Dendum (prime)/ The Cost of Peace
Title: Tomulnec's Post- The Cost of Peace
Author: Dendum
Note: This piece is intended to be propaganda.
THE COST OF PEACE
Tomulnec was a simple Dwarf.
In his youth, he had known exhilaration; he had explored ancient ruins and known the thrill of finding some lost relic or some treasure he could sell for profit. He had delved into new caverns and even made a bit of coin finding new veins of metals and gem deposits. These days he was happy to get paid enough to put food on his table.
In his youth, he had known passion. He had met his lover at the edge of a small party and instantly fell in love with her as only the young can. Winning her heart over the other suitors and loving her with all his might. He had lost her to a fever some years back and still didn’t have it in him to find another. They never had children, though some of the younger miners called him uncle. He was the last of his line.
Now he knew peace. The peace that comes from knowing you are safe and there is no danger coming over the next hill or the next day. He worked in a silver mine, though the mine was almost dry, his keen Dwarven eyes respected by the other miners and the overseers.
Now some of the newer workers were causing an issue. Complaining about whatever brought them to the mines in the first place, some half-elf who said he had a home somewhere else, and a halfling constantly saying she didn’t know how to mine. Honestly, he did think some of them were lacking in knowledge and skill, but he was willing to teach them if they would only be willing to learn.
Peace was valuable to him as he grew older, and the merchant council had always been pretty good to his people, though the recent powers in the region were a bit off-putting, he still had his job and food on the table, and no one was trying to take any of that away from him anyway. He had more problems with the recently brought agitators, a not-so-tiny minority that just wouldn’t be quiet and let him go to work and go home. He just hoped they wouldn’t anger the guards into doing something drastic by being overly aggressive.
Tomulnec was well respected in the camp, though. He had put in the time and work, and no one bothered him. He mostly kept to the upper levels and watched and assigned crews to the lower parts of the mines. The pay kept coming, food was on the table, and he knew peace. He walked past the guards of the mines, who had managed to keep the place safe for years, with a nod as he went to work. A lot of his kin had not accepted the way things were, there were some arguments, and some of his people had gotten in trouble. But Tomulnec was known as a voice of reason and peace and so was not often bothered by the guards. It pained him to see some of his old friends get in trouble, but they should have kept their heads down and seen some of the possible benefits. He also missed the many that had left for more profitable work elsewhere, but this is where he made his home, and he wasn't going to let some minor political problems drive him away. He thought he was proof enough that if you did things the right way, you could do ok.
The guards were not all bad. He had seen some bring extra rations to give to the workers and even share a few healing herbs. He did not understand why some of the workers could not see this. He supposed some people just wanted to cause trouble.
After getting to his station, really more of a cleaned-off rock with a crudely drawn map of the mine, Tomulnec knew something was wrong rather quickly. There were more guards inside the mines than was normal, and there was a flash in the eyes of the workers as he passed out assignments, the mouthy halfling had already gone down below without waiting to be given an assignment. He thought briefly about saying something, but his long years had taught him it was better to keep his mouth shut and not disturb the peace. Besides, he did not want to be associated with any problems, the humans did not tolerate people associated with problems, and he did not want to be assigned to the lower areas.
He was only a few hours into his shift when there was word of a riot down below, and more guards came inside. He was pushed to the side but mostly left alone. Old Uncle Tomulnec was well known and not a threat; indeed at the upper levels, things were mostly at peace. He grumbled about a small minority of workers disrupting his peace but was not overly concerned, almost all the guards were inside now and would have the problem dealt with soon enough. No matter how much they complained down below, they would eventually get thirsty and hungry and must calm down. Indeed, all the guards were inside to deal with the problem now.
He was starting to contemplate how much this would set things behind, and how many might be involved when a loud crack echoed through the mine. Dust billowed in around him, and for the first time, his peace was shattered. He knew the signs, somewhere a shaft had collapsed. His first thoughts went to the lower mines, he feared a guard may have accidentally taken down a support post or even worse the miners may have destroyed a valuable air shift. But then he felt the change in the air, and he realized immediately the collapse was not below but above him. Several smaller explosions followed.
Being close to the entrance, Tomulnec was among the first to see how bad things were. The first to see this was no accident. The entrance was collapsed completely and utterly, and it felt like even the smaller air shafts had been destroyed. He recognized the danger immediately; the mine was famously low on water and food, and the air would grow deadly quickly. He turned to tell the guards this when the miners spilled out. Hundreds of miners armed with pickaxes and torches facing off against two score human guards, well-armed and armored but greatly outnumbered. Both sides looked shocked to see the mine entrance collapsed. He was going to call out, and tell people that they had to dig out. He was going to tell them to work together but one look at that halfling in the front, a pickaxe in her hand and a fire in her eyes…he knew.
Uncle Tomulnec briefly contemplated the cost of peace as the two sides clashed into each other in the ancient mine, and the sound of screams and the smell of blood filled the old cavern.
OOC NOTE
The names of the miners are not known, and it is also not known exactly what happened inside the mine after Jantalar collapsed the entrance at the command of the local Baron. It is possible the human guards and ordlyn slaves made peace. What is known is that none made it out alive to tell the story.
This original story was written by Dendum and edited by several Black Thorn members.
The idea being this would be passed out as propaganda in the Landing during the 5122-5123 independence movement.