Record of the Remembrancers

[DrHope 609]

[!] As you enter the dwarven library, you find yourself drawn to the allure of a book that laid open atop a lectern. It seemed rather old, dust riddling the parchment on which the dwarven letters were written upon. 

 

=-On the forming of Grandaxe -=

In the ancient age before Grudgement and spite, the sons of Urguan were perhaps mightiest in lore and craft. Of the eight brothers of whom Dwain was the eldest, Bogrin was most renowned for fair trade and nobility amongst his mountain kin. As the great city of Khaz’Urguan grew, so did the ambition of the elder brothers. Four clans in the beginning had left the halls of their father, and each had fled in one of the four corners of the known world. As the other three brothers took to the North, South, and the East, it was Bogrin who in his youth had traveled West towards the vast forests that stood there. It was during this time that the fiery dwarf had found humility of which the details of such a tale are written elsewhere. After the events of this story, he headed north where a small group of dwarven labourers had camped. It was here that the dwarves had set up a small village at the foothills of the great mountain chain, toiling their way to a prosperous village through new veins of ore and fresh lumber of which they traded with their kin in the east. As their wealth grew, so too did the rumours reach the ears of an orcish warband. 

 

The village continued to grow as more houses were made through the hills and more trees felled by dwarven hands.  It was during this day, as Bogrin himself was chopping a tree, did the horn of Haefrun sound. As the dwarven men returned with haste to the village, they found the houses burning, the women and children routing towards the safety of the onlookers. Now, orcs of this time were honorable even when conducting raids, and Bogrin knew this. Gripping the handle of his axe, he barked out to the orcish chief who towered over his servants. Catching the gaze of the large black orc, he grunted and marched his way to the stout dwarf, a large cleaver brandished in hand. In return, did Bogrin step forward, both orcs and dwarfs gathering around them to see who would decide the fate of the village and its people. In that circle of onlookers did their steel clash, but for whilst a lumber axe was not fit for battle, such was the skill of Bogrin that it did not matter, matching each swing and blow with a parry or counter. For several minutes did their fight endure fueled by anger and desperation, until at last did the orc known as Gurgnash fall. As he knelt in defeat, his head hung low and body scarred, Bogrin took pity and gave the orc a chance to surrender, for such was the tradition of the dwarves of those days.  The orc raised his head, his gaze leveling with the dwarf to equal height and at last he spoke in words that were harsh to the ears of the Khazamar. “You have defeated me by the rite of single combat, give me this death so that I may pass on honorably...” His voice was gruff, a pause in his words as he struggled to breathe and so Bogrin gave him his wish seeing the pain of a continued life. 

 

Seeing the death of their leader, the orcs withdrew from the village. Their bounty given back to the dwarfs who began to repair the wounds inflicted on both home and hearth. On the eve of that day after much work, did the dwarfs of the village cheer in honor of the battle and their leader who rested in the village square. As word reached the dwarven realms of the great deed of Bogrins folk and their stand against the orcs, so had the title of Grandaxe been bestowed upon him and his line ever after. Inspired by the story of Bogrin the Grandaxe and his defiance against such a foe, dwarven warriors began to take up axes instead of swords as a monument to this victory. As the millenia passed and the kingdoms of dwarves rose and fell, the battle-axe remained a constant in the shifting of military tactics and tradition. 

Today, the Grandaxe clan still carry this title with pride, knowing that it was their progenitor and his bravery that paved the way to one of the most known pillars of dwarven tradition.

Mucho thanks to Fimlin Grandaxe for helping me with the story. 
Mahalo nui to Zezimus as well