Beard Grooming
A spot of lore by Turor Sunderstone
Lo, should the time be before dwarves were forged from the tough steel they're made of, when the only two dwarves in all the realms should sit upon a lonely mountaintop, staring into a pond and wondering what might happen should someone wish to see them.
For you see, although great friends, Vorax and Dorand started out as a very competitive sort. Each one tried to best the other; Vorax could cleave a great mountain in half, carve lakes with a single swipe of his axe, and even hunt dragons for game, while Dorand would always best him with crafts of beauty and use, even crafting that which would end the competition; The Dwarves.
But before even this, the stout two drank their mystic mead and glared into the sparkly fountain of reflection. They had each been trying to grow the longest beard, and were having sore luck. Vorax's great beard of glittering silver and platinum rolled down the one side of the mountain into a great lake, and Dorand's beard of gold and mithril rolled down the other side, into a deep forest.
Vorax said, "Lo, brother, but our beards, they grow too long, let us end this petty quarrel and cut these great beards clean off!"
Dorand, growing furious with Vorax at this, said "You only wish to cleave the beards because you expect me to be stupid and do it first! I would never take my beard before you!"
And so the two would stay there for eons, growing their beards. The veins would reach deep, deep within the earth, and grant future dwarves the greatness of metal veins. Of course, the two dwarves stood atop the mountain for a long while, bickering about who ought to cut their beard off first. Finally, they came to a conclusion. They would tie the beards together around waist level, and cleave them off together.
And so they did. But the trouble with cutting it, so even were Dorand's cuts, that the beards frayed everywhere! They parted wildly, until both dwarves looked like balls of fuzz from the waist up.
"We must do something about this, Brother!" cried a frantic Vorax.
And so they did. They each took a mighty cord of platinum and tied all the hairs together, binding them at their waist. As they did this, the sun began to rise on the horizon.
And so would two traditions be born of this; Every morning, a sensible dwarf keeps his beard tidy and clean with the rising sun. And also, all dwarves shall forever take mining as a holy practice, but not because the metals you collect are needed or useful; You should mine religiously because as you do, you are trimming the gods' great beards, which should be not a duty but a gift and honor.
~Turor Sunderstone
