An Ironweaver’s Folly
By Xothor Gorrat Ironweaver
Gorrat grew up in his family’s Athkatlan trade agreement enterprise and was taking some downtime in Thornhold to relax after a particularly grueling trip around the Neverwinter Wood. One night, a messenger arrived with urgent news from his cousin, Sonnlinor Hera Braidstone, from Mildenhaul, along the Spine of the World mountains.
His Silver Majesty Darnoth, Guardian of the Golden Halls of Brogendenstein & Talon of Justice, on Arelith, was concerned about growing threats on the island while Hera reported a surprise attack from drow via the Mildenhaul mines. She pleaded that he find passage to Arelith and discover what is concerning Darnoth so.
Gorrat took leave to Athkatla, to take advantage of their trade rights with the small archipelago of Arelith. Once there, he committed passage on one of the Ironweaver merchant ships, the Arthurdane, leaving within the tenday to the island.
While waiting for the crew to ready the ship, Gorrat met a charming young elven woman, known only as Clara, in a local pub, who had a promising trade proposal – opening another line of trade on the Arelith island chain. Seeing nothing nefarious in the woman’s intent, he discussed the options with some of the Athkatlan trade merchants, and thus Gorrat agreed to the proposal. While waiting for the ship to ready, Gorrat spent the next few days enjoyed the many splendors of cultured Athkatla with his new found elven friend, and soon became enchanted with her.
As dawn arrived on their day of departure, Gorrat was most pleased to learn that Clara would be sailing with them, to personally establish the trade route with Guldorand herself. During the next several days onboard, the two enjoyed many fine evenings swapping stories of grand adventures, dreams of the future and desires of the heart.
One early morning as the sun rose over the horizon, the ships’ bell could be heard ringing the alarm, awakening Gorrat from his hammock in the crew’s quarters. Climbing up onto the deck, it was easy to see the concern, as a fleet of Sencliff privateer ships had surrounded the merchant vessel. During the night, the protective Athkatlan clipper ships had departed, leaving their merchant ship at the mercy of pirates. Already on deck and in fine form, Clara walked over to Gorrat, smiling sweetly, and placed a coin pouch into his hand, saying the Zhentarim thank him for his cooperation. The captain and crew glared at the dwarf with disgust and fury as the pirates proceeded to unload the Ironweaver cargo, rip the sails and throw the few cannons over board.
Crippled, the Arthurdane had much difficulty navigating so close to rocky nearshore waters and damaged its rudder, hobbling it further. Turning further out to sea, the ship began to sink just offshore the treacherous waters of icy Skaljard, but by some divine mercy, managed to make it into the harbor before running aground.
To say the crew was angry with Gorrat would be an understatement, but the desperation of the situation may have saved his life as he was allowed to live if only he secured financial recompense for their losses, which, of course, he agreed to immediately.
Friendless, freezing and broken, Gorrat began working right away to remedy the situation, putting his experience at cutting gems and smelting ingots to use in starting to pay off his debt to the Arthurdane’s captain. A tenday passed when he was out gathering firewood and was attacked by a pack of wolves, leaving him gravely wounded, before being discovered by a group of refugee Skaljard folk. After chasing the wolf pack off, Paladin of Bahamut, Leontia Meloda, a human woman from distant lands, and several others carried Gorrat back to the small village to tend to his wounds and secure his survival.
That very night changed the distraught dwarf forever, for as he slept, he had a dream of an open tome of wondrous magic. Dethek runes drifted off the pages like music that flowed through him as if in song. Gorrat could hear a gentle base voice lull him into stillness, listening deeper than he had ever known he could.
“If you follow me, adventures we may find, secrets we may learn, and worth we may yet gain. Use your failures in trade to serve me in discovery and let your regrets wash away as I remake you anew.”
The voice was both haunting and enthralling, and when Gorrat awoke, his face was stained with tears and he knew he had been visited by Dugmaren Brightmantle, the Errant Explorer and Wandering Tinker of the Morndinsamman. And so he climbed out of his cot, knelt on the ground, looked up at the rafters and agreed to take up the mantle of Xothor.
{Inspired by the Irish ballad “The Black Velvet Band”}