A clean shaven dwarf...

[Ben Radau]

*A dark cavern, obviously part of a dwarven mine by the look of the walls and the next buttress. Suddenly a bulky shadow materializes out of the wall, and a tired looking dwarf sinks to the floor, leans his head on the wall. Absent minded Ben Radau puts a hand in his ingredient-bag, and a quiet sigh leaves his lips. "Damn Greenies! They appear faster than we kill them!" He looks down to his hands and is visibly taken aback by some seriously looking wounds. "Oh damn, looks like the brute really hit me!" He starts to wrap bandages around, and while doing so his mind drifts in the past...*

A small dwarf stands inside a small, brightly lit smithy and listens to an old runesmith. "Look little Ben, you can be sure that Reorxx, our ancestor and god of smithing, is able to touch your heart and make you craft enchanted weapons. To do so not only the pure knowledge of ore is needed, but also the understanding of the nature and spirits of the elements. With the help of our secret runes you can bind those spirits to almost every bit you can craft with metall." The dwarven child nods and takes a small dagger out of a bag attached to his belt. "Master, I worked as you told me, and last night I had an idea... I tried something and this is the result." The old dwarf takes the weapon and starts to examine it.
Suddenly he rises his eyebrow, and a shadow huries over his face, before he turns to his pupil without any expression on his face. "You did it alone?" The boy proudly smiles and nods. "Hmm..." The smith scratches his head. "And you are sure nobody helped you?" The little dwarf shakes his head. "I only did as you told me." The old dwarf scans the weapon again and shakes his head. "It cannot be... I have never seen this kind of runes... But...." He suddenly rushes at the back of the cavern and starts to search a shelf filled with ancient looking books. "Ah, here we go."
While he hetically searches through a half decayed parchment the door to the cavern opens and a female dwarven child enters. The look of the apprentice smith lightens up, and the girl answers with a silent smile. Without looking at her the old dwarf points to a table opposite the cavern, and the girl fills the empty beer mug. "Today, after the lection?" whispers the young dwarf, and the girl answer with a short nod and a quiet smiles. Happily the pupil brushes off some pieces of ash of his fully grown beard. The girl leaves the room and soundlesly closes the door.
"I knew it...." The whisper from the old smith makes the happy expression of the apprentices face disappear. "Master, what..?" "SHUT UP, UNFORTUNATE! WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT?" A mixture of anger and fear is on the face of the adult. "Master, what? I... I only tried what you told me!" With disgust the mastersmith shows the dagger. "Do you know what you fool did? You mixed pure dwarven runemagic with .... whatever it is!" He throws the dagger inside the fire pit. "Master, what do you mean?" "LEAVE MY HOUSE! NOW!" And with no further word the grabs the child, pushes it out of the cavern and closes the door with a hard thump.
With lack of compression the youngster looks at the door, and then turns and vanishes in the dwarven city.

*Ben listens to distant sounds and tries to identify and imminent threats. But it looks like he got some more minutes to regain strength. He leans his forehead against the cold stone next to him and drifts back again..."*

A few hours later the young dwarf finds himself in a kind of nightmare. His appointment with the smith´s daughter was a failure, she didn´t appear on their usual point. His family treated him like he is infested with a deadly curse, and finally his father bursted into his room, forced him to pack some of his belongings into a backpack and led him to the large entrance doors of the city.
Outside stand the council of the eldest. As the spokesman steps in front, a cold hand creeps over the boys back. "You are ccused and convicted for uses dark runemagic, and therefor loose your birthright as a son of Karak Couveraz!" After a short gesture two town guards appear at his sides and take his arms. "YOU ARE UNWORTH OF BEING A DWARVEN SMITH! THEREFOR ANY DWARF SHOULD RECOGNIZE YOU AS A TRAITOR ON OUR RACE!!" thunders the old speaker. Without any word the two guards cut the beard of the youngster. Still no sound leaves the lips of the stunned child. "COME NEVER BACK!" The guards push the apprentice to the floor, and without any look back everyone returns inside the underground town... only a small, still stunned dwarven boy is left back, still staring without any understandig at the slowly closing gate...

*Jerking Ben gets of the floor. Though pain still limits his ability to move his arms, he raises them and scans the tunnels leading to the cavern. No hint for any opponent. Even the sounds of fighting seems to die away. He shrugs his shoulders. "After 4 days of fighting I need some time to recover." He sighs and sinks back to the floor. Actually his eyes close and he welcomes the needed sleep, though knowing that the dreams will return...*

"You are right, my little friend. If you move your hands like that you can cast a spell." The human wizard is amused by the little dwarves interest. "No no, try it as a kind of dance. Look!" He slowly moves through a complex series of gestures, and a fireball appears and smashes into a tree nearby. The badly shaven dwarf copies the movements, and finally a light appears... unfortunately on his nose, and with a fast smack he waves it away. Sighing he starts again, while the wizard tries to hide a smiles...

*Without getting awake Ben rolls over, his senses allert for any intruder to come around.*

A stubby figure sits in the dark and dowdy tavern, and listens to a tall scrawny hooded human. "You need only some nightshade, and your enemies will get some interesting feelings after hit by that weapon." And with a smiles he shows the dwarf how to put a green liquid on a blade. "But take care" whispers the man, not everyone accepts it as a fair weapon." And with a shifty smiles he scans the room. The dwarf vanishes in the dark...
Hours later a night watchman found the dead corpse of an old dwarven smith. His face is cleanly shaven, though no trace for any force is visible...

*Sounds of fighting getting more closely, but not enough to make Ben get up.*

Silently stands the dwarf infront of his home town. The gates are destroyed, hanging in twisted hinges. Signs of a desperate battle everywhere show that the Greenies had no easy way to get in. Uncounted bones bleach in the sun, but not all of them are a orcoid origin. "Damn, I am too late!" Ben Radau puts the hood over his head and carefully enters his old home.
Everywhere hints for hard fighting. After hours of searching the destroyed city he finally reaches his families cavern. A hard fight had taken part in and around it, and lots of blood had been squirted on the floor and walls. Most of it was green, but also some dried red was visible. "No, it can´t be. Not that way..." He begins to calmly search the room. And finally he found what he was looking for. Or better didn´t find it. Their family gods statue in its hidden cavern section was missing, but there was no sign for a forceful robbery. "They must have gotten out..." Absend minded he scratches his shaven chin. "Maybe they fled to our mines outside."
Carefully scaning the area he leaves the town, and follows an almost unvisible path towards the mountains. After hours he finally gets to the ancient mines of their ancestors, some of them had been still in use when he was forced to leave. Slowly he moves over moss covered stairs and finally comes to a small niche in a narrow side valley.
Before he can cast the ancient words of opening a quiet voice orders him to stop, and the blade of an axe appears out of nowhere.
"Stay still, my sturdy
friend, and remove your hood, for nobody enters Radau´s realm without showing his face!" Slowly the wanderer lifts his hand and removes his hood. "Please take care with your axe, for I am not interested in hurting you", he says and slowly turns. His eyes meet an old, exhausted looking dwarf with a almost white beard. Shock flushes through the grandpa´s bones. "What... Ben?? But.. we forced you... the smith... he was jealous of your abilties... and his daughter... what?"
Sadly Ben smiles and pushes the axe down. "I already found it out myself, father. I don´t blame you, I got my revenge on the smith... Did you know that he led the greenies in our town and was paid for it?" Still stunned the old dwarf shakes his head. "It.. it can´t be... how...where... but..." He takes a deep breath. "Well, let´s get in, I fear there is much to tell..."
Calmly smiling Ben Radau follows his father in their ancestors mine, and after the door had closed behind him, no hint for the entrance is visible...

*Without any warning a orc stumbles into the cavern, only to find spells hitting his face and removing the head of its shoulders. The dead body moves some more steps in the cave and falls to the ground. "I don´t like to be wakend like that, my dead green friend." Thinking that thise damn greenies keep him from his duties for the Baronship of Cove and from being promoted, Ben reorganizes his bag of ingredients, takes a deep breath and melts with the stone wall. Only a decaptivated orc body gives any hint for his presence...*

[Kiran]

(Ooc- delete this if you must,

But thats a neat story my friend!)