Is it unfair to ask an early opinion? I like my story, but I know it's far from great. I just didn't know how much detail to put in, so I kind of mixed and matched it. All opinions and advice is welcome!
[sblock=Background] Rinos grew up a tanners son. His father was a self sufficient hunter and his mother spent her days either helping with the tanning or tending to their small garden. They lived on the outskirts of town, mostly because of the immense odor that tanning emitted. Rinos father, Kered, taught him how to use snares, so that he could “hunt without hunting.” The snares were only used when the days had to be passed by working the leather or drying the skins. Kered told him to make his kills as clean as possible, to never let a wounded creature escape, and to thank the animal’s spirit for giving him the gift of his life. He learned that all life, all spirits, were sacred and life was never to be taken without reason.
Rinos was 13 when his father died. Kered had gone out to hunt some kind of creature that looked like a bear, which had been frequenting the land near the family’s house. Rinos had always thought that his father knew his death was near, as he had asked Rinos to care for his mother before he left. Kered had never done that before. He never seemed hesitant to go on the hunt, or refused to allow Rinos to accompany him. It struck Rinos later that both had happened on that fateful day, but noticed also that the animal had ceased to come close to the land anymore.
He lived alone with his mother for the next year, until her death. It was unknown to Rinos what had killed her, she just wouldn’t wake up one morning. Fearful that he had angered the spirits, he loaded up some of his best leather hides and headed to see the Spirit Talkers. After giving them some of his leathers, he was assured that he had done nothing and that the Spirits were at peace with him as long as he honored the ways of his father.
Rinos began to sale his hides in the village after his mothers death. The villagers seemed uncomfortable with him at first, partially because of his odor and partially because he was rarely seen in the village. He saw his sales increase steadily as they began to get use to him and his wares.
He rarely ventured into the village, but when he did go into it, he managed to learn of a man named Euaristos. The man was over twice Rinos age, but was still a master hunter. At least once a month, every month for the last 3 years Rinos traveled into the village to hear his tales and learn lessons from the wise man. He became a new father figure to Rinos. Whether Euaristos felt the same way about Rinos or not was not clear to the young man, but it really mattered little. Euaristos was never short of advice or tales, and both were things that Rinos longed for. [/sblock]
