Albonium

Volume XIII - The Drow

Book XXIV - The Northern Waste

I - The Dwarven

Once there were some men, and once men were taller. But now they were smaller, for the fires fell from the sky and changed the Earth!

Then the men had become short and stocky, and their cities and homes had been burned down. What then were they to do?

They told themselves, "Let us seek wealth and gold! That is what was once had that we did not. What! Values? Morals? Can you see such things? Wealth and technology have gone completely! Let us master them! All else is frivolous."

Then came tall men, who went over and said, "We are Romans, and this is now land controlled by us!" The short men of the gray wastes thought of Romans, and thought of old myths of grander times. Thus they accepted their rule.

The Romans were tall and strong, and they called the short ones dwarves. "Find the black gold that lies within the Earth," said the Romans, "and we will reward you handsomely." What did they need it for? For some projects in Rome, they believed.

Then came a great war, and they knew little of what it was of! But the Republican Romans came, and they brought strange friends of wart-like skin, and there were monsters with them. There was might and power! The Republican Romans said, "Now, you are free from Roman oppression, and can express yourself in any way you wish!"

But the dwarves said "Any way I wish? Then I shall make more money!"

"What!" said the Republican Romans in response. "How could you value money and nothing else?"

"Because I am poor, and I need money! The Great War took everything from us and left us crippled. Is not money the guarantee of security? Then I shall value it."

"And what if you were rich? Then what would you do?"

"Can you make me rich?"

"No. We fight a war."

"Then ask not these questions! We will work, and you will pay. That is all!"

And thus the Dwarven worked for the Republic. But then Nepos slew them all. Nepos brought stability and reform! Rome had become majestic, and soon the Dwarven became rich as well.

They wondered to themselves, "Now that I am rich, what shall I do?" and they told themselves, "Rome follows many virtues, thus I shall adopt them! No one else seems to have any virtues."

And so they learned the faith and piety of temples and Roman gods. But soon they remembered that they were small, and the Romans were tall. How could they replace themselves with Roman values wholly? It was obvious that they were inferior prayers and preachers.

There was one dwarf, and he said, "Why do we think we are inferior to tall men? We are not! I say, we are equal to them!" But others looked at him and wondered why he wanted equality. Were the dwarven treated as inferior to Romans because of their height or customs? They did not! The Romans looked at the dwarves, and said, "They are good oil-gatherers, let us treat them with respect! And it would be better if they had the same culture as us to make it easier for us to benefit each other." But the dwarves felt that they were different and not the same, and so wanted to be different!

II - The Golden Age

Once there were Negroes who said, "I am American! Accept the values I have, and I will adopt the mainstream!" for they had been persecuted before, but the Dwarven said, "I am not Roman! Rather, I am a dwarf! We are ruled by the Empire of Rome, but an empire has many lands and cultures. Once other cultures rebelled against Rome, but we are different! We will never rebel against Rome!"