Even though I should be writing more productive things, I’m short on blogging material at the moment, so it’s time for more character fiction! This fiction is designed to supplement a campaign so don't be suprised if you're wondering what's going on.
　
Aronat walked into the blacksmith’s area. Despite the fact that he walked through those doors a thousand times, he felt as if this was the first time he entered it. In stead of the well organized blacksmith’s shop, it was where a battle has taken place. Blood stained the wall and debris was scattered on the floor.

“Some of the Orcs must have made it here.” Aronat thought to himself as he surveyed the area. He was the only one here. Normally the master blacksmith would be advising the cleanup after an event like this; but not today. Today he was in mourning. Aronat knew that Sunlance has died in the attacks. Although Sunlance lacked the eyes of the master and technical expertise Aronaut had, her lost was still quite painful; for Sunlance was the shop’s heart.

“Time to clean up,” Aronat said to himself as he grabbed a broom and placed Ichigo next to an undamaged part of the walls. The first step was to sweep up the place. As Aronat sweep a voice called out to him. “What are you doing?” it quietly asked. Aronat ignored the voice and continued sweeping. A couple of minutes later he heard “What are you doing”, but it was a bit louder this time. Aronat kept sweeping. After a while, the voice had enough of being ignored. It shouted with all it’s might, “WHAT… ARE… YOU… DOING?!?”

“Oh, Ichigo, it’s you,” Aronat quietly acknowledged. Normally Aronat was more then happy to converse with Ichigo but not today.
“I can’t believe you,” Ichigo said in disgust. “So many people are dead! So many lives are lost! So many hearts are broken! Yet all you can do is SWEEP THE STUPID FLOOR!?!”
“Of course not,” Aronat responded, “I’ll also need to clean the blood off the walls.” Ichigo screamed in frustration.

Aronat grabbed a bucket and walked towards the small water reserve that was held in the shop. As he looked over the water, he saw that it was contaminated with blood. He grabbed another bucket and headed over to the well. A short while later, he returned to the shop with two buckets full of clean water. Hopefully, it would be all he needed to clean the shop.

“What is wrong with you?!?” Ichigo screamed. “Of all the things to do now, you’re Frak’in (I use a curse word here but you all know about Eric’s Grandma) cleaning! Those monsters must be stopped before they can hurt any more people!”
“So what would you do if you were the one in control? Run off and single-handily take on an entire encampment by yourself? Do you honestly think you can take on a hundred orcs by yourself?”
“Anything has to be better then staying here and sweeping the stupid floor!”
“Yet the floor needs to be swept.”
“Screw the floor! Worry about it later!”
“This could be the last time I can worry about this floor.”
“Good! Let someone else worry about the floor.”
“But you see, no one else will. Times are changing, Ichigo. We are entering an age of darkness. I have no idea when we will see the light but I know this; to see that light we must do our part. It is obvious I will be in active service from now on. The Master will have to run the shop by himself until new appertenices can be brought in or trained. With things heating up, he’ll be busier then ever.”
“We both know if anyone can handle, the Master can.”
“He wouldn’t have to if it wasn’t for me.”
“Huh?”

“I should have said no to Captain Leafrunner. I should have never volunteered for that mission. I should have done my duty. If I was here I could have protected SunLance. I could have saved her! Instead I went on some dumb adventure. I killed her!”

Aronat collapsed to the floor as he began to cry. “Oh SunLance!” Aronat cried, “You were truly the brightest light in the village! You were always the most popular. Your smile was as warming as the sun. Everyone loved you. You were pratically the Master’s adopted daughter! Even my stupid sword likes you more then me! Why did you have to die.” Aronat sopped as he punched the wall in anger and pain.

Ichigo was stunned into silence. He was always the loud, emotional one while Aronat was quite and thoughtful. To see his partner break down like that was an unusual event. Aronat was always clam and looking for the best way to solve the problem. Now there he was overwhelmed with grief and pain. All he could do was watch Aronat cry. After Aronat punched the door of the Master’s office; Ichigo noticed a small letter for Aronat from the Master.

“Hey Aronat, I think the Master left a letter for you,” Ichigo stated.
Aronat wiped the tears from his eyes as he grabbed the letter. He opened it and began to read from it…

Dear Aronat,

As I suspected, you are here cleaning up. As always, you are focused on ensuring things are working well. I thank you for taking the time to clean up after the attack. I can always count on you to get things done. However, there is one thing I would like for you to do right now. I want you to attend Sunlance’s funeral. If you hurry you can still make it. It is important to do things like that. I know that you are worried about how the shop will do. Well don’t be. I’ll be fine by myself. We must do what is most important. Right now the most important thing to do is say goodbye. You need to do this, even if you don’t want to. I’ll see you there.

With love and sorrow,
Master Blacksmith Moon Whispers

P.S. Sunlance had a gift for you in the third drawer on the left of her desk.

Aronat sprinted towards Sulance’s desk and pulled out the contents from the drawer. After a short but frantic search, he discovered an anklet with a sun emblem on it.

“Strange,” Aronat wondered, “It seems the sun emblem is forged from material coming from you, Ichigo. Why would she do such a thing? And how did she talk you into it in the first place?”
“Well she asked real nicely, okay! She said it was important and needed to be done! Now drop it!” Ichigo yelled.

Aronat knew not to press the issue further. He was still curious on why SunLance would pull a stunt like that. Giving Aronat jewelry made from Ichigo is like giving a guy a watch made his brother’s finger bones. However, they both knew that Sunlance would never act in malice. This must be a good reason for doing this, even if none of them knew it at the time.

“Come Ichigo, we must go,” Aronat quietly said as he put on the anklet.
“I thought you wanted to clean up the place.” Ichigo bitterly stated.
“That’s not important now.”
“So you finally agree with me on that.”
“Yes.”
“So let’s go prevent another tragedy like this from happening!”
“We will, but not today.”
“What could possibly be more important then that?”
“I must say goodbye first.”
“Oh, I see. I guess that is important too.”

Aronat picked up Ichigo and left the blacksmith shop. He began walking towards where everyone was mourning. Now it was his turn to mourn.

MichaelSomething

Recently I was asked to construct a backstory for a new 1st level Eladrin Swordmage. I showed it to him and he said he liked but I needed to adjust a few things to make it fit the world better. Below is that backstory. Like all my writings, it could always use a little more polish but I think it's worth at least a quick browse.


Captain Leafrunner walked towards the blacksmiths area. He was looking to speak with Aronat. Despite the fact that he made no real effort to be silent, Aronat didn't notice his appoarch. All of his focus was on some drawings of a sword.

"Ahem" the Captain coughed.
Aronat looked up and finally noticed that he had a visitor. He was embrassed that he didn't even notice him. He sprang up and began to speak.
"Greetings, Sir! I apologize for not noticing you before! Would you like me to fetch the master blacksmith for you? If you need simple fixes for a weapon, I would be more then happy to do them myself. Do you need your blade sharpened? A new hilt? Have some sratches you need smoothed out? Or perhaps you'd be intrested in some maintiance? You know, regular maintaince keeps a weapon in top shape as well as prolong its lifespan!"
"What I really need is a place to sit for a while."
"Oh!" Aronaut cleared some stuff off a chair and offered it to the elder elf.
"Oh, that's much better," the captain said as he sat down. "So tell me, Aronat, how are you?"

"Busy as always. In a land of constant war, weapon smiths are always in demand."
"That is how it has always been," Leafrunner stated.
"If there was no war, this would be quite a different world we live in. I, for one, would be unable to make a living doing something I enjoy so much." Aronat paused for a moment. "It is wrong of me to benefit from the wars that ended so many of our brothers and sisters?"
"If we weren't fighting the Gnolls, we would most likely be fighting another enemey. Even if we weren't, I imagine someone of your talent could easily find another profession."
"Honestly, weapon crafting is the only profession I want to persue."
"Have you ever considered joining the army?" Leafrunner asked ironically.
Aronat stared blankly at the captain.

"Did you or did you not pass the Swordmage qualification tests?" he asked.
"There's more to being a Swordmage then passing the qualification tests." Aronat retorted.
"True; but you would have never passed those tests unless you had some talent for it."
"True as well. You just won't let this go."
"That's because Swordmages are needed more then blacksmiths right now."

"Funny how life works out." Aronat mused to himself. "When I came here, I was like every other recuit. I was eager for a chance to do my part in the never ending battle agianst the Gnolls. I ending up in the Blacksmith's shops creating weapons for others to use. And it turned out I was quite happy to do so. On a lark, I decided to take a few Swordmage training courses to try them out. To my suprise, I passed then, and all the other courses that followed. A few months ago, I became an acutal Swordmage even though it was never my orginal goal. It's amazing that I acheived such a grand feat even though I never really wanted it. Life can produce quite unexpected results, doesn't it? However, I'm sure you came here for a reason besides hearing me talk about myself?"

"Yes, and my reason for coming here is to request that you go on a mission."
Aronat stared blanky at the Captain again.
"You really have to stop doing that."
"You really have to stop asking me to do things I shouldn't be doing." Aronat retorted.
"You really have to stop acting like you can't fight even though you can."
"That's because I'm not that great of a fighter."
"Yet you win as often as not when you spar with the others."
"That is merely testing their weapons in practice combat."
"Don't sell yourself so short. You are skilled in combat."
"No I'm not!"
"Why do you have so little faith in your own power?"

"It's because I never feel like's it me fighting. Strange, isn't it? Whenever I fight, I never feel like I'm the one fighting. It's as if I'm watching myself fight from a distance. It's almost as if Ichigo weilds me instead of the other way around."
"Ichigo?" the Captain asks.
"My sword." Aronaut answered. A second later, Ichigo flew from where it was to Aronaut's hand. "Ichigo; the blade that never breaks; the passion that never dies."

"I am correct to believe that you do not fight because you fear your enemies..."
"but because I fear myself." Aronaut finished.
"And you will never overcome your fear as long as you are here. That is one more reason why I need you for this mission."
"Normally I would say no to such a thing; but I get the feeling that saying no won't work now, will it?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Well then please explain what you require of me."

"Please be at the town square at noon today. All will be made clear then..."

MichaelSomething