Ember of Invention

Lindle kicked off his day with a mix of emotions: the most prominent of which was pain as he accidentally hit his forehead against the top of his bedroom doorframe.

“Ow! Dammit to the beyond..."

Normally he was a lot more careful about avoiding it. A few repeated bashings after one of his growth spurts several months ago kept him aware, but today was different. Today he was going to be part of an adventuring party!

Well, hired by an adventuring party. As a porter, but still!

He rubbed away the fading pain as a few specks of snow shook loose from the ceiling and landed in his dark red hair, standing up he rapped his knuckles against the frame in annoyance, the ice undamaged from where his forehead made contact. The noise reflected off the sculpted ice walls of his home. He couldn’t wait till the next migration so he could have a bigger door.

Swallowing his annoyance, he picked up his leather pouch from the floor where he dropped it upon impact, looking inside to double-check that nothing was missing or damaged.

Vials of various potions and small bags of alchemical concoctions wrapped in cloth gleamed at him. Health, Aura, and Mana potions to refill somebody's pools in a pinch. Frost resistance potions, everyone would be dressed for the freezing weather, but if a monster with ice magic or powers showed up these would be vital. Smoke and stink bombs, dark vision enhancers, alchemical fire, a couple of different types of antidotes, and even Stat enhancers. Those he had his mother help him with, and even then he had only managed to craft variants for physical Stats like Strength and Dexterity.

Around the corner in the kitchen, his mom, better known to her neighbors and customers as Alyn Kyte the expert tier apothecary, peeked and saw him brushing off his clothes. "Be careful, Lindle," she cautioned. "It's great that you're excited, but it's also important to stay focused." She gave him a look that was both amused and slightly concerned. Lindle knew his mom had been worried ever since he had told her about the job, but she hid it well behind a lot of encouragement and advice.

“Don’t worry Mom, I promise I’ll be fine.” He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead before accepting the large porter pack, custom-made by Mr. Valdison. He slid it onto his back, taking the pack filled with heavy supplies easily. She also gave him a folded package of food, he could smell smoked muskox, his favorite. He gave her a grateful smile in return.

Lindle and his mom shared a pair of dark green eyes and pale skin, but instead of Lindle's curly red, his mom kept her blonde hair in a braid. The differences grew with her short stature and small graceful face compared to his awkward teenage one, the beginnings of a beard starting to emerge.

“Ok, if you're ready, then it’s time to go, you don’t want to be late.” She gave him a hug that he returned before receiving a light push out the front door. “See you soon.” Lindle gave her one last wave before turning and running out.

As he made his way along the path, he passed by the familiar mix of large igloos and tall frozen buildings reflecting the moonlight, his boots crunching in the snow. The distinct aroma of freshly cut wood and herbs filled the air. He caught glimpses of some familiar faces – other children of Crafters – helping their parents set up for the day ahead. Their busy chatter and laughter echoed through the chilly morning air, adding to the frantic energy of this part of Glacerhine.

Usually, he would be joining them in helping their parents set up their workstations for the day before leaving for lessons together at the Hall. Not today.

As he left the Crafters corner of the village he saw Humphrey waiting for him, the brown-haired muscular beastman standing with a bow strapped to his back and slightly taller than Lindle, though that was only if you counted his reindeer antlers, which Humphrey had insisted they did. “Hey Lindle, I was just about to stop by and wish you luck, today's the day right?”

“Yeah. They told me that they were leaving early at the gate.”

“Still unsure how you convinced them to hire you when you don’t even have a class yet.” Humphrey said.

He had received his Ranger class over a year ago and had guided adventuring parties to a couple of places in the Reach before. Unlike most of the other brutish warrior kids, Humphrey and Lindle got along well enough.

Lindle shrugged. “Soarians like to save money.”

Humphrey scoffed. “That makes sense.”

He had marketed himself as being a lot less expensive than the more experienced hunters to hire, but it had actually taken showing off the wide array of items he was willing to bring along, and his higher-than-normal Health Point and Aura Point pools to convince them. Alchemical materials in Glacerhine were scarce and tough to buy, but his [Apprentice Alchemist] feat had helped a lot in making so many potions despite his small budget limiting what he could afford.

His bloodline trait had gotten a lot more attention however, raising a few eyebrows when he showed them his status, which he expected, he had never heard of another half-giant before after all, but it did prove he wouldn’t die to a single swipe from a stray monster and could book it even while carrying a lot of weight. He had thought about lying about his age, with his 6-and-a-half foot height he could pass for 15 at least, but his mother had shut that down immediately.

Mentally he recalled his status.

Name

Lindle Kyte

Class

None

Level

0

Health Points (HP)

120/120

Aura Points (AP)

120/120

Mana Points (MP)

35/35

Strength (Str): 5

Dexterity (Dex): 3

Constitution (Con):4

Intelligence (Int): 5

Charisma (Cha):2

Resilience (Res): 4

Traits

Bloodlines

Feats

[Human Blood]

[Apprentice Alchemist]

[Giant Blood]

Skills

None

Techniques learned

Tier 1

-[Trek]

-[Throw]

-[Power Strike]

Spells learned

Tier 1

-[Produce Ember]

-[Ice Slick]

-[Banish water]

Tier 2

-[Levitate]

“You got that map I gave you?” Humphrey asked, snapping Lindle away from his status.

“Right here,” Lindle answered as he patted his pocket. He had been out into the tundra and woods of the Glacial Reach plenty of times - as part of both the migration and on hunting trips ever since he was seven - but it would be his first time without one of the elders taking the lead, so he had Humphrey put together a map for him to follow. He would still be far more used to the area than any of the adventurers from Soarstrum.

“Ok get out of here then, get those feats you wanted, and try not to die.”

Lindle gave him a thumbs up. Resuming his run he took the side path around the training grounds in the center of the village.

Feats were, more than anything else, what people his age wanted. It wasn’t uncommon to see a 14-year-old wake up one day and realize they had less than a year before they had to pick a class that would define the path they took for the rest of their lives.

Everyone had to pick out of the rarest three classes they qualified for when they turned 15, and the best way to control what your options were when the time came was to earn a good feat that was related to the class you wanted.

Lindle’s clock was ticking, only having three months left until his birthday. He had managed [Apprentice Alchemist], which would usually be enough for the common Alchemist class, but he’d need something a lot more prestigious than that if he wanted to follow his mom's footsteps considering his... other natural talents. His mood darkened a little when remembering the trait behind all of his currently available class options, [Giant Blood].

He cleared his head, he’d either earn something going out there, or use the money he was paid to buy better, rarer reagents to craft something more advanced, and he'd unlock a class that wouldn't force him into the life of a warrior. The system would acknowledge his efforts if he could do something impressive enough.

Looking up he could see the flurries of snow whirling in the air being pushed away by the village boundary. The weather outside the grove wouldn’t exactly be pleasant but the moon was clear and bright and this close to The Border that was the best you could ask for.

He saw the gate marking the entrance of the village, and the group of four standing around in front of it were immediately noticeable. It was fairly hard to miss adventurers.

Rosato, their leader and the one he convinced to hire him wore an expensive-looking set of plate armor with a set of arms that marked him as a knight. Based on the fox tails Lindle had assumed he was a beastman of some kind but apparently he was something called a kitsune, which he said was different. He was leaning against the gate with his arms crossed.

His cousin next to him, Dorothea, seemed a lot more impatient compared to her stoic cousin, pacing back and forth and leaving an imprint in the thin layer of snow. She was with Rosato when Lindle got the job and introduced herself as a wizard.

An older-looking halfling wearing cleric's robes and armor, a symbol of the polar gods hanging from his neck, had his eyes closed and hands clasped.

Their last member, a tall thin man whose features he couldn’t distinguish behind a mask covering his mouth and nose, was the first to spot Lindle as he approached, tapping Rosato on the shoulder.

He moved off the gate to greet Lindle. “There you are Lindle. Everyone, this is Lindle, he’ll be our porter for this quest.”

Not trusting himself to not put his foot in his mouth trying for a witty introduction, Lindle just nodded and gave a small wave.

“This is Father Dalison, he’s our healer.” The older halfling took Lindle's hand and shook it, looking up at him kindly.

“Please, just call me Chip.” Lindle gave him an affirmative grin, trying to ignore the intrusive thought of lifting the tiny man off his feet as he shook his hand. The halfling was a third his height and a fifth his size. It was kind of jarring to think he certainly had a higher strength stat and could put Lindle in the dirt if he was somehow rude or stupid enough to try.

He had seen what had happened when one of the warrior kids attempted to intimidate one of the other halfling adventurers who passed through the village.

Rosato then gestured to the masked man. “And this is Theodore, he’s our scout.” The polite Soarian way of saying he was the rogue. Theodore gave him a nod but didn’t say anything. Not a social butterfly, but Lindle didn’t have much room to talk there.

“If you're ready, then let’s push off and get this quest started," Rosato said, his voice carrying authority.

They walked ahead, Lindle moving into step behind them after a moment as they crossed the gate. As they exited the groves protection the temperature dropped like a stone, everyone shivering as they bundled up, boots crunching in the now much thicker layer of snow. Lindle covered his face with his furs. As he looked at the Reach ahead, the snowy landscape shining in the bright moonlight, excitement once again bubbled up inside of him.

Pulling out his map he took the lead. "Follow me everyone, I'll get you to the ruins in no time!" His voice felt louder and filled with confidence now. It was time for him to prove himself and take the first step down his own path. He had studied the map for hours, plotted their route, and stocked up on every potion and alchemical tool he could need.

He was ready, this was going to be great!