Role

Chapter 1

For this story, we find ourselves in an idyllic location to the north of
Thera. Not as far north so that permafrost is a problem, but far enough north
as to be away from most of the violence, and just north enough of Udgaard's
plains to be able to have nothing to do with all of that controversy. We find
ourselves in Hillcrest, a bustling gnomish community, full of delightful wit,
wisdom and eccentricity that the gnomish kind is famous for. There, we find
our unsuspecting hero, Celdimerick Dazzleflow, a young gnome just passing the
threshold of adolescence and just about to voyage into the world unprepared.

Celdimerick has always been fussy about propriety and found comfort in
traditions. He respected his elders, and generally tried to do his best to
please them. But in the past few years, a restlessness had come over him. He
felt these urges, to be contrarian to his elders, to rebel profusely, and even
though he would never publicly admit it, he often felt ashamed from the lack
of the logic of his arguments after the fact. But how could he not rebel?
Studies had become boring, and he had started to even resent being forced to
devote so much time to them. Everything was boring. Everything other than
girls. Watching girls that is. Talking to them was beyond the imagination.

Our hero was also saddled with another important dilemma. His mother insisted
that he become a healer so that he could continue the trade of her side of the
family. Providing dental care for the faceless masses somehow felt short to
the idealistic ideas of a bright future to his young mind. His father on the
other hand, before settling in Hillcrest, had been something of an adventurer
and he could always be found boasting about fighting even dragons, if you
would believe it, down the local pubs. Celdimerick remembered when he was
younger the enthusiasm of his father as he had tried to initiate him to
soldiering. Somewhere early along that attempt his father must have concluded
it just wasn't to be. It weighed heavy on our young hero. The more his mother
insisted his path was already determined the more he felt this irrational need
to resist, while the more his father seemed resigned that there would never be
a soldier out of him the more, he felt the irrational need to prove him wrong.
But how does one make such an important decision that would impact one's whole
life? Long lists of pros and cons never seemed to be quite satisfying with
their conclusions. What our hero didn't know was that the body had means to
sort these things out and to help the overthinking mind. Hormones.