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A Life Worth Living

Broc has lived a long and full life. As a relatively young dwarf of 72 years, just beginning to learn the ancient and revered crafting of brewing, Broc met and began the 22 year courtship of his future wife Mùiran. Known for her sparkling eyes, martial prowess, and sturdy hips, Mùiran was sought after by many a dwarven bachelor but had eyes only for the boisterous apprentice brewer. The wedding was widely celebrated among the clan. They would remain married for 178 years until Mùiran eventually succumbed to a bone disease in her later years. To this day, she remains Brocs only love.
 
Over the intervening years, Broc would become a master brewer of renown. “Broc’s Blood Whiskey” is a closely guarded secret recipe known only to broc and his second son Strònn, who is building a reputation as a fine brewer and alchemist in his own right. “Strònn’s Midnight Stout” has already started popping up in taverns beyond those owned by the family.
 
The popularity of Broc’s unique alchemical beers and liquors helped him build his first tavern on a crossroads between the fortress city of Eastpass and Foehammer's underground sett (stronghold). Broc’s eldest son Buen quickly proved to have a knack for business even at a young age. By the time Broc had expanded to a second and third tavern within the city walls of Eastpass and Oakhallow respectively, Buen was fully managing the financials and original tavern on his own, to great success. Daughter Oira may not have had her brother’s head for numbers and logistics, but she was an unparalleled hostess who inspired fierce loyalty among her staff and patrons. With Buen’s keen acumen helping to drive profitability and Oira’s skillful day-to-day management, the family business would eventually add two more taverns on the roads to Northwick and Havenhill.
 
While Broc’s eldest three children have as yet shown no interest in pursuing a second life as hunters of the Urraidhean Dorrachas, time may still tell. This is the way of the Clan. Live a respectable life, raise a family, and celebrate the pride and beauty of truly great craftsmanship, be it metalwork, brewing, or even textiles. They may yet follow the path once they deem their own lives complete but none will judge them if they choose to continue as they have. Broc’s youngest son is another matter. With no expectations to take over the family craft or business, Ruathar has always been his own dwarf. He is young yet for the Urraidhean Dorrachas but is dedicated to the cause. He has taken to training with the clerics of Gendwar Argrim, patron god of the Urraidhean Dorrachas, in an effort to help steel his will against the influence of the curse. Broc is both proud of and concerned about his son’s single mindedness. Though Ruathar is the most iron-willed of his children, and perhaps the best suited to the cause, Broc has seen too many geiltean in his 278 years to ignore a father’s concern.

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A Life Worth Giving

In the six years since Mùiran’s passing, Broc has wrapped up the transition of all his assets to his sons, daughter, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. As a dwarf of fierce personality, vigor, and resoluteness, Broc’s whole life had prepared him for the Nochd na Fala. He accepted the blood of the badger, passed on from his Urraidhean Dorrachas Cete and dominated it the same night. This event had been long in the making, and as a revered member of Clan Foehammer, the celebrations had likewise been highly anticipated.
 
A fellow would-be hunter, far too young and with not enough training, was not so fortunate during the same Nochd na Fala. While the young dwarf appeared to have mastered the curse at first, he slowly lost control over the course of the night and slipped away. By the time the bloody remains of his first victim were found, it was too late. Broc felt a responsibility and a debt of blood for the geiltean. Perhaps they could have saved the dwarf had not everyone been so focused on the commencement of old Broc’s second life. So it was that Broc took upon himself the task of tracking down and granting mercy to the escaped geiltean.
 
Broc’s winding path over the next year led him to track the geiltean across the breadth of the Principality of Ulek, through the populous Duchy of Gradsul, beneath the vast silent canopy of the Dreadwood, and finally to the shores of a small outpost on the Bay of Rhon called Overwatch. In the wilderness north of the keep Broc came across and befriended a human ranger named Bjorn Hrothdunn. Like Broc, Bjorn had been hunting a lycan who had recently killed in the area. Unfortunately, both Broc and Bjorn had mistaken one lycan scent for another. Bjorn had been tracking Broc and visa versa because, as it turned out, Bjorn was a lycan himself; specifically a werebear. Realizing their mistake, the two became fast friends and agreed to search together. Bjorn understood the weight of Broc’s obligation and agreed to notify the dwarf as soon as he found the geiltean.
 
Broc found employment as an alchemist easily enough with the local storm wizard and quickly grew fond of the young lass Pinna. Her earnestness reminded him a bit of one of his great-granddaughters and he enjoyed working with her. He supplemented his income as a brewer for the local tavern and trading post, more than happy to introduce a new audience to his volatile “Broc’s Blood Whiskey”. Evenings found broc stalking the wilderness with his friend Bjorn, searching for a trail now grown cold.
 
Broc thinks of his family often but that was his first life, the one worth living. This life is dedicated to the destruction of evil creatures, particularly those that carry curses and those not of this world.
 
Let the darkness fear his coming and let the night whisper his name. He is Eonach an'Broc MacGhealach Òrd-Àbharsair and his is a life worth giving.