<<That’s the Ogre in the image above, just fyi. ty,DD>>
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Unusual as it was for a gnome to be amongst such a wild race, and doubly so, unusual, for a gnome to live up a tree, despite it all, the small gnubling, Alarad, found a home amongst the wood elves… so far from where he and his family had called home before the adventurous trip that had ended in such horror and hardship.
The great bear was to thank for much, not just saving the child’s life, not just healing him, protecting him, but also, without the bear, the gnome would have never been taken in by the wild elves; it was not their way.
The Great Father was said to have returned to his slumber, for he was an ancient primal spirit, an Eidolon of the Wild Pantheon, but Alarad knew he was ever near. Often times would appear before the young gnome could even call.
Very rarely, prior to the gnubling’s arrival, did the bear rise from his den. So rare in fact the wild elves considered the gnome blessed by the forest. Blessed by all that they worshiped and cared for. And for this, Alarad was cared for equally.
He was taken into the Skywhisper home, which was little more than a dense grouping of trees, living wood intricately weaved into impressive structures, here he was raised with a pair of siblings whom he considered his sister and brother.
Though in reality Alarad was little more than a pet to the elves, for they could never see him caste in any role of their clans… and as that gnubling grew into a young gnome, frankly, they did not know what to do with him.
It started with but a spark, a little idea that would ignite the ample fuel that filled the gnomes being with an inferno, a spark which that foul ogre had already provided. The flames had taken root in Alarad, casting out the morose thoughts he had entertained for so long. The young gnome had witnessed sheer brutal power, through this power he found his interest. The flames echoed in his mind, he wished to study that power, diligently.
Whilst the wild elves abhorred the study of magic themselves, they had much left of the ancient masters that had long since left their clans. Despite their own refrain from using such arts, they saw no reason for the gnome not to study what he wished.
The Elders, leaders of the wood elf clans, knew that gnomes practiced magic, so considered they honored the boy to follow the ways of his people, and honored the spirit of the bear that had brought the boy to them.
Quickly, that blind eye opened to the arcane, the fire that filled his mind danced for the young Alarad as though it was part of him.
Arcane light flashed and burst, the power grew within, and the years flew by.
Alarad had left the trees, made a humble mage-tower within a deep hidden glade. Some wild elves found it intrusive, a garish sight. Most trusted him, though the unpopularity spread, some began to grow weary of his growing power, others just thought it laughable.
Such a small thing a gnome, hardened by misery and fueled by intelligence. An ogre was the opposite, large and stupid. Any ability to magic, for such a creature, was granted through darkness and demons.
Alarad’s study of magic was precise; angles, numbers, positioning of stars, balance in nature… what elemental levels had coalesced in the world around, and an ability to harness it.
The young mage truly felt he was born with much of what he practiced. He felt as though he had yet to understand, what he already knew, until he began his studies, and whilst his grasp of the magic was learned, the magic itself was innate, a part of him, at birth, a part that he could only see through a haze of confusion, before the years of practiced study.
Those flames in his mind, they burned, though Alarad no longer feared his willingness to jump into the flames, for he would jump fully- and be left unscathed.
The arcane flames he gained dominion over, would be unleashed through his will alone, unleashed on the one that had taken everything from him. He sought revenge, he thirsted for it! It was this thirst that created the hidden secrets within. It was this negative emotion that left him susceptible to the demons.
Demons drawing ever nearer.
—
Wild elves feared Magic for its destructive power to the world around it. They could not believe one blessed by the Great Father himself, would ever harm the natural world.
Alarad never would.
Though those darker spirits of the wood, spirits that craved destruction, were drawn closer and closer to the young mage’s intense energy. The closer they became, the more they tasted of the gnome’s desires; the deep dark secrets of his soul that drove his arts deeper into power than his adoptive family could ever guess. Word spread through the darkness, until it fell to one especially powerful demon’s ear.
The demon would stalk this prey closely, the darkness and shadows would reveal much to the foul one, especially if it led to hardship and pain. The demon was granted morsels of information to entice the gnome, whose studies would, by study alone, never reveal that which the gnome truly sought, though, for a price, the demon would offer it up on a platter.
The demon knew this gnome was blessed to the forests here; it only made his soul more enticing to nab. The pain was deep seeded in this one, a foreigner in a foreign land. All but alone, but for the goodwill of those around him and love of an adoptive family that was far removed; A family that could never understand that which he strove, nor ever understand the pain that coursed through his veins, nor the hunger for revenge that drove him.
The demon lapped at lips with a vile corroded tongue, a tongue that had tasted the souls of many –many- others. For evil is everywhere and touches all things. Despite the darkness’ shared existence with the light, it wished only to see more darkness, all the way to the end.
The young mage could, the demon knew, blast a hole through a mountain with so much arcane might the very ground would shatter around him. But without some knowledge of where the ogre was… his thirst for revenge would never be sated. It was here the gnome found his frustration, ‘divining’, ‘scrying’, it was not a thing the small gnome could grasp, not without more… more guidance.
It was this frustration that the demon sought, what it waited for, like an opening window into the young gnome’s mind. The demon had already gleaned from the darkness, all the gnome desired to know…
