1.21 Interlude Two: Milnedotter Part One
Once upon a time, say over a thousand years ago, perhaps closer to fifteen hundred, there lived a reckless farm boy named Jack. In time he would become the most famous Thief in the region, eventually stealing the rights to a Barony and legitimising his fortune. He used his wealth to build a great Castle on an Island that appeared one day in the middle of the region’s most important waterway. Control of the river accrued more wealth than even the greatest of his heists, so he settled down to found a dynasty. This is not his story.
Although never one to devote himself to a single paramour, he did eventually marry. In his many adventures he learned of a wealthy Ogre whose wife was descended from a distaff branch of the Imperial Line. Grifting his way into a dinner invitation, he murdered his host, all save one child, stole the family’s wealth, and kidnapped the wife. Offering the beautiful thirteen year old survivor the choice between marriage and slavery for both her and her mother, the young girl decided on the option to grant her mother the most freedom.
Ogre genetics are strange, often waiting until adulthood to express, so when his beautiful teenage bride turned purple on her 21st birthday, the kind and loving Baron locked her up in the highest tower. With only her spinning wheel and loom to keep her company, the Half-Ogre Princess expressed herself through her textiles, trying to reach her sole son through the tapestries hanging on his walls. This is not her story either, except in the impact she was to have on her future daughter-in-law.
In the village below the Baron’s Castle, not far from the docks and the Taverns that tailored to fishermen and boatmen that plied their trade on the river, was a water wheel powered Mill. Although the island did not have enough arable land to feed either the villagers or the inhabitants of the Castle, a grain tax on all of the comerse traveling down the river provided enough grist to keep the Mill busy. While some of the milled grain was sent to the Bakeries to make bread, most ended in the large copper boilers of the Brewery.
The Miller, who consumed most of his flour in liquid form, had won the Mill in a game of chance. A variant of poker based on a hand of seven cards and five suits. A former Adventurer, he had decided Dungeon Delving was too dangerous and was going to settle on Briarwood Isle for his retirement. He spent far more time in the Pub than grinding grain, leaving the details of his business to employees. Many were the Tales of his great Adventures, completely at odds with his low Tier Class Levels. Many more were the Tales of how he came to have his auburn haired daughter, in spite of the fact that almost all the regulars remembered the red haired barmaid who died in childbirth. This isn’t his story either.
This is the story of Mildred Mills, called Milly by everyone who knew her. Raised by indentured servants who were paying of their poker debts to her father, a Level 15 Gambler. Most of these servants were down on their luck scroundals and boatmen, so her education was spotty at best. The wife of the Village Baker took it upon herself to make sure young Milly was taught the merest basics of those Skills Necessary to attract a Husband.
At the age of fourteen Milly was, like almost all girls and boys of that age, preparing for the Confirmation Ceremony that would be held on Midsummer’s Day. Most of the prospective youths were hoping for a prestigious Career; Artisan, Merchant, or maybe Scholar. A few dared dream of Qualifying a preparatory Calling such as Acolyte, Fighter, Novice, or Scout, that would allow them to leave the Village to seek honour, gloy, and riches as adventures. None dared even hope to Qualify for a true Class such as Cleric, Warrior, Mage, or Rogue. None save Mily Milnesdotter.
She had heard all her father’s stories, and while many were obvious exaggerations, if only 10 percent were true she most certainly had the hereditary Qualifications for a true Class, maybe even an Elite. She could imagine Father Thomas, the local priest and school teacher, telling her that she would be welcome at the Imperial Academy. Even if she Qualified for an Elite Rogue Class, and given what she knew of her father that seemed most likely, she would become the greatest Thief since the heydays of the Baron himself.
Still, she knew better than to put all her trust in the Miller’s stories, the more Qualifications she could earn personally before Confirmation, the better chance for an elite opportunity. Which is why she spent so much time with Goode Hetty Spinster. Everyone knew the old biddy was a witch. No husband, no children, the herb bunches hung to dry all throughout her cottage, the skeletal black cat who slept on her ledge, skeins of yarn jumbled about everywhere of every colour of the rainbow, the blind goat kept penned in her yard, the strange plants she grew in her garden instead of vegetables like everyone else, what else could Hetty be?. Most of the children threw stones at the crotchety old woman whenever her back was turned, but not Milly.
At a young age Milly decided it was better to befriend the mistress of mystic mayhem rather than annoy her. Maybe, just maybe she would teach Milly some magic. Why a powerful Sorceress was masquerading as an illiterate spinster was a question no one had an answer for. No one noticed the plants, both living and dried, were used to make the colours only found in Hetty’s yarn. Yarn the Castle paid for with good money. No one cared that when there was a difficult birth in the village, it was Hetty ( who most certainly did not have a Sacred Class), not Father Thomas who was there to help things along. Her simples had to be magic, not wisdom, if so many preferred them to the Priest’s Blessings when children and pets got sick.
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Milly did learn some Herblore, and how to spin and weave. She wouldn’t know if it was enough to be Recognised as a Skill, until Confirmation. Highborn could afford to pay the Priest to perform a Ceremony of System Communion in order to learn what Qualifications had been earned. Lowborn just had to depend on common wisdom, folklore, and guesses.
Befriending the Village’s wisewoman was not Milly’s only attempt to rig the game in her favor, she also spent time with Father Thomas trying to get him to teach her letters. Common belief held that only Clergy, Magistrates, Scholars, and Wizards needed to know how to read and write. A Sailor employed as the family’s cook had once told that it was important for the more Elite Evolutions of Merchant and Rogue as well.
In order to convince the retired Cleric, Milly feigned interest in a Vocation, a desire to serve one of the System Gods. Theirs was but a minor Church, with Shrines for only six Deities. Rejecting the six principal gods of the Region, but insisting she felt a Vocation, the ten year old Milly had convinced Father Thomas to teach her enough Letters to peruse the Tome of Theophany, a huge codex listing many of the more popular gods. Each entry would have an illustrated picture opposite a brief history and description of their available Domains. Milly found theses explanations to elicit more queries than answers.
When questioned about why all the gods seemed to have only Titles and not names, Father Thomas replied, “Certainly they have names, but they are not for the like of silly girls. The gods are rather busy and should only be called upon by those of serious character. They can’t be bothered with the likes of you and your frivolous inquiries.”
When asked why the gods needed worshipers if they were so powerful, the Priest answered, “Good girls who want to learn their Letters don’t ask tiresome questions.” Which shut Milly down quite promptly.
Milly came to the conclusion that gods were like nobles, but even more so. Lazy, indifferent, and more obsessed with their subjects praising them than ensuring that the subjects were well cared for.
Informed that swearing a Vow of Devotion prior to the Ceremony would count as a Qualification for a Clerical Class, Milly found only three gods in the big book even remotely interesting. She soon learned that Thomas knew little more than what was recorded, but discouraged her from swearing to any of the Wild and Uncivilised gods, who all seemed to be the most interesting. The civilised gods of Night, Shadows, and Chance were even worse, patrons of thieves, murders, and Adventures. In the end she choose to give lip service to The Mother of Mercy, patron of childbirth and orphans. That seemed to please her tutor, who remained quite unaware of Milly’s preference for the Wild Huntsman, or the Hooded Trickster.
Finally the day came. While the Highborn, with their clever calendars and instruments, were able to keep a precise record of each child’s birth, the Lowborn celebrated all the season’s births on a single day. Boys honored their anniversary on the first day of their birth season, while all the girls celebrated on the season’s midpoint. Thus Milly shared her Confirmation with all the other girls born in the Summertime fifteen years previous. Goode Hetty surprised her with a beautiful new dress, a perfect fit.
The sky was clear, the wind was calm, it had all the markings of a perfect day. That alone should have been warning enough.
The Village had only a small Church, not Cathedral, so it did not have an Altar of Ascension, only an Altar of Minor Communion. This lesser artifact required a full ceremony, drawing on the Mana Pools of all the adults in attendance, in order to connect to the System. Normally it would not have been able to handle the mutual Initiations of the seven girls, but Tradition was a powerful influence. The Tradition of the Confirmation reduced the normal Costs involved.
Each young girl knelt before the Altar, in the Ancient manner. Each felt the full weight of the System, for many it was the first time in their memory, since their Christening happened before they became aware.
Milly thought she understood what was going to happen, many people, including Father Thomas himself had explained. The System would verify her identity, then it would Confirm her Caste, and then offer her a Class. She would not be required to accept this Class, but if she delayed acceptance in favor of trying to Qualify for a better option in the future, she would be responsible for the Costs.
Congratulations! Mildred Milnesdotter, Caste: Lowborn Citizen Confirmed. You have Qualified for the following Tier One Class Options:
Artisan: Spinster
Cleric: Heretic
Mage: Charlatan
Merchant: Courtesan
Rogue: Grifter
No one had intimated that she might have to choose. Other than Spinster, she did not recognize a single Subclass. Still, she did not consider long, one was a Mage option.
Congratulations! You have acquired a new Tier One Class Charlatan! As a Charlatan you will be a Full Caster for Illusion School Spells only. For all other Spell Schools you will be considered a Partial Caster. You will be considered a Full Trickster. This Class follows a Mage Evolutionary Path.
That one choice would follow her the rest of her life. Her drunkard father would brag about her powers of Transmutation. One of the Baron’s Armsmen would overhear, and inform his Lord that the Village had produced a Novice Transmutatrix, one who could spin straw into gold.