Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Railick Stonemane]

The Chronicles of Clan Stonemane

The Other Twenty

     “Hey pa, could you teach us to craft somethin’ out of wood like you do?” Endias begged and not for the first time. He knew even before he asked what the answer would be but he could not stop himself from bringing it up again. The older dwarf just stared at his son from across the granite table as he finished chewing his bite of sausage.

     “I tol’ you boy, you can’t learn nothing from me unless the Baron tells me ta teach ya! He don’t like you two, says your mother weren’t important enough or something. I don’t know why, and it don’t matter! I can’t teach you nothing till he says it’s okay, okay?!?” With this Raven stood and tossed his food against the wall as he stormed out of the room. Internally he was just as upset as his son but there was nothing he could do about it. He felt impotent with no control over his own life, leading to a great deal of anger which often caused these explosive outbursts.

     It didn’t scare Endias but Loras his younger sister jumped and covered her mouth to conceal a yelp. Her brother was used to this sort of thing, in a way he could understand what his father was going through. It was only in small ways that his father let him know he loved him, and over time Endias had began to cling to any scrap he could get. Loras needed more and was desperate for her father’s attention but had no idea how to go about garnering it.

     “Why is pa always so angry Endias, don’t he love us no more?” Tears poured forth from her beautiful blue eyes and made her soft beard moist. Endias took his younger, more fragile sister into his arms and hugged her tightly. “Ever since mah ran off with dem dwarves from Au’alurma we’ve been treated like slugmen! Maybe daddy isn’t our daddy after all; maybe it is one of dem desert dwarves!” Her mind continued to grasp for answers out of thin air were there were none to be found.

     “Lori you know that ain’t true! We don’t got dark skin and my eyes ain’t all done up with black paint are they? You should know better, sure pa loves us it can just be hard for him to show it sometimes.” Endias wasn’t sure if he was trying to reassure her or himself, it didn’t really make any difference at this point. The young dwarves held each other close until the candle burned out on the dining room table and they were left alone in the darkness to contemplate their existence.

[Railick Stonemane]

     “Slash right, slash left, step back, raise shield, and shield bash repeat!! REPEAT!”  One command after another erupted from Slyth Mooreblade’s mouth. As the family’s weapon master it was his job to train the younger dwarves how to battle, how to live up to the family’s great name. The three louts that stood before him now were hopeless; he knew it to be so. Even though he knew they’d never amount to a pile of rat dung he had to do his best.

     Thejax stepped forward to slash right once again, his hefty stomach aching for all this physical exertion. He was certain that at any moment his first and second breakfast and lunch and midday snacks would all come rushing forth from his mouth. As he felt the rush of warmth coming up his throat pipe he released the wooden axe on his hand allowing it to fly off to the right where it struck Senja in the temple. The dwarf fell to the ground where he stood as Thejax fell to his knees before his trainer.

     The sight of her brother throwing up all over the training room floor was enough to make Endora loose her earlier meals as well, but at least she put her training weapon down before she tossed up her insides all over Senaj’s prone body. This of course went ignored by Slyth as he expected nothing less from these three. He was certain that if any one of them ever entered mortal combat they’d be dead in less then a minute, and made a mental note to do his best to make sure this never happened.

     Sure they were horrible warriors, ate too much, spent way to much time sleeping, and sometimes made strange carvings about cheese. Sure sometimes they accidentally hit him with their practice weapons or hit each other or hit themselves, but they were still family! Maybe one day when they got older the Mooreblade family spirit would suddenly click in, but Slyth seriously doubted it. Until then they were just a waste of his time and sometimes a humorous break from a serious days work.

[Railick Stonemane]

     The scorpion’s sting menaced with dripping venom, its claws clacked again and again as those beady eyes tracked Lamano. It watched as he weaved back and forth across the rough rock landscape before him. The dumb arachnid had killed a great deal of these little things as of late, this one looked no different. The scorpion would have left them alone if they hadn’t come poking it with sticks and hacking it with sharp things, why wouldn’t they just let it eat its oxen in peace?

     Lamano had no intention of allowing the giant arachnid to eat any more live stock or kill any more people. The dwarven adventurer wasn’t sure how this giant scorpion had found its way to the northern side of Fortress Understars; the great desert was miles away to the North West. Maybe it followed a caravan all the way hoping to get a taste of their pack animals, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that this thing had to go before it had a chance to snap any more traders in half with its claws.

     This was not the first time Lamano had dealt with monsters of this sort; indeed he was famous around the world for his ability to kill these beasts. His shining silver spear caught the sun and blinded the dumb animal for a moment, causing it to lash out at the weapons tip with both claws. Lamano rolled to the right in this moment of confusion, just nearly ducking a well aimed stinger strike.

     The brave dwarf leaped then, directly at the beast. His powerful legs propelled him up and onto the scorpion’s back, its rough hair cutting his chest through his loose clothing. This dwarf knew no amount of armor would protect him from this beast, so he went with none instead to allow him greater mobility. As the dwarf scrambled to stay behind the beasts claws it began to rampage in fear, it had never had anything on its back before!

     It was all Lamano could do to hold on to his new found position, dodging random stringer strikes as the scorpion’s tail failed about trying to find a way to dislodge this fearless hero. As the scorpion’s tiny brain attempted to grapple with the problem it was facing Lamano took the lull in the rampage to stab out the beasts top pair of eyes. Its telson came again, this time dragging up the scorpion’s body in an attempt to catch the dwarf and launch him off its back.

     Lamano sensed it coming; indeed he could hear the barb dragging against the plated exo-skeleton as it approached him at high speed. The dwarf rolled forward off the scorpion’s back and twisted in mid roll so that he landed on his back in front of the beast, but inside its claws range of motion. He saw its other eyes then and its insidious mouth. The dwarf braced his spear on the ground and allowed the ignorant beast to impale itself on that silvery spearhead as it lunged forward to devour him. The other dwarves approached once the scorpion’s tail finally went limp and they were certain it was finally dead.

     It took ten dwarves to flip the thing over and release Lamano who was relaxing comfortably under it, halfway in the things mouth parts. He was bleeding a bit about his body, mostly small scraps from the beast’s stiff hairs and sharp armored ridges. Once freed the heroic dwarf took a long dagger from his belt and removed the dead scorpion’s sting to keep as trophy. He hoped that one day his son would look upon it and be inspired by his father’s heroic acts. It was that day he earned the name Diresting, and from then forward that is how his family would be known.

[TheNewerMartianEmperor]

My gods. Your stories are so amazing, they have been granted an Oldbeard Statue of Respecttm!

He doesn't give those out to just anyone, you know.

[Railick Stonemane]

     Umano Diresting stared at the disgusting scorpion sting as it just hung there above the family crest, which was also a scorpion sting. He had never been less happy in this entire life, and looking at that thing made him feel even worse. Unlike his father Umano had not been blessed with an uncanny ability to find himself in the right place at the right time. His body was not perfect, his mind was not nearly as sharp. For his entire life he had been held up to his father’s example and had always fallen tragically short.

     It was worst of all when people that did not know him consoled him. He didn’t have to be a great hero, they said, he didn’t have to be a great anything! It burned him up inside that people thought he was stupid enough not to know even that! This dreg usually came from those people that knew his father best, his old adventuring buddies that happened through the city while his father was gone. They knew his father better than he ever would; in fact he hadn’t seen or heard from him in over three years.

     He knew his father was still alive of course, as he still got constant news from travelers about his exploits in such and such town or such and such jungle. Also his trophies continued to flow back from all over the world to the family’s sumptuous household. Umano was starting to have trouble finding a place to display them all, per his father’s wishes. An elven bow from the jungles to the northeast of the mountain range, a tribal mask from wild men living in the frigid lands even further north, and a yeti paw from the same area were among the many things that Umano was forced to find a place for.

     The young dwarf could spend the rest of his life killing fantastical beasts and probably never come close to his father’s fame. There was nothing he could do to match it, and the fact that he would never be known for anything was very depressing to him. So the dwarf just sat there, and stared at that damnable scorpion sting. Deep inside him he privately entertained a dark wish that the barb had found his father’s heart, so that maybe the name Umano would be remembered in the tomes of history for a change.


(after reading these again I'm starting to think I have father issues, a lot of these characters seem to ;P Thanks for the statue !)

[Railick Stonemane]

I have 6 more sections ready to post but I'm just to damn tired to do it tonight fellows! Sorry I will see you guys tomorrow.

[filiusenox]

Dang....your storys are great... i was going to give a elphen totem but ....this stuuf is too good for that.

[Railick Stonemane]

Great catch by Armok! He noticed I called the scorpion an insect instead of an arachnid! That could have been potentially embarrassing for me. Public shout out for my good friend If anyone notices any strange things in my stories please feel free to tell me so I can fix them. Here comes the next batch

[Railick Stonemane]

     Slowly, ever so slowly, the lock pick inched its way deeper into the lock’s inner most reaches. It was looking for that sweet spot, the only one of many that would not release the box’s deadly traps. It moved to the left just a bit, it could feel a switch there which was bad. Back to the right and a bit deeper, ah yes this felt much better. The lock pick suddenly plunged deep inside the metal passage causing the lid of the box to throw itself back in ecstasy.

     Karlk threw himself back onto his soft bed with a deep sigh of release; finally he could let his breath out without setting off a string of deadly traps. The dwarf pulled a cigar from his vest and began to smoke it; now that the box was opened he had all the time in the world to enjoy the moment. Finally the dwarf sat up once again and leaned forward to peer into the box he’d stolen from his father’s room. He knew this was where he kept his most prized possessions and had been working to steal it from him for months.

     There inside the perfectly crafted mahogany jewelry box laid a large purple velvet drawstring purse. Slowly Karlk pulled the draw string, excited to see at last what it was his father was keeping from him in this box with all its horrible traps. Inside the purse there was a long black tube, and inside the tube there was a cylindrical hunk of stone! Upon the surface of the stone were the dwarven words “Try again, better luck next time”

     Karlk threw the worthless hunk of stone across the room, shattering an expensive mirror that he had worked very hard to steal from a traveling band of human gypsies. “Fuck! I hate that bastard!” The words were true, it was his intention to steal his father’s most expensive things and then leave this place never to return. Now he didn’t even his have most expensive item to hawk. How would the dwarf ever find a way out of this festering shit hole called Fortress Understars!

     The dwarf put out his cigar and threw it in the trash, this event called for something far more powerful. With a quick and well rehearsed movement Karlk snapped the gem stone on his sapphire ring to the right and quickly dumped the contents of the ring’s hidden compartment into his right eye. The highly illegal powder created by first drying and then grinding up of rare mushrooms was exactly what he needed. Quickly his bedroom swirled away into the darkness and was replaced by a wonderful world where nothing made sense but everything was spectacular anyways.

[Railick Stonemane]

     This gate was called the Dawning Lion Gateway and was hewn directly into the mountain. It opened to the east as the furthest entrance to the northeast in the mountain range. Inside several fortress guards were checking over a group of strange dwarven travelers.  They were a bit different than the normal sort but they couldn’t figure out quiet how. They carried coins from a far off fortress known as Kaden Hurr, but they were not nearly as strange as those desert dwarves from the west. After a bit of questioning the guards could find no reason not to allow them entrance, though some of their luggage contained illegal imports which the guards were forced to confiscate. 
   
      Nibelong breathed a sign of relief as the three of them walked under the massive archway leading into the Fortress Understars. The Dawning Lion itself, a masterfully crafted marble statue seemed to glare at them as they passed under it, as if it knew their secrets.  Beyond they found a vast tunnel leading deeper into the fortress wide enough for several wagons to travel side by side in either direction. This wide highway would take them into the local visitor’s quarters where they could find everything they would need after a long journey. 
     
     “Well boys it looks like we made it ahead of the news, or least we got a guard who don’t keep up on current events.” The large breasted dwarf maiden tossed her hood back and took a deep breath of the stale cavern air, exactly what she had been craving for months. Her long crimson tresses of hair flowed out across her back, drawing the approving eyes of many travelers around her. The open skies with their clouds and stars and birds made her sick to her stomach, but here she could be herself again.
     

     Tandar nodded and clapped his brother Bandar forcefully on his shoulders, “Indeed we have my friends, but how long do you think it will take the Praetor to catch up with us?” The three companions walked through the wide halls, looking over the fantastic engravings on the walls and ceiling as they made their way deeper into the fortress.  The surface levels may have been fine for most visiting dwarves but these three wanted to totally disappear.
     

     As they spoke about the chances of their enemy catching up to them any time soon they simply followed the signs leading to a place known as the deep mines. This sounded like exactly what they were looking for, a place where no one looking could find them. The stairs leading down from the lowest level of the fortress proper and into the deep mines were covered in soot and filth that none cared to clean up. The last tunnel suddenly expanded into a vast cavern that went down into the mountain as far as they could see.
     

     A city was arranged here in tiers that went lower and lower into the depths. On each tier there were various buildings carved directly into the walls that offered various services to those that lived this deep. About three levels down there was a wide bridge that lead across the cavern to the far wall. There an opulent palace had been engraved into the wall itself with the words “Shatteredstone” fixed above the entrance. Below the bridge each tier dropped off steeper as the city slowly turned into a mine shaft, gently sloping staircases turned into ladders that went straight down to the next level. At the very bottom they found the slums of slum, where the miners lived.
     
     Here they found access to the so called deep mines themselves and the homes of all the various dwarves who spent their lives digging out ore for the Baron above them. The Kirkstand family found a surprising large inn here carved into the same wall as the palace above them, though they were so deep now they could not even see the bridge in the murkiness above The sign hanging over the entrance was made of metal and had a engraving of a dancing goblin with dwarves on either side of him pointing crossbows in his direction. Yes, this would do just fine!

[Railick Stonemane]

     The library was well lit in this section and the Papersong cousins had little trouble seeing the pages they were currently studying. This was not the first time these three found themselves being punished in this way. They had failed once again in their assigned task and their family was very upset with them. The punishment inflicted was most dire indeed. Each of the cousins was tasked with reading the entire collection of one of their ancestors each, so that maybe they could learn to write themselves.
     

     It was previous unheard of, a Papersong who could not write! Then all at once these three young dwarves had appeared from separate branches of the family, all them splendidly ungifted. Each of them was stout of shoulder with long beards that could not be tamed with oils and combs. They looked more like a group of ruffians than members of a rich family of play writers and poets. They’d fit right in with the fortress guard and had been approached by many army recruiters.
     

     Jadoras looked across the table at his cousin Keldoras and grinned, trying to avoid the watchful eye of the librarian who had been tasked with administering their punishment. “Oi,” he whispered under his breath. “What do you reckon our name sake would think about us if he could see us now?” He asked because currently he was reading the fourth book of poems his Great Great Grandfather had written called Earth’s Womb. Eldoras Papersong had written many such books of poetry, each with equally disturbing names.
     

     “He’d probably envy us as we’ll be the only Papersongs not to go down in history as ‘gifted but slightly mental’ artists” Keldoras returned his whisper which made both his cousins smile under their beards. This was all very pointless of course, as all three dwarves were great readers. The skill they lacked was writing, and no amount of study would suddenly grant them the creative abilities of their kin. If only they could escape this place and find out what their true callings were, they often wondered.

[filiusenox]

'gifted by slighty mental'

Is the "by" supposed to be a "but"?

[Railick Stonemane]

Corrected, thanks mate I get so into the story my grammar and spelling fly out the window. That being said I read through the second 4 times before I post it and make corrections that I can find and spell check ect but still things like that slip through. Thanks for lending me your sharp eyes mate.

[filiusenox]

'drawing the approving eyes of many travels around her.'

Travelers?

[Railick Stonemane]

Corrected, thanks again