On the outskirts of Hazinak

[Hallarn]

Darius, the gnome archeologist, was carefully dusting off a newly uncovered relic at the ancient shrine south of Hazinak when he was distracted the sound of approaching hooves. He turned and watched as dusty looking dwarf rode up on black horse and clumsily dismounted.

"Well good day to you Hallarn. Some wonderful finds today, what do you make of this?" Darius asked the dwarf holding up an obviously ancient tablet covered in strange runes.

" Tis dwarven o' course" replied Hallarn," but ye prolly knew that didn't ye?".

"Yes I suspected as much. A truly magnificent find, unspeakably old. I don't suppose you can read it can you?" asked Darius.

"Nay, ye'd need te find a dwarf with a longer beard than mine te read the old tongue. None in Moradhim still speak it."

"No I didn’t think so." said Darius in a deflated tone, handing the tablet to a clockwork assistant. "So I see your doom still eludes you. I suppose you'd like to know what news from Hazinak".

" If ye've heard anything then aye, tell me what ye know" said Hallarn

"Well you know I’m usually busy with my work but there was a strange traveler who passed through a week ago. Elf by the look of him though he was hidden by his cloak. He was very interested in what we'd uncovered here, asked very specific questions about any weapons we might have found. Well my partner Marius didn't like the look of him and told him to leave. The stranger then told us we should watch our backs with a sneer on his lips and left." Darius said.

" And when ye say elf what ye mean is Tier' dal" said Hallarn.

"yes yes" said Darius with an air of impatience, "you know that we don’t make much distinction between them, an elf is an elf. Good, Evil both have their place in the world."

"Aye until ye get a knife in yer back" retorted Hallarn. "So their interested in weapons are they? And ye can be sure that’s what the orcs were lookin for the day we were ambushed, no doubt paid in Tier' dal gold."

"You speak of the orcs attack that killed your brother? It really was a long time ago Hallarn, there was nothing you could do to save him. It doesn't make sense to throw your whole life away."

"DINNAE SPEAK OF THAT!" shouted Hallarn angrily, " A dwarven oath is as strong as the steel that forges his armor, an oath is neer to be taken lightly. A dwarf be nothing without his word!".

"Yes of course, I apologize to you Hallarn", said Darius. "I know how seriously your people take their oaths. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Tis alright, ye kinnae understand yer not a dwarf" replied Hallarn

A crash from inside the shrine pulled their attention from the conversation.

"That’s odd" said Darius, "there’s no one inside the shrine, all my clockwork are working outside today."

"Well then lets see who's paying ye a visit." said Hallarn readying his hammer and walking inside.

[Hallarn]

Hallarn gripped his war hammer as he stepped into the darkened chamber. The chamber was part of a shrine that had been carved into this mountain eons ago by unknown hands. Hallarn’s ancestors had once settled in this area to mine and work a strange metal buried deep below the desert. They had crafted extremely powerful armor and weapons from the metal until the supply ran out. When his ancestors were driven off by attacks from orcs and frogloks many of the weapons and armor pieces were left in this area, either hidden in the mines to keep them out of the hands of enemies or lost in the sands. It was the lure of those archaic treasures that had brought about the destruction of Hallarn’s family.

As he walked deeper into the chamber he could sense evil permeating the air, a gift he had received from the priests of Brell when he had taken the doomseekers oath. “Come out and show yerself villain, I kin sense yer vile presence fouling up the air.” Hallarn yelled as he entered a large circular room filled with four sarcophaguses. The ceiling of the room glowed with stars and was probably a representation of the night sky countless ages ago. In the center of the room was a large pool of glowing water. “Ye’d rather hide eh? No more than I’d expect from yer kind.” As Hallarn talked a dark figure slowly crept up behind him. The light from ceiling reflected of a pristine blade held in the figures hand. With cat like quickness the figure pounced and drove the blade deep into Hallarn’s back. Hallarn cursed and stumbled forward. The figure threw back its hood revealing the grinning face of a Tier’ dal.

The dark elves smile quickly turned into a look of shock as the dwarf stood up and pulled the knife from his back. “That the best ye can do?” The dwarf said proudly though he was obviously in great pain. “Ye call that poison? Yer kin would be ashamed of ye.” The dark elf yelled a curse and charged the dwarf at the same time drawing a long scimitar from his robes , but the dwarf was already swinging his hammer bringing it down in tight arc that found the dark elves head crushing the life from him.

Darius ran into the room and stood aghast at the morbid scene in front of him. Blood, both tier’ dals and dwarves, spattered the walls and the floor. The broken figure of a dark elf assassin lay crumpled near a wall. “Hallarn! Oh my goodness, what a mess.” the gnome said frantically. “ you can’t go around in here recklessly swinging your hammer! There are priceless treasures in here. You could have destroyed them.”<br>
The gnome kept up his verbal reprimand but Hallarn did not hear his words. He was more interested in the note he’d found hidden in the Tier’ dals robes.

[Hallarn]

Hallarn picked up his hammer and exited the shrine while reading the note he’d found on the Tier’ Dal assassin. He then folded the note and placed it in his pocket.

“Well what does it say?”, inquired Darius.

“It says that the Tier’ Dal in Hazinak ‘ave taken a special interest in yer discoveries”, replied Hallarn,” They want te know what it is ye’ve unearthed and who’s been paying ye visits”.

“Well that’s most disturbing”, said Darius, “ I suppose it’s a good thing my clockworks are programmed for defense. I don’t suppose it would help to send word to Hazinak that the most powerful artifacts have long since been plundered”.

“Aye plundered by the denizens of Guk” observed Hallarn

“Yes as your father discovered long ago. I just wish he had followed my advice and never gone to reclaim them. He would never have been imprisoned and fate would have treated you much better Hallarn“.

“Twas his right to go and claim what belonged to our clan! Those foul froglok will pay fer what they did to me father, before I find me doom I’ll see te that” said Hallarn.

“You don’t plan on venturing there yourself do you Hallarn. They are very powerful and don’t forget the trolls who also share the swamp” stated Darius.

“Calm yerself, the time is nae right fer me te pay their king a visit. Fer now ill content meself on a visit to the gypsies. They have many eyes and they‘ve helped me in the past.” said Hallarn.

“ Oh , your off to the oasis then. Well good luck to you Hallarn. I hope that fate may treat you kinder in the future then it has in your past.” said Darius.

“Watch yer back gnome, the Tier’ Dal dinnae give up easily. Until next time, be well.”.

Hallarn turned and remounted the black steed with some difficulty, cursing as he struggled to get into the saddle. Darius then watched as he rode off to the west. Unknown to Darius and Hallarn another set of eyes was watching from atop a distant dune. The spite filled eyes of a Deathfist Orc.

[Hallarn]

The Orc Myrmidon unsheathed his rusty blade as the black horse approached on the road below him. The Dwarf rider grumbled to himself apparently unaware of the nearby danger. The Orc gave a silent signal to four other Orcs hidden amongst the rocks alongside the road. They signaled back their acknowledgement and readied themselves for the approaching rider.

Hallarn licked his parched lips and wished desperately he’d brought along more ale. His ale skin had long since run dry and there would be nothing to quench his thirst until he reached the Oasis. The gypsies, Hallarn knew, drank nothing but water which he hardly considered an appropriate drink to quench a dwarfs thirst. “ The gypsies are a good lot but one of the brew masters really ought te travel te the desert and teach them how te brew some proper ale” Hallarn grumbled to himself as he thought about a tall mug of dwarven stout. Although he had long since given up drinking in excess he (and all dwarves) considered ale a basic need of life much as other races considered food and shelter.

The black horse stopped and began to rear back in an agitated manner. It whinnied and pulled against its reigns as Hallarn struggled to control it. “Well what’s gotten into ye” he asked. A dark shape moved behind some nearby rocks catching Hallarn’s eye. “So that’s it is it” he said as he readied his hammer and jumped from the horse to the ground, although other races fought from the saddle, Dwarves liked to have their feet planted firmly on the ground. “ Alright then, show yerself” Hallarn shouted. His yelling panicked the already agitated horse and it bolted in the opposite direction back towards Hazinak. “ Well that’s just grand aint it?” he complained as his attention was drawn back to the nearby rocks by Orcish war cries. Hallarn took a firm grip on his hammer as four orcs charged out from their hiding place.

[Hallarn]

The Orcs screamed war cries as they charged from the rocks. Hallarn swung his hammer and caught the first Orc in the chest sending it sprawling to the sand. He ducked a wild swing by a second Orc and struck a third in the abdomen sending it to the ground gasping for air. Hallarn was too slow to evade a strike from the fourth Orc and its blow struck him in the temple, knocking his helmet off his head and staggering him down to one knee. The Orc quickly followed up with a blow meant to decapitate the Dwarf. Hallarn swung his hammer in a counter strike and shattered the Orcs weapon sending sharp pains shooting up its arm. Hallarn followed up with a blow to the Orcs head, completely separating it from the body. The two orcs who had already been knocked to the ground lost their nerve at the sight of their headless comrade and fled. The remaining Orc approached the Dwarf cautiously, looking for a weakness to exploit.

Hallarn was readying himself for its attack when he heard something moving behind him. The myrmidon who had signaled the attack had arrived at the battle and attempted to strike the Dwarf down from behind. Hallarn turned quickly and attempted to evade the blow but wasn’t quick enough and the Orcs blade bit deep into his shoulder. At the same time the other Orc struck, driving its blade into Hallarn’s stomach, piercing his inner organs. Hallarn coughed up blood and staggered backwards barely managing to stay on his feet.

The Orcs laughed at the struggling Dwarf and moved in on him slowly, intent on savoring the kill. Hallarn smiled too, not because he was close to the doom he sought, because he felt the power of Brell, the god and creator of all dwarves, surging through his body healing his grievous wounds. Hallarn recovered his balance and charged the Orc myrmidon who was completely unprepared for this unexpected attack. His blow swept aside the orcs weapon as it feebly attempted to parry and struck it full force in the ribs, shattering bone and crushing its internal organs. The myrmidon dropped to the ground dead, its face contorted in a look of shock and pain. Hallarn turned to the last Orc but before he could strike the Orc dropped to its knees and then fell face first on the sand, two arrows protruding from its back.

“It seems you did not need our assistance dwarf but we would feel disappointed if we did not help you in some way” said a human voice.

“ Yer aide is most welcome, once again I am in yer debt”. Hallarn replied as two gypsies emerged from the rocks.