May Blessings of the Great Ancestor be upon you,
I write this letter to inform you of my safe arrival in Razdis from fair Genivana, and to tell you of the somewhat odd customs of this country. Hopefully you will excuse the horsehide vellum on which this is written; other mediums of writing amongst the Grey Dwarves are unknown, save only stone carving.
My journey and arrival.
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After I arrived in Lyradis after a long and gruelling journey through trackless wilds populated alternately by Hrathan-Tuor assassins or half-naked Raanekans, I found that my journey was not yet over. Not by a long stretch. I know these things are sent to test us, but after riding a horse for what felt like a lifetime it seems that the only entrance the Grey Dwarves permit travellers to enter their country by is within their capital, Kalpraz. In the far north. Surrounded by mountains. I had to sell my faithful mount and purchase a Razdissi horse, a small and unprepossessing beast with a face apparently constructed out of yellowing teeth and stringy mane. Despite appearances however, that nag bore me well enough. After I reached the sinkhole city, I was made welcome, in a stiff sort of way. Razdissi are fond of most outsiders, but wary of foreign faiths. Nevertheless, by the grace of The Great Ancestor I found a decent enough inn in the foreigners quarter, and it is from a large room there that I am writing this missive.
My income.
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I manage to pay my way by telling tales of the southern jungles; the Grey Dwarves and most of the fellow foreigners here find it hard to conceive of a forest that large, but they'll pay for my room if I'm interesting enough. Attempting to weave in fables of Radjura meets with little positive reaction now, but I'm sure that these people will see the truth soon enough.
Customs of the Grey Dwarves: religion.
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I move on to the main object of this letter, customs of the Grey Dwarves, or Razdissi as they call themselves. Such an odd people! Firstly, their religion. They practice a form of animism, as followed by numerous nations around the known world. Yet they believe that not animals, but the rocks and minerals beneath our feet have souls and spirits of their own. Whenever they mine a vein of ore, my host informs me that a sacrifice is made, of plant matter. Never animal flesh, such is abhorrent to the Razdissi. Indeed, if a thinking being is ever sacrificed by a Razdissi, he is subject to a great punishment. My Razdissi is still not perfect, but I believe the penalty is either burial alive or complete ostracism. The Razdissi for both is very similar. In times of war, the soldiers strike their steel weapons upon the rocks surrounding them, attempting to draw sparks. This, they believe, will awaken the spirit of the ore forged into the weapon, which is believed to be made slothful during the crafting process.
Customs of the Grey Dwarves: clans.
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Their customs are odd, to say the least. The people are organised into clans, groups of extended families often larger in population than a decent sized village back home. Intermarriage within a clan is forbidden by edict of an ancient ruler (or as the Razdissi style them, "Mormaer") as an attempt to increase mixing and fellow feeling between different clans. The clan is of paramount importance to the Razdissi, and they proudly declare which of them they belong to. I have the pleasure of being the guest within the inn owned jointly by Dimmir of the Ancient Delving Clan and her husband Potrelk of the Buried Lord Clan (as an aside, gender is no barrier to success at all for female Grey Dwarves. Indeed, one of the most skilled generals is a female, apparently ennobled with her own clan recently.) . This makes introductions take rather a long time, what with all participants stating their overlong name.
Customs of the Grey Dwarves: fire.
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Also, there is a superstitious fear of fire in large quantities. Of course, a smith never baulks at his forge, neither is cooking punctuated unduly by terrified screams, but though I never found out why, if a tunnel encounters a substance known as "firedamp" or a certain rock known as "mol-ten-mag-ma" is uncovered, Razdissi flee with surprising alacrity. Indeed, torches are only present in the foreigners quarter; the Razdissi see in the dark better than cats, a trait many of them subscribe to their supposed elven ancestry.
That should be all I can write at this present moment. I will endeavour to have this letter sent to you; Guilder traders pass through Razdis occasionally, and I'm sure one will undertake to carry this letter, if he or she can profit from it.
Your humble servant;
Seeker Rejneel, currently resident in the Inn of the Fungi Fire
Re: The Radurjic Codex [EMPIRE! IC]
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