From Home to the Front

Din bohr settlement

The City of Bhur Todir, 1842

            At the smithy Dhognaer, also known as Dormuhk, hammered away on a piece he was working on all morning. He stood next to the red-hot furnace with the hearth behind him. On the sixth day of the week Dhognaer worked on a set of sickles, which were meant for a larger set of farming tools. Although the piece was made the normal size, the person buying it was a gnome. They were not those short fat ones with a thick beard and pointy red hats. These were beings that could resemble a child except their noses were a little bigger and each had side burns. While he hammered and shaped the sickle the rest of his coworkers entered. Dhognaer heard the voices of Ussem Striker, and Logdrud Longgrip who were under the same employer as Dormuhk was.

            “That was a fine piece of pig’s leg filled with mead and beer!” Ussem bellowed out loud causing Dormuhk to miss the red/orange sickle and hit his anvil.

            “Could you shut it!” Dhognaer yelled at him, but Ussem did not heed him.

            “There was also that huge bear Boddeath Runetoe hunted down.” Logdrud said acting oblivious to Dhognaer’s presence.

            He went back to work on his sickle, which was nearly done. A few more hours or a few more minutes and it would be done. Dhognaer tried to focus hard while the pair chatted with each other over some feast they attended. Focused on his sickle Dhognaer tried his best to block out the pair of coworkers of his. To him their employer and boss, Nevrok Jadeback should have fired them a longtime ago. Yet to Dhognaer’s misfortune he did not. Ussem, and Logdrud were not the worst coworkers un Din Bhor near the border city of Bhur Todir closer to the Lesdonian-Sercane borders. They did lack the strong discipline required for the best job. Jadeback had them work on horse shoes, crude hinges, handles, and pieces of chests.

            “Who was that girl, the uh, that blue haired one who was a mix of Dwarf and Gnome?” Ussem asked Logdrud in a rather confused voice.

            “I don’t recall….” Logdrud admitted as he rambled on about something else non-related to the usual talk. Ten minutes later Dhognaer found he was done with the sickle piece. He lifted the finished piece up with tongs and dipped it in the cooling water. Just as he was about to set it down someone knocked on the doorframe to their blacksmith workshop. Dhognaer turned his attention to the blacksmith entrance. At the doorway stood a Dwarf military officer and recruiter. He had a beard in the military style. The officer stepped further inside.

            “Good morning.” The officer said to them.

            “Morning to you as well, good sir.” Logdrud greeted the yellow bearded Dwarf.

            “Is staff Sergeant Dhognaer Wolfson here?” the military officer requested. Dhognaer’s coworker pointed directly at him. This officer approached him reaching for a pocket on his uniform coat. He pulled out what looked an old piece of summons with his name on it.

            “You are needed at the front. War has been declared.” He said to Dhognaer’s face.

            “With who, we’ve been at piece with the northern Kuruks for decades. Those confederation of White Ice Goblins haven’t bothered us in over twenty years! What about those Frost Elves in the farthest tundra filled regions?” Ussem asked him in a skeptical voice.

            “That war in the far east between the Vestrisian Republics, and the Vullanese Alliance and the invaders sailed over to our side of the world.” The officer said in a very agitated tone.

            None of them found any words to speak. Each dwarf stood in the blacksmith shop. Dhognaer snatched the summons from the officer’s hand almost expecting him to hit him. Opening the summons, he discovered he was being downgraded to the Frontline Rifle Rangers again. Ghastly and despicable Dwarfs could be found among the ranks of the Rangers.

            He let out a disappointed sigh and began to pack up what he needed to take. Dhognaer turned to say his farewells to his own coworkers, even though he sort of despised them. Both gave him a salute in the dwarfish fashion. It did not take very long for him to gather everything he brought with him. He followed the officer to the barracks built specifically for these rangers. There was no time to change his mind.

            Dhognaer entered the barracks. Inside were no more than twenty-eight other Frontline Rangers. Once he entered the barracks everyone inside turned to his direction. Just the way they all looked at him answered questions in his mind. He maneuvered himself towards the center where the lockers for the members were set up. Dhognaer found his own locker in the center on the second top row. It appeared to be aged compared to several of the others. He opened the locker and discovered his uniform lay in the locker still intact and clean. He immediately put it on despite the lack of privacy. Closing the locker door, the Dwarf ranger straightened his posture before the rest of the other rangers. The commanding officer entered the barracks drawing attention from Dhognaer.

            “I will make this quick. Our usual enemies are now under control, enslaved, eradicated, and forcefully misplaced. The new enemy are the invaders who swept across our world. They are called the Nazdar, and the Gantronese. Now rangers, board the train to the front up north. You are dismissed.” The commanding officer briefed to the unit before dismissing them to their homes.

            All the members exited the barracks. Dhognaer left for his own home. The Dwarf blacksmith lived alone these days. Most of his relatives were dead, or lived faraway. Some lived as far as Blubethan River Valley near the borders of their neighbors, the prickly Sercane Elves. Dhognaer returned to his house on Fortune Avenue. He passed his former love interests home and all his neighbors. Many of them were outside on a fine morning. Some greeted him with a mocking green, and joyful hellos. A few of them gave him salutes. This Dwarf had grown weary of each neighbor after she left. Ignoring and acting oblivious was he could do. When he reached his house Dhognaer checked everything and turned all his appliances off then left a note for the neighborhood house maids and the street owner.

            On the next day Dhognaer left Din bohr without a single word. In a huge hurry he raced over to the train station as fast as his stubby legs would allow. With the various branches of Khazadgul’s military he rode the train towards the borders in the north eastern parts. It was here their first battle in this war would begin. As soon as they stopped every Dwarf soldier, guard, veteran, raw recruit, and ranger available manned the entire length of the borders. More then one hundred sixty thousand Dwarves must have been marshalled to the front. In his own brigade of rangers Dhognaer Wolfson face a mixture of enemies. Entire units of orcs, kuruks, goblins, humans, lizard folk, dark elves, frost elves, demonoids, and a mixture of other strange races charged after their lines of defense. Behind all of these waves of enemies stood the invaders themselves.