Chapter 1

Young man, young man, look at this ... the rarest of rare and only for the pickiest of customers! The gnarled old dwarf trader cried out to the young man, Grian of the. All of 19 years old and was pretty buff from being apprenticed to the village blacksmith, Jorah of the. A burly gruff balding man nearing his early forties. The Surname of the was given to master and journeyman smiths to show their skill with the hammer and steel. As well as to show that they were part of the Guild of Steel, the guild of blacksmiths and weaponsmiths. He was a tough but fair man especially for a young orphan. Jorah of the Black apprenticed the young man as a young boy of 9 after his parents and older sister had perished of a plague. He and his younger sister Ariela were trusted to the care of an orphanage in the neighboring township of the Grie about 30 leagues from the city he was currently residing in, Jarvisha. Jarvisha was the capital of fiefdom which in turn reported to Duke Brieen the kingdom of Arieana.

His younger sister Ariela was also adopted by the local priesthood they worshiped the goddess Trila, the goddess of Fertility and. Ariela had just turned 18 this year and she had really grown into womanhood in the past year. Her breasts had grown large and heavy. Her hips had widened into wide child bearing hips. He had not seen his sister in a good six months, she had been holed up in the temple of her goddess the rite of priesthood to become an initiate. Six months ago, had snuck out to see him as the blacksmith’s shop was only about a league from the temple. She had always been close to her brother, closer than most. She had bedded him that night, from what he could remember as they had gotten mighty drunk while talking about their lives.

Grian had two adopted sisters that were the natural daughters of Jorah and his wife Iria. Both were younger than Grian, at 17 and 16 years old. Siane was 17, tall and very busty. Her chest easily overfilled one of Grian’s large hands. Her younger sister Briea was 16 years and tall, thin and not as busty as her older sister.

What is it that you are trying to sell me, Trader? Grian asked mostly to get him to quit bellowing up at him he dwarf was short, only about 3 and half feet tall in boots but was at least a good 5 feet wide and was packed with muscle that typical of his race that dwells underground mining for gold and precious gems.

Oh the rarest of rare, a potion of vitality and vigor, milord. Made from the saliva, blood and ground teeth of troll a black dragon

Oh, really and how much for this potion of vigor? Grian asked

A silver or what are you willing to offer in barter?

Grian thought for a minute, a silver was a fair amount of work, and he did not want to dip into his own savings in his purse. It was a good month’s worth of work for an average dagger or shortsword at the forge between hammering out the shape from rod steel or ingots; to sharpening the edge and polishing the steel for the finish on the weapon.

He fingered one of the several knives that he had on his belt, and got an idea. He grabbed the third dagger from his belt, sheath and all. The third dagger had been one of his latest works from forge made of steel that had been strengthened with the flame from burning tree roots, which turned the steel a deep dark black. It was almost as hard as Mitril, not that the dwarves would part with any of that precious metal as it was rarer than gold and only they had the ability to forge it as it required a forge that was hotter than a raging inferno to melt properly.

He showed the dagger to the dwarven trader laid out in both of his outstretched hands and partially pulled the sheath to reveal about 2 inches of the 8 inch long dagger.

Ah, a Ragwraith forged dagger, not many Humans know how to forge a dagger or sword of that type or quality May I? The Dwarf asked

Of course, go ahead. Grian replied.

The dwarf picked up the dagger and unsheathed it and listened to it ring in the pure air.

Yes listen to it ring! Superb quality young man. Did you make this? And who is the master smith teaching you as you look to be a journeyman? The dwarf asked

I did, I am a journeyman weaponsmith training under Jorah of the. Grian replied with pride.

Ah, Jorah, a master weaponsmith of some, as I have several of his finer pieces in my shops. A master of the art and definitely some talent. peaking of your blade shows remarkable talent for a nearly forgotten forging technique. I will buy this it is worth more than the portion so I am giving you this as well a fair trade for this excellent blade! He handed Grian a dwarven Gold Mark! A dwarven gold Mark was worth about 20 imperial gold pieces due to the degree of purity in the gold in them.

The dwarf held up his hand to catch Grian’s attention again, A moment of your time as well, please take this The dwarf passed Grian a satin scroll. Grian took it and unrolled it, it was an invitation to the dwarven Academy of Mining and Smithing! The scroll was signed by Berish, Kirish of the Axesept dwarven clan. Grian stopped and looked closer at the trader. He saw the gnarled scar across where the trader’s right eye should be, and he realized that this trader with the clan king himself.

Grian was surprised but remembered his manners that Jorah had pounded into him like the steel that he pounded all day long

Thank you for the invite Kirish. But if I may ask why are you trading?

Berish just laughed, That young man is the nature of a dwarf to make money whether by trade or mining. So a clan king is a king true but they are typically also the wealthiest traders or miners families because if they are not, the noble clans can remove them from their clan throne. But the invite is yours alone young man, your weaponsmith impressed me. I look forward to seeing what you can create with even better knowledge manMay I know your name?

Grian, Kirish. replied, still amazed at the invitation. he dwarf waved to him and vanished by using one of his race’s innate powers compressing space to teleport to a known place.

Grian walked to Jorah’s forge, which was a little ways from the end of the village to keep the forge from burning down the town or the keep. Luckily he had gotten everything that his adopted mother, Iria, had asked for from the market before he had gotten the invite or the potion. etting the invite caused him to go a bit scatterbrained. Jorah noticed immediately and stopped his hammer after the last swing on the large anvil right by the forge.

Grian, is it? You looked spooked and are not paying attention in the forge. Go over there, before I light your hair on fire again like the last time you were not paying attention in the forge.

Grian walked over to the large heavily muscled man, and held out the scroll to him. Jorah pulled off his leather gloves that protected his ands from the red hot steel and took the scroll from him. nroll the scroll and it his eyes widened as too recognized the signature of the clan king of the nearest Dwarven clan. Since had many dealings with their clan as a weaponsmith himself.

Well, my boy. You have done it now, dagger did you offer him? That latest one you finished last month?

I did, since I was proud of it and thought it was a good piece and pretty well balanced. Grian replied.

I am finished for the day anyway, I finished the battle axe so you can take it with you when you leave for the academy. Come it is time to celebrate your invite. Bradish is coming along apprentice, I think he could take the guild’s journeyman test within the next couple of weeks and pass it. I believe you could take the weaponsmith mastery exam, both the written and practical exams and pass it Jorah said as he opened the door the far side of the forgeabout 200 yards away to protect the house from the heat and the sparks during intense smithing sessions or large orders.

orah entered the houseulled off his leather smock to hang it on the hook the door

Iria, are celebrating tonight. Celebrating ‘s invite

Invite? heard Siane say from deeper inside the house. Both of the girls came into the room Briea following behind Iria and Siane from the washroom. Her large and heavy breasts bouncing under her dress despite her tight housedress contain them.

That’s rightJorahexplained ‘s encounter with the dwarven Kirish read the invite to the family as only he and could read with any fluency.

Wow! Iria and Siane while just smiled happily and signed towards. Briea was mute so the family had a language of hand signs to communicate with her quickly if she did not have her writing slate close by when she was at the dining table.

In a different kingdom, Berish sat on his clan throne waiting for next audience. A curvy young lady walked towards throne, she bowed to him. Berish heard Princess Raisha of the goblin tribe of Garea

Raisha, come walk with me. Berish said as he stood and gestured towards the private walkway that ran beside the throne room.

They walked the hallway side by side as Berish brought up this topic with her. I know that you want to marry outside of your race you do not want to marry a goblin and since your race can interbreed with most other races do you feel about marrying a human?

I dont mind umans are taller than us, he would probably be larger than the very short, ugly goblin men Raisha said he brushed her long thick white blond hair out of her face back her shoulders. Her hair was braided in a thick messy braid that flowed down her back and her dress barely her very large breasts and wide hips. oblin chest sizes were larger than human females Raisha was extremely well endowed for a female of the goblin race. She was taller than Berish at around 4’ 5 tall light green skin in the light of the hallway. Berish cast a spell and showed Raisha an image of Grian.

Definitively a good looking young man for a human at least she said with a slight flush to her checks. Berish looked at Raisha and he noticed that she thought more of the young man than she was saying Berish that her nipples had grw hard and they were tenting out of the fabric of her dress.

Later that night, Grian was alone and was able to open the potion it in a single gulp tasted awful. His belly cramped and then he blacked out from the waves of pain.

He floated in blackness for a while that much he knew, finally woke up and found Siane sitting a chair by his bedside

Mother! Hes awake! yell from the chair and heard Iria come into his room

Are you okay, you have been asleep for the past four days and have been burning up with fever. Iria said in response to his unspoken question.