THE TRIOCH
Courtesy CD Mjollnir

The dwarves of Garr often say that thier roots are in the mountains. Some say that their bones were made of the very stone, and that their flesh shaped from the soil. Perhaps this is true; I don't know, because no dwarven sage ever wanted to talk to me about this subject. Odd, that...most sages like to talk. Maybe it was just that particular topic.

Nevertheless, I did manage to find an interesting legend that dates back nearly to their origins. It's from the time that the Dwarven Race was new and their knowledge somewhat limited. They were wandering the world, trying to find a place that suited them. The elves were already in existance, and really, they were too short to enjoy living in trees. So they eventually found their ways to the mountains of Garr.

That winter was particularly fierce. Dwarves are in general a hardy race, but mountaintops are exposed, and many a dwarf went to sleep beside a roaring campfire never to wake up. The cold was that bad.

Dwarven sages prayed and divined as best they could, but they could only find a few shallow caves. They had not yet had the time to find anything better, and though dwarves are not numerous compared to, for instance, goblins, there were enough there that most of the race were camping out on the sides of the mountains. Many explorers disappeared looking for shelter, and never returned.

The actions of the dwarves finally roused a creature that the dwarven race collectively call the 'Triogh,' which looses something in the translation but means essentially (and unimaginatively, I might add!) the Digger. No one can say what this creature looks like, save that it was larger than a dwarf. It lived within the mountain itself, in a complex of caves that it had dug and expanded. This complex was apparently huge, enough to house the entire race, and now that the Triogh was roused, it listened to the dwarves' plight and decided to help.

A loud rumbling "like the shouting of the gods!" announced the creation of an entrance to the cave complex. The sages were the only ones who saw the Trioch...after that, it disappeared. The survival of the dwarven race is contributed entirely, therefore, to the intervention of this creature.

No one knows what happened to the Trioch. For all anyone knows, the Trioch may still be alive. There are leagues of unexplored caves under the Capital of Garr, and the Trioch may be in there. No dwarf living can claim to have seen it, but even know, dwarves remember it and leave gifts for it at the edges of their territory. Sometimes even gold, and everyone knows how much of a trial that must be for them! If it is alive, the dwarves as a race would like to thank it for their survival and their home.

--By the hand of El'ian Bjor'dian, Bard.