A Strange Place
Baron could not help but smiling. This kid was making his life a much more joyful experience.
These stories are the backstories of my beloved dnd character Ashlyn “Ash” Quinn. A half-orc fire genasi that I played in a Dungeons and Dragons campaign called “Clouds over Kindred Maw” for almost three years.
Tal Nareth was a strange place, but it was also filled with adventures. It had been three years since Ash had arrived and she had finally settled into her new life in Kindred Maw. She sat at the top of one of the buildings looking over Vydren’s territory, the gardens stretched so far out that she could not see the end of it. Ash squinted her eyes, she knew that the city of Sentinel would be in that direction and when she turned to gaze south she could barely make out the road to the Rodoraz, the small town under Vydren’s rule.
She took a bite of her fruit and made a face, it was too sour for her taste so she threw it out in the garden, waited quietly for a moment, and sure enough, she heard something move. Ash could not help the shudder, she had ventured out to the garden against Vydren’s orders once and had nearly been eaten by one of the plants. Baron had come running to her aid just as her panic had gotten the best of her and her flames had burst out, burning down a portion of the garden.
Needless to say master Vydren had been furious and she had been confined to her quarters for nearly a month as a result, only allowed to come out when he called for her. Little did the old drow know that she would climb out her window and roam the territory in the shadows, but she always avoided the garden now.
“You nearly left this place in ashes! Do you know how much knowledge would be lost? Of course you don’t. Senseless child” He was still annoyed at her, so she kept her head low. Some of the servants had heard the story and started to call her Ash, she supposed she liked it. It was short, and she did turn things into ashes. Her flames would burst out at the most inconvenient of times and she did not know how to properly control them yet.
Due to these accidents Zored had developed a security measure in his workshop, several bucket filled to the brim with water were spread out, ready to be used in case she suddenly incinerated. “You do not want to know what he would do if you burned down his precious wood” he had said nervously when she had suddenly caught fire while at his desk. Ash wrinkled her nose, that was the thing. She did not know. Nobody told her what he would do, they just hinted. As Zored kept telling her, she was too curious for her own good, so she had started to test some boundaries lately. Just to see.
“Ashy"!”
Baron was calling for her, with a last glance at the garden she got up and slowly stealthily tipped toed over to the roof over the trade gate, she patiently waited for him to pass under before she jumped down in an attempt to surprise attack him. The old half-orc knew her tactics to well at this point and caught her just in time.
“You are too predictable,” he said smiling as he gently put her down. Ash made a face at him and then fell in next to him as they walked towards the open gate and the traders arriving. She stared at the stilt walkers, her head turning all the way back so she could see the very top of them. They were so huge! Baron ruffled her hair and pointed towards one that had finished unloading their cargo. “That one has something for you” he told her. Ash looked at him a bit confused and then back at the stilt walker. “Come on. Go on” he said as he waved her off in its direction.
She walked slowly a few steps, before the curiosity and excitement got the better of her and she ran towards it. “Hi there little fireling” one of the traders said, he was one of the usual merchant who came to Tal Nareth with his goods. “Baron. Said. You. Had. Something” she breathed excitedly, the merchant smiled at her and opened one of the boxes and handed her something wrapped in a brown cloth. Ash almost ripped the brown cloth apart, but remembered in the last second that she needed permission first. So she looked at the merchant, who gave it smilingly and she quickly unwrapped it. It was a small wooden sword.
Her eyes lit up. “Finally!” she exclaimed and laughed, she had been waiting to practice with the mercenaries of the tower for so long, but Baron had denied her. They had never had a child in Tal Nareth before, hence there had not been a single training sword around that she was able to lift. Ash waved the wooden sword around, almost dropped it, pretended to attack the traders who joined in her game, dramatically falling one by one to the ground as she supposedly killed them.
Baron could not help the smile as he watched the girl wave the sword around like a lunatic. He had not known what to expect when Master Vydren had sent word that he was brining a child to Tal Nareth, but he had become very fond of the girl. She pushed everyone’s boundaries and annoyed the hell out the old drow, but she was something else. Tal Nareth had suddenly become more than just a workstation, now it was a home to most of them because of Ash. He let out a low laugh when he remembered Vydren’s face the last time Ash had crossed a line. The wizard had no idea what it would mean having an unpredictable child in his precious tower or garden.
“Will she be properly trained?” Baron straightened and turned to face his master. “Yes, she is old enough to start with the basics. But we had to wait for a proper training sword to arrive” Neeloth Vydren studied the girl from a far, he never said much and Baron found it hard to know what he really thought of the girl.
“I want her trained in multiple skills. I believe she could be of use in more ways than I first intended.” Baron raised an eyebrow but Neeloth ignored it and continued “And tell her to stop sneaking out at night. She is better off doing that in broad daylight. She is not as clever as she thinks she is” and he walked off before the half-orc could reply.
“Of course” Baron muttered to himself dragging a hand over his face. Of course she was sneaking out at night he thought to himself, at least they were lucky she had stopped running off. She was too quick for most of them and he knew Vydren would only tolerate as much. So when she came running back to him he gave her a stern look. Her smile faded and she tried giving him a puppy eye look “Oh no. Don’t even think about it kid.” he crossed his arms “I hear you are sneaking out at night?” Ash’s eyes widened and he got all the confirmation he needed.
“I will not train you if you keep doing that. You are free to roam as much as you’d like during the day, except during the lessons. Things are about to change now, and I’m going to need you to do your part.” Ash looked down at the sword in her hand, he could see she was thinking of a way out of it, so he quickly added “No roaming at night. No pickpocketing or moving master Vydren’s things around. Or Zored. The poor man is already anxious enough with you and your fire in his workshop. Do you hear me?” She bit her lip and nodded “Well?”
She sighed dramatically “Yes sir” and then her face lit up “But can I-”
“No”
“But jus-”
“Ashlyn…”
“But if I-”
“NO!”
She murmured something under her breath and he held out his hand, waiting for her to give the sword to him. “If I am going to spend time teaching you this, I am going to need something in return”. They stared at each other for a couple of moments and then she rolled her eyes “Fine”. He waited and she sighed again “I promise I won’t sneak out at night, or pickpocket or move his stuff around” Baron nodded and turned to walk back to the courtyard, but he stopped and abruptly turned to face her again “Give the man his things back” Her carving flickered and he knew he had been right.
Ash emptied her pockets and sure enough, a few coins and some small trinkets had been in her pockets. Ash walked back and returned the items, apologised and then ran back to Baron. As she caught up with him she was excited again “When do we start? Do I get a real one this time? Can I stab someone?” The questions were endless and enthusiasm contagious, Baron could not help but smiling. This kid was making his life a much more joyful experience.