#title:Promising Riches
#author:{name:dwarf_male} son of {name:dwarf_male}
#types:durins_folk,blue_mountains,bree,dale,dorwinion
#
Promising Riches: a Merchant's Diary, part one

***

Being a merchant is no easy job. We traders have to travel for many months, across perilous lands, through grim weather, and among unfriendly peoples. It is a risky business, more often dangerous than profitable.

In one of my visits to Lake-town, I heard a stranger from the Far East telling a most curious tale. He spoke of a great cavern of crystal gems, deep inside the faraway Mountains of the Wind. Though many had gone off in search of those riches, none had ever returned.

Those strange stories stayed with me as I journeyed home. I was greatly intrigued by the thought of such wealth and riches. Though the road to the treasures may be long and perilous, I reasoned, if I could claim them and return alive, I would not have to tramp through unfriendly lands any more to earn my living. If the strange man had spoken truly, the amount of gems he described would bring me profit enough to last all the long years of my life!

I knew peril lay on the road ahead, but I could not let this chance slip by. And so began my journey. I packed provisions for many months, and from my humble hall in the Blue Mountains I set out upon the road.