Hello! Happy 2024! I particularly didn't had a good holiday season, however I hope you all had one. I have a lot of pride with this story, I'm taking a lot care to make this one the best it can be. I'm even sketching designs for the characters.
I don't have much to add here, I just hope you like the story.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Loud House.
The white haired boy walked down the stairs. He had woken up moments ago, he had chances into his preferred attire: a pale cinnamon colored robe with a orange coveralls and a satchel, he used these since he was gifted them by Marlin The Foul, the old kook wizard that Lincoln called master.
"Good morning mom." Lincoln spoke crossing the door behind the counter of the apothecary her mother was the owner. Said woman was becoming the shop before she opened for the day.
"Good morning son, are you going to the shrine?" The single mother asker her only offspring, setting the broom on a wall, and walking behind the counter.
The young boy walked to the door and looked his mother. "Yes mom, you know, do your prayers for good fortune, but don't worry, I'll return to help you." He opened the door and exited the herb shop.
The small village of Royal Wood, constructed by the edge of the forest of Royal Woods, southeast of the region of Eriol, one of the ten regions of the great realm of Udan.
It was where Lincoln Snowtop was born and raised. He walked down the few steps and walked the small road path, greeting her neighbor in his way to the shrine.
"Good morning Lincoln." A elderly woman greeted the boy as he passed by her house.
"Good morning Miss Cottage!" The boy greeted back with a warm smile.
Lincoln made his way through the village, passing by the small bakery, the pub and finally arrived at the biggest construction of the village, yet being rather small for shrine. It was old, but very conserved, still sporting it's yellow paint job, made in homage for the goddess of the shrine.
Lincoln lowered his head as he entered the shrine and slowly walked up to a small statue of a woman using long robes and holding a small candle.
The boy knew down on front of the image of the Goddess Maja, the goddess that Royal Wood worshipped.
"Oh, gentle Maja, the goddess of knowledge and compassion, grant your humble follower yet another day full of enriching experiences." The boy prayed, before getting back on his feet.
When the boy turned around, he jumped in fright at the sight of a gray bearded old man using robes the color of a banana.
"Hey Ho! My dear lad!" Marlin The Foul greeted Lincoln, not paying attention to Lincoln's startled state. "It 's good to see you up so e'rly for 'our magic lesson of today!"
"Good Morning Marlin, please, I already asked you to spot creeping up on me." The old man chuckled and motioned to Lincoln to follow him.
"Come, come lad! There 's som'thing I want to show you!" He spoke, exiting the shrine being tailed by Lincoln. The two walked down in silence for a few minutes before arriving at where the crazy wizard called home.
A very old and crudely made tower, that not just was too small to really be called a tower, but also just was still standing up by what had to be magic.
"Wait 'n here lad! I need to fetch som'thing from my fortress!" He walked up the stairs to the tower and entered it, leaving Lincoln alone, waiting for his crazy master in silence.
Lincoln looked back on direction of the Windholm mountain, one of the tallest mountains of Udan, located right in the middle of the realm, looming over all the ten regions.
Marlin kicked open the door of the tower, surprising Lincoln once again, who turned to him. The old wizard had in his hand a big, old tome that looked than the man that held it.
"This, My lad, 's my gift for the con'lusion of 'our basic course in magic!" The wizard spoke happily, handing the time to Lincoln, that looked at the book and to Marlin with mixture of confusion, surprise and shock.
"W-what do you mean by conclusion? You're not going to teach me anymore?" Lincoln asked concerned.
"Oh, no My lad, I already 'aught you everythin a old lunatic like me could teach you, my lad. You 'ave been a excellent pupil for these past six years, and recently, I noticed 'ow much you've grown." Lincoln looked down to the book with a embarrassed look, being complemented wasn't one of the things he liked the most, he was just 13, and didn't felt entirely confident on his abilities as a wizard, not yet.
"Thanks Marlin, but I don't think I-" The boy was cut off when the old man raised his hand rapidly on his face.
"You, my lad, already 'ave proven 'our worth as a wizard. Remember 'esterday when you used 'our knowledge 'n the restoration school to cure that lad Rusty's 'roken arm?" Lincoln bit his lower lip.
He used a simple restoration spell to help his friend, that had insisted to him cure his arm. Rusty was a real cheapskate, that just insisted for Lincoln's help to not have to go to the healer on Mireworth, capital of Eriol, where their Jarl lived.
"Yeah Marlin, But it's just one school, I don't know if my knowledge of the other schools are good enough yet!" Lincoln was being honest, although he knew the basic concepts of each one of the schools of magic, he hadn't take the time to deepen his knowledge on any of them, he really only knew a single restoration spell that could heal small wounds and a simple fireball spell, of the destruction school. "How can you say that you're not going to continue to teach me?"
"My lad, both you and I 'now that it finally 'rrived the time for you to get 'our things and go for a 'nowledge journey to deepen 'n hone 'our skills." Marlin spoke, placing both hands on Lincoln's shoulders. "You're 'n 'pprentise no more. Lincoln 'nowtop, I, Marlin the foul, Grant you the rank of Junior wizard, rea'y to face the worl' by 'ourself!" Lincoln couldn't help but feel pride at that. He now was a wizard. The lowest rank of wizards, but still, a wizard! But…
"A journey? No, no no no! My family needs me here! My mother needs my help on the ship, my grandfather needs help!" the boy spoke shaking his head.
"My lad, your family is 'n good hands here 'n Royal Wood, and you know it! 'our mother 's a strong woman! And your grandfather 's still a 'reatening as he was on 'is general days!"
"Marlin, I really don't think I'm ready." Lincoln spoke slumping his shoulders.
"Come on my lad, don't be stubb'rn like 'our dad! 'ow you expect to 'ecome the Arch-Mage?" Lincoln looked down again and looked at the direction of the Windholm mountain again.
The Arch-Mage of Windholm is the greatest title for a wizard in the whole Udan, being the chief of the Sages of Windholm, a ground of great wizards that serve as mediators between each regions of Udan, each court of a Jarl has a Sage on it, and they report every move of the Jarl to the Arch-Mage.
Being the Arch-Mage is not only being the greatest wizard, but also being the one who oversees the regions and prevent crisis on them, and stop any wars before they even begin.
Lincoln's dream is becoming the Arch-Mage to prevent any more wars to happen on Udan, like the raid on Eriol's by the neighbor region of Yound, that took Lincoln's father.
"You can not 'ecome a 'reat wizard stayin' your whol' life 'ere." Marlin spoke with a serious, yet gentle tone.
"Yeah… you're right Marlin… I'll talk to my mother and Pop-Pop."
"Goo' ol' Lad." The old wizard spoke, patting Lincoln's head proudly. "Oh, this book I 'ave to ya, it's my 'ersonal stu'ies 'ournal! It's fille' to the brim with tips and tricks for spells an' some spells that I 'ade ma'self!"
Lincoln smiled at the journal "Thanks Marlin, it's a honor." Lincoln, then, placed the book I side his enchanted satchel, that Marlin had given to him, it was a useful tool for carrying lots of things without costing space or weight. "Bye Marlin." He said getting ready to leave.
"Bye My Lad, 'nd goo' luck with 'our mother!" Marlin spoke waving him goodbye.
Lincoln walked down the village once again, and soon arrived at his mother's apothecary. He walked up the steps and entered.
"I'm back." He spoke, announcing his return to her mother, who was still behind the counter, as the shop was open now.
"Oh, you're home early, what happened?" Rita asked, confused.
"Oh, Marlin said he had nothing to teach me anymore. He… He said that I was ready to go out and… deepen my knowledge."
Rita stood in silence for a second, before sighing and than throwing her arms up with a smile. "My little man is a wizard!" She spoke, running around the counter and hugging Lincoln.
"Mom?" Lincoln spoke shocked and confused.
"Oh dear, this is delightful, you made another step in the direction of your dream of becoming the Arch-Mage!" Rita spoke with years of joy in her eyes.
"What's all that noise for?" The voice of a old man came from the backroom of the shop, where Albert Snowtop, father of Rita and grandfather of Lincoln appeared from. He was tall and although his age, still muscular, in his youth, he was a soldier of Mireworth's Army of Eriol, and in the last years of his service, he even became general of the army.
"Dad, the day has come! Marlin said it's time to Lincoln to go out to become a great wizard!" Rita spoke, rubbing her cheek on his, still hugging the boy.
"Holy smokes… That's big!" Albert spoke with a smile, putting his hands on his hips. "Good job My double!" Lincoln finally let himself smile with proudness. If his family was happy with it, so, maybe it was time to go run after his dream.
The celebration was cut short by the sounds of hooves and metallic clanks, Lincoln and his grandfather exited the shop to see what was going on outside, and saw a trio of knights riding their horses along the road path of the village.
The head of the trio was a pompous man with a big nose, short brown hair and freckles, he wore a plate armor with red adornments and a red cape.
When the pompous knight spotted Albert along the path, a smirk sprung from his mouth as he stopped the horse by the shop.
"Good morning Sir Albert." The knight greeted the grandfather, faking a friendly smile.
"Morning Tullius." Albert greeted, deciding to ignore the obvious venom on his tone.
"General Tullius!" Tullius corrected the old man. "As you already know, I became general when you revoked your position and title of Thane!" Albert rolled his eyes. Tullius always gloated his promotion when they meet, it was starting to get old.
"Titles of nobility never were my thing Tullius, and you know it." Albert retorted., putting his hands on his hips. "So, tell me ya, how's Lynn?" Albert asked.
"Oh, That's why I've come! Snowtop, you would be surprised to know that my daughter has become captain of our proud army!" Tullius said proudly, stuffing his chest.
"Oh, that's so great news!" Albert said with a genuine smile for once. "I knew the girl had the potential to become a great soldier!"
"Yes, and you would also be surprise to know that she is the youngest soldier to become captain in the history of Eriol!" Tullius said with a proud smile. Albert laughed, the only times they both had conversations that weren't filled with tension was when they talked about the prodigy that was Lynn Griffinheart.
"Oh, and your grandchild Snowtop? How's the boy?" Tullius asked, before noticing the very boy he asked standing on the side of Albert.
"Hello General, I am good." Tullius again put his fake friendly smile.
"Oh, Kid, sorry I didn't saw you there, tell me, have you finally gave up on that silly idea of becoming a wizard?" The general asked.
"Oh no sir, in fact, my master said that I am ready to go out on Udan and seek knowledge!" Lincoln said excited, and Tullius dropped the fake smile, giving the boy a contempt look.
"I see. So you really are not going to serve on our proud army." Lincoln lowered his head before lifting up again with a smile.
"Sorry general, but lady Maja prays that there's always a way to end a conflict without violence." Lincoln spoke, repeating the words of the compassion goddess. Tullius rolled his eyes, as a follower of the goddess Thania of combat, the words of Maja we're annoying to hear.
"Kid, not every conflict can be resolved with just words. Sometimes, people just won't listen to what you have to say." Tullius spoke, trying to not sound like a mindless warmonger, but just reciting the words of his own belief.
"Please you two, let's not start a religious debacle here." Albert spoke up, knowing his grandson well enough to know that this discussion would be endless.
"Yes, I agree Snowtop, I have to go now, as I said before, I've came to announce my daughter's promotion by her request, and now that I did, I shaw not waste more of my precious time. Farewell." Tullius spoke, motioning for the other two knights to come with him as he rode away in the path and away from the village. Albert sighed.
"Tullius never changed, he's still as egocentric and immature as the day I took him as a rookie." Albert spoke.
"And now he's the general." Lincoln spoke, making Albert chuckle.
"We need to thank the goddesses that none war has broken since he took charge." Both grandfather and grandson laughed at the thought of Tullius in the charge of a army on a war. "Come my double, let's start packing your things for your journey!" Albert spoke.
Later that night, Lincoln was on his bed, trying to sleep, but the thought that the very next day, he was going on a adventure across Udan was making him anxious. That was very abrupt, out of nowhere, he didn't felt ready at all, different from what Marlin said.
He couldn't stop to think that it wasn't his successful heal of Rusty that made Marlin decide that he was ready, but also, he couldn't pinpoint what really made.
Marlin may be a little crazy, even being known as Marlin The Foul, but he wasn't that delusional. What has he seen that Lincoln didn't?
And aside from that, what he was going to do? Where he was going to go? He didn't knew, he was completely lost, and couldn't stop being frightened by the idea of ferocious beasts, dangerous thieves and other dangers.
Train of thought came to a abrupt stop when he heard screams, along with a ferocious roar and the sound wings, fire and destruction. He looked to the wall on the side of his bed, looking through the gaps of the wooden boards, red, yellow and orange lights, what was going on?
He quickly got out of his bed and ran down the stairs, her mother and grandfather were already up.
"Mom, Pop-Pop, what's going on?" The boy asked worried.
"We don't know, something is attacking the village! Something big!" As soon as Rita said that, the roar erupted once again as the shop shook, scaring the three.
"Pop-Pop, get mom to the basement, I need to get Marlin he's stupid enough to try to attack this thing!"
"Lincoln, wait!" Rita shouted but for nothing as Lincoln ran outside the shop, being met by a infernal view of his home village being burned.
The houses were ablaze, some had their roof being teared down, panicking people running in search for shelter, the hay crops on fire, and a...
Ravenous dragon, the color of charcoal, that was illuminated just by the red fire, what gave him a diabolical aspect.
The beast made another roar, it was perched on top of the Maja Shrine, contemplating the destruction it was making.
"A dragon?" Lincoln muttered I'm awe. "What it's doing here so far from the Draconest mountains? And why it's attacking? They're supposed to be peaceful, recluse creatures!" Lincoln jumped when he heard the voice of Marlin.
"Be calm, mis'nderstood crea'ure of the moun'ains!" Marlin was on the top of one of the house near the shrine. The dragon looked the old man. In panic, Lincoln started running up to the house where his master was. "Don't nee' to be 'fraid! Here you're not 'n dang'r!" The old man shouted, and the dragon made low snarls. Lincoln looked in awe, the dragon was calming down.
"Marlin…" He muttered. The dragon snarled again, lowering it's head closer to Marlin, who extended his hand. Lincoln started to open a smile as Marlin came close to touch the dragon.
But a arrow from the other side made the dragon roar in pain.
"No!" Lincoln shouted as the dragon whipped it's head to the side where it got shot. Half a dozen of knights with metal armor, with bows on their hands, shot the arrows on the dragon, who roared again as it spread it's wings and flapped them. The gust of wind made Lincoln fall down and the dragon started to fly up.
"Shot the wings! Don't allow it to fly away!" A female voice came from one of the knights, she used a helmet with a faceplate that hid her face, she had red garments under her armor, and a short cape that went under her right shoulder pad.
"Wait!" Lincoln ran in the direction of the soldiers, that again aimed their arrows at the dragons, but before he could do anything, they shot.
The arrows but the dragon , making it roar again, and fall back down, hitting the shrine hard, breaking the building 's roof.
"You can't do this!" Lincoln pleaded to the soldiers.
"Get away from here kid, it's dangerous." The girl spoke, ignoring Lincoln.
"No, you don't need to attack it! It's just afraid!" Lincoln spoke.
"Don't be a lunatic. Men, prepare for another arrow barrage!" The girl spoke.
"Aye Captain!" the soldiers shouted, preparing their arrows.
The dragon roared and from behind the shrine, a wall of fire erupted, startling the soldiers as the dragon flew up and swoop down at them.
"WATCH OUT!" The captain spoke, ducking, being followed by the soldiers. The dragon passed, roaring once again. Lincoln looked the creature turn around on air and prepare for another swoop
"Look out, he's coming back!" Lincoln shouted, the soldiers turned just in time, as the dragon had swoop.
"Voh" Lincoln could hear clearly, like if it had been spoke by a person, the dragon say that word. The world seemed to stop, as Lincoln processed what he heard. With the entire hell happening around him, no one noticed Lincoln's eyes. Their iris were yellow, with intrinsic patterns rotating around the pupils. And with a blink, his eyes were back to his natural blue.
The dragon spoke? Voh. But what made Lincoln more shocked was that, not only he heard that, but he also knew exactly what it meant. Like if he understood the word, like when you hear a word in a language that you speak fluently, Lincoln could just… understand what it meant.
"FIRE!" Lincoln shouted, alerting the soldiers, who pushed their shield over their heads, ready to protect themselves as tongue of fire erupted from the dragon's throat.
The soldiers just didn't died right there because of their shields, as the dragon flew away once again and, getting inpatient, landed near them, with a thump that made the ground shake and making the soldiers lose their feet and fall.
Lincoln made a deep breath and ran on their direction, passing by the soldiers and stopping in front of the dragon, who spread his wings up as a intimidation tactic, looking at the brave young wizard, still with it's mouth lit with the fire that would burn him and those soldiers.
But Lincoln released his breath in a instinct act, shouting the very word he heard the dragon shouting.
"Voh." And from the boy's throat, a burst of flame erupted on direction of the dragon.
The beast recoiled surprised, the hide of dragons are very resistant to fire, and the flames Lincoln shouted weren't enough to damage it, but the surprise and shock made the dragon back down snarling.
Lincoln started turning his head slightly side to side, making the flames dance in the air, frightening the dragon more.
The soldiers looked in awe the boy challenging the dragon with it's own signature ability.
With a snarl, the frightened dragon spread his wings again, and lifted itself again, Lincoln stood still, with his barrage of fire still lit as the dragon flew away, scared away by the fire.
When the dragon could not be seen anymore, the boy closed his mouth, making small ambers slide through his front teeth and smoke come out his nostrils.
"That… Is new…" Lincoln spoke, still tasting ambers on his tongue.
"You!" He heard the voice of the captain, he looked back and saw her walking up to him. "How do you dare to disobey official orders?" She spoke glaring at him.
"Well, sorry for saving your life!" He retorted.
"Well, you're under arrest!" The captain spoke, crossing her arms.
"For what? Hurting you ego?" Lincoln asked with a smug.
"You little…" The captain started, but before she continued, they heard someone approaching in a hurry.
"Lincoln!" They turned around, it was Albert, being followed by his daughter and Marlin. "Lincoln, are you alright?"
"Yes Pop-Pop, I am." Lincoln spoke as his mother hugged him.
"Oh, thank Maja!" She spoke.
"Wait, You're Albert Snowtop, right?" The captain asked, and the former general looked at her.
"The only Ma'am." He spoke. The captain looked surprised.
"Oh, eh, It's good, good to see you…" She spoke, taking her helmet off, revealing her young face, she was just about one year older than Lincoln, had freckles, and held her brown hair in a ponytail. "…again."
"Oh, if isn't the Griffinheart girl! Your father appeared here this morning, with the news that you've got a promotion." Lynn rubbed the back of her neck, embarrassed.
"heh… Wait, if you're Albert, so…" She looked at Lincoln and smiled. "Stincoln!" She shouted, grabbing him in a surprise headlock and rubbing his head. "Sorry dude, I didn't recognized ya!"
"L-Lynn!" Lincoln spoke embarrassed. In the past, when Albert still was the general, they were best friends, but when Albert renounced his position, they had departed ways and hadn't seen each other for a long time. "It's also good to see you."
" 'xcuse me, but 'bout the dragon tha' just al'ost de'royed the vil'age." The old kook spoke up.
"It's unprecedented the attack of a dragon on any human city." Albert spoke. "They where barely seen, but getting so far from their mountain range."
"Tha' poor dragon was scar'd to death, confus'd and far from 'ome…" Marlin spoke shaking his head. "I tri'd to calm 't down, but got 'nterrupted." He continued glancing daggers to Lynn who recoiled.
"Spot, but I was doing my job!" Lynn tried to defend herself. "Come on, my first night patrolling and I had to vent off a scared lost dragon, You have to give us some slack!"
"The did is done, and the dragon, where is it?" Albert asked, looking around.
"I scared it away… poor thing, at least he wasn't too hurt." Lincoln spoke.
"Scared It?" Albert and Rita repeated. "How?"
"Stincoln, breathed fired on him! I never knew something like that could happen!"
"Well, my little man is a wizard, Marlin here said he was ready to go out by himself!" Rita spoke proudly.
"Seriously? A wizard? Are you sure, you could be a great soldier!" Lynn spoke.
"Wai' My lad, 'id she sai' tha' 'ou breathe' fire?" The old wizard asked.
"Yes… I don't know how exactly, I… heard him speaking this word, and I just knew the meaning of the word, fire, so… I felt that I should shout it!" Lincoln explained.
"Cur'ous… My lad, 'ou need to rep'rt this to a sage imm'diately so the Arch-Mage 'nows 't as soon as poss'ble." Marlin spoke serious.
"A sage? A sage of Windholm you mean?" Lincoln asked, and Marlin nodded.
"There's a sage on the Jarl's court." Lynn spoke. "I'm going back to Mireworth to report this, you can come with me." She offered. "But before, Soldiers!"
The soldiers, that have been standing by straightened themselves and shouted in a single voice. "Yes Sir!"
"help the villagers to take down the fires! Make your best to help them! You're under Albert Snowtop's supervision while I'm away;" Lynn ordered.
"Sir, Yes Sir!" The man shouted and ran back to the village.
"Let's go Stincoln!" Lynn spoke walking back to the horse she came with.
"just a minute Lynn… I need to get my things first!" Lincoln spoke, before turning to Albert, who laughed and patted his grandfather's head.
"It looks like your journey started a little early my double." Lincoln made a deep breath and smiled.
N/A: There's a lot of things I want to speak with this chapter, Lincoln ISN'T a Loud, The Loud Family doesn't exist, Lincoln isn't related to Lynn or any of the other girls. The Arch-Mage and the sages of Windholm are inspired by Skyrim's College of Winterhold, and the society is very inspired by Skyrim's, with the provinces, holds, Jarls, Thanes, etc.
I had the idea and decided to create this story when I bought and replayed Skyrim anniversary edition on my Switch, I took the inspiration and added more sources, One Piece, Shuumatsu No Walkure, Naruto, are some of the bigger inspirations aside from Skyrim.
I decided to give Marlin a speech quirk that would make him almost unintelligible for the sake of the story, however I'm a little concerned if he's too much unintelligible. but I won't change it for consistency and the fact that I really like writing him like that.
Before starting writing properly, I created a (quite extensive, really) bible about this universe with it's rules, culture, characters, locations and rules for the magic, but them I realized that enslaving the world in rules would just spoil the fun, so, while I'll try to make things make sense, if you notice something that doesn't, just, play along, this is all just for fun anyway.
About the characters, I'll be introducing them gradually, not just the Loud children, but more side characters, Clyde, Liam, Sam, Stella, and others.
Chapter 2 will be coming soon, I already have it written, but I'll finish writing chapter 3, but I'll not stablish a schedule, because the last time I tried to retain a schedule, I worked myself into alcoholism
If you read till here, please, consider following and favoriting, if you want to ask something, has something to say or has any question, go ahead and comment, I'll try to respond everyone in the next chapter.
I wish you a great 2024, and we'll see in the next chapter.
Be good.
Bye.