Axe and The Wolf

Chapter VII: Iron and Bone

"In the darkest caverns, even the tiniest flicker of light can illuminate the path to a brighter tomorrow."– Elder Thora Stoneheart, Whispers of Hope

Two days had passed since Ulfrun's arrival at Sindri, he found himself in the general store, a different setup from the usual market set in towns throughout the different towns and villages of Niflheim. Supply caravans are common for the northmen of this region, ensuring the influx of vittles and other resources, the export of timber gives the town enough income to ensure to pay the merchants for the supplies they carry at the general store. Local artisans and farmers find easier to come and sell their products in one place. The dwarf began by buying some other fresh foodstuffs, he bought some cheese and 3 carrots, after that he purchased a small section of salted pork butt.

Ulfrun sat at a table at the inn where he had been staying, overseeing his design for a leather holster for his pistol. As a blacksmith he was familiar with the way most designs were made for the construction or crafting of an item by an artisan, he made sure to use precise measurements and notes to aid the person who would be in charge of making the piece. He ate a bowl of stew along some bread while he added the last details, he knew of a leatherworker in the village. The days had been good for him, he rested from being out on the path for several days, the band of warriors that he led unto Sindri, who came from Hindarfjall had gone to the gothi of the local temple, he helped them with their fallen and on the morning he found himself sitting with his blueprint, they departed, Svana stopped to say goodbye to the young smith and to thank him for the aid. Ulfrun stood near the northern gate of Sindri, the day had a cold appearance, the sky was devoid of color, its white colorway matched the biting humid winds of autumn. He saw as the group of horses and their riders dissapeared among the thick trees of the taiga, as he turned he saw a small gathering of people in front of the inn. He made a mental note of the situation, walking into the leatherworker's shop. The inside was lit by a skylight, somewhat odd to see one in the home of a northlander, but the bright white light from the outside shone down directly above the station where he worked. The artisan sat near a window, wooden cover swing open as he stared outside "Oh, you startled me, young master!" said the man, a round-shaped smiling bearded man with a fur trimmed hat that folded by the side of his head.

"Greetings, sorry for the jump" said Ulfrun as he closed the door "Ulfrun Stormpeak, I require you work, sir, to craft something" the man nodded and produced a pair of small glasses as the dwarf handed him the blueprint "Very well, this is interesting" he looked over the design "Made the design yourself?" Ulfrun nodded "Very professional, are you an artisan?" the dwarf replied "Aye, sir, I am a smith" the man nodded and moved his eyebrows almost as if to say Of course you are. The artisan and the smith went over details, talking about how he draws the pistol, the angle, among other things. Ulfrun paid in advanced and would return in two days to pick up the piece.

He walked closer to the rising group of villagers and the words being spoken began to make sense. "They have already killed three people just over the weekend, Hallvard! How many more?" said an older man who sat down on a wooden chair. A tall and strong-looking young man, who was clean shaven spoke up "I say we track them, from the area where they attacked that troop of warriors that was here just now" many among the northmen gathered audibly agreed "Yes, I agree" said one man "We must kill them, rip this from the root!" another barked out.

"We do not even know how many of those savages are out there! How do you expect to fight them if they outnumber you?" said a barrel-chested man with a bushy beard, he was holding and petting a large grey-colored dog with a coarse coat of hair, not too dissimilar to Abshag. "We'll have the gods on our side! A sacrifice and a blessing will see us through!" yelled a young northman. They don't lack spirit, but these manlings might get killed if they don't think this through. The dwarf thought to himself, he noticed some people looking at him and nodding in acknowledgement, suddenly attention was brought onto him, seemingly the reputation of dwarves for being good in combat made him recipient of some level of authority when it comes to martial decisions. "You, master dwarf, we have heard from the men under Svana about your combat abilities. You are well equipped and armored, you seem like a strong hunter! What wise words would the dverger have for us northmen?" Ulfrun was a bit uncomfortable, he wasn't a career general or a veteran with two centuries of life experience and gray hairs on his beard, he was a young adult with some minor combat experience and plenty of luck. His mind quickly tried to come up with something sensible "Well...the problem will not go away if you ignore it, but going head first into the fray will only get men killed, a lynch mob for an unknown amount of the Swamp Folk with no organization will end badly, I say you need to send some scouts or rangers to reconnoiter and survey them, once you know how many you'll fight...well...then you only need to choose the best way to end them all with as little blood spilled on your side, fight smarter not harder."