THE BOOK OF MAZARBUL
by Soledad
Title: The Book of Mazarbul
Author: Soledad
Disclaimer: The main characters, the context and the main plot belong to Professor Tolkien, whom I greatly admire. I’m only trying to fill in the gaps he so graciously left for us, fanfic writers, to have some fun. Only the unknown characters belong to me.
Rating: possibly Adult in later chapters, for the horrors of war. Right now, I'm going with Teens.
Series: The Mazarbul Chronicles – a series of independent stories, featuring various Dwarves.
Archiving: Edhellond, Gildor’s Library and my own website. Everyone else: please, ask first.
Summary: A possible reconstruction of Balin’s fated attempt to retake Moria. Contains his life story (or a possible one) and uses earlier material from HoME 6-10, including his (later rejected) son, Burin.
by Soledad
Title: The Book of Mazarbul
Author: Soledad
Disclaimer: The main characters, the context and the main plot belong to Professor Tolkien, whom I greatly admire. I’m only trying to fill in the gaps he so graciously left for us, fanfic writers, to have some fun. Only the unknown characters belong to me.
Rating: possibly Adult in later chapters, for the horrors of war. Right now, I'm going with Teens.
Series: The Mazarbul Chronicles – a series of independent stories, featuring various Dwarves.
Archiving: Edhellond, Gildor’s Library and my own website. Everyone else: please, ask first.
Summary: A possible reconstruction of Balin’s fated attempt to retake Moria. Contains his life story (or a possible one) and uses earlier material from HoME 6-10, including his (later rejected) son, Burin.
Balin’s heroic – some would probably say foolhardy – quest to re-take Moria from the Orcs after all those years has always fascinated me. I’ve been planning to write the chronicle of this brave yet failed deed for a very long time. The only thing holding me back was that I couldn’t really imagine what kind of Dwarves would be willing to go on such suicide mission.
Then I read “Of Fire and Stars” by Gecco aka Ro and saw her wondrous Dwarf drawings on Elfwood and DevianArt. Even though those were not Tolkien’s Dwarves, they have inspired me greatly. So I have begun to work out character sheets and backgrounds for the characters, starting with the handful actually mentioned by name in LoTR and adding more as I went on, until I reached the number of about 50. Somehow I could not imagine that it would be a great army that went on this quest, so I thought that would be enough. After all, Thorin & Co were only thirteen when they set off against the Dragon, right?
I used Ro’s drawings as inspiration and a list of Viking names to name my Dwarves. Ro and I have also agreed in some characteristics typical for the various Dwarven kindreds, although I have to admit that the IronFist characteristics are entirely her invention. Credit be given where credit is due. However, I see Dwarves as thinking of themselves less darkly than Ro does, and I take some poetic licence by not giving my Dwarf women beards. I simply assume that they wear fake beards when on a journey.
This is going to be a lengthy story, with a lot of original characters added to the mix. The events in Moria only come in the last chapters, and there will be much exploring of Dwarven culture and society. You have been warned. :)
To all those interested in Dwarves: Have fun!
Soledad