Editing The Journal of Veksvale (section)

=='''Dowser'''==

After Veksvale had been in place for 4 years a pair of visitors arrived that would change the place once again. One was a world weary warrior and the other was his son, a young boy.  I believed he was a deserter but up here you don't ask such things.   The fathers name was Cudgel.  The Boy was Dowser.

They arrived as many do this high in the mountains; prepared for a hard life of self-sufficiency.  Those who come here, especially those who bring kin, have left behind any connections below.  Family, rank, status, most even their names, are left in whatever place they abandoned.  When they come here they usually claim nothing below.

Cudgel and Dowser were no different.

'''''Speaking about Magic briefly.''''

I've spoken very little about the magic of this world because it plays almost no part in the history of this place. True acts of magic are considered ridiculous once the witnesses age out. One would have to be an experienced sorcerer, like myself, and study the histories carefully to find examples where magic fudged the fates a bit. This Journal is not meant for the natives and you who read it are likely to have a more worldly view of magic and understand how it is viewed differently in different realms.

To frame this story let us be clear.  High Order and Low Order magics work here and work well but no one practices them.  Some style of clericalism works here though the religions of this world have few with powers along those lines.  I have used my magics in this world and the people hereabouts had a sense that I was a wizard of some kind but they don't often talk about it.  There are native ''"knacks"'' that pop up from time to time but they are often seen as talents and not as dealings in the forces of the world.  Straighten iron, notice poisons, recognize a pregnant animal, Cut stone square, and a thousand little "tricks" or wierdnesses is what  comes closest to magic for most folks.   "That girl has a talent with stitching!" or "He's good with animals" or "She is a competent midwife."  Few talents are such that it forces people to consider what it is that makes them work or to get nervous about them.

Downhill magic and its powers are fairy tales.  Things parents use to frighten naughty children.  The great tales of the stage and the oratory of actors.  The guy down the street does not do magic!  When such knacks get too obvious they shy away.  Nervous.  Worried. This world does not have a "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" kind of paranoia but they don't like such people around. 

'''''That brings us to [[Dowser of Veksvale]]''''

Whatever family they left behind had decided the boy's power was too obvious to ignore.  Too far from the ordinary. 

Cudgel had taken his son away after someone had taken offense and tried killing him, killing his wife and daughter instead.

The boy had always been fond of water.  Swimming early, eager for baths, always running off to jump in troughs.

In time he could detect leaks in barrels, and locations for wells.  When he caused a dry well to fill, they began to get scared of him.

After a long series of desperate escapes they found their way Uphill.  In Hinterhigh they were certainly more accommodating to the boy.  Being able to find a good place to sink a well to pure water is a useful talent even in a water rich region like Hinterhigh.   But since there was some concern about pursuit they sent them further uphill to Veksvale and told them to ask for me.

I made them welcome as i usually did.  His father told me harrowing tales of his strange son.  I watched Cudgel clench his fist and pound the table and it rocked as only a few strong men can make it move. The fathers strength caught my eye as unusual.  I was curious and inspected the boy.  I immediately knew why his knack for water was so strong.

''He was a water elemental.'' 

In discussion with his father i learned that he was inordinately strong.  Always had been.  His grandmother had a strong knack for lighting fires.  And on and on in his family history were flashes of something.  His  long family history was a litany of strong knacks and nervous neighbors.

Passing them off to others I thought about it long and hard.  Elves, orcs, and dwarves had bred into this people sometime in the ancient past. My guess was that at some point a [[Dufiro]] had visited this realm and its offspring had never generated enough power to make the spontaneous transition to Elemental Form. Dufiro, being a varied and lusty race, will copulate with nearly any creature that is willing, and a lot that aren't.  They are not especially fertile but impregnating other species is one method of their procreation.

They settled in one of the empty homes near the center of the village.  We had a few houses for visitors and new arrivals.  Once they started wandering around and meeting people each of the farmsteads had Dowser find a good spot for a well.  Even for a water-rich region like ours the convenience of a well means a lot less trudging for a bucket of water.  

As time went on Dowser found sites for wells near enough to homes that it wasn't too arduous to build around them and cover the well from the elements.   

The population of Veksvale by then was around five hundred, give or take a few hundred wanderers.  Roughly, 50 farms and homesteads as well as a good number of travelers. I had numbered the Ra-Viet in my area to around a thousand but since one rarely saw more then 15 together it was hard even for me to be sure.