IN a remote desert there walked an obtuse fellow. A large cloth or blanket wrapped around his head and body. Almost like he was hiding from ghosts, looked through the cloth only to see a blur of sandy tornados. Feeling the bombardment of sand he was apt ever more to hide under the cloth. His legs felt like they were being devoured by wraithes from the lower reaches of hel. But luckily like most bound to a blind fate in their lust for glory and greatness, a large dune sheltered him from the worst of the storm. So the mighty sand wraithes no longer plagued his legs but the irritation was a lasting impression on his legs. Like one's footprints on this mighty desert there is only a moment until the desert wishes to relieve itself of the itch. So the wanderer felt the desert in him.
Unlike the forests where mankind has yet to rape its pristine form; the desert is always defeating mankind in its efforts to destroy the blessed trees and rivers. SO shelter was a dream like no other in this nightly desert not to mention water. The crescent moon and the vivacious stars blasting above him under a kind sand dune that hugged his body in the frigid nights. It was an observation of the universe unmatched by anyone fortuitous enough to be well fed, and pampered by mankind. The booming sprinkles of light bound by the humble moon led the man's mind into a far off universe while he slept.
IN the realm of dreams is where the rules of reality hide from view. The starvation and thirst coupled by loneliness had made any typical dream too painful to sleep through. But unlike those who fear death because of social forces those on the brink of death no longer fear, that is attach themselves to fate. Expectation makes way for nameless forms only deemed disturbing by the typical primate called mankind.
The fellow of this story was in such a state of mind during this dream. He saw nothing in his memory: colour and shape were fantastic sexualities no longer possible; heard no noise: all was a suspended animation. (Imagine seeing yourself as no different as the sum of all things possible your mind.) Without any vibration all he could feel was numbness everywhere except his heart. Like a crippled fish being dragged to the depths of darkness by an intrigued underworld predator. Soon all was blank. Quiet like no other had come to be. Yet there was still the man. He knew he was there. Not dead yet.
The fantastic reverberations of nothingness halted. His suspension in a vast empty dream imploded back into the cosmos of time. It was like drinking cow's milk after many decades of tolerating muddy water. It is so fantastic indeed to realize time is relative to the perceived rules of reality. Hence the man proved time creates the rules of reality not by being a periodic repetition but by being from not being. This may sound obtuse. But that is the inclination of the fellow of this story. Ever notice time but become aware how it dodges every attempt to be possessed by our conscious. Only the blind and deaf understand time the best of all mankind. Even the word time insults the vast nature of its elusiveness. Time is there by common sense but not really controllable (or detectable) so time's being is from time's non-being. It is the story of all the destitute cringing underneath the rules and rulers of reality. The man awakens.
Oddly enough as the man dug himself out of his sandy tomb he heard the loud caws of a bird. Very luckily a large bird of prey had noticed a dead boar near a cactus. The poisonous insects living in the cactus were not happy about the boar destroying their safe haven and so retaliated. The man crawled like a baby to the vulture's beacon. The insects were devastated by the loss and were keen to exterminate anymore intruders. Most fortuitously the vulture began eating the insects one by one while other hunters of this realm began to help in the consumption of the poisonous bugs. While the man crawled all his hope was on the success of the vulture. The large insects and snakes were picking off the infestation away from the vulture's wrath. So the man learned the vulture is the savior of man. It was apt to defeat the smaller enemies so it did not get poisoned itself and fend of lurking foxes from its boar prize. Thus he learned it is observation that wins the impossible battle. Be Patient while fully ready to pounce, seeing his own inaction as the key to his action being worthwhile. By the love of Rama his life was urged on to hope for the vulture's supreme victory so that his own victory had a shot.
The loss of our fellow's pride was largely a result of crawling and thanking a vulture for his salvation. He learned from the vulture to be a vulture. His intention was to steal the boar. While relying on the vulture to defeat the bugs which as any crawling man knows is beyond his ability. Soon he was upon the cactus; the tiny denizens of the cactus were exterminated by the milieu of roaming hunters hoping for this very occasion. The insects need the cactus to remain in control of their territory like mankind needs kingdoms to maintain control of theirs. The boar like any hungry empire needs new blood and new thralls. It consumes the precious haven, making the small kingdom reliant on the empire to survive. But many of these landless peasants are helpless without places to make food. Predators roaming for isolated success no longer protected by their realm. Mankind will be consumed by its own boarish appetite and the nurture of nature will disperse: Leaving only the desert.
Not many things surprise a person like our fellow of crawling and dreams. He forgot the cloth protecting him from the winds since he was starving and thirsty. No longer trying to hide from the dangers of reality he strives for a result he cannot even imagine in his state. Hope becomes a real power to him. By all the conflagrations in the inferno he could not imagine nature being merciful. But the vulture flew away not sure how to handle this new giant worm. Our fellow the worm crawled and ate the cactus's fractured flesh like a vicious undead. The other treasure hunters soon retreated away from the man and looked nearby for more predictable results. Of course our fellow ate raw meat of the boar and the cactus. Soon after an hour or so of gorging, the fellow began to regain consciousness. (If you are deprived of sustenance for long enough you will discover your true animal nature is always there. Not hidden by your morals or defeated by your pedigree. It is always there and it is always in complete control of you. Only when you become useless to it do you begin to realize you're just made up of social nuances you learn from your dependence to other people.)
The recovery of his social self means the man is no longer just a fellow. His name is Umruil the odd. An exiled fellow from a realm that felt he was a wizard. Rather than say reality is made up of truths, let's say it is made up of the raw nature that made mythology so fantastic. Where nature is all power and mankind is doomed under the fate of self-determination. In this universe no man may accept the reality given by society and no day is a repetitive set of events. Every moment enlists the faculty of the mind to envision some magical force which explains all the subtle details. (Mythology) Men must fight the urge to surrender to the overlord and ruler, the evil scion that uses social force and multitudes of thralls. None could capture the world like the poets who to this day tell people what is mythology. The thralls of today can at least relive free minds. So I came up with my own saga based on the theme of Ragnarok. (live while living.)
Umruil was definitely odd. He had skin like the clouds during a rainstorm. Eyes like a iceberg in the ocean. Hair is black as volcanic tar. The shadow of a young tree at noontime: tall and resilient. Large ears for hearing the thistle. Large hands for carrying the hunt. Almost wolf like from a far but really a fox at the core. He wore the large capes or robes typical of people before the Zion Empire first emerged. Other types of clothes came after Zion which was a result of cities that desired refinement. Yellow robes were preferred by Umruil. He hailed from Nifl the realm of moonlite. It had no sun of its own but depended on the moon for light. So this realm is oft called the shadow realm. It depended on the consumption of souls wandering from the sun realm(has sunlight) to the center of the dark realms which was a very gaseous place. Everything was very light and gravity was not sensible to these folk. All the mighty vapors said to have occupied all the 8 realms were somehow a vast explosion of gases and liquid vapors which blasted the earth until the day the sun decided to bring peace to the higher realms.(celestial realm) The realms of the sun(sun realm) were where life was able to distinguish itself from nonbeing because of the sun's motherly love and the celestial realm's protection from the wrath of the sun. So Niefl is the lower, underworld. Yet it is not under one's feet but above the celestial realm. Unbound to wander the universe the Nifl folk often settle under the earth or in mountains or deserts where they can talk with their fellow Nifflolk as though they were living. By the fortune of the realms: the mighty force of creation called Vishnu grants Nifl folk a life in a Midgard body. SO our fellow came to be in such a way. But like all other beings they only know they are Nifli because of the blackish blue skin. The beings rekindled by plant forces often have green skin to torment the Midgard folk that oppress the forests. And so on. But the return of Umruil leads us to a town first of all.
This odd fellow walked into a desert town full of dwarves near the great mountains, the gateway of the desert. (Obviously he found his way out of the desert after he regained consciousness since he was walking to the mountains from the start.)
The town was rather large for the vast emptiness surrounding its large sand-stone walls. It had no guards, so it appeared the walls were for the sandstorms. The town had many large compounds near the walls crafted of strong stone and metal doors. The windows were simply holes with transparent cloth tapestry hanging from a metal frame in the stone. Indeed a large stone dome seems silly to the traveler. But it is what is not apparent is it use. The doors were imposing and opened by lifting a thin metal slab upon a pivot where the door would rest until someone released the hinge. Dwarves fear thieves more unreasonably due to their desire for great wealth. Upon entering the main viaways there imposed a massive marketplace that was most apparent. A huge archway with decorated columns was its mouth. A circular arrangement of bricks made the huge first floor. Many curled stairways winded up to very well made domes. Like an upturned vase with holes, and a lower mouth that had a twisty staircase for a tongue. Each was a hub for private transactions. The octagon of vases had a large tower in the center. This large tower had many halls and paths that lead to a thousand different trader markets. The top of the tower is where the jarls of this kingdom resided. The compounds are where karls who work the marketplace live. Also many large pyramid shaped building with more sand and clothe appeared to be where the thralls lived. Dwarves take caste very seriously so each basic caste has separate living areas.
Dwarves are not all short. Rather they are similar in height to most other biped primates. Since many dwarves have lived in caves for centuries height has always been seen as lacking by their counterparts living under the sun. In this kingdom being short is considered a eugenic trait and only very true dwarves are short. You see the sun grants the primate its height, so many are accustomed to being tall by the desire to reproduce with tall folk. But in caves no such light or high ceiling makes a dwarf grow. They are like the stones of a great mountain. Many foreign folk also are short due to their hatred of tallness and fear of exploration and war.
The sand-stone kingdom was rather astonishing to Umruil; who was immediately seen as a thieving wanderer serving some empire. He wore rags from his journey across the great desert. This was very bad in the sense he drew attention of the militiadwarf. So Umruil went to the cloth shop. This shop was in front of a road made of solid sand cement which looked like glossy glass plates stuck in the ground. The shop itself was an awning or a large metal plate over the front of its prismic shape. Like a balcony above the street connected to a dome with very intricate corners. The many intricate tapestries decorating it, clearly showed it was selling clothes. Carpets of very exceptional artisan work hanging on the walls of the interior. The karl who ran the shop was at the hall of jeiberl: A hall for warriors to spread glorious battle lore to the locals. Dwarves drink meads made up of a black tar and powders of rare metals. Dwarves essence is mainly a desire for tar oils and rare metals. This is the main reason people go to halls. So the workers did not get much business and had no slave whip forcing them to work. Then the thrall workers who did not loathe foreigners made the barter process much easier for Umruil in the shop. The thrall working in the cloth shop is a rather tall and green bearded swamp dawrf. The dwarf is thin for dwarven standards and hailed from a swamp that was taken over by an empire in search of mysterious gases and diseases. He was still much heavier than humans who could not drink their meads or work their mines. (dwarves eat metal and oil they are very strong and heavy.) Zakath bought a yellow robe from the green dwarf. In exchange he told him of a spell to cure the swamp dwarve's dry skin and cracking lips. (Skin health is very important to swamp inhabitants.) Using the bones of the boar he ground them into a powder, added fats from the shop's dye crafting supplies. This made a very thick and hearty mesh that warmed the stomach. He then used the mantra that creates the illusion of being in a bath of honey. So the dwarf was content with his mind being altered. Since thralls usually don't desire more than instant gratification. This convinced the dwarf to give the stranger a yellow robe. The robe was just a large sheet of a fuzzy bush plant dyed in a yellow dye called marma tonic. It was the cheapest cloth and not usually bought so it was very little trouble to barter.
With this Umruil approached the marketplace in search of a magical stone salt. The many imposing pillars ordained with tapestry and carvings surrounded Umruil in large crowd of buyers and sellers. He used his insight to see the one with characteristic traits of a miner and none of a merchant. He saw a karl with a purple beard walking in leather and metal outfit for adventurers. The dwarves dye their beards for fashion fun. Since they pioneered dye alchemy it was all pride. Dyes made the dwarves immensely wealthy so it became ingrained in their identity of wealth. He followed the fat bulb of meat to a large pillared dome. Climbed the windy stairs after the dwarf and looked at the display of fanciful rocks. Observing the dwarf he then used imitate and replicate spell to think and see the same things the dwarf. It turned out the dwarf was looking for salts to power his smelting furnace. Without speaking the tongue Umruil possessed the dwarf and asked the merchant through the purple dwarf for the salt of limes among others. Soon he had purchased enough of the ingredients to move on without paying anything in his own wealth. The purple dwarf left the satchel of salt and tonics in the stairway for Umruil to pick up. So the dwarf left unawares of the ordeal. While immune to most destructive or creative magic which is very powerful to any normal folk, illusions of wealth and prosperity is all it takes to corrupt a dwarf. Umruil was missing the smelly paste called tunmir. It had the ability to ignite upon contact with embers. It was important to combine all the other salts properly.
This was an expensive tar found in old volcanic pits that was very useful for alchemy. So Umruil headed to large tower in search of a means to make a dwarvish wealth to pay for the more sensitive goods. Unlike cheaper goods which are not considered worth well trained observer wards, tars and rare gases are protected by specialist rogues (agents) with many ways to detect spells. Also being a foreigner meant he would be put under great scrutiny by the warrior jarls; should they spot him. It turns out that many buyers were looking for relics of a nomadic group that had several ruins for their treasures to be stored. These unlooted temples had been hidden from dwarves because they were in the open sun and fields. Ironically dwarves avert the open and sunny. Being that this town was isolated and remote to those not near the mighty underground network of the dwarf realm meant tomb raiding was Umruil's new life.
So Umruil approached a relic merchant and needed a way to speak to him. But he did not speak the dverger tongue. The earlier green dwarf could obviously barter without need of dialogue since the thrall often is uneducated and is kept in such a state only to serve his master's interest. So to communicate he needed to find a companion who would serve as his portal in dwarven life. In realms of the more ancient man, there were many tongues spoken, and many kingdoms. SO outsiders were usually not welcome. They also had no protection if someone wanted to kill them, since legality was considered more or less a matter of upsetting deities. Luckily, in such remote regions foreigners are often seen as good for business, since there are no clashes between kingdoms in this realm. This was the only kingdom above ground for many months in all ways. Many isolated realms that attract foreigners become very powerful empires in days beyond. That is the reason it was built. It is too isolated for normal life which eats other life to survive, since there is almost no edible life present to eat.
The search for a companion was rather daunting. Being from Niefl, Umruil knew some dwarves were also natives of the lower worlds. The dark dwarves had characteristics of small and dark blue bodies. Not so short as the cavernous kind, but not as tall as the open sun kind either. The moonlit realm still had enough light for the dark dwarves to grow somewhat. It is said the ancestors of the dark dwarves would turn to stone in direct sunlight. But by many years of careful pedigree the dwarves overcame the curse of the sun thanks to light absorbing dyes called malnin being part of the diet for a millennium. Umruil headed to the large tower in the middle in hope of discovering such a creature.
The largest tower had many guards surrounding it. Umruil attempted to walk in under the cover of tall dwarves. But he was spotted right away. Then the guards clad in leather and plate armor with large halberds tried to surround him quickly. The armor was so thick on these guards no normal metal could pierce it. Very few metal weapons can even kill dwarves very easily. SO Umruil quickly became tame and showed no interest in fighting, hoping for mercy. The funny dwarves tried to speak to him as though he could speak their language. Soon they pondered in their large congregation whether it was worth killing a raggy fellow such as this. The very tough looking and very heavy dwarves tried to instigate a fight to make the decision easier. Yet Umruil had no way of defeating fully grown dwarves in physical strength so he did not bother fighting back. Of course there are many spells for dealing with such rough characters, the most powerful is to remove their immunity from the sun; which would turn them all to stone during the day time. Since he knew the secret to their survival it was not difficult to defeat the earth folk. But Umruil felt it would be too cruel, since he had bought their wrath by trying to enter the only guarded tower. Eventually a jarl walked by who noticed the ordeal and talked to the guards.
The jarls were very well clothed. Not leather, but expensive clothes from far off lands with very expensive metal alloys in their very well made armour. They preferred hammers or axes as their status symbol rather than spears or other armaments. Honor was everything to these fellows: Since it was their duty to maintain the dwarf race. Also unlike the karls and thralls, the jarls all received some form of education in statecraft and diplomacy, along with military drills. Now the jarl who had a white beard felt it was likely an issue of communication. Jarls unlike other castes could recognize the foreigner more discerningly as they were trained in the study of kingdoms. So he summoned a dark dwarf, from the tower, and took Umruil to the dungeon of the tower. The jarl whitebeard returned to his affairs unbothered by the minor incident.
The dark dwarf with a very black beard as all Niefl folk have, approached the cell holding the foreigner. So the dark dwarf spoke the Niefl tongue, or the dark language as it is called by Midgard folk. Called the star lines language because it is made up of astrology and connecting constellations to make ideas. He asked Zakath "why enter the tower, all affairs of importance do not concern." Umruil replied "In search of ways to tomb raid. Beget the dwarf wealth." Not looking surprised the black beard said "there is a foreigner's hub, where one may ask for wishes." Umruil replied with a calm tone. "Starving in the desert, looking for food, came here. Still starved" So the black beard offered him three meals in exchange for accepting his cell at the dungeon for a day. He accepted and regained his footing and strength. The dwarven meals were very hearty and filling. Of course they give the Niefl food he could eat without being poisoned since dwarves ate very odd concoctions normally.
Soon Umruil was fully recovered from his painful journey in the desert. He was trained in archery and in fletchery; hunting was his profession in Niefl. Learning to make bows and arrows from scratch was tedious but necessary in his new career as an alchemist. Alchemists were not trusted much more than magical arts and were considered detestable evils. Well in Niefl many preffered magical arts and alchemy since it was a great way to make shiny lights and explosions, which they essentially worshipped. Niefl is pretty dark by sun realms standards so light was always held in high demand. Essentially archery and fletchery made it possible to live without thievery or subterfuge typical to many exiled mages. In Midgard consumption of life is a necessity to be living, so the art of hunting is vital for most voyagers.
After a plethora of mundane naps in the cell, the black beard came and offered bread for breakfast. The bread was very grainy and hard to chew since it had some tooth breaking dust spices in it. Umruil asked for a requisition to start his quest to the sunny terrace of Widiilhoguf. The title he was bestowed was "odd". Since no one there knew his ability black beard assumed he was sent by the deities to bring good fortune by some altruistic deed. Indeed to bring relics to dwarves who would claim inheritance and ancestry through possession, implies that wealth is only secondary to establishing a glorious noble past. The wealth was proof of dwarven nobility and pedigree. Then Umruil requested supplies and all his alchemy ingredients. Asking for metal making equipment for a creature of his stature and not a large amount of compounds meant the dwarves could not see his desire above wanting to be a dwarf. By the way the highest desire a foreigner could have is to be a dwarf. Black beard considered it a very enticing offer for improving his lineage.
Umruil the Odd walked up the spindled stairway, through the metal doors of impossible weights, unto the barracks of the tower. Here the black beard escorting him sounded his new title and status to the military scouts and agents. Then handed the stone tablet verifying this to the archivists. Now the last axiom of dwarves is that everything said must be written in stone. So dwarves never say anything unless it is written in stone.
Entering the next stairway escaping the very well armored barracks the two fellows encountered the first floor that eluded Umruil. It was a very posh place. Decorated like a palace for kings of men. With so much detailed stone work. Shiny metals plated the walls and roof. Gems made the room seem like a cavern of ruby crystals. The source light was a bright fire illuminating a mirror. They were leaving to the higher floors of illustrious dwarven wealth to the black beard's house near the halfway height. The majestic wealth in this tower would drive most mankind mad with envy and start tremendous wars over its wealth. The black beards front gate was a red stone that could be lifted by something like a few dozen men. But black beard lifted it easily and bid entry. His house was just as illustrious and had many sacs filled with softer rocks and carpets made of water vulnerable stone. To the dwarf this was luxury at its high point. To Umruil it was a painful experience to sit and pretend to enjoy it. Opening two slabs connected to the wall he exposed his weapons to his guest. The weapons were all inhumanely heavy and unwieldy. But there was a staff of unworked wood and a black spear head. Much like looking at a tree with a several thunderbolts bound into it. The fellow asked black beard for it. Of course he was denied on account it verified his ancestry as a swamp noble. But he was offered a dagger which was essentially a grass shaped hacking blade under its spear point. And a small spear called gudfrunaut which was used to carve gems to desirable geometries. To Umruil it was a large shaft with very sharp black edges on one end. Then he was offered a hammer to smash open closed receptacles with locks. All the equipment was very heavy. SO the black beard gave him leather and fur traveling gear to hold all the equipment and supplies delivered to his room. This gear was just a sheet of leather with hole for the arms and a backpack made of strong furs to store things was glued to the other end. So it was like a fur turtle on his back.
But Umruil refused all the gifts and instead asked for more rewards. The flustered host wondered how to appease a weak and poor thing like Umruil. He offered a red dagger made of some gem like glass. This was not of dvergr origin so held no value to black beard. But it was imbed with the sunforce. Then accepting this gift a realization occurred. He needed the turtle outfit to hold a lot of relics and bring it back but requested to make his traveling equipment. Which was denied and instead gave another leather cloak and fur waistband. Made by tearing the fur backpack from the leather cloak. He then glued the leather to make the cloak. All that was left was to dye it yellow. That would be done before leaving at the earlier cloth shop.
Umruil left with a leather cloak, fur waist, gray leather boots, a yellow robe, and a large satchel made up of thick gray leather. The red blade is hidden under the waistband. He left the compound of the market district and went back to the great desert in yellow tunic. For whatever reason yellow makes some people feel safe. The map guiding him was his own luck and daring. His travels to the sunny terrace began.
The sunny terrace was a place that was antithetical to dwarves or dvrgor. It was a flat and lifeless with nothing but sandy dunes and quicksand. The journey there was pretty much in the same terrain. The only difference is a white rock called white powder is prevalent in the region. The journey went well following a bird looking to taste those white rocks.
Some sand folk appeared on the horizon. These creatures had large bodies made up of sand. Underneath was a primate like creature which liked to speculate into living matters. They used their ability to shapeshift and harden at will as weapons. They could soften like sand lakes and dissipate or be like thin needle like crystals. To defeat such a spirit takes a lot of mastery in being very careful how to make footsteps. Not trusting the eyes but the feeling of the ground. But Umruil knew he had entered a kingdom of such spirits and had no way of defeating them. So he diverted looking for some human nomadic groups for travel guides.