Nania Firedigger, a normal sized dwarf with an interesting mix of red, blonde, and dark brown hair, layed at the side of a bed, with her sickly father, Dorgo Firedigger. The last name of their family, "Firedigger", had come about in an interesting way. The first of their family was said to work so well and so determined, that his armor and tools began to shine, and his shovel itself seemed to be on fire due to the rapid movement of his work. Hence their family name.
But that was many generations ago. The dwarven underground settlement in which she had lived in all of her life was falling into slow decay. Many of the dwarves there had moved on to other places, although the population there had always been somewhat low. Mining is what they all did, getting fresh ores from the rocks and caverns found underneath a fairly small mountain range. Her father had been a kind of leader for those remaining. He had been the same way as their ancestors, a hard worker with legendary working habits. He was a very jolly looking dwarf, with dark brown hair, which was beginning to gray heavily, and it seemed he had passed down some of his basic appearance traits to his daughter, Nania, who looked somewhat like him. His face was beginning to wrinkle more and more as the days passed, and behind his king eyes, there was pain.
His kind personality had made him one of the best liked dwarves of the area. Many of those who lived in the underground settlement actually began to call him "Father" as well, because of his happy and caring nature. But those days were almost over. He had become bed stricken for many days now, no longer getting up optimisticaly every morning for his work mining and smithing with his hammer, which he had used for seemingly forever, the old hammer was starting to rust, and was almost mis-shaped on one side due to the heat and melting of the hot fires. Since she was a small child she remembered him using that hammer to smash away at swords and other items.
It was so quiet in the long dark hallways under the mountain now. Only a few families remained in the settlement. Nania had always wanted to see other areas of the world, but the condition of both the settlement and her father compelled her to stay. How could she leave her sickly father to loneliness? Her mother had already passed away a few years before.
"Nania...my daughter." Her father said, looking over to her from his small bed, picking up a tiny cup of water from a table nearby and sipping it. "Come here." She quickly got up and sat on a stool next to the bed. "Yes, father?" "Why haven't you left yet? I can see you are bored with this place." "But father---" "No, none of this nonsense. I still have many friends here that can take care of me. I know you want to go. Don't stop your own life because of mine. You have many days." "Father, I can't leave with things like they are now..."
"Why not? Nothing will stop the slowing of this mining settlement. You should go on somewhere where you can do something constructive. Not spend your days sitting next to an old man!" He laughed, but as he did so he let out a moaning cough, and tried to cover it up with his laughing. "There's one hundred gold coins in a box over near the fireplace. It's enough to get you where you need to go, far away, but probably not enough to go FAR away, if ya know what I mean." He laughed again, then coughed, in a similar manner as before. "But what about you?" "I have my memories, and friends to stop by and look after me. It'll be alright. There are a few dwarven cities within an area of here. I'm sure you can find a suitable one."
Nania didn't say anything to her father, not believing he wanted her to go, risking his own well being for her happiness, it seemed selfish of her to take this opportunity, but she had always wanted to go someday. She walked to a locked chest, and used an old key to open the rusty lock. Although it was old, it was still in good condition, her father was a fine smith, and most dwarven products were made to last. She took out a map, which was on some type of paper, which was torn and yellow from aging. She shook her head at the outdated map and set it back into the chest. "Isn't there any newer maps?" "Aye, by the doorway I think." She walked over to the other location and peeked at another map, which was in much better shape.
Her fingers, blackened by the coal and the rocks, moved around the map, searching. She saw some dwarven settlements farther away, but too far for one hundred gold to get her there. Then she spotted an island with two names on it. One of the names was "Trollsbane" and the other "Silverbrand". 'Silverbrand' she thought to herself. She had heard some dwarves here that talked about it, it sounded like a good dwarven city, full of hard working and noble dwarves. Was this her opportunity? Perhaps, it was close enough, and it had a good reputation. Her mind had been made up.
"Father." She walked over to him and put her hand onto his shoulder. "Aye." "I will go, although I don't want to leave you." A tired smile came onto his face. "Go.." She walked over and grabbed a shovel, then hesitated as she moved for her fathers old hammer. She looked over at him, and they didn't even need to use words, he nodded to her. She picked it up and set it in a bag along with her money. A hammer and shovel, all she would have when she arrived.
A Young and Old Dwarf
Moderator: Gamemasters