"No, no, you're doing it all wrong!" Rungit yelled. His scraggly black beard twitched slightly. The dwarf was not pleased. He glared at his brother and business partner with impatient, grey eyes. "That is not how I showed you."
The other dwarf tossed his mining pick to the ground indignantly. "I'm doing it exactly how you showed me. Maybe you just did it wrong to begin with."
Rungit glowered angrily at that. "Farnus...," he growled back through clenched teeth, "You are worthless. Completely worthless. You are the reason we're stuck doing this to begin with. If I hadn't promised to watch after you, I'd be off trading exotic goods with elves right now, not stuck here still splitting rocks."
Farnus clenched his hand into a fist and shook it at Rungit. Like his brother, he had dark black hair and a dirty, unkempt beard. Both dwarves wore patched trousers and smudged workman's smocks over their tunics, which fit snugly on their considerable bellies.
It was early in the morning, and the blanket of dark clouds that had showered rain all over the surrounding countryside the previous night was slowly fading from view, though the ground around them was still wet and very muddy.
They stood in the center of a small valley just outside Bordinar's Cleft. Next to them, a group of large rocks sat complacently around a shadowy opening in the earth. The cave's entrance was quite tall but just wide enough for them to fit through with their equipment on.
"You're the one who borrowed all that money," Farnus accused bitterly, "I could have told you from the beginning your stupid caravan scheme would never have worked. In fact, I did tell you."
The other dwarf kicked at the pick on the ground with a heavy leather boot. "Blast it all! You know just as well as I that wasn't my fault. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Excuses are nice, but they don't really help us out now do they?"
Rungit leveled his gaze at his brother and frowned. "Then pick that back up and start digging."
"Dig here?" Farnus barked back, sweeping his arm over their surroundings in a wide stroke, "We will never find anything here. You don't know the first thing about mining."
"Well neither do you, and I say we will find something. Besides, it isn't as if you have any better ideas, is it?"
"Any idea would be better than this."
Just then, the two dwarves heard something from behind the rocks. They both stopped their bickering abruptly and stared in the direction of the noise.
Farnus shot his brother a worried look. "It couldn't be them already?" he whispered.
"They said we had another week," Rungit responded quietly, "it can't be."
They leaned in closer, listening. The noise sounded wet, heavy thumps followed closely by loud squishes. It continued at regular intervals for several seconds, and then stopped. A deep voice took its place, the voice did not sound happy. It cursed at something momentarily and then trailed off in a fit of muttering. Farnus held his breath as he quietly knelt down to retrieve the mining pick at his feet. It was not much, but it was the only defense they had.
Then, from around the rocks the source of the noise trudged into view. It towered over the dwarves, standing over twice as high as either of them and carried a giant, gnarled looking club which it appeared to be using as a walking stick. It's long, stringy brown hair was matted across its worn face. It was covered to the waist in mud and dripping wet.
Rungit looked up to the stranger. "Hello there," he called out nervously.
Burgen glared down at the two dwarves in front of him. He had been walking all morning and after a long night of cold rain, was still very tired. He eyed the mining pick in Rungit's hand. Burgen did not want to have to go into the dwarven city unless he absolutely had to. He hated cities. One dwarf was as good as any other, he figured.
"Are you miners?" he asked bluntly.
Rungit looked confused for a moment, then glanced to the pick and quickly back up to Burgen. "Why yes, yes we are." he replied uneasily. "We don't see your kind around here too often."
"Are you for hire?"
The dwarf's eyes lit up and a broad grin spread across his dirty face. "Absolutely, my friend," he said smoothly, "And as luck would have it, we are the best miners in all of the Widow's Veil. Nowhere will you find two as skilled as us."
"But-" Farnus began to protest, but was quickly shushed by his brother.
"My name is Rungit and this is my esteemed colleague Farnus," he said gesturing towards the other dwarf. "What may we call you?"
Burgen narrowed his eyes down at the dwarf in front of him. He hated smooth talkers. "How about boss?" he said.
"Very well then, boss," Rungit replied with a smile. "How then, can we help you?"
The half giant set his club down on the ground and swung his traveling pack off from around his shoulders. Drops of water still fell from its wet corners. He rummaged through the pack for a moment, and then emerged with a large piece of folded, stained parchment. He wrung the wet paper out for a second and then un-crumpled it. A large, detailed map of the region had been drawn onto one side. He knelt down next to the dwarf.
"I need cobalt. The only place to find pure veins is right here," Burgen said, pointing to a small mark on the map. "Do you know where that is?"
Rungit studied the parchment intently for a moment, scratching at his dark beard. Then his face sank. "As a matter of fact I do," he said, his voice ripe with disappointment. Farnus silently crept up behind his brother and peered over his shoulder at the map. His eyes widened in surprise when he spotted where the mark lay.
"Good." Burgen replied, ignoring the dwarves' obvious despair. "How quickly can you get me there?"
"It is about a day's journey away, but its not that easy I'm afraid." Rungit explained.
"Why is that?"
"I hate to be the one to tell you this, boss," Farnus spoke up. "But nobody goes there. It is far too dangerous. All sorts of unpleasant creatures live there."
The half-giant frowned and looked back down to his map. "Do you know anywhere else to find pure cobalt then?" he asked, with a somewhat annoyed expression.
The two dwarves looked at each other for a moment, and then shook their heads. "I'm afraid not," Farnus said.
"Do you know of anyone who does?"
"Unfortunately no," Rungit replied nervously, "That really isn't the sort of thing one tends to share with a lot of people."
Burgen's frowned deepened. He narrowed his eyes down at the two dwarves, as if considering something. After a moment, he set the map aside and reached back into his pack, pulling out a large pouch. Its top was tied in a tight knot, but it appeared to be very full. He muttered something under his breath and tossed it towards the dwarves.
As soon as the pouch had left the half-giant's hand, Rungit recognized the unmistakable jingling of coins from inside. He snatched it from the air and eagerly untied the knot, Farnus peering in over his shoulder. As he looked inside the pouch, his eyes widened. He looked back to his brother, who was staring mouth agape at the large golden coins that were nearly spilling out of the top.
"And another one just like it after I get when I need." Burgen stated flatly, "You worry about getting me the cobalt and I will worry about everything else." He gave his club a suggestive look.
"Would you be so kind as to give us a brief moment to discuss this?" Rungit asked politely, managing to wrestle his eyes away from the coins.
"Make it quick. I want to get moving."
"Of course," the dwarf replied. He turned back to Farnus. "I told you it would all work out. This would actually be enough to pay them off and then some," he whispered excitedly.
"Are you mad?" Farnus shot back quietly, "All the gold in the world won't do us any good if we get killed."
"And what do you think is going to happen to us if we don't get this gold?" he replied sharply.
"I don't like it." Farnus muttered.
Rungit growled. "We don't have any other options"
Farnus threw his hands up in the air. "But we aren't even miners!"
"We've got all the tools, how hard can it be?" He turned back to the half giant and spread his arms warmly, smiling up at him. "It's a deal, boss."
