A record number of young Dwarves about to be accepted into the ranks of the controversial, yet highly prestigious Dwarven Order Of Pride, Respect & Solidarity (DOOPRS for short) are gathered around an elder of their Clan - a very old, yet maiden Empath with long & tousled white hair that once was russet.
"Shh-h-h," she puts a finger to her lips and smiles proudly at them all. "Tonight you will be allowed to join your great- grandparents, your grandparents and your parents in a very special celebration. Tis a holiday that we have honored since before you were born and the one we have decided is most fitting for initiating you young'uns into the Order. Tonight is the night that you learn the secret of DOOPRS and the reason for the Celebration of JOY."
The interest of the rowdy and giggling youngsters is peaked by the word 'secret' and they settle down to listen to the story. The smile of the old Empath is mischievous and lights up the cavern, her voice is yet youthful and warms their hearts.
"As you know, ye are all direct descendents of the original founders of the Dwarven Order Of Pride, Respect & Solidarity. It is an Order that was forged out of the fires of many a hard debate and heart-rending decision. For, you see, before we were an official Order, we were first a very special group of Dwarves who came together in the name of "kinsmanship" and in the simple interest of "good fellowship" in this very large and often lonely world of ours. We grew in numbers and we enjoyed many a pleasant gathering, sharing our various skills with each other and engendering pride in what we are. We were happy to be as we most naturally are - an independent and outspoken group of hardworking Dwarves, just trying to share a few bright and well-earned moments of fun and relaxation with each other.
"Then, of course, as History will have it - we next had to form our Militia - when we were entrusted with protecting the Book from the evil clutches of Sorrow. We all strove very hard, each in the manner best suited to our skills, to live up to our task. The odds were insurmountable, the foe invincible. History says that we ultimately failed in our task - that Sorrow, with the help of his minions, obtained the Book and ended up destroying himself when he attempted to use its knowledge to destroy not only us, but the whole world of Elanthia as we know it.
"I tell you now, young ones, remember well that History is not necessarily Truth. History is but a record of the past, written not by gods, but by mortals just like ourselves. Mortals can be mistaken, young ones, and mortals can be untruthful - and mortals can be deceived. We, my young kildren, are not as History would have it. If ye have not already made the connection, go find a Human dictionary and look up the word "dupe" - and make note of the fact that we are the DOOPRS, not the DOOPED! I am proud to inform you that we yet guard the true Book and that it was a Book of Dwarven devising that Sorrow obtained, crafted by a number of our own wise Mages and Clerics - such as Worrclan and Cloudcrest and Prometheous and Lagerby and Perre and, well . . . the list is long and time grows short. Our deception was masterful, you see, and we all took part in it. Our warriors, so well led by Marshal Hegemonic and Towena, and well . . . that list is long too - and our woodsmen, such as Eupholus and Odruwi, etc - and our barbarians such as Grimslayer and Galahant, etc - and our Bards such as Bubbinster and Aesylba and Atwun, etc - and our Traders such as Canten, etc -and we Empaths, such as me and Veritey and Syrath and Vinaes, etc --- all worked together, and often died together, in order to carry out our plan to defeat Sorrow.
"We care not what History says or what other mere mortals may believe. We care only that we stood together during that terrible war and helped each other and respected each other and overcame the obstacles placed in our way by the cruel and fickle gods. Be sure, once ye are properly initiated and we begin our latest celebration of JOY (the Joke's On You, to our enemies), to get 'round to asking some of yer elders for their stories of that time. You will find them to be most entertaining and enlightening, I promise you - such as just how did Worrclan and Cloudcrest convince the Mages to help us switch the Books, long before Munira did - or how Bubb and Aesylba enchanted the soldiers so that they did not see when we pulled the swap - or how we Empaths wore our fingers to the bone digging the tunnel needed to get the real Book out of the Clan - or how Canten finally managed to introduce a very interesting substance into the Elpalzi's last food supplies - and so on and so on. Um, just be sure ye don't ask what an Elpalzi looks like without fur, though, okay? Just suffice it to say that they slunk away in shame, leaving piles of it littering the path of their retreat.
"And lastly, be sure to proudly exchange an enigmatic grunt with each and every Dwarf you cross paths with, for it is a sign of our triumph - and our kinsmanship - and our membership in a group even finer."
