[Kyrit]

(I don't have a pet form for Ura yet, so this Shartile will be a stand-in)

No one was truly alone down in the sewers. Everyone was a part of the clan, a part of the family. Just because you were family though didn’t mean much for Kobolds. No one was your mother, your father, your sibling. You were just another member of the clan. Some adults took care of the young, others worked to maintain the sewer system of Baldur’s Gate, and others sought out food for the many mouths to feed. And yet with so many people it was still so easy to find yourself feeling alone.

[Kyrit]

Not as strong as many of the others her age, Ura was not interested in rough housing with the other young kobolds, wasn’t interested in hunting down small animals to cage, or just about anything else her dozens of cousins seemed to care for. But she had found something that she had taken a great interest in! The soothing sounds of music. Oftentimes she would follow the sounds of instruments on the streets above until she could find a grate to look through and watch in awe. She could rarely see the musician through the crowd they would draw, rows and rows of human legs too much to peer beyond, but the smallest of performances would have her clinging to the brick walls eagerly.

[Kyrit]

Eventually she would get her own chance at creating her own music. Drawn by a loud buzzing, almost a humming, she clambered up boxes and barrels until she could shove as much of her face outside of the grate as she could to look around. She wouldn’t even exactly consider it a pleasant sound, but she had to know what this new instrument she’d never heard before was. Before she could find the musician the noise stopped and something dropped to the ground, her gaze drawn to a small human boy as he let out a startled cry.

[Kyrit]

Their eyes met only briefly before the startled boy huddled close to his mom. She couldn’t only understand snippets of their conversation, knowing very little of the common language at this point in her life. But she knew the look of disgust in the mother’s eyes as she pulled her son away and the two began to walk off. Ura’s brow furrowed, looking at the ground in disappointment, when the source of the noise from before came into her sight. She didn’t know what it was, though she knew the little boy must have been playing this instrument before she had startled him.

[Kyrit]

Her tiny arm reached out as far as she could, her claws just barely able to tap against the wood as she tried to call out to the boy. “Itheik!” her little lungs cried out, too rushed to try to parse the words in common as she tried to let him know that he’d forgotten his instrument in his hurry. “Dout itisko youwe!”

Neither would come back for it though as she heard the mother say something she did understand; “Filthy beast.”

[Kyrit]

As the words reached her, Ura’s ears hung down and her arm went limp. Had it been so wrong to call out to him? Was it wrong to express interest in the world above? Stifling tears that tried to well up, she shook her head before reaching out for the instrument once again, body straining against the bars of the grate as she put everything she could into grabbing it. Finally her claws caught the edge and the wooden object rolled closer, allowing her to quickly snatch it and run deeper into the sewers. Fine. If they were just going to leave it like it was trash for her just touching it, it was hers now!

[Kyrit]

With her new treasure, the young kobold would spend endless hours trying to figure out how to use it. Blowing into it didn’t seem to make the same sort of sounds she had heard, but it definitely had a piece for her mouth. Changing how she held it didn’t seem to do anything different either. Eventually, frustrated with her findings, Ura let out an annoyed hum, the strange piece of wood still hanging in her lips. As she did, there it was! The noise! Her ears perked up and she once again hummed, confirming that she’d figured it out. With her new discovery she would continue to practice day in and day out, oftentimes even trying to mimic some of the songs she had heard from above. The idea that one day she would be able to draw the sort of crowds she had seen on the surface fueled her onward.

[Kyrit]

One particularly rough night Ura sat with tears in her eyes, her head hung low as her tiny claws wrapped tightly around her little treasure. Curled up against her was her only companion, a small mouse she had befriended. What was he… the second? Or third? They didn’t seem to live long, but a friend was a friend regardless. A mouse hardly made for an audience though and his companionship did not make her feel any better at this time as she choked back the tears. “Anyone….” she sniffled, “I just want anyone…” The rest of the words didn’t come as the tears started to roll down her scales and her claws dug slightly into the wood of the instrument. She tried to put her lips against the mouthpiece, tried to build up a hum, though all that came out was a sob.

[Kyrit]

It seemed though that such a day would never come. Regardless of how many hours she practiced, how long she played, no matter what she played, no one cared. The other kobolds would walk by, carrying on their own conversations. Sometimes it felt like they were purposely ignoring her gaze, walking by faster than they would have if she hadn’t been playing. Perhaps it was her imagination, but she thought she had once or twice seen someone walking by sneering, as if annoyed she was there. It was difficult not to give up, but there had to be someone out there somewhere that would enjoy her songs.

[Kyrit]

What echoed through the sewers was not her cry though, as at first a single clap rang out. Ura’s head jerked up at the sound, her tail instinctively flinching along with it. Startled by the sudden movement of Ura’s tail that he had been napping on, Snax reached up to paw at the young kobold’s arm. Suddenly another clap echoed through the chamber, and then another, and another. She looked and looked, and yet she found no one there. Just as panic was beginning to sink in a familiar yet unknown weight pressed against her back and wrapped gently around her frame. It felt…. Like a friend. The gentle embrace of an unknown friend, eager to listen to her song. A lifelong friend that she could call upon any time she was in need, even if they could never truly meet.

[Crystal Synthesis Complete]