“Law is everything to dwarves. If one is to gain any good will with the forest folk, one must study their Law and abide by it. Heaven help the soul that ignores it inside the borders of the dwarven forest.” —“Dwarves and the Forest Law”, by Master Darius Jerisian
Castle Tower, Cryptonia, Ground Plane
Jasper was quite exhausted after such a long day of work but pleased with the progress that had been made. He took dinner in the serving room below his tower bedroom. Harla served him herself. She sat while he ate and began explaining more details of the dwarves’ strict honor code. She had brought with her a few thick books with dwarven letters on them.
“As Milord Jasper knows, one of the Law’s most sacred rules is that of equal exchange,” she said with a smile, setting the heavy tomes on the table. “What you may not know is that in dwarf culture, a mother teaches her children the ways of our people, the Law, the story of the Treemother, and eventually our ways of war.”
“Really?” Jasper’s eyebrows went up. “You train your own children to fight so young?” His mind immediately went to the ancient Spartan Agoge training process, but the dwarves' process seemed much gentler.
“They are perhaps ten and five of your human years when they begin to walk the Path,” said Harla. “And they do not progress to the physical training stages unless they pass the assessments of our tribe shamans at each milestone.”
“What are the milestones?” Jasper asked, growing even more interested. “Is it based on their age?”
“Not usually. A milestone is reached when a child gains a competent grasp of the Law and other subjects expected of their learning capabilities. This is one reason why a child’s teaching is undertaken by their mother; a child’s mother has the best understanding of how best to teach their offspring. Once each subject examination has been passed, repetition of each subject continues to ensure the lessons within are truly driven home. Once all primary milestones have been met, combat training may begin.”
“Wow.” Jasper sat back and looked at the books with growing apprehension. It sounded like he had finished community college and now he was being required to complete a doctorate. “I am so humped.” Harla cracked a smile but shook her head.
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“This is only the beginning. You are not expected to memorize the Law and culture minutia. Good as your intentions may be, Milord is only human.”
“You are not wrong,” Jasper laughed, taking the books she offered. He studied the covers. They were finely wrapped manuscripts with leather bindings. Beautiful gold inlay was worked into the carved runes. He opened one of the books and was amazed to find it was written in two languages: the common tongue which he understood, and the curling artistic script of the dwarves. “Oh my,” he gasped, studying the simple black of the legible letters and the beautiful green ink cursive. “May I ask where these came from?”
“These lawbooks are from the Tower library,” said Harla. “They will give a better accounting and be a more permanent resource than just human memory. As you can see, they are written for all to understand, not just the forest folk.”
“That is amazing. Wait.” He looked up. “We have a library?” Harla nodded.
“The writings of many peoples across the Plane are stored in the library. Mistress Wynifred spends most days inside when she resides in the Tower. She says the more populated areas cause her plumage to age prematurely.” Jasper was considering the idea, and he supposed it only made sense for a magical tower castle home to dwarves, elves, and a wizard to have its own library. Then he realized Harla had said “plumage”. He blinked.
“Her what?”
“Feathers, Milord,” she said with an innocent smile.
“Um. What is she?” Jasper had no idea what to expect. The history books he had perused had numerous fantastical creatures even he had never heard of. Harla laughed lightly at his concerned expression.
“Mistress Wynifred is a Strigiform,” she explained. “One of the owl-folk who used to inhabit the deep forests long ago. There are few of her kind in the world now. She is one of the last.”
“That sounds so sad,” Jasper said, sitting back in his chair. The idea of being so separate from everyone else in the castle was a daunting one.
“She enjoys the solitude of her laboratory, but she is frequently lonely,” Harla admitted. “Fern and I have kept her company numerous times over the long years. But I will not speak secrets of those that have not given permission.” She straightened up and nodded to the books before him. “We can begin with the common law of the Land before we begin on how common law and Dwarf Law meet, then what alliances have been made to allow races to live harmoniously.”
Harla was a very attentive tutor, and it was a good thing Jasper had asked Calian to give him plenty of parchment and pencils to take notes. They continued for at least an hour before Jasper felt his brain start to cook with the raw amount of information the dwarf was giving him. At last, he called a halt to insist that they both get some sleep and continue the next day. She agreed and said he had made decent progress to begin. Harla bowed and bid him keep the books to look over in his free time
“They belong to the castle, and it is right you have them.” She smiled and bid him goodnight. He quickly bathed and dressed for bed before crawling under the covers and passing out a few minutes later.
