Some Brief Thoughts on the Volaar

I spent a little over a year with the Volaar and can attest to their incredible skill with stone, steel, and any number of rarer substances. The Volaar have been away from “our” world for many years but they have sages as intelligent as any I have found within Morgrave. They are fully devoted to their Empire and this goes beyond their families, their friends, and themselves as individuals. Within Kech Volaar, and the little bit I’d seen of Kech Shaarat (Bladebearers) this is unwavering and is true for each and every member. This differs from the general goblinoids of Darguun. The Dhakaani goblins say this is because of the curse from the Daelkyr millennia ago. Each of the Dhakaani Kechs strives to become the leader of the goblinoid nation in the future and this will mean convincing or absorbing the other Dhakaani clans and finally making a bid against the vastly larger population ruled by Lhesh Haruuc. The Dhakaani are greater warriors, smiths, and tacticians but are outnumbered over 10 to 1 by Haruuc’s followers. However, the Dhakaani have no problem playing the long game as their years sequestered away from the rest of the world can attest.

Though I did not prove myself in battle and often found myself wanting in bouts of intelligence and philosophy with the Volaar, they accepted me as I saw no other non-goblinoid accepted. For this I am forever grateful, and I hope that I can one day repay their acceptance of me in some way.

There was an instance where I received burns over my left forearm (briefly tried my hand at smelting byeshk). Their healers (bardic in nature to the rest of us) had no problem fixing me up but did see the tattoos that covered my skin beneath my fur. This led to a discussion about the meanings of mine versus the meanings of theirs. Nearing the end of my time with them they offered to give me a Volaar tattoo in honor of what I was able to teach them and my part in returning Daelkesh Toreshk. I gladly accepted. Despite the fact that it was placed right on my throat (and was quite painful) I am proud to have received such an honor. After the artist was done, Tuura came to me, placed her hand over the tattoo and said some words to me that I am not supposed to ever share outside the Kech. Just know that I appreciated what she said, and her words have served to guide some of my thought ever since. The tattoo is a single, intricate symbol that has no similar meaning in the other languages I know and loosely translates as friend/stranger who has taught/learned. Kinda’ confusing but I can say it makes more sense since my time with them. As my fur grew back over it before I left, they also gifted me with another item. A heavy pendant of fine steel inlayed and surrounded by a thin strip of the heavy, purple metal, byeshk that formed the same symbol that was tattooed upon my throat. With it, an exquisite steel chain with an intricate clasp that I could not figure out how to release until they showed me the simple genius of it. I’ve actually won a few bets against some who thought they would have more than enough skill to unlock the basic clasp of a necklace. This pendant has never since shown signs of tarnish or rust and is among my most cherished possessions.

While there, I found myself fascinated by their wares (armor and weapons especially). The craftsmanship was exquisite and ranged immensely in style. All incredibly practical but from massive great axes used by some bugbears and ogres, to the fine daggers used by goblin rogues, each was unique in some small way. Same for the armors of metal or leather or whatever else may be used. I was never allowed my notebook while in the forges and was only allowed a brief time there to observe the most basic smithing work. However, I was allowed a bit more time around the leatherworks.

This is where I met Savarashi, a hobgoblin who had great skill and artistry with the leather armors she made. She was far more open to speaking than most of the Dhakaani and we managed to form a friendship. We took meals together when possible and I talked to her about my upbringing as much as she told me of hers (probably a bit more, actually). Before leaving I had constructed a piece of artwork, I was quite proud of (most all Dhakaani have a craft or art they pursue, and I found it inspiring). It was a series of colorful strings (no surprise there) attached to a large ash wood board with hundreds of small nails and it depicted a small bit of the jungles of upper Xen’drik. I was even more proud when I saw the smile on Savarashi’s face as I gave it to her. It was then that I found that she, in turn, had a gift for me. Since I had proven myself to be a bit soft by goblinoid standard she had made me a set of studded leather armor. It was and still is, one of the finest pieces of leatherwork I have seen. It fit to perfection and the studs were of a lightweight metal that looked like brass or gold depending on how the light hit it. On top of all of that, it had an angularity to it that appeared to give me a bit more bulk but was in no way a hindrance. Her work far surpassed my own, but she was grateful anyway, and I am not only grateful but still alive because of her gift (the Demon Wastes are a dangerous place and I’m getting to that later).

When it was time for me to leave, Jhazaali was to return to Sharn with me. Kech Shaarat had been making some advances toward the Volaar and so a fairly large band was sent with us. Again, there were few issues, and those that did arise were dealt with swiftly. However, there were a couple of occasions where our scouts gave us warning and it was decided best to avoid rather than confront. This too was done with great skill and so we were able to backtrack our path to Volaar Draal safely back to Sharn. Still failed to spend any decent amount of time in Korranberg, which was disappointing. Sharn, as usual, was not.