Name: Redback

Bonded to:

Age: ~400
Sex: Male
Soul Name: n/a Known By: n/a
Mate Status/Sex Preference: no current partner / straight
Children: possibly some back at the Troll caverns
Parents/Relatives: unknown Trolls
Height: 4'6" Build: quite upright for a Troll, strong torso and upper body, all muscle
Hair Color, Length, Style: red verging on maroon, kept shaved on the sides and done up in a mohawk style; big bushy eyebrows; short and well groomed beard
Eye Color, Size, Shape: mottled brown, very clear and sharp, large
Skin Tone: medium green with faintly brownish hazel green hands and feet, extremeties, soft parts; no, he does not in fact have a whole red back
Voice Quality: booming, sure, a fairly large vocabulary for a Troll
Clothing -- Summer: as shown, only without the leggings
Clothing -- Winter: as shown, may add a thick fur cloak or a hide shirt, may put on fur boots if it's really all that cold but he tolerates cold better than most
Jewlery Worn, Made: necklace and belt adornments are from a longtooth cat killed by him in his youth
Tatoos/Markings/Scars: has scars but they have healed quickly for some reason, perhaps a vestage of magic in the area; does not have tattoos but has been thinking about them since joining the Holt
Pets/Animals Kept: none, animals are for eating
Notable Posessions: his club, made from a single massive bone and inlaid with brass and copper fittings, the marrow was replaced with this metal mixture as well so it's heavy as heck and will definitely do a lot of damage to anything he strikes; has a hoard of shiny things - gems and rocks, metals, shaped items that the Trolls stole or forced elfin slaves to make, also Human-made items and coins
Holt Function: underground guardian? Maybe?
Magic? How Powerful? May have hidden talents such as self-healing (2/10), and definitely can sense both elf and dragon minds (provided they have telepathic abilities) (6/10), he can send but only very weakly (3/10)
Climate/Locations Preferred: underground is best, but he does enjoy night time in the rugged boulders and hills, moons lighting the landscape, and shallow ponds for fishing and cleaning
General Likes: fish, hunting, gambling, intimidating Humans and other Trolls, actually does like the elves here too, theyr'e a bit more accepting than some, even if he does lapse into bossing them around
General Dislikes: heat waves, servitude to other Trolls, bright sunlight, losing at gambling
Fears/Worries: that his old 'king' will find him - and the elves here - and take them all back to the caverns as slaves again
Special Strange Info: it's possible that this Troll is actually a quarter Elf, but... that's just hearsay isn't it? Two-Edge didn't have kids, did he? Until, well, much later than this Holt? Huh. Maybe...
Stats: Strength - very high; Dexterity - High; Agility - Average; Health - High; Intelligence - Average; Appearance - Below Average; Charisma - Average; Magic Power - Below Average
Basic Personality: surprisingly smart and sneaky but not in the typical Troll manner. Redback is eager to show off and equally eager to learn to better himself. Though not 'nice', he's definitely more reasonable and apt to think first, before using that massive club to smash later; he feels more comfortable among elves than trolls
How they feel about
Humans: pfff. idiots, they breed so much it's a wonder we're not all hip-deep in them yet. Well they do make some shiny stuff and that's fun
Elves -- herders: hey if you keep the animals in one place you don't need to go out and catch it, risking yourself, that's a bonus
Elves -- magic users: he is secretly quite impressed with these, and has spent a lot of time watching elves using their magic, in the attempt to make his own talents stronger
Elves -- bond-riders: and here we see where his facade of secret admiration fails, and he is fawning over himself to get better looks at those dragons...
Trolls, etc: well, obviously some of them can be amazing (flexes), but a lot of them are absolute dung, and he wouldn't give them a cup of water in the desert
Dragon:

Skills: crafting metal and ores, with a surprisingly careful touch and exceptional workmanship; designs weapons and tools; navigation particularly in darkness and underground settings

History: Redback had another name when he was a pip, but it was lost when his mother and auntie were taken by the Frost Trolls. He was also taken, and several others related to him, not surprisingly from the same raid on their small cavern. They were marched north, under the hills and plains, into the colder Troll territory, and there they remained for more than 200 years, enslaved. He has many half-siblings, cousins, neices and nephews, all of them 'half' because of course, they'd killed the males in order to bring the women and young back as slaves.

He learned to toil, even as a very young child. First just by fetching things for the females in the creche, but then being sent into the mines. Most of the slave males worked in the mines, only a spare few were respected enough to be allowed to do other duties, but never guards, never close to the Frost King. Redback gained his name from having been whipped so hard and so often that his back usually had long red welts across its green surface. While he showed no open disrespect to the guards or the other Frost Trolls, but they always caught him lifting small gems, stealing tools, or just slacking off (read: on his rest time) making things for himself. That was absolutely forbidden, all those things were always taken away from him. But still he continued to filch and tinker.

At some point one of the mining overseers realized that he was quite good with those tools, that his 'fiddling' with the ores and gems produced amazing results. At first he attempted to pass them off as his own, to their King, but said king saw right through that lie. So Redback was brought before the Frost King formally at last, and given a very special promotion. He was to produce rings, filigree, fine works that most of the other Trolls seemed incapable of doing. It was true that their weapons and armor were remarkable, that their tools and gear were durable and well made. All the gems encrusting the poured-silver crown that the King wore were dazzling. But he wanted something that showed Troll craftsmanship at its finest, not merely at its biggest.

Thus, for another 50 odd years, Redback was assigned to filter through the gems, select metals and stones, and make them into beautiful items. Most of them were handed off to the Frost King's harem (none of the slaved women got them, of course, they were merely acquired in battle, not born to the Frost clan). But some wound up on the King's fingers, some decorated the severed fingers and ears of his enemies on his necklace.

All this was thought of as perfectly fine by the King and his court - they didn't notice Redback's sullen glare. It only changed when he was praised for good work. The beatings were reduced, but never quite vanished; if he got in the way of a guard, if he accidentally broke a mold or cut a gem the wrong way, or even if he looked the King in the eye... he'd be beaten again. And he was tired of it.

He had his own tools now, but they were delicate, fit for small work and not hefting chunks of stone out of the cavern walls. Eventually he figured out a way to sneak into the mine and pull out neglected items: a shovel here, a pick there. Hiding those among his sleep furs, he prowled around under the guise of looking for the best vein of amethyst or the right sparkle of opals. He found a weak point; a lesser guarded hall, a spot where he would then decide to begin hollowing out.

Eventually he did so, right under the noses of his guards. A disused hall with hardly any ore or crystal? No one needed to go there. He started using it as a piss-wall, so the most anyone else might do is... piss on it too, in the event they even wandered by it. Another ten years of his life went by in this manner: form a ring or a diadem, set it with stones, take dinner, sneak to the hall and dig a few precious hand-spans from a nook that couldn't even be seen from most angles, sneak back to his sleep chamber, and start over the next day.

While he was doing all of this, however, he made note of a group of Elfin slaves that had been captured and been put to work with the female Trolls. They were generally only good for such duties, but given that they were from the Frozen Mountains, calling themselves Go-Backs, they were all still reasonably sturdy and held much resentment. One by one, they were picked off: he'd seen six, then four, then there was only the one that was kept near the forges. She was certainly different, bearing extremely strong fire-shaping magic? He watched one day as she lit and manipulated the fires, and even the other guards were entranced by it. Magic was something that eluded Trolls.

But not Redback. He'd been having dreams ever since their arrival, and realized that it was due to those Elves. He sensed anguish, he realized that whenever he had nightmares of pain and fire, it was because one of that fire-starter's family was being killed to keep her in line. Redback faintly remembered those same threats, he'd put those memories behind him but they were still lurking.

He formulated a plan, and he started to try something out. Maybe... maybe if he could sense her dreams, she could sense his? It seemed to work better when he was well rested, and eventually this plan started showing promise. Even if he had to be in a sort of groggy daze to 'send' his thoughts to her, she was an Elf, she had the power to do so already, and she made it clear that she felt that contact. He sensed hesitation, but then he could hardly blame her. He was a Troll after all, he didn't trust Trolls at this point. It wasn't common knowledge that Elves had this particular power, but his family had known, he never said a word to the other Trolls once they'd been captured. Why risk them trying to stop an Elf from thinking? It would just kill them.

This idea had obviously also occurred to the Go-Back, whose insistant thoughts almost every moment were don't tell don't tell.

They drifted closer to one another every few days, at first by happenstance - the harem was being paraded around and the Elf was meant to show her skill by lighting all the smelters at once. That wore her out, and frightened some of the female Trolls. Redback was there mainly to get one of those Troll's finger dimensions for a new ring. But later, Redback knew that the Elf would be there on a regular basis, when the forges needed a boost. Whenever a big vein of ore was being carried back up to them, she'd be needed.

So he kept his ears open, any time that happened, he was sure to be able to stand on the other side of a rock-wall and communicate just as if he were beside her. He disguised any of his facial expressions by farting or belching if anyone came by. When she asserted that it was time, that she had to go, it was after a forge accident distracted everyone who might have otherwise seen her leave her cell. He took a moment to collect his wits, and ran his memory-feet down the corridors leading to his exit. Then, he sent that to her, mostly visuals, but also... well, it was hard to disguise the smell from his own memory!

Then he ran that same path himself, also ignored because of the hubub in the forge. He didn't dare bring a lit torch... And remembered he didn't likely need one!

He felt the Elf's fear and determination, before even seeing her. She wasn't out of breath, but she had definitely been moving quickly. He pulled her into the narrow nook and then indicated she should duck. He brought the stolen pickaxe down on the top of that nook, and the rumble of a few loose rocks preventing anyone from following couldn't possibly have been heard over the King's laughter at his subject having his foot amputated.

A few moments of rest was all he allowed - they had to move from this place as soon as possible. And, given that he was a Troll who had keen perception and a life underground, he knew there was a natural cavern nearby. The Elf dared to light a very small flame - held over her hand as though a candle, without wax. It was more than enough to help him locate the best point to break through to that cavern, but he did so very carefully indeed. Scraping instead of striking the dirt and stone.

She could have easily slipped through the first opening, but waited for him to finish. Just big enough for him to squeeze with difficulty, but the other side opened up nicely! Just as he expected!

They found their bearings - there was water here, trickling from somewhere above, likely the snow melt on the mountains that they were deeply under. There were no gems littering the walls, and no ore resting in layers along the stone: a useless place for Trolls. Nothing of value, at least not to the greedy Frost King.

The water held sightless fish, which they ate eagerly. And the air... Once he'd mentioned it was fresh, also held bats - that meant the cave had an entrance to the surface somewhere. They weren't safe in here for very long, Redback estimated as they began the search for that cavern opening, perhaps three days at the most to get ahead of the Frost Trolls and their patrols.

They would be busy, making ingots from that ore brought in; but once that was done, they would absolutely be searching for their jewelsmith and their firestarter.

***

They emerged after three days of searching and following the bats. Those little things were fast, but they finally found a broad, flat crescent opening. It was lower in altitude than either of them expected, but perhaps they hadn't known exactly how far under the mountains the Frost clan had dug. Or perhaps Redback hadn't remembered how many days they'd walked northward from his old home's caves. It didn't look the same, of course, and it was highly likely that they had emerged in an entirely different portion of those plains.

It didn't look like any Troll had set foot on this ground, though - there was no evidence of digging or their rare battles with the Go-Backs in the actually frozen portion of the mountains to the north. The place would get cold, obviously, the snow was quite nearby which meant they were still at a high altitude even with a flat plain of grassland to the south. The glacier that carved this valley had long since receeded, but perhaps once it had been part of that Great Ice Wall that now sprang to Mysoken's ancestral memories.

She told him of that - what every Go-Back knew. And he spoke of his time barely recalled in the dustier and dry but elegantly formed caverns of his youth. Together they realized that they could travel much more quickly on these plains than underground, but... where would they go? The Troll tunnels were everywhere, weren't they?

No - no, it was not everywhere, but specific paths. And from one short mountain peak that they reached after another eight of days walking, they could tell just where those paths were. It was strange, neither of them had considered that perhaps their ancestors hollowed those very paths - which had collapsed after millennia of weathering and ground-quakes. This area was riddled with them, like worm paths through tree bark. But no Trolls lived here, now. Sensibly, because the ground quakes continued to that day.

They'd both felt something quite strange several years before, and confirmed that they'd both sensed 'a big magic'. It turned out something much bigger than either of them could have imagined. But they would wander for another year, above ground, sneaking to the tree line, lurking by boulders, always watching for any sign of the Trolls that they knew could be anywhere.

What they didn't see when hunting, was the odd creature over head. Of course, that odd creature hadn't seen them either - only the deer that they were stalking near the shallow river. The dragon dove and caught the deer, lifting it easily, and would enjoy the meal.

But it turned, in the air, as its rider commanded it. Surely the pair would be next, surely they would be eaten alive by this bird-bat-thing!

The dragon landed, half in the river, where its tail splashed and fish scattered as it moved. This thing was so big, its wings stretched out to mantle the deer and eat it... It was striped in an amazing pattern, which might have been of use for camouflage had it been on the ground in tall grass, or among autumn trees... But sure enough there was a rider. An Elf?! She was speaking, not harshly, to the creature. Something about warning her next time, or landing softer.

When she dropped to the ground it was with grace and apparently practice, she dusted herself off and began just - walking right up to the Elf and the Troll. On an impulse, Redback carefully lowered and sank to one knee: a sign of deference to her. Just in case that gigantic beast she just rode in on chose to have a snack!

It was true that the Elf would certainly respond better to Mysoken - not all Elves were aware that some Trolls were friendly, after all. She continued to stare at Redback, however, and her first words were, "is that a Troll". So Mysoken told her he was - and his name, and her own. Rasp was this other Elf's name, and... the dragon thing was called Lorewrath. It didn't seem like it was going to eat them, when Redback stood.

Rasp waited for the dragon to finish its meal - hardly earned - and then inexplicably offered to take the disparate pair of Elf and Redback to her home?

That pair stood mutely for a moment or two. Mute, but not silent. Do you think we should trust her? What if that creature - what if there's more of them?

Redback gave a grunt, it seems like it's happy just eating and ... it did listen to her, perhaps it's--

I am standing right here, that dragon's mind came to the pair. There are many dragons in our Holt! I am the finest though.

"Excuse me, but you - just... You can send?" Rasp waited for Mysoken to turn and nod. "Well - she says you two can stop talking to one another like that, I'm safe!"

That was a relative term, at least when they were up in the air on Lorewrath's back! But where Mysoken was slightly shaken by the trip, Redback relished it. He had lived his whole life in the caverns below ground, but whenever he thought back to the sky and stars, those moments were shining and warm. And now, on a dragon, he could all but touch the sky!

***

Their arrival was prefaced by the bugling call of Lorewraith, and that sound summoned many other colorful dragons. Big ones, small ones, dragons with patterns on their hides and others that were muted in shade. Redback was amazed, his Elf companion slightly awed and afraid.

He put his hand gently on her shoulder, and nudged up against her mind with a quiet confidence. Thus assured, they waited for the leaders of this Bald Mountain Holt to come - and she was ... not really that impressive, truth be told. But Apogee held herself with ease, her companions of various stages of curiosity. Mostly about him, he knew.

The Elfess looked them both up and down, batted around some conversation both privately and verbally, before simply joking about how Mysoken shouldn't burn down the forest with her power. And that was that? It seemed so casual, though there were obvious stares and muttering about the Troll in their midst.

They had quarters provided - and were told that perhaps they might find their own area to settle more permanently at some point.

When they had dragons.

Redback marveled at that thought: the chieftess said when and not if.

He endeavored to learn as much as he could about the dragons here, while also checking up on the ways he could help out with his own skill set. He discovered that some were scaley, some had hide, others shifted from four feet to two (imagine that? a shape-shifter?), one or two didn't have flight. He was already thinking about decorations and jewlery fit for both dragons and their riders.

Mysoken was still a bit shy around the dragons, but then she was also still a little hesitant to join in activities with the Elves. "They will accept you more easily than me," he explained, as they sat in their shared den, "and I bet a dragon would too." And to reinforce that thought, "besides, you're a better fire shaper than some of them can breathe!"

***

"We found a place, it's an interesting group of dragons, and very pretty," Apogee said, "but we'll have to find a way to get you there and back, apprently they can't teleport."

He didn't quite know what that meant, but learned very quickly. They had to choose a dragon that would be big enough to be able to carry or at least cling to another on the way home. Apogee glanced at the opal-blue Askan she had been partnered with for all this time, and that dragoness would have fluffed up like a preening dove had she feathers.

"I will take you, there and back!" She proclaimed. Apogee helped Redback figure out what he'd need for this journey and realized that most of their gear - cloaks for chill weather, fur boots, even their knives or spears in case they needed hunting equipment - was sized for Elves and not Trolls. Eventually they decided to lump it and simply go: the dragons would take care of it, Eurani could make a room warm or chill with magic, they would only need to hunt if it was a group activity anyway.

It definitely turned out to not be worth worrying about... because the location they found for this dragon he'd be presented to, was in space.

Actually able to touch the stars? When they got to this 'space station' Redback was in awe. He wanted to see... and he could only see little bits. He had to learn quite a bit about space, planets, stars, light... And soaked it all in. When the dragons were presented, he took that in with a slow breath.

They were amazing. And since he and Mysoken had been around them now for two full moons, he had seen some beautiful, impressive dragons!

One of them stepped out with pride. She was small, particularly compared to the golden green ... rainbow... parent! But how lovely she looked. Redback felt a tingling sensation in his mind, it was like but very unlike the pings that he and Mysoken used back in the caverns. It went deeper than that though, it went right into his spirit.

I will come with you, I am Rubricath. You seem ... familiar to me, I don't know why.

He sent back, well your name and your color is my name, Redback! You... are amazing, I can't wait to show you off like the jewel you are!

**

They arrived once Rubricath had grown just enough to be steady on her feet. Eurani didn't struggle with this added passenger, she wouldn't be even as large as her beloved friend Stallano. It would take more than two turns of the seasons before this dragoness was reasonably 'adult' and in that time they took time to learn all the basics: how to spread wings and leap from a high ledge, and not die. Finding the right updraft. Who was whom in the Holt, and what dragons were paired up with them. Which dragons - or even Elves - could teach which skills and magic.

It was the last that gave the most challenge, because this sort of magic wasn't common at all in their tribe. Her breath could glitter in the air, and Redback made the mistake of breathing it in. Once. Only once. It was a good thing that they had a skilled shaper to help extract the tiny particles from his body. That the shaper in question was a sleek and shiny 'miner daemon' who had befriended the daughter of another Go-Back ... that made for a very interesting afternoon chat.

Several of the Go-Backs, and others who had encountered the Trolls on their various journeys, were shall we say, far from friendly to Redback. Even if he'd arrived with an Elf, they had strong feelings about how close he ought to be or whether he should even be here at Bald Mountain at all.

But the dragons didn't have the same disposition as some of those Elves. Perhaps some day, the former Go-Backs and those who had experienced slavery or abuse at their hands would understand: it wasn't all of them, sometimes Troll enslaved Troll. It didn't really endear them to the breed, but to him? Yes, eventually. Mostly because he was very skilled, and he could send his thoughts. Something more than just a physical presence.

Plus: the dragon. Just. This dragoness was so ready to impress people, it never mattered to her how wide the person was (she only really seemed to understand 'the skinny ones' are Elves, 'the big broad squat one' is a Troll, and 'the tall ones' were almost all Human), they were so happy to be in the sky, or to receive the lovely gemstone gifts that her Redback would present to them. As an artisan, the Troll impressed everyone regardless of their breed.