Come closer, lad. No, closer than that. A proper Dwarf shouldn't have to shout across a room. "Now pour the ale. Not an ale. Not of the ale. but an ail - the ail for another tale." This is the tale of the Hollowfield. And of the Dwarf who entered it. And of the hundred Shadow Beings who learned, eventually— you should never frighten a Dwarf. We are the folk of hammer and stone, We carve our halls where mountains groan, Kings may boast of golden crowns, But Dwarves built up the bloody towns. We drink from cups that never crack, We build our roads through solid rock, Give us a hill and give us a year, We'll put a bloody fortress here! Ho! For the Dwarf! Ho! For the Stone! No finer folk have ever grown! Let Elves have leaves and Fae have flight, A Dwarf has hammer, beard, and might! Ho! For the forge! Ho! For the flame! Remember well the Dwarven name! When shadows gather, when fools flee— A Dwarf stands firm! As Dwarves should be! There came a field of purple bloom, With standing stones and a hollow gloom, And there our Dwarf, with beard held high, Saw black shapes moving 'neath the sky. "Come out, you cowards! Show your face!" The shadows laughed around the place. He raised his axe and shouted: "GOOD! At last, some folk who know their place!" A shadow became a stag with horns, Another wore the face of storms, One became a raven black, One became a beast with jaws of black. A hundred shapes came twisting round, Some crawled upon the field of ground, Some seemed tall as mountain stone— The Dwarf declared: "You're badly shown. If that's the best you can become, You should've asked a Dwarf to come!" Ho! For the Dwarf! Ho! For the Stone! We carve our names where none have known! A Dwarf fears not the dark below, We've mined deeper than shadows go! Ho! For the forge! Ho! For the flame! A Dwarf improves whatever's lame! Give us a cave, a hill, a hole— We'll put a door in it, by soul! Then came a door where none had been. "Aha!" he said. "Now there's a thing." He opened it. The darkness stirred. Things came through. And someone asked: "Are you afraid?" The Dwarf laughed loud enough to shake the stone. "Afraid? We invented basements!" Then silence came. The fire went still. The darkness climbed across the hill. The Dwarf stopped laughing. Held his breath. And heard the quiet whisper: "Death..." He thought of all the Dwarves he'd known. The smiths. The miners. The fools of his own. Then something stirred within his chest. And the Dwarf remembered what Dwarves do best. We build. We mend. We drink. We sing. We make a chair from anything! We fall. We rise. We curse. We try. A Dwarf will argue with the sky! So when the shadows changed their shape, The Dwarf decided not to escape. He danced. He shouted. He played the fool. He bowed to every shadow ghoul. A raven came— he flapped his arms. A stag came— he showed his charms. A monster roared— he roared back twice. Then charged the thing— and asked the price! The shadows stared. The Dwarf grinned. And somehow— somehow— he fit in. Ho! For the Dwarf! Ho! For the Stone! We need no throne to call our own! Let kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, A Dwarf can build beneath them all! Ho! For the beard! Ho! For the hand! We make the mountains understand! If Heaven closes every door— A Dwarf will simply build one more! Then came a door both low and small. Too small for kings. Too small for tall. The Dwarf tried once. The Dwarf tried twice. Then bowed his head. "Well..." "That's nice." He crawled beneath. He laid aside His axe. His pride. His need to stride. And found the strangest thing of all: Sometimes the smallest folk stand tallest when they willingly become small. So here's the wisdom, young one mine: Stone is strong. But stone can bind. A hammer's good. A beard is grand. But sometimes wisdom is an empty hand. The greatest Dwarf is not the one Who boasts the loudest beneath the sun. The greatest Dwarf can laugh and say: "I don't know." Then find the way. HO! FOR THE DWARF! HO! FOR THE STONE! NO GREATER FOLK HAVE EVER KNOWN! HO! FOR THE FORGE! HO! FOR THE FLAME! CARVE IT DEEP: THE DWARVEN NAME! HO! FOR THE MOUNTAIN! HO! FOR THE MINE! HO! FOR THE ALE AND THE UNDERLINE! HO! FOR THE FOOL WHO CAN LAUGH AND BEND! HO! FOR THE HAND THAT NEEDS NO FRIEND! AND IF A HUNDRED SHADOWS COME— LET THEM COME. WE'RE DWARVES. "hahahahahahaha!"
