[VanimaEdhel]

Dwarves - Barzûn

Barzûn grumbled as he marched. He leaned forward with his empty wheelbarrow feeling voluminous already, without even having any supplies yet. The Dwarves grumbled as they climbed behind Barzûn. They were nearing Annuminas. Barzûn shouted back, trying to rally the Dwarves, and grumbling under the weight of his own wheelbarrow all the while. They broke through the clearing and every Dwarf let out a gasp. Before them sprawled a great city. Barzûn’s sigh, however, was more in reference to the abundance of materials that could be found to carry back.

“We are back on the job, Dwarves,” Barzûn called as he pushed towards the great ruin of a city. The Dwarves moved forward. Many of them looked in wonder in the ruins of stone as they walked through the city. They neared what used to be an old square. The Dwarves stopped there to rest a bit. They leaned on their wheelbarrows, breathing fairly heavily. Barzûn allowed them to rest for a time, as he was a bit winded himself. He looked around as he rested, silently calculating how much stone they would need. He also looked at the wheelbarrows they had. They could probably carry enough to last them quite a bit of time. They might have to make another trip later on, but this would last them quite a while.

After they had rested sufficiently, Barzûn ordered them all to work. They split up and began hauling the remnants of various buildings into the wheelbarrows. They worked silently for a while until one Dwarf called Barzûn over.

“I was thinking, sir,” the Dwarf said briefly, looking down at his own feet, “Would it not be a good idea if we looked at the style of architecture in this glorious ruin of a city? It would make the Men proud indeed if their new city was as lovely as this one seems to have once been.”

Barzûn looked hard at the Dwarf. “I place you in charge of gathering as much information as you can, in that case,” he said levelly, “Here, have paper. Now record anything you desire.”

The young Dwarf scurried off, writing down various architectural schemes. Barzûn went to check on the other Dwarves.

They worked through the day. Barzûn kept a close watch on all the Dwarves. They moved quickly and made good progress. Eventually, however, the Dwarves began to lag. Barzûn called them in to break, then. Those that brought food slowly ate it and some shared with others. Barzûn looked at the sketches that the young Dwarf that was recording the architectural styles had made.

“There are some very fine examples of carvings as well, Sir,” the young Dwarf said, “Shall I record those as well.”

“Record anything you think will be helpful,” Barzûn said shortly. The young Dwarf smiled, and Barzûn increased his scowl a bit. The Dwarf still smiled a bit as he walked off to continue his job. Barzûn turned back to the other Dwarves and ordered them back to work. They begrudgingly complied and the work continued.