Shade of the Father by Volmina Stonethew

As I finished the ritual a misty figure coalesced before me. At first I thought there had been a mishap and that the ritual had gone awry. The figure forming before me was almost a hand span shorter than I am. I remember my father as giant but of course I was just a toddler when we were enslaved. As the figure gained definition it became clear that it was indeed my Father, Torvek. His shape is what I remembered most of all. The first impression one had upon meeting my father was that of square masonry block.


Torvek was nearly as broad a he was tall. The impression was further emphasized by his powerful build. Father was a weapon smith and an armorer and was accustomed to hard physical labor. His face was not handsome, even by dwarven standards, but on the rare occasions when he smiled one could not help but smile in return.

Once the figure had formed I asked it, "Spirit speak truth; are you the shade of Torvek Stonethew?" The part of the spirit that contained what would be eyes on a living creature shimmered and looked around.

Then it responded, "Yes that was my name while I lived. In the Grey names have no meaning and are forgotten."

"I am your daughter Volmina. Father I have summoned you to uncover and record your trials and exploits for the Veiled Alliance. That is, at least, what I have told my superiors. The truth is that I need to speak with you, to know who you are, so that I can know who I am."

The shade said nothing. So I continued. "This ritual can restore you your memories, Father, if you have the will to try."

After a short pause the shade spoke again, "Yes I think can remember some things about my life...... I had a wife and a daughter named 'Mina....."

Despite my best efforts a tear began to form in the corner of my eye, "Yes father that was your nickname for me. Please remember more. Think back to the time when you and I and mother were a family. It was a happy time for us. We lived in two story house in Urik with your shop on the first floor."

The spirit gave one of my father's rare smiles and said, "Yes the memories are returning. It is pleasant. I loved my family enough that when it came time to declare my focus I surprised everyone and said that my focus would be my role as husband and father. Dwarves that knew me always expected that I would declare my focus to be the forging of a metal weapon and I have to admit that I surprised myself." Then the spirit frowned. "The memory is all the more pleasant in contrast with what was to come."

That was quite an atypical choice of focus for a dwarven male and I would have to ponder the significance later. "Speak please tell me what occurred when we were enslaved. It was too painful for mother."

"I remember now. It all began when I was offered a sum of money to craft a bone and obsidian sword for a noble that was seeking a quality weapon to duel a rival. The noble, Davus was his name, told me to make a weapon that would allow him to win a duel against a more skilled opponent. I worked very had on that sword and it was one of my best. The nobleman never told me he was dueling a rival that had access to an heirloom steel sword. The metal sword broke mine and Davus was slain but it was no fault of the weapon. Stone and bone can't stand up to metal. Of course Davus' family did not see it that way. They had me arrested and they made it look like I had encouraged Davus to duel with the weapon I had made. Everything we owned was confiscated to pay the blood-debt but it was still not enough and so I was sold to die as entertainment in the arena. Even this was not enough to satisfy them so they sued to enslave both my wife and daughter.............."

I had to struggle to speak but eventually I said, "Thank you Father. Much of this I did not know but it makes sense of what little I remember. We were taken as slaves but mother would not serve them no matter how they beat her, and so in the end they sold us for coin...... Please father tell me what happened to you after we were parted."

The shade paused and then said, "These memories are not pleasant but they are returning to me. I was sold to a lanista to train as a gladiator. You have to understand I had no particular problem with being trained to fight. But that was not enough. We had to learn to kill in the bloodiest ways possible so that crowds would could see the gore and would be entertained. We had to learn to kill people that were our friends the day before. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. And what is worse is I was good at it."