Volstead the Liberator
From Egan Nassow's "The Mer of the Southern Continent"
"I came across a relief while I perused a site known as the Stratum within the elven capitol, Fey Gate. There is a sizeable population of duergar there and I must say, as it was my first experience meeting them, they are not the brutish savages that the stories paint them out to be. In fact, I found them slightly more prickly than their dwarven cousins. In double fact, I would say there is little distinction between the two other than the lasting effects of their time in service to these supposed Illithids or to call them by their colloquial nomenclature, Mind Flayers, but I digress.
I found this particular relief in an establishment called the Stone Rise Tavern. It covered the entirety of the left tavern wall from front to back. The flanks were mostly filigree and embellishment, but the centerpiece held my gaze for a considerate amount of time. A regular of the tavern noticed my interest and, whether through the curiosity of seeing a human amongst them or through a general sense of hospitality, began conversing with me. He called himself Tornik. I asked Tornik about the figure in the center of this fine piece of craftmanship and he regaled me with the tale of Volstead the Liberator. The following is a retelling of this tale that I hope will alleviate the duergar of the stigma cast upon them by my kin and the like."
(Forgive me but the dates seemed long before any of our histories. Given the greater lifespan of the mer races it seemed a likely result.)
The duergar draw their origins from a large migration of dwarves who, during ancient times, delved deeper than any of their kin. The story goes that they happened upon some kind of hazard. (Different sources claim different forms of this hazardous event. The versions I have heard since then have attributed it to the following: portal, vestige, relic, mineral. For the sake of this tale, I will use Tornik's version.) At first, they treated the portal as an inherently hostile entity, forbidding any to go near it. Time soon came when curiosity got the better of a select few, and due to their actions, the entirety of these dwarves was transported across the Plane Scape.
There, they met the beings who call themselves Illithids. They ruled here and took the dwarves' appearance as intrusion, a surprise attack, an invasion. They were outmatched, for the Illithids wielded an unimaginable control of the mind and thoughts and used it mercilessly against the dwarves. Once their numbers were razed to a satisfying number, the Illithids took the rest into slavery. Over time, the dwarves grew to hate their captors, but their inability to exercise any free will caused the hatred to seep into their combined souls. This degradation of their collective souls eventually changed them into the duergar. This was the way for eons. Until Volstead, the Liberator arrived.
Legend says his mother made a wish before he was born. She prayed to Hathor to plead that her child be free from the Illithids' power. He answered her prayer, but with a cost. Hathor told her that her son would indeed be free of the Telepathic binds enslaving the duergar, but he would be consumed by his desire to help free his people and destroy his oppressors. This consumption would result in his death. Upon his birth, his mother named him Volstead or 'fortress.' He grew strong, hidden away from detection. His mind was strong and divinely protected against the Illithids.
When Volstead turned fifty, his mother, exhausted from the endless work, fell to her death in a mine shaft. Enraged at the loss of his mother, fueled by his hatred for the monsters holding them in binds, Volstead poured his entire being into a hammer. This hammer would be the salvation of the duergar. When the last anvil strike rang out, the hammer glowed with magical energy, divine energy. He named it Dalosmir or "Mind's Bane."
"When I asked Tornik about the specifics of the liberation, he was short to answer. This part of the story has been glossed over by all who have recounted it to me. The duergar seem to be disinterested in how Volstead freed the duergar. They just accept that Dalosmir helped greatly in that effort and seem to be content. An interesting facet to the legend, I might add, Volstead unanimously was unable to wield his hammer upon its completion. He needed to craft two separate items in order for him to wield the mighty hammer. Unfortunately, Volstead sacrificed himself to free his people. The two items: a belt and a pair of gauntlets were entrusted to his brother who hid them upon returning to the Material Plane.
I asked Tornik where he thought Dalosmir's final resting place was and he chuckled and offered to buy me another round. "Somewhere safe," was all he said."
"I came across a relief while I perused a site known as the Stratum within the elven capitol, Fey Gate. There is a sizeable population of duergar there and I must say, as it was my first experience meeting them, they are not the brutish savages that the stories paint them out to be. In fact, I found them slightly more prickly than their dwarven cousins. In double fact, I would say there is little distinction between the two other than the lasting effects of their time in service to these supposed Illithids or to call them by their colloquial nomenclature, Mind Flayers, but I digress.
I found this particular relief in an establishment called the Stone Rise Tavern. It covered the entirety of the left tavern wall from front to back. The flanks were mostly filigree and embellishment, but the centerpiece held my gaze for a considerate amount of time. A regular of the tavern noticed my interest and, whether through the curiosity of seeing a human amongst them or through a general sense of hospitality, began conversing with me. He called himself Tornik. I asked Tornik about the figure in the center of this fine piece of craftmanship and he regaled me with the tale of Volstead the Liberator. The following is a retelling of this tale that I hope will alleviate the duergar of the stigma cast upon them by my kin and the like."
(Forgive me but the dates seemed long before any of our histories. Given the greater lifespan of the mer races it seemed a likely result.)
The duergar draw their origins from a large migration of dwarves who, during ancient times, delved deeper than any of their kin. The story goes that they happened upon some kind of hazard. (Different sources claim different forms of this hazardous event. The versions I have heard since then have attributed it to the following: portal, vestige, relic, mineral. For the sake of this tale, I will use Tornik's version.) At first, they treated the portal as an inherently hostile entity, forbidding any to go near it. Time soon came when curiosity got the better of a select few, and due to their actions, the entirety of these dwarves was transported across the Plane Scape.
There, they met the beings who call themselves Illithids. They ruled here and took the dwarves' appearance as intrusion, a surprise attack, an invasion. They were outmatched, for the Illithids wielded an unimaginable control of the mind and thoughts and used it mercilessly against the dwarves. Once their numbers were razed to a satisfying number, the Illithids took the rest into slavery. Over time, the dwarves grew to hate their captors, but their inability to exercise any free will caused the hatred to seep into their combined souls. This degradation of their collective souls eventually changed them into the duergar. This was the way for eons. Until Volstead, the Liberator arrived.
Legend says his mother made a wish before he was born. She prayed to Hathor to plead that her child be free from the Illithids' power. He answered her prayer, but with a cost. Hathor told her that her son would indeed be free of the Telepathic binds enslaving the duergar, but he would be consumed by his desire to help free his people and destroy his oppressors. This consumption would result in his death. Upon his birth, his mother named him Volstead or 'fortress.' He grew strong, hidden away from detection. His mind was strong and divinely protected against the Illithids.
When Volstead turned fifty, his mother, exhausted from the endless work, fell to her death in a mine shaft. Enraged at the loss of his mother, fueled by his hatred for the monsters holding them in binds, Volstead poured his entire being into a hammer. This hammer would be the salvation of the duergar. When the last anvil strike rang out, the hammer glowed with magical energy, divine energy. He named it Dalosmir or "Mind's Bane."
"When I asked Tornik about the specifics of the liberation, he was short to answer. This part of the story has been glossed over by all who have recounted it to me. The duergar seem to be disinterested in how Volstead freed the duergar. They just accept that Dalosmir helped greatly in that effort and seem to be content. An interesting facet to the legend, I might add, Volstead unanimously was unable to wield his hammer upon its completion. He needed to craft two separate items in order for him to wield the mighty hammer. Unfortunately, Volstead sacrificed himself to free his people. The two items: a belt and a pair of gauntlets were entrusted to his brother who hid them upon returning to the Material Plane.
I asked Tornik where he thought Dalosmir's final resting place was and he chuckled and offered to buy me another round. "Somewhere safe," was all he said."
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