CHAPTER FIVE: ON DWARF COMPANIONS AND BUSINESS
To finish my guide to identifying and communicating with Dwarves, I shall touch on the subject of Dwarf companions, and Dwarf business.
As foreign and outlandish as it may seem to a beginner, one can eventually regard one of these strange folk his or her acquaintance – even, his or her friend. Dwarves are awkward and introverted, but with time, and no small degree of charm, they can grow very open to the idea of extended relations. This, I have found, has been particularly useful in securing business acquaintances: there is little that can match the craft of those Dwarf traders travelling through the bounds of the Shire. Furniture, toys for children, and other goods can all be bought, or traded for, from Dwarves. The closer you are to a Dwarf, the better it will be for business.
I have found that the necessary minimum of encounters with a particular Dwarf is seven. Though this might appear to be far too much, one should note that Dwarves are easily offended: any advance made towards a friendship, or business dealing, should happen slowly, with care not to dig too deeply into a Dwarf’s background or current affairs, yet with the very same care not to ignore either.
One can befriend a Dwarf in the very same way they would befriend anyone else: fairly regular meetings, and the occasional discussion late into the night, can go great-lengths towards securing a Dwarf friend.
Eventually, those Dwarves that once seemed so terribly foreign, so strange in their ways and traditions, so distant and outlandish, will grow to be perhaps your closest friends and associates.
Till next a Dwarf appears in your area of the Shire, study this guide, prepare yourself, and adopt the character of patience.
~ Horgo Harfield ~
