Tobi Meets Thora

The streets of Baltha were bustling with business as usual as Tobi the dwarf rode his pony, pulling his empty wagon behind him. All manner of elves, dwarves, and humans bustled about their business, either looking to sell and make money, or invest in supplies to help further their business for profit later. Tobi was looking for the latter.

He found himself riding into Baltha on this particularly warm and sunny day in search of good wooden mugs. He needed some quality steins for the new tavern that he was in the process of starting, and he hadn’t been able to find anything suitable in his six months since he’d come down from the mountains and settled in a small town called Graeton. 

Life in the mountains had been rough. No dwarf who worked there was a slave, and the job paid well, but it was also dangerous and, worst of all for Tobi, dark. The only light down in the mines was from the very crystal they were mining, the subfluore. You were either blinded by a new vein that was found or left in the near dark by an area stripped of the crystal, and your small subfluore torch was the only light to help guide you.

It wasn’t a life Tobi wanted, and so against the wishes of every person he had ever known, he’d left the mountain mines, ventured through the rustic villages of the mountain natives, and settled in the first modern town he found.

Graeton was a great little town that had a lively market in the main town square. Tobi loved the liveliness of the town compared to the dark, musty mines, working in the company of dwarves whose only thought was work. Socialization wasn’t big down in the mines, and Graeton was a breath of fresh air. 

It didn’t take long for Tobi to notice that while there were plenty of vendors selling wares in the area, and a general store for supplies, what the little town was really missing was a place to socialize and recharge. He had noticed that the farmers would go back to their homes for their lunch breaks, and any visiting merchants would just buy what they needed and head out of town. With all the foot traffic available from locals and numerous visitors, Tobi thought a tavern would be a surefire hit.

So far, he’d managed to purchase an old hotel that was next to the general store, and craft a special brew that the locals seemed to love made from the potatoes that were abundant in the farms around Graeton. Now on his trip to Baltha he was hoping to get the rest of the supplies he needed to get the business off the ground, including the wooden steins. If he could find what he needed here, he wouldn’t have to travel very far to get the business up and running. He would hate to think that he’d have to travel to Zelira to find what he was looking for.

As he made his way down the busy main road, he came across people of all ages. People of old and middle age were stocking their wares or trying to make a deal on what they came to Baltha to buy. Kids were zigzagging between all the traffic, chasing dogs and kicking what appeared to be tightly bound balls of hay in some sort of street game.

Tobi smiled at the children. He himself was over eighty years old. While young for a dwarf, it had still been a long time since he had partaken in such childish antics. After childhood he had worked the length of most of a human’s working years in the mines. Childish ways were driven from him, and he hadn’t even really been around children since he was one.

Nearing his destination, the last stall on the right of the main thoroughfare, a vendor he had heard about from some strange old elf woman in Graeton, his horse came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the road. He tried to get it to keep moving, but for some reason it just stopped.

He leaned to the side to see around the horses head, and saw a small dark-skinned girl dressed in what appeared to be an altered flour sack for a dress. She had stepped right out in front of his horse, causing it to stop Tobi and the small wagon he was pulling. He yanked on the reigns to signal the horse to remain still, and he looked down at the girl standing in front of him. She had ferocity in her dark eyes, and her thin frame told Tobi that she didn’t eat well very often.

“Oy! Watch where you’re going there, child!” he barked down at her, a little more harshly than he’d intended. “You’re going to get clopped by a horse, you make it a habit to jump in front of people that way!”

The girl simply shrugged and walked closer to him. “It’s how I stop people for business,” she said simply. “Otherwise, no one pays attention to a dumpy looking eleven year old. Gotta stand out, make a stand.”

“Oh, really?” asked Tobi, impressed by her moxie. “And what business might that be?”

“A good shoeshine, of course!” the girl said cheerily and approached him with her rag. “Can’t go on about doing good business with these dingy old boots. Especially for a dwarf. A lot of merchants around here don’t like doing business with dwarves. Got to look your best, sir!” Without his asking, the girl began to shine his shoes with the rag. When one was all shined, she pulled out another rag from a small pocket in her dress, walked around the front of the horse, and shined his other shoe. 

Tobi had to admit, it was a good shine. His boot that had been covered with dust from the road and muck from the horse stall was now shining bright. When the girl was done, she stood back up and held out her hand. Tobi laughed. “I never even asked you to shine my shoes,” he said.

“Right,” she agreed. “But it was a good job there, wasn’t it?”

Tobi looked down and had to admit that his shoes did look brand new. “Ay. But will they get the job done?”

The girl looked at him, puzzled. He elaborated. “Now, you promised that this shine would help me get what I needed while I’m here. If I make my deal, I’ll make sure you get paid nice and well.”

The girls face turned into a scowl and she stomped her foot, kicking up a cloud of dust. “That’s not fair!” she yelled at him. People around them stopped what they were doing to stare.

Tobi waved her off. “I will make sure we’re square when I leave, if the shine does the trick.” The truth of the matter was that he didn’t have any small change for her at the moment but would likely have the right coins when he came back through after his deal.

With that he rode off down the street, finding the vendor exactly where the old elf woman said he would be. It was a simple stall with single items of many different types of wood-made products set up on display. Tobi assumed that these were just the display models of products, and the large supply that he needed would be somewhere in a wagon parked around the corner. 

“Ay! I’m in the market for a good stein,” he called to the man when he approached. The tall spindly man looked down at him and crinkled his nose a bit. 

“We have the best in this region of Evania,” the man said with a bit of a snide undertone. “I usually sell in bulk though, dwarf. These are just the display models. If you are looking for a stein for your mining break, you’re in the wrong…”

“Actually, Tobi cut him off, “I’m opening a bar in Graeton. Brought my wagon to buy a stock of good steins,” he said, pointing his thumb back over his shoulder at the small wagon. “Lots of farmers in that area, so I’ll need a pretty good supply.”

“A bar?” the man laughed. “A bit short to see over the bar itself, eh good man?”

Tobi’s expression fell. He was always a bit conscious about his height since moving to Graeton, and he was tired of all the looks and comments he got from people who didn’t know how to keep their mouth shut. He’s already been hearing enough from the woman who owned the general store next to his new bar.

“Funny,” he said with no hint of fun in his voice. “Can I get a deal on a bulk order, or should I take my money elsewhere?” He pulled up his bag of gold coins and plunked it down onto the counter.

“Hmm,” said the man, eyeing the bag of gold. “I don’t normally deal with dwarves, so not sure how a business relationship would be.” The man looked him up and down again, and Tobi almost laughed as the man’s gaze fell onto his boots and lingered for several seconds. “But I suppose you present yourself well enough, and it appears you have the money. Sure, my good man. Let’s make a deal.”

Tobi happily bartered for the steins that he needed, silently thanking the little girl for the unexpected shoeshine. After he had loaded up his wagon with the crates and made a deal for a discount on any future barstools that he would need for the tavern, Tobi got back on his horse and headed slowly out of town, making sure to keep his eye out for the little girl.

When he reached the edge of town and didn’t see her, he stroked his brown, braided beard and thought about just heading home, excited to put together the remaining pieces he needed to finish his bar, but something made him stop the horse and wheel around. 

Going back to the spot where he had seen her the first time, he hopped off the horse, spotting an alleyway that he hadn’t noticed in passing before. He moved his way slowly down the alley, and the sound of the hustle and bustle of business on the road died away. When silence prevailed, he heard it. A faint crying sound. He slowly approached, making sure to make a lot of noise with each step, so as not to startle the girl. 

For good measure he announced himself when he knew he was on the other side of a big barrel where she was crying.

“Ah, just coming to pay you for the shine!” he said with as much cheer as his voice could muster. “I made a good deal on the steins thanks to that shine, you weren’t wrong! Even got some extra here for you.”

Slowly, the little girl emerged from behind the barrel, using the back of her hand to wipe away a tear from her eyes. “I… thanks…” she managed, taking the three gold coins from Tobi.

The dwarf looked around the alley. Some hay lay spread out in a makeshift bed. A few rugged cups sat next to a dripping water spicket, collecting some questionable drinking water. Some flour sack dresses were hung up, dropped over a wire as if they were drying.

A tear now rolled down Tobi’s face. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had cried. “Where are your parents, dear?” he asked softly.

The little girl looked him in the eyes and burst into tears. Without a pause Tobi went over to her and threw an arm around her. She was about his height, so the embrace worked well.

Without even thinking of the ramification, the words came out of Tobi’s mouth before he could stop them. “Do you need a place to live?”

The girl looked up into his eyes again, and her crying halted. A small smile of hope crept onto her face.