Beyond Average Prequel [DiceRPG]

Jon had eaten half their lunch, though no one would admonish a starving child for doing so. He was much more joyful now that he had a full tummy, and so was amiable towards some pressing questions.

"I was travelling with my mother and father. We were trying to hunt a snow cow. They chased it and I ran away to where they told me to wait. They didn't come for me in the night. I tried to walk back home, but I don't know where it is. It's my first time outside…"

There was a question on everyone's lips, but they left it unsaid. Instead they shared a glance between one another.

"We will try to guide you back to your family," Elowen said. "Ylra is a great tracker, though she has little experience this far north. We will do our best, but we cannot promise you it will be quick. We may need to find another tribe to assist you."

"I want to see mama and papa," Jon said, frowning.

“Let’s try our best to find them,” Adam said, smiling at the giant child.

With his stomach full, the child was able to walk alongside them as they rode on their mountain yaks. His steps were quick compared to the average man, so he was able to keep up with the creatures.

“Are you an elf?” Jon asked.

“Half an elf,” Adam replied.

“I’ve never seen an elf before.”

“Have you ever left your village before?”

“No.”

“Do you usually receive visitors?”

“Sometimes, but I have to stay home.”

“Why?” Adam asked.

“Mama and papa say so.”

“They do, eh?” Adam wondered why his parents would not let anyone see him. Was it a cultural thing? Did giant children not receive visitors? Was it because they needed to pass a trial in order to be considered adults? Was that what happened to Jon? Did the giant child travel with his parents to slay something? Was he left alone on purpose? The questions continued to pour into his mind.

Jon remained silent as they continued their travel towards the west. They weren't so far from the mountain, but finding the people within them would be hard. Adam was surprised that there was a frost giant so far south. Though there was snow about, it was surprising that they had found one so quickly.

Ylra continued to ride on ahead, scouting and tracking whatever she could. Eventually dusk was beginning to approach, and Ylra went with Rojer to hunt something.

Mana: 40 -> 37
Spell: Tower of Adam

As Adam finished casting the spell, Jon gasped.

"There's a tower!" Jon's jaw dropped in awe.

"There is," Adam said. "It's my tower."

"You can use magic?" Jon asked.

"Yes I can," Adam said, smiling at the giant child. "I can use a lot of magic."

"The village elder can use magic, and her daughter can too. They're shamans."

"I can't use that sort of magic."

"Are you strong?"

"I'd like to think so."

"He's very strong," Elowen said, holding the princess in her arms. "We paid a lot of money for him to accompany us because he's strong."

"Who is that?" Jon asked, pointing to the merman princess.

"She's a baby," Elowen replied. "She was sick and we had to heal her."

"Is she still sick?"

"No, thankfully."

"She's all blue…"

"That's just her normal skin. She's a merman child."

"Is she your daughter?" Jon asked, his eyes lighting up.

"No," Elowen replied. Jon frowned and looked down, his eyes no longer glittering. "She is the daughter of someone close to my family."

"Do you have children?" Jon asked.

Elowen smiled. "Not yet, but one day."

"And you, mister?" he asked Adam.

"I'm not planning on any, not yet anyway. I want to explore the world first."

"What about you, mister?"

"Aye, ah've got two children." Redboulded nodded. "A lad and a pass, both just little ones though. Thirteh and twenteh five."

"Are they as small as you?"

"Nay, smaller."

"Smaller?" Jon gaped. He thought for a moment. "Children are small, yes."

Adam glanced at his tower and thought about creating a second one. Could he do that?

Mana: 37 -> 34
Spell: Tower of Adam

Emerging from the ground came a second tower. This tower was configured slightly differently, this time with the bathroom on the second floor and a bedroom on the ground floor. It was going to be difficult for the child to bathe and sleep on the second floor, so he swapped the combinations. Jon would have to walk between the two to use either, but that was a small price to pay.

Adam assisted the giant with his bath, helping him in. He seemed to be afraid of the hot water, but after a short while he became used to it.

"Magic is amazing…" Jon whispered.

"It is, isn't it?" Adam reached out to Jon's clothes and cleaned them using his Tricks trick. "It can make life pretty easy, though it is expensive to set up sometimes. There are some spells that cost hundreds of gold to use."

"Hundreds of gold?! That's so many gold!"

"It is, isn't it?" Adam chuckled. "You know, I summoned my mountain yak with magic too."

"That's why it looks so different?"

"That's right." Adam nodded. "My owl too."

"Your owl feels weird."

"That's because he is weird."

Bandlor pecked the top of Adam's head, and he chuckled in response.

Once they were done, they headed out to see Ylra and Rojer. The pair had returned with a deer and some birds. Redboulder was in the process of beginning to cook.

"A second tower?" Ylra asked.

"It was going to be too cramped otherwise."

"Makes sense. We had to scavenge for some more food too." She revealed some nuts and fruit that she passed along to everyone.

"To think we'd have to look after two children on the way to our destination," Adam joked.

Ylra smiled. "In some ways, there's always been two children to look after."

Adam had no idea what she meant by that, but he left it be. Soon dinner was cooked and the group ate together. Eventually Rojer and Redboulder went to bathe, and then Elowen and Ylra did.

"Tonight, let's drink." Redboulder said, taking out a small cask. He poured in a drink for everyone, and then began sharing stories.

He spoke of Magazun the Magnificent, a dwarven king who ruled centuries ago. Deep under the mountains he reigned, keeping back the terrible scourge of demons. With his trusty warhammer, Nightless Sky, he was able to defeat the Demon Prince of Primalcy. Unfortunately he had gone missing, along with his warhammer and his ancient gear.

“They say he continues to fight the demons in their realm now,” Redboulder said.

“Do demons really exist?” Jon asked. “I heard they take children if they don’t go to sleep on time.”

Adam smirked as Redboulder spoke about the demons, causing Jon to grow even paler than white. Soon Jon was hampering to sleep, and so Redboulder and Adam retreated to a room. Adam realised how awkward it was for them to sleep in two separate towers, as their watches would be slightly awkward now with the blind side of the other tower.

“I’ll keep Hades and the yak on watch too. They don’t need sleep, so they’ll cover both sides too. If something happens to either of them, I’ll wake up too.”

The watches passed by uneventfully. Morning was chilly up in the north, though the warm baths helped warm them up. Adam wrapped his cloak around himself, slurping the hot soup. Gentle snow fell from the heavens, and the white landscape called to them.

They continued onward, finally following a mountain path. Ylra took point once again, often times returning with a nod. They continued to march up the path, the steep incline proved to be no issue for any of them, including the giant child.

“Does any of this look familiar to you?” Adam asked.

Jon shook his head. “I’ve never travelled through this path before.” Jon looked around to make sure.

Ylra went out to scout again, but this time she did not return as quickly. Adam sped up for a moment, but Ylra returned just as he did.

“We should stop here for the moment,” Ylra said. Her eyes met Elowen’s with a particular look.

Mana: 40 -> 37
Spell: Tower of Adam

Elowen and Ylra had left for a short time, but returned once Adam had completed his spell. Adam had configurated this tower with a bathroom and a lounge. The lounge was filled with various sofas, side tables and footstools to put up your feet and rest one’s weariness.

Mana: 37 -> 34
Spell: Tower of Adam

Redboulder began to cook, asking Jon to help. Adam took the time to go and bathe.

‘How are you coping, Bandlor?’ Adam asked.

‘I’m doing fine. I can smell the scent of battle and glory inches away.’

Adam raised his brows in alarm. ‘Is that so?’

‘You will see.’

Redboulder finished with cooking and so the group came together to eat. Again they ate some nuts and fruit along with their food, with Ylra finding some more nearby. The berries were slightly bitter and sour, but there was something about it which beckoned Adam for more.

Once the dwarf was finished eating, he took Jon to go and bathe, something which surprised the giant.

“We bathe a lot,” Jon said, looking between everyone.

“We prefer ta be warm, we smallfolk,” Redboulder said.

With Jon gone, Ylra sighed. “Up ahead there is a small village in ruins,” she whispered.

Adam looked up at her, surprised by her words. “What?” he asked, his eyes darting between everyone else. It seemed as though he was the last to know judging by their knowing looks.

“The village has been destroyed recently, burned down to ruins.” She bit into a sour berry, swallowing it quickly. “It was a human village, but now nothing of it remains.”

“Damn,” Adam said, frowning. “What could have caused it?”

“Giants,” Ylra replied.

“Giants?” Adam stared into Ylra’s eyes, who bowed her head. “Do you think it was frost giants?”

“No, I don’t think so. There was a small mound in the centre of the village, which frost giants are not known to leave behind. They may be mountain giants or mud giants, but I am not certain.”

“If we follow the same path we have… will we come across these giants?”

“The chances are high. We could barter with them for information, but…” Ylra fell silent for a moment, her eyes scanning the horizon as she fell deep in thought.

“It may not go quite as smoothly as we like,” Elowen said.

“Are we able to handle ourselves against them?” Adam asked.

“It would depend on the number of giants.” Elowen looked to Ylra, who nodded to confirm her worries. “There seem to at least ten giants.”

“Ten giants?” Adam’s lips grew taut. “Of course there are,” he grumbled quietly, shaking his head. He sighed and rubbed his head with a hand. Ten giants were too many giants for their group to handle if it came to blows. He would need to change his spells around in case it came to that. He was fortunate to have acquired so many movement spells, they would be useful.

“There is the matter of Jon,” Elowen began. “It may come to a situation where we can no longer escort him through the land.”

Adam met Elowen’s eyes. “What will you do?” Adam asked, wary of the line of thought.

“We will need to leave him with a nearby village,” Ylra said.

“If we are to continue on our journeys, we cannot be slowed down by a child,” Elowen urged.

“We are already slowed down by a child,” Adam said, his eyes falling onto the cooing princess.

Lady Elowen bowed her head. “That may be the case, but this is a different manner. We are not bound to Jon as we are with the princess.”

Adam’s brow twitched. “It is the responsibility of adults to look after children. We found the child, so that duty falls on us.” His words we sharp and curt. “You never know, Jon might be related to the giants you want to speak with.”

Elowen bowed her head further. “If you feel so strongly about the matter, we will take the child along with us.”

Adam nodded and then finished up with his meal. He excused himself, going for a quick walk to stretch his legs. It was a dark line of thought to abandon a child, a giant child, with nearby villagers. There may be an issue between the humans and the giants nearby, and leaving a child to the humans…

He couldn’t bear the thought of it, to leave a child in the whims of the people. Though, he supposed that making a mess and leaving the responsibility to others was quite the British thing to do. He chuckled to himself at the thought.

Eventually he returned to the towers, making his way up to the lounge. The smell of the room was very much a lounge. It was that gentle sofa smell which always caused one’s body to relax. He lay on a couch, inhaling the scent deeply. He could feel himself become like jelly, losing the weariness of the past few days. The cold had already seeped into his bones, causing him to grow lethargic quicker throughout the day.

A sound caught his attention. He looked aside to see Ylra peeking in to peer around the from the stairs. Her eyes flickered across the corners of the rooms, then the various items.

“Is this your hide hole?” Ylra asked?

“Something like that,” he replied, chuckling. “I’m too weary to actually hide, but I just want to relax on a sofa. Now if only I had a nice cup of tea and a good book.”

“We are about to bathe,” she said. “I’d ask you take your time relaxing so we can be done.”

“Ah, understood.” Adam nodded as Ylra withdrew under the stairs. ‘Should I change the bathroom to the top floor? That would be awkward for Jon though.’ Eventually he realised that it didn’t really matter. He’d offer them the room to relax in if they needed it after, and he’d spend some time with Jon to make it up to him. He could always use his tricks to keep the giant occupied.

A thunderous sound echoed nearby and Adam pulled away from the sofa. “What was that?” he whispered. Bandlor shot out away from his head, and after a moment he heard a shout, as well as Bandlor’s thoughts.

‘Giants!’

“Giants?” Adam whispered, and then the tower shook, the thunderous sound echoing through it. Adam scrambled his way to the window to look outside, seeing three figures around.

They were tall, taller than Adam, and built like a bull who had never stopped eating since birth, with their waddling fat jiggling as they moved. Adam couldn’t make out anymore details because the giant was currently lifting up a rock to toss at him.

“Oh no,” he whispered.