The story of Pilgor Thorgor.
Pilgor and Pilrog were born to his mother Pilomena and his father Thor Thorgor as the youngest twins of the Thorgor family. There are 14 children in the Thorgor family. 12 boys and 2 girls. The childrens' names are Thorpil, Thoromena, Gorpil, Gorlip, Goromena, Gortho, Milrog, Gormillo, Thorpil, Pilthor, Thormon, Mortho and finally the twins Pilgor and Pilrog. Life as a dwarf often means living underground. The Thorgor family however lived on the border of the clan holdings, and their dwarvish caverns were on the edge of the dwarven controlled Oaken Peak Mountain Range. The clan had it's home in Mount Mordrock, but they often traded, lived and worked with the humans and elves that lived in the nearby town of Lakeview. Here is a picture of the valley which contained Lake Silvershine in the center, with Mount Mordrock at the right and the Oaken Peak Mountain range stretching into the background.
The Thorgor family is descended from a long line of metalsmiths and stoneworkers. The entire Ungart clan is well known for their stonework, with the Thorgor family having gained fame for carving out much of the cavern city of Mil-Thorgas. Pilgor's older brother Pilthor disappeared 2 years before Pilgor while working in the marble mines where Pilgor disappeared (but that is another story). Pilgor's father, Thor gained fame with the dwarves by saving the clan high priest during an orcish raid that occurred when Pilgor was a wee lad. The Ungart clan went to war with the orcs shortly thereafter and Pilgor has a strong hatred for Orcs to this day because of the stories that he was told by his father. Because the family was favored within the clan, and because of his father's brave actions, it was decided that Pilgor would be sent to study with the humans that had established a seminary in Lakeview. Pilgor set out to make a good name for his family by establishing himself with the humans. The seminary was an imposing structure, and Pilgor felt "dwarfed" when he knocked on the door to report for his training.
During his studies, Pilgor did extremely well. Despite his faith being placed in Moradin, Pilgor gained knowledge of many of the human deities, and demonstrated a holy light that truly burned brightly. His success did not go unnoticed, and he made many friends, one of which was a human named Andorin Farbright. Working together, Pilgor and Andorin helped each other advance even further within their training, and they could often be found at the local pub enjoying something that came second only to their faith. . . ale!
As Pilgor and Andorin worked together, Andorin slowly became more and more intrigued with the teachings of Moradin, and eventually became the first human to ever become an acolyte of the dwarvish diety. Andorin's love of battle fit in well with Moradin's teachings, and to celebrate, Pilgor and Andorin participated in an ale-fest the likes of which had not been seen at the "One-Eyed Kobold" (the local pub) in many years. The elves sneered at the human and dwarf, and the last thing that Pilgor remembers was the beginnings of a brawl within the pub. A smashed tankard to the back of the head put Pilgor down for the count, and when he came to, he was back in his room at the seminary.
The next day, when the entire day passed, and Andorin had not shown up for any of the required classes, Pilgor began to worry. He had correctly guessed that his friend had taken him home after the brawl, but he had no idea what had happened to the human. Pilgor donned his familiar scale mail and shield, pulled out his favorite war hammer and headed back to the pub the following evening.
Pilgor took the dwarvish entrance into the pub noticing a pair of elves that were entering through the elvish entrance nearby. They both were sporting bumps and bruises, and Pilgor was sure that one of them had a nice Pilgor fist sized bruise on his right cheek. Pilgor asked questions around the pub, and heard about a fight the night before that was legendary. The problem was that he did not remember doing half of what the other patrons contributed to him.
The story told was of Pilgor and Andorin taking on the elves, beating them into submission, and then Pilgor turning on Andorin in a drunken rage. The human bartender claimed that Pilgor chased Andorin out of the pub. Pilgor sat and tried to absorb what he was being told when an arrow came whistling through the bar and planted itself in a timber inches from Pilgor's head. He jumped to his feet and stormed out through the dwarvish door where the arrow had come from. As he looked around, his assailant had disappeared into the night, but then Pilgor saw the message that had been left for him above the dwarvish entrance.
Pilgor wondered what the message meant as he had not heard about any fatality the night before. He was the only dwarf that had been in this pub in over a week, and things quickly became even more complicated when the city guard approached, and the captain informed Pilgor that he had a warrant for Pilgor, who was being charged with the murder of his own friend Andorin. Pilgor panicked, and fought against the guards. His size and strength made it hard for the guards to pin him down, and he was able to get away during the struggle.
Pilgor was now a wanted dwarf. This would bring great shame to his family. He didn't know what to do, so he prayed to Moradin for guidance. Moradin's light shown Pilgor a vision. It was a familiar place, and Pilgor knew it well. It was a courtyard next door to the seminary. Pilgor went there without delay, and concealed himself in a nearby shrub. He waited to learn why Moradin had sent him here when along came Father Andromeda, the head administrator of the seminary. He seemed to be waiting for someone. Pilgor really began to sweat when the captain of the guards showed up. Had Moradin forsaken Pilgor, sending him into a trap? Did the priest know he was there? Had he actually committed the crime that he could not remember? But then he recalled the dark rumors about this Andromeda taking liberties that would land anyone a place in the darkest pits of hell. How could Moradin allow someone like this to be the hero who captures the rogue dwarf!
Pilgor overheard the conversation.
"What, you incompetent fool! You let the dwarf get away?!?" yelled Father Andromeda. The captain of the guards said, "Look, we tried to take him in, but he was too slippery. We will catch him. I have too much to risk in his figuring this out as well!"
"Keep your voice down idiot." replied Andromeda "If the authorities ever find out that we set him up, it will be curtains for us. It was convenient that I came across their drunken and unconscious bodies outside of the pub, and was able to sell his friend to one of my "special" contacts, and it saves me a lot of grief to be rid of that foolish boy, but we have to finish the deal by making sure that the murder charges stick against the dwarf."
"Well, I am not sure how you convinced the elves about last night, but they seemed desperate to find a way to get back at the dwarf, and the barkeep was an easy payoff. That sod barely clears enough copper to keep the doors open. He won't talk to anyone."
"I hope not, for your sake. We have to tie up the loose ends before this gets out of hand. Now get back out there and don't contact me again until you have the dwarf in irons! I want him executed at the next sunrise!" Andromeda proclaimed as he derisively waved the captain away. "Yeah, yeah" replied the captain as he left the courtyard.
Father Andromeda lingered for a while in the courtyard, and began to head back to his quarters, when Pilgor emerged from the brush and confronted him.
"Och! Yer gonna pay fer what ya did to me friend." threatened Pilgor as he stepped into Andromeda's path.
The battle was fierce, but it was brief. Pilgor found an inner strength that helped him take the priest down before he was able to use any magic to disable the dwarf. Pilgor had a new problem - now he WAS a murderer. The only way to clear his name was to go to the High Priest Monsignor Healy, and hope that he would be believed or that a divination spell would reveal the truth and save him from execution.
The monsignor listened intently as Pilgor told his story. He then cast a spell that put him in touch with Pelor, and he learned that the dwarf was telling the truth. A search of Father Andromeda's quarters revealed that he had been in league with creatures from other dimensions, and Andorin's location remains a mystery to this day.
Pilgor finished his training and graduated from the seminary, but it was a lonely day as he stood outside the church. He vowed that he would continue to search for his comrade, no matter where that search would take him.
Pilgor returned to his family a great hero. But life in a dwarvish clan, especially a large one means earning your keep. So Pilgor was put to work in the marble quarry. He determined that he would find his friend. After a week of being home, Pilgor found himself alone at the bottom of a cave, facing a strange formation of marble. It was break time, so he figured that he would say a quick prayer to Moradin to help him find his friend. Pilgor prayed, and thought that he was hearing the thunder of a reply from the mighty diety. Dust started coming down followed by small rocks, then large chunks of marble. It was a cave-in. Pilgor felt his consciousness slipping away. "No. It can't end like this!" he thought, then everything went black.
The dwarves of the Oberus clan found this strange looking dwarf in a pile of rubble. This was not the first time this had happened, but they tried to quickly conceal the discovered dwarf before one of the "agents" became aware of his presence.
Pilgor was taken before Thor Oberus. The meeting was brief and the dwarf was sent on his way. Could he be the one from the prophecy? Only time will tell. . . .