The unwanted, the hidden, less.... liked.. species, had a place. Here their children learned self-defense. Self-esteem. How to care for themselves, and for others. How to undo traps, and avoid harm. And most of all, learned there were those out there that truly cared, no matter what species they were. -- DaniAndShali
Over a stretch of cursed ground that birth monsters and host phantoms, inside a mountain that howls whenever the wind blows, beneath a crevice lit only by rare and dangerous crystals, there is a special place of refuge.
They call it Undermount when they call it anything at all. It is where the Unwelcome come to be safe from those who would persecute them. Over untold centuries, it has been host to Dragons, Elves, Hellkin, Ogres, Trolls, Kobolds, Gobelliin, and even Orcs. It is the place to be safe when the world is out to get you.
Many hearing this would imagine it as a place of darkness and shadows, where anyone would murder anyone else for looking at them the wrong way. Many are dead wrong. Once on the inside of the austere, well-defended walls, it is a place of light and beauty. An artificial sun shines in an illusory sky. Plants once believed extinct grow in abundant gardens. Creatures that are rare anywhere else tend to gather here. Here, also, there is a school. The school named Hardnox.
There's a boarding house for all the children left on doorsteps or abandoned in middens. There were people who ventured out into the world to save Unwanted children from gutters and filth and depravity. They couldn't save them all, but they could save some.
They educated them all.
It wasn't as rough as one might expect from the name. They began with literacy, which is always a good start. Tutors were always on watch for talents and skills that they could encourage. Ideas they could explore.
It was up to the graduates as to whether or not they ventured into the greater world.
Most chose to go forth and save others. Muse chose to stay and teach. She took in kids older than ten, and all her lessons began the same way.
"The gods gave us senses to interpret our world. Use all of them as you go out in the world. We are the Unwelcome People. Knowing what belongs and doesn't belong will be the difference between life and death."
She taught them well, and safely. Many of the kids loved her illusions and tackled them with manic enthusiasm. They left her classes well prepared for anything they might happen against in their future.
Quite the mark of pride.
[Photo by Vincent Foret on Unsplash]
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