Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Oberton" data-source="post: 23598" data-attributes="member: 153">Ulrik Rurik-son’s JournalUlrik Rurik-son’s Journal note:  I placed a copy of this in the persona section also...(excerpt)At age 30, my father, Rurik Garik-son, brought me into the Great Hall of Feasts.  He limped along, favoring his slightly twisted right leg.  He had told me that he was born with a lame leg and could not continue the warrior tradition of our family.  Father could not fight, but he was well respected as the best distiller of dwarven spirits of the clans.  He brought me into the Feasthall and bade me to listen.“Up above, young Ulrik, you will see the banners of each family that has pledged to defend the dwarven kingdom with their lives.  Each banner up there means that the warrior of the family has a chance to be one of the few who sit on the High Council, advisors to the King.  There are many banners up there, but only a select few are chosen to advise in addition to their warrior duties.Now, as you see along the walls… there are banners of families who for some reason or another cannot pledge a warrior to the ranks of the Defenders of the Kingdom.  Some are families that have fallen into dishonor by the deeds of their family… they have a border around them of black cloth.  Only the greatest deed may bring the family back to being part of the kingdom again and remove the black cloth that outlines their banner.”Rurik moves past the black-lined banners and brings young Ulrik in front of an intricately detailed banner.  The dwarven surname Haradin is stitched in large Dwarven runes across the top of the banner.  The banner shows a pile of what seems to be demonic skulls with a large Dwarven Defender shield and battleaxe stitched at the top of the pile.“This is the banner of our family, Haradin.  It no longer sits among the rafters of the hall because of my birth.  As you can see, our family has a long history of slaying fiends.  Your grandfather was the last of our family to bear the honor name “Demonslayer”.  It was during his last fight, when he led a group of warriors against a powerful demon and slew it that the demon had the last word and placed a curse upon your grandfather… ‘You will not bear a warrior ever again and your family will die and wither, thus I curse you with my last breath of this existence.”Your grandfather came home to his pregnant wife.  She looked at him worriedly as he came in and hung his armor and arms by the door.  “You are safe and have come back to me, Garik… I was so concerned.”  Garik grunted softly, “Aye woman, I am back and will always be here… how is my future?”, he moved to his wife and placed his hand on her swollen stomach.  “I… I don’t know what to do, Garik… the little one has stopped kicking… I fear that something is wrong.”Garik frowned and when he was able to besides his duty as warrior, he stayed by his wife’s side till a month later when the term of pregnancy should be over.Rurik’s voice drops slightly as if a barely heard whisper, “It was then I was born… immediately coming out of my mother’s womb, my deformity could be seen… my twisted right leg.  The demon’s curse had hit our family… it is speculated that years of vanquishing demons in our family gave weight to that demon’s curse.  It was with great sorrow and heartbreak did your grandfather die as he knew when he breathed his last breath, the family banner would hang no longer in the hall, except on the wall.”“My birth had stopped the lineage of warriors in my family… I consulted the priests and had them cast their runes.  They told me that in order to break the curse, I must sacrifice the weapons and armor that had been passed down generation to generation in our family.  I watched as the armor and weapons of family Haradin were sacrificed in the forges of Moradin.  As your grandfather’s armor finally sank into the smelter near the Great Forge, the fire underneath flared briefly and from nowhere the sound of hammer on anvil could be heard as if from a deep well.”“Only then dared I sire a family, I wooed your mother, the second daughter of one of Garik’s axe brethren.  It was only when you were born, a fine healthy dwarven child, that I knew the curse had been broken.”“Ulrik, you will begin training under those friends of our family who believe that restoring the banner of Haradin to the heights of this hall will once again restore the honor of our family and show that no dying words of a demon can hold sway over dwarves.”“When you are of sufficient age, the King will give you a quest to restore the name.  We are fortunate that our family is not in dishonor like the banners bordered in black.  It takes them more than a generation to redeem their family name.  Because there was no dishonor in our ability to pledge a warrior to the King, we can reverse the fortunes of our family by one generation.  You, Ulrik, will fulfill a mission given by the King… when you have finished your quest, our banner will hang once again amongst the other warrior-families.”</blockquote>

Verification