Sten Burrmund
From Reydala
Three months ago, the group was assigned to escort a client from the First Reydalan Academy of Engineers to Shavale for the regions annual resource assesment. These excursions are often made very interesting as the engineers assessment equipment is very expensive even disassembled to its base parts. This is primarily due to the precious metals used in most generator construction. The Nuln Adventurers guild is often called on to escort these engineers against brigands who would seek to steal the equipment and hope to sell it on the black market.
Kirshe, Erik, Maerin, Kavim, and Sten were assigned to this mission, after a long voyage on the First Reydalan railway to get to Kasser, they wasted no time in seeking their client at the academy. After a brief security check, the gates were opened and the group made their way to enter. That is, except for Sten, who remained defiantly outside the gates. Kavim stopped, staring toward the gnome.
"Somethin' wrong kid? We're going in now."
"I ain't no kid, and I can't go in there, so you'd best be goin' on without me" The gnome seem agitated for some reason.
"Watcha mean "can't go in there", this is your mission, isn't it?"
Sten turned to the guard stationed by the gate, an overtly dull-looking human, but one certainly armed. "I've been banned from entering the Academy ever since my last visit, isn't that right muscles?"
The guard turned to Kavim, saying gruffly in confirmation: "The short gentleman here would be well advised not to attempt entry, that he was even assigned to escort the good professor leads me to question the Guild's sanity."
Kavim smirked in suprise, Sten didn't usually do things to get him banned from places. He looked back toward his companions who were heading toward the academy doors and promptly did a heel turn back toward the outer gate. "...This here sounds alot more interesting than our client" Kavim turned toward Sten, asking excitedly: "What'd you do?"
"Oh, nothing much, questioning the establishment, challenging their beliefs.. assaulting a professor.. y'know, usual rebellious stuff."
"Woah, assault?... That doesen't really seem like you" He looked at the gnome in a new light, sizing him up. "He musta really pissed you off"
"...Yer gonna miss your meeting in there y'know, knowing the client is essential to mission success..."
Kavim wasn't about to let this pass him up. "Damn the client, knowing my co-workers is even more essential, isn't it?" He slid himself down, sitting against the academy's walls, patting the ground next to him. "C'mon, this sounds like a good one."
Sten sighed, as if he had been forced to tell this story many times before. He sat down next to Kavim, taking some of the bread rations from his waist pouch and starting to sink into the crusty contents. "It was seven years ago, 'fore I even joined the guild. I hadn't even been in Nuln for more than a week, used 'ta live in a gnome village off the peninsula as a farmhand on my parent's land.."
"You were a farmer?..." Kavim repressed his desire to laugh. "Damn, that's a hard thing to imagine. How'd you get out of that then, run away from home?"
"'Twas an earnest, peaceful living that I rather enjoyed actually. Like most gnome villages, nothin' much came to bother us, we were pretty much on our own and made pretty good for ourselves." Sten's expression become more wistful, as if imagining a much better time.
"...Sounds boring to me" Kavim shrugged, nonchalantly stealing one of Sten's breads. "How'd you end up here, if that was so great for you?"
"Couldn't be helped, the land shook and shuddered, and the oceans started to rise. Soon our Island was swallowed by the ocean, sunk over the course of a single day. Lotta gnomes never made it off the Island."
"Ah, geez.. Tough break for you" Kavim hungrily tore into the flesh of his bread. "Shouldan't they have had an evacuation or somethin?"
"There's a reason they call us land Gnomes, y'know.. We don't venture far from dry land, we only had three boats, and those were just used for fishin'. Not for evacuatin' the whole population. Mainland didn't help none either."
"Not that suprised, hell, likely they didn't even notice it happend."
"I floated on what was a piece of our house for nearly two days 'fore I was plucked out of the Freehaven Sea, didn't even know how to swim."
"Sounds rough, but how did that lead to you assaulting a professor?..."
"...The mainland never cared much for land gnomes, if they had, we'd probably woulda known what was goin on before hand. They woulda sent their engineers there to let us know somethin' was up. If we had some warnin', lotta Gnomes could have been saved..."
"So... Revenge on the engineers?"
"More than that, I wanted to confront those damn Sea Gnomes and get some answers, but things ended up getting out of hand."
"Answers?"
"...Most people think of us as weird people they'd rather not involve 'demselves with, and who's fault is that? It's those Sea Gnomes and their quirky trinkets that blow up as often as they work. Off in their ark gallavanting 'round the world as if it belonged to them, making people laugh at us." Sten stared forward, ripping off another chunk of bread. "Pisses me off."
"...Sounds like you got a chip on your shoulder there."
"If people actually took the time to visit and get to know us Land Gnomes, they'd find we're normal hard-working folk just like them. They don't though. They think we're circus material because of what those Sea Gnomes have been doin'. D'ya know why we usually keep to ourselves? We can barely take a step through any of yer cities without being asked to fix somethin' or another or invent some gadget. That day I went to the academy to tell the engineers to stop ruinin' life for the rest of us, and to respect those who stayed behind on land. They weren't too keen on the idea."
"It actually came to blows?..."
"Damn right it did, I woulda given that professor a few knocks too, had the guards not found me and tossed me out. Sea gnomes think we're just as weird as you people do, only for entirely different reasons. Probably didn't care for the islands as soon as they took off 'em..." Sten sighed slightly, seeming to collect himself a bit. "I was a bit out of sorts to, losin' yer home does that to you."
"I can imagine. Sounds like somethin' I might do in your shoes. In fact, sounds downright human."
"Y'see? All we ever wanted was to be treated normally, but we get gawked at and treated like sideshow material... Those sea gnomes ain't helpin' that at all. Sure, they all like the tools they get out of having dem around, but they're still laughin' at em..."
Kavim slapped the gnome on the back strongly, grinning slightly. "I ain't laughin' here, but that's cause I've seen what you can do with those blades man, now that I know yer dangerous..." The rogue smirked, Sten turning toward him and returning the smile.
"Hey, you watch my back, I'll watch yours. That's what co-workers do, right? I'll consider ya an honorary land gnome, we watch out for our own."
Kavim laughed, "With my height, I better count as two".
Erik, Kirshe, Maerin and the client soon emerged back from the gates, all of them carrying so much equipment their faces were barely visible, Kirshe in particularly carrying a load that would send many men toppling to the ground. Kavim laughed again, "Looks like we definitely got the easy job". Kirshe made a slight growl at that.
Sten rose to his feet, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, missions a mission, let's get to it, yeah?..."
Kavim looked back toward the Academy courtyard where their supposed client was making a final check with the security, crossing his arms. "You sure you're gonna be alright defendin' this guy?.."
Sten stared back toward the road that led them to the academy, saying simply: "I've grown alot since then, after awhile you realize Sea gnomes often have it hard as us as far as respect goes. We watch out for our own ya? I just see it like having a brother who's taken a few too many blows to the noggin'"
Kavim laughed again. "Ya don't say... So how short were you before?"
Sten couldn't help but smile at that one.
Current Standing
Relationships
Character Sheet
| Level: 7 | Class: Ranger | Paragon Path: N/A | Epic Destiny: N/A | |||||
| Race: Land Gnome | Size: Medium | Age: 25 | Gender: Male | Height: 4'0" | Weight: 80 lb. | Alignment: Evil | Deity: None | Origin: Nuln |
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
