XLE - 30 made
“This”, she said “is the Star of Midda.
Midda created this design to be her banner; she said that it represented the three types of knowledge that Dwarves should seek: Knowledge of Midgard, Knowledge of The Maker, and knowledge of our own hearts and souls.”
Yaffah touched a finger to the large nine pointed star. On each point was a small picture and the name of a different metal. “Dwarves in Midgard follow one of nine paths and each is characterized by a different metal. Each point on the star represent a different type of Dwarf.
At the top is the first picture, which is a shining star and underneath is written ‘mithril’. The Dwarves who follow mithril seek perfection. They desire that everything be in the correct place.
The second point shows a cup and the metal of this path is tin. As you well know, tin is the metal used to make forks, spoons, cups, plates, and bowls. This is the metal of food and feasts. The Dwarves who follow tin greatly desire to make others happy with their gifts. Their homes are always open to guests and their pleasure is to keep every guest’s plate and cup full.
The third point shows a crown and the metal of this path is gold. Dwarves who follow gold are well versed in the ways of wealth. They understand profit and debt. They know the value of things and they are able to turn small resources into great resources.
The fourth point shows a moon partially lit and the metal of this path is silver. The Dwarves who follow silver are artists. They see things differently than others and they like to find beauty in both good things and bad. They cherish both their joy and their sorrow because these things make them different than all other souls in Midgard.
The fifth point shows a flame and the metal of this path is copper. Dwarves who follow copper cherish knowledge. To them, fire brings light and transformation. Midda strongly followed the copper path as do most Daughters of Midda.
The sixth point shows a hammer and the metal of this path is lead. Those who walk on the lead path like to be a part of a group. They are loyal and sure. They are slow to change their ways because they believe that once they have found the right way to do something, then they should try their best to see a task through until it is done.
The seventh point shows a retort and the metal of this path is mercury, also known as living silver. Dwarves who follow the mercury path are often said to be full of life. They laugh often and enjoy a good joke. A feast or a shet has not begun until a mercury Dwarf is in the room.
The eighth point shows an axe and the metal of this path is iron. All Dwarves enjoy battle, but Dwarves who follow the iron path feel a strong cause in their heart that will lead them to take up arms. It is they who seek to change the world and will rally others around them to join in the fight.
The ninth point shows a balance and the metal of this path is ithildin. These Dwarves desire to bring an end to conflict. They try to always see both sides in every matter. Like ithildin itself, these Dwarve are quite rare.”
“In the center of the star of Midda is an anvil. Many say that it represents The Maker and they are correct enough, but it is much more than that. To the Daughters of Midda, the anvil represents the creative force that stands still and is constant. To make anything you need something that moves and something that remains still. These mysteries run deeper than just knowing that you need a moving hammer and an anvil that stays put. For instance, the amount of stuff never changes and is constant like an anvil. We do our best work when we pay attention to how much stuff goes into a furnace or a retort. We know that everything that goes in must also come out again and this has shown us many hidden things. There is stuff that is invisible and does not like to be seen, stuff that rides the wind. Remembering the anvil and remembering that the amount of stuff does not change has shown us most wonderful secrets. Another truth from the anvil is that whenever a Dwarf pushes something, Midgard always pushes back with the exact same strength. Whenever the hammer hits the anvil, the anvil always hits the hammer back, always.”
Yaffah next pointed to what looked like a picture of the sun behind the anvil. “This fire is largely unknown to Humans and Elves, but we Dwarves revere it and Midda said that it was a great force of change in Midgard. Have you ever heard of the central fire?” Math had never heard of anything like that, but maybe he knew it by a different name so he shook his head no. Yaffah looked enthusiastic as she started to explain. “When we dig very deeply, the rock becomes hotter and hotter. The farther down we go, the hotter the rock is. Our most ancient texts tell us that in the very center of Midgard is a huge fire that is like the sun, but it is completely covered with rock. We just call it the central fire. It is this fire that turns hard rock into lava that comes from thunder mountains. It is this fire that rises up new mountains and makes the earth shake. We have never seen the central fire, but we know that it is there because we can feel it in our deep mines. It is said that once, very long ago, the Maker and a group of Dwarves dug a shaft to the central fire and saw it for themselves, but that was very long ago and the shaft was plugged shortly after they finished.” Math thought about the shaft that was dug to make The Great Anvil, Shreesh and wondered if it was the same as what Yaffah was telling him. He remembered how nervous Remkkel seemed about anyone knowing that he had seen Shreesh so he didn’t mention it to Yaffah.
Next Yaffah pointed to a seven pointed star and simply said, “This star is for the seven fathers of the Dwarves. They made us who we are. Their blood pulses in our bodies and their wisdom beats in our hearts.”
Yaffah paused and before she could say anything more, Math pointed to the mountains and quickly added, “These are the Dwarves’ homes, right?” “Indeed”, Yaffah responded then added, “as you can see all of the mountains of Midgard encircle The Central Fire. In a way, it is like the heart of all of our people. Each of the mountains in The Star of Middah has a name and once was a Dwarven home, but over the years the mountains were abandoned and now just a few still hold Dwarves.” Math noticed that when she said this, her voice and her expression changed very subtly. She still spoke as though she were talking about any other lesson. However, Math did see a single large tear rolled down her cheek and when it reached her chin she wiped it on to her hand and then on to the skirt of her dress. Math could not be sure, but he suspected that locked away tightly in her heart were unspoken lamentations.
“I would like to tell you what the runes between the nine-pointed star and the outer ring mean, but it is one more thing that we have lost. Midda felt it was important enough to put on her banner, so it is likely something of value. Some of our greatest minds have tried to find the meaning, but in spite of their considerable efforts, they all failed.
“Lastly”, she said, “we come to the runes in the outer ring. Did you know that each rune embodies certain ideas?” Math had been told this briefly by one of the Dwarves that regularly taught him how to speak Dwarvish. He couldn’t remember many of the details, but he knew that one rune represented money, another represented the sea, and a third represented growth and females. The growth rune was called the ‘breast rune’ by most Dwarves, but that was not its real name. “Math, if you look at the point the star that says ‘mithril’ there are eight runes in the outer ring for that point. These eight runes represent the traits that you would find in a Dwarf who follows mithril: stamina, The Maker, light, stability, defense, shelter, hope, and courage. We use 24 different runes to write our language and each rune is written exactly three times in the ring, so there are 72 runes total and these are the 72 characteristics of those who follow the nine paths in Midgard. However, this is not the real purpose of the outer ring. There are three way to learn directly about the plans of the maker. The first is the words and songs of the prophets. There are only a few born each generation and sometimes there are none at all. Currently we have two prophets and you will be meeting one tomorrow; his name is Aaben. The second way to learn The Maker’s plans is through dreams, but dreams cannot be predicted and only a few dreams are actual messages from the Maker. The third way is open to anyone at any time, but the message is even less clear than dreams...