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Foli Silverdeep's arrival in Vives
Posted: 30 Jun 2004 01:46 PM |
Also named "There and hopefully back again......"
Adolescence was difficult for Foli Silverdeep for he was a late bearder. Foli didn’t start to show a beard until more than ten years after his peers. This led to incredible ridicule in the Dwarven City of DiamondDeep. (Note: DiamondDeep is the capital city of the Dwarven kingdom of Arghrut. Arghrut is located in the Blue Diamond Ranges of a continent far across the eastern sea from Vives.) Foli was the third son of the King Ghrut of Arghrut. But due to his late beardness, Foli was rarely acknowledged by his father and mother alike. In fact his family never allowed him to have a Bearding ceremony which was quite a scandal in the royal court. They were quite ashamed of him and having such a late ceremony would only call attention to his lateness. Instead of enrolling him in axe classes or letting him learn the fine arts of mining, gemcraft or warfare, they let him do as he pleased- that way they didn't have to deal with him.
At first this freedom helped compensate for being ostracised. But after a while he got bored and got into frequent trouble. Foli would play pranks on the palace guards and servants. They too were ashamed of Foli and were quick to anger with him but could not discipline him due to his royal heritage. Eventually Foli’s father could no longer ignore the antics of the son he wanted so desperately to disappear. King Ghrut VII (Ghrut is the name of all royal first born sons) summoned Foli to his dinner table one evening. At this meeting (the first time in 2 years that Foli’s father had spoken to him), King Ghrut told Foli how he was ashamed of his antics and would tolerate no more his presence in the royal palace. The King likened the Silverdeep bloodline to one of the largest and finest diamonds ever (the Arghrut Stone) and he stated that if the Arghrut Stone had a flaw in it (like Foli) the stone’s value would be forever blemished. The King banished Foli to an obscure seaside town (Branth) in the kingdom that was used to trade with other dwarven kingdoms on the continent into the care of an old dwarven sorcerer. While there was frequent trade between the kingdoms, the recent extermination of an orc tribe made overland routes through a portion of the border mountains more efficient, not to mention the dwarven fear of boats. This led to the decline of Branth to its current delapidated state.
Foli was crushed. He was used to being shunned but the insult of being thrown out of the magnificent palace and mountain caverns of DiamondDeep was devastating not to mention the humiliation of being entrusted to a dwarf who used magic? That was almost too much to handle. Foli was immediately tossed in a wagon and taken to Branth in a wagon used to transport wild animals. Foli arrived in Branth a broken dwarf with little drive to live.
Foli was dumped out of the wagon with no possessions other than the clothes on his back. He looked up and saw Rubybeard looking down at him with a bemused smile.
“So His Royal Highness has entrusted his trash with me has he? And what am I to do with you? By the looks of you I won’t be able to get a copper even from the slave traders.”
The guards who escorted the wagon snickered and reversed course back to DiamondDeep, happy to put the sea behind them. When the guards were out of sight, RubyBeard extended a hand and said
“Sorry about the harsh words, son. Lets go get you cleaned up. Don’t worry they won’t be back.”
Foli looked at the vastness of the sea over the cliff and retched…….
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Several years passed under the tutelage of Rubybeard. RubyBeard imposed hard discipline on Foli (something he had lacked in the past) and his prankster days were over almost immediately after his arrival. Foli's spirit recovered and he began to enjoy life. He also trained a little with the local militia whose job it was to mainly keep away pirates, slave traders and wild animals. RubyBeard took Foli underneath his beard and tried to teach him the arcane arts. Foli, however, had no aptitude for magic so after a couple of years of trying, RubyBeard gave up without Foli able to cast a single spell. Foli did have an aptitude for book learning and learned a great deal about magical items and their properties. RubyBeard was quite impressed by Foli ability to determine the nature of strange items by their appearance. RubyBeard also instructed Foli on the laws and history of the kingdom.
As Foli’s beard grew and his skill with the axe improved, he began to fantasize about returning to DiamondDeep to regain the respect of family and his father. Over time, several other dwarves were banished to Branth. They brought somber news to Foli. Both of his older brothers had died during an ambush by orcs and his father was sick with Orc mange. The Orc mange would was a painful disease that slowly ate away at the gut of its victims. An orc may last 3-4 years in incredible pain before the disease finally claimed its victim. But the hardy Dwarves could last 15-20 years of painful existence before finally succumbing. No one knew of a cure. The kingdom was getting anxious as there was no heir to take over if King Ghrut should pass on (Foli had been stricken from the official lineage and therefore was not an eligible heir). The last time a King died without an heir in Arghrut, civil war tore the country apart for more than a decade before the kingdom was united under King Ghrut the Great.
Foli thought that if he could prove himself worthy, he might be able to persuade his Father to reinstate him as a member of the SilverDeep family and would thus be named his successor. But how was he to do so?
Foli started to range further and further away from the village in search of foes to vanquish, he had heard of a dragon to the north. If he could bring a dragon’s head (or the like) to his father, then he would have to recognize his worthiness. Foli found the dragon’s lair two days journey from Branth and started to scout out the foul beast. The beast lived in a cave in the hills near a marsh. Once he witnessed a band of goblins enter the cave bearing gifts or some sort including a sacrifice. He heard a great din and saw huge plumes of green noxious gas. Not one goblin exited the cave that day. This did not deter Foli as he was too young and desperate to know any better.
One day as he was intently watching the cave from a hidden position he noticed some tall people (he would later learn from Rubybeard that they were called Humans) just like the slave traders that occasionally visited Branth sneaking around the back of the hill that the dragon dwelled in. Hours later they emerged carrying sacks of what had to be a part of the dragon’s hoard. Foli felt that surely Bregodim was showing him the way to redemption in his father’s eyes.
Foli memorized where the tall ones entered the cave and ran back to Branth. For two weeks, Foli peppered RubyBeard with questions about dragons, their weaknesses and their strengths. RubyBeard knew about the dragons existence and guessed that Foli had found his lair and was planning something foolish. RubyBeard also knew about the potential civil war in the kingdom and knew that Foli wished to prove himself to his father, the king. RubyBeard confronted Foli on the subject and Foli had to admit his intentions of slaying the dragon in order to prove to his father his worth.
While RubyBeard knew that Foli had no chance against a mighty dragon he also knew that the young dwarf’s intentions were true and that Foli only wished to prove himself a worthy successor to the Arghrut throne and save the kingdom from civil war. RubyBeard himself knew that many dwarves would die should the throne be left without an heir. RubyBeard decided to assist the young dwarf in assessing the dangers knowing that Foli had already made up his mind and that he wished above all things to be recognized again in his homeland.
The next day Foli and RubyBeard set out to the cave. They scouted the cave and when they saw the dragon fly out to hunt, Foli rushed down to the back entrance to the cave. RubyBeard had no choice but to follow Foli to protect him as best he could. They found the back entrance with ease, the humans had made their best attempt to disguise the entrance but to two dwarves the boulders were plainly out of place. Foli and RubyBeard stole into the cavern and after a brief descent, entered a small opening. This small cave had a hole in the far wall that led to another chamber in which Foli and RubyBeard could sense and see the sparkle of gems and gold. With the sight of such treasure, even RubyBeard threw caution to the wind and followed Foli down the passage.
They entered the treasure chamber of the green monster and were in awe of the gems and gold piled to the ceiling. RubyBeard started to fill his pockets with the best gems. Foli spied a curious axe in the corner underneath a pile of gold. He reached for it and gasped, it was the same axe that his ancestor King Ghrut the Great had used to slay the Demon that occupied the caverns underneath DiamondDeep. The Axe of Silverdeep had been lost by King Ghrut III when he fell victim to the sword of a Giant in the Giant Wars that expanded the Arghrut kingdom threefold. The blade looked like it was brand new and it still glowed with green light. The blade looked like acid had just been applied.
Foli beamed with excitement. Again Bregodim had given him an opportunity! He didn’t need to kill a dragon. No, if he could return the fabled axe to his father, his father would have to reinstate him. He could return a hero! He wrapped the axe in his cloak and motioned to RubyBeard to follow him out. As he emerged from the tunnel everything went black…..
Foli emerged from the blackness in great pain and unable to move. When he finally opened his eyes he saw that he was in a wagon (again!) and was bound this time. He looked around and saw that RubyBeard was bound as well but his head was caked with blood. Foli looked closer and saw that RubyBeard was having great difficulty breathing and the amount of blood around him was alarming. Foli then looked outside the wagon and saw that a band of humans were leading the horses that were pulling the wagon. The same ones he saw raiding the dragon’s cave days before.
He tried to call out to have them attend to RubyBeard but he was gagged. The noise he did make however drew the attention of one of the tall ones who promptly bashed Foli’s head through the cage and Foli blacked out again.
The next time Foli opened his eyes he was on a dock. The tall ones were opening the cage and that is when Foli noticed that RubyBeard was no longer breathing. One of the men dragged RubyBeard out and tossed him off the dock into the sea. This same man unbound Foli and gave him some water which Foli refused. The man shrugged and locked the cage up.
About two hours later, a slaver ship arrived at the dock and Foli was loaded aboard the ship. As he was being transferred, slavers ambushed the men who brought him to the dock and after a brief fight all of them were dead leaving Foli in the hands of the slavers. It appears that Bregodim was not favoring him after all. As the slavers were loading the loot onto their ship on of the men called out to the captain and produced Foli’s ancestor’s axe. Foli strained at his ropes in vain and the captain notice. He brought the Axe over and brandished it in front of Foli
“Yer axe? Seems too fine a weapon fer such a young stub like yerself. I dos think I keeps it fer meself.”
The captain then took a swing at the cage holding Foli with the axe thinking it would rattle the cage. But what happened next made the captain gasp, the axe bit right through the metal cage without resistance.
“Yes, I do think I keeps it fer meself” he mumbled to himself.
The ship set sail and was at sea for what seemed like two weeks. It was hard to tell as Foli was always in the dark of the ship’s hold with a score of other men all prisoners like himself. However he was well fed and occasionally they unbound him so that he could stretch his muscles.
One night they made land outside of a city he would later learn to be Port Royale. He was led along with the other prisoners to a room where it soon became obvious that he would be auctioned off as a slave. Just as he thought it couldn’t get any worse a great commotion came from outside the room. Another band of men was attacking his captors. During the chaos one of the prisoners was able to free himself and the others. They started for the back exit and began to disperse into the woods. Foli stopped, my Axe! He ran back through the auction room to look for his captors and saw the ship that brought him to this land was getting ready to leave. The captain was furiously fending of a dozen men as his crew made the ship ready for departure. The dozen men learned that the Axe was more powerful than any weapon they had seen with the greenish acid slicking the blade. They watched hopelessly as the Captain jumped onto his ship and sailed away. As the ship departed, the Captain and Foli briefly locked eyes and the Captain waved the Axe at Foli and bowed in mock gratitude.
The local band of attackers were focused on the loot they had been able to steal from the Slavers and didn’t notice Foli. Foli then slipped back into the forest and headed east as the rest of the prisoners had done where he finally arrived at the Four Winds Inn.
Foli had gotten the only father figure in his life killed and had lost the opportunity to redeem himself in his father’s eyes. Bregodim had truly teased him cruelly in the last few days. Foli decided then that he would avenge himself upon the captain and the slavers. Foli would get his ancestors axe back and return to his homeland to save it from civil war. Hopefully there would be one left to return to…. |
I wish I knew what I was supposed to do. |
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Re: Foli Silverdeep's arrival in Vives
Posted: 30 Jun 2004 01:48 PM |
| Sorry this is late in coming. I had written it when Foli was created but never posted it. Its probably too long but just wanted to give Foli's background to any who care.... |
I wish I knew what I was supposed to do. |
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