The story begins with the characters backgrounds just letting you know what kinds of lives they have lived leading up to the main plot. The character is young at the beginning but the rest of the story will be about her adult life. I just finished updating later chapters. I know the first three are slow and just explaining lore but the fourth one is finally introducing some fun banter with friends and getting to the plot! Finally! Just stick with it I promise it gets less boring lol
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Mahalla:
As the sun rose, beams of light peaked through the furs of my tent, causing my eyes to flutter open. My vision was blurry as my groggy eyes tried to adjust the sudden intrusion of light. I looked around the tent to realize I was the last of my family to awaken and start the day. Life in a Dalish clan was hard earned. Everyone had their daily duties to keep the clan self-sufficient. Hunters supplied us with food and furs. Farmers managed what little crops we could produce in small amounts of time and tended to the halla. Warriors kept us safe from shemlen who wandered too far into the woods. The healers kept us in good health and tended to the warriors when needed. Craftsmen kept the warriors and hunters armed. The hahren kept the stories of our people alive and tended to the children. That is where I spent most of my days with my sister. I just hit my tenth year of life, and my sister Mihthra was in her twelfth year. Then there was the Keeper, Feynlen, and his apprentice.
I always had a fascination with the Keeper. Magic was very intriguing. The shemlen feared it and forced their mages into towers known as the Circle of Magi. They had an order called the Templars who hunted down mages and "kept order" by watching their every move. Their religion has a saying that magic was made to serve man, yet they treated it as an abomination and kept mages in a fancy prison trying to parade it as a place of study. We Dalish viewed magic as a gift from the gods. We believe that once all elves used to wield magic, and that with losing our history our magical lineage has dwindled. I dreamt that one day I would wake up with magic abilities and be able to apprentice for the Keeper.
My sister was already approaching the time to find a role to apprentice in our society, and she seemed to be following in our mother's footsteps to become a hunter. My father was a master craftsman of the clan. Then there was me. I seemed to have no aptitude for any of the skills needed. Halla fled from me, crops withered in my care, ironbark would not bend to my will, and I did not possess graceful footwork to wield any sort of weapon. The only skill I excelled in was story telling, so the only promising outcome would be to become a hahren. While I understood the importance of the role, I wished for a life of excitement. Little did I know the gods heard my plea, and I was not ready for what they had in store for me.
After spending time lost in my thoughts I finally fought off the sluggishness of my slumber, and got dressed for the day. I exited the tent as I would everyday and made my way towards the hahren, not knowing today would be the day that our peaceful routine would be disrupted. I settled down on a log next to my sister around the fire and listened to Sarren drone on about how we broke free from servitude forced upon us by humans. After a while his story was cut short by a shrill scream. Through the panic that erupted at once, we saw warriors rushing back to the camp. The Warleader's warning boomed throughout the camp.
"A shemlen group was spotted nearby. They killed a few of us in a skirmish. We need to pack up essentials and move on. Hurry, we do not have much time!" As the last word slipped from her mouth an arrow hissed through the air, and found it's final resting place in the Warleader's throat. As her body hit the forest floor with a thud, a moment of silence halted all activity before chaos broke loose. Parents scrambled to find their children and grab what little supplies they could carry as they ran off. Our leaders always had a plan of action in case our camp had been compromised and we all knew where we would relocate. I held onto my sister and we searched the camp for either of our parents. Our efforts were thwarted by the panic around us. I felt a tug and realized my sister was no longer in my grasp. I turned and saw that a shemlen had grabbed her and pulled her just out of my reach. His blade was raised in the air and I could see his arm start to move down in a slashing motion. I reached out my hand pleading with him to stop. Rage coursed through every fiber of my being, and as if the gods could hear my plea to protect Mihthra, I felt it turn into physical power as lighting erupted from the palm of my hand. As the power surged through me I felt myself losing consciousness. The bright light flashed from my hands then everything turned black.
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I know this is a short chapter but I am just trying to introduce the setting and background . Some keys notes are that the Dalish are a clan of elves and that they call humans shemlen. Ironbark is a material they use to create weapons.
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Broken Circle
RomanceIn Thedas we come across many great heroes who triumph over large threats. Many lesser known heroes get overshadowed. This story is about a young Dalish mage who gets forced into the Circle of Magi after her clan is attacked. She and her friends cat...
