The Everlasting Abbey

[Enoch]

The priest nods as the final dwarf sits down. "It is good and right that the defender of dwarven civiliazation know that which he defends.

"So ends the Rite of Civilization, and begins the Rite of War."

At that statement, one of the acolytes emerges from a side-passage, bearing a small, round shield. It is wood, painted gray, with the hammer-and-tongs emblem often used in Moradin's rites painted on it. It shows signs of long use--divots and dents in the wood, carefully painted over, and scars upon the rim--but not the deep gashes or rents one would expect from a shield used in battle.

"You are girded with shield, to defend civilization--" The priest takes the shield from the acolyte, holding it out toward Gundri, and gesturing for him to wear it. Gundri obligingly disentangles his left arm from his robes and grasps the leather strap. Another acolyte carries out a dulled iron axe, which the priest takes and sets in Gundri's right hand. "--And the axe, to make war on dwarfkind's enemies."

The priest gestures for those assembled to rise and approach.

[GreyWolfVT]

Galmit rises and comes forward as directed.

[Enoch]

The priest turns and takes a dulled iron sword from one of his acolytes as the one in the mask and robe of the Silent One takes up position behind Gundri. The priest speaks.

“The sword is unique among weapons, in that it is the only weapon designed only to kill, and has no other purpose than for war. A Champion of Moradin, therefore bears an axe--at least symbolically--" he nods gravely to Olaf son of Olaf "--and is ever to remember that they should seek always to build as well as to make war upon the enemies of civilization.”

He hands the sword to the first masked onlooker, who strikes the shield held in the prospective axebearer's hand before passing it to the next congregant, and so on.

At this point in the ceremony, each participant, representing for the moment an enemy of dwarvenkind, takes the sword and strikes the shield, allowing the candidate to symbolically defend their civilization.

[Enoch]

Given that there have been no responses since Thursday and there are other expeditions queuing up before winter, I'll go ahead and wrap this up.

After each of the participants has struck the shield, the sword is passed back to the priest, once again wearing a monstrous, orc-like mask. He swings the sword, but this time it goes wide of the shield, striking Gundri Gundrudson in the center of his chest with a sickening thud. The startled dwarf stumbles back into the waiting arms of the acolyte of the Silent One, is lowered to the ground, and the priest begins the traditional dwarven funeral service.

The ceremony concludes with the Rite of Death and Remembrance and the presentation of amber, and the crowd departs.

Gundri, looking solemn, makes his way to the throne room of King Drunil.

[GreyWolfVT]

Galmit eager to be done with the mask is glad to see the ceremony wrap up, takes the thing off and heads to the tavern.

[Zhym]

Olaf watches the final part of the ceremony with mild shock. That didn't happen when he took the (metaphorical) axe! But then, Olaf had adventured with Drunil before he became King—Olaf had recruited him to join the expedition, even. So maybe, even after becoming King, Drunil wasn't quite comfortable putting an axe into Olaf's chest. Or maybe he would have had a harder time of it. Plenty of others have tried to put sharp blades into Olaf and failed.

Olaf barely ruminates on any of this, of course. Olaf would require several minutes of deep, perturbed thought even to try to understand the word "ruminate." He just thinks to himself, That be odd, then shrugs and moves on with the others to the throne room for the next stage of the ceremony.