these look to be mountain dwarfs." He squatted down and began ripping off belts and clothing that he used to make bindings. "Except for these odd tattoos and the black nails and teeth."

At this point, Orsik had begun binding another while Faudin and Krennel were moving three dead ones to a pile about thirty paces away from their original fire pit. "What I don't understand is I swear they were speaking dwarven however I didn't understand a bit of it, just the sounds were familiar. It was like all of the runes were out of order."

Shardigan, the crystalline creature approached and he voiced his thoughts only to the two dwarves binding the survivors. You couldn't understand them because they aren't from this plane. These dwarves come from the plane of decay. The melding is already beginning.

"Wait, so these are from that evil plane you told us about? So they are dark dwarves?" Rangrim synched a strap of leather tightly binding arms and legs behind the back on one of the creatures.

Not evil, just polarized in a different way than your plane. These dwarves were raised to fight and raid, striking first before their enemies can respond. Diplomacy isn't a thing in their culture. There are some cultures where that is all they do on the plane of decay is being diplomatic. Sadly they are the minority.

"Whatever they be, we should try and get some information out of them." Orsik drug his prisoner over to the two by Rangrim. By this time Faudin and Krennel had moved the dead and packing supplies. "Let us get some breakfast while we await our 'guests' awakening." Orsik planted himself on the ground with a hunk of cheese and crusty sourdough bread.

By the time the first dark dwarf awoke the sun was high in the sky. The creature hissed and fought to hide from the light squinting whenever someone spoke to it. Orsik slammed a pick through some loose fabric pinning the dark dwarf to the ground in the sunlight. "No my friend you are going to answer some of my questions."

The creature showed immediate curiosity, picking up on the same phonemic similarities between the languages but quickly devolved into just making threatening gestures and what could be interpreted as threats nobody but he understood.

Let me try, can you understand me. The creature looked around quizzically. It is me. Shardigan said as he moved to kneel in front of the dwarf who began to speak in its strangely similar language while shaking its head as if to chase Shardigan's voice from his mind. No you, in here. Shardigan said placing his two hands, one on his temple and the other on the dwarf's temple. The shaking subsided and Shardigan indicated that he was able to communicate with the creature. The party received the mental side of the conversation coming from Shardigan.

Why are you here?

Here in the plane of growth. Did you choose to come through the gateway?

Who sent you?

How many? Why do you call him the high king?

What is your plan here on the plane of growth?

No, you can't do that! The planes are meant to be separate.

Your methodology will not work here, in this plane people can choose. Your master...

At this, the dark dwarf scowled fiercely and attempted to break through his bonds.

No, that will not work. I assure you my friends are quite proficient in their ability to craft things that will stop you and your allies. Just tell me what we need to know.

The creature fought and fought against the bonds, when it accepted the futility it bit through its tongue. Shardigan made to heal the creature but Faudin pulled him back. "We were going to put them down anyway. What did you learn from him?"

He says that there is a large group of them who came from their homeland with the high king of them all. He also said that they call themselves dwarebs not dwarves. The high king of these dwarebs has decided that it would be easier to carve out a kingdom in some other plane than back on Decay.

"We need to find a way back to Krundlebottom to warn Lord Mace Fist and our families." Orsik hefted his pack onto his back. "However I know of no way to get through that rock and I don't favor staying here trapped in this canyon till we figure it out. Let us go down the mountain a bit, perhaps there is a town near bye." Saying nothing else other than that and grabbing his hammer he began the trek out of the canyon. The rest of the party of dwarves quickly gathered up their things, Krennel and Faudin grabbed opposite ends of the litter they had for Earnon. Shardigan and Rangrim took up the rear after Rangrim quickly dispatched the last two dwarebs. Gherran strode behind Orsik, muttering something about how they should have left last night and that if the group would just do things the way he wanted everything would be going smoothly.

The group walked through the hill lands and forest till midday when they notice some smoke rising just over the next hill. Their spirits revitalized the pace picked up as all of the dwarves recognized the smell of a blacksmith fire. The smithy was a quaint little cabin complete with a small garden in the back and a pen for some livestock. The clanging of the hammer on anvil rang beautifully, echoing off the hills to play a melody back to the master craftsman.

The tall human greeted the group with a friendly smile and a wave before dousing the shovelhead he was working on in the cooling bath. "Hail friends. I've not seen the likes of dwarves since I was a spry lad in my twenties. Heavens above and the abyss below, someone is hurt. Hurry, hurry, I have a cot by the forge. Lay him there I will go get some hot water and some bandages." The man quickly disappeared into the cabin while the group moved their friend next to the heat. He reappeared faster than he had left.

"Here ya go. There are some bandages and in no time we will have some hot water." He was carrying a giant iron pot in one hand, a water bladder that must have been made from a bear over one shoulder, and a bundle of clean linens under an arm. He was a large man, nearly twice again the height of an average dwarf. He had a short beard and a clean-shaven head except for a long braid from the back of his head which reached nearly to his belt buckle. "The name is Jon. Jon Vohanna. I am one of the smithies for the town of Runigrad. I just like working out here, it's peaceful." As he was introducing himself he was placing the pot on the coals, filling it with water, producing a cold rag to clean Earnon, and then measuring the dwarf's wounds for bandages before ripping the linens to size. This man was clearly good at doing multiple tasks efficiently. When the bandages were done he walked to the cupboard, "Sorry for being chatty, I don't get many visitors, Mary at the tavern collects orders for me and I pick them up once a week. So folks almost never come out to see me." From the cupboard, he produced ten worked tin cups. He then walked back over to the water bladder and began pouring drinks for each of them. He had a polite greeting for each of them, until he handed the cup to Shardigan, "Well, you, uh, would you like some water?"

I do not require nourishment of that kind but thank you. I can use it to clean my parts. With that Shardigan's feet, as he had no shoes, fragmented from his legs and hovered in the air before splitting apart. Shardigan directed the shards into the tin cup where they rinsed off. One foot was done when he required a refill, to which Jon politely acquiesced then Shardigan cleaned his second foot before the shards pieces reassembled into the feet that they started at. This whole process had Jon flummoxed. He looked to the other dwarves for an explanation before seeing that they two we equally amazed. Gherran seemed to be the only one un-phased by the whole process as he was pulling some pouch from his robes and dumping the powder into his drink before reciting some incantation. His clear water turned a rich violet color and gave off the aroma of sweet wine. Orsik thought of asking for some until it began bubbling thickly and fizzing. This alteration to the beverage didn't stop Gherran from drinking it, however.

The water boiled, Jon talked, the dwarves relayed what they felt appropriate to this kind stranger, and they dressed Earnon's wounds after they stitched them up. It was about this time that the story turned to what Shardi, the crystalline boy's new nickname which Jon had bestowed, was and what threat they had just defeated. They chose to modify it to Shardi being from a far-off land, and a group of renegade hill dwarves who are looking to turn a profit as highwaymen.

Jon looked thoughtful, "We need to get help from the town but that is a little over an hour away and night comes early in the hills, especially this time of the year. We should just wait here till tomorrow and then set out." This seemed sensible enough to all but the military-minded Orsik.

"Don't take this the wrong way sir, we are grateful for all that you have done and you are the master of the house. However, if there are more of them out there your smithy here isn’t the most defensible." Orsik indicated out the front breezeway to the three-foot high fence built out of woven tree branches.

Jon nodded, "I know this, all the same, if this group of renegade dwarves is out looking for people then I would rather meet them on my own soil hammer and spade in hand with my back against a wall I built and I trust than on the road." The jovial man's expression soured slightly. "Besides before you got here I put a turkey half in the oven and I haven’t eaten since before dawn. I have plenty of food to share, the hunting is good in these hills."

"Well if that doesn't make the most sense of all," Rangrim said as he stood up. "Besides Orsik, the man has good steel and good iron here, he is an accomplished smith, for a human, and we are who we are. We have an hour or so until the sunsets. Let's bolster the defenses as much as we can."

Orsik joined his friend looking grim, but after a moment he relented, "Jon do you have any nails or scrap metal that we could use to make some traps?" at Orsik's acceptance of staying the other dwarves, except for Gherran and Earnon stood up excitedly. For you see dwarf minds are not built for setting siege on an outpost or marching for war. A dwarves mind, especially those who hail from Krundlebottom, is set to defense and breaking sieges. An old saying in Krundlebottom goes like this, 'Tis a point of honor to kill hundreds of men who set an unwelcome foot upon your stoop while it is a generational shame to injure one man on his.'

Earnon was moved into the sitting room and the five of them set on the task of fortifying the small smithy. Gherran and Shardigan spent some time going over magical ways of keeping them safe. "Young man, do you feel?"

Yes, I feel, emotions are what define us and drive us. I feel afraid and worried, but I feel a trust in the others to get us through this.

"No, no, not emotions, physically. Pain, cold, hot, touch?" The old dwarf motioned about with his hands and pantomiming what he said.

If I am hurt I feel frustration over the damage.

Gherran's arms dropped, still not quite, come here. He made his way to the fire of the smithy. Watch." He moved his hand over the fire stopping before it burned him. "I dare not go any closer or the energy, heat of the fire will damage my hand. Can you feel that?"

Shardigan placed his hands at the same level as Gherran, I sense that there is heat energy there. It excites the crystals in that part of my body but I feel there won't be any damage if I move closer. He pushed his hand down till it was resting on the hot coals. Yes there is only intense heat energy now.

Gherran motioned for him to pull his arm back, "Don't be a fool boy, sticking your hand into coals." The old wizard muttered nonchalantly. "What about when you were washing your feet earlier. Did you get any energy from the water?"

Yes, the water seemed to be taking the heat energy from the crystals, it was more difficult to control them, but only slightly.

"Aha, ok, so that is cold. The same thing happens to us if we get chilly, it's harder to move. What about the moisture, wetness, could you sense the water sliding off of the shards?"

No, I have no memory of a sensation like that.

Gherran nodded, "I see." He walked around Shardigan to stand behind him, then pushed him ever so slightly. The crystal boy turned his head.

Why would you do that?

"Ah, so you do get tactile information as well. Perhaps it's the energy from the friction of the shards colliding when you are impacted. Fascinating." The dwarf motioned for Shardigan to follow him to the front yard nearly bumping into Orsik who was carrying a particularly nasty-looking board that had spikes, nails, other various sharp bits of metal sticking out of it. Gherran looked to where Rangrim was. He was partially covering the board's twin with dirt and leaves leading into the path.

"Boy, can you send out some of those shards that float about like you did when we were in the canyon? I have a theory I wish to test."

Yes, I can. Shardigan sent a few of the small crystals floating about in the air around Gherran who reached out and bumped one with his finger.

"Anything from me doing that?"

Yes, you moved it, I just observed you doing so.

"Oh yes, um, please turn around and close your eyes."

He did, then Gherran said, "When you feel me affect your shards please tell me." He then walked around a bit and after a moment poked another shard as it drifted in the air.

I felt that.

Gherran smiled, "Which one?"

The one closest to the house, you moved it from the west pushing it northeast.

"That is marvelous my boy, however, I intended to do it. Can you enable me to communicate like you do, like with the dwarebs earlier?"

Yes, I can. There we should be able to communicate without resonating with the air.

Gherran smiled slyly. "This is wonderful, ok back to business. My theory is that you could sense when I moved it because you picked up on the intent. I want to test whether or not someone who didn't intend to move them would send the same information to you and how far out does it work. So I want you to sneakily move some shards around the other dwarves and when they bump into them please tell me."

Shardigan did as he was requested, Gherran watched as small glimmers of light floated about surrounding their comrades. It didn't take long before there was a reply. Orsik just bumped into two, Krennel has one tangled in his beard, Rangrim almost did but he avoided it, Faudin has also noticed them and is batting them around.

"That is marvelous. Chaps, Shardigan, and I have discovered that his shards have a built-in detection system. I am thinking that we can have him scatter them about in the woods and we will be able to know when our enemies approach."

Faudin stopped playing with the shard, looking a bit ashamed, "That is a good idea. We need to scout the local terrain anyways. Shardi do you know how far out you can send them?"

No, I do not, but there is a control degradation over distances.

Rangrim finished what he was doing, "Sounds about right, I will go scout along with Faudin. Shardi send as many as you can with us. Faudin grab some tools and some wire. We will set some other traps for them in the woods."

Shardigan lifted his leg one after another allowing about half of the shards contained within to leave and float in the air in a cloud of dancing light. He then repeated the process with his arms. When he was finished he had the frame of a small dwarven child. I can spare more but my bodily functions will be hindered.

"No boy that should be plenty, we should place them at about knee waist height though, I caught the glimmer of the few by me earlier and was able to avoid it."

With that, the two set out with the odd sharp cloud floating behind them. I can communicate with you as long as you are near one of my shards and you with me.

The two of them were gone for an hour. They came back right as the sun was beginning its descent into the hills. Orsik waited out front to warn them of the various traps that had been laid during their excursion. The food which Jon had prepared was marvelous. The turkey was moist, the vegetables were firmly cooked, and he also had some delicious seed cakes which had just the right amount of honey for sweetness. The food was amazing but the dwarves took turns eyeing the barrel which clearly held ale.

Jon noticed them eyeing it, "Ah yes, that be some of the finest ale that Runigrad is able to provide. It's an amber, made when summer turned to autumn for a full-flavored body."

"Aye, that sounds like a fine drink for an after-battle celebration." Rangrim said after taking a sip of water and that was the end of it. The group ate their hardy dinner with some pleasant discussion about no particular topic, just enjoying their time together.

They are coming. More than last time.

Orsik swallowed one last bite and took another drink of water. “Well, it's time to fight. Gentlemen, if things don’t go well please know that it has been an honor to have lived with you, and to have known you.”

The dwarebs surged forward through the tree line. This time there was no flare of magic, no dark obscurement, warriors charging a small smithy in the forest filled with a murderous hatred. There weretwo score of them, perhaps more. When the leaders hit the first line of traps rakes and hoes with sharp spikes attached to the handles at various heights. The first victim stepped on a rake and took a wooden stake directly to the neck, he fell clasping the wound. Nine and ten remaining.

The following few avoided the first line of traps by luck, skill, or caution but all three of them sprawled in a heap of studded leather, metal, and bodies as they were tripped up by either wire or small pitfall. The rake line claimed its next set of victims, a pair that angled split off from the group to avoid their fallen comrades, one had a large rusty nail sticking out of its kneecap and the other sharing a trait with Orsik. Nine and ten combatants, five of them injured.

Four of the unaffected group found themselves in need of new boots as their heavy feet stomped down onto the spike strips. The ten unscathed enemies no slowing down enough to avoid the traps stepped onto the walkway leading to the door, picks and hammers brandished. When they were close enough Jon, Orsik, and Krennel stepped from behind the smelter each with a shovel, scooped up a load of red-hot coals, and flung them at the group. All but two of them received a face scarring amount of burning coals. Rangrim ran and leaped off of the roof from his hiding spot behind the chimney, landing upon the two who weren't attempting to rid their beards and faces of burning embers. Rangrim hit the first one with a kick aided with his momentum from the leap, the second looked he dispatched with a stunning combo to the throat followed by a blow to the temple.

Gherran chanted a quick spell taking advantage of the moment where there were eight enemies distracted with pain. The resulting wave of flame singed Rangrim as well but the tough dwarf shook it off. Three of the enemies fell. Three and ten remaining and injured.

It was at this point that it was time for combat, the dwarves brandished their weapons and approached the scorched enemies. Faudin, being their first spoke a quick prayer and his mace glowed brightly before it came crashing down on the head of the nearest foe. Two and ten remaining and injured.

More are coming, I am bringing back my shards.

As the message ended ten more dwarebs advanced from the tree line. The first group had been a shock troop of warriors deemed expendable. This second group were leaders, seasoned enough to not zealously charge an enemy. Two and twenty remaining.

The injured from the first wave stood and collected themselves indicating various traps that they had fallen into. The second wave advanced slowly.

"Gherran summon a meteor storm or something to blow them up!" Orsik said aggressively under his breath.

The old wizard looked to him, "See how they are fanning out, that last wave of flame alerted them to the fact that a wizard is here. They are not dumb, my best spells right now for damaging enemies need them clustered tightly. I can harry them like an archer but no more if they stay spread out."

"Jon, do you have any bows? Quick man." Rangrim pleaded.

"Just a small crossbow that I use to hunt grouse." The blacksmith replied then dashed away to fetch it.

"So here is what we do." Rangrim kept his voice low. "Our initial lines of defense have them leery so we should have time before they attack again. Gherran, you weaken them with whatever spells you can from afar, save your energy through for when they get close or if they have any other surprises." Jon returned with a quiver holding less than a score of small varmint bolts which would do little to armor. "Jon, you get in the back of the smithy and I want you to harass them with your bolts. Your job is to distract the enemy." He then turned to Shardi I want you to do whatever you can to help, here is a light hammer if they get too close. Orsik, Faudin, and I will do the majority of the fighting. Krennel will be guarding the rest of you. We can do this men, we will not fall here." At the end of the directions Rangrim turned to a support post which has a chain hanging from it, he wrapped the chain around his hand leaving it about two feet loose.

The dwarebs were near hundred-fifty feet from the house when from the shadows of the trees a swarm of glittering light exploded from the foliage. The floating shards imbedded themselves in some of the enemies who were caught off guard, it was the ones who turned to look who got the worse of it were those who turned around. The group watched as they fell back from the pinpricks of lights slicing through the air at eye level. The cries of agony coming from those who couldn't dodge in time echoed from the hills.

You said to do what I can, I figured I could slow them down, and look, one is down.

The boy was correct, one of the new members had taken shards to the neck and was twitching violently on the ground. In fact, the attack had been even more effective in that there were two of them which were trying to dislodge the shards from both of their eyes. Orsik laughed at that, "Aye, you dirty dogs, what's the matter, can't deal with a little hole in your eye?" With that, the older dwarf charged forward his eye seeming to glow from within. He ran up to two enemies from the first wave and crashed his hammer down on one, turning a piercing gaze at the other, a trail of light flowed from his eye and seemed to encircle his head. Ten and nine remaining.

Gherran blasted a series of small glowing darts at another target which pushed him back forcefully knocking him into one of the boards with nails.

Faudin joined with Orsik on the front walk and positioned himself to flank with the older dwarf before delivering a blow that snapped the upper arm of its target with a sickening crack.

Rangrim dashed through the yard to the side where three of the dwarebs from the second wave had attempted to circle. He jumped in front of them and took a stance taunting them to confront him. The three circled which is where Rangrim wanted them. As they lunged in he sidestepped the first two attacks, the third did connect hammer smashing down onto his shoulder. He responded with a vicious fist, elbow, knee combo to one of them. Ten and eight remaining.

There was a guttural roar from the second line and three of the dwarebs grew in size, each easily the size of a bear. These three charged into Orsik and Fuadin, the older of the two shot that penetrating gaze at one of the giants whose course changed ever so slightly so that its attack landed not on Faudin as intended but on its ally that Faudin had just injured. Ten and seven remaining.

The other two engaged the two dwarves in combat, Orsik blocking and delivering blow for blow. Mace against shield, hammer into armor. The whole time his eye glowed a furious yellow. Faudin's battle with the other was proceeding poorly, the younger dwarf having limited battle experience. His hammer and anvil amulets glowed brightly synchronizing like drummers marching to the blow of his hammer against the enemy or a touch of his hand against his wounds. Hammer purple matching a slight purple light beaming from where his attacks landed. Anvil silver matching the glow which emanated from his wounds. The third enemy recovered his axe from the body of his comrade and prepared to side chop into Faudin's back.

Orsik watched as the axe swept across his field of vision. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, the axe connecting and passing through Faudin like a sapling. Orsik flew into a rage in watching the young acolyte fall, he roared furiously and the giant dwareb dropped the bloody axe collapsing to the ground clasping his head. Blood leaked from all orifices trickling through its fingers as it collapsed to the ground. Orsik turned to look at his fallen partner while still trying to defend himself. However when he looked it was the other giant dwareb who was on the ground, this stalled him, two down? This was his only thought when the mace connected with his collarbone.

Faudin jumped to his aid harrying the enemy away. He had a foot on Orsik and chanted while he defended his friend.

Orsik stared in disbelief at the dwarf he just watched get cut in half. I changed his fate, I couldn't affect yours that soon. The two of our healing magics should be able to get you back in the fight. He looked over to see Shardigan in the doorway, flinging shards like they were daggers and felling a couple of the first wave group. He rose to his feet and flexed his arm working the shoulder in a circle, it hurt but he steeled himself mentally and called upon his dwarven toughness to finish the healing that the other two had provided. Retrieving the axe which he had just witnessed killing his friend, he said, "Faudin lad this one's mine." Orsik then leaped into the air at the enemy who had been focused on the smaller dwarf and swung mightily down, when the blow connected the same purple light exploded from the impact point and Orsik swung three more times in quick succession. Ten and two remaining.

Watching their champions fall did not dishearten but rather infuriated the rest of the dwarebs. The last ten rushed in quickly, three of them expanding in size as they came. Orsik and Faudin retreated so the enemies would funnel into a smaller area. "ARCTIC WINDS!" The old dwarf Gherran shouted ice and snow covering their retreat. The spell didn't have the same impact as it had on the scarabs but it slowed them down enough for them to close the gate.

"What are we going to do, there are too many of them, and what in the name of Hornok is that growing spell? Wizard, can you do that?" Krennel yelled as he pushed against the door.

"No, that is currently beyond me, but it is quite interesting."

"Rangrim! Get over here and help. Where is he?" Orsik looked as best he could with his good shoulder into the door.

"Right here, my friend." Rangrim said as he swung through the open vent hatch closing it behind him. "I was only able to deal with two of them out there. What are we going to do, what is the plan?" The man had a bruised left eye, a knot on his head, and a gash down his left arm.

"GASEOUS CLOUD!" Gherran had knelt down to blow under the door a thick blue and green smoke. "That should give us a bit of reprieve, terrible stuff." The old dwarf stood up and backed away. Soon as he did he the pounding subsided as the enemies backed away.

"Perhaps we can bargain with them, what is it that they want?" Jon said unsteadily.

"Our armor, weapons, blood, bones, and likely even out meat for the pots." Orsik replied grimly. "They will not be able to be bartered with, we will die or they will."

The dwarves looked at one another, at Shardigan, at Jon the blacksmith, to the room that held fallen Earnon, to the hills where Krundlebottom held. "We can't just roll over and let this happen." Faudin said while he a Shardigan were administering whatever healing they could, "We have too much to do still."

"What if we lure them into the smithy, as a chokepoint, and take them out that way?" Krennel asked.

"No lad that wouldn't do, if one of them who can grow like those gets in, it would tear the roof down upon our heads." Orsik indicated the light covering. "Jon be there any way out or perhaps a dry cellar that we can hold out in?"

The blacksmith dropped his eyes, "I hadn't gotten to that yet."

Rangrim began flexing his fists, "Well I guess that leaves the last effort."

Someone else is here. Shardi interjected after he was finished. One person.

"Oh great what is this going to be the leader they spoke of, probably a wizard too, going to burn the whole smithy down upon our heads." Krennel was interrupted by shouts of alarm from outside followed by shouts of pain.

Each of them glanced about and steeled themselves to run out and save some poor soul who seemed to happen upon their battleground.

They jerked open the doors, the two experienced warriors being the first out with Faudin, Krennel, and Jon following. Gherran and Shardigan took up the rear. They proceeded to run into the three in front of them as they couldn't see that Orsik and Rangrim had stopped dead in their tracks.

The group of dwarebs circled around an old man, sword in hand, swaying with the drink. Two of the foes lay at the old man's feet still. The remaining ten attacked as one, three of them growing to the larger size as they advanced. The old man held up one finger as if he wanted to say something then shook his head and flowed to the right pulling his sword across the belly of one of the foes who had an axe raised above his head.

The man stumbled backward avoiding the collapsing form then leaned forward to counteract the overcorrection extending his blade into the ribcage of another. This one fell into the legs of one of the giants tripping it up. The creature was falling towards the swordsman who held one hand up as if to saying he was sorry and backing away causing the falling enemy to just miss landing upon his back.

The man stepped forward and put his sword down as if it were a cane to steady him and stretched his back. The point of the sword was driven deep into the kidney of the fallen giant who screamed in agony as the blade sank in. Another giant reached out and grabbed the man by his hair lifting him high in the air, "Owe you bastard don't do that!" The old swordsman screamed as he was lifted. He had angled his sword so that it sliced up the leg and body of the giant who lifting him, turning the force of the lift into the force pulling the sword. The creature yelled out in agony as it reached his stomach and dropped the man onto the ground.

Four of the smaller dwarebs advanced on the fallen foe maces and cudgels at the ready, from his back the swordsman tucked his legs, rolled to his feet in a quick and graceful movement, and dusted his front and back off in the time it took them to close the distance. They pulled up but not before they were within reach of the man. Sword flashed left, right, up, and down. All four weapons lay on the ground two still in their hands the other accompanied by a number of fingers. The swordsman dashed forward with the follow-up attack, ran one of the enemies through the chest, withdrew his sword pulling it as if from a sheath, and drew it across the neck of another two.

The fourth remaining had time to pull his dagger from his belt with his off-hand. He lunged haphazardly at the swordsman, clearly not used to fighting with this hand, the man smashed the pommel of the sword into the temple. Sidestepping the attack, dropped his body so that he held the forearm between body and arm and pulled his knee up with a sickening crack into the elbow hyperextending the joint. The enemy lay on the ground in agony missing a hand and the other arm broken.

The last two remaining dwarebs, one large and one small circled the man who had decimated their comrades. The smaller one produced what appeared to be a pick on a chain and began to whirl it around, the larger one had two axes. The chain user launched his attack, sharpened blade flashing in the waning light for the man who dodged, but the chain user pulled backward and the chain bent sending the pick into the old man's leg. Now hobbled the swordsman could not possibly avoid the axe wielder.

Blades flashed, swordsman fell to the ground, blades missed, sword extended upwards into the groin, axes clattered to the ground, swordsman rolled to his feet pulling the pick from his leg, limped towards the foe who turned and ran. He didn't get far as, by this time the party had made it across the yard to where the fighting was, Gherran yelled out, "HOLD." And the enemy froze in his tracks. Faudin advanced on the swordsman, "I can heal your leg." The old swordsman held up a hand to keep him back.

"Thank you master dwarf however my leg will heal of its own accord soon." He turned around and the group watched his wound knitting together. "Now I have come where I was sent, saved who I was meant, and killed many foes this evening. The sunsets, the celebration should begin but we should return to my house as it seems this smithy won't be as comfortable as it was before the battle." He indicated the bodies everywhere. "Master blacksmith, go prepare your cart, you are meant to come as well. The rest of us will move the bodies."

Jon acquiesced, "Yes sir, thank you for coming." Then looked at the group. "I will be ready in a bit, Krennel come with me to load the cart please, and check on Earnon."

Krennel followed with a nod and the two of them set about their task. The rest of the party looked at the swordsman, who stretched and sheathed his sword. The moment hilt met scabbard the powerful warrior they had just watched seemed to melt away and a tired old man remained, one who indeed showed the typical swagger and tilt to his gait of someone who had been deep into a bottle that day. The man was drunk, barely able to walk a straight line yet had done what he had with the grace of a dancer. "Master swordsman, what be your name?" Orsik asked as he hefted one of the fallen dwarebs and began to drag it towards the woods.

He titled his head towards the dwarf and let it sway a bit to the right before replying in heavily slurred speech, "Thee names Esln, Eesline, Eisssslaaan. Yessh thatss it, Eislan. Sshouldn't've stried that new bottle at the baarr. I don't think it mixsches well." He looked to Rangrim, "You know itsch nishe to meets you. Nap time."

With that the man simply lied down and rested his head on his curled arms, he was snoring within seconds.

What a strange man. He seems to be afflicted by some kind of poisoning. Perhaps Faudin and I can heal him.

"Perhaps you can, but that’s no poisoning, he simply drank too much. Let him sleep a bit while we clean up this rabble. It’s the least we can do. First, let's look to see if any are alive. If there dead roll them over onto their backs, proper like." Orsik indicated the one that he had moved from the others and placed on his back.

The party went to work, there were two survivors one unconscious and the other trying to crawl away but his inability to see hindered that greatly. Orsik dispatched the unconscious one with a quick turn of the neck while Rangrim subdued the blind dwareb.

By the time the group of five had every one of the dwarebs dragged into the woods and procured useful items from the bodies Jon and Krennel had the wagon prepared and loaded complete with Earnon.

Faudin and Shardigan moved close to the old swordsman, Faudin stating that he had a spell that might purify some of the alcohol out of the man. The anvil glowed, Faudin touched his stomach and after the silver light subsided the old man awoke, rolled to his side, and expelled some of the alcohol and what looked to be beets from his stomach.

Wiping his mouth while he stood up in order to properly greet him he swayed. He stepped to steady himself placing one hand on the hilt of his sword. When the dizziness stopped, he pulled his sword an inch from the scabbard. With this motion, the drunk old man waned and the swordsman reappeared. "Thank you for that master dwarf, he said to Faudin, you are a great healer. My name is Eislan, I was told to come to the smithy tonight." he paused as he shot a quick glance to his sword, "A friend told me there would be people who would be able to help me with a situation that I have recently found myself in. They would be in danger and I needed to hurry. Please allow me to invite you to my home, it isn't far just on the eastern edge of town. It's large enough for us all to sleep comfortably till the morning."

Rangrim stepped forward, "You are a strange man, slipping from drunk to sober with the draw of a sword. What magic lies within that blade to allow you this?"

"Things will be explained, but I am afraid that as dangerous as those creatures were, these days in Runigrad it's much safer to be in the woods with them than outside at night, we shouldn’t tarry."

Orsik and Rangrim looked at one another, shrugged, and motioned for the party to head out.

The swordsman, for he remained the swordsman, hand ever on the hilt of his slightly drawn sword, was true to his word and they soon found themselves in front of a grand two-story building that had seen better days.

Shutters over the windows, under-repaired front steps and an unkempt lawn all showed the age of the house and the lower care of its owner. But oh how that changed when they entered the front steps. The entryway had beautifully crafted and polished oaken tables and some beautiful artwork. Faudin made a note to return to the entryway after they had rested for he enjoyed art very much. The old man showed them to rooms on the first floor for Krennel and Earnon, Jon, and Faudin. The rest of the group he brought to the second floor and offered them the master guest room, which was large enough for all of them to share. He bid them good night and said that he would see them in the morning.

Posting watches was ignored for the group recognized that there was no reason to ambush them if this Eislan wanted to do them harm. They slept soundly for the first time in what seemed like ages even though it had been only a day prior that they awoke in their own beds.