Copperheads: Betrayal and Strange Runes and Burning Dead, oh my (short update 02/12)
- Thread starter arwink
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arwink
Clockwork Golem
Amarin Yarrow sits on the balcony of the chambers the dwarves offered him, the Upper City of Thorbeck spread out below him like a child’s toy. It’s a remarkable sight, one that he hasn’t gotten tired of since his arrival, and he’s in the process of sketching out the details of his balconies construction for the third time. There’s some trick the dwarves have used to shape the stone so high on the volcano’s inner wall, an understanding of angles and architecture that's truly remarkable. Even more astounding is the way they've blended the ornate stonework with the the heavy iron gates that stand ready to block the opening should an attack or an eruption seem imminent. In many ways, the construction is an advancement on the works of his own people, despite the crude nature of the materials and the reliance of mundane science to achieve the effect.
Amarin ponders the concept of a crude advancement for a few minutes, taking notes on how such a situation came to be possible in his notebook. It’s an intriguing idea, and may well come in handy later on. There may be a paper in it, although comparatory linguistic use and intellectual paradox aren't his specialties.
It’s starts to snow on the surface, and Amarin watches the gentle snowflakes turn to steam with rapt fascination. It’s the rising heat of the volcano that does it, he knows, but the effect is still very pretty to watch. Almost as an afterthought, he makes note of how this effect may offer some additional protection for the dwarven city from above, obscuring its presence from flying predators. He wonders what flying predators there are native to the frozen continent, and how they may fit into the mystery that is the icy continents dominant weather. More notes are made in his book, and then there’s a knock on the door to his chamber.
“Amarin of Charos,” a dwarven voice rumbles. “The Thanes request your presence.”
“Oh my,” Amarin says, tripping over himself as he hurries to gather together his things and make himself look presentable. “I’m coming, I’m coming. Just let me find a good tunic…”
As an afterthought, he notes that this is the first time he's heard any of the dwarves refer to the council so irreverantly, and wonders what that may mean about the speakers position in the social structure of the city.
The young scholar is marched through the streets of Thorbeck and led up the spiraling staircase. In the lounge before the Thane’s chambers, he can see a motley group of Seldarners sitting around in a disheveled heap. Two of them bare the holy symbols of some quaint young-kingdoms religion, and they have a small pet scampering around. They've dressed the dear thing in blue robes, and given it a small pack that makes it look like its sentient, but nothing so monstrous could possibly be capable of civilized through.
Even as the dwarves try to hustle him along, Amarin digs out a notebook and quickly makes a note of the Seldarner’s descriptions. There would be a paper in that when he got home, if he could just gather together enough information on exactly why the folk of the Younger Kingdoms insisted on keeping such strange pets.
Then the mirthil doors open, and Amarin is pushed into the Chamber of the Thane by the dwarven guards who are escorting him.
It’s the first time he’s entered the chamber since he arrived at Thorbeck, but that doesn’t stop the sight from stealing the young scholars breath. There are Eight dwarves seated on imposing stone thrones, all of them clad in the finery of their station. There are toga's woven of crimson cloth (where do they get the requisite vegetable matter, must ask about their farming habits), exquisitely worked jewelry, and most have the heavy weapons favored by the dwarves close at hand. He can make out guards standing behind the thrones, dark-skinned angels that hover slightly and have a halo of whirling stones circling them at high speed. His knowledge of the planes is slight, but he recognises the angels as a curious synthesis of elemental matter and divine energy - most curious.
The thrones curve around the chamber, placing Amarin in the center of a glowering wall of dwarven stares. Almost as a defense mechanism, he runs through the mnemonic system he’d set up to remember their names and ranks when he was first introduced. Kivak, High Thane and High Lord of Thorbeck. Bordan, Earth Thane and High Priest of Durkannan the Forger. Arthas, Law Thane and Cleric of Kuth Hammerhand. Heldar, War Thane and Cleric of Arezz. Targul of Clan Karradak. Kuzzud of Clane Stoneheart. Feldek of Clan Fellhammer. Murdall of Clan Theanhell.
It’s the black-bearded face of Kivak that leans forward, regarding Amarin with his slate-gray eyes.
“There have been strangers in our halls, Amarin of Charos, who claim to be from an empire across the sea. Do you know of the lands called Seldarn?”
“Oh yes,” Amarin says cheerfully. “I’ve traveled through there on my way here. Its a new kingdom, very messy and disorganised, but full of interesting people. Very quaint, really, although the food isn’t great, but…”
He pauses, glancing up at the stern eyes of the dwarven thanes.
“er… you had a question?”
“Is this empire part of the kingdom you call Charos?”
Amarin thinks about the small island he calls home, the socio-political differences between the that and the empire he passed through, and wonders how he goes about explaining such detail to the assembled dwarves. Once again, he catches the High Thanes eye.
“Er, no.”
“Can you tell us what you know if it, Amarin of Charos? We have heard you speak of the lands accross the sea, and vlaue your opinion. We would know whether it is a good plan to trade with the Empire of Seldarn.”
“Well, I’m sure you’d want to,” Amarin chirps eagerly. “I mean, then you could spend all your time digging."
The dwarves look unconvinced.
"And making things?"
More stony stares.
"I mean, once all your food is being brought to you....ah, perhaps not. Well then, you might want to consider the fact that they're kind of interesting. Some primitive ideas to be sure, but they’re generally interesting to watch. Almost like an ant farm, sometimes, although much less prone to hivemind-like behaviour. And there’s all sorts of interesting things in there. I mean, they have some strange foreign foods, and they have all those strange gods, and you’ll probably want to contact the other breed of dwarves that look like you do…”
"Other dwarves?"
"Well, yes, obviously. There's the ones like that fellow that was waiting outside, and then there's a group known as the Bloodstone Dwarves. Very respected in the empire, I think. Much more in touch with their destiny. I think there's a whole kingdom of them over on the western side of the country."
The eight dwarven Thanes look at one another, murmuring under their breath. Amarin blinks a few times, watching them with a surprised expression.
“Other dwarves, who’d have thought,” he thinks to himself. “I mean, they have all these dwarves right here….”
He shrugs and makes a note of their reaction in his book. When he finishes writing and it looks as though their discussion will continue without him, he sets about scribbling a picture of the stone angels standing guard behind the thrones.
“Oh well, they’ll let me know when they need me again.”
Amarin ponders the concept of a crude advancement for a few minutes, taking notes on how such a situation came to be possible in his notebook. It’s an intriguing idea, and may well come in handy later on. There may be a paper in it, although comparatory linguistic use and intellectual paradox aren't his specialties.
It’s starts to snow on the surface, and Amarin watches the gentle snowflakes turn to steam with rapt fascination. It’s the rising heat of the volcano that does it, he knows, but the effect is still very pretty to watch. Almost as an afterthought, he makes note of how this effect may offer some additional protection for the dwarven city from above, obscuring its presence from flying predators. He wonders what flying predators there are native to the frozen continent, and how they may fit into the mystery that is the icy continents dominant weather. More notes are made in his book, and then there’s a knock on the door to his chamber.
“Amarin of Charos,” a dwarven voice rumbles. “The Thanes request your presence.”
“Oh my,” Amarin says, tripping over himself as he hurries to gather together his things and make himself look presentable. “I’m coming, I’m coming. Just let me find a good tunic…”
As an afterthought, he notes that this is the first time he's heard any of the dwarves refer to the council so irreverantly, and wonders what that may mean about the speakers position in the social structure of the city.
The young scholar is marched through the streets of Thorbeck and led up the spiraling staircase. In the lounge before the Thane’s chambers, he can see a motley group of Seldarners sitting around in a disheveled heap. Two of them bare the holy symbols of some quaint young-kingdoms religion, and they have a small pet scampering around. They've dressed the dear thing in blue robes, and given it a small pack that makes it look like its sentient, but nothing so monstrous could possibly be capable of civilized through.
Even as the dwarves try to hustle him along, Amarin digs out a notebook and quickly makes a note of the Seldarner’s descriptions. There would be a paper in that when he got home, if he could just gather together enough information on exactly why the folk of the Younger Kingdoms insisted on keeping such strange pets.
Then the mirthil doors open, and Amarin is pushed into the Chamber of the Thane by the dwarven guards who are escorting him.
It’s the first time he’s entered the chamber since he arrived at Thorbeck, but that doesn’t stop the sight from stealing the young scholars breath. There are Eight dwarves seated on imposing stone thrones, all of them clad in the finery of their station. There are toga's woven of crimson cloth (where do they get the requisite vegetable matter, must ask about their farming habits), exquisitely worked jewelry, and most have the heavy weapons favored by the dwarves close at hand. He can make out guards standing behind the thrones, dark-skinned angels that hover slightly and have a halo of whirling stones circling them at high speed. His knowledge of the planes is slight, but he recognises the angels as a curious synthesis of elemental matter and divine energy - most curious.
The thrones curve around the chamber, placing Amarin in the center of a glowering wall of dwarven stares. Almost as a defense mechanism, he runs through the mnemonic system he’d set up to remember their names and ranks when he was first introduced. Kivak, High Thane and High Lord of Thorbeck. Bordan, Earth Thane and High Priest of Durkannan the Forger. Arthas, Law Thane and Cleric of Kuth Hammerhand. Heldar, War Thane and Cleric of Arezz. Targul of Clan Karradak. Kuzzud of Clane Stoneheart. Feldek of Clan Fellhammer. Murdall of Clan Theanhell.
It’s the black-bearded face of Kivak that leans forward, regarding Amarin with his slate-gray eyes.
“There have been strangers in our halls, Amarin of Charos, who claim to be from an empire across the sea. Do you know of the lands called Seldarn?”
“Oh yes,” Amarin says cheerfully. “I’ve traveled through there on my way here. Its a new kingdom, very messy and disorganised, but full of interesting people. Very quaint, really, although the food isn’t great, but…”
He pauses, glancing up at the stern eyes of the dwarven thanes.
“er… you had a question?”
“Is this empire part of the kingdom you call Charos?”
Amarin thinks about the small island he calls home, the socio-political differences between the that and the empire he passed through, and wonders how he goes about explaining such detail to the assembled dwarves. Once again, he catches the High Thanes eye.
“Er, no.”
“Can you tell us what you know if it, Amarin of Charos? We have heard you speak of the lands accross the sea, and vlaue your opinion. We would know whether it is a good plan to trade with the Empire of Seldarn.”
“Well, I’m sure you’d want to,” Amarin chirps eagerly. “I mean, then you could spend all your time digging."
The dwarves look unconvinced.
"And making things?"
More stony stares.
"I mean, once all your food is being brought to you....ah, perhaps not. Well then, you might want to consider the fact that they're kind of interesting. Some primitive ideas to be sure, but they’re generally interesting to watch. Almost like an ant farm, sometimes, although much less prone to hivemind-like behaviour. And there’s all sorts of interesting things in there. I mean, they have some strange foreign foods, and they have all those strange gods, and you’ll probably want to contact the other breed of dwarves that look like you do…”
"Other dwarves?"
"Well, yes, obviously. There's the ones like that fellow that was waiting outside, and then there's a group known as the Bloodstone Dwarves. Very respected in the empire, I think. Much more in touch with their destiny. I think there's a whole kingdom of them over on the western side of the country."
The eight dwarven Thanes look at one another, murmuring under their breath. Amarin blinks a few times, watching them with a surprised expression.
“Other dwarves, who’d have thought,” he thinks to himself. “I mean, they have all these dwarves right here….”
He shrugs and makes a note of their reaction in his book. When he finishes writing and it looks as though their discussion will continue without him, he sets about scribbling a picture of the stone angels standing guard behind the thrones.
“Oh well, they’ll let me know when they need me again.”
Last edited:
randomling
First Post
FINALLY we meet Amarin! 
I love him already. Didn't you know I would?
*happy dance*
I love him already. Didn't you know I would?
*happy dance*
Mathew_Freeman
Adventurer
Aha. How interesting.
Lela
First Post
Are you kidding? He'd find them fascinating. He could write hundereds of papers and tomes on those guys!Khynal said:And does a Neutral Good, scholarly character fit into a neutral party with such people as the calculating Halgo, the inflexible Geoffrey, the brutal Blarth and the rebellious Yip?
Heck no. That's half the fun.
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