In a small swamp village south of Enevold, a dragonborn child is born to two parents, not loving parents, not happy parents but not a bad pair of them either. The beautiful,jovial child with scales like jade was born into an utterly boring mother and father. Everything done by the book, his birth wasnt the greatest but it wasn’t the worst, he got just enough toys as a baby, just enough food to be comfortable, just enough interaction with his peers to know they were almost as boring as his parents. At 15 his first taste of magic shown through in a beautiful blossom of….green.
Today was the day, his 15th birthday, as exciting as the last 14 was his guess. As it was, Nyx was not particularly excited. Not because his birthdays had been particularly bad but as with everything else in his life they were lackluster, always the same, predictable even.
Him and his family and maybe some friends would get around a table, sing some songs drink and dance and eat decent food. Maybe if it hadn’t been exactly the same every year he would be more excited. The only thing he looked forward to was his walks into the swamp, where he would spend time alone and walk along the trails or even off them when the mood striked him (which was often) after his daily duties. To Nyx the swamps were the only thing in his life that was everchanging, things were almost never in the same spot where they once were, the plants almost seemed to move from their original positions entirely and the animals seemed to change shape. He was content to sit there until the stars came out, his family didn't like how late he stayed out but they came to understand, eventually that he was different than them, that the comfort they provided was seemingly not enough. Yet Nyx was never a bad child, he helped his parents with their work, he made friends, did what he was supposed to do but it was never enough for him, there was always a dread in the back of his mind “is this how I'm going to spend the rest of my life? Doing the same things my parents did, and my friends parents and their parents' parents?”, That permeated his entire being.
After his work day was finished, he snuck off to the swamp for a few hours until the celebrations began. Sitting on the bank of a dark green pond Nyx listened for the familiar sounds, birds whistled in the air, bugs buzzed, and annoyed, heard the symphony of frogs far in the distance.
“Hello, old friend” he spoke aloud to the swamp itself “today’s my birthday again, i know theres not much you can do but it’d be really nice if you could do something a little different this year, maybe a fire! Or a flood? Maybe there’s a mysterious visitor coming for ME specifically?”. Nyx put clawed fingers up to his chin and rubbed “perhaps even a visitor from OUTER SPACE”. His raised voice was no cause for concern in these swamps, it knew him just as well as he knew it.
Still, he continued his rambling, this is the only place he felt comfortable doing it. “Or a noble on her valiant steed! Come to seek out warriors to defend the great kingdom of Enevold!” he seemed happy with this idea and for a couple of hours he played out scenes of kneeling before a queen, putting on plate armor, fighting enemies whether they be undead or bandits from Dhirim. Towards the end of his time in the swamp he gave one more thrust of his sword (a stick) and finalized the killing of a hulking beast (a bush) the strike felt different than the others, more sure and exact. When he was called back by his mother he threw the “sword” to the ground, disappointed by the interruption but he ran back home without resistance. The stick he threw to the ground so forcibly lit up, flickering flame started to rise from it, threatening to turn it to ash before it rolled harmlessly into the pond.
Back at his home the celebrations had begun and as he predicted, Nyx was bombarded with happy birthdays and similar presents as the years before, the celebrations exactly the same. Singing, dancing, drinking. Really it felt like it was for the village more than himself. When time came for the birthday speech to send everyone home for the night he could only muster “thanks for coming everyone, im 15 now. I don’t really know what else to say or do.” and like a rope he didn’t realize was snapping he belted out “except that every year it’s the same, for every birthday for every celebration. It’s so boring here how can you guys keep up?” the crowd looked at each other, almost like they’re surprised this didn’t happen earlier “I don’t want to be my parents age and still be here doing the same things over and over. I want to move on with my life. I want to do something. How are you all content with this?” his fist slammed into the podium, green mist swirled around it, his red eyes flickered green “ I feel like I'm not meant for this place, like there's something more to my life that hasn't been shown to me!” the people of his village talk over one another, most were concerned but others were unsurprised by this, his parents included. Another fist slams on the podium and together a bright green flash of gas pours out from his arms, hands and arms. Faster than anyone can react it spreads across the barn they stood in and pushed itself to every edge it could spread to. There was panic and screaming and then coughing,wheezing. A couple voices sounded less concerned “pee-ew”, “that stinks!” The barn doors split apart, letting the gas and the people behind it outside. Several people fell to their knees holding their noses and coughing up what their lungs could allow.
Nyx stood there at the podium still, not sure what happened but upon seeing what had happened and the fact that no one was seriously hurt, his lips turned upwards and his eyes lit up. His face was that of pure glee he put his arms forward again, pushing a modicum of gas outward through his palms, conjured small flames, billows of frost from his finger tips. Jumping and laughing out of the barn. The people around him finally started to stand, looking at the teenager in disbelief. His parents were the only ones unsurprised. “This is the best birthday EVER”
