As I throw my rucksack over my shoulder and lace up my boots, to begin my journey away from the barren and wizened pathways formed by several thousand years of my people walking to and from work, school, and anything else dwarvish people have to do daily, my mind starts to wander off to my younger years, I grew up under mountain vulcan, a great hunk of dark brown ground with volcanic, hotter-than-the-sun magma hidden deep underneath, my colony, my people, we are one of the only colonies not to take residence under the mountains of thessan, the main hub of dwarvish people, my ancestors split off from the majority too long ago for anyone to remember the story. Mt. Vulcan is regarded as one of the largest volcanoes in the forgotten realms, however many of the population regard its lands as too empty to be habitable, as it is large and has no vegetation, on the surface, but underground, the vulcanese dwarves have built a truly impressive village, full of life, music, culture, families and food! It truly has everything we could ever need, so no one usually needs to travel to the surface unless for very special occasions. For example, 3 or so years ago my sister, Carrie, fell deeply ill and needed medicine that could only be found in maccsun, the local city, so after a lot of herbal remedies from the elders did not cure Carrie of her ailment she left with my father to travel to get treatment, my village did not approve of this, however, my family knew it was either our reputation or my sister's life, I've spent the last three years rebuilding the peoples trust in us after we sent them away. That is the reason I am leaving Vulcan village today, its been a year since we have had any contact from father, and my mother had been growing more anxious by the day, worried that something bad had happened to them on the way to Maccsun, as if father couldn't take down a common beast! She worries if Carrie's illness killed her, anything her blessed heart could think of she was worried about, she didn't want me to leave either, but eventually, the pain of not knowing what had happened to the two of them got the best of her and she agreed to let me take the journey to Maccsun and make sure Father and Carrie are in good health. I've always wanted to venture to Maccsun and explore the lands, however, I need to make sure my family is all together and healthy before I even have the chance to become a traveler. This was 2 days ago, I packed my supplies as soon as she gave me the okay, excited to improve my otherwise dark and warm life, all I needed was my lizard to be ready to leave.
The morning after I was allowed to leave mt. vulcan, I awoke, said goodbye to my brothers and sisters, and met my mother at the dining table in our little home. She smiled at me and then gave me the look.
"If you cannot find them don't go on a mission to search all of the realms for them, come straight home" she spoke in common speak as she stood to embrace me and pull my ears downwards like she did every time we talked (when I was born I came out with upturned nearly elfish ears, my mother always hated this and thought if she pulled them down towards the earth enough they would eventually stay there, 40 years later it is yet to work).
"I will ma I promise, no missions I've got it" laughing at this comment because me her adventurous and brave son wanting to go on a mission around the realms. Don't be ridiculous!?
"I swear on aldr I will murder you if you don't listen," she said, scowling.
"I've got to get going ma, I want to make it before sundown, will you be okay without me?"
"Avdol. Dont worry" her face let up "take these for the trip"
She handed me a parchment paper bag of honey cakes, the best food ever, she had perfected this recipe, flour, milk, eggs, and honey from the bees of mt. Vulcan, this species of bee is only accessed by my people and it makes the honey rich and thick. Ma had been a baker before she retired and these honey cakes were nationwide known to be the best ever, even though word rarely gets out or into mt. vulcan, this was spread from traveler to traveler, being put in books and lists of the wonders of the seven realms. I wish I could've learned everything she had learned before I left that day, spent a few more minutes with my Ma.
"eth sjigalr denthar aldror e joth odror verthol sent hjav mikk" she uttered, tearing up.
"thja monmur aldror glym" I responded kissing her and leaving my home. I realize whoever is reading this document may only be fluent in common speak, so I'll translate these phrases as well as I can. They are the closest things my people have to the humans saying 'i love you' to each other, apparently.
What my mother said was 'the flames that burn in your heart were sent by me', I returned this by saying 'they will burn bright'. I'm unsure if this is a common phrase within other dwarf villages but to the vulcarians it is the sweetest thing that you could say, we come from fire and warmth, so sending this to each other is essentially sending them life essence.
When I snapped out of my trance the dark, charred plants had dissipated and instead had been replaced with lush green fields that bore flowers and trees as far as the eye could see, and the worst thing, the very worst thing, is that I already ate all of my honey cakes. My lizard carried on his steady pace, I gave him a whole cucumber and he perked right up, his emerald green cheeks soared up and he picked up the pace he started with. not long before nightfall, I reached maccsun, it was a grand and beautiful city, I assume, I had never been to the surface before let alone a city as grand as this one but I had read about them in books and been told about them by village elders, they are a common sight for grounds people, but I can't believe the magnitude of it, but my imagination could've never constructed such a beautiful scene as the one before me, it's lush and green, I never knew it was such a common colour above ground. I entered the cobbled paths and found the nearest inn.
"One room please, and a stable for my traveling lizard kind sir" the man looked me up and down and for a split second a flash of surprise brushed over his aged face.
"What's a mountain dwarf like yourself doing all the way out here?"
"I'm looking for someone."
"Oh, are you one of the queen's nights then, they usually are out on missions looking for vigilantes and stuff?"
"No, sir."
"I've never seen a dwarf that wasn't a soldier before! Shouldn't you be underground?" he chuckled to himself as he grabbed a key from a hook behind him
"These queen's knights, where do they reside, they seem like they could help me find who I'm looking for?"
"The castle, of course, you can find them training there at 10 am tomorrow, that will be 2 silver coins."
"Thank you." I took the key and found the room I had been given, within minutes I was stripped down to my underwear and passed out on the freshly made bed I had been given.
