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THE SOULFORGER by Forge Rune In the age before the beginning of time there were no dwarves, elves, or humans and the world was not yet made. Only the Eternal Forge existed, in the Home of the Maker, in the Caverns of the Everlasting Flame. Into the Eternal Forge the Maker placed stone and fire. As the fire heated the stone it expanded, and rivers of molten ore ran from the interior of the stone, flowing along its sides. With tongs and hammer the Maker forged the world. He struck and titanic mountains rose from the surface; again and hills formed, leaving deep valleys and great hollows. When he was pleases with its shape and form, he quenched the world in the Trough of Life. As the water struck the surface, clouds of steam rose to form the sky. The waters of the Trough settled in valleys and flowed into hollows to become seas. The Maker held up his work and saw that it was fitting. He set the world upon a great pinnacle of the finest mithril, and there it remains until this day. The Maker laughed and decided to test his world. He would make a race of miners and forgers and they would strive to find the mithril pinnacle upon which the world rests, deep in its heart. And so the Maker returned to the Eternal Forge in the Caverns of the Everlasting Flam. Taking water from the Trough of Life and stone from the earth he held them together. When he was satisfied, he added molten iron to strengthen it. He gathered this fine alloy and shaped it on the Anvil of Spirit. To assist him, the Maker created the gods. Then the Maker took rock and iron and heated them in the Eternal Forge. He forged the most pleasing shapes. These he took and quenched in the Trough of Life, and so the first dwarves were created. The Maker placed them in a land he had chosen for them on the earth, into the mines and caverns he had created for their entertainment and their joy. In these sacred caverns the First Dwarves multiplied and prospered. After the First Dwarves had been laid in their tombs, Blight came into the world. The god of Evil nursed a dark and ancient envy of the Maker's creation of the dwarves. In cheerless caverns, which knew not the glow of dwarves' hearts, he labored to imitate the maker. Goblins hobgoblins, evil giants, and other monsters he made, and dreamed that they would destroy the dwarves. In imitation of the Maker he labored, but he lacked the true water from the Trough of life to mix with stone and to make clean clay. And so they were tainted with his impurities. Not content to work his own will, his twisted tongue sowed discontent among the gods. A few began, like him, to imitate the Maker. So it was that elves, gnomes, halflings, and humans came into the world. But these races lacked the iron that had been forged into every dwarf's soul, they were sickly and pale to behold. To compensate for their deficiencies, the god of Evil bestowed magic. He had overlooked dwarven resistance to his evil, so it was used by other races against themselves.Then did the god of Evil send his creatures against the dwarves. The monsters were driven back many times, yet they bred quickly and returned again and again in ever increasing numbers. Now at this time the lesser races spread over the world above, and they learned of the wealth of the dwarves. And so, men and elves began to covet the dwarves' jewels and mineral wealth. Some sought to trade, others lied and used treachery to acquire dwarven treasures. An alliance of men and elves formed against the dwarves and they brought war to the mountain homes. Thus were the great gates of the dwarf kingdoms closed and stone halls sealed from the evil of those beneath the sun. The lesser races not content to leave the dwarves in peace, began to dig into the earth, but knew naught of its ways. Their folly awakened the dragons. The dragons rose in the fury of broken sleep demanding tribute, but the lesser races could not satisfy their greed. They appeased the dragons with tales of dwarven gold, and told them that the mining of the dwarves had disturbed their slumber. And so the dragons came to our ancestral halls and blew in the gates. Spitting fire, they slew many. Those who survived fled their inheritance into the world above. Since that day new homes have been created and we give thanks to the Maker for our increased wealth. But prophecy says that one day the caverns of the First Dwarves will be reclaimed. Then will we be free from the attacks of monsters and the ways of elves and humans."
Forge Runehammer |
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