Lem the Lucky

Lemdric Flintbrow, 1st Baron of Volkdwar, known to history as "Lem the Lucky,' was a dwarven noble from Occdaldra. He is credited as the first ruler of Volkdwar , which would become one of the richest cities in the kingdom.

Biography

Lem was born into the powerful and prestigious Flintbrow family as the second son of the Duke of Fireaxe approximately one thousand years ago. Growing up in Fireaxe, Lem felt stuck in his older brother's shadow and constrained by his overbearing parents, and moved to Morthaktrum as soon as he he reached adulthood.
He perplexed his parents, as there seemed to be no clear path for him in life. Despite having all the opportunities available to the son of a powerful magnate, Lem had given no indication what he would do. He was not particularly religious, and only a middling warrior, so the church and military seemed out. The civil service was an option, but seemed ill fitting for the son of such a powerful lord.

Life in Morthaktrum

When Lem moved into his family's estate in the capital he experienced an excess of freedom that he dived into. He inserted himself gracefully into the social scene and developed rapport with all the leading denizens of the city, especially the women. He pursued a great many women, not caring if they were betrothed or married and these relationships began to open doors. Already armed with the power of his name soon Lem was assisted with a small army of supporters who were willing to open all sorts of doors for him. Unfortunately, the only doors he was interesting in opening were more bedroom doors. The true number of is trysts will never be known, especially after all this time, but lists of suspected paramours read as a list of the wives and daughters of the kingdom's who's who. If later rumors are to be believed, Lem even had an affair with the youngest daughter of the High King. Such a state of affairs could not last forever, and it didn't.
Eventually, some of Lem's lovers figured out that he was wooing multiple women and turned against him, sharing rumors with husbands and father's about Lem's suspected actions. As more people started to put together pieces, the nobles of Occdaldra decided something had to be done. Lem's name offered a great deal of protection, and any public accusations could set of a sandal that would engulf most of the noble families in the realm, so his enemies decided to settle for removing him from the capital. The suggested to the High King that he reward such a favored person by ennobling him and granting him an undeveloped mining prospect as a fief. The High King acquiesced and Lem found himself on the way to Volkdwar, which at the time was little more than a name on a map and a mine shaft. His enemies rejoiced. Worst case scenario, Lem would be gone from the city for decades struggling to build a settlement on a bare hillside. Best case scenario, he would fail or abandon his fief and would then be tried for failing a royal command.

Exile

Lem arrived at Volkdwar to find only a few shacks and barely any tenants. He tried to build the settlement as best he could, despite not being a particularly skilled administrator. His orders were basic and not particularly inspired, but at the beginning of the settlement, it was clear what needed to be done. He supervised increasing housing and deepening the mine shaft, as wells building a trunk line from Volkdwar to the Dwarven High Road. For five long years Lem struggled on, resigned to his fate and thinking this was his end.

Discovery

During Lem's sixth year as Baron of Volkdwar, just after the connection to the high road was completed, his miners made an amazing discovery. Below the peak was a massive vein of an unknown ore. When the ore was processed it produced a metal as strong is iron at half the weight that shown like polished silver. Lem quickly sent a sample to the High King and gave him the honor of naming the new substance. The High King would name the metal mephbril , a shortened form the dwarven words for Mephrezhon's Gift, for what else could this wonderful metal be but a gift to the people of Occdaldra from the creator of the dwarves and Primordial of Metal himself?
Lem meanwhile was mining as much mephbril as possible, and as word broke of the discover began selling the metal, finding its value to be many times that of gold. Volkdwar was soon buried under a flood of new arrivals and Lem soon found his capacities exceeded, even after all he had done the last five years, but new he had the resources to make changes. Lem enacted a simple policy that would be the guiding principle of the rest of his life. He would offer one and a half times the going rate for any trade or service he required and let the best talent in the kingdom flock to him. Soon he had master builders expanding the settlement, including a new baronial mansion, master smiths making higher quality mephbril items to sell, and the most skilled miners in the land delving deeper into the mephbril ore. Better still from Lem's perspective, he attracted skilled stewards, seneschals, chancellors and other officials who took over the administration of his growing fief and ran it better then he ever could while he could sit back and watch his money grow and his holdings increase.
Lem was able to retire from the day to day management of his barony before he turned eighty and spent the rest of his life in leisure. He was smart enough to not return to the social life of the capital, preferring to remain on his own turf. That didn't mean he abandoned his philandering ways, however, but he was more discrete and chose his paramours from the residents in his fief. His options greatly expanded during his second century as he was able to start heavy investment in developing Volkdwar's cultural offerings.
Lem the Lucky died at the age of two hundred and twelve. He died, if not the richest dwarf in Occdaldra, the richest dwarf who had not inherited any money, and the ruler of the settlement that had made the most gains in a single generation in dwarven history.

Legacy

When Lem died his eldest legitimate son succeeded him as baron. Lem's great-grandson would be raised to count and the Flintbrows of Volkdwar would become one of the most powerful houses in the kingdom. Volkdwar would grow into one of the largest and richest cities in all of Occdaldra. While Lem's amorous ways have never been forgotten, he is chiefly remembered for being sent out in the middle of nowhere and having the fortune to stumble upon a mounting full of the most valuable metal in the Therrmordia.