Author: Robert
Erel was born the fifth son of Dio, the ranking elder of the merchants guild of the northern mountains. Basically from birth he became the black sheep of the clan. Sons of guild elders, as soon as they can crawl, are made to undertake a simple, yet life defining ceremony. The baby is placed in a circle, and surrounding them are precious resources taken directly from the mountains. Gold, silver, iron, mithril, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, to name a handful. There are also less prestigious materials, such as wood, leathers, and stone. Plain, simple, stone.
Once placed within the circle, the first thing that the child interacts with seals its path in life. If the child reaches for the gold; then they will enter an apprenticeship to smelt the finest golden jewelry and statues. Fit for kings and emperors.
If they chose mithril; they would make the sturdiest armor and weapons. Perfect for protecting their land and fighting wars.
If they reach for any of the gems, they will become gemsmiths. Crafting the finest adornments for royalty and heads of state.
If they reach for the iron, they will become builders of the strongest bastions and the bells for cathedrals that toll throughout the lands.
If they reach for the stone, they become stonesmiths. Creators of statues, pillars, tableware, and the like.
The latter, since the earliest days of the guild, while an important commodity in societies, was always seen as the least prestigious of the professions. Though always in hushed conversations. Things like gold, mithril, and precious gems are undoubtedly the most valuable, and fetched the most gold at market. Stone was not a rare commodity.
Among the lower ranking materials in the selection ceremony’s circle, even wood and leather were placed higher than stone. Trees could be grown, but took generations to grow tall and strong. Trees could also be lost to fire and blight. Cattle could be raised, but could also succumb to disease and need to be culled. Thus their place in the grand order of commodities was considered higher.
Stone, on the other hand, was as run of the mill as air. They lived within a mountain of it.
Erel, during his trial, without so much as a thought in his small dwarven head, reached for the stone. To which his father, with an emotionless look, stared on before lowering his head slowly. This was while two of the three of his elder brothers snickered. These two twins were already well on their way to become mithril masters. The eldest brother, with a full respectful beard, was already a master goldsmith. He stayed silent, like his father. Though he did not lower his head. Throughout his early life, his eldest brother was often away from the mountain. Carrying out business on behalf of the guild.
Growing up, as dictated by the circle, Erel started down his path to becoming a stonemason from as soon as he could lift a small pickaxe. Much like most other paths, this started in the mines and quarries. Long dirty days were spent with tools, and hard stone. It was grueling work, but Erel took a liking to it early on. Not caring of the hushed stigma that haunted the trade. Though he could never understand why such a stigma existed. The great halls had all been carved from stone. In truth he was too young to understand the greed inherent in the dwarven people.
Later in his apprenticeship, following his times in the quarries, he began learning how to sculpt using a chisel and hammer. He started with small crude statues made of simple granite, and later moved on to harder formats such as onyx and marble. Meanwhile, his older twin brothers had already become master mithril smiths. Their armor was strong and exquisite.
His closest brother, only a few years older that Erel, was the fourth son of Dio, Lian, and the two were inseparable in their free time. Lian was set down the path of gems, when he reached for a ruby as a baby. Erel was always impressed by the gems that Lian would show him. Early on it would be the raw stones. Uncut and unpolished. Truly crude things. Later it would be beautifully cut gems perfect for crowns and scepters. The twins always held a holier than thou mentality over the two youngest siblings. But Erel knew that Lian being on the receiving end of this was his fault. Being a lowly stoneworker. A guilt by association.Lian’s gems fetched a pretty coin.
One day, late in his adolescence, Erel was in his mentor’s workshop working hard into the night. There was a deadline coming up for an immense marble statue contracted to his office by a lord. The workshop was full of massive slabs of the beautiful heavy stone. They were laying here and there. But larger thinner slabs were propped against the walls. Lian would often pay Erel a visit when he was working late. His brother quickly burst into the shop as Erel was cracking pieces of marble with his hammer and chisel. Lian had recently unearthed one of the largest rubies he had ever seen, a bit larger than his large fist. It was nothing to look at in its raw form, but Lian had finally cut it and polished it, and he wanted to show it off to Erel. As he rushed in, he tripped over some wooden planks that were propping up one of the large slabs of marble, holding it in place. One slab weighs about a ton, and the work done to get them into the shop was always monumental. Teams of dwarves labored with their hands, pulleys and massive stone carts.
As Lian hit the wooden support, one of the wooden planks shifted just enough to create a weight imbalance and the slab began to slowly move.
Erel didn’t notice anything amiss, as he was finishing up a corner. The loud sounds of stone falling and the clangs of hammer on chisel filling the space. Lian was exclaiming loudly to appeal for his brother’s attention. But Erel was in full concentration. By the time Erel turned his head, wiping the sweat from his brow, it was too late. The massive slab of marble’s movement was irreversible, and it fell on his brother with a thundering sound. Lian sensed the impending impact, but this too was too late. As he moved out of the way he was partially crushed under the weight of the dense stone slab.
As Erel rushed to his brother’s aid, yelling for help, all he could do was begin to strike the giant slabs at weak points with his pickaxe that was leaning nearby. By the time help arrived, Erel had cracked the slab enough that the group of dwarves could move the now smaller pieces slowly, revealing the lifeless and bloodied body of his brother. As bodies moved around him, removing rubble and tossing it aside, Despite the commotion Erel stood as still as a stone statue that he himself could craft. His closest family member was gone. Two dwarves removed Lian’s body from the shop. Leaving only a pool of blood behind. Blood mixed with the white dust of marble.
At some point in the commotion, the shopmaster appeared and stormed over to Erel, demanding an explanation of what had happened. But Erel couldn’t speak. The elder dwarf kicked him down and simply shouted to clean this mess up, and then to leave and not come back. Whether or not the old man knew that his brother had just died here or not, Erel knew not. The shopmaster was livid at the broken marble everywhere.
In shock from multiple fronts, Erel could only slowly start picking up and moving pieces of stone into various piles. Sorted by size. These stones could be used to create various things later. But the giant slab that had crushed Lian was slated for a wall sized display, using multiple slabs of similar size. Under a larger piece of the white stone Erel found the remains of a reddish stone. A ruby. It had been crushed into tiny pieces and dust. He looked over to the stained stone floor where the blood of his kin had dried, then back to the ruined precious gem. It was not lost on him the symbolism it carried.
He found a small hide pouch on the tool bench and began putting all of the smaller pieces of the ruby inside. They were too small to be useful in jewelry. When he had as much as he could salvage, he swept the shop, blew out the lights, and went home exhausted. Despite the very lofty hour, he knew that his day had only just begun.
Upon arrival he was greeted by the twins, his father, and the master at arms. The eldest brother was still away. While it was a freak accident, the blame was firmly being placed upon Erel’s shoulders. Erel said nothing.
During a period of investigation, Erel was held in a cell, kept well out of the public spotlight. Many weeks passed as Erel sat in solitude, holding the small pouch that he had smuggled into holding inside his clothes. He knew he was not at fault. But could not escape the nagging thoughts of what could have been, and things left undone.
When a verdict from the elders came down, he was cleared of blame in the freak incident. but the damage was more than done. His family had turned their backs on him and hadn’t even come to see him once in custody. Let alone upon his vindication. His trade master had dismissed him, so his future in the society was erased. His only true friend, and brother, was gone.
So Erel did the only thing he thought was right. In the late hours of the night following his release, he sent a missive to his father stating his intention to leave the mountain. He made no statements about his treatment or his feelings. He just conveyed his thanks for his life until now. Apologizing for the spectacle he caused the family.
Erel grabbed only a change of clothes, his stoneworking tools, his pickaxe, and some bread, stuffing them all in a bag.
With the bag and pickaxe over one shoulder He left the mountain. Never looking back at the great entrance, which was ironically made of the finest stone. Never to return. Erel threw away his whole life, and his family’s name in the act. No longer was he Erel son of Dio. He was just Erel.
Over the course of the next few decades Erel lived in solitude in the hills nearby the mountains. He was not unable to fend for himself, as all dwarves were taught survival, but the early days were rough going. However in time he settled into a rythm with nature and built himself a simple home in a small clearing, sowed his own crops and even hunted for food. He continued his trade, though he never claimed the rank of master. The wares that he made, such as bowls and plates, he would use to barter with in nearby villages and towns.
It took some time before Erel left his solitude and began to wander the lands. Erel always felt the shadow of the mountains on him. Though he had gained some sense of closure with the events of that night, he needed to leave the hills of the mountains. So he gathered the necessities, much like that night in the mountain; his tools, some clothes, his pickaxe, a small worn leather pouch. Stuffing them all in his pack
Once again with his pack and axe slung over his shoulder, Erel set out into the unknown. This time walking south.
This work is shared using the SRD V5.2.1 – Links to DnDBeyond will only work if you own the digital books