Amborlaine

1. Pada-1

Chapter 1 Pada"Not a good idea, Laine.” Tanlen didn't even raise his head. He was too busy trying to fit the last piece. Besides, this conversation took place so frequently the old man could argue alone.

"Pada, you say the same thing every time." Laine hoped now that she was older, her father would agree to the idea.

"You're a Tinker, and this is Tinker Town, you should be used—" The old Gnome didn't finish his sentence. A gear flew off and ricocheted against the rear wall; then a spring fired off and hit the ceiling. A cable came loose and flailed its way directly at Laine. She managed to back away from the stinging menace, tipping the chair backwards and landing on her rump.

"Pada, I think—" A second cable whipped at her face.

The old Gnome dived under the table. "Down! Girl"

A third cable came loose and made its try at Laine. The machine gained a life of its own, hell-bent on causing as much damage as possible before the pressure of the steam let loose. The Gnome under-the-table tried to reign in the building force; one knob came off in his hand, every try failed. Laine reached under the table and bear hugged the old Gnome to the point he lost his breath.

"This is going to hurt!" and out the small window she went with the Gnome still clutched to her bosom.

Both Laine and her passenger got the wind knocked out of them but they escaped the maniacal machine. While they were still on the wet leafy ground, smoke began pouring from every knothole of the workshop; thrashing and crashing noises came from inside, a loud clang, a belch of steam, and then silence.

"Well," the old Gnome snickered, "That went well."

"Pada, your specs are broken," pointing to the goggles on the Gnome’s head.

"Ah, Ill fix'em later.” The Gnome stood brushing the leaves off his pants. "Let's eat. Getting attacked by a gadget makes me hungry."

That's Pada. Tanlen Greentinker, Son of Salpos, Heir to the Greentinker Clan. That is the way you're supposed to introduce him. Amborlaine's (referred to by most as Laine) adopted father. To Laine he was Pada. In the common tongue it means Father. Tanlen is the man that adopted and raised Amborlaine over twenty years ago.

Amborlaine knew she'd been adopted. It would be impossible to keep that a secret. Early on it grew clear that she wasn't a Gnome. She didn't sport a bulbous nose or white hair and she outgrew her father at about five years old, though in all other senses Amborlaine was Gnomish. She ate the same food, played the same games, went to the same school and most important of all she learned the same skills—the skills of being a Tinker.

Over a lunch of salmon cakes and potato soup Amborlaine pleaded her case again, most likely for the thousandth time.

"Pada, I'll be careful. Grengrum will be with me the whole time."

"Grengrum. Ha! He's as useful as a hammer with no head."

"Pada," Laine shook her finger, "Not nice."

"Well, it's true. Remember last summer when he fell into the well? I mean how is that even possible?"

The laughter burst from Amborlaine so hard she spit soup on the table. Choking, laughing and talking all at the same time, "Yes, I remember."

She took to wiping up, "I understand your fear. Everything would be fine. The convoy has guards. Nothing has ever happened to those caravans for as long as anyone can remember.” Amborlaine knew right when she finished the sentence she was in for the duration. She desperately tried to suck the words back into her mouth but it was too late.

"Oh I remember! You weren't even born yet. I remember when…"

Pada continued for over an hour about the time when the caravan got attacked and every person was slain. Amborlaine had heard this story so many times she could repeat every nuance, every voice inflection, word for word. She sat quietly. Interrupting Pada would only mean the story would start again, from the beginning.

Amborlaine used the time to finish her creation. She had worked seven years and now she was ready for testing. She had latched onto the idea at age nine or ten. She watched her Pada make a gauntlet that fired two small darts. Although commissioned by the Knights of the Rose, Pada never got it to shoot reliably.

The first two darts would shoot well but the reload would always jam the device. It caused Amborlaine to think, even at such a young age, what else could be fired from a gauntlet.

For several years she thought about the possibilities until one day the idea sprang up in her. Why not shoot magic from a gauntlet? Unfortunately for Amborlaine Gnomes were not well-known for their magical skills. There were Gnome wizards, but none that lived in Tinker Town.

So Amborlaine came up with the next best solution. Shoot something that looks like magic. Her answer to that? Lightning. Well, not real lightning but it would look like lightning. So she designed a gauntlet, with capacitors, a generator and everything needed. Her Pada helped on some harder ideas and now she needed to test the device.

• • • •

"Just not a good idea."

"Pada, you notice that it's only a good idea when I'm safe at home with you?"

The old Gnome laughed, "Now that is a good idea."

Whether a good idea to test the machine or not could be debated for a lifetime. Amborlaine was going to find out if all her hard work was a success. So she planned to test the contraption. Thinking back she should have tested it on her own, without the help of her father. In truth Laine feared what she built. No one she knew ever tried such an elaborate and dangerous invention.

Her father pointed the device at a tree stump; Pada spent years trying to remove the stump and thought if Laine's device did fire it might do his work for him. They ducked down begin a rock wall, "Are you ready, Pada?"

"No.” He gave Amborlaine that wonderful smile of his. Given all his faults he was a kind and gentle man, a wonderful father. Amborlaine could not ask for more. And she knew in her heart, his objection to her leaving Tinker Town, if only for a while, was for Laine's safety and not for his peace of mind. But he worried too much. The world is such an exciting and wonderful place. The Eastern Realms were docile and settled. Nothing would happen.

"Pull the string, Girl, let's watch what happens."

Amborlaine was nervous. Years in planning and building all came down to this moment. She yanked on the cord and peeked over the wall. For a heartbeat nothing happened. Then the outer circle began to spin, and then the inner circle started spinning in the opposite direction. A loud pop and a small spark, no larger than a match flame, flew into the air.

Pada stood; the rock wall blocked all but his head, "Is that it?"

"I guess I must have something wrong, I thought—"

The device flashed and crackled, three huge bolts of lightning flared out and streaked towards the target. When they hit, the bolts exploded into more lightning and a boom like thunder. The stump shattered into kindling.

Pada's eyes were as wide as saucers, "By the holy moors! Girl, you can't put that on a bracer. It'll fry your arm."

Amborlaine wouldn’t admit it but Pada was right, if that had been on her arm she would be without that limb, "Well, your stump’s gone."

She joked about the test, yet to some degree, it succeeded. But Laine felt sad and disappointed that she had spent so many years on this invention and no one will be able to put it to use.

That night she fell into a restless sleep—the kind of sleep that races dreams through your mind and flops a body around in the bedcovers like a doll.

• • • •

"Wake up, girl."

"Ahmmm…"

"Wake up! Today's Wonder Fest!"

Laine's body bolted out of bed with a mind of its own. She had forgotten Wonder Fest. "I'm coming!"

Laine threw on the first clothes she found on the floor—faded gray leather trousers and a men's silk shirt. Amborlaine wore a lot of men's clothes. She was too tall to wear Gnomish clothes so her father would buy or trade travelers for clothes that fit her. Most of those travelers were men, so Amborlaine wore mostly men's clothing. The garments Pada bought were always too large. Amborlaine thought her Pada preferred it that way. He didn't much like the idea of his 'little girl' growing up and turning into a woman.

Bounding down the stairs, half running, half falling, Amborlaine raced out the door.

"Hurry up, girl, or we'll miss the fried cakes." Pada already had the wagon packed and ready to leave for Tinker Town.

Everyone called it 'Tinker Town' but it wasn't like a traditional town. Tinker Town was more of an event than a destination. The 'town' itself is built on both sides of the road, instead of starting at the road and moving in a specific direction like most towns. Tinker Town is built along the road, the entire road, from once you enter the Great Forest until you almost leave. Therefore, the town is only one hundred paces in breadth, but it had to be thirty leagues long. Small folk living on the north side of Tinker Town have possibly never seen the south side of town.

Tinker Town always had a street fair vibe. Buildings flew flags in the soft forest breezes. Colorful streamers lined the road and everyone was in a mood of frivolity. Roaming minstrels played day and night.

Most of the residents and merchants were Gnomes, Tinker Gnomes to be specific. There were other races scattered about. Dwarves, Halflings and Elves. To her knowledge, Amborlaine was the only permanent human resident. She found it most curious that no other humans lived in Tinker Town.

Tinker Town was famous throughout Xenkur for two reasons. First, the town was home to the largest population of Tinker Gnomes. Second and more important to travelers, anything was available for purchase in Tinker Town. The Tinker Gnomes were incredible craftspeople that excelled at making mechanical inventions of all sorts. They made excellent armor and, if you had the crowns to pay for them, finely crafted weapons.

Amborlaine's Pada was an arbalest, someone who makes and repairs crossbows. His shop was at Marker 101. Markers, that's how you find what you need in Tinker Town. Wooden markers were placed at measurable locations so you know where to go and how close you are to your destination. The Markers started at 1 on the north side of the Great Forest. There were 'mappers' who walked the streets of the town. People wearing red vests could direct travelers to the shops they wanted. All a person needed to do is ask a mapper, "Where can I find a blacksmith?" and they would tell you the nearest marker is 12.

"Girl, I need more fletching. Run over to Jelmiphe's and fetch some."

"Yes, Pada." Amborlaine took off out the door, headed north to marker 97, Jelmiphe's Clothes Shop. The sign in the door read "Only Small Folk." Jelmiphe was an old friend of Pada's, a Gnome that had lived in Tinker Town since the founding, or at least, it seemed so. She sold clothing for small people, Dwarves, Gnomes and Halflings, nothing that would fit Amborlaine. She used a lot of feathers in her clothes designs and Pada would often buy or trade feathers for his work.

"Madam J, Pada needs—"

Jelmiphe interrupted, shaking her head, "Oh, dear. This just won't do. This just won't do.

Amborlaine glanced around the store, "What won't do?"

Jelmiphe, still shaking her head, said, "You need proper garments. Something for a lady of your beauty."

Amborlaine was dejected. "It's all my Pada can find."

"I have just the answer." Jelmiphe went into the back room. When she returned, she carried a crate filled to the brim with clothing. Human clothing!

She handed Laine this and that, mumbling things like, "perfect and wonderful." The garments piled so high in her arms she could not see where she was going.