The Wreck of the Dwarven Windhammer

Author's Note: This song was written, because this has always been one of my favorite tunes. It was also felt that a seafaring community would have legends and lore about the wrecks that occur, and no such area would ever go unscathed from the worry and burden of losing ships....for indeed, the sea is a harsh mistress. It was my intention to, not only to give Elanthian's a bit more history, but, also to honor the Wreck of the Edmund Fizgerald. Who could do better than what has already been done? None, for Gordon Lightfoot certainly captured the mood and the sadness with his rendition. Please keep this all in mind as you read through the verse of the Dwarven Windhammer.

Azure recites:

"This legend lives on from the Trace on down, or so says the bard I heard singing it.
As you all know I sometimes visit other places. Once in a while, a song strikes a chord."

Azure begins to strum a few chords. The melody flows like a breeze coming from the ocean. Its cadence and tone appears to be a sea chanty, oft heard upon the docks.

Azure recites:

"So, I present this song, not as one of mine own..but perhaps with my own twist."

The bardess smiles slightly and her eyes hold a special brightness as her hands skillfully draw notes from the mandolin. For a moment, she stops playing and there is silence until her voice lifts in pure ringing tones.

Azure sings:

The sea, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies after Beltine turn gloomy
With a load of imflass pure, twelve thousand tons more
Still the Dwarven Windhammer weighed empty.

That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the dark clouds of Beltine came early.

Azure's face settles into a quiet expression. Her eyes hold a sadness that seems to reach to the depths of her soul, even though the faint smile never leaves her countence.

Azure sings:

The ship was the pride of the Teras Isle side,
Coming back from some mill in the Village.
As big merchant ships go, it was bigger than most,
With a crew and good captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of imflass firms,
When they left fully loaded for Wehinmer's Landing.
And later that night when the ship's bell rang,
Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?

The wind in the riggin's made a tattle-tale sound,
A wave broke over the railin'.
And every dwarf knew, as the captain did too,
T'was the witch of beltine come stealin'.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait,
When the Clouds of Beltine came slashin'.
When afternoon came it was freezin' rain,
In the face of a hurricane west wind.

Azure's voice picks up an excitement that is undeniable. It's crystalline tones reach outward to surround all those in the room with the feeling.

Azure sings:

When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'.
Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya.
At Seven P.M. a main hatchway caved in, he said,
Fellas, it's been good t'know ya.

Then came the captain's thoughts, he had water comin' in
And the good ship and crew was in peril.
And later that night when his lights went outta sight
Came the wreck of the Dwarven Windhammer.

Does any one know where the love of Cholen goes,
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they'd have made Darkstone Bay,
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.

Azure begins to play her mandolin, harmonizing with the tones of her voice. Her face has become as intent as her story and her eyes glisten with that faint sadness.

Azure sings:

They might have split up or they might have capsized,
May have broke deep and took water.
And all that remains is the faces and the names,
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

While the lava river boils, the sea fairly sings,
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion.
V'Tull screams, like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And the merchant boats go as the mariners all know,
With the Clouds of Beltine remembered.

In a musty old hall in Kharam-Dzu they prayed,
In the Cathedral of Lorminstra.
The temple bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times,
For each dwarf on the Dwarven Windhammer.

Azure draws her fingers lovingly over her mandolin as the music begins to wane. The bardess' voice continues the cadence, but there is sadness in its depths.

Azure sings:

The legend lives on from the Trace on down,
The sea, they said, never gives up her dead,
When the Clouds of Beltine come early.

Azure takes a deep breath as she finishes the last chord of her song. She curtsies deeply, saying, "My thanks to the elven minstrel named Lightfoot, who shared this song with me."

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