Picture:

Name: Yalmastr Redforge

Age: 92

Gender: Female

Appearance:
This woman reminds you of a proud lion. She has wide eyes the color of smoke. Her thick, wavy, chestnut hair is braided (contrary to rumor, she does not dye it), however she does wear a false beard. She is tallish (for a dwarf) and has an athletic build. Her skin is ruddy. She has small ears and thick eyebrows.
Skills and Flaws:
Weapons Trainer (Axe, battle axe, mining axe, spear, short sword, dagger, crossbow)
Fiddle (violin) player
Knows a bit about wine and alcoholic spirits.
Speaks and is literate in Dwarf, Elf, and the local human tongue.
Materialistic, aloof, anger issues, loquatious, some vanity, know-it-all.

Miscellaneous:

Name: Alpi Arius Argaven of clan Karhide.

Age: 100

Gender: Male

Appearance: Alpi is average height for a dwarf though walks with a swagger as if he were ten feet tall. He has the same dark features that are common among Karhiders and maintains a prominent and well groomed mustache with a closely cropped beard that proactively shows his shaved cheeks. His dark brown hair is interwoven with finely cast gold bands studded with amber. His shaved cheeks reveal the telltale facial scarification that signifies him as a Karhider. Simple horizontal lines spreading out from his nose and diagonal cuts at the temples. Much of his body is covered with dark blue-black tattoos. Some of these tattoos are complex geometric designs reminiscent of the dwarven art seen in the older halls of Thrillem. Other ones are stylized depictions of trees, animals and his ancestors.

Skills and Flaws:

As a master woodworker Alpi’s skills as a carpenter are impressive to say the least. While he prefers creating cultural artifacts such as reliefs, statues and masks he is just as capable of creating utilitarian products. However, as a proud Karhider Master, Alpi is prone to hubris regarding his skill in woodworking, believing he is superior to others.

No child of Bruni could hold their head up proudly if they were not at least a novice poet. While never formally schooled, Alpi is a jovial and introspective dwarf who dedicates a portion of time everyday to the craft of poetry.

While able to hold his own in a brawl, Alpi is no real fighter. He was never trained to be a warrior and has no experience in any kind of organized violence above a clan-raid. Alpi has never taken the life of another dwarf nor has he fought against goblins. As Karhiders dwell in the upper reaches of the hold, they have little contact with the goblins in the underworld.

A lover of drinking, smoking and eating, Alpi is quick to indulge himself when he can. Though this impulsive behavior can sometimes result in new friends and passions shared. It's just as likely to lead to enemies, wasted time and ill health.

Like other dwarfs, Alpi is musically skilled. While never formally educated on music Karhiders as a communal folk and encourage musical experimentation in young dwarfs. Alpi started as a flutist but as time went on he felt a calling to the fiddle. Now it is rare to see him without it. Whether at the feast hall playing for a dwarven stomp or in his own woodshop practicing in the moments between projects. While he isn’t a master musician, he is quick to tune-up his fiddle and rosin his bow and make himself welcome wherever he goes.

A life lived among the lumber mills and artisan wood shops of Thrillem have given Alpi his fair share of injuries from knives, chisels, axs, saw blades and wood splinters. As such he has developed the skills of a junior physician. Able to clean and bandage minor wounds, stop traumatic bleeding and stitch up small injuries. Splitting logs, hefting lumber and long hours spent hunched over a carving can also lead to painful cramping, torn muscles and muscular exhaustion. To alleviate this Alpi has also spent time learning anatomy and how best to provide therapeutic relief. Whether as simple as a massage or stretching or as complex as cupping and acupuncture, Alpi has experience with different natural remedies for the aches and pains that come with vigorous exertion.

Background:

Alpi Arius Argaven is the second son of Bruni Frie Arius and Ingrid Alezi Argaven of clan Karhide. An unorthodox and renowned clan in the halls of Thrillem, the kin of Karhide trace their ancestry to the controversial dwarven hero Agamon Karhide. Legend states that Agamon was an adventurer from a distant land who through dauntless ambition and guile captained a fleet of ships through the World-Sea during a great flood to the gates of Thrillem. There Agamon and his people settled in the highest reaches of the hold closest to the surface. The Karhiders have forever retained the bold spirit of their progenitors pursuing lives as upland traders, astrologers, performers and woodworkers. Despite the contributions of Agamon and his descendants, Karhiders have always been viewed suspiciously by the more ancient and conservative clans of the dwarf hold. At best their spirited attitude toward life is viewed as audacious and charming and at worst as reckless and disrespectful.

Bruni and Ingrid were born into clan Karhide, and both came from long lineages of woodworkers and performers. They met when they were young in the timber mills of the upper hold. During their breaks and meal-times the woodworkers would entertain each other by reciting poetry and simple performances both comedic and dramatic. It is said that Bruni was capable of composing poetry so vivid and sincere that he could turn the hearts of his comrades to sobs or laughter with a single sonnet. It was during these improvised theatrics that Ingrid was struck by the wit and charm of Bruni. After a fairly short courtship in which no less than ten thousand sonnets were written by Bruni the two were wed. Their union was encouraged by the wise mothers and elders of the clan as Bruni was a flighty and inconsistent dwarf who would do well with the even-tempered and grounded Ingrid.

The wise mothers were correct and with the guidance and assistance of Ingrid the two dwarves created a strong and prosperous house together. Ingrid left the timber mills after the birth of their first child and opened up a theater with her siblings. She used her expertise with wood to create and carve the masks worn by actors in traditional dwarvish theater. Bruni continued his trade as a woodworker eventually becoming a master when he designed and led construction on an expansion to the upper hold. Once he turned a hundred years old Bruni was called by the elders of the clan to participate in a surface expedition as was expected for all woodworking masters of that age who sired children. Thus began Bruni’s second life as a forester on the surface world.

While expeditions weren’t frequent, when called Bruni would be gone for weeks to months on end. While such circumstances would have strained the household of other clans. As was tradition for Karhiders the grandparents played a large role in raising Ingrid and Bruni’s children. Their children grew a close bond with their cousins and extended family. Alpi fondly remembers this time of his life, working with his grandparents and aunts and uncles at the theater, creating costumes, props, cleaning and playing with his cousins. Though Alpi would miss his father while he was on expeditions, he always looked forward to his return and the tales of strange creatures, brilliant sights and dangerous adventures from the world above. Bruni often came back with sacks of goodies and souvenirs from his time spent up-land: tree-nuts, honey, songbird feathers and fruit .

Alpi and his older brother Bodi followed their father into the woodworking trade. Alpi showed an early aptitude to the trade but was prone to pursuing grand visions in his work that he lacked the discipline to complete. Though he was sometimes seen leading teams of laborers in work-songs, Alpi could also be found shirking his responsibilities while composing poems, gambling or whittling small figures from the cast off wood. A lover of hard women, smooth drink and sharp wit, Alpi gained a reputation at a young age as notoriously promiscuous. By age thirty he claimed to have written over five thousand poetic couplets and bedded half as many women. His bodacious speech, and provocative behavior brought him into conflict with many jealous partners. As such Alpi quickly learned he needed to be half as much a fighter as he was a lover.

His licentious behavior eventually caught up to him and when he was forty years old he had already fathered three children with as many women and indebted himself to several households. Scandalized in public life and saddled with debt. Alpi worked with his elder brother Bodi to make a change. With careful planning, lots of encouragement and no small amount of practice Alpi became a master woodworker at sixty years old. His masterpiece was a wooden relief that represented the life and achievements of his ancestor Rudi “Redwood” Argaven. Now a master of his own craft, Alpi set about expanding his business and profits. His work ethic was matched only by his promiscuity as he seemed to father a new child every five years. Eventually he met his match and at the age of eighty four he fell madly in love with Nykia Okko Vorhoc.

Nykia was Karhider through her mother’s blood but spent the majority of her life in the lower halls of Thrillem living with her father’s family and second wife after her mother’s death. A prolific blacksmith, Nykia felt at home in the heat and soot of the forge. Alpi discovered her through her wares when he happened upon a wood-chisel she had crafted for Bodi. Impressed with the strength of the steel blade and its durable edge he set off with his brother into the lower hold to seek her out. There he found her sweating and swearing between hammer blows and felt a fire ignite in his heart that he swore burned hotter than any forge in Thrillem. While Nykia found Alpi an entertaining spectacle, his many children and previous lovers kept her at a distance. The courtship was unconventional but through his charm, wit, and patience he was able to swoon her. They were married quickly in an extravagant ceremony attended by some of the finest artisans of Thrillem and no less than 3/4ths of the entire Karhide clan.

The union of Nykia and Alpi brought both an increase to both the profits and population of clan Karhide. Working with his wife, Alpi was able to raise the funds necessary to purchase a lumber mill from his cousin. Shortly after Bodi reached the age of one hundred years qualifying him to begin apprenticing in forestry under their father Bruni. Using these upland connections Alpi was able to source some of the finest quality hardwood available in Thrillem. For ten years the two brothers worked closely to expand their profits and personal holdings in Argaven Hall.

Two years ago Bodi set off with fourteen other foresters in an upland expedition. Only five returned. They claimed the others were lost in a storm flood. Upon hearing the news Alpi refused to accept Bodi’s death and quarreled openly with the survivors and their kin for leaving his brother outside. A great anxious rage settled on him and he tried to exit Thrillem alone to rescue his brother. Nykia was the only one who was able to dissuade him from his hasty exit. Through her support and guidance she convinced Alpi to study under his father as his brother did so that he might be prepared when the time came to go and find Bodi.

Ever since Alpi has trained his body and mind for the rigors of the surface world. Learning what he could from his father and the other foresters of clan Karhide. Now that he is of age to exit the hold, Alpi has packed his gear and set off to find Bodi.

Miscellaneous:

Alpi is the father of 9 children between three different women. Six of these children are with his wife Nykia and live in Argaven hall. The other three children are much older and stay with their mothers in their own families' halls. Relations between the women are cordial and Alpi does his best to be a provider and role model for all his children.

A direct descendent of the dwarven hero Rudi “Redwood” Argaven. An acclaimed forester who is said to have felled a sequoia tree so tall that the constellation Elamus the eel fell with it. Elamus is claimed to have been 300 meters long. Enraged by its fall from the sky, Elamus attacked Rudi and the dwarf used the fallen tree to beat the eel to death. After which he returned to Thrillem to roast Elamus and feed him to his holdmates. The chronicles of the house of Argaven claimed that the roast eel fed the entirety of Thrilem for forty months. Modern dwarven scholars dispute the claims of this story citing the fact that an eel 300 meters in length would only feed the hold for four months.

Well known for his love of fine clothing, Alpi is often seen in the garment district of the middle-hold. Haggling for the best price on soft silk robes and finely spun linen.