First Trip to Nutberg

A couple years after I was found by Vonmiir, I had mastered Dwarvish and could speak Common fairly well. We were passing through the forest and came near to Nutberg and saw a sign that I could recognize as Scui, but couldn’t really read it. We had never ventured near there, and I had never questioned Vonmiir about where my family was from. Vonmiir suddenly stopped, and the bottles of ale we had in the wagon clinked against each other.
 
“What seems to be the matter, Von-Adad?” I asked him in Dwarvish, using my nickname for him combining his name with father in our language.
 
“My Mezzi-Jun. I have never discussed your lineage with you before. But I believe it is time that it is addressed. You do know the history of your name…”
 
“Yes! Yes! You found me in a Juniper bush while looking for ingredients to make your wonderful gin!” I squeaked, interrupting him.
 
“…Yes, my child. But I speak of where your history lies in your blood. Your ancestry does not lie with dwarves, but with the Scuirian. They are a race just like you, and they have their own lands and languages and stories. We are near to one of their larger areas. It is called Nutberg. And if you are ready, I would like to take you there.”
 
I remember hesitating and stammering for a few minutes while my mind went into overdrive. I never thought about it before. I loved my life traveling with Vonmiir. I knew that I was different… Hell I had met a Scuirian before. Why did I have to know where I came from? But if he thought it was important, then it must be.
 
“Yes. Let’s go. I believe I am ready.” I somehow stuttered out, while grabbing Vonmiir’s flask and taking a hefty swig.
 
We journeyed through the forest for about an hour, but it felt like each step was a year long. I started to notice that the trees grew taller and thicker with beautiful leaves that gave off an aroma that felt comforting. Then, there started to be little windows in the trees. Little bridges, doors, mainly higher up and shrouded with coverage. And then, there was other… me. But, not quite like me. There were Scuirian males with red hair, and small children with black hair and… so many. They didn’t take much notice of me, but mainly paid attention to the giant dwarf next to me. He bowed his head, and a merchant Scuirian came skittering out of his shop and almost pierced by ears with how high he squealed, coming up to Vonmiir: “VONNNN! WHAT A PLEASANT DAY IT IS!”
 
Ah, that is why he looked familiar. We have come across this one on the road. They laughed and caught up; I wasn’t paying too much attention to what they were saying. My eyes were wandering around, looking at all the architecture and structures. Other Scuirians began to take note that I was accompanying the dwarf, and that I was grease-covered with lots of supplies on. My eyes caught glimpse of a white Scuirian woman, and my little heart almost began beating out of my chest.
Of course. Why didn’t I think about this sooner? My birth parents could very well still be alive and living here. This is the largest population of Scuirians, and I always knew they abandoned me. Vonmiir stayed camped next to the spot where he found me for two weeks and asked everyone around if they knew anything about a Scuirian family looking for their lost daughter, but no such luck. I’ve accepted it. Von-Adad is my family, and besides, these others seemed so strange and otherworldly. And boring. I was growing impatient with Vonmiir’s jabbering, so I kicked the bell on his leg that he kept there for when I needed his attention. He looked down and winked, finishing his conversation, and saying goodbye.
 
“Yes, little Mezzi-Jun?”
 
“What if my parents are here? What if they recognize me? What would I even say to them…?” my thoughts vomited out to him as my racing heart refused to pump the brakes. I then felt a soft pat on my head, and it slowed a bit. Vonmiir’s face was sad, but I knew what it said. He knew that I will say what comes to mind as soon as I see them, and something in me knew that I would too.
 
We camped outside Nutberg, but it was difficult to sleep. I ended up staying up tinkering with things until dawn, then awoke Vonmiir to have some breakfast. I began chattering about wanting to find a library to get some books on Scuirians and Nutberg, as this was all about learning, right?
 
Vonmiir chuckled and agreed. We went straight there, but Vonmiir had to stay outside, of course. I skidded in, probably a bit too fast, and I believe I scared the librarian. After calming down and explaining myself, she took me to the history section, then the architecture, then the magic, pretty much every section and every best book from them. It was so strange being in a place that was… me sized. I left with 4 books to learn from, including a language book to practice Scui. I came out to find Vonmiir chatting with the same merchant Scuirian, Tipp I believe his name was.
 
“Ah, Juniper. Tipp here has informed me that he may know who your parents are. Would that be interesting information to you?”
 
I almost dropped the books but caught and stowed them away. I took a deep breath in and squeaked as I exhaled.
 
“Yes, I suppose that would be of interest. Well Tipp, how do you know?”
 
“Well ma’am, there is only one family o’ white Scuirians ‘round. The Wickers! They run the Family Above.” He spoke as if they were important, yet dangerous.
 
“Uhm, the ‘Family Above’? What on earth is that?”
 
“It is what it is. They are a group, a cult if ya ask me… All gatherin’ about. Followin’ their strange ideologies. Thinkin’ they’re above everyone else… It’s in the name, innit?”
 
Oh great, my family is a Family with a capital F. (Fuck me.) We’d come across other cults, and they somehow always end up in the papers with stories about ritual sacrifices and adventurers slaughtering them in their caves. I sighed and asked Tipp to direct us to them. I suppose I might as well see if they had a valid reason for dropping me in a bush.
 
Misk and Teekie Wicker. The current leaders of the “Family Above”. Described by followers as a “group of patient believers, waiting on the One True God to reveal himself, and to follow the guidelines of the Seers,” which were some sort of prophets of whoever this random god was. Turns out, (of course), those were my birth parents, and the main fellowship of the “Family” were my blood. I tried to be confident as I stepped in their strange bungalow of a church and could tell who they were immediately. I looked a hell of a lot like the woman Scuirian, except her fur was glistening white and clean while mine looked greyer due to the grease. The man had large, deep brown eyes, meeting my own and flashing a glimpse of recognition. His eyes closed, and he took the woman’s hand. They both began to smile, a rather creepy smile if you ask me, and came towards me.
 
“Ah! Hello, daughter of my blood! Welcome to our fellowship. We are who you seek, your lineage! I am Misk, and this is your birth mother, Teekie,” the man gestured at the woman, as if this were all rehearsed. The woman bowed and said “Yes, and you have come to join our Family, I presume?” she attempted to take my hand, but I instinctively flinched away.
 
“Uh, no, I uh just came to uh,” (come on Juniper focus, deep breath ya puss), “I just came to ask why I was dumped in a bush, then we will go. I have a family, and he is outside and probably rather bored.”
 
Their faces didn’t move an inch. Did they just blink in unison or was I imagining that?
 
“AH, yes. Of course.” Misk - my birth father - began, “Well, dear child, it is what the One True God dictates. We are the Family that stays Above the filth by following what he has commanded. One of the most important commandments of He is that couples shall only have two offspring: one a male, and one a female. If any more children were to come about, they shall be given to the One True God for his hand to guide them. As we already had a boy and a girl, your siblings technically Kite and Kimi, we naturally had to give you back to Him. I believe you were our… 5th offspring? Many have come back, as you have, to question us…”
 
“But many others have come back to join us! Once you are of age, you may become a part of the Family!” Teekie practically screeched, “And you too can join us in welcoming the One True God when he reveals himself to us, ascending us to be Above!” I could tell this was definitely not the first time that they had delivered this monologue.
 
“Alright, listen, I’ll save you the trouble of continuing this little speech, but I am not in any way wanting to join your little, uh, ‘group’ here. I got the answer I came for, as fuckin’ crazy as it is, and I’ll be on my way,” I turned to get the hell out of there when Misk grasped my shoulder.
 
“The only path to being pure is to repent and embrace the serenity of patiently awaiting Him.”
 
I cocked my head to the side and dropped a loogy right onto his hand that was digging into my collarbone, which he immediately retracted and scoffed. I laughed, “Yeah, not big on ‘pure’ there, buddy. But good luck with that waiting nonsense.”
 
And with that, I strode out of their crazy cult house and was officially done trying to speak with them. Vonmiir and I stayed one more night, stocking up on some things while Tipp showed me around some. The library let me keep the books, once I fixed up some things that had been broken for quite some time, (no tinkerers here? That’s sad). I saw some of the cult members around, keeping their noses high with their immaculate fur, all in pearly robes. I noted each white Scuirian walking around, thinking that these must be my blood of some sort, each in the same robes to reflect their purity. I laughed when they looked down on me, and I even spilt some oil on a couple, “by accident” of course…
 
Vonmiir was right. It was something that I needed to do, and somehow it felt like an invisible weight was brushed off me. A family line of Scuirian whackado cultists and abandoned kids. Hell, who knows how many of us are out there. But oh well, I was content, traveling the lands with my Von-Adad. Who knows what the future could bring, I just hope it doesn’t involve any crazy Puritan Scuirians or whatever else their commandments dictate…