Verdoyant is a relatively new village.
Originally settled as a farm complex 30 years ago, their recent success and their advantage in the plains between Schuber and Serval, brought on an influx of people to it, to the point it became a full fledged village only 12 years after its creation.
It is populated in majority by humans, with the odd elf or half-elf either brought there by their spouse or the prospect to build the firsts businesses.
The village is built around the original complex, the old dormitory changed into a multi purpose building, hosting an attendance of the Adventurer's guild as well as the Village Council.
Since the very beginning, the rulers of the village are the owners of the original complex, very popular as they own most of the houses and employ more than half of the current population in their fields and woodworks. They are reasonable people, practical minded and have the only goal to keep their precious Verdoyant as peaceful as possible.
Shortly after they officially became a village, they were joined by familiar faces. A couple of adventurers wanting to settle in and open a shop here.
Felix “Strongarms” , a spearman, became the village's weaponsmith and quickly earned respect during his short apprenticeship with the current smith with his craft, helping the occasional adventurer with a new weapon, and even farmers with scythe blades when the Farm's smithy and former mentor couldn't handle the afflux of commands.
Andrea Lipswick, the mage known for her bottled lightning, built her own mage’s Tower and laboratory in the outskirts, not too far from Felix's forge. Studying the applications of her discovery, occasionally educating the childrens and helping with Alchemy.
Her involvement in the village made the Council Head,Strum, happy.
What didn't please him at all, however, was that their Esteemed yet eccentric mage decided to adopt a lizardman as her son.
She just arrived at the council one day, holding the reptilian toddler tightly wrapped in a blanket, and casually assumed her advisory role under the curious (and more than a few scandalized) gazes of the councilmens.
The session was adjourned shortly after to deal with the situation, no one left, staying until sundown only to leave with an intense headache and hearing loss.
The following day, It was announced that a lizardman baby has been found and then adopted by Andrea, and as her son belonged here as a regular villager.
There was a bit of a grumble, but most soon quieted down as the baby proved to be, despite being from an animal race, behaving exactly like a baby, then a toddler would.
It didn’t solve everything, but the babe became a common sight around the Tower and in the village, schooled by his mother and the other teachers, and mostly keeping to himself with a close circle of friends.
----------------------------------------
Early winter, a couple days before the celebrations for the village’s 18th anniversary
----------------------------------------
Just like every morning of winter, Tanya was at the shop's window, watching out for the arrival of her best friend.
Today was a particularly snowy day, and a heavy blanket of snow covered the roads outside the village. Already, people were starting to shovel the snow aside to clear the front of their houses and businesses, slowly revealing the stone pavement that was installed this summer.
As time passed, the apprentice apothecary was torn between continuing her watch while working, or exit the shop and go search for him.
After a few more minutes, as the sky went from dark to gold, then blue, she saw the unmistakable shape of her friend making its way through the snow ever so slowly, clearly having trouble putting a foot in front of another, almost no steam coming out of his head as he breathed. He was fully covered in fur, wearing several vests and pulls, a very thick scarf and a hood covering his whole face.
And yet, she could see him shake from the cold, slowly making its way toward the shop.
“Mistress Brianne! Alaster is coming!” she said to her patron behind the counter.
“See? He always comes in the morning, even when it snows.” She answered, not bothering looking up from her preparation.
“I never saw him like that before, is it really okay for him to go outside in that weather?”
Tanya noted, worries growing as she was still surveilling him making its way toward us.
“Eh, I told them, he shouldn’t be outside when it snows.”
She said, shaking her head and clicking her tongue as she poured steamy water in a cup, then the herbs, before stirring it.
“Foolish boy, doing his foolish Mom’s errands.”
She set the cup on the counter, still ranting.
“Now what are you waiting for? Go get him before freezes like a frog!”
She said, still looking down, shooing her away with a hand while dusting herself on her apron.
Tanya started, then quickly opened the door, walking outside with a quick pace, reaching her struggling friend and hooking his neck to push/support him toward the door.
“Come on, Al, almost there!”
She heard a muffled noise akin to a squeak as she tightened her grip, helping him to cross the threshold, closing the door behind her.
“T…thanks” said a small voice emerging out of the winter hood and a couple of heavy scarves. “I was starting to go blind out there...”
“I can’t believe she made you do this, what was she thinking? What were YOU thinking?” she immediately attacked, finger poking his chest with insistence.
“I… It’s my fault, I didn’t wait long enough, and stones went cold half way!” The boyish voice retorted quickly, as he pulled the scarves down, revealing a white muzzle covered in shimmering scales, glinting with the yellowish hues of the room’s light.
“If I knew it was that bad, i would’ve waited longer or taken extra!” He sheepishly added, opening his cloak and heavy fur lined mantle, taking out of its pockets large flat stones and putting them next to the fire, the warmth of the room slowly making him more alert and awake, letting out the very tip of his tail naturally slip under the cloak and almost brush the ground.
“Aren't you a mage’s apprentice? why didn’t you just … warm yourself up or the stones with magic?”
His friend inquired, hands on her sides, leaning forward to peer into the hood, making eye contact with his nervous reddish eyes, suffused with a faint blue glow, the telltale signs of one who dabbles in the arcanes.
“I..it doesn't work that way! I need to learn the spell to cast it, and I just started… I can’t create ones from scratch yet…” he responded, breaking eye contact, his tail tip swishing nervously as he removed his gloves, the two clawed hands slightly curved to hide his claws from his friend, turning his head toward the shop’s owner.
“Mistress Brianne! Good morning…” he quickly made his way to the counter and bowed, resting his closed fists on the counter.
The apothecary slid the infusion between the young reptile’s hands, looking at him straight in the eyes, making him more and more flustered as he tried to do the polite thing and maintain eye contact, failing miserably after a couple seconds of this staring contest.
“Morning, runt. Still letting your mother make you do unreasonable things?”
As he laughed weakly, she shook her head, reaching under the counter and retrieving a melon sized bag, placing it on top of it.
“Here is her order, next time she should come, I have… things… to tell her” she added, Alaster frantically nodding, that sounded ominous.
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
He rummaged inside his pockets and retrieved a leather pouch, placing it on the counter.
“Here’s the gold, Ma’am”, he politely pointed, doing his hardest not to give her a smile. People didn’t like it when he did. He opted instead for a sip of the warm drink, making him shiver as he felt his body significantly warm up and his senses to sharpen, his drowsiness almost gone.
The graying woman took the purse, not bothering to count just yet, her eyes on Alaster.
“Drink up, squirt, can’t have you pass out on the way home.” she said, still eying the kid with a critical gaze, before going back to her concoctions, adding a fistful of purple leaves.
“You’ll be in the village later today? I’ve heard all the kids are supposed to help putting on the decorations.”
“Yeah, I promised Mom and Tanya I would be there” he said, still sipping slowly, feeling the warmth spreading to his limbs. “I don’t really wanna though...” he added in a mutter.
Brianne frowned “Are Jek and the others still giving you trouble?”
“Yeah … he’s been mean since that time in the forest.” He answered, looking down at the cup, a claw tracing the rim of it, careful not to dig into the cooked clay.
“What a pain…” she scoffed, patting the lizard kid’s head, absentmindedly scritching under his horn “You did nothing wrong, if anything, you saved his life.”
“I know! But he keeps saying I'm a monster now!” He said, upset just by saying it, tightening his grip on the cup, and his claw digging into it slightly, scratching it up a little.
“He says I'm out for blood and that I'll eat them! That's not true! it’s not!”
----------------------------------------
I was heading home through the forest. My dad asked me to go and fetch some of the scythes the farmers needed repairs on.
I was walking, careful not to drop anything. The bundle of blades was on my back, held with straps of leather. It was heavy. I’d be working up a sweat if I could.
I made a detour as the fields are in the village’s outskirts, and it was faster for me to pass through the forest to get to dad’s forge, next to my mom’s tower.
Then I heard rustling leaves and cries for help. Quickly running toward me, Lesk and Nep, Jek’s friends, were running away toward the village, passing me without stopping.
“Wolf! Wolf! Help!” they cried, quickly disappearing through the branches and leaves.
I froze, and sniffed the air. It did not smell of a Wolf, but something else entirely.
Jek’s scent, pointing toward where the two ran from.
I set my bundle down and quietly went toward the scent, hearing Jek’s cries and sobs.
Then I saw it.
The wolf.
It wasn’t a wolf, not really. It was called a “pseudo wolf” , a kind of monster.
Bigger, meaner, and out for blood. They are a rare sight around here and they tend to be hunted and killed right away. This one probably just arrived recently, and we were the first ones to see it.
Jek was in pain. The boy’s shoulder was a ruin of blood. I thought I could see bone.
The monster was circling him, growling, drooling, all teeth out, close to the kid, too close.
It hasn’t noticed me yet.
I felt my hand tense and my claws came out of my fingers, stiffening like a talon. My scales bristled and my clothes felt tight now, ripping at the seams as I grew thicker. My mouth opened and I could feel my maw open way wider than It usually does, a shifting sensation told me it went even further than I thought it'd be safe.
I jumped on the beast, hands swept for its shoulders, my maw closed tightly on its neck.
Blood, lots of it. I didn't care, I tore through the monster, claws digging bloody trenches in the flesh, I could taste the acidic and metallic aftertaste running in my throat.
I felt my heart beating fast as the dire wolf tried to shake me off, I lost it and I clenched harder around the neck, feeling the rivulets of blood dribbling on my chest as my claws found purchase on the shoulder’s bones.
I pulled, twisted my neck. I heard a snap, and the beast sagged, fell to the ground.
I stayed like that for a moment, making sure the thing was dead, my fingers finally relaxing, stiff and hurting from my grip.
I let go gradually, trying to distance myself from my kill. I felt my teeth catch on the neck, I couldn’t open my mouth enough. I had to pull harder and I ripped the sides of its neck as a result. Fighting the nausea I started to feel climbing in my throat. I panted, looking down on the Pseudo wolf, dead, its neck and shoulders a mess of gore.
I felt my jaw snap close, sore, with an awful taste.
Then it came back to me.
Jek!
How is he? I looked up, searching for him, but he was gone, blood splatters and broken branches told me he slid from the trunk and ran for it while I was distracting the creature.
I stayed here, rump on the ground, eyes wide, my breath slowing down gradually, I don't know how long exactly. It felt like an instant, but the sun went the rest of the way down when I heard my Dad, yelling my name.
“Al! Where are you? Al!!” he shouted.
I was exhausted, feeling numb, i stared at the corpse besides me, and suddenly all i could think was:
I did this ?! How ?
I stared down at my hands, the white scales pink with blood, some coagulated under my claws and in my palm’s lines.
I saw the bushes bristle, my dad emerging out of it. He was holding the stack of scythes by one of the straps, his spear in the other.
He rushed close, speaking to me, I didn't understand a word, I broke down crying.
“Al! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did you do this?” he asked, holding me tight and stroking my head, looking at what was left of the Wolf.
“Thank the Gods you are alright! Don't worry, it’s over, everything is going to be okay!”
The rest is blurry. I fell asleep not too long after.
I woke up the next day in my bed, clean, eyes puffy but still tired. My Mom was here, holding my hand.
She spoke to me, making sure i was okay, made me eat and rested a little more before telling me how the things ended.
It turned out, Jek’s friends went straight to my dad’s forge to tell him of the attack. Not too long later, just as he was leaving, fully equipped, Jek came out of the forest, bleeding and confused.
He was sent to the village, escorted by his friends.
While I was sleeping, the village council came to the cottage, accompanied with some of the villagers, holding pitchforks and all the usual mob kit, torches and all.
It took a while to calm them down, as they pretended I attacked Jek and his friends, and that I hurt him badly.
Jek’s dad, part of the council, immediately used this to rouse some of the villagers that believed that “snake” shouldn’t live in Verdoyant and took the opportunity to pitch in and try to deal with us.
However, Mom and Dad were ready to stop them at the first sight of lights in the horizon, and kept them from getting any closer to our home. After a long talk, and the display of the Pseudo wolf’s corpse and examination of the claw and bite marks, the mob calmed down and finally left, some ashamed, some confused, and a rare few aggravated.
The council retreated with apologies, to the exception of Jek’s father, who couldn’t believe my parent’s retelling, and most probably wanted to believe his son more than the weird lady in the tower and the new smith.
He was asked to leave us alone and that was that.
Once I could leave home and go back to my chores and studies, Jek’s friends, usually quick to bully and diss me, stopped. In fact, I didn't see much of them afterwards, they were avoiding me, only here when they couldn’t help it, looking awkward all the while.
Well, that was true only for his friends. They mostly kept to themselves, always looking away from me, at least they stopped being mean, even if it only changed the type of hurt.
Jek was avoiding me, speaking behind my back to the other kids and the villagers, telling them I was some sort of monster, that I tried to eat him.
When he wasn’t he was openly antagonizing me, insulting me more or less subtly.
It was clear he was trying to get me to snap.
To this day it hasn't succeeded.
----------------------------------------
“This jerk! I saved his life!” He sighed in dejection, not angry about it anymore.
“Still, I think you should go, don’t give him the opportunity to talk behind your back when you can show everyone else who you are.” the shopkeeper said, waggling a finger down Al’s snout, who was leaning back, squinting uncomfortably at it.
“So, get to it, son! And make sure to be plenty helpful or you’ll have to answer me. And if this brat comes to bother you, ignore him and come see me, I'll have some words with his dad, he can’t afford to ignore me.
Besides, it's not everyday the village gets to celebrate both its anniversary and the discovery of a True One!”
It took some time for Alaster to get back into his furs and winter gear, placing his hot stones inside his coat before going back outside with his purchase, quickly toward his home.
Tanya looked worriedly at him through the window, before going back to her work.
She had to do a good job so she could be early and start helping out on the main place with her friend.
She just hoped Jek wouldn’t be here.