The Sword and the Flame: The Forging

Chapter 11

A peaceful night settled on Hope as most readied for bed; a glowing red ember being the only telling sign that someone stirred. Galin sat outside his market stall, puffing on his pipe. Most Dwarves would've looked on him with ridicule and disgust for adopting one of the human's vile practices. He shrugged off the thought. To the Abyss with their opinions and beliefs. Dwarves were notorious for their xenophobic beliefs as many of their race spend their entire lives below fresh air.

Those that chose to leave the safety of the mountain kingdom often took to life among the other people in the world. Humans were fond of the metal smith abilities of the Dwarves and paid handsomely for the trinkets, weapons, even apprenticeships. Though few Dwarves took humans as their apprentice, being it took forty years before a Dwarf was deemed suitable to work on his own. With their shortened life spans, humans would spend much, if not all of their lives, learning the Dwarven trade. For some, it proved worth the time as they were able to learn with the finest craftsmen the world had ever known.

Even the Elves looked beyond their own isolationism and invited Dwarven craftsmen to design the occasional temple or other structure the Elves were unable to construct. As a result of their abilities, Dwarves were often hired to design and build prisons — which Halflings took as an insult — and fortifications during the threat of war — which was often between the humans.

The result of those journeys and friendships built often resulted in the Dwarves earning up to five times more gold than their cousins choosing to remain in their kingdom. To the Dwarves remaining behind, their wandering cousins took on the habits and beliefs of those in the outside world. It came to a head seventy years earlier during which a brutal separation of the two took place. The Mountain Dwarves remained behind in their kingdom beneath the mountains, while those wishing to leave were exiled from the kingdom; their return being punishable by death.

Like their ancestors in Praxus, the exiled Dwarves soon began working on their own kingdom located under the rolling hills of Vermand. There they applied the skills that had been passed down for generations as well as those learned from humans such as farming, animal husbandry, and trading. Their kingdom, known as Vermand Sound, began to thrive as their trading center became legendary. Despite the bitter divorce from their kinsmen over their differing opinions, they continued to refuse admittance into their new kingdom to the other races without an invitation, staying true to the old ways. Change as they may, the distrust remained towards the other races.

Galin harrumphed at the memory of leaving his ancestral home while puffing on his pipe. To call him too human was rewarded with a smile. He loved humans; they were better than Elves, in his opinion. Humans were nearly always willing to listen to a Dwarf's opinion on almost anything. In particular, when it came to stone crafting or metallurgy. On the latter, Galin's family was the best, had been for several generations. His great, great grandfather invented the art form, in many Dwarven minds. Dwarven steel was much more refined than the clumsy iron weapons the humans used at the time and far sturdier than anything the Elves could make from wood and just as beautiful. Yes, his family had always had the talent to work metal, and he assumed that was the driving force behind why he cared so much for the humans. They appreciated the work, as even the lowest of them nodded their admiration.

Galin missed his ancestral home, but life was better for him now. Every day brought new adventures. There were always a few that liked to haggle over the price of a bracelet, the purity of a necklace, or the functional ability of a knife. For the first time in a long while, he'd sold everything faster than he thought possible. He brought enough to last two weeks at Hope, but after two days, he closed his business except for the occasional mending of chain mails or some other small service. He sent his nephew and his two assistants to Vermand Sound ahead of him, where they'd arrive by the following night to put his earnings into the family keep. He planned on following in a couple of days; the area around Hope was quiet and cool that time of year and he wanted to relax. Renard would be upset with him for leaving, but he had paid off his rental stall for the rest of the week, so any outrage would be more show than not.