Races of Stone, d&d
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
CREDI
TS
D
E
S
I
G
N
ART DIRECTOR
D
AWN
M
URIN
COVER ARTIST
A
DAM
R
EX
INTERIOR ARTISTS
T
HOMAS
B
AXA
, S
TEVE
B
ELLEDIN
, W
AYNE
E
NGLAND
, J
EREMY
J
ARVIS
, D
OUG
K
OVACS
,
C
HUCK
L
UKACS
, D
ENNIS
C
RABAPPLE
-M
C
C
LAIN
,
J
IM
N
ELSON
, W
ILLIAM
O’C
ONNOR
, S
COTT
R
OLLER
, R
ON
S
PENCER
, J
OEL
T
HOMAS
, F
RANZ
V
OHWINKEL
, B
RAD
W
ILLIAMS
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
D
EE
B
ARNETT
CARTOGRAPHER
D
ENNIS
K
AUTH
GRAPHIC PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS
E
RIN
D
ORRIES
, A
NGELIKA
L
OKOTZ
IMAGE TECHNICIAN
C
ANDICE
B
AKER
D
AVID
N
OONAN
, J
ESSE
D
ECKER
,
M
ICHELLE
L
YONS
DEVELOPMENT TEAM
A
NDY
C
OLLINS
(L
EAD
), A
NDREW
F
INCH
,
J
AMES
W
YATT
C
HRIS
T
HOMASSON
, C
INDI
R
ICE
MANAGING EDITOR
K
IM
M
OHAN
DESIGN MANAGERS
E
D
S
TARK
, C
HRISTOPHER
P
ERKINS
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
A
NDREW
F
INCH
DIRECTOR OF RPG R&D
B
ILL
S
LAVICSEK
PRODUCTION MANAGER
J
OSH
F
ISCHER
DI
T
O
R
S
Resources:
Miniatures Handbook™
by Michael Donais, Skaff Elias, Rob Heinsoo, and Jonathan Tweet;
Underdark
by Bruce R.
Cordell, Gwendolyn F. M. Kestrel, and Jeff Quick; “By Any Other Name: Dwarves,” in
Dragon
#262 and “By Any Other Name:
Gnomes,” in
Dragon
#262 by Owen K.C. Stephens; “Good Things Come in Small Packages,” in
Dragon
#291 by Johnathan Rich-
ards; “Study and Jest: The Secret Life of Gnomes,” in
Dragon
#291 by James Jacobs.
Based on the original D
UNGEONS
& D
RAGONS
®
rules created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and the new D
UNGEONS
& D
RAGONS
game designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.
This product uses updated material from the v.3.5 revision.
This W
IZARDS
OF
THE
C
OAST
®
game product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in
any form without written permission. To learn more about the Open Gaming License and the d20 System License, please visit
www.wizards.com/d20.
U.S., CANADA, ASIA, PACIFIC,
& LATIN AMERICA
Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
P.O. Box 707
Renton WA 98057-0707
Questions? 1-800-324-6496
620-96567000-001
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First Printing: August 2004
EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS
Wizards of the Coast, Belgium
T Hofveld 6d
1702 Groot-Bijgaarden
Belgium
+322-467-3360
D
UNGEONS
& D
RAGONS
, D&D, D
UNGEON
M
ASTER
, d20, d20 S
YSTEM
, D
RAGON
, U
NDERDARK
, W
IZARDS
OF
THE
C
OAST
,
Player’s Handbook, Miniatures Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide
,
Monster Manual
,
Races pf Stone
, and their respective logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., in the U.S.A. and other countries. All Wizards characters, character names, and the
distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Distributed to the hobby, toy, and comic trade in the United States and Canada by regional distributors. Distributed
in the United States to the book trade by Holtzbrinck Publishing. Distributed in Canada to the book trade by Fenn Ltd. Distributed worldwide by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and regional
distributors. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited
without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental.
Printed in the U.S.A. ©2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Visit our website at
www.wizards.com/dnd
E
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What Is a Race of Stone?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Inside This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
What You Need to Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter 1: Dwarves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A Day in the Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Dwarven Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Arts and Crafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Technology and Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Dwarves at War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Society and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Rulers and Tradition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Clan Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Family Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Dwarves and Other Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Moradin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Hanseath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Laduguer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Mya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Roknar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Tharmekhûl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Thautam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Valkauna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
History and Folklore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Dwarven Phrasebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Runes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Dwarven Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Cities and Settlements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Dwarven Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Example Settlement:
Uruz, City of Granite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Creating Dwarf Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Special Dwarf Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Dwarves as Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Chapter 2: Gnomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
A Day in the Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Philosopher-Artists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Illusion and Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Gnome Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Arts and Crafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Technology and Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Sheyanna Flaxenstrand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
History and Folklore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Gnome Phrasebook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Gnome Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Cities and Settlements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Gnome Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Example Settlement: Kibosh . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Creating Gnome Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Special Gnome Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Gnomes as Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Chapter 3: Goliaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
A Day in The Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Goliath Racial Traits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Goliath Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
L ei s u re . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Arts and Crafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Technology and Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Goliaths at War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Society and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Tribal Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Laws and Justice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Nature Worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Pantheistic Religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Kavaki, the Ram-Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Kuliak, the Dead Goddess . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Manethak, the Wise Hunter . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Naki-Uthai, the Brave Climber. . . . . . . . . 67
Theleya, the Fertile One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Vanua, the Harbinger of Woe . . . . . . . . . . 68
History and Folklore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Gol-Kaa Phrasebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Goliath Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Example Tribe: The Kathaals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Kathaal Migration Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Important Kathaal Members. . . . . . . . . . . 76
Other Tribe Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Thella-Lu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
The Stonespeakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Creating Goliath Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Special Goliath Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Goliaths as Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Chapter 4: Other Races of Stone . . . . . . . . . . 85
Using This Chapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Where Were They? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Monster Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Chaos Gnome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Dream Dwarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Feral Gargun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Stonechild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Whisper Gnome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Chapter 5: Prestige Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Battlesmith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Blade Bravo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Cragtop Archer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Dawncaller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Deepwarden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Divine Prankster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Earth Dreamer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Goliath Liberator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Iron Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Peregrine Runner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Runesmith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Shadowcraft Mage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Stoneblessed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Stonedeath Assassin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Stonespeaker Guardian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Chapter 6: Character Options . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Racial Substitution Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Chapter 7: Equipment and Magic . . . . . . . . 153
Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Armor and Shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Dwarvencraft Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Miscellaneous Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Mounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Monster Manual
Monsters
as Mounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Companions and Cohorts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
New Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Earth Hammer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Earth Glide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Eye of Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Harmonize. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Harmonize, Greater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Stone Fist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Walk the Mountain’s Path . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
New Psionic Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Blackstone Hammer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Earth Walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Heavy Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Perfect Archery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Perfect Riposte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Power Claws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Power Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Stone Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Ancestor Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Magic Forges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Rune Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Creating a Rune Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Using a Rune Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Identifying a Rune Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Sample Rune Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Including Rune Circles
in a Campaign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Chapter 8: Campaigns of Stone . . . . . . . . . . 171
Assembling the Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Dwarf Communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Gnome Communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Adventuring in Dwarf Communities. . . . . 172
Adventuring in Gnome Communities. . . . 173
Sample NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Holidays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Creatures of Stone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Deep Hound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Dire Eagle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Earth Whisper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Hammer Archon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Stone Drake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Thrum Worm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Appendix:
One Hundred Adventure Ideas . . . . . . . . . . 191
Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Gnomes at War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Society and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Merchant Lords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Middle Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Artisans and Rebels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Gnomes and Other Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Garl Glittergold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Callarduran Smoothhands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Gelf Darkhearth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
The Glutton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Rill Cleverthrush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3
Introduction
Races of Stone
is a rules accessory for the D
UNGEONS
&
D
RAGONS
® Roleplaying Game. It is primarily a player
resource focusing on new options and expanded rules for
D&D players whose characters are gnomes or dwarves, as
well as players interested in a new race: the musclebound
goliaths. DMs can use this book as a resource for adven-
tures that take place in dwarf cities, gnome burrows, or
across the mountains that the goliaths call home.
bardic tradition. Characters who visit a gnome community
can use the information in Chapter 2 to speak the language,
adhere to gnome traditions of hospitality—and maybe avoid
the worst of the gnomes’ practical jokes.
Goliaths (Chapter 3):
The goliaths are burly hunter-
gatherers who wander the forbidding mountains in tribes,
trading furs, meats, and handicrafts with both the giants
and the dwarves. Theirs is a competitive culture that simul-
taneously embraces the importance of the tribe and the
worth of the individual. Chapter 3 details everything from
the deities and folklore of the goliaths to the rules for goat-
ball and their other favorite leisure activities.
Other Races of Stone (Chapter 4):
A mix of races related
to the three primary races of stone fi lls Chapter 4. Full game
statistics for new subraces such as chaos gnomes are pro-
vided, as are monster classes and optional level adjustments
for more powerful races such as the feral gargun.
Prestige Classes (Chapter 5):
This chapter includes
fi fteen prestige classes tailored to inspire the races of
stone, including the dwarf battlesmith, gnome shadowcraft
mage, and goliath dawncaller. Not all the prestige classes
require a character to belong to one of these three races,
however; some, such as the stoneblessed, are for creatures
who befriend a race of stone, while another, the stonedeath
assassin, is reserved for the enemies of the races of stone.
Character Options (Chapter 6):
This chapter has more
than sixty-fi ve new feats for the races of stone, plus racial
substitution levels and new ways to use skills ranging from
Appraise to Survival.
Equipment and Magic (Chapter 7):
Rules for dwarven-
craft weapons, new alchemical items from the laborato-
ries of the gnomes, and magic runic circles find a home
in this chapter.
Campaigns of Stone (Chapter 8):
The fi nal chapter of
Races of Stone
includes advice for assembling an adventur-
ing group from the races of stone and creating adventures
that take place in dwarf cities, gnome burrows, and goliath
mountain camps. Monsters that menace (or befriend) the
races of stone can also be found in Chapter 8.
RACE OF STONE?
Any race that spends its time living in the earth or atop
its mountains is potentially a race of stone. For this book,
we focus on three races of great interest to players: the
dwarves and their vast underground communities, the
burrow-dwelling gnomes, and the goliaths, nomadic
mountain-dwellers.
The book covers new gnome and dwarf subraces such as
the dream dwarf and whisper gnome, plus other races of
stone such as the stonechild, which originally appeared in
the
Miniatures Handbook.
But not everyone is friendly—this
book also details classic enemies of the races of stone, such
as the stone drake.
INSIDE THIS BOOK
This book contains information for players and DMs, show-
casing new and interesting options for characters and crea-
tures with a connection to the races of stone. Players will
fi nd a number of new options for their characters—and per-
haps inspiration for the next character they create. DMs can
use
Races of Stone
to create adventures among the dwarves,
gnomes, and goliaths that are full of interesting NPCs and
tough challenges.
Dwarves (Chapter 1):
This chapter goes beyond the
description of dwarves in Chapter 2 of the
Player’s Handbook,
detailing dwarven psychology, with its emphasis on tradi-
tion and loyalty to clan and family. Chapter 1 also discusses
how to act and talk like a dwarf and describes what it’s like
to spend time immersed in dwarven culture. Everything
from the dwarven reverence for ancestors to the dwarven
fascination with beards can be found in Chapter 1.
Gnomes (Chapter 2):
While dwarves are solid, sturdy
folk, gnomes are tricksters full of inventive whimsy and
revelry. Chapter 2 describes what it’s like to be raised in
a culture that admires experimentation, illusion, and the
WHAT YOU NEED TO PLAY
Races of Stone
makes use of the information in the three D&D
core rulebooks—
Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide,
and
Monster Manual.
In addition, it includes references to
material in the
Expanded Psionic Handbook
and
Complete
War r i or.
An earlier treatment of the concept of substitution
levels appears in the
Planar Handbook.
Although possession
of any or all of these supplements will enhance your enjoy-
ment of this book, they are not strictly necessary.
4
WHAT IS A
mong the races of stone and earth in the D
UNGEONS
& D
RAGONS
game, the dwarf springs most readily to
mind. Dwarves are known to be stout and strong,
fi erce and stubborn, and extremely fond of gold
and other glittering things found in the deep
places of the earth. Though all of these bits of knowledge
are true, they are hardly the sum of what the race encom-
passes. The deep, rich culture of these proud people can
add color and majesty to any game. This chapter fl eshes
out the nature of dwarf society in more detail, providing
a framework upon which players and Dungeon Masters
can expand.
A few minutes later, Dorin is dressed and eating
baked sweet potatoes and carrots with beet sugar,
fresh brown bread, and roasted mole. He eats quickly
so as not to be late for his militia training. After gulp-
ing down his food, he gives his mother a quick hug,
nods to his father with a smile, and is out the door and
down the tunnels to the clan hall. There, he meets
his friends Sterin, Kailor, and Scara. Since it is her
first day with the militia, Scara is excited to start
her training and urges them to hurry. The four of
them pick up practice axes from the clan armory
and run out to the plaza, where exercises are about
to begin.
By the time they get there, the chief warder is
already separating the group of twenty cadets
into pairs. Dor in is paired with Kailor as his spar-
ring partner, and the two square off, beginning
with a series of strength-building exercises and
stretches, swinging their axes in wide swathes
to limber up. After working up a light sweat,
the two friends begin executing a block-attack-
block series of exercises to get the feel of each
other’s blows. They continue these attack rou-
tines until the warder makes it around to watch
them, at which time they jump into full-contact
sparring. The warder stops them occasionally,
commenting on their form or technique, but for
A DAY IN THE LIFE
In the faint glow of the hearth fire, Dorin Silveraxe
blinks blearily and stretches, awakened by the tolling
of the morning bell. His mother and father are already
awake and dressed, his father sharpening his stone
chisel on the whetstone and his mother setting the bread
dough to rise for later. His grandfather’s bed is empty
as well. Dorin pushes back his blankets and reaches for
his breeches, dressing quickly in the cool chill of the
family’s sleeping room. His older brother, Tor, is still
asleep next to Fala, Tor’s new wife, on the other side of
the privacy curtain. Both are sleeping later than usual
in their newly wedded bliss.
5
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]