You watch with hawk-like attention as Fjolla inscribes the Rune of Warding into the necklace's centre. You sniff in neutral fashion. High praise indeed, for your apprentice has shown a great affinity to the talismanic runes. If you didn't know any better, you'd say the runework in front of you would have come from a 70 year old instead of the 40 something apprentice before you.
Of course, you don't say it out loud.
"Well, a bit short on the fifth line again Fjolla, watch for that girl. Only about as shallow as a stream on granite this time too. Congratulations apprentice, I cannot in good conscience call this work
horribly shoddy, only
shoddy. You can do better," you say, offering her a rare bit of slightly less critical commentary.
"Yes, Master."
Turning from her you look at Dolgi's work. The lad is quiet and steady, for his age, and has shown a knack for both weapon runes and engineering runes. Oftentimes you've caught him staring at the great ram suspended from the roof of your workshop in wonder, hands working on some imaginary machine subconsciously. He finishes carving the rune onto the glowing metal before quenching the axe in cold spring water.
"You've improved Dolgi. You only bungled the 6th, 9th and 12th line of the Rune of Fire this time. Maybe you'll get a barely acceptable rune by the time you reach your first century," you criticize evenly.
"Yes Master," the boy says, nodding seriously.
You'd give him this, compared to Fjolla's almost instinctive knack for talismanic runes, Dolgi got where he was through a level of diligence beyond his years. Fjolla is undoubtedly still more skilled, but you know Dolgi is also head and shoulders above the average apprentice. Natural ability combined with a drive to match his fellow apprentice's skill pushed the boy to strive for and reach levels above where he'd be expected to be.
"Tell you what apprentices, your progress has only
slightly disappointed me today, so in celebration I'll let you two run loose for the night. Yelling at the both of you has left my throat parched, and I'm in the mood for some ale. Now clean up the workshop before you leave, I'm off to the pub," you say, turning away from them and heading towards the door.
"Yes, Master!" both shout behind you.
You need not hide your quiet grin turned away from them as you are, easily hearing the two of them mutter congratulations and offer pats on the back to the other as they work to clean up after their respective messes. A blessing that the two of them got along so well, you've seen fellow apprentices grow into jealous and bitter enemies when one showed more ability than the other. Never any of
yours of course. You made sure that sort of nonsense never happened by picking individuals who would mesh well and by maintaining an impartial level of disappointment at all times.
A beardling's foolishness was expected. A teacher was equally expected to reign their nonsense in from time to time.
…
The world has a way to remind you that it isn't a peaceful place
The busy and festive mood of the dwarfs going about their day is broken by the sound of a horn in the distance. Not an enemy horn thankfully, but dwarf horns. Though when the sentries translate the frantic blowing to everyone in earshot the mood grows dark.
Trolls.
With the efficiency born from years of tragic experience, dwarfs hustle about in new ways. Priestesses of Valaya, told of the incoming wounded come out from the hold proper and towards the gate, their new apprentices, beardlings only just past their thirtieth winter, carrying bundles of gauze, baskets of herbs and casks healing brews in their arms. Dwarfs parting to let them pass as longbeards grumble darkly while many of the hold's young mothers clutch their babes tightly and husbands hold their families close. The hold is young, very young, its population if not more so. Families with maybe their first or even second child, but despite their youth they perform with aplomb, knowing full well that dwarf lives may be on the line.
As for you, currently nursing a mug of ale in hand, there is work to be done. Runes of Health and Fortitude, common sights in the temples of Valaya, would likely be needed and you quickly bark an order to your apprentices to return to the workshop and prepare the necessary reagents. Trolls. For all you enjoyed a good piece of jerky, you never forgot the terror a living troll could be for most dwarfs. Terribly acidic stomach acid capable of ruining most metals and melt the flesh off bones.
The scent of partially digested flesh disgusts you, the screams are far worse.
You grip the mug tighter.
If that wasn't enough, the infernal beasts had a regenerative ability that made them difficult to keep down. Runesmiths and trolls had a long history, their body parts made for potent reagents that Runesmiths have used to develop a large library of useful Runes.
The flesh sizzles as the rune axe cauterizes the cut, stopping the regeneration. Around you, screams of fury and the dying mix into a terrible cacophony that assaults the ear.
Your grip begins to splinter the wood.
Then the horn calls again and the doors open, drawing the gaze of all dwarfs present.
The sight is bittersweet.
Caravan carts, holes in the wood that could only come from troll acid evident on some while others bore signs of the wretched creatures' bite and claws. But what draws the most eyes are the occupants.
They are young.
Children, beardlings and young adults. All clutching onto each other, the wagons, anything solid. Some are sobbing, many bear the face only a dwarf could understand. That bone-deep
hate and loathing for a wrong done against person, kin or home.
The
Grudge.
The sight of so many young is only further compounded by the stark lack of elders and adult men. It does not take long for many to understand the context.
A desperate defence, a bellowed order, a reluctant acquiescence. The Elderly left to hold, to protect their charges, neither to perhaps ever see the other again. Some trolls manage to follow, husbands and fathers still with the caravan stay behind following in the footsteps of their elders. It is a familiar and bitter taste.
Immediately the priestesses and priests of Valaya swarm upon them, looking for wounds, holding onto babes as parents are put on stretchers and children comforted. Like a switch has been flipped, many other dwarfs come forward. Some are clansmen, uncles and aunts coming to house their nieces and nephews while their parents are being treated, others are strangers, simply doing what they can to help ease the obvious burden on the newcomers. Despite this scene of kindness the grim reminder sticks out like an unruly nail. For all your efforts, the world was not always safe for dwarfs to tread, and every action outside the safety of the mountains was one of calculated risk.
There will be a reckoning.
The
Grudge will be avenged.
Vengeance will be had.
Out of the corner of your eye you can see warriors and longbeards moving off in the direction of the fortress, no doubt rallying to bring aid or at the very least bring back what they could of their brethren. Before you head off to your workshop the sight of something stops you dead in your tracks. A child quietly holding their mother's hand in one hand and a toy in the other. Not just
any toy, but one of
your toys. Not a sign of wear or tear on it, despite what was likely decades of active use.
You don't notice it, but the handle shatters in your hand, splinters flying in all directions and imbedding themselves into the hard frozen ground.
Well then.
WELL. THEN.
There was work to be done.
…
A day passes, and a party is sent out. A band of silent rangers at the head while a throng marches behind. With the warriors are fresh wagons and carts, pulled by tough curmudgeonly goats laden with supplies and medical herbs. The sight of them leaving past the gate is a sombre one.
When night falls a week later their return is signalled by the sound of yet another horn. Sentries relay the message to guards who run back to the hold and the priests and priestesses of Valaya.
Wounded.
Again a band of dwarfs arrive through the gates. Their faces grim, but quiet relief in the eyes of some.
They have found survivors.
Hoary old Longbeards in partially melted armour stubbornly trying not to cry at the sight of their arriving children and grandchildren, tired but battle-ready fathers carrying axes in one hand and a wounded comrade bearing a shield in the other. Too many wounded for the carts to handle you're told. It is a good problem to have by comparison. Of the wounded, none succumb over the coming days, thank the Ancestors for small mercies. But they also bring with them 80 enshrouded bodies, some of the tarps lying flat in places where body parts ought to be.
The 80 dead, that they could find, are interred into the Underearth. Those are 80 lives lost before they could truly begin. 80 family members, 80 friends, 80
children. And the ones responsible are still out there,
breathing and
living their lives while good honest dwarfs lie dead.
It will not do.
…
Gain:
-
Apprentice Specialties! Fjolla has a double specialty for
Talismanic Runes while Dolgi has specialties in
Weapon and
Engineering Runes.
-
Apprentice Work! Both your shoddy little charges have progressed in skill enough that you deign to trust them with the most basic of tasks. Apprentices can now add 1 whole action worth or progress a turn to a Simple Request up to half of its main total cost rounded down you CANNOT complete a request with the apprentice action. So for instance, if you have a simple request that costs 3 actions, your apprentices could add (1.5 rounded down) = 1 whole actions worth of progress to it. If that action was at 2 actions you could not apply the apprentice action to complete it. You've unlocked this early because I've rolled very well on both their progress and interactions with each other in the background. Narratively this is work you can pass off to them, hauling supplies, setting up scaffolding, heating up ore, things like this. Still dont trust them to actually
inscribe the runes of course.
- Grudge: Trolls.
Actions toward settling this grudge gain +1 action worth of progress. +10 Bonus to rolls against Trolls.
You have (5 - 1) = 4 actions this turn:
General:
[ ] Expanding the Workshop, Protection: You've a workshop and a home fit for a Runelord, but in your mind's eye you see yet more things to do. Any research regarding the Master Runes will require a level of protection that your current facility simply doesn't have. The cost is irrelevant, it is the materials you need that are the true bottleneck. You've got the Gromril on handnow, but for the Rune you need, the blood of a dragon is required. For the dwarfs know of no
natural creature so attuned to magic as the Drakk.
[Cost: 2 actions, 1 vial of Dragon's Blood]
[ ] 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 10 turns.
[ ] Khazukan Kazakit-HA!: March out with the throng once more. Raise your war axe and slay them.
Battle Turns
Requests: Denote which simple request will receive the Apprentice Action in your plan.
[ ] [Simple] Foundry Founding.: The Foundry district requires extra kinds of Runes to be placed alongside the standard Runes of Light and Air. Altered Runes of Heat and Purification to enhance standard Dawi ventilation, speeding along the movement of hot air out of the District to the rest of the hold while clearing it of soot and ash, things like that. The hold's burgeoning Blacksmiths and Engineering Guilds have also requested your aid in inscribing the Runes of Smednir and Morgrim in their respective guildhalls as well.
[Cost: 2 actions] Productivity Like No Other will proc.
[ ] [Simple] Altar Assembly: The Temple District houses shrines and Temples to all of the Ancestors. Though Morgrim, Smednir and Thungni's main shrines are located in their respective institution's guildhall and every runesmith's workshop they too are present alongside the Larger, more Trafficked temples to Grungni, Valaya and Grimnir. There is also, of course, the halls of the honoured head which serves a dual purpose as the Temple to Gazul. All have requested your aid in inscribing large versions of their patron's respective Runes. They will cover the cost in unique materials, having brought the necessary reagents for the Ancestor Runes as part of the founding convoy. Though Runesmiths hold a great sum of knowledge regarding runes, the priests are connected to the Runes of the Ancestors like only the faithful can be.
[Cost: (2-1) =1 actions] Productivity Like No Other will proc. Grudge has proc'd.
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 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: The miners say all the Gromril's as pure as anything they've ever seen, purer even, but no word of brilliant silver or pure white streaks. Coming back to the cave days later to see for yourself and you can't say they're lying either. But yet… but yet you can't, almost refuse to get the image out of your head. Maybe it's nothing, but maybe it may not be.
[Cost: ???-1 Actions] Student of the Odd 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] Locked due to lack of a proper workshop.
Orders:
[ ] Troll Parts: A horde of trolls is to the south, having assaulted and mauled a dwarf caravan. Already the hold and clans begin mustering arms. Donning armour, bearing weapons and swearing Grudges. A battle will be fierce, but hopefully, when the warriors return it will be in victory with a cartload of troll bits for you to store and use.
Cannot be Taken with Khazukan Kazakit-HA![Cost: 1 Turns]
[X] Dragon's Blood: Seeing as you don't know the location of any dragons right now, the best you can do is get word out that you need dragon's blood. It will take a bit of time to get here, but you'll have it eventually. Thankfully you just need any old dragon's blood, and not an Elder Wyrm.
[Cost: (2-1) =1 Turns]
Please remember to vote by Plan, and note how many actions you're applying to a task (also the Apprentice action). I'll have a 1-hour moratorium so you can discuss and ask questions regarding apprentice actions and the requests before you post your plans. Thanks :^) Also C&C
Questions:
- Will a normal action + apprentice action proc Productivity like No Other?
A: Nope. 2 regular actions required.
- The grudge removed an action from Altar Assembly, can I put an apprentice action?
A: No. You can consider being 1 action total in which case half of it rounded down is 0 or you can think of it as Snorri having already put in 1 action into it meaning the apprentice action cant complete it.
- Why does the battle turn cost nothing?
A: By virtue of distance I can't justify a cost. Normally they would cost at least 1 action as these "go out and get it yourself" actions are the counterpart to requests. Action Cost and takes less time vs free but takes time.
