Winning Vote said:
[X] [Knowledge:] Reveal a moderate amount.
[X] [Write-in] Ask Rorek Three Questions that don't pertain to political or Runesmith secrets.
-[X] Question 1: The political climate of the runesmiths of Izril, including himself.
-[X] Question 2: Would Rorek be interested in future discussions and letter exchange?
-[X] Question 3: His thoughts on Zorn and its relationship to the rest of the Southern Holds.
━<><><>< 404 A.P. ><><><>━
After Snorri left Clan Thungnisson's home and went back to the Inn he was staying in
The morning after the get-together held by Clan Thungnisson, you analyze the information Rorek offered you last night with a mind free of the influence of alcohol.
You're not ashamed to admit that you did take the opportunity to get a better image of what exactly the Dawi of Izril, those who were often your most vocal critics after Khazagar, were on about.
Izril was by no means a monolith, but the City of Jewels had a reputation of a tightly knit and competitive community of Runesmiths. There, the oldest branches and breakaways from Clan Thungnisson laid down their foundations, and such a connection shows in the relations each Clan has with their cousins. While one would expect a greater spectrum of thought, given Thungni's children all possessed varying opinions and stances on their Father's intent themselves, Izril's community is solidly Conservative though they quibbled with one another over a few key details here and there. This was a result of a long running and very much living, if dormant, dispute in Izril's past. One that resulted in many of the more radical Clans leaving the City of Jewels in a migration that would come to found Karak Brynduraz, and subsequently create Izril's longest historical rival for the Claim of capital of Runesmithing among the Old Holds. Something it only narrowly led in because a larger amount of Clan Thungnisson resided in Izril before Thungni bid them to move to Karaz a Karak, further shrinking the Hold's numbers.
Izril's modern Runesmith community is a result of these migrations. Immense pride in their history and intense competition between each other as they believed Thungni wished.
Rorek's information gives you a great deal more current and nuanced detail though.
Currently Izril's politics, at least among Runesmiths, is largely determined by Clans Gemlinling, Aldbaraz, Grungagril, and Deepdelver, the four largest and most prominent of the Hold's Runesmithing Clans. Gemlinling and Aldbaraz were largely united after the Runelord of each Clan had their children wed to the other's not too long ago. These two were most traditional of the four Clans, producing long and storied lines of Runesmiths well versed in each Clan's respective specialties; Weapon and Armour Runes respectively. There are rumours that both Runelords used their children as part of a negotiation to learn the other's secrets, but Rorek can neither confirm nor deny if that's the case.
Clan Grungagril were hardline Conservatives to the extreme, holding to the Rule of Pride to the letter. Their Runesmiths were like Vragni in that regard, known for knowing a wide, and deep number of Rune variants that have been methodically passed down for generations. Salacious rumours exist that the reason the Clan can maintain its massive repertoire of Runes across so many generations is because they dare to write down their Runelore. Rorek cannot say either way, but he thinks it's just as likely that they were extreme sticklers about keeping knowledge of these Runes alive or they had found a way to transmit knowledge in more esoteric ways as it is them simply writing their Runelore down.
The last, Clan Deepdelver, is the most odd of the four Cans. They are, in Rorek's words, "obsessed," with the Ankor Bryn, and their Runesmiths regularly travel into Izril's lowest reaches for years at a time in search of the gate that they claim Thungni used to enter the Glittering Realm. Rorek believes it to be largely ceremonial at this point, but no one can tell with them. They keep to themselves for the most part and as such Rorek knows the least of their internal politics. What he does know is that when the Deepdelver return from their expeditions, it's often loaded with a great deal of mineral wealth and rare reagents from the monsters their Clan faces in the pitch blackness, leaving them rather self sufficient.
To your great displeasure, and Rorek's amusement, Khazagar has united them in a way few have seen, as all of them disagree with it but for varying reasons.
The Aldbaraz and Gemlinling officially protest it on ideological grounds, that you seek to cement your dominion of the North and sway the path of its Runesmiths. Rorek thinks it rather hypocritical of them, given their own efforts to apparently dominate the other Runesmith Clans of Izril, but he supposes they think you're playing outside the bounds of the proverbial game. The Grungagril think you're a madman seeking to destroy the Guild from within, then again they really never appreciated your, in their eyes, flagrant disrespect of the Rule of Pride. So to them it was merely more fuel for a fire you'd lit long ago.
He also told you that there had been a rather noticeable uptick in purchases each of those Clans had made, mostly reagents, but in precious gems and construction material as well.
Out of curiosity you prod Rorek about his opinion on the matter of your work, but he simply told you that merely finds your method creatively
lazy.
Lazy he says. Bah!
Of the four, Clan Deepdelver's reasons were the strangest, as they seemingly were in most other respects apparently. They claimed the only physical repository of Runelore outside one's mind that ought to exist is the Ankor Bryn, and that Khazagar would almost certainly become a place that broke that rule. You think its hogwash, given your explicit and repeated efforts to make it clear that wouldn't be the case, but Rorek merely points out that no Dwarf lives forever. The Deepdelvers may not necessarily fear you doing such a thing, but they believe it will almost certainly happen with a successor of yours, be it one generation or twenty from now.
As for Rorek's personal leanings, the boy was as elusive as a kid running from a goatherd on that front and you were forced to parse together what you could from the rambling and non sequiturs.
Your reading may not be perfect, but you're not a buffoon. He seemed to keep his true thoughts close to his chest, and you reckon even those who know him best may still second guess themselves every so often. Admittedly, you only spoke to the lad once and were on your way into being properly smashed for the latter half of it, yet you can clearly recall the look in your fellow Runelord's eyes.
Behind that affable facade and general air of calm was a mind that Thungni saw as worthy of His acknowledgement.
No, you reckon Rorek Get-gold is not the type of Dwarf to surrender, and would pursue his goals with a single minded focus that was worthy of awe. He claimed he was about as Conservative as any other Izril Runesmith that would willingly talk to you, and while you reckon he holds himself to those principles on a personal level, you can't help but feel as if he'd not care an ounce if you were the most radical madman in the Khazrhunrikki if the benefit of doing so outweighed the costs.
Actually, that may be exactly what may have happened in Rorek's mind when he accepted your offer to correspond on a more regular basis.
Fit the image in your mind at least, the impertinent little sod.
The final question was something you threw out on a whim, given you had everything you wanted from him at the time and egged on by your little talk with Tungaz.
Rorek admitted that his knowledge of how Zorn operated currently was fairly barebones, seeing them as a Hold too bound by traditions the Ancestors had done away with for good reason. Still, for his lack of reverence for the Oldest Hold, he
could tell you that the Hold was unusually active in recent decades. Zorn, he told you, has been fairly hands off in the trade of raw goods, only exporting finished works and their expertise whenever it was desired. At least until these past few decades, which has apparently seen a massive, for Zorn, number of traders come to the markets of the southern Holds for raw material. There was also an event that occurred while Rorek was busy with a personal project two decades or so ago, where King Tungaz had personally visited Karak Izril for reasons Rorek never bothered to find out.
━<><><><==><><><>━
Present
It's all about trust in the end isn't it?
When there is a lull in the conversation you decide, against your immediate instincts and common sense, to actually speak.
"Alright fine," you grumble out, "I can speak on
some of what I'm doing."
With those words you gain the attention of everyone at the table.
"Truth of it is simple. Much as I agree with the point Bogrin made, the only thing actually stopping me from telling the lot of you what I found is because of how my
other projects have woven themselves into this particular mystery. Honestly the fact that they
do, completely by happenstance may I add, is something I'm hoping is a promising sign, and not that I'm caught up in my own head."
"Aye? Damn it Snorri, I always hated having interesting things I couldn't know dangled in front of me, but what exactly
can you tell us then?" Gorra asks.
You pause and honestly think on the topic. No one here is an idiot, and you don't doubt that with enough digging they could reliably guess as to what your aim was.
Bah.
Now more than ever you wish you could have just fulfilled their request earlier, damn thing's been there for decades at this point and they may not have been as curious as they were
now. Then again you may just be falling into the trappings of hindsight.
"I trust my gut on this one, but you don't have to trust
me so take my words with however much salt you'd like. After studying everyone's work I've come to a similar conclusion as some of you already have, that purifying Adamant further isn't the right path forward. Steel, after all, is better than iron. To me it's just a question of finding our proverbial charcoal, and it's there that things get difficult for me to offer as freely."
There. No hints to what exactly you were doing with the Consternation or Alchemy beyond the fact that they may end up helping you find the key to refining adamant. You're actually a little proud of the steel metaphor there.
After all, you use coal for more than just making Steel.
Not that they'll know before it was good and done of course.
"Actually more than I thought we'd get," Modi comments.
"Aye, that's five copper I owe you now," his twin admits.
"Five
more you me-" he begins to mutter before his twin shuts him up with a swift elbow to his gut.
"You'd fancy answering a question then?" Gorra asks, ignoring Modi's annoyed grumbling.
"I can't guarantee anything, but you can ask," you say frankly.
"Fair enough. Does this
other work have anything to do with how reticent you've been with the other request Bogrin sent you?" Gorra asks, earning nods from the aforementioned Runelord.
You blink, then cough rather sheepishly.
"Ah. I
have just been too busy to get to that one. No comment either way on whether they're related though. You'll find out whenever I get to doing it."
"If I'm alive for that," Gorra snarks without any real heat, "but I'll take what I can get. At least you're telling me something worth my while I suppose, and given you've seemingly compiled
everyone's notes to come to that conclusion, it's at least got more weight behind it than any one of ours individually."
━<><><><==><><><>━
Hopefully, Gloin thinks,
today's round of discussions would not be struck with any more surprise visits.
Branzagazi's unexpected appearance yesterday had thankfully resolved itself quickly enough.
There was a new ring on King Whitebeard's finger, carved from the bones of an Elder Wyrm and worked upon for decades by the combined craftsmanship of the Brana's finest artisans that stood in stark contrast to the others he wore. The angular yet organic shapes of Brana style stand in stark contrast to traditional Dwarfen aesthetic principles, and though many certainly grumbled and scoffed at the quality of it, none could deny the message behind it. A great deed was done, and yet greater labour was poured into the creation of something by a young polity in good faith and reciprocity for what was done for them.
It was a gift, one given to the new King of Karaz a Karak to reaffirm the pact made centuries past.
There were grumblings about how exactly Brana had
known to come and consequently why they didn't say anything beforehand, but Branzagazi's words had mollified them as much as one could reasonably hope.
"There are things beyond the sight of my Father, of which your Ancestors and Their deeds are among. But the reactions to those deeds can be heard still; that is to say, He may not be able to see the stone tossed into a lake nor stop its passing, but He can observe the ripples such an act generates," He explains to the assembled Dwarf Kings, "My Father saw only that a King would be crowned in Karaz a Karak, not the cause for it, and so bid that I go and present this gift to him."
Not much had gotten done after that, but by the end of that day it had become increasingly clear to him that the question of how the Dwarf kingdoms were to operate in the future had roused the ambition of many of his fellow monarchs. King Whitebeard, and Gloin will remain convinced that it
was his handiwork till the day he dies, managing to prevent thoughts of independent polities as was the way of Zorn, and at least agree some form of political unity needed to be implemented.
"Husband," Kaggra interrupts, drawing his attention out of his thoughts and back to the present.
"Wife," Gloin greets, intoning his head before continuing more quietly, "what have you found?"
"Can't tell you what they're thinking, but blocs have already begun to form among the Old Holds. Varn and Zhufbar have wrangled Brynduraz, Kadrin and their surrounding neighbours to join them, our nephew won't say but it's clear they're likely trying to court him and Vlag as well. Eight Peaks, Drazh, Azul and Izril seem to be in the beginnings of talks, but I don't have as many ins there than I do back home. How about your end? " she answers.
Gloin's mouth makes a grim line. While there was no system of voting ever mentioned, no proposed solution would actually work without most of those involved agreeing to it, and he'd be a fool not to see where everyone stood.
"The western holds are Whitebeard's through and through, they'll no doubt support whatever proposition he makes. My overtures to the eastern kings have left me with the distinct impression that they'll side with Whitebeard as well, though I doubt its for the same reasons."
Neither of them spoke of or to Zorn. Though the man didn't say it in plain terms, it was incredibly clear that he was here for completely different reasons than the other kings and queens.
"Just waiting to hear whatever solution Whitebeard has tucked in his sleeve then," his wife says.
Gloin can only nod.
━<><><><==><><><>━
Bogrin has one final topic for everyone in the room, and its one of particular importance, if rather mundane.
"Tremors have gotten worse, figured this would be the fastest way to let you all know."
"How much worse?"
"Enough that we're considering an expedition to figure out if something's gone wrong with the deep wards, I was wondering if anyone here was available to help."
"Timetable?"
"Dron isn't that far, we could probably pop in and be on our way home fairly easily."
Magda, Modi and Kraggi nod while Gorra and Damin shake their heads.
"I have business to attend to sadly, and that place has it out for me anyway. I've stepped into half molten rock and nearly gotten myself killed more often than I would wish," Gorra grumbles.
When Bogrin turns to you and Bara, still shaking his head at Gorra and Modi's little spat, he blinks.
"Right. Snorri, Bara, given the distance between you two and the mountain which we derive our name from, none of us here expected you to be aware of these events. But several of our members, especially the ones who spend the most of their time in Dron, began complaining about unusual tectonic activity a few years prior. Old Thunder is an active Volcano, so it's to be expected, but at the same time its tremors are usually predictable. Thanks in no small part due to the efforts of Durin and our forebears in taming the place to suit our needs. These recent ones have been a break from the mold though, we don't know what's causing them, and frankly we don't really care either. It's not mandatory to chip in, but if either of you are interested in actually visiting the place I certainly won't stop you."
"What exactly does such an expedition entail?' Bara asks, more curious than anything.
"Apprentice work!" Gorra comments.
Bogrin throws a half hearted glare her way before turning back to face the both of you.
"While Gorra's being melodramatic, the work
is fairly mundane. The Runesmiths who live there on a semi permanent basis usually tend to this themselves, but the deepest parts of Dron, where Durin and the other founders laid the strongest wards and reinforcements, are in areas that are dangerous even for properly warded armour. Just a twist of fate that no one there is currently skilled enough to forge gear capable of keeping them alive these past few centuries, so we've been picking up the slack. Before you introduced your smelters we actually earned a few extra bars of Adamant for the trouble."
"Caverns are beautiful, even when they're glowing bright orange and liable to collapse into a puddle at the slightest touch," Kraggi idly mentions in between sips of his drink.
"How'd you have time to notice?" Gorra asks.
"Because my old arse wasn't tripping over every rock and stone like a child. Incredible how much more time I have to appreciate things when I have working spatial awareness." he snarks back.
"Bah, go sit on your stash of rockberries you blind old codger. But, much as I hate saying it, he's right, you two. Dron does have a certain charm to it."
Hmm.
[ ] [
Dron:] Accept. Go to Karag Dron after the Conclave. +1 Pt. to Coronation of 404.
[ ] [
Dron:] Refuse. Do not go to Karag Dron.
━<><><><==><><><>━
"Grungni's realm will be sundered over my broken body!" a particularly Dwarf lord rumbles, seeming to speak for several others given the way they nod at his words.
"You would accuse me of such a betrayal? I recommended only that the Kings of each Hold be given the authority to decide what goes on in their domain without worry of their fellows butting into their business," the accused monarch protests, drawing nods of agreement from his allies.
"And what of disputes with a brother King then eh? Where is the forethought expected of a King, for I see only a babe's before me!" another voice answers, entering the debate and causing several more to begin muttering and grumbling.
Gloin can feel a headache forming.
Discussions had not improved, in fact they were spiraling worse than before.
The question of what to do would always fracture along one simple truth.
A Dwarf King's rule was all but absolute, and their egos such that there were precious few who they would follow without complaint. And now a majority, even all depending on who you asked, of those individuals had disappeared and left them floundering as fish. Since outright independence had been shut down so thoroughly, the question of
how to settle the inevitable disputes that would arise became the new battleground. The two largest camps who proposed a solution were divided on letting the involved parties settle between themselves, or some third party mediate. The former was folly for obvious and historic reasons, and the latter had the problem of finding a third body whose pedigree could cow a Dwarf Ruler into agreeing.
"His Kingdom,
His Rule!" several begin to chant, the words being picked up by yet more Dawi.
"Unity is tradition!" their opponents chant back, riling up the room even more.
Even as the room slowly begins to descend into chaos, Gloin ignores everyone and instead stares at one Dwarf in particular.
Snorri Whitebeard.
Gloin isn't an idiot, whichever side the King of Karaz a Karak supports is liable to win through inertia alone. Of all the Dawi here, his word carries the greatest weight, and perhaps in acknowledgement of that he has been sparring in using it. Yet he cannot reckon why the King does not say anything now, to settle tempers and calm down the occupants in the room.
Unless of course,
he's got some other motive.
Gloin's mind pauses at that thought, but as he begins to examine it in greater detail his attention is drawn towards the sound of flesh hitting flesh.
The first punch of the day then, Gloin thinks, sighing as he watches the brawl beginning to form.
━<><><><==><><><>━
"Archmage Maeledros." Laequalys greets, stepping into the man's chambers to find him with his back towards the prince.
The older elf turns to regard Laequalys for a moment before turning back to his work.
"Prince Laequalys, you have arrived promptly. Excellent. My divinations into your request have indeed borne fruit. Behold." He says, turning back to the prince with a spell in his grasp.
The Archmage spreads his arms outward, and in response the ball of
Azyr in his hands expands outward several times its original size.
Within the sphere of Azyr, Laequalys can see the image of what could only be a city on the coast, though nothing liked he'd seen. A large sprawling scar that seemed to emanate outwards from the sea, made of blackened stone and iron.
"The creatures that inhabit this place are the culprits. I believe you know of them already from your stunted acquaintance."
"The Fimir, yes."
"Indeed. The Hag Queen of this particular city is an affront to my sensibilities and taste. She has corrupted the local leyline in such a way that
Ghur is drawn to it in such quantities that it is visible to the naked eye. The majority, she uses for some foul purpose that has been warded from my sight. Nevertheless, she had become
lax and inefficient. A large amount of the
Ghur she uses is wasted, cast off into the surrounding environment. Though now she has rectified that error, rather than letting it go to waste the foul wretch has been dumping the Wind into the waters surrounding her domain. So much so that its after effects have caused several berserk sea beasts to disturb the local ecosystem and agitate the other fauna."
"How quickly can we end this threat Archmage? Disruption to trade aside, to tamper with the leylines is too great a risk, especially so close to the Northern Rift."
"As they
all have young Prince. Every Hag Queen on this peninsula is doing something similar, if in their own uniquely brutish way." Maeledros agrees, a line from his furrowing brows marring his otherwise placid features as he continues to stare at the image he created before turning to face him fully. "I would recommend you rouse whatever forces you can muster to expunge this threat, even at the expense of this endeavor's secrecy. Time is of the essence. If this continues I predict the creation of permanent chaos rifts in a half century at minimum."
Laequalys' frown is severe.
The Dwarfs will need to be informed.
━<><><><==><><><>━
VOTE:
[ ] [
Dron:] Accept. Go to Karag Dron after the Conclave.
+1 Pt. to Coronation of 404.
[ ] [
Dron:] Refuse. Do not go to Karag Dron.
━<><><>< Khazalid Trivia ><><><>━
Aldbaraz - Old Oath
Brangandazi - Clever Discoverer, Son of the King of the Skies
Grungagril - Silvermine
Karag Dron - "Thunder Mountain," the Brotherhood of Dron has facilities within the Volcano itself and several members live there on a semi permanent basis.
━<><><>< Gain ><><><>━
- Gain 1 Standing and 30 Favours with the Brotherhood of Dron, new totals: Standing 7, Favours 30
-- Standing Bonus received! Fraternity of Thought: Chance for actions researching Runes to proc extra progress, increased chance to to proc extra progress when doing Material Science research
- Correspondence with Rorek Get-Gold will now occur every so often.
━<><><><==><><><>━
VOTING IS OPEN.
AN: Anyway have a doot. Accidentally posted before I could write the AN. The Rorek part was a killer. I couldn't write Rorek to sound as clever as I wanted him, just came off as cheesy and half assed, so I chose option three and did an after the fact. Secondly, what I want to say is that I was thinking about making this a possible no vote update, but maybe some people wanna go back to normal turns rather than go to Karag Dron so here u go. I have a feeling it may be fairly one-sided but just in case, you guys have surprised me before. As always, hope you enjoy and don't forget to C&C. :^)
