Quickblades

From t2twiki

The founding charter for the Quickblades guild

Although the homes of the dwarves have since shifted east of the Misty Mountains, Belegost in the Ered Luin has not been abandoned. Once a mighty subterranean fortress rivaling its neighbor Nogrod, Belegost was a hub of active trade, drawing on the mining and crafting arts honed deep within the Blue Mountains. As a result, steady caravan trails developed between the dwarves and outlying communities of elves and men. The dwarves were as protective of their works as they were about their deals, however. When caravans were sent out, laden with goods, the traders were not unprotected.

Over time, the faithful guards of these caravans became known among their own as the Quickblades, in honor of their reputation for rapidly identifying and dispatching threats on the roads ahead. Their exposure and friendship to other races made them more worldly than their brethren while their experience safeguarding wagons, counter-ambushing bandits, and staving off beasts trained them to be specialized combatants in clustered skirmishes and anticipatory warfare. By the late Third Age, however, wear and war had contributed to the shortening of Belegost's trade routes and the dwindling of its kingdom-and the Quickblades with them. Weakened in number, but not in spirit, the doughty fighters remained intact, even though their purpose faded.

The emergence of the Nazgul on the Western roads crippled trade even further, with rumors of dark horses in the night keeping even the most arrogant of bandits close to their fires. The Quickblades were not ones to relinquish that which they had long kept unsoiled by shadowed hooves. In response, after leading a well-stocked convoy out from under the mountains, they pitched a sturdy camp near the crossroads some distance from Belegost.

They will not wait for the Enemy to come to Ered Luin, far from where Rangers roam or Bounders bound; instead, they ready their traps, sharpen their skirmish knives, and prepare themselves for what they anticipate to be a coming of the Shadow out of the East. In eager bands they fight: for the legacy of Gabilgathol and the free roads to it!