Reincarnated as a Dwarf

Reincarnated as a Dwarf   Home again in darkness

“Good morning, Kvalinn. Ready to go back to school?” Bekhi seemed to be back to her normal self, and was washing dishes in her usual outfit. “How are your burns doing? Think you can make the trip back down to Nurnwuhr?”“I’m feeling a little better, but I’m not looking forward to three days of walking.” I was still feeling very stiff, and my hands were wrapped up with burn ointments, so the trip back home would probably be very long and very, very, miserable. “No need to worry about that.” Dak walked into the kitchen with a traveling bag on his back and weapons strapped to his side. “As thanks for making the weapon, I’ll be paying Kholgaik to let you ride on one of the wagons.” “Why do you look prepared for a trip, Dad? Are you going down to trade food for mead with the humans down the mountain?” “Not this time, Bekhi. I’m going down to Nurnwuhr with you and Kvalinn. I’ve got to explain to Kvalinn’s father why his son is coming back burned and unable to work. Plus, I’ve got to repo

Reincarnated as a Dwarf   Going back home

It wasn’t until the next morning that I woke up again. By that point, I was the only one who hadn’t recovered enough to be taken from the tavern, so I woke to see the dining room completely empty.“Hello?” I tried getting up from the table to see the room better, but was hit by several waves of pain from my back. Judging from the sensation, the burned and damaged skin around the rune of protection was still working on healing itself, and since the rune covered most of my back, there was a lot of skin to heal.“Kvalinn!” Bekhi scrambled up from the cot she had been sleeping in nearby. “Get back down or you’ll move the poultices!”I gladly followed her instructions, and let my head fall back onto the waiting pillow. I could feel Bekhi moving any of the

Reincarnated as a Dwarf   Snow Wraiths, pt2

As I struck the final blow, and sang the final note, a pain unlike I had ever felt in this life radiated from the rune of forging. It was as if I had stuck my hand into a bucket of dry ice, with spikes of pain encapsulating my entire hand instead just the rune lines. It was so painful, that my voice cracked as I yelled in pure agony.“Kvalinn!” Dak rushed from where he had been guarding the door to check on me. “Kvalinn! Are you ok? What happened?”“N-never rush a f-forge song.” I croaked out, my throat evidently hadn’t recovered from the shout. “Help me up. I need to make sure the rune was successfully applied.”Dak and Grildem supported me as I looked over the hammer. Fortunately for our continued survival, a rune of fire was glowing on the head of the warhamme

Reincarnated as a Dwarf   Snow Wraiths

I was awoken the next morning at dawn by one of Bekhi’s brothers. I was expecting to be taken to the barn for chores, but instead, Dak met me by the front door. “Good morning, Kvalinn. I’ve arranged for you to use the local forge today. So go grab whatever you were writing yesterday and get ready to fill all the requests we made. And remember Bekhi’s warning. No making anything that’s not a weapon! Humbart doesn’t need any more help in the kitchen of The Halfling’s Haven.” For a minute, I wondered how he had arranged to use the town smith when it was still pre-dawn, but then I remembered that he had sent one of his kids on an errand yesterday after dinner and that’s probably when he sent the message. I went back upstairs to get my notes of everyone’s requests. Each member of the family seemed to want a different weapon with a different rune so it was going to be a long day. Just as I was putting on the several coats that were being lent to me, the door burst open with a bang that

Reincarnated as a Dwarf   Goblin attack, again

On the second day of travel, when we were halfway to Vesturhildrun, we were attacked by goblins. If there had been any landmarks on the featureless gray walls, I would have suspected that it was the exact same place we had been attacked last time. “Goblin attack!” Came the loud cry from the guard who was tasked with listening for their scratching claws. “Goblin attack! Ready your weapons! Protect the mole-mules and Kholgaik, we don’t get paid if the cargo doesn’t make it!” There was a loud clattering as the twenty guards prepared their shields and weapons and got the wagons into a defensive position. I had a short sword this year, but this time there was no magical rune on it so I’d have to depend on my training. Bekhi expertly twirled the hammer I had given her and grinned in anticipation at the upcoming conflict.

Reincarnated as a Dwarf   Dark Tunnels

Reincarnated as a Dwarf   A trip to the surface?

“That will be all for today. Next year will be your final year, so prepare your best work for our inspection. At the end of next year, you will be presenting your work to the Thane himself. Do not bring dishonor upon your teachers or this school by displaying inferior work.” Elder Rongrim sat down at his desk and began working on paperwork.“Yet another year over, and another year where you barely stay out of trouble.” Zikruk put away his school supplies with a sigh. “I was sure that you’d be exiled over that last rune you made. The Rune of Insomnia that kept everyone awake for three days straight had both the Elders, and the rest of the town calling for your blood.”“I don’t know. It may have been torture, but at least it was productive torture.” Bekhi weakly defended me. She had spent the three sleep

Reincarnated as a Dwarf   Back to school

“Goblins grog, Kvalinn. You look horrible!” Zikruk looked at me with shock and surprise as I slid into my desk chair with an exhausted thwump. “What happened on your trip to the surface?!”“It wasn’t my trip to the surface.” I sleepily started to unpack my school bag. “I forgot to prepare the gifts for the Elders until last night, so I was up all night working.”“Are you ok, Kvalinn? It’s not like you to not prepare for today weeks in advance.”“I’m fine, and more importantly, I had lots of delicious food while on winter break.”Fresh eggs, fresh meat, bacon, smoked ham. Mhmmmm.“Really?” Zikruk looked at

Reincarnated as a Dwarf   Trapped by snow

The next few days passed peaceably. The storm kept up unabated so we were prevented from doing much more than sitting around the fireplace and eating meals. It felt very odd for me to be inactive for so long, since my father and I worked pretty much non stop from dawn till dusk, but it did feel nice to take a vacation for the first time in this world. “Are your bags packed, Kvalinn?” Bekhi was waiting for me in the kitchen on our last day in Vesturhildrun. I nodded, expecting that we would be leaving momentarily since the trade caravan would be going back home soon. But Bekhi just told me to put my bag by the door. “We need to be ready to go the second there’s a lull in the storm.” “But won’t we be late to meet Kholgaik at the surface door? Is he going to wait for us?” Bekhi just shook her head. “Nope, but this i