A group of beardlings huddle around each other at a table, several from outside the hold coming with their newly arrived clans and one born here. The latter speaks with what little authority he has on King Otrek's coronation and the events that transpired that day.
They tell of a great celebration that involved every clan of the hold, from bumbling beardling to most venerable elder, and how Clan Ironarm bought enough food to feast ten times the dwarfs that were there five times over. The ale, from Trollbrew to Ynglisson Bitter flowed freely and in quantities that would put even the Longbeards under the table.
A feast fit for a king was served to every dwarf there, where the food was hearty and filled a dwarf's belly four times over. The finest skalds available were hired to sing litanies of the Battle at the Dragon's Maw, their harmonious chorus filling the air with a sense of cheer and victory.
The festive mood climbed higher then, when Thane Ironarm stood from his seat and bid the dwarfs there to hear his announcement.
The room grew quiet then, out of respect for the dwarf who had made this wondrous occasion possible.
There, the Longbeards say, then-Thane Ironarm spoke at length about the battle, his grinding voice recounting fel deed and swift vengeance with such alacrity that many felt themselves transported there on that day when the Runelord Snorri Gift Giver brought low the fel Troll who had taken so many good dawi lives. Of the cataclysmic clash between that honoured elder and that most hideous beast, told in such detail that many a beardling quivered in their boots.
Then, the beardling says,
Thane Ironarm spoke of the unity the clans displayed, of the unbreakable resolve each dwarf showed, and the stalwart trust they placed in the arms of those they may not have even known. His heartening words lifting the spirits and pride of the veterans and inspiring awe and admiration in their fellows.
When Thane Ironarm seemed to finish his tale, he paused and looked out across the entire hall, seeing the rapt attention of every dwarf there.
He spoke these words, which they share now with absolute accuracy.
"I found it unfitting then, that such a momentous occasion, one that I dare say defined our hold and the dawi who were there that day, was left un-commemorated. For while Skalds sing, and they do so beautifully here, and carvings are struck, to last for eternity, and the dead honoured we forget that it was a battle
that day! So it is that I bring you here, good dawi one and all, to bear witness to a memento from the Dwarf who undeniably saved our lives from a most horrid fate! I have commissioned an axe worthy of carrying the name Trollslayer, of bearing the weight of that piece of history on its shoulders, to be held by Clan Ironarm as a symbol of remembrance!"
It was then that the Runelord entered the chamber, his honoured apprentices walking behind him, a great bundle held between them both.
Looking upon the crowd the Elder stood silent, as stoic as the mountain's face, and turned to the Thane and spoke, his voice rumbling like an avalanche,
"I come here Thane, and as you have asked of me, made you a weapon. One worthy of song and saga, to bear a story beyond my name. Wield it well, wield it true, and let the name Trollslayer ring prophetic."
As he finished, the Runelord swept aside the cloth then raised the weapon on high, for all the hold to see.
Trollslayer
An axe whose blows struck like meteors, who broke apart all that fell beneath its un-dulling edge. Its silver edge gleaming in the Runelight, sapphire and silver decorated handle sturdy and true, and the Runes on its head glowing brighter than even the stars.
The sight of such craftsmanship, such brilliance brought many a dwarf to tears, Thane Ironarm included, who reverently took that weapon and said,
"This weapon is beyond me, a Thane, this is a weapon fit for a king, fit for a Lord. I will remember this debt, forever and always. Should you call, Clan Ironarm will honour our oath and our debt and come to your aid so long as one of our blood still draws breath."
None knew who began it, but like a rolling avalanche, the chant was taken up by dwarf after dwarf, reaching a crescendo that shook the halls of the hold.
"Rik! Rik! Rik! Rik, RIK, RIK!!"
So it was that the Elders agreed, and on that spot bade Otrek of Clan Ironarm kneel. From the hands of the High Priestess of Valaya, was a crownhelm of silver, sapphire and Purest Gromril born aloft for the whole of the hall to see.
"You kneel before Elders and Hold a thane, Otrek, son of Gorn, son of Gromin, son of Horrin, son of Gorrin, Son of Yorek, husband of Thungika, sevenfold great-granddaughter of Grimnir! The blood of the Ancestors is in your veins, the blood of our founders. You kneel a Thane, now rise a King!"
The beardling finishes, preening at the awed gazes of his compatriots.
…
You snort.
A bit of very obvious embellishment, not that you'd know. A lot of that ceremony was a haze born from exhaustion and drunkenness.
Sounded nice though, a bit wordy then again the Skalds had to make a living somehow.
You tune out the whispering beardlings behind you and take a hearty drink of nourishing ale. Your disguise doing its job well, and keeping dwarfs from coming to congratulate you and or introducing themselves in the case of the many newly arrived Runesmiths.
You listen through the rest of the bar, hoping for something interesting to flitter across your ears. Miners talk about how their kin down south have been finding more and more veins of precious metals and gems, none like in Kraka Drakk they add with some clear pride, others talk about the Ungdrin and its inexorable march northwards, and how merchants have been bringing in talk of expanding that highway north ahead of schedule on account of the North's growing bounty.
And it
is a bounty. To many dwarfs looking from outside, the region has become a place of promising growth and they want to get in on the ground floor. Caravans have become a frequent sight, one that King Otrek has taken note of. Sending guards to the caravans destined not just for Kraka Drakk but the north in general. Engendering support, goodwill and favours in equal measure.
You'd give the King this, when he wanted things done he got them done. He had used the atmosphere around the north to bring in runesmiths from the Karaz Ankor over with lucrative offers of consistent commission and the exotic materials of the North. Many were journeymen out on their path to discovery, many more were young masters and their apprentices looking for a new home and place to ply their trade as usual, but the call of a king has convinced several veteran masters, some three to four centuries old, to make the trek north and try their luck. Each and every one, you note, has come to visit you over these past few months at least once. While you were certainly honoured by their intentions...
...sometimes a dwarf just wanted a drink in peace.
Of course, your time wasn't just spent relaxing, though you were taking it a bit easy right now on strict orders from Elder Moira.
So you've decided to train your apprentices' vision and critical thinking. Hiding yourself and their lesson plan for the day with the dire knowledge, for them, that if they couldn't find you they would have a
harder lesson.
Jokes on them, both plans were the same! HA!
You nestle into your seat, your ranger disguise making you inconspicuous amongst the denizens of the tavern.
Only for elder Brokk to sit beside you.
"Snorri," he says, respecting your desire for anonymity by using your, admittedly very common, first name.
"Brokk," you reply, "how are things for you under King Otrek?"
"Hmm, listens to his elders. Good high-level strategic thinking, strong fighter, and doesn't shirk the use of my boys and me at least, which is better than most Thanes. Didn't hear this from me, but soon enough Amber will be flooding the market, a decade or two at most, and a message from His Majesty specifically," he whispers.
"Oh?" you say surprised, quietly noting the information about the amber in the back of your head.
"Led a campaign recently as you know, only a week or two out from returning, but he smashed his way southeast towards the coast. S'how he found those respectable amber deposits, should last a few millennia at least, but that's not why I'm here. Lot of dead trolls, lot of other dead beasties too as we went I'm sure you can imagine. Nothing special 'cept for one occasion. He caught sight of some Griffons when he found the amber you see, feasting on some dead sea beast that got beached on the shore."
Your eyebrows raise appreciably, silently motioning for him to continue.
"Anyway, he's decided to host a competition for several of the parts gathered, but he's giving you some regardless, not as pristine as he'd like but your weapon did a number on them," he says, hefting a heavy box over to you.
"How bad?" you ask, keeping the morbid interest out of your voice.
"They exploded," he says simply, sliding over a box to you.
"Brokk," you say as you take the box gracefully.
"Snorri," the elder ranger replies as he gets up and walks out.
Well well well, you rub your hands together and begin to chortle-
-only to hunch down, letting Fjolla pass by as she fails to catch sight of you.
Feh.
…
- Thane Otrek has launched a ceremonial coronation campaign surrounding the North, clearing out returning trolls in your area and removing hordes of the beasts near surrounding settlements. During his travels he discovered large amber deposits and in your case, griffons which he promptly murdered after being attacked by them.
- The Ungdrin grows! Great seams of minerals are being struck across the Karaz Ankor and the growing wealth of the north has plans to expand the Ungdrin north pushed forward a good few years.
Gain:
- +2 Griffon Brains
...
You have (5 - 1) = 4 actions and 2 apprentice actions this turn:
General:
[ ] Odd Places 1/10: Look on Master Yorri's map and try and discover one of his marked locations. The locations will certainly be odd, but whether they'll be useful will remain to be seen.
[Cost: 1 action] Roll for usefulness.
[X] Teach your apprentices.
[Cost: 1 Action] Locked in for 5 turns.
Requests: Denote which simple request will receive the Apprentice Action in your plan.
[ ] [Simple] Runic Warmachines: The Engineer's guild has come to you with a request to improve the hold's warmachines with the power of Runes. Their losses at the Battle at the Dragon's Maw is a stinging blow that shames them. Not that any dwarf blames the engineers or claims they didn't do their part, not much can be done when a bunch of daemons spawn on top of your position and destroy your artillery after all, but the event has lit a fire under their collective arses. The previous decade was spent cranking out bolt and grudge throwers by the dozen and what better way to make even deadlier machines than with runes? Well it's sound logic, runes always make things better.
[Cost: (2-1) =1 actions] Productivity Like No Other will proc.
[ ] [Simple] Defence. In. Depth Pt2: Now that work is done on the outer walls of the Karak, the hold can now focus its efforts on turning the massive clearing into a deathtrap worthy of song and saga! Piping needs to be laid, reservoirs dug, tunnels excavated, stores for food and ammunition packed full for the far flung barracks and watchtowers. Acres of land, mountain passes to be scouted, blocked off or rerouted if need be. It will be a task that will take decades of labour and hardy dwarfen determination. And all of that construction, every last building, artillery piece and tunnel. Needs. Runes.
[Cost: (3-1) =2 actions] Productivity Like No Other Will proc.
[ ] [Simple] Girded in Metal: King Otrek has come to you with a request to engrave Runes on the Gromril armour of his royal guard, or Huskarls as members of the hold also call them. These doughty elders formed from his honour guard and the best warriors of the other clans seconded to his personal defence. The position is one of great honour for these dwarfs and their clans and rewards great. It is only part of the greater armament program King Otrek is undertaking, as he has commissioned many runesmiths for a variety of tasks, but the lives of these dwarfs and by extension his own, he only dares entrust to you. There is no rush, these are dwarfs still armed in Gromril armour and weapons after all.
[Cost: 1 action] Productivity Like No Other Will proc.
[ ] [Simple] Apprentice work: your not
that young, but still young, charges are now of an age you feel it acceptable for them to do a bit of exploration. Send your apprentices out into the hold and pick up a few tasks from whoever offers it to them. Give them a bit of experience for their upcoming trials as journeymen and let them build a reputation in the hold. You'll, of course, critique their work and use it as a learning experience as any good master ought to.
[Cost: variable apprentice actions] Roll for usefulness. 1 Roll per apprentice action.
Research: Your career and your honour demand you hone your craft, and it's usually done through poking at runes and seeing what works.
[ ] The Greedy One's Heart: This thing has been transferred to a warded container because you don't really trust anything that came from
that thing. You're all but certain you could make a truly potent Rune of Healing or Fortitude with this thing, but perhaps there are other uses for it you could come up with that a battery of tests could reveal.
[Cost: 4 actions.] Student of the Odd will proc
[ ] The Secrets of Light?: That moment with the shield and sunray, the light of your torch glinting off the crystal, both sparked something in your mind. An ember that refused to be burned out. You've done permutations to the standard Rune of Light and a few on Master Yorri's Rune of Reflection, but maybe there could be more?
[Cost: (8-2) =6 Actions] Student of the Odd will proc
[ ] The Movement of things: The Rune of Waking or Animation as some would call it is a rare rune. How Master Yorri knows both the regular and Master Rune could be explained by either a harrowing adventure full of terror, beasties and treasure or by something as mundane as asking a friend, you could never be sure with the man. Still, this was a rune that, to your frustration, you haven't had much chance to tinker with. Maybe just a peak?
[Cost: 8 actions] Student of the Odd will proc.
[ ] The Rune Metal Pt. 3: The Gromril isn't pure, well metaphysically. You need to first devise a Rune or Runic array necessary to draw out the magical impurity from the Gromril itself before you can even
begin to tackle the actual physical makeup of such a procedure. You're lucky there's a large body of Runework dedicated to removing or stopping magic cold in its unstable tracks, otherwise this would have taken far longer. Your gut tells you nevertheless, that nothing short of a Master Rune will cut it.
[Cost: (12 -1) =11 Actions] Student of the Odd and Mind of Metal will proc.
[ ] Understand a Master Rune: The same idea as studying any rune in theory, in practice it takes a lot longer and there's often a large chance of explosions.
[Cost: 16 actions] Depending on the choice, Student of the Odd and/or Mind of Metal may proc.
Order: You can order 1 new item a turn, but can have as many orders ongoing as you want. Don't hoard mats.
[ ]Write-in:
- [ ] Kingly Authority: You may petition King Otrek to flex his political muscle to expedite the process.
[Cost: 5,10,15, Favour from King Otrek, depending on tier] -1 turn taken on order.
Remember to vote by plan. There will be a two-hour moratorium for discussion.
AN: You guys should see the flow of simple requests slow down on account of the now growing number of runesmiths in the hold who are at a skill level you can call barely acceptable. Mechanically I've also given you a dump for apprentice actions, I wasn't sure about and am still working on a long term solution as I am aware that many of you are wanting to take on as many of these little buggers as possible >.> C&C as always, and thank you for reading :^)
