Slavery isn’t fun. And I should know, I was born into slavery. 27 years ago, two hobgoblins went at it raw, and I am the result. Born in the Bloodshard mines outside Khat, all I knew was dim-light and stone. As a small child, I used to help my mother with mending my father’s clothing and equipment. Like so many others, when I came of age I was sent deeper into the mines to help look for precious metals and crystals. Life was brutal, dark, and short in the mines. Usually, Hobgoblins are the slavers, but my grandfather did something bad (I don’t know the story) which relegated the rest of our family into servitude. My story may have ended there if it hadn’t been for Lucia.
Lucia came to the mines a few years ago, her outfit a collection of lace and leather of the sort that I had never seen. Her clothing was magically pristine, and she always carried a suitcase full of gadgets. She was a slight human with almost pointed ears, a plump – well-nourished face, and eyes that gleamed with intelligence. Lucia was my savior… of sorts. When I was 13, I had found a niche position as a mechanic for the ancient miner’s equipment. I found myself naturally inclined towards machinery, and my skills were never wanting of wear. It was hard work, but much better than using pickaxes, or dredges. Lucia came by to fix one of the mechanical dredges, a project I had been attempting for weeks to no avail. I spent my days as her escort and assistant, turning wrenches, sticking my hands inside moving machinery, the usual. Anyways, after a few days of work, we fixed the dredge, turns out one of the internal pully systems had a combination of a loose bolt and fractured gear. And just as she was about to leave, she pulled the foreman aside, made some sort of exchange, and escorted me out of the place.
Lucia did not buy me, oh no, she rented me. That bitch. Lucia brought me out of the mines, cleaned me up, and taught me the skills of an artificer. She showed me there was so much more to life than the cramped mines. For years I learned under her tutelage. She was a kind instructor, knowledgeable, patient, and strong. As we became more familiar with each other, she let me explore the world. At first, we only left her manor for jobs, but as the years progressed she let me leave by myself, purchase food, even work jobs on my own.
One fateful night, about 4 years ago, I was returning from a small trip that required the usage of a technical manual. When returning the manual to the study a piece of paper from insider her desk caught my eye, one that she held during the day we left the mines. Upon examination, I found the letter was a bill of lease. Lucia had leased me from the mines, promising to train me and return me! She was getting paid to house and feed me! I could have stolen away into the night, but I didn’t. I waited. The manor had all types of servants, students, and assistants, all who were capable of finding me, or worse if I tried to escape.
A month or so later luck struck. Lucia and I were working a job on the outskirts of Khat, a dam had gone into disrepair, and she needed an extra hand. As she was smaller than me, there were a few tasks that required her to go into the machinery in order to repair, a lug bolt had gone missing and the main gear was at risk of falling. She went into the hell-hole (our term for the tight quarters inside machinery) and I began to make a break for it, paused, and stopped. My mind was swirling with thoughts, anger, fear, pity. She was all I knew of the outside. I turned the main lever on and left, the main gear indeed collapsed, destroying the dam, and killing Lucia. A few miles later I dropped the offending bolt, it was large and cumbersome. I stole her bag when I left, it held trinket tools and enough to buy a few meals.
I traveled to the city Fortress of Canthgar, a place I had only read about, and tried to find work. Throwing Lucia’s name around helped a little, but I was an unknown artificer and most preferred a technician they knew.
This is when I found the glory of gambling. Most gamblers don’t have my skill with numbers and statistics, a weakness I have no problem exploiting. While luck is not always on my side, that is where some slight magic or weighted die can tip the scales. I live off my gambling, or at least I did. A few years in, I found myself down on my luck, making a wager I couldn’t keep. This thug, Thallius, somehow rolled a natural 30 in dragon dice! Took everything I had, or nearly. Afterward, Thallius used his advantageous position to make a deal, he wouldn’t collect if I did a few favors for him. This is my final job, Thallius only has Lucia’s tinkerer set in his possession, and I don’t know if I even want it back. I will probably do the final task, as it is simply to give this letter to a constituent and check in on his mother, but I am done with that.
All I want is a seedy tavern, some idiot patrons, favorable dice, and some rest.