1. No mining today.
Hilfar was supposed to help his father today in the mines. He packed his backpack and mining pick for a hard day work in the mines of the blue mountains. In the central hall he met his father Ullfar who was already waiting for him. They made themselves ready to leave until they met an old friend, master Barkgrim. They exchanged pleasant idle chatter and wished master Barkgrim good fortune with his new found regiment.
Before they left the halls, they heard a groan of pain as if a dwarf had been hurt. Both Hilfar and Ullfar ran to the corner of the hall where they met an old trader they knew quite well, Master Bolin Silverpurse. He sat on a wagon with goods scattered around on the floor, he was in agony. Between his groaning he requested our aid “Masters, fellow traders will you help me, I.. I broke my leg you see.. , and these goods need to be delivered as soon as possible!” Hilfar smiled at his father “lets help this old trader, I didn’t feel like mining anyway”. Ullfar grumbled and said in a demanding voice “Only if you pay up, Im willing to do this –only- if 45% of the profit of these goods is ours!” Bolin and Ullfar were haggling a while and finally settled for 35%. Bolin pointed at the wares “Alright listen, a barrel of ale and food go to Noglond, the weapon crates need to go to Gondamon and the silver ore goes to the elves of Duillond”. Hilfar nodded and a mender arrived and took Bolin to the infirmary.
2. A wagon and a stair
Both looked at the wares for a while and pondered in silence “alright father, fetch a goat from the stables, I will pile these goods up in front of the gate”. Easier said then done, Hilfar could lift the barrels and crates, but the crate with the silver ore was way too heavy. Ullfar got a goat and dragged the wagon outside Thorins halls. They both loaded all the wares on the wagon and strapped the goat in front of it. A few meters ahead they stopped before a long and steep stairway. They looked at the loaded wagon and the stair and sighed heavily “By Durins beard! How are we supposed to get all these goods downstairs!?” They looked for a way and found only one option, on the right side was a ledge, they tossed the barrels and crates off the wagon down below in a thick layer of snow. All crates remained closed except for the weapons shipment, swords and axes lay scattered in the snow. Ullfar guided the empty wagon down the stairs with a lot of hassle but the wagon was not damaged. Both dwarfs were grumpy by now, loading the wagon (again!) and gathering all the weapons back in the crate. The unwilling goat was pulling the wagon to Frerins court where they all took a breather. “We haven’t even started and Im already worn out!” . Most dwarves of the force pillar were out for a drill, and the shipment could not wait, so they decided to go on their own. Right on that moment a hooded man appeared. Both dwarves looked with suspicion, as he greeted them politely. After proper introductions, master Pellam offered his aid to guard our little endeavor. After a little hushed discussion we accepted his offer.
3. To Noglond
Snow fell from the sky and the road was covered by a fresh white crispy layer. The wheels of the wagon left a clear trail mingled with footsteps of two dwarves and one man. Pellam went ahead to check the road while Hilfar and Ullfar were talking along without paying a lot of attention to their surroundings. And so the company slowly descended to the outpost of Noglond. Just in time as the sun was already hanging low over the mountains peaks, casting long shadows of trees over the white snow. Before the gates of Noglond they waited. Hilfar walked up and shouted “Hail! We come in the name of Bolin Silverpurse!”. It did not take long as a dwarf came walking to the gate, he had a friendly face and a bit scruffy beard, but welcomed us inside. He introduced himself as Master Faelen and was expecting a shipment. Hilfar unloaded the barrel of food and the barrel of ale.
Ullfar and Hilfar started their sales pitch of how great the homebrew ale of master Odsi was. “The barrel of food is standard price of 10 silver but the barrel of ale goes for double that price!”. Master Faelen had a hard time calculating what the total sum of both barrels would be. Hilfar smirked “40 silvers, my friend!”, Ullfar chuckled along. Faelen figured it out finally, that the sum should be 30 silvers but he started to haggle. Somehow the price raised and settled on 35 silvers. He haggled the wrong way, and gave us 40 silvers, clearly not the brightest beard we have met! Perfect for doing business. Night fell and both Hilfar and Ullfar spend the night sleeping on the wagon after eating a nice warm stew. Master Pellam kept a watchful eye during the dark hours.
4. To Gondamon
Hilfar woke in the foredawn, rubbed his eyes and hopped off the wagon. He saw master Pellam sitting on a rock, still awake. Doubt gnawed Hilfars mind, no man would help another just out of charity, not if he hailed from Bree-lands at least! Hilfar started questioning his intentions in a polite manner. It turned out that Pellam did have his reasons to come along at no cost, he had a strange curiosity about our race and thought this was the opportune moment to learn a thing or two. Sun was rising and we prepared our wagon for departure. We slowly left the Noglond outpost and slowly headed further down the mountain. The ice was broken, Pellam had a lot of questions while we slowly headed to our new destination. With the greatest pride we told him everything he wanted to know. We passed a pine forest and layer of snow became thinner. We stopped at a hill overlooking the great fortress of Gondamon. The many spikes of the towers seemed to touch the sky where dark snow clouds were gathering. We stood in awe of the sight before we headed to the gate.
While Ullfar guided the wagon to the stables, Hilfar tried to find the buyer of the weapons shipment. After a few shouts a braided dwarf with a blacksmiths apron walked up to him. He introduced himself as master Holgi and wanted to see the weapons right away. And so we unloaded two heavy crates of weapons, all iron-forged. Holgi seemed like a dwarf with his wits about, he immediately saw that something must have happened with this shipment. Both Ullfar and Hilfar tried to talk their way out of it. After Holgi inspected the goods thoroughly he agreed that the weapons were not damaged by the little accident at Thorins hall, they settled on a price of 100 silvers a crate.
Snow started to fall again as the dark clouds passed over Gondamon. Another bowl of warm stew warmed their chests as they rested their bones for a while. Ullfar showed Pellam around the place while Holgi returned to his smithing work. Hilfar walked up to Holgi and asked what to expect on the road to Duillond. Holgi looked concerned and told that Gondamon is still struggling to keep the Dourhands of Kheledul at bay. It was only then that Hilfar realized he only brought his mining equipment, and that the pickaxe was his only weapon. Hilfar stroked his beard and looked down with some concern. They had to pass the docks of Kheledul to reach Duillond. And the silver ore in the wagon would no doubt draw unwanted attention! Holgi shared his concern and walked up to the stairs to talk with Mathi about this situation. About one hour later a stout looking dwarf in full plate armed with sword and crossbow walked down the stairs to the little trader group. He introduced himself as Holgar, lieutenant of Gondamon under service of Mathi. He would accompany our group, as he intended to head south anyway, Mahal bless his beard!
To be continued... here
