Path of the Pioneers

The passage through Grymgate was an astounding feat of engineering: a carved hall about the size of the archway that extended out and into the mountain for half of a mile. The amount of effort and labor it must have taken to clear through this far into the mountain beggared belief. It was something that only the famed dwarves could achieve.

“It’s been quite a bit since I was last here.. Forgot how cold this damn tunnel is.” Adeline began rubbing her hands together, breathing on them here and there. It wasn’t the most surprising thing for a cave to be cold, but I had a feeling that our damaged clothes weren’t helping matters. “The trip to the city should be relatively smooth, but it’s a bit of a walk.” She put her hands on the sides of her neck, using it to warm up her hands. “When we do get there, we’re going to go see a dwarf by the name of Cairbre. We’ll sell off our gems to him and see what we can get in return.”

Cairbre, the name was familiar to me, but I wasn’t exactly certain why. It was someone important, that much I knew.

I raised an eyebrow, “Have you spent much time in this dwarf city?” 

She laughed, and then looked off. “I spent a great deal of time here as a child. I had to keep making return trips because I…” She looked down, suddenly appearing quite bashful. “Kept breaking my swords.” Her gaze shifted towards the scabbard at her hip. “But I’m coming back with one sword mostly intact, and after a whopping six years, at that! The old man shouldn’t be too upset with me.” Looking back at me, she continued, “Cairbre’s one of the best smiths I’ve ever met, he’s a big deal amongst the dwarves there. And we’re on fairly good terms.”

Over time, the pathway began widening out, even its ceiling began extending upward as the tunnel took us deeper into the mountain. Before us was a truly daunting cavern, one that seemed to go on forever. It was impossible to make out any of the cave walls that weren’t directly next to me, because of the sheer size. The path continued on, presumably towards the territory of House Pyre. But my eyes were drawn towards something else, a bundle of light miles off. Or at least, it looked to be miles off. 

“There it is.” Adeline turned to face the light. “The mountainhold Tirsollain. The crown jewel of these peaks.” She began walking towards the light. My eyes, slowly adjusting to the darkness of the place, spotted that she was now walking along a different path. I eyed it closely as I followed behind her. Though Grymgate had its red brick road, this path was made of stone bricks, individually carved. They weren’t colored uniformly, something I realized after staring at it for long enough. In fact, the colors of the bricks seemed to be organized in a way that created intricate patterns, between tints of bright, dark, and the in-between.

The dwarves really did go all out with their construction.

As the time passed, and as we approached closer to the source of the light, my sight slowly improved. Not far from the road, I saw a small creek, illuminated dimly by glowing blue mushrooms. And, as we traveled more, I could finally make out shapes underneath that bundle of light. A line resembling a broad wall, and buildings both peeking out from below, and climbing far above.

It was an hour more before the two of us reached the outskirts of Tirsollain.

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Outside of Tirsollain, the cavern’s darkness was quelled by quite a bit. It was no different than being out during a full moon, which is to say that it was still a fair bit darker than the outside. Tirsollain’s walls laid before us, about twice the height of Grymgate’s. The stone blocks that made it up were all immaculately carved, and it was easy to tell that it was maintained constantly.

A few dwarves were outside of the hold’s walls, working away at what appeared to be farms. I couldn’t quite make out what crops they were growing, but their options would surely have been limited, all things considered. Even still, there were few buildings outside of the city’s walls, and none of them appeared to be dwellings of any kind.

Two dwarves stood in front of the city’s gates, brandishing warhammers. It was almost comical how small they were in front of the massive portcullis; they were quite literally dwarfed by it. They eyed us rather closely as we approached, on-edge at seeing two dirtied humans in tattered clothes. One quickly spoke up as we got closer, “Your business?”

Adeline smiled, “We’re here to see Cairbre.”

 One of the dwarves sighed, while the one that spoke initially raised an eyebrow. “Your name?” 

Her smile didn’t waver for a moment as she proudly proclaimed, “Adeline Cirix! I believe I was told I’d always be welcome back?”

 The dwarf blinked a few times, staring at her more closely, particularly eyeing her hair. “Hells.. Is it really..?” The other dwarf rapped the pommel of her hammer against the portcullis, yelling through the gate, “Lads, open ‘er up! It’s the bloody pup of Cirix!” There was a shuffling behind the gate, and then the portcullis began to quickly rise up. 

The way was opened for us to enter Tirsollain, just like that.

The dwarves nodded at Adeline, one saying, “Good luck, Cairbre’s been working night and day since y’were here last. Won’t be so easy this time.” Adeline laughed, and passed through the gate, leaving me to follow behind her.

I glanced back for a moment as I rushed to her side, “What was all that about..?” 

Adeline rubbed the bridge of her nose, “I have a bit of a reputation here.. As I said before.” She looked down, sighing before she continued, “They’re impressed by how well I managed to break Cairbre’s creations.” She stopped, clearly biting the inside of her cheek. Not the result of true anger, but some mild annoyance. “I’m willing to admit that my aura control in that regard isn’t the greatest.. Normal swords can only handle it for one or two swings before they begin to fall apart. It even makes a great smith’s sword crumble, eventually.” 

She clenched her fist, “But still.. That damn geezer can’t stop running his mouth.” Despite the apparent frustration in her voice, I sensed something else.. Endearment?

With the city of Tirsollain now in front of us, I couldn’t help but look around, even as I stuck closely to Adeline. Each building was constructed out of different types of stone, with little similarities between their styles. Each one was built with its own personality. Some relied on intricately carved pillars, standing out from the flat walls and roof. Others had walls etched with figures and mosaics, with sweeping, rounded rooftops. The differences mattered little, the city itself did not need to be a cohesive piece of art when you could spend a lifetime studying a single building within it.

Besides the individual buildings, the city itself was surprisingly vertical. There were many tiers, and where one ended and began didn’t necessarily seem to have a strict pattern to it. Staircases were simply scattered around where they were needed, with embankments made of stone bricks running all along the sides of each tier. The city seemed downright labyrinthine to me, but Adeline was navigating it with an awe-inspiring ease. It was clear that she had been here several times.

After traveling up the first set of stairs, the buildings began to turn from what looked like storefronts into housing of some sort. They were similar to the rest of the buildings in the city, in that they were dissimilar, with an admittedly more homey quality to them than the rest. I couldn’t help but notice, however, one similarity they all shared. Large, delicate-looking willow trees were placed beside every single house. Each and every one was made from stone, upon closer examination. Some of the branches were exceedingly thin, almost like a firm breeze could knock them off. This level of sculpting and masonry went far beyond the realm of reason. 

Adeline, taking notice of the focus of my interest, began explaining, “Those are family trees.” She furrowed her brow, “I mean.. They belong to the family, yes, but they’re also a continuous work that showcases their ancestry.” She rubbed the back of her head, “It’s slightly confusing, I know. To put it simply: when a dwarf is old enough, they add a branch to the tree, marking themself as a true member of the family.”

The two of us traveled up another couple flights of stairs, the buildings growing more and more extravagant as we scaled each tier of the city. With the amount of detailing and carvings I saw in each building, I was surprised that none of them were gilded. If Cairbre lived in a place this opulent, he would have to be as important as Adeline described. The nagging in the back of my mind was unceasing, something resting on the tip of my tongue. There was something about Cairbre that I knew, but it refused to come to me.

After fifteen more minutes of wandering through the third tier of Tirsollain, we eventually came upon a relatively humble building. It was in the middle of the pack in terms of size, with a rather large awning jutting out from one side of the building. Several forges and smithing equipment were all about, some of the embers were still hot in the forges. You could see inside partially through hatched windows, the interior curtains blocking the view somewhat. A sign hung loosely beside the door, a simple message written both in dwarvish and in the common script. The sound of a hammer striking metal came from inside the building.

“Gobha Forge”

Adeline nonchalantly opened the shop door, a small bell ringing as she did. Though her entrance was rather blunt, I followed behind her, closing the door carefully behind me. The shop interior was cozy, to say the least. It made sense, considering the two of us weren’t dwarves. Past the shop counter was a doorway leading into another room, where the sound of striking metal came from before. The sound was replaced by heavy footsteps, clambering towards the counter.

A stout, well-built dwarf with black hair flecked with gray entered into the room. He wore a simple cotton shirt and what appeared to be linen pants. His face appeared rather red, as if he had been in front of a fire for the entire day. He wiped the sweat from his brow, staring up at Adeline for a moment, squinting as he sized her up. “Finally shattered another pair o’ my swords, pup?”

Adeline clicked her tongue, Cairbre scoffing in response, and then the nagging in my mind was resolved.

Cairbre Gobha. This was Cairbre Gobha, a Pioneer.