The Ballad of Dhúnraoth

The Tale of Bradgrock Oakenbrow

Created by MurderousDM, art by Manzanedo on DeviantArt

The Ballad of Dhúnraoth (also known as The Tale of Bradgrock Oakenbrow) is a dwarvish play written in 1266 by Strokhor Stormpike, a retired mercenary and adventurer. It is a 896 page book chronicling the story of a dwarvish miner that rebels against an elvish tyrant after his clan is killed by wood elves. He goes on to fight against elves as his clan is slowly killed off by orcs and the elves stopping them, but in the end finds love in an elf and brokers a peace treaty with the elf queen, starting a steadfast alliance for hundreds of years. Politically the book is interesting because the elves are a representation of king Klombrut II, adoptive father of King Skotti Wildsbane, and the writer was a firm enemy of Klombrut. The dwarves in the book are in all ways identical to the dwarves in the North, of which Stormpike was. The elves represent Klombrutus humans and their terrorisation and enslavement of Northern dwarves. Stormpike was known as a revolutionary, and her inclusion of a peace treaty is what many people say to be a vision of the peace after the First Genasi War. The play is typically played in two parts, one in winter (symbolising the tragedy saturating the first half) and the second in spring (symbolising the hopeful new beginnings of the second part). Typically both parts are played by only two actors using magic occasionally if needed to show armies or mobs, with the first and second part of the play played by different actors (a dwarf and an elf). The play is encouraged to be played unconventionally; opening itself to other playwrights' creative interpretations. Dwarves consider it a treasure, and even though most production of it has been banned, nearly all dwarvish villages or towns will have a yearly show.

Manufacturing process

First, the creator will kill a warg, preferrably with a hammer. The warg will be skinned, and a portion of its hide turned into leather, the rest kept to make a cloak. Next, the creator will kill a treant, preferrably with a handaxe. Its bark will be stripped, mixed into pulp with a blacksmith's hammer, and turned into paper. next, the leather is shaped into a book's cover, and then Dethek runes are carved into its spine. The silver is melted and poured into the runic engravings,secured in place with a coating of glue and given time to cool. After, the book is written and glued together.

Significance

For Northern dwarves it bears a cultural significance, as Bradgrock Oakenbrow is really just a metaphor for the slavery of Northern dwarves under Wildsbane's father, King Klombrut II. The ending treaty of dwarves and elves is symbolic of the eventual peace treaties between humans and dwarves after the First Genasi War, and the popularity of the script in dwarvish communities as well as its accurate and respectful representation of dwarves and their culture has made it a racial treasure of culural importance.

Item type

Book / Document

Current Holder

Harlno Zroyhye

Rarity

Rare, as production ceased in 1623 when King Wildsbane decreed it treasonous against his late father. These days only a few thousand copies remain, stashed in libraries and sold on black markets.

Weight

4lbs

Dimensions

9.75x8.25in

Base Price

25gp

Raw materials & Components

The cover of the book is made from warghide treated with everbright, and the pages are paper made from treant's bark. The spine is inlaid with Dethek runes made of silver.

Tools

Writing tools, leatherworker's tools, jar coated with oil of slipperiness, papermaker's tools, smithing tools, silver, preferrably sovereign glue (raises the price by 75gp) and a sharp knife.