At the request of the Dor'Thain V2.4

I was minding my own business, preparing some leather to make the last few items of my punishment when Cort stormed into my stall. The Dor'Thain wants to see you now. I said, "But I haven't done anything wrong, and I almost done making everything he requested." He said forget about that and follow me now or I will drag you there. I dropped my tools and shrugged my shoulders and said, "lead on." Cort looked at me like he would rather make me do some sort of exercise, I giggled and motioned for him to hurry up. He sighed loudly and said something in dwarfish that probably meant, "Why me?"

When we arrived at the Great Hall, Lorn and Big Guy were already there waiting in the foyer. Cort barked at me, "Stay here and be still." I waved him on, he bit his lip so hard I think he drew blood. I looked up at the two walking mountains and said, "What's up?" Big Guy said, "I was summoned and I obeyed the Dor'Thain as you should." I giggled. Lorn rolled her eyes and said, "Just wait and see." Then it was my turn to roll my eyes. I said, "Be right back." Before they could protest I disappeared in to a crack in the wall.

I snuck through the marmoset hole and headed toward where I heard the Dor'Thain. It sounded like he was arguing with Moody, a dwarf who often disagreed with the Dor'Thain and some said he wanted to be the Thain. I couldn't make out what they were saying, because they were speaking in dwarfish, but I knew the conversation was over when I heard Cort report to the Thain all I understood was my name and a curse. I slipped back through the crack and stood near the two humans. At about that time Moody burst through the doors and looked at us with contempt. Cort motioned for us to come along and it wasn't until then did my companions know I was already there. They looked at me a little funny but didn't say anything.

Wooden, our Thain said he had a very important mission for us and he needed people with our particular talents. I had no idea what he was talking about. I asked him what he meant. All he would say that it was very important and that it may change the balance against the Dark One. To me that was kind of like an ant talking about taking on an ort, but who knows what dwarfs think, or any other race other than halfings and their kin. Devil Horn just said, "As you command." Lorn as well, did not question him. I said what's in it for me and he just repeated the same answer as before. I pretty much knew at this point I had to go and I was tired of making rope anyways a walk would do me some good.

He would not give us any more details at all, his reasoning was for not only our safety, but that of the folks of Durgis Rock, for should we fall this information could not fall into the dark forces hands and lead back to here. It was for all our futures that we succeed, but if we fail it should not bring doom upon us all. This didn't sound too encouraging in the least, but what choice do I have now, I already said okay and I had a sinking feeling if I said no, Cort may try to break my hands.

The Dor'Thain said something to Cort who nodded and walked out of the hall, a few moments later he came back with a strange looking dwarf in tow. He wore furs and soft leather boots and he only sounded like a bull walking through town, compared to other dwarfs he was remarkably quiet. I had seen this one around a few times, but he always came into town and left quickly and quietly. He paid his respect to Wooden and turned to us. Wooden said this is Duncan he will be your guide. Duncan suddenly looked very important as if he was in charge. He moved over to join our little group.

Wooden said, "Good look to you all your mission is more important than you know, you must not fail." At that point I think the Big Guy bowed or saluted, it would have been funny if he would have hit his head on one of the beams. Duncan said follow me. We all did that of course, what else would we do, we didn't know where we were going. He asked us if we were prepared to travel for at least a week. Everyone said they needed to get a few things first. They agreed to wake up at dawn and leave. I protested, because I don't like to get up so early, because I spend a great deal of time sneaking around at night and I need a little extra sleep in the morning. Duncan quickly reminded us that orcs travel at night and it is safer if travel during the daylight hours. I just said, "Whatever." I needed another knife so I went to Herg and asked him if he had one to spare. He had a very nice knife and scabbard that I had made, so I knew it was good quality work. He wanted me to make six short scabbards for the knife, I was able to negotiate that down to five. I agreed that I would make them when I come back. Normally Herg would have never agreed to that condition, but he knew how important the mission was, everyone in the Rock was counting on us. I gave Devil Horn 50 feet of rope, then I went off to make sure my buttons were safe and secure while I am away and maybe add one or two more to my collection before I set out.

Duncan wakes me before it is even daylight out. He says to me to hurry up and get ready. I try to roll over and go back to sleep, but he nudges me with his foot. I get up and look at him with my eyes still blurry. He kind of looks like an ort with the mange. That makes me giggle and I begin to wake up. I gather my things and meet the rest of the crew, the Big Guy is wearing what looks like a tent to me, I try so hard not to laugh at him. He looks so silly most of the time and what makes it worse he is so serious all the time. Lorn is hardly dressed at all and I have stuffed extra padding to stay warm. We set off on our journey with out a clue where or why we are doing, only that it is important. I am pretty sure we are dead. We all almost immediately begin to ask questions of Duncan. All he says is that we are probably heading to Kiergan Falls and it is important. Honestly I don't think he knew more than that. But that didn't mean we didn't keep asking him over and over. He would scout ahead and be gone for up to an hour at a time, he would often bring back small game with him. We never went hungry and Lorn had these amazing berries that tasted so good and made you feel all warm inside. I stayed away from her home brew, I just don't have a head for alcohol. It slows me down too much. We pretty much travel like this for about three days, slowly going down the mountains, eating fresh game and berries and asking Duncan the same questions over and over again. Then we heard the roar of water falling and knew we must be getting close. We asked Duncan one more time what we were doing. He finally said we are here to meet some Ambassadors that will help us overcome the dark struggle we now face. This is Kiergan Falls now we go and meet our guest. We are dead for sure. I start walking down the trail singing a hafling funeral dirge.

We cautiously made our way down the falls and we could see the ruins of what was once a small Dwarven community. Most of the stone buildings had collapsed, and the roofs and caved in. There was a large tumultuous pool at the base of the falls and the ruins were on the other side. A stout stone bridge traversed the stream. I scouted the bridge and made my way toward the building that seemed most intact. It would be dark soon and that looked like it might be a good place to camp and who knows what shiny things might be laying around lost. As I approached the doorway, I heard voices. I motioned back to the group to be still. I slowly headed back toward the bridge and said I heard voices inside. We all readied ourselves in case we needed to fight, but Duncan was positive this was the party we were here to meet and escort back to Durgis Rock. Now he tells us, Dwarves are so conservative and don't trust anyone.

As we slowly advanced toward the voices it became apparent they were not trying to hide themselves and seemed to be waiting for us. There was several voices and most were speaking in the Trader's Tongue, I over heard one say where are our escorts? As we approached the door we were all shocked even Duncan. Inside the crumbling building stood three elves, elves like I had never seen before. The Big Guy and Lorn were mumbling something in their own tongues and Duncan hid a smile on his face. There was also a couple gnomes inside as well. One was very old. They were as ready for combat as we were, but when Duncan spoke quietly to the old gnome all was smoothed over quickly. Duncan introduced each of us, while the old gnome spoke for the other group. He motioned toward his fellow gnome and said, "This fine young fellow is Croft." Croft smiles to us all as if he has known us all of his life. He continues by telling us about the elves. This elf is named Eiram and the other magnificently dressed elf is named Baylah. Then he speaks about the woman almost reverently as he says her name is Riane. She remarkable looking, she was very beautiful, but what made her so amazing even otherworldly was her eyes. They were pure black, there wasn't any white showing at all.

We sit down have a small meal and begin to get to know one another. It was odd, the room was filled with the warmth of a big campfire, but there was no flame or smoke to be found only a small black rock that emanated heat. It must be magic, it isn't very shiny though. We agree to leave in the morning and set watches. I drift off to sleep, seeing shiny black eyes in my dreams.

Back to work and Vidar V2.3

What I smelled was some of the best smelling food I had ever smelled in a long time. My mouth was actually dripping saliva I was so hungry suddenly. I went to get me some food when I saw the biggest human I had ever seen, and she wasn't too bad looking either. I could have climbed those mountains all day and night. She looked at my drooling and said, "You must be the latest drifter they told me about, Nago right? Close your mouth and sit down. I am Lorn. Now eat."

I gladly did as I was instructed, this woman could probably pick me up and use me for a childs toy, I had never seen anyone so big, except maybe orcs. She set down a plate of food and told me this one is on the Dor'Thain, you will have to earn the rest or go hungry. I just greedily started shoving the food in my mouth and nodded my head in acknowledgement. As if the day couldn't get any stranger, the ground began to shake and I looked back and saw the biggest thing I ever seen. He must have been ten feet tall and dressed in rags and not a button to be seen. I asked Lorn who he was and she said, "Oh that's Devilhorn, he's a good guy." I laughed when she said devilhorn, I had no idea what that meant, but I thought it particularly funny. Lorn looked at me disapprovingly and walked away.

I finished up my food and walked up to this mountain of a man and said, "I hear you are a horny devil." He looked at me kind of sideways and said in a deep booming voice, "No, I am Devilhorn" I just giggled and said, "I am Nago nice to meet you big guy." Then I walked out to find Vidar. I heard him mumbling about darkness, powers that should not be known, if they only knew. He must be crazy, but I liked him, hes like a big puppy dog.

Vidar on the other hand was like a she-wolf with a full litter of puppies and another on the way. He told me I was late and this wasn't the proper way to start off a business arrangement at all. I apologized to him saying, "I didn't know we had a set time to start." He just grunted, then said let's get to it. This is my offer you can take it or leave it but I won't bargain with you. I said let's hear it. Vidar then began to talk about the theory and glory of orts and ort herders. I tried not to fall asleep after the second hour of his lecture. He noticed I was nodding off and hit me with his his staff. That is when he said to me, there was no way I ever seen an orc in my life I couldn't even dodge an old dwarf's crook. I got very angry and called him every name I could, I am sure he didn't know what most of what I was saying, because I said it in halfing. Then I got very close to him and said don't ever say that again, I watched my whole tribe be destroyed. He hmpped and said, probably because you were sleeping on the job. I pulled out my knife and put it under his armpit and said take it back, he just hmpped again, then took his Sheppard's crook and tripped me, took my knife and put his boot on my neck. Then he said it's like this boy, out of every five hides I give you to tan, I want one back. Take it or leave it. I knew I had been beat in more than one way today. It was a hard lesson, but one I would remember. I will control my anger more carefully from now on.

My shop and home was set up in the stable at the inn. It was a dreary, tedious live, but one that I could manage. I was able to tan enough hides to turn into items that I could trade for food and other items. I "found" some buttons from time to time. I even got to know the big guy a little bit. But I was still angry at Vidar for blaming me for the destruction of my tribe. One day after Vidar dropped off an ort hid, I noticed it's head had somewhat of an orc shape to it. That gave me an idea.

I carefully skinned the whole head ensuring it was all intact. I worked many weeks making the leather as supple as I could. When I got done with it, from a distance it did have the cast of an orc on it. I added some scaring, and other trinkets to make it look more fierce. I made an outfit to go with it, to make it look like a warrior. I tried it all on and I made a terrible looking orc, but it would work. I waited for Vidar to make his weekly visit to the stable and I was waiting for him dressed as an orc. He came in shouting for me as he usually does, he walked right past my hiding place. I had prepared some hay and boxes so I could climb up and look taller. I was at the top of my spot when I threw a fake spear and yelled at Vidar in my best orc. When he turned around I think he wet his pants and his skin turned purple. He grabbed his horn and began to blow, this wasn't something I had thought about, he was calling for help and I was in trouble. Vidar came right towards me and I didn't know what to do, but run. I really hadn't thought this through well at all. I tripped with the baggy outfit and started running as best as I could. I found one of the marmoset holes I had been exploring and left my disguise there. I could hear Vidar cursing the air in Dwarven. I knew if he caught me he wouldn't be happy.

I thought I would wait him out by doing some exploring. Unfortunately his horn had caused the town to be in quite an uproar. Everyone was looking for a small orc or goblin that had run-a-muck and possibly killed me. I was in real trouble now. I decided the only thing I could do was to turn myself in and hope for the best. I went to the inn and came out in a secret spot in the pantry, where Lorn was waiting for me with a broom in her hand. Looks like I finally got the rat that has been stealing my food and the goblin that scared poor Vidar.

She picked me up by arms and I just went limp, I knew I had no choice now. I didn't say anything. She was taking me to see the Dor'Thain she said. As we were heading to the Great Hall, Vidar was shaking his fist at me. I saw a few giggles and I relaxed a little bit. When we reached the Great Hall, Cort was there and he dragged me to a side chamber I had never been in before. He sat me in a chair, looked down at me and said, "Wait and don't move." I am not sure how long I waited but it seemed like days passed. I was too scared to move and I had to pee so bad. When I didn't think I could hold it much longer, the Dor'Thain came in with Vidar and Cort. Cort had the mask in his hand. Vidar looked like my Uncle did, right before he punished me, Cort looked like he wanted to kill me and well the Dor'Thain was trying his best to suppress a smile. I had hope, but I remained silent.

Cort threw the mask at my feet and said, "Do you think this is funny?" I didn't answer him. Vidar bit his lips in fury. I was quiet. The Dor'Thain said, don't let this happen again, understood? I quickly said yes. Now to ensure you don't do this again, you will pay Vidar double what you normally pay him for the next two months and will make me 1000 feet of robe, 25 belts, 15 harnesses, and 100 mugs. Do you think that will keep you out of trouble, I dropped my shoulders and nodded yes, clearly beaten and humiliated, but it was worth it just knowing that old fart pissed his pants. The Dor'Thain bent down took the mask and said, "Now get back to work."

The Button Bandit V2.2

Since I stole my Uncle’s first button, I have a compulsion to steal more. It’s not so much that I need buttons, it’s just I have to have them. Maybe it’s my need to fill the void that my mother left when she disappeared, or just that I have a sick twisted humor. What ever the reason by the time I reached Durgis Rock I had a nice stash of halfling buttons and one or two gnome buttons. I had been in town less than an hour and I had already acquired one of my most prized buttons ever. The wrist button from the Dor’Thain’s jacket.

A few days after my arrival there was a large what to do about the missing family jewel. It was said it was made from pure gold mined by the Dor’Thain’s great-great-great-great-grand dad. I don’t know about all that, but I knew it was pretty and shiny and it was mine. Dwarves and villagers a like were murmuring about the Button Bandit and where would the fiend strike next.

I thought it all quite funny until Cort came to question me. I looked at him like I always looked at my Uncle and said, “I dunno.” That wasn’t good enough for him, he searched me thoroughly which made me giggle, his beard was quite ticklish. That infuriated Cort, he such a serious person. He yelled at me and I just gave him the most innocent look I could give. That seemed to anger him even more. He told me to spill out my belongings, which I did with mild protest. He bent over to search through my things and I saw a button dangle off his left boot, I had to take it. He almost caught me, but he must have been so angry with me he really wasn’t paying much attention. A few days later his boot slipped off and tried to find the missing button in the mud. The Button Bandit struck again. I just giggled when I heard about it. The will never find my button stash.