Ch5 04
Thank goodness Hasera said that out of earshot to the two Champions – one of which relies on her impressive healing abilities in order to not die due to his cursed life of danger.
And what’s this? Gurtie knows of her dirty little secret of not being able to cast the most rudimentary healing spells!? What will the Delver reveal?
Then again, Delver society is more about accruing secrets – not dishing them out.
A smart person like Gurtie would ask who *hasn’t* Lark been sleeping with. Answer: I think he skipped some of the guys, but as for women, i guess it’s just me.
These are dwarves, right? Do they have gemstones built into their hair? At first I thought it was multi-season leaves, but now I think these are gemstones and the little buggers just show off.
What an interesting question… Excerpt from the lore of Delvers:
Delvers are immune to poisons or any other ailments of flesh. This is because they are, in fact, made of stone. Dershan’s essence made them hearty and strong. Any waste that is produced by their stone bodies is often extruded in the form of a crystallized gem.
Originally, Delvers tossed their gems into the abyss – they saw no need for them. As they came into contact with other races, they were surprised to see that the other races were not only fascinated with their excrement, but that they would do almost anything to get their hands on them.
This is one of the reasons why almost all Delvers are financially stable. They don’t mind not telling people that they’re selling them their waste – they’re happy to pay for it, the Delvers are happy to sell.
Hah, I love the stocky couple already. 😀 Then again, I always did love dwarves. Uh, fictional ones that is and without any strange erotic inclinations towards vertically challenged, before someone misunderstands me.
Speaking of dwarven folk, I’m curious why you decided to go with Delvers and not traditionally used name? I assume you had a particular reason for that?
They are called dwarves by other races. They’re commonly referred to as Delvers… Here’s a lore dump for ya 😛
Delver Society:
Delvers live ‘sheltered’ lives. That is to say, they don’t often step out from under the ground of Alteria. They dig around the insides of Dershan’s barren plane, finding hidden secrets that they refuse to share with anyone outside of the Delver Circles.
The families of the dwarves are free to do whatever they wish, so long as they produce research, knowledge books and never stop delving into the secrets of Alteria. Most of the other races believe the Delvers to be called such because of their digging habits, but the Delvers are more than happy to let others believe this lie – after all, their true trade secrets..
Failure to produce results will often lower the reputation of the family that the Delver is from. Worse yet, provided unsounded information would result in the Delver responsible undergoing the Ritual of the Depths. This is why most Delvers only truly bring forward knowledge when they have spent proper time evaluating it. Trying to rush to be the first to claim a discovery have sent many a foolish Delver to the Ritual of the Depths.
The Ritual of the Depths is a closely guarded secret among the Delvers. As most other races are unaware of what lies beneath Alteria’s surface. The Ritual of the Depths is a ceremony in which a Delver descends into Dershan’s tunnels, often to never be seen again. This ritual is both a ritual of shame and a ritual of retirement. In order to ensure the ritual’s completion, a watcher is placed outside of the Depths, awaiting the return. Return too soon with no secrets and a Delver is forced back below, or attacked outright for turning their back on the tradition.
For the Delvers sent out of shame, they are told to go into the depths and return with never before uncovered secrets. If they return empty handed, they are shamed, turned to stone and forced to watch the Depths, and thereby their failure, until Alteria erodes.
For the Delvers who set out for Retirement, they descend into the Depths to retrieve a secret. They are seasoned, gruff and have many secrets braided in their brains. If they think they’re body is failing them, rather than die among those that would pilfer their knowledge, a Delver descends into the tunnels, fighting the dark creatures found below.
If they return without knowledge, they are deemed not ready for retirement, as they somehow pulled themselves from the pits of the dark abyss.
If they return with a secret, not only are they deemed unfit for retirement, but they are revered as heroes and their names are carved into the Lorekeeper’s wall.
Thanks! Love the extra lore bits. Have you ever thought about putting that kind of info somewhere on your webpage in an organized form, since it gets easily lost in the comments? Perhaps publishing it as a filler when you need to fill up your buffer and later putting it into lore section?
I’m probably going to put it in the about page once I’m done the whole write-up. There isn’t much left and some of it requires some polishing. Not too long, I’d think
I wish to take a moment to reaffirm my theory that the conscious manifestation of the abstract concept of death in this world wants nothing to do with Lark and that is why he is able to survive the most improbable situations. I have no idea what triggered my desire to do this, but I do not question it.
Let go pray into our mugs, best saying ever!!!
It’s a little hard to make out the words around the third or so verse (mug). To most, it just sounds like slurred speech, but by golly, do those that pray after the fifth verse really get into the spirit!
So, does Gurtie know what is really going on with Has? She seems fascinated by that ice-flower…
Blue flower, red thorns.
Huh, I can’t believe I haven’t noticed that earlier but it would seem Gurtie wanted her husband to leave them alone, not Lark as I first thought. Is she trying to hide Hasera’s secret from him as well or was she more concerned about him being in the way of healing? Considering their dynamic relationship, I’d go for the latter but then again he does seem like a standard blunt-as-it-gets dwarf, so perhaps having him around when revealing dark hidden secrets isn’t that good of an idea either. 😀
I guess the next panel or two will show.