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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ajanders" data-source="post: 867671" data-attributes="member: 3271">EntryGot it...had more fun with the gem than I expectedIngredientsKey Phrase: "How sharper than a serpents tooth it is to have a thankless child"Ingredients: a lock of hair, an uncut gem, "Cut off your nose to spite your face"Association: Kul Moren (Kul Moren is a dwarven mining community in the mountains northwest of Mor's End. The dwarves are allied with Mor's End, and in fact, there is a large dwarven community on the northside of Mor's End. Kul Moren mines produce iron and very small amounts of other metals. The dwarven community in Mor's End has its own small military unit that is on loan from Kul Moren. The commander of that military unit is an adviser to the city council and Lady Kelvin).StatblockKorvir "TightClasp" Kulsen: Dwarf Exp10 (ECL 5), hp 54; Init -1, Spd 20 ft, AC 11/11/11, ATK +5/+0 melee,d 1-3-2 (Fist) or +6/+1 missile, d1-6 (MW repeating crossbow, MW bolts), SA None.  AL LN, SV Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +10; Str 6, Dex 8, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 12, Char 6.  SQ Dwarf Qualities. Skills: Appraise +17, Craft: Gemcutting +21, Craft:Weaponsmith+17, Craft:Armorsmith+17, Craft:Blacksmith+19, Craft:Stonework+19, Craft:Locksmith+17, Craft:Trapsmith+17, Profession: Miner+21, Knowledge:Engineering/Architecture+11, Intimidate +2.  Feats: Iron Will, Exotic Weapon Proficiency(Repeating crossbow), Skill Focus (Craft: Gemcutting), Skill Focus (Craft: Miner)Possessions: Masterwork Repeating Crossbow, lots of masterwork bolts, large house with multiple workshops and large trapped vault, The Crimson Heart of the Mountain.History"TightClasp" Kulsen is the 300 year old dwarf who defines fine craftsmanship in the mines of Kul Moren.  The simplest products of his skill are prized by the world for their utility and beauty and venerated as archetypical specimens by the dwarves of Kul Moren.It's a pity he's such a jerk.Or perhaps he isn't.  The gods lay their blessings and burdens where they will, say the dwarves of Kul Moren: if he has been blessed as a craftsdwarf, he has been sadly disappointed in his family life.  The great rambling tunnels of his home must echo in the absence of his children, and even the warmth of the forge is not as soothing to old bones as the warmth of the family hearth.Have a little sympathy for a brilliant old dwarf with hundreds of students, but no sons.***As always, the truth lies between the ends of the spectrum.  The gods do indeed lay their blessings and burdens where they will.  Sometimes they lay both at once.  This is certainly the case at what would become Kul Moren, where a god gently laid an uncut ruby of surpassing color and clarity fully three feet in diameter in the very center of a great mountain and left it for whomever found it.The ruby sat in darkness for aeons, until one day the fifty year-old Korvir Kulsen found it while digging out his new house.  Immediately he recognized the magnitude of his treasure.  This was no common stone.  This was not even the once-in-a lifetime find dwarves dream about in their beds or the once in a generation find dwarf bards chant for years to come.  This was unique in all the world.  This stone would be the defining work not just of Korvir Kulsen or Kol Moren, but of the entire dwarven race.  It was a treasure for the world.Kulsen went a little mad that day.  All dwarves are a little prone to monomania about precious gems and fine craftsmanship, but Kulsen was strained like no other dwarf had ever been, so it's no wonder he bent a little further than most do.  He carefully concealed the stone and continued to dig as he thought.It was his: a special charge by some vagrant god to cut perfectly as an act of prayer and reverence towards the earth.  It would be difficult.  He would have to know the stone intimately, then plan his cuts on a grander scale than had ever been done before and execute them with supernal precision.  He would have to have the best tools available.  He would have to be the best gemcutter in the world.This was going to be a long project, he suspected.  When he realized the perfect gem could only be cut from the perfect stone with perfect tools handled by the perfect dwarf, he knew it was something he would be doing for the rest of his life.  He set to work.First he shaved his head and beard and swore himself a mighty oath that he would wear no hair save that in a craftsman's lock, a little pigtail in the beard wrapped in leather and hung with a medallion indicating the craft.  Warriors generally wear their beards loose and flowing.Two years later he wore a mastersmith's lock and then continued on to gain another mastercrafter's lock for each of his craft or profession skills: eight in all, four more than any craftsman had ever had before.  He was widely admired for his astonishing devotion and skill.  He continued on, lengthening his beard locks every year as he performed more and more wonders of gemcutting, locksmithing, trapcrafting and all the other knowledges that epitomized dwarfdom.But as he furthered his obsession, he became distant from his family.  His wife waited patiently outside his workshop for a week one year, then left him and took his sons with her.  It took him two weeks after that to notice she was gone.  They have not returned since, and he curses them sometimes for their treachery.  His wife he could manage without: he has food and clean laundry delivered every two weeks or so, and that's really all he needs.  But his sons could help him position the gem so he could see it better.  His eyes are starting to go now, you see.  For a while he thought the fog on the gem was caused by condensation from his breathing on it.  He tried wearing a mask, but his nose was too long.Well, he'd never really liked his nose anyway.  He had good sharp knives and a first aid kit in his shop.  It was really very easy, all things considered, and didn't hurt a bit.And the gem is so close to being ready to start...DescriptionTightclasp Kulsen is a 300 year old dwarf dressed in fine clothes he changes when he remembers to, which is about every other week.  His beard is braided into eight craftsman's locks that hang down to his ankles, his head is bald.He is missing the front half of his nose, which gives most people a shock when they look at him.He is a brilliant craftsman and a great repository of knowledge, but he's also an obsessive-compulsive and a perfectionist.  Given a choice, most people send him written specs for their requests rather than see him in person.He will not speak of the uncut ruby, which he calls the Crimson Heart of the Mountain, unless magically persuaded or convinced that he is speaking to someone as committed to the gem as he is....usually master rank or better gemcutters who have impressed him with their work (and he is very difficult to impress).Adventure hooks1.   Kulsen is the premier craftsman to see for any sort of detailed metalwork or jewelry: a party might be used as couriers for his wares.  High level characters might even commission him to produce the mundane components for magic items, masterwork weapons, or wedding rings, for the socially inclined.2.  Gods leave these treasures to the world to be shared, not locked away in a workshop.  A priest might get a divine vision requesting they help Kulsen cut the gem by blessing his tools and workshop.  Or, if you prefer, the gods think Kulsen has wasted enough time with the gem, and may want him to give it up.  Good luck explaining that to a crazed dwarf.3.  Korvir Kulsen is dead and gone to a better place.  His family needs to get into his vaults to deliver some of his finished goods to customers and generally settle his estate.  Unfortunately, Kulsen didn't leave any directions how to disarm his traps.  This is a problem, because his extensive vaults have been trapped as only an insanely paranoid master trapbuilder can.  The family needs a collection of thieves to disarm his traps and clear out his vaults.  Yes, they have an inventory sheet, and they will be checking to make sure you hand them everything on the inventory sheet.But Kulsen never told anyone about the Crimson Heart of the Mountain.  Are your players lawful enough to give up a ruby three feet in diameter?  If they aren't, are they clever enough to sneak it out the door?</blockquote>

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