[VanimaEdhel]

Thank you for approving my character, X! I'm glad I got back from vacation in time to participate! Well, I guess I'm grabbing the last spot for a Dwarf (a new race for me to play):

Barzûn's Information:

Have you ever played in an RPG at the Barrow Downs? – YES – Castle Maladil, Ride to the Dark Side, An Audience with the King, Roll Out the Barrels, those are the only ones that I remember off the top of my head or that have made it to Elvenhome (my memory is going at the age of sixteen).

How many RPG’s on the Barrow Downs are you currently involved in? – Two: Brotherhood of the Last Alliance and The Threat of the Trees

Have you posted in The Green Dragon Inn or in The White Horse in Rohan? – YES – Both, only the White Horse at the moment

For your character please include:
NAME: Barzûn

AGE: 122

RACE: Dwarf

GENDER: Male

WEAPONS (No magical, super-hero, mithril weapons. Just good solid Middle-earth weapons and armor only that is appropriate to the race of the character and the time period.): The old axe that used to belong to his father. He has used it a few times against Orcs, but has not used it against any other race. He is more familiar with tools of building than tools of warfare.

APPEARANCE: Barzûn has a long beard that nearly reaches his knees. He used to have red hair, but now it is mostly silver. He keeps it braided. He is about 4’6” with the typical stocky build of Dwarves. He has medium brown eyes. His face has gained wrinkles over the years from scowling at workers that shun responsibility and hard physical labor.

PERSONALITY/STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES: (No half-Elven characters. No mixed-type characters. No super-heroes. No assassins. No one all powerful, martial arts proficient, or having any magical traits. Just regular characters with normal abilities for their races only): Barzûn is a diligent worker who worked his way up to his position. He is a tough Dwarf to work under, but it is only because he is determined to finish what he starts. He expects those below him to respect the authority he has worked hard to earn, and does not like his workers talking back to him. As hard as he works though, when a job is finished, Barzûn is fully ready to sit back for a little bit, smile, laugh, and enjoy the work that he completed. He is very wary and distrustful of any race but that of the Dwarves, and he holds to the old ways, hating especially Elves and not caring for Men at all. Tradition is one of the most important things, according to Barzûn. His methods of construction and his morals are very traditional and younger Dwarves may even call him old-fashioned.

HISTORY: Barzûn was born and lived all his life in the Blue Mountains. His father was a builder as well, and his father’s father before him. He was taught the life of a builder and knew nothing else. He fought Orcs on more than one occasion, but he does not know much of fighting Barzûn has three sons, Turgin, Zurkin, and Nargin, all three of which are back at home looking after business.

Barzûn was not happy at the thought of leaving the Blue Mountains to come help Men rebuild. He was not at all fond of Men and the idea of helping humans was not a good idea in his opinion. However, his superiors along with his sons had pushed for him to come to build. He will be especially distrustful of the men he meets, especially if they mention good relations with Elves or remind him of Elves in any way. Although he has never met an Elf, he holds serious grudges against them.

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FIRST POST:
Barzûn left his tent, still strapping his axe to his side. The sun was rising and Barzûn had to go to work. For Men. Barzûn grumbled, complaining that the Dwarves never needed help and that Men must be weak to need to call on others for aid. But then again, the Dwarves were the best at this work. Barzûn just hoped that there would not be any Elves around. The thought of Elves made Barzûn start grumbling again. Awful creatures, these Elves, so full of their own virtue and self-righteousness, always thinking that they were the best.

Barzûn went about looking for the other Dwarves. They had to get an early start, and Barzûn did not want any laziness in his camp. That kind of behavior would not be tolerated. Whether his workers were Dwarves or Men, if it came to having Men help labor, Barzûn would not tolerate slacking on the job. When the job was over, then people could be merry and have their parties. Barzûn, himself, liked a nice celebration now and then as well as the next Dwarf, but it was a matter of priorities. The Dwarves had pledged a few of their kind to help build this Evendim.

A small child bumped into Barzûn. Even though he was a small child to the Men, he was already up to Barzûn’s shoulder. Barzûn swore at the child who ran away before Barzûn could scold him. Barzûn scowled a bit. It would be twice as hard to try to construct with all of these children around. He hoped the women took care that the small ones did not get in the way once the actual building started. They would have casualties due to accidents if that were the case. Barzûn would make sure that those casualties were not Dwarves.

Some Men greeted Barzûn, giving him a “Good morning”, while others just shot him curious looks. Barzûn grunted in response to the first greeting and just glared back when given the second. Children ran around everywhere as Mothers tried to either call them in for breakfast or just try to gain control of the wild young Humans. Barzûn’s glares managed to keep the children from barreling into him too much in their play.

Humans everywhere, but where were the Dwarves? Barzûn continued to walk and look around. He saw a few Dwarves sitting together eating breakfast. Barzûn’s stomach rumbled as he saw the Dwarves. The first trace of a smile touched his lips when he smelled the food and heard the Dwarves speaking. He forced the smile off his lips and crossed to the Dwarves. No need to show them any weakness on the first day of work.

He spoke to the Dwarves, forcing a more serious demeanor than even he felt. They spoke of work and of building. Finally, one offered him a seat and some breakfast, which Barzûn quickly accepted. He sat down to eat, giving one last glare to a very small child who stopped to stare at the Dwarves, obviously never having seen a Dwarf in his life before. The child went wide-eyed at the glare and ran off to play with the other children again.