Role

Chapter 1

It had been quite some time since the dwarf and I had spoken, but finally he
succumbed to my entreaties of all the ale he could drink, and he sat down once
more to answer more of my questions about his life.

"Ach, aye, lad, tha' do be some good brew. I do be sorry I ain't had flamin'
time fer ye lately, been busy wi' me duties fer th' bloody Island, aye?"
The dwarf gulped down another huge swallow of the stout I had procured
quite a while ago, specifically for this purpose. He continued to speak
quite clearly, despite this being his fourth or fifth flagon of the stuff.

"Well, after me mistakes o' me youth, ye can bloody understand why I dinnae
join th' flamin' Village. I bloody well returned t' th' bloody home o'
me family. Where me family had lived, tha' is, aye? Th' only thing o' any
value left did be th' bloody sledgehammer me dear sister had given t' me,
so I grabbed th' flamin' thing up, an' set down th' bloody road. Tha's
how I ended up at th' bloody Academy, an' such. Followin' th' path o' th'
warrior 'n such. I did feel th' pull o' th' flamin' Nexus Island early, lad.
As ye can guess, I do feel like I flamin' know a thing or two abou' walkin'
th' Eastern Road in someone else's bloody boots. Seein' both sides o' th'
flamin' point, whatever th' flamin' point might be, aye?"

I nodded, scribbling furiously. If the damnable dwarf would stop saying
"bloody" or "flamin'" at every turn, we could be done by now, and I could
move on to less...pungent...company.

"So tha' do be why I dinnae just go 'round thumpin' on orcs. Or why I
dinnae necessarily shy away from beatin' on me fellow dwarves, aye?
All o' us do have our own flamin' viewpoint, an' who's t' flamin' say
which o' us do be right or bloody wrong? Aye, now I just try t' keep th'
world right an' balanced. With me hammers an' me fists. Har!"

I sighed deeply, albeit inwardly. I had *really* hoped to get away from
this particular interview without a "Har" inflicted upon me.