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Why Lur thought it was a good idea to climb a mountain during a raging thunderstorm, he had no clue.
For one, he was a Dwarf, and although they were at home in mountains, they were much more at home inside the rocks than climbing on top of them. For another, he had to climb over hundreds of meters to get where he was. Again, Dwarves had mines and shafts to come and go around and through the mountains as they pleased. For a third, it was truly the worst weather for climbing. The travel logs speculated that this portion of the mountain was enchanted to permanently have a form of rain that was hard enough to make the rocks slippery, yet soft enough to keep from eroding.
If Lur found who he was looking for, he would give them an intense, stern talking-to, about why making travelers pointlessly suffer was unproductive for any party involved.
No matter why the rain was here, whether by a freak accident of nature or a malicious enchantment, here was Lur, climbing through frigid rain and damp mud just to try and find… well, something up here. He heard there'd been a legendary sorcerer of sorts. Or… sorceress? The scrolls could never decide. If he found them, he hoped he could learn some of their secrets.
At last! The storm began to clear! The rain was falling behind, and there was only haze now. Not ideal, but that must've meant he was getting close! He would definitely appreciate not having to deal with rain in his lengthy red hair or his stony gray skin any longer.
Through the haze, he saw a clearing. Much unlike most of the mountain that preceded it, it looked grassy and well-maintained, looking in a way that made you forget that you were climbing a mountain. If it didn't seem as though he was intruding on something, he would have loved it.
But, of course, he did feel like he was intruding, as he also saw a group of women unlike any he'd seen speaking with one another.
These women stood tall, over seven feet, and had branching antlers that added almost a foot. Their skin was gray and muddy, and entirely unclothed. Their muscles were hardened and toned, looking as though they could kill anyone, least of all a Dwarf, in a myriad of ways.
One of these antlered women walked up to Lur, with two more following. She crossed her arms and knelt down, still standing at minimum a head over Lur's height. "What are you doing here?" She said, with a deep, crackly voice that still sounded feminine in its own way.
One of her compatriots, the one standing at her right, spoke."You wish to steal from our friend?"
The other, the one standing at her left, added on. "Or perhaps destroy the knowledge he keeps?"
Lur waved his hands to dissuade them from being concerned. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I wish to learn from the best. And from what I hear, your friend is definitely… definitely… one of *the* best."
The lead woman spoke once more."We are the Oreads of this mountain."
The one on the left spoke. "We protect its secrets."
So did the one on the right. "And only those who show their worth may pass."
He should have guessed. Of course they were Oreads, they were nymphs of the mountains! Their purpose was to protect mountains and such from ne'er-do-wells and preserve their homes, lest they suffer as their mountains would.
The leader of the Oreads picked him up.
Lur began to tremble, having been picked up multiple times his height now. "Well, you see, stone-skin person to stone-skin person, I'd think we're kindred spirits. Wouldn't you?"
The Oread leader considered for a moment what to do - or, at least, it looked like she was considering. Then, emotion unchanging, she threw him behind her like junk.
The Dwarf screamed as he flew in the air. He knew this was the end, this was where he would prepare for his inevitable judgement by those who watched over him…
Lur hit the stone patio with a thunderous 'crack!'
When he woke up, a person, likely human from what he figured, in a dark golden cloak stood over him. Yellow eyes shone through the shadow that obscured much of his face. "So," he spoke with a gruff sort of tone, "I guess the Oreads out front didn't scare you off, hm?"
"What… what happened?" Lur struggled to push himself up. Everything hurt… so much…
"Simple. You got thrown, kid."
The person carried a staff, which he tapped against the stone beneath the two of them. What looked like dim yellow, glowing vines wrapped around Lur's wrists and ankles, before pulling themselves in a manner that allowed the dwarf to stand up properly.
"Thanks…" That was some magic… he stood him up without any physical or even mental effort.
"Ahh, no problem. I couldn't send you back like that. You could've gotten a concussion or a broken bone or something."
"Concussion… what?" Now that that was said out loud, his head did feel a little funny. A lot funny, actually, and not nearly a good kind. Then, Lur heard a calm, high-pitched ring. His headache was gone. In fact, it was clearer! And those aches he felt a moment ago had left him too! "Wow… I feel…"
"You're welcome! Now scram."
"Scram? I-I'm sorry, but I just climbed a mountain for a long time. I don't even know how many days it's been, but I've been climbing and climbing… and I am not doing it again, not when its almost night and not when *someone* enchanted the spot 50 meters down to have an eternal storm… "
"Stop, stop, stop!" The sorcerer shouted to interrupt his rambling. Much as he hated to say it, the Dwarf had some decent points. "Okay. You get one night, and that's only because it's stormy and shit down below. Get in, now."
He pulled open the door behind him, allowing the traveler to slip inside. For what looked like a tiny stone hut on the outside, the house was awe-inspiring on the inside. It had an extensive wall-to-wall library on one side, and on the other was an endless collective of weapons, relics, and artifacts.
"So, tell me. Why did you climb all the way up here?"
"Well, you see, I would like to learn something about magic. I'm not great, not even by the standards of my kind. I've heard you've been called the Lord of the Mountain. Well, some scriptures I've read call you Lord, others call you Lady."
"Lord. People can't get past the long hair for some reason." He pulled down his hood, revealing his face for the first time. He was clean-shaven, and had long, waved hair that had moved from black at the roots to yellow at the tips. Many powerful magic users had often achieved some forms of eternal life or eternal youth. And yet, with the scriptures that told stories of this man stretching back hundreds of years, he simply looked in his early fourties.
"I… I see." Lur, in truth, was amazed at this person's longevity, in spite of some Dwarves having fairly long lifespans. "Anyhow, I was hoping maybe you could help me…"
"If you're looking for a seminar, I'm not your guy. Look, just take a look around. Try not to break anything. All I can tell you, it's the way I've learned it."
Lur's eyes wandered through the shelves, picking out some artifacts that apparently didn't have much use. He recognized a couple of them, but a lot of them were archaic to the point of not being recognizable. On a lower shelf, he picked one up. It looked vaguely familiar to him. "Err, sir?" He asked, showing him the relic he picked up. "What's this?"
"Oh, that old thing? It's a Seal. Meant to help regular people do magic. I made some back in the day."
Lur studied this Seal that he was holding. The relic took the shape of a curved cylinder that fit within the grip of a short-fingered Dwarven hand. It didn't have any buttons or dials like lots of magical tech did nowadays. It was just a metal tube with some kind of magical energy inside.
The sorcerer, once he observed the Dwarf's curiosity, hovered over him and guided his hand over the Seal. "Now, see, take a look at the coloring. Sort of a red and turquoise thing going on here. That's because… well, focus your mind on making it work."
"Alright, focus my mind… is there some sort of incantation? Some kind of thought I specifically have to have?"
"Ah, not really. Some got specific charms you need to activate, but if you're good enough you could just-" He snapped his fingers. "Poof!"
Lur was unconvinced. "... Poof?"
"Yeah, if you wanted to. For now, just look at it, don't break eye contact, and say… I dunno, 'do your magic' inside your head."
Do your magic… do your magic… do your magic… Lur repeated several times inside his head. Nothing. "I'm terribly sorry, sir, but I don't think this one-"
A powerful stream of wind and lightning shot out from the Seal for a quick second. Fortunately for the two of them, nobody was hurt and no property was damaged. The worst that happened was that hair stood on end and some books got knocked over.
The sorcerer laughed, before taking the seal from Lur's hand and putting it back on a shelf. "Yeah, sorry, that one's a bit of an older one. I was kind of a novice then, too, so it's not exactly responsive. See, that one, I call 'Storm on Command'! It's not particularly great, but it's good for scaring off a rotten little pixie or two!"
Lur stood like a statue in panic. His breathing was the perfect way to demonstrate his fright.
Despite his student's fear, the sorcerer continued on. "Alright. Seals aren't everybody's thing." The sorcerer looked around for something else. "Hang on a moment…. ah-ha! There!" He took a book off the wall, an older tome that looked a couple hundred years old. "Not in the best condition either, but it's got a few spells worth a try."
The Dwarf dusted it off and opened it up. Much of it was in an ancient language, although there were notes in the primary language of this region to help translate and pronounce the incantations phonetically. He flipped through it to try and find a simple spell to practice. "How about that one?"
"That one?" The sorcerer asked incredulously. It was a basic one-use, limited time spell to turn a small inanimate object into an animated one. "That's a little basic… but if you'd like." He got up again to find something to test this spell on.
He brought back a small miniature statue that looked like a game piece from an old strategy game. It was in the guise of a knight, with a sword and shield.
"Huh… this?" The Dwarf picked it up in his hand. "Why?"
"Hey, it works better on tiny things. Smaller object means less energy required to change its state."
"True." Lur analyzed the tiny statue, putting the common geological knowledge of Dwarves to good use. "And it looks like it's made of… granite, which retains magic pretty well for a non-gemstone."
"Well, look at that." The sorcerer took it back and placed it back on the table, almost a little proud of this little guy. "I know you're a Dwarf and all, but somebody could make a good mage outta you."
"Now… all you have to do is focus, just like you did last time, on this statue. Then, once you focus, repeat the incantation, 'Kayate Meyatun'."
"Kah-yah-tay, Meh-yah-toon," Lur repeated.
"Right. It's Arkani. Old magic language. It's kind of aberrant, and mostly dead since you people nowadays make incantations in your native languages… but it still has appeal to me at least!"
"For someone who doesn't have company, you sure… talk a lot…"
"I do have company, I have the Oreads!" Yes, they were a fun bunch. Especially when they threw him meters away and he landed face-first on a stone patio.
Trying to take that fearful moment out of his mind, he took one more look at that incantation and read it out under his breath a few more times. Good start, he began to feel a bit more confident now. Now, he gazed upon the tiny statue on the table. He imagined it walking along the table, slashing its sword like it was fighting an army of terrible foes, and pulling his shield back to guard himself against the flames of a frightening beast.
"Kayate, Mayatun! Kayate, Mayatun! KAYATE! MAYATUN!" He called out, with his arm outstretched.
A beam of reddish energy shot out from his fingers and hit the tiny statue. Miniscule sounds of crackling stone came from the knight, and he began to move. He swiveled and turned every limb and joint he had, before sticking his sword into the air like a hero from an ancient epic.
"It worked!" Lur cackled with joy. "It actually worked!"
Then the knight lost its balance. It tipped over, but soon got back up.
"Not bad, boy… got that one first try…" The Dwarf's mentor ruffled his red hair in a show of pride. The knight wandered around the table, swinging its sword and pulling back its shield. Everything was working well, until the knight fell off the table.
He chuckled. "Oh, that happens. Intelligence doesn't always come with the enchantment."
The magician's apprentice laughed as well. "I can't believe it… can't believe I actually got it…"
"Yeah, you are a little bit different than what I'd expect from your generation. Seals, not your thing. But classic spells, with incantations and everything, that seems more like your gist. Let's try one more thing…" Again, more scattered searching from the sorcerer. He grabbed a pair of boots that were clinging onto a shorter part of the ceiling.
He threw the boots in front of Lur. "Classic magic item. A relic."
Lur tilted his head in confusion. Relics, like that Seal that he tried out, were often quite ornate and crafted out of unique and powerful materials from his memory. "And you made old leather boots into a relic?"
"Anything can be made into a relic." The sage nodded. "I just picked some old shoes I had. Nothing really more to it."
"Right. So… I'll put them on, I guess." Lur unbuckled them and put them on his feet. He started to walk around, wincing slightly as they were tight around his feet and ankles. Then, he gave a try at walking up the wall. That definitely felt odd, like he was climbing but doing the reverse he usually did, constantly moving his feet instead of his hands.
Lur's mentor began to talk further as he walked along the wall. "Relics kind of have a mind of their own sometimes. You sync well with them, they work better for you. If you sync poorly…"
"Um… I'm stuck…" Lur found himself stuck with his feet on the side of the wall.
"That happens." He shook his head. "Come on, unbuckle them…" Lur pulled himself forward and undid the buckles, before promptly falling on his back. It wasn't very far, less than a meter probably, but it wasn't exactly fun. Even after being healed from a huge fall, it still all hurt.
That was a good reminder to never trespass on Oread turf.
"Alright…" The master said as he helped Lur up. "I think that'll be all for tonight."
"T-thats all? A spell, a Seal, and a relic?"
"Yes." He spoke flatly. "It's gotten late, and it gets dark early up here anyway. So, you need to rest."
Late in the night, as his new teacher set up a little cot for him, Lur asked a question. "Can I learn your name? You've never said anything-"
"No." He replied in a stern, startling tone, drawing his hood back up.
When Lur woke up, he found himself in his own Dwarf-style home, tiny and comfortable, yet strong and sturdy. He would've presumed that all of that was a dream were it not for the slight pain in the small of his back and the tiny gold envelope in his hands with a delicately written signature on it.