Ren could only appreciate the way his life had been with Auntie after meeting his...uncle.
It swiftly became clear that his 'family' was a bunch of snobs that looked down on other races because they were different from them. And even among themselves there was a pecking order he simply didn't get nor did he want to.
Within the first month he cemented his status as the oddball son of the Silva family. The only son of the current head's sister, and thankfully (in his mind) he wasn't the heir. So long as he conducted himself properly, his family could care less if he undertook ranger training.
Honestly, he found learning to be a ranger a breath of fresh air compared to how annoying his blood family could be. He missed the way his auntie had loved him unconditionally and encouraged him to improve for his own sake, rather than to 'improve the family'.
Still he was able to grin and bear it. After all, his aunt Cerridwen would be disappointed if he didn't at least try.
He had to keep reminding himself multiple times that if he could survive until his majority, then he could look for his auntie. After all, it wouldn't do to get killed off by something as common as an orc because he hadn't prepared properly. That was another thing she had drilled into him, extensively.
Ren (he refused to call himself by the ridiculously over pretentious name his uncle called him) was minding his own business, as he still occasionally got turned around in the elvish city. He was about to follow the scent of what he knew was a popular elvish street food when he heard something that had him head straight to the sound.
He found his idiot cousin throwing rocks at someone he immediately identified as the half-elven kid.
Without thinking too hard on the matter (mostly because he didn't like his cousin) he cast the shield charm his auntie taught him.
The expression on Haldir's face when his rocks bounced off a shield that had appeared out of nowhere was pretty comical.
"So you think you're good enough to cast magic?" he sneered.
"That was me," said Ren flatly. "You're being a dick."
Haldir turned to his younger cousin with a glare. The one time they tried to establish dominance over him because of his origins, Ren had beaten the crap out of them and never once tolerated their shit. By mutual agreement, they tried to ignore the other existed.
Ren walked up to them, and put himself between the half-elf kid and his cousin's group.
"What excuse are you using to justify throwing rocks at someone?" he asked.
"He's a filthy half-elf. He doesn't deserve to live here, and his mother sullied herself with a stupid human," sneered Glorindell, Haldir's partner in crime.
Ren raised an eyebrow, his silence condemnation itself.
"You sound like a short-minded human," he said flatly. "Really cousin, is this the sort of rabble you'd lower yourself with? A bunch of common, low-minded thugs that think they're better than everyone just for being elves?"
Haldir glared at his cousin. Ren stared impassively back.
"Come on, let's not sully ourselves with these low born losers," said Haldir.
Ren made sure they actually left, before turning to the half-elf kid...who's name he didn't know.
"...Thank you," he said quietly. He was so used to being harassed by Haldir and his cronies that the fact someone was willing to actually protect him was weird.
"My name is Oloren, but I go by Ren," he said.
"...Nailo," he said quietly.
"Are you okay? I know rocks hurt like hell, and my cousin is a jerk," said Ren.
Nailo looked at him oddly.
"How do you know rocks hurt?"
"My aunt Cerri trained me once so I could fight even if my eyes are blinded. Once I really got the hang of it she started using rocks to hammer the point in. Annoying, but useful."
Nailo looked uncomfortable. This was the longest conversation he had had with anyone besides his mother and the few older elves who spent a lot of time outside the elven lands.
Ren insisted on taking Nailo back to his home. Nailo's mother fussed over him, as she really did love her son. Ren had to smile at the sight, because it reminded him of his aunt Cerri.
He really missed her. His other 'aunt' was nowhere near as nice, in fact she was a bit of a bitch, but he put up with it by staying out of their way as much as possible.
From that day on, Ren stayed close to Nailo, which confused and flustered him because he wasn't used to having anything remotely close to friends.
He kept it up until finally something snapped. That something being Nailo's poor anxiety over having an actual friend.
"Why are you doing this? I'm nobody... no one wants the half-elf around," said Nailo.
"I do. And besides, being your friend pisses off that pretentious Haldir and my aunt. At this point both sides are just waiting for me to become an adult and move out as a ranger," said Ren shrugging.
Nailo scowled at that.
"So you're just hanging around me to anger your family?"
"And because you're the only guy who isn't a complete prick my own age that I can relate to," he admitted.
Nailo stared at him.
"What?"
"Do you have any idea how much I envy watching you and your mom interact? Seriously, I'm only sticking around to get enough real world experience to track down where my aunt Cerri disappeared to."
"Why did your aunt disappear?"
Nailo knew the story. The Lord of Silva had spent a considerable amount of money to find his missing nephew. Only to find that he had been raised by a mystery elf that had vanished before they could reward them for saving him. All he would say of his 'auntie', who had done an admirable job of raising him befitting his station, was that her name was Cerridwen, she was a skilled mage that earned money on the side making clothing.
The outfit he had been found in were so well enchanted that Nailo had heard the noble mages wondering who she was to get her secrets.
It hadn't taken long to realize Oloren was nothing like his cousin, and that he was something of an oddity among the high elves. However he never behaved in such a way that his family could legitimately cast him out after all the time, effort and money spent to find him, so they were stuck with him and his odd ways.
Oloren had made no bones about his plans to track down the woman who raised him, or that he wanted to become a ranger which was considered a barely acceptable profession.
But. Ren had never treated him as anything less than his equal, was openly kind and friendly to his mother despite what she went through, and he had been secretly helping Nailo's studies as a mage to help him get into a better magical school.
When he realized this fact, Nailo reluctantly accepted the fact he had made a friend.
Ren was so sick of his cousin's bullshit, it wasn't even funny. So much so that he (and by extension Nailo) would visit the nearest human settlement often.
It was to the point they had become common sights around the town and welcomed by the locals. (Haldir, not so much.)
Ren sat down at the local tavern, ordered his favorites while Nailo ordered his and just listened. It was something his auntie had taught him that had held him in good favor and had gotten him into a number of misadventures Nailo would pretend complain about later.
He certainly never complained about the gear or the magic tomes that came of it later.
Once they had eaten, Ren noticed there was an old bard in the corner telling stories.
Nailo took one look at his face and sighed, but moved so they could better hear the old man anyway without being asked.
His interest only went up realizing he was talking about old adventurers and the gods of light. He settled in closer as well, listening with interest.
Ren became seriously annoyed when Haldir started loudly talking and laughing, mostly to piss off his cousin who was trying to enjoy the stories.
He kept his silence on the matter, and instead went over to the bar to chat up the barmaid while she was preparing the drinks.
"So the taxes have gone up to ridiculous levels?" said Ren.
"It's gotten hard, trying to keep the business afloat. The owner is preparing to raise prices."
Ren gave her an extra large tip for the information, mostly after she told him how much the taxes had gone up compared to last year.
Now, Ren would openly admit to being a nosy bastard. Nailo would also immediately agree about that fact if asked.
One of the things Cerri had taught him was about economics. Specifically how taxes work and how supply and demand can cause the price of goods to change over time. She had also gone in depth about how there were also times that inflation wasn't the cause for a price hike, but the greed of others.
Something about the situation bothered him so much that he decided to look into it. Fortunately, he had become such a frequent visitor that he knew who the local tax collector was by name and what he looked like.
The tax collector was a tad surprised by the visit, even more so when he found out why Ren was interested.
"The lord that rules the territory asked us to raise the taxes this year. Something about a disaster in another area and needing to help fund it," he explained.
Something about that bothered Ren so much that he wanted to look into it. The problem was that his trials that would officially label him an adult in the eyes of his family were coming up soon and if he missed it, then Haldir would never shut up about it and his uncle would be pissed.
Ren gauged how long it would take to reach the city the lord was in, and how long it would be before his trials. Sure it was a minor matter, but he rather liked this town and the people in it.
Nailo took one look at his best friend's face.
"You're planning another crazy adventure again, aren't you?" he asked.
"Not really. I just want to verify something I heard," said Ren.
Nailo looked dubious.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Seriously! The tax collector mentioned a disaster that the local lord had to help cover for. I just want to find out what it was," he said.
Nailo didn't ask why. Ren was rather kind to others, and odds were he just wanted to get away from Haldir for a while. After all, his cousin hadn't shut up about the fact the trials were coming up soon and how he would become an important person in the elvish guard.
After all, their family had been in the guard for centuries and he had been trained into it for years. The fact that his least liked cousin was going into a different profession that meant they would spend as little time together hadn't helped.
Nailo knew that when Ren wanted to do something, the best he could do was just go along for the ride. Mostly because if they actually did end up in a dangerous situation, Ren was the first one to do his best to get them out of it.
He sighed, and said...
"I'll get our travel packs. An extended vacation away from Haldir's bragging sounds great," said Nailo.
Ren beamed at him.
Unnoticed by the two, the old bard who had been telling stories was watching them from the shadows, an intrigued look on his face.
Several weeks later...
Haldir had been absolutely insufferable. His uncle had fumed the moment Ren stepped foot back into the family's home, because they had spent so much time unraveling a massive corruption in the local lord that they had missed participating in the trials which was a massive blow to their reputation.
Ren winced and took the scolding as his due, since he had messed up. However he was unapologetic about the matter because that human lord had been absolute scum who needed to be taken down a major peg. His replacement was strict, but far easier on the human populace because he was a no-nonsense man with such a strong sense of justice that the idea of corruption was highly unlikely.
He wouldn't give much of an inch regarding criminals or missed payments, but at least he wouldn't hike up the taxes out of greed like his predecessor or abuse the poor.
Then again, the new lord was a devout worshiper of Paladine, so that was a bit of a given.
Haldir could barely hold back the smug expression on his face as they were lead into the temple, where the priests would bestow the blessing. Ren would never be able to make a proper showing that would earn him higher favor among the gods of light and they all knew it.
Nailo was beside Ren and on the opposite side of Haldir. He barely hid his distaste of the spoiled prince of the Silva family off his face.
Ren went to one knee, reciting the prayer to the gods of light and asking for their blessing as he reached adulthood that would protect him for the rest of his life. As he wanted to become a ranger, he made sure to add an extra prayer to the goddess Meilikki for her blessing in his chosen path.
The cleric walked up to him and began the long prayer to the gods of light...only for the unexpected to happen.
A long, loud roar of a dragon was heard, causing everyone to freeze. Then light shined down from above, which signified that one of the gods of light was going to do more than bestow a general blessing.
They were about to make one of the elves into a potential Chosen.
Haldir could barely keep the excitement off his face, as he fully expected him to be the one the gods had taken note of. So you could imagine his rage and shock when Ren suddenly gasped and the symbol of Paladine burned itself onto his right shoulder.
However he wasn't the only one bestowed a proper blessing. Nailo gasped as well, as the symbol of Mystra etched itself onto his shoulder.
The entire temple was in an uproar, while Ren hid his shock and disappointment of the matter.
Everyone knew that those blessed by Paladine became knights and paladins.
Something his cousin wanted...and Ren wanted nothing to do with.
Haldir was beyond pissed.