Post by Koric on Jun 22, 2017 0:03:58 GMT -5
In the centuries to come, the other races would think of the Dwarves as having the patience of stone, a stoic resolve and the ability to accept life as it came to them. This misconception was likely propagated by the lack of interaction the other races had with Dwarven children. The qualities of patience and stoicism were, in some cases forcibly, drilled into a Dwarven child over many decades, and some never quite took up the racial mantle at all. Helgrinde Stonesky was a shining example of the latter.
The Stonesky Clan called the Deeps Claw mountain range home. The expanse of mountains was so named for the disturbing likeness that the jagged crests had to a titanic claw pushing up and out of the core of Severall. Helgrinde was sitting on an outcropping of rock midway up the Eastern side of the Deeps Second Talon. A brief glace at her would have upheld the illusion of patience, though anything more than a cursory examination would belie any such illusion. Her fingers twined about themselves as her feet traced and erased patterns in the scree. Her weight constantly shifted and even her hair seemed to twist about in the nonexistent wind. Her eyes barely contained a desperate impatience as she regularly glanced downslope at the cave mouth that led into the Dwarfhold.
_
“Please, please, please” she repeatedly whispered, focusing on the words like a mantra.
Helgrinde knew it was only a matter of time before they came looking for her and she was certain that she would be quickly found and dragged back into the Hold. The frisson had been building for days, stronger than it had ever felt before. It was irresponsible of her to be here, impatiently waiting for the culmination, but the compulsion had been too strong to consciously override. She only hoped it would happen in time, before the opportunity to bear witness to the fury of the sky was replaced by the weight of stone, the weight of responsibility.
“Please, please, please.”
_
Urgid’s frustration grew with each boot stomp. “This time it has gone too far Hastrid, the child must accept her duty and commit to her training in earnest.”
Other than the color of the neatly braided hair hanging from the underneath the helms, the two women looked nearly identical. Unsurprising, considering the only differentiable characteristics of a Priestess (or Priest for that matter) in uniform was the rank insignia, and these two shared the same middling rank.
“Quite right Urgid. Being called to serve Thelin is an honor and a privilege and one does not simply run away from it.” Hastrid said as they neared the opening out to the side of the Second of Deeps Talons. The voice that gurgled from right behind them caused the women to jump and startle more than they would later admit.
“Other powers than the Hearthlord can call to an adept.” Ostrill openly grinned at the discomfort of the two Priestesses. After many centuries, she was accustomed to having this effect on the younger followers of the Lord of Hearth and Home and there were none who could track her while in her domain. She arched an eyebrow at them as their gaze took her in. Urgid’s eyes lingered on her moss covered over-cloak while Hastrid seemed unable to look away from the lichen encrusted stone and chain bolas that hung on her belt. “If you two lassies are done gawking I suggest you move along. The time for your appointment draws near.”
Hastrid gave a worried look to her Hearthsister as they all stepped out under an overcast sky.
_
Helgrinde saw the three of them as they exited the tunnel and it was a punch to the gut. It had to be nearly upon them now. She briefly considered turning and running but there was no place to run to. They were between her and the valley, and to get much higher up you would have to be part mountain goat. She closed her eyes and tried to will the tension to climax. If she could just find release this time she might be able to tolerate another few months of training.
The area within the caldera created by Deeps Claw was abnormally fair weathered due to the height of the peaks. Most of the aberrant weather was kept on the outside by the towering spires. It tended to mean that the only storms to make it over the mountains were unusually potent. As the sky blackened and the thunderheads rolled in, the coming storm appeared to be no exception.
Helgrinde sighed as the hair on her arms and legs stood on end. With her eyes still clenched shut, she could hear the crunch of stone under boot as the three women approached. She was starting to get dizzy and the lightheadedness combined with the building frustration at once again being denied caused her to sway in place.
Urgid’s voice was pitched louder than normal as she called out over the mounting wind, “Enough foolishness child, you are embarrassing yourself and your Clan. Attend us now and return to face your punishment and your duty.”
“I can’t. Not yet. Please, you must let me stay here to see this through. I can’t take the tension anymore. The strain. I’m sorry. I mean no disrespect but I can’t go with you. I don’t know what will happen.” Helgrinde wasn’t even sure what she had said. It had all come out in a rush and no matter how hard she squeezed her eyes closed she couldn’t keep the tears back any longer. “Please, just leave me alone.”
A look of concern crossed Hastrid’s face as she reached out to the child. Was she sick? Had she been afflicted? The need to protect and heal her family welled up within Hastrid as she saw the anguished look on the child’s face. She stepped forward and began to invoke the protection of the Hearthlord as the sky itself was rent asunder.
Helgrinde’s eyes snapped open as a bolt of lightning arced from the ground directly in front of her to the sky. The crackle of plasma was instantly chased by a thunderous roar that rattled her ribcage and forced out an ecstatic sound somewhere between a moan and gasp. All of her fear and tension, the building frisson, was released in a great catharsis, washed away, just as her tears were washed away in the rain that lashed the mountainside, scouring the caldera. Her legs, already weak from the stress, gave way as she fell to her knees and threw her head back, crying out in a primal scream.
Unseen (or perhaps unnoticed) Ostrill chuckled and nodded to herself as the two Hearthsisters blinked the spots from their eyes and, for the first time, truly looked upon the young child, exultant, before them.
“But, what, how… what does it mean” Urgid stammered.
Hastrid sighed as a look of acceptance settled on her face. A mother loved her children, regardless of whether they tread the path she would prefer. At her core, a mother just wanted all her children to be happy. She turned to Ostrill and thumped her breastplate with her right gauntlet in a show of respect. “Come Urgid, we are done here.”
Still reeling from the outpouring of emotions, Helgrinde watched the two Hearthsisters depart down the mountain through the raging storm.
“They are well intentioned,” Ostrill gurgled, somehow her words carried through the tempest. “Some of the Hearthlord’s followers embody his love. Some of them focus on his law. Most of our kind need both facets in their life. But a few of us feel shackled by that law. A few of us are kindred to the natural world. The stone and the caves, the fire and the ore and apparently, there is at least one of us who is kindred to the storm.”
“Much of what you must learn you will have to work out for yourself child. I will teach you all I know about the areas where we overlap, but every bond with the untamed is unique and you will have to negotiate that relationship yourself. There is a beauty in the uncaring force, and an ever present danger. Learn to exult in both. I leave you now to your communion, Seek me out when you are ready, Sister of the Wild.”
_
It was days before the storm abated. Helgrinde had given herself over to the rapture of the elements for the duration; running, dancing, jumping singing and screaming her joy to the sky. In the aftermath she had cleaned herself up, eaten and slept. Awaking with purpose, she headed deep into the caverns and made her way to the fungal farms, seeking out her Sister.
The Stonesky Clan called the Deeps Claw mountain range home. The expanse of mountains was so named for the disturbing likeness that the jagged crests had to a titanic claw pushing up and out of the core of Severall. Helgrinde was sitting on an outcropping of rock midway up the Eastern side of the Deeps Second Talon. A brief glace at her would have upheld the illusion of patience, though anything more than a cursory examination would belie any such illusion. Her fingers twined about themselves as her feet traced and erased patterns in the scree. Her weight constantly shifted and even her hair seemed to twist about in the nonexistent wind. Her eyes barely contained a desperate impatience as she regularly glanced downslope at the cave mouth that led into the Dwarfhold.
_
“Please, please, please” she repeatedly whispered, focusing on the words like a mantra.
Helgrinde knew it was only a matter of time before they came looking for her and she was certain that she would be quickly found and dragged back into the Hold. The frisson had been building for days, stronger than it had ever felt before. It was irresponsible of her to be here, impatiently waiting for the culmination, but the compulsion had been too strong to consciously override. She only hoped it would happen in time, before the opportunity to bear witness to the fury of the sky was replaced by the weight of stone, the weight of responsibility.
“Please, please, please.”
_
Urgid’s frustration grew with each boot stomp. “This time it has gone too far Hastrid, the child must accept her duty and commit to her training in earnest.”
Other than the color of the neatly braided hair hanging from the underneath the helms, the two women looked nearly identical. Unsurprising, considering the only differentiable characteristics of a Priestess (or Priest for that matter) in uniform was the rank insignia, and these two shared the same middling rank.
“Quite right Urgid. Being called to serve Thelin is an honor and a privilege and one does not simply run away from it.” Hastrid said as they neared the opening out to the side of the Second of Deeps Talons. The voice that gurgled from right behind them caused the women to jump and startle more than they would later admit.
“Other powers than the Hearthlord can call to an adept.” Ostrill openly grinned at the discomfort of the two Priestesses. After many centuries, she was accustomed to having this effect on the younger followers of the Lord of Hearth and Home and there were none who could track her while in her domain. She arched an eyebrow at them as their gaze took her in. Urgid’s eyes lingered on her moss covered over-cloak while Hastrid seemed unable to look away from the lichen encrusted stone and chain bolas that hung on her belt. “If you two lassies are done gawking I suggest you move along. The time for your appointment draws near.”
Hastrid gave a worried look to her Hearthsister as they all stepped out under an overcast sky.
_
Helgrinde saw the three of them as they exited the tunnel and it was a punch to the gut. It had to be nearly upon them now. She briefly considered turning and running but there was no place to run to. They were between her and the valley, and to get much higher up you would have to be part mountain goat. She closed her eyes and tried to will the tension to climax. If she could just find release this time she might be able to tolerate another few months of training.
The area within the caldera created by Deeps Claw was abnormally fair weathered due to the height of the peaks. Most of the aberrant weather was kept on the outside by the towering spires. It tended to mean that the only storms to make it over the mountains were unusually potent. As the sky blackened and the thunderheads rolled in, the coming storm appeared to be no exception.
Helgrinde sighed as the hair on her arms and legs stood on end. With her eyes still clenched shut, she could hear the crunch of stone under boot as the three women approached. She was starting to get dizzy and the lightheadedness combined with the building frustration at once again being denied caused her to sway in place.
Urgid’s voice was pitched louder than normal as she called out over the mounting wind, “Enough foolishness child, you are embarrassing yourself and your Clan. Attend us now and return to face your punishment and your duty.”
“I can’t. Not yet. Please, you must let me stay here to see this through. I can’t take the tension anymore. The strain. I’m sorry. I mean no disrespect but I can’t go with you. I don’t know what will happen.” Helgrinde wasn’t even sure what she had said. It had all come out in a rush and no matter how hard she squeezed her eyes closed she couldn’t keep the tears back any longer. “Please, just leave me alone.”
A look of concern crossed Hastrid’s face as she reached out to the child. Was she sick? Had she been afflicted? The need to protect and heal her family welled up within Hastrid as she saw the anguished look on the child’s face. She stepped forward and began to invoke the protection of the Hearthlord as the sky itself was rent asunder.
Helgrinde’s eyes snapped open as a bolt of lightning arced from the ground directly in front of her to the sky. The crackle of plasma was instantly chased by a thunderous roar that rattled her ribcage and forced out an ecstatic sound somewhere between a moan and gasp. All of her fear and tension, the building frisson, was released in a great catharsis, washed away, just as her tears were washed away in the rain that lashed the mountainside, scouring the caldera. Her legs, already weak from the stress, gave way as she fell to her knees and threw her head back, crying out in a primal scream.
Unseen (or perhaps unnoticed) Ostrill chuckled and nodded to herself as the two Hearthsisters blinked the spots from their eyes and, for the first time, truly looked upon the young child, exultant, before them.
“But, what, how… what does it mean” Urgid stammered.
Hastrid sighed as a look of acceptance settled on her face. A mother loved her children, regardless of whether they tread the path she would prefer. At her core, a mother just wanted all her children to be happy. She turned to Ostrill and thumped her breastplate with her right gauntlet in a show of respect. “Come Urgid, we are done here.”
Still reeling from the outpouring of emotions, Helgrinde watched the two Hearthsisters depart down the mountain through the raging storm.
“They are well intentioned,” Ostrill gurgled, somehow her words carried through the tempest. “Some of the Hearthlord’s followers embody his love. Some of them focus on his law. Most of our kind need both facets in their life. But a few of us feel shackled by that law. A few of us are kindred to the natural world. The stone and the caves, the fire and the ore and apparently, there is at least one of us who is kindred to the storm.”
“Much of what you must learn you will have to work out for yourself child. I will teach you all I know about the areas where we overlap, but every bond with the untamed is unique and you will have to negotiate that relationship yourself. There is a beauty in the uncaring force, and an ever present danger. Learn to exult in both. I leave you now to your communion, Seek me out when you are ready, Sister of the Wild.”
_
It was days before the storm abated. Helgrinde had given herself over to the rapture of the elements for the duration; running, dancing, jumping singing and screaming her joy to the sky. In the aftermath she had cleaned herself up, eaten and slept. Awaking with purpose, she headed deep into the caverns and made her way to the fungal farms, seeking out her Sister.
