The streets were full of women in colorful dresses as they approached the great cathedral. The last two months had flown by, and the women of the party along with Bralla, Gilira, and Uthra had managed to get everything they’d need for the week of revelries.
“So, how much closer do we need to get?” Lyreen asked.
“I’d like to see the cathedral when we wake up each morning,” Bralla replied.
“You seem happy about that,” Barika said.
“Aye, lass, I am. I’m nothing but an average working dwarf, and so are my folks and my lads, so to stay so close to cathedral, I feel like I’m one of the lords,” Bralla replied. Gilira and Uthra nodded in agreement.
“I know lord means something different for dwarves. Could you tell me about them?” Elaine asked.
“Aye, a dwarf lord is the lad or lass that’s the best at what they do, so a smith would be a forge-lord or a trader would be a trade-lord. It’s something that’s decided by the others in whatever trade you’re in, and you have to keep working if you want to keep the title. Oh, and that lot runs the clan. They get together and decide on who we trade with, who we war with, and who we ignore,” Bralla replied.
“What happens if they can’t agree on something?” Elaine asked.
“Then it doesn’t happen,” Bralla replied.
“But what if it’s something important like going to war?” Elaine asked.
“Bah! If it’s important, then the lords can agree on it!” Bralla replied.
“Sometimes things can be complicated and…” Elaine started. Bralla put her hand on the necromancer’s shoulder.
“Lass, we’re dwarves, and this is our way,” Bralla replied.
Elaine sighed and nodded.
“I’m sorry. It’s just that my father used to lecture us about how important debate and compromise were in politics, so the idea of just dropping something feels wrong somehow,” Elaine said.
“Aye, but arguing about the same thing over and over feels wrong for us dwarves. It’s just how things are,” Bralla replied.
Elaine looked down the street for a moment before she chuckled.
“I never did care for those lectures,” she said. Bralla clapped her on the shoulder.
“Lass, no one likes hearing the old folks go on,” she said.
“Guess we have that in common then,” Elaine replied.
“Aye,” Bralla said.
They reached the great cathedral later that day, and they all stopped to stare at the magnificent sight. The building that lay before them was enormous, taking up what looked like ten of the normal city blocks. The walls were carved with relief of the stone one creating the world. She looked as he pulled the void itself into his hand and then placed it on his anvil and pounded it into the world.
It was followed by a relief of the stone one creating the dwarves. He tore off a piece of the mountains he had just forged and carved them to look like himself, fashioning both men and women at the same time. Once he finished, he shoved them deep under the ground so that they could continue his work and forge the world as they saw fit.
Thokri told me that story a dozen times but seeing it like this is just so incredible!
Her eyes drifted away from the reliefs to the rest of the cathedral. Every surface was encrusted with gemstones causing it to glitter in the lamp light. There was a huge open space around the cathedral allowing it to be seen in its entirety by anyone that approached it.
That open space was filled with massive statues that went from floor to ceiling of dwarven heroes from the time when the world was new. The stone statues were so polished they seemed to gleam, and they all had gems for eyes that glittered with the ones on the walls of the cathedral.
“By the gods,” Elaine said with hushed reverence.
“Only one god here, lass,” Bralla said. Elaine just nodded, unwilling or unable to reply to the dwarf.
They looked for a while longer before heading off to find a room to rent for the week. They walked into a place that said it had a room available on a piece of paper glued to the wall next to the door. The inside was packed with well-dressed dwarven women, and unlike the inns or taverns she’d visited in the city, there were no tables, bars, or even barrels of ale. Instead, there were curtains hanging up that divided the room into smaller spaces. She could see the women coming in and out of some of the spaces and spotted a few mats on the floor.
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They weren’t kidding about places filling up! It’s two days to the festival, and people are willing to spend the night in an indoor tent!
They waited in line, and when they reached the old woman that ran the place, she was worried they wouldn’t have any room for them. The old woman eyed them for a moment before clearing her throat.
“You can stay out here for 2 gold a night. We got single rooms for ten gold a night, and because there’s six of you, you can rent one of the big rooms for twenty a night,” she said.
They looked at each other, and everyone nodded.
“We’ll take the big room,” Bralla replied.
“Good choice, lass,” the old woman said.
Anna paid the woman, and she handed them two large keys. Bralla took one, and Barika took the other. They left the main room and went to find their room in the back. Bralla unlocked the door when they found their room, and they all shuffled inside.
It was a large space, though it looked as if most of the furniture had been removed and replaced with eight large beds. There was also a long rack on the back wall for hanging clothing. They each walked to one of the beds and put their packs down next to it. None of them wore their festival dress on the day-long walk to the cathedral, unwilling to risk them getting damaged on the way.
“We need to get the dresses hung up,” Gilira said.
Anna took the bundle that contained her dress out of her pack and placed it on her bed. After pulling the knots loose on the cords that held the bundle closed, she opened the thick cloth to reveal a white dress covered in intricate gold embroidery.
She lifted the dress up and looked it over again. It was clear that this dress had been made for dancing and moving around in general. When she’d tried it on, it had been loose yet stayed in place when she spun around and jumped, something that old tailor had made each of them do.
This dress is just like everything dwarven, so pretty and made so well, but still tough and useful. I could have worn this while I was serving drinks in Fishport or dancing with Vincent at the ball in Oldforge.
She gave the dress a shake, walked over to the large bar in the back, and hung her dress up. The others did the same when they finished unpacking their own dresses. Each one was nearly the same as her own, made from the same white cloth and embroidered with the same golden thread, though the patterns differed some for each woman.
Anna looked over at her dwarven companion’s dresses for a moment. They were different than the ones the party had made, and, at least in her opinion, were on the plain side. Each of them were cut the same way as the party’s dresses, but they were made from rougher cloth and lacked the intricate embroidery, simply being trimmed with ribbon instead.
I do like the colors, though I don’t like wearing white because I’m kind of messy, but the old lady said that doom moth silk doesn’t stain, so it’ll be fine, probably.
Bralla’s dress was a bright blue, and Gilira’s was a light red, so light that it was pink in Anna’s opinion, though the dwarf denied that. Lastly was Uthra’s. Hers was dark green.
The dwarven women were quite proud of their dresses, having made them themselves and didn’t even bat an eye when Anna and her friends had brought home their own extravagant ones. Dwarves weren’t prone to jealousy as it turned out, even though they were a greedy race.
“Let’s go get some grub,” Bralla said after everyone fiddled with their dress for a moment.
They left their room, and Bralla locked it behind them, placing her key in her dress and patting it.
Like Thokri aways says, locks keep folk honest.
Once they left the busy inn, they stopped on the street and looked around.
“Now ladies, I’ll show you how to find the best food in any city,” Barika said.
The dwarves looked at her in confusion. Barika put her hand on Anna’s shoulder and grinned at her.
“Go on, child. Do your thing,” she said.
Anna grinned back and closed her eyes. She sniffed the air a few times. She opened her eyes again and started to walk towards the smell of food.
“This way,” she said.
She led them away from the inn, pausing every once in a while to sniff the air before she stopped in front of a small food place. She only paused for a moment before she pushed the door open and went inside. The smells of roasted meat, rich sauces, and even sweet treats filled the air. She headed for one of the tables and sat down. The others scurried behind her, looking around in utter shock.
“So, what should we get, child?” Barika asked with a big smile on her face.
“Noodles with meat sauce, along with the black ale, and if you can, get the fried sweet bread to finish,” Anna replied.
“Well, that’s handy,” Bralla said.
“It doesn’t always work. Sometimes she leads you to fried assholes,” Lyreen added.
“It wasn’t assholes. It was balls, and those were good,” Anna said.
“She can’t taste spice either, so sometimes it’s your ass that gets fried,” Elaine added.
“I said I was sorry,” Anna said.
“I told you I wasn’t mad, and I ate all of it because it was delicious,” Elaine replied.
“Remember the rice pudding I gave you to make you feel better the next day?” Anna asked.
“Oh gods, that stuff was good,” Elaine replied.
“I actually managed to learn how to make it,” Anna said.
“How did you manage that?” Elaine asked.
“I just watched,” Anna replied.
“If I could have one of your abilities, I think I’d choose that one,” Elaine said.
“I thought you’d want my boobs,” Anna replied.
“Oh gods, no. My back hurts just thinking about it!” Elaine said.
The others laughed for a moment and then started to chat about which part of Anna they would like to have before the server came out with the food and placed a huge bowl in front of each of them along with a mug of black ale.
The noodles were long and thin and covered in a white sauce that was filled with chopped meat and mushrooms. She took the two-pronged fork that had been placed next to the bowl and stuck it in the noodles, spinning it around to get a ball on the end, and stuffed it in her mouth.
The first thing she tasted was the sauce. It was as creamy as it looked with a strong taste of garlic and island pepper. She started to chew. The noodles had a springy texture and tasted like the wheat noodles she’d had in the past, along with the finely cut tender meat and the large chunks of mushroom. It was fun to chew in addition to being tasty.
She made happy sounds as she ate. She swallowed her first bite and put down her fork, picking up her mug and taking a drink. The black ale washed the taste of the creamy sauce out of her mouth. She looked around to see that all her friends were eating as well.
“So, you all like my butt that much?” she asked.