I suddenly find that I have granted wishes to seven dwarves, not only of the male persuasion, but inside the Twilight Lounge, a formerly wish-free zone for the recreation of adepts who need to take a few moments away from the desires of their clients.
An odd set of wishes it was too. Some desires not so unusual–pleasurable company, new gourmet experiences, gaming with dragons, a visit to the legendary City of Gold, but what the heck is the Canvas of the Revolving Rock, and why would a dwarf want to eat his lunch in the sunshine? I know, my job is to grant what they ask, not to reason why they want such silly things. But it gets me to wondering, and that usually spells trouble for me.
What I am wondering now is what the dwarves do in their secluded woodland cottages, especially after their housemaids are rescued by princes? Do they draw out engineering specs for Devices that support their handcraft skills? Are they earthy engineers? Do their designs have moving parts or do they stick to swords, knives, and jewelry? artifacts that are not in any sense mechanical.
Most of the Dwarven lore I can find has to do with gaming, and is a quality to be desired for dwarf players, but for what good is not discussed. That such Dwarves do not like vehicles or even horses is an interesting idea as well as their apparent distrust of machinery of any type. I would have thought that blacksmiths–or maybe tin-, silver- or goldsmiths would have been the first machinists, if not coopers. Now that I think of it, household tools–spinning wheels, looms, butterchurns and others were made of wood with limited use of metal–wood being much easier to work if one has metal tools, saw, drill, chisel, plane, etc. LAthes and such were used for wood long before metal. Newfangled technology indeed.
In fairy tales, Dwarves are often the benfactors of good hearted and thrifty peasants (aka, pixies, brownies, fairies, pucks, etc) but these are not the LOTR Dwarves such as Gimli son of Gloin nor as Pratchett’s Glod of the Band with Rocks In. They are more like Rowling’s house elves, stopping all magical work and disappearing when given clothing. Rowling’s characters do wear a rag; these house pucks didn’t.
Thus, I suppose I am on my own with these louts, and I shall leave them to their own outcomes. I am certainly interested in sharing the knowledge of those wiser than myself. If you are onesuch, leave me a comment.
