The death of another is never an easy thing to escape. A dozen seemed impossible. Auric never intended to follow the path that he had, but the money came easy and it seemed relatively safe. There aren't many Dwarven clans that employ themselves in trades that exploit others but Auric had managed to find himself a part of one, The Brothers of Cold Iron. The Brothers were not a traditional Dwarven clan, you weren't born into it, not exactly, they liked to say that you were reborn within their furnace. Auric was not much older than a child, barely an adolescent when he had to take a life for The Brothers. He was not an innocent, he couldn't really be called a victim, just a clansman that thought he was too good for his brothers. It was Auric's first, but it certainly would not be his last.
Auric did not concern himself with the financial or business side of the clan's dealings, he did as he was told, and what he was usually told to do was to compel someone to pay what they owed. They generally did, but there was always the odd holdout who thought that they did not need The Brothers of Cold Iron. When dealing with these stubborn cases Auric would have to "relocate" them, as The Brothers liked to say. Being relocated did not mean being asked kindly to move to the next village or out to the River Kingdoms. Being relocated meant that you were soon to be in the realm of whichever deity you chose to follow.
There is only so much hate that a Dwarf can take before his heart and soul burn for compassion. Dwarves are a gruff and sometimes crass peoples, and grudges are a way of life, but rarely is it in their nature to lack compassion for those that genuinely deserve it. Torag may say to show no mercy to your enemies, but The Forge Father also says to serve your people.