Slavery
The story of Kurimbor really begins with his mother. She was a gryphon rider for the Alliance during the Second War against the orcs. During the battle for Blackrock, where Orgim Doom hammer was defeated, her gryphon was slain and the pair crash landed on the plains of ash at the base of Blackrock Mountain. It was there laying unconscious that she was found, not by the Alliance but a group of Dark Iorn dwarves. They carried her off to Shadowforge City below the mountain where she was sold into slavery under a lesser noble of the Angerforge clan. This noble named Thesuran Angerforge made her his house slave and she was sworn to serve his two wives and their children. Despite this, Thesuran would visit her bedchamber and ended up giving her a son, whom she named Kurimbor after her father.
Kurimbor (he perverted Kurim) spent his childhood as a slave serving his father’s family alongside his mother. Kurim was treated poorly by the family, especially the wives, because of his mixed heritage. Kurim’s skin was ash grey and he had blonde hair so he stood out as not a full blooded Dark Iron. Unlike the other Dwarven children, Kurim was also forbidden study reading or other subjects because he was a slave. The first 20 years of his life passed by with no events of significance but one fateful day his adolescent life changed forever.
That day had started like every other where he had gotten dressed and helped his mother prepare breakfast for the family. Following the meal his father took his half-siblings to school and he cleaned the dishes and his half-siblings’ rooms before the mothers could yell at him. He finished and came down to find the mothers eating lunch while his mother served them. He watched as his mother poured the fat one another glass of wine when she accidentally spilled some on the table. The fat one stood up with a start and hit Kurim’s mother so hard she fell to the ground. Then she began kicking his mother while the ugly one stood and cheered. As he watched Kurim felt a heat well up inside him and he strode forward into the dining room. Kurim walked right up behind the fat one and proceeded to grab her knife from the table and plant it at the base of her neck. There were screams and gurgles as she fell forward clutching her neck and he turned his focus on the ugly one. She didn’the move and had a look of frightened horror on her face. Kurimbor grabbed the underside of the table and summoned all his strength to flip it and pin her against the wall. He then reached down and pulled the knife out of the fat one and slit the ugly one’stood throat. It was done.
Kurim awoke from his stupor to realize what he had done and knew he and his mother were dead when his father returned. The only chance was to say his father before he could kill them. Kurim planned out an ambush using the fat one’corpse as the bait and a tripwire to get his father in a position in which Kurim could finish him. With the trap set and his mother bandaged in her room, Kurim waited. His father normally came in for a late lunch before heading back to work so the wait was short. Hidden in the side passage next to the tripwire Kurim heard his father open the door and gasp as he saw the fat one at the end of the hallway. Running footfalls began and Kurim prepared the knife in his hand. With a rush he saw his father’s head passed the doorway and dove to the floor as he hit the tripwire. Kurim took the opportunity to pounce and felt relief as the knife sunk into the back of his father’s neck. Once the light was out in his father’s eyes, Kurim walked outside knife in hand dripping still dripping with blood and called out “I killed them all!”
Inprisonment
For Kurim there was no trial, he had confessed and was sentenced to death in the hot cells below the city. The gruff guards escorted Kurim down deep into the earth. Along the way they passed by rivers of lava and creatures made of fire. Upon reaching the cells Kurim was thanked by the guards for saving them from carrying him down to the cells and then they knocked him unconscious.
When he awoke, Kurim was in pitch black and laying on a hot stone floor. He felt around in the dark to learn about his small prison and found the room was barely six feet square with a five foot ceiling. One corner held a smelly bucket, obviously the latrine. The other side of the cell held a pile of hay which suited as a bed. Kurim thought to himself that the cell could be worst but he found no water to drink and he was thirsty. Time wore on uncounted in the dark until at last a slot in the door opened revealing torchlight and a tray of food was slid in. As he reached for the food the slot shut and he was thrust into darkness. Kurim ate his first meal in silence and was surprised at the quality but quickly noticed the lack of anything to drink. He realized with a start how the cell was a death sentence, he would die of thirst.
Five days passed and each day Kurim got thirstier and weaker. On the sixth day when the slot slid open Kurim couldn’t even think of eating. In the dark Kurim whispered a plea, “Ancestors, watch over my mother and help me die swiftly.” Kurim lay on the hot floor and listened to the silence when the earth rumbled and he thought he heard a whisper say “You will live.” With a shot Kurim sat up and replied “Who is there?” The voice replied, “I am Earth and know that everything is alive.”
As Earth spoke another rumble occurred and Kurim heard Crack and the sound of pebbles landing on the cell floor. “We will keep you alive young one and all you must do is listen to our call. Water wishes to speak.” Kurim listened and heard the trickle of water flowing down stone and landing in a pool. A primal need welled up inside Kurim and he crawled to the corner and his hand touched water. A soothing voice spoke “Drink young one, I am Water and you will be provided with what you need.” Kurim drank the warm water but it was the greatest thing he had ever tasted.
Over the next several weeks Kurim learned much from the elements Earth and Water while the guards tried to figure out how Kurim continued to survive. The guards began searching his room to find out his secret to survival but before they would arrive Earth would warn him so he could drink the pool and Water would stop flowing. Kurim found that when the guards would open his door to search the room that he could hear Air whispering as it blew through the tunnels and it invigorated him to breath fresher air. The guards never learned his secret and Kurim survived day to day this way for years.
Escape
Kurim knew not how long he had been in the cell but he cared not to count the days. He learned much from the elements and along the way even managed to communicate with Fire, no small task given that almost every Fire spirit was malicious this close to the molten core. Kurim boded his time until one day a great earthquake shook the mountain and Earth cried out in pain. Kurim tried to speak to it but Earth would not respond.
For some time his world was silent until in the trickle of the water he heard a soft familiar voice. “A great evil has up set the balance of the elements, Shaman. Now it is time to flee this place and serve us in restoring this world.” Kurim spoke back in his mind, “What is it you called me, Water? And how am I to escape?” Even with tension in his voice Water chuckled, “A Shaman is the name for one who can speak with the elements and other spirits of this world. That young one is you.” Water continued, “The time for your escape is near look to my flowing and follow it’s path.”
Kurim waited for what seemed like forever and then heard Earth groan as if straining and the cracking of stone. A cloud of dirt spread through the cell as the ceiling caved in in the corner where Water had come from. Kurim felt around and found a pile of rubble and heard running water. Knowing now what Water had meant, he climbed up the rubble and found a narrow tunnel climbing up away from the cell. Kurim began his climb and followed a trickle of running water up through earth, soon the heat began to decrease and the air became less stale. After only a few hours of climbing Kurim began to see light ahead and spread his climb. Seeming all at once he reached up and pulled himself into a large cave. He looked ahead and saw sunlight for the first time in his life. Kurim exited the cave and knew he was finally free.
Freedom
Now free, Kurim didn’t know what to do and he was lost in the wide world. He sat down in the dirt and ash of the barren land and thanked the elements for protecting him during his imprisonment and leading him to freedom. He closed his eyes and listened for a voice and in a warm breeze he heard Air reply, “You are welcome child, now comes the instrument of your freedom.” As his eyes opened Kurim saw a armored dwarf riding a ram up the hill towards him.
The dwarf stopped a ways away and called out, “Laddy, what are you doing out alone in a place like this?” Kurim noticed the dwarf looked weary and he thought he better be as polite as he knew how, “I am lost and could use some help getting to…” Kurim paused, he didn’t he know where he was headed or if this dwarf was friendly. Standing there he remembered Air’s words about this being his chance at freedom and he called out, “I want to go someplace safe.” The dwarf rode up to Kurim and said, “Well lad hop up on me ram and we will head to Ironforge. You can tell yer tale on the ride there.”
As they rode and Kurim told his tale he knew in his heart the worst of it was over. To be Continued…
kurimandthetix 