The Baron was furious, though he hid his anger well. His expedition had only been embarked a little over a weak ago and already he’d had bad news day after day. First the insane bookkeeper came stumbling into the eastern gate buck naked and babbling nonsense about demons. Next, little over a day later, half of what remained of his group had returned to the mountainhome. The report that they brought back with them was nothing short of horrible, worst of all his favorite pet had been shot down by those bastard tree lovers.
Since his first endeavor was well on the way to failure the Baron had decided right away to go with over kill this time. He’d already forced twenty dwarfs from the lower levels of his pervious holdings into service. The caravan left the day after Dod and Seed had returned empty handed, without them. He had told them that they’re only options were to succeed or die trying. Returning to the Fortress with nothing was not an option, so the Baron
gave them death for their failure.
It mattered not if the three remaining dwarves were able to establish a working outpost; the twenty sent behind them would be more than enough. The Baron slammed his fist down into the obsidian table, and not for the first time that day. “What kind of elf shoots down eagles anyway?”
The brothers were smarter than they looked, Tindel knew that now. They’d earned a certain measure of respect from the mason so when they proposed a course of action he allowed them to follow through with it. The three dwarves loaded down one wagon with all the goods from the other, this way they would only have to pull one wagon. With the other wagon the carpenter worked a little of his magic. Using what the storm had left them he was able to take the second wagon apart piece by piece, and use it to construct a cover for the first wagon. Now there was enough room for all the dwarves to sleep inside the cover, were they so inclined.
After storing the extra parts from the second wagon incase the first were to break down the three dwarves set out again. Though the twenty or so migrants were sent out only a few days behind them they were already well ahead of them. These people had to rest to sleep and eat and water their animals. Railick, who now pulled the loan wagon, needed no such rest and continued to pull them all through the night.
Day after day they drew closer to mountain Frostbeard, which was finally starting to grow larger on the horizon. Tindel began to share his pipe with the other dwarves, for they had lost theirs in the storm. Before long all three dwarves were sharing songs and tales of their family, and it was as if they’d known each other for years. Thus the two brothers made a new friend. It was a dwarven saying that a friendship forged in the flames of adversity was as strong as steel. This was the case with these dwarves; nothing would ever be able to break them apart after this.
As the days went on Tindel began to worry for the two brothers. They hadn’t slept since that fateful night and they hardly ate at all. Since he, apparently, was the only one that required sleep Tindel had made himself a make shift bed in the back of the wagon. As Railick pulled the wagon through the night he would sleep peacefully, knowing that the two fierce brothers were watching over him.
Perhaps it was the years of being forced to work in the Baron’s service with little gratification. Maybe it was because his mother didn’t love him enough when he was little. Whatever the reason, Tindel had been cold all his life, but now with the affection of the brothers he began to warm. He felt like a child sleeping under his father’s watchful gaze whenever Bailick checked to see if he was alright. It was a nice feeling, a feeling he’d never had before.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After several more weeks of uneventful travel the trio found themselves in the foot hills of the great Mount Frostbeard. They stood in awe of this mountain, whose top was hidden in the clouds. The gods seemed to favor them for their arrival point was the perfect place to start an outpost. As they drew closer to the bottom of the mountain they discovered an area with sheer cliffs on three sides, a box canyon carved into the side of the mountain by ages of running water.
Tindel walked right up the mountain cliff wall and marked a huge white X onto it with a piece of chalk. “Here is where the entrance will be my lads. What should we name the outpost we are about to start?” The mason turned back to the two brothers who were still gazing up at the mountain in awe. “No ideas? Fine then, I say we named the Outpost Stonemane the Brave, after the two bravest dwarves I know!”
Railick chuckled softly as his gaze traveled down to the chalked X. “We’ll accept that, on one condition me friend. With the founding of this fortress we and all who live in our halls shall be known as Clan Stonemane. I’m asking you to be me brother!” Railick held his hand out to Tindel, who quickly clasped it to accept the offer. Bailick threw his arms around the both of them in a monster hug that nearly resulted in a broken rib or two. With the naming of the outpost done and the founding of a new clan the three set out to work.
The first order of business was taking the wagons apart so they could be used to make work sites around the cliff face. It wouldn’t do to just start hacking away at the mountain recklessly and have the whole thing come down on their heads. The mason/carpenter quickly turned the remains of their epic wagon into a small rail car that could be used to transport mined stone down to a stock pile below. He crafted wooden rails from a board and tested the system before he moved on to the next project.
All the while the brothers watched him as he worked, and they were in awe of him as much as they were in awe of the mountain. It seemed there was nothing he couldn’t do with wood and stone and a few nails. Before long there were several work sites around the canyon and the sun was starting to dip towards the western horizon.
“Right brothers, I’ve done all I can do for today. Here is what I’d like you two to do now that I’ve got everything we need set up.” He drew with his mason’s chalk onto a slab of dark stone, showing them exactly where he wanted them to dig into the mountain and how it should be. He drew out the rooms they would need to begin with, what sort of supports the tunnels would need, and where they needed to be at all times.
The mason called it a day just as the brothers set into work their work. Railick cried out, “Oi mountain, we’re coming in whether you’re ready for us or not!” His brother echoed with a call of his own, “Ayah ! I hope ye remembered the cake!” This brought a queer look from Tindel, who was watching from the comfort of his make shift bed. It was then that pick rang out on stone, again and again as the brothers began the largest project of their lives. . .
<That's it for tonight, enjoy!>
Author
Topic: The Chronicles of Clan Stonemane - The Rise and Fall of Fortress Stonemane (Read 9028 times)