Hi everybody,

So here is the first chapter. Note that I am trying to get past the growing up years as quickly as possible without letting out anything that might be important later on in the story. I promise to get through this within 3 chapters at most, and as you might notice the chapter is short, so please bear with me.

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5th Month, Year 586 AW

Jade Empire

Tavek, a small, rural village near the border to the neighboring Sapphire kingdom.

“Avera! Avera! Where is that girl? Avera, it’s time for dinner! Avera!” Curled up under the planks of their front porch Avera listened to her father calling her from right above her head, but still, she didn’t respond.

She knows she will get scolded later, but she at the moment she couldn’t face her dad, because she had been crying and she know daddy will be upset if he sees that she had been crying; he always is. So, she will stay where she is until the tears have dried up and she is able to smile again. She only wanted to show her daddy smiles, after all, he is the only person in the whole world who loves her, a halfling freak as the other kids in the village like to call her.

*sniff*

Remembering the most recent barrage of insults she endured this afternoon when she tried to join the other children in play she couldn’t stop the fresh wave of tears from overflowing.

*Sob*

“Avera are you crying under the porch again? Come on out, I can hear you.” realising she has been caught out, Avera slowly crawled out of her hiding place. Coming to stand in front of her father, she looked up to her him.

Despite being the local blacksmith, Kerron Allistair isn’t a particularly big man by any means; coupled with his nondescript brown hair and plain features, he seems unremarkable in every way; unless one looked into his eyes. Those cold grey eyes seem to pierce right into a person’s soul.

Avera looked into her daddy’s eyes and could only see pain there, pain that he had once again failed to protect his precious little girl.

“Was it those brats from the village again?”, he asked in a cold voice.

Seeing how angry her daddy was on behalf of her, Avera starts to cry again, while trying to answer. “Th- th- they said th- that I- I’m a- a- a halfling freak a-and that my mom- mommy must have b- been a m-m-monster because why e- el- else would I ha- have silver hair a-and p- p- purple eyes a- and that my ears are p- po- pointed p- proves it! They s- said the on- only reason I- I am even tol- toler- tolerated is because my d- d- daddy is the only blacksmith f- f- for m- miles!”   

………...

Seeing his cute little three year old daughter so visibly upset, Kerron could barely suppress the rage bubbling up inside him. He wanted to go down to the village and slaughter all those who would dare cause tears to run down Avera’s pretty little face. Alas, he doing that cause more trouble than it’s worth and it would upset Avera even though they caused her misery.

………….

“Did they see you cry?” Her daddy asked her once she had calmed down a bit.

“No, Daddy. I kept it in until I got home and was sure they were faaar away” Her daddy had told her previously that the bullies said mean this to her, because they wanted to make her cry and that if she cried in front of them it means they won, so she shouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her in her moment of weakness.

“Good girl.” Daddy said, patting her on the head. “Now, let’s go in and have some dinner, and maybe there might even be some yummy dessert.”

Upon hearing about a prospective dessert, Avera immediately perked up. “Yay! Come on Daddy, let’s go eat!”, she says and then runs inside as fast as her short little legs can carry her.

………………..

Kerron briefly smiles when he sees his daughter happy again, but almost immediately frowns again. Maybe I should start teaching her how to read. If she can find entertainment with books she might not try looking for playmates amongst those brats when she’s bored. Yes, I think that’s a good idea.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Daddy!”

“Coming, sweetheart!”, he answers his daughter and heads inside, satisfied with his solution. Never did it occur to him that children normally only learn to read at the age of 6, or that interaction with other people is essential for a child's social development.

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3rd Month, Year 588 AW

Jade Empire

Tavek

It is a peaceful summer's day, insects are buzzing, the river is gurgling, trees are swaying in the gentle breeze, and happy children can be heard laughing in the distance and in the other direction the constant clang of hammer striking anvil.

Blending perfectly into this picture is a little girl, with long silver hair, purple eyes and perfect features. Currently this little girl is sitting under a big apple tree, and serenely reading a book.

This little girl is of course Avera, and although she might seem calm and serene, she is in fact very excited, because today isn’t just any day. Today is her fifth birthday, and her daddy promised that they would have a special birthday picnic in the woods where all the woods where all the pretty flower bloom.

They had already packed a basket full of all her favourite food and snacks the previous evening, and they will leave as soon as her daddy is finished with his morning work in the forge.

Sigh. Can’t the morning go by faster?- She thinks to herself, before resolutely shaking her head and once again trying to concentrate on the book she’s reading - an interesting book she found in her daddy’s room called Galbon’s encyclopedia of plants, herbs and poisons, - but it’s hopeless. She is unable to lose herself in the pages as she normally would if she wishes for time to fly by.

Idly she starts to wonder what she is getting for her birthday this year. Unlike normal little girls, her daddy never gave her dolls or pretty dresses, or anything unconstructive like that. Last year he had given her a nice book collection detailing the histories of the continent and the various races that inhabit it:

The dwarves, short and stout, living in their mountains, mining rare minerals and crafting awesome construct and machines, the blueprints of which they religiously guard.

The beast-kin, with features and abilities like those of animal, roaming free in the hills and valleys to the east, minding their own business and encouraging other to stay away from it.

The elves, her mother’s people, made for magic and bathed in it. Residing in their various courts, Drows - commanding darkness, nature-elves - commanding water, earth and wind, and the high court of the High-Elves - in command of fire, lightning and light. All those ancients, whiling away the boredom of their long existences by playing with a constant game of politics, of which none is the winner for long. Secluding themselves in the forest range to the west.

The humans, the only people that she has ever met. With their amazing adaptability and their sheer numbers, they inhabit the majority of the land in a long strip from just below the dwarven haven all the way down to the ocean at the very southernmost tip. There is so many cultures and customs with the humans that not even Avera’s books were able to mention them all, only giving a brief overview of the three major Empires, Sapphire, Jade and Emerald.

Truly, Avera loved her present, and can’t imagine a gift that could easily surpass it.

Some time later, Avera emerges from her daydreaming and realise something is different, The sounds from the smithy has stopped! Knowing that this means her daddy is finally finished with his work, Avera hastily gather up her book and started running home. It was time for her 5th birthday celebration!