In the earliest days of Shem, when the forces of nature drove mortality, certain members of the primitive societies that existed then noticed & took to revering these forces, seeking power over the world & safety from the ravages of nature. From this primitive idea of nature worship grew organized religion.

Amongst the mountain dwarves there lived a prominent worshipper of the Father of Earth who claimed often that the earth, the ground, the dirt was sacred & should be protected from the ravages that early civilization brought to it--the soot from their fires, the garbage they created, their offal, etc. His harping drove one particular member of the small town to anger every time--the smith, Trukkard Drenaeth. Rotak never ceased to pester him about the waste he would create & sour the ground with. Trukkard grew weary of the nagging & one day, challenged Rotak.

If Rotak could place his hands in the fires of the forge without being burnt, he, Trukkard, would believe Rotak's words about the Father of Earth's favor on such silly notions. Rotak, firm in his belief, plunged his hands into the molten iron that Trukkard was working with at the time, not sweating, not flinching, not even exerting himself. When he took his hand back, it was coated in iron, but alive as any hand could be. From that day onward, Trukkard not only followed Rotak's teachings, but became his first disciple.

Let no poisons foul the earth.