A Tombkeeper's Diary | "Steel Rings No More"

[Reece Nolan 636]

A Tombkeeper's Diary

"Steel Rings No More"

[Music]

 

~o.O.o~

 

       Across the lush and lonely mountains hiked a small gathering of dwarves, tightly confined to the trail ahead of them by morning mists. Their silent travels left Angr plenty of time to freely roam his mind, though the occasional lick of tall grass wet with dew rouses him from his musings. Glorious golden beams of sunlight glimmered through lazy clouds, refracting in the haze below. The warmth of the light would kiss the skin of their travel party, doing little to uplift the Irehearts' groggy mood. Mosquitos and dragonflies constantly harassed them, rising curiously from nearby ponds and puddles to greet their stout visitors. Alongside them, two dire wolves accompanied, one gray and one white. Local fauna steered clear as to not be mauled by ravenous bite or cut down by their masters, knowing all too well the appearance of a pack of predators.

 

       "'Ow long tel' weh arrive aht tae village, ye fink?" Angr inquired, his mind no longer being a sufficient enough distraction for aching muscles. Aghuid, the next Ireheart ahead of him, coughed and hacked before he spat into the bushes to his left. "Shut uhp, Angr." He grumbled, the onset of fatigue crawling over his shoulders as he grumbled about getting **** sleep. "Wel fock yu too d'en." Angr comments, sighing as he continues to lug his pack of supplies along. Up ahead approached a shaggy brown bear and its cub, their eyes fixed on the carcass of a deer decaying beside the trail. "Yu see t'aht hungreh fock'r?" Aghuid replied, picking up pace. "Aye?" Angr answered. Without warning, Aghuid hurled a fist at the beast's throat, his burly arm forcing forward as he sends the bear tumbling down a hill. "Tha's..." He huffed, "Tha's gonnah beh yu 'ef ye keep pushen' yur luck..." He piped up. "Ah trekked all tae wey ou' 'ere tae sleep on ah focken rock!" Aghuid roars, birds fleeing from the nearby trees as a result.

 

       Angr nodded, on any other occasion those would be fighting words, but Angr was nowhere near the caliber of his brother. While Angr had been working hard in recent years, his stout and musculare frame would easily be overpowered by the well toned and sculpted body of a blooded Ireheart, much less against a seasoned smith and warrior. Though his reluctance to act was not cowardice, it was respect for his own limits; Angr was not so naïve to think he could win that battle. Many hours would pass, the group sharing the mundane meals of a cookpot over the campfire. Exhaustion ate away at the speed of their journey until they eventually holed up inside a crevasse near the valley, hundreds of stars peering down on them from beyond the blackened veil.

 

       The charcoal now flickered with a faint red glow, ash of the once abundant firewood settled in a mound within the bindings of its rock ring. Strewn about were several restless dwarves, tossing and turning on the bare stone as they slept. Angr was up late as usual, a metal cup of moonshine by his side as he watched the sky churn with thousands of dizzying dots from the mouth of their cave. Again he frolicked through his thoughts as an incessant snoring howled behind him, yet surprisingly he was shook back to reality by the approach of Aghuid, his fingertips scraping against the rugged texture of stone. "Wut's got ye up?" He grunts, taking a seat next to Angr. He waited for a moment, the sky's glaze twinkling in his eyes. "Home." He answered. "Home? Ah kno, t'es trip es taken way tu long..." Aghuid scoffed. "Nae, ah mean Home." He says once more, "Tae citeh, ah don' get et..." Angr mutters. Aghuid would groan out a sigh as he leaned forward go pick up a stone, his golem legs crackling against the rock he sat on. "Tae steel ov Urguan rings no longah," he continues, not turning away from the skies above. "Weh cannae 'ven stey unitehd ovah semple quarrels such es ah keng." Angr finishes, sipping from his cup and shuddering from the kick of his drink. "Angr, ye got tae undahstan', tae strengf ov tae dwed doesnae com' from agreeance." Aghuid says, hucking the stone into the valley. "Et comes frem our bond." He chuckles, "Et soun's cheezzy, ah kno', bu' evereh toime weh need tae wurk togethah tae dwed always wurk t'eir shoite out." Angr waited, sharing his silence. "Bu' et es sahd, tae see our halls soh empteh once 'gain. Yer righ when ye sey t'at tae steel rings nae more." Aghuid added. "Aye, et's hard tae find som'un taht wan's teh keep fings goin en t'ere." Angr says. "Focken Grandaxes..." Aghuid mumbles, lighting a cigar. "Eh?" Came Angr. "Nufen', ah was talken tu mehself." He replies, placing the stogy between his lips. "Yur jus' ah beardling, don' get tu worked up abou' et..." He adds, puffing out smoke from his slightly yellowed teeth.

 

       Though Angr did not know it, that last comment stung Aghuid slightly, the rash actions of Durgar Ireheart still lingering in many forms, even staring at him from his axe. Without another word, Aghuid crawled back into the cave and went back to sleep, leaving Angr to his own devices. He wondered, was there any hope left for a family torn asunder? Each and every dwarf in his race was a brother or sister of some kind, so what hope could the future possibly hold? Angr rested his hand on the iron mask tied to his belt, he felt for this bond his brother spoke of, but could not find it. Maybe this iron would not yet give way to the ringing of steel.

[Cheezzy_Garlik 502]

Aghuid in fact did knock out a bear with one punch and threatened his kin, but when he sat in the moonlight, his words were misheard “fookin dwemocrats” he actually said, Aghuids golemantic limbs crackling and grinding as the joints moved. The axe that sit upon his back glowed in the dark wood where the irehearts camped. Because of the axes starsteel head it glowed an eerie white, almost angelic, lunar glow. Engraved into the faces of the axe head are the markings of a dweds face once named Durgar.