Barene Lightmyth's Lore

The Depths of Scales

Barene Lightmyth's Story

Originally posted in April 2026

- Chapter I -

"Barene, please settle down. Go’on, get into bed." Barene's father, so tired from his day in the courts, was just trying to get his child to bed. Barene was currently jumping on her bed and pulling the fancy curtains down around the both of them. Barene’s father hangs the curtains back up over the rods. "If you settle down and at least get under the covers then'll read you the next chapter of ‘The Lonely Huntsman’," her father begged. Barene flumpfs down onto the bedding with a big smile on her face and scampers under the covers just enough to legally fulfill her obligation to her father. Her feet still moving and sliding around under the covers sending waves of energy across the bedding. Her father smooths them out and sits down on the bed’s edge.

Her father, Damon, a strong-faced Newl in his late 40s. His entire jaw is covered with golden stone scales that the Newl are known for. The Newls being a race of humanoids that come from the Seef region of the Authenti lands. Their most notable visual characteristic are the hardened scales covering parts of their bodies. Every Newl is different, some may have these stone-like scales only covering parts of their legs, while others have them covering most of their body. Some of the scales are very elegant, more like a mermaid’s tail with iridescent pearl colorations, while others are hardened and darkened and thick. The scale type and coloration is believed to be passed down through hereditary lines, but the placement and amount of them are widely debated on where or how they appear on newborn Newls. More debated than the placement of the scales is where they originated from. There are two main theories:

1] A type of infection due to their proximity to the slate cliffs and quarries surrounding Seef.

2] The Newl race are actually dragons that attempted to change into more humanoid figures and got trapped between forms.

Neither have been proved, or disproved, but almost every Newl has an opinion on the matter.

Damon’s scales were golden, which meant that Barene’s scales were and would be as well. He appeared to have a larger than normal jaw with his scales dripping down his square-shaped face and off his chin line. A very prominent silhouette that works very well for him as a judge within the city courts. Barene’s scales begin from her neckline and travel all the way down her body and stop just above her ankles. Her scale placement is regarded very highly within the Newl race due to the thickened hide it provides. Barene’s scales are still very faint now since she’s younger, but as she grows, the depths of scales will grow as well. This will be a very painful process for Barene as a young Newl, the scales can pinch and tear into the skin while they form and harden, but she’ll begin to get accustomed to the feeling and eventually have a gorgeous set of golden scales. Her parents are very proud of Barene’s scales, but right now Damon would give a piece of his own scales just to get Barene to go to bed.

“Alright, alright, you little lizard settle down under there.” Damon called his daughter “little lizard” with endearment, but the term was slightly derogatory coming from anyone that isn’t a Newl. Barene’s mother Gaelta hated this phrase and wished Damon would stop using it to describe their high-born daughter. “Quit kicking me or I’ll toss this book out the window.”

Barene stops moving abruptly and lays as still as she possibly can, still with a big smile on her face and her eyes hyper-focused on her father.

“Ahehum-hum!” Damon clears his throat in a dramatic way while flourishing his hand above the book, his golden jaw bouncing in reaction. “The Lonely Huntsman. Chapter two.” Barene rests her gaze on her father’s face and Damon settles back against the bed’s headboard with a pillow behind his neck and begins reading:

The walk back from the hunting grounds was brisk and a lot longer with a deer strapped to his sled. The Huntsman feels the weight of the deer on the weight of the sled he pulls towards his cabin. Thinking of the forest and how it supplies him with the opportunities to live his solitary life. He thanks it breathlessly.

The wind pushes low through the pine trees and meets everything it touches with a gentle grace. The Huntsman pulls their food and new coat down into a small valley where a stream bubbles up from the ground. He is close to home and can already hear the hungry mouths begging for food he has yet to prepare. Digging into the snow and pulling the sled the last distance to the top of his little hill in the woods. The noise inside becomes a cacophony of screeches and pounding. A smile creeps across the Huntsman's bearded face as they brace for the coming assault.

“Woah woah now, ease up and sit down,” he says as he opens the door to the cabin and is covered with loving paws and tails. All his dogs swarm his ankles and sled, smelling his time away and the fresh kill. The Huntsman slides the deer carcass away from the hungry pups and makes his way to the kitchen for feeding. His companions all leave the sled alone and follow into the kitchen.

Once the dogs have been fed and the deer has been cleaned and hung, the Huntsman rests down in his large chair in front of the fireplace to begin nodding towards sleep. The rest comes easily for the tired Huntsman as he sleeps alone in his chair by the fire. He dreams of the forest and of the trees as he strolls through them with his trusted companions at his side. He places a hand to a tall tree and hears it knocking. Knocking and knocking away until he is back in his hut and hears the knocking getting louder from behind him.

All of his dogs are sitting in front of the door watching it intently, not making a sound. The only sound being the knocking on the other side of the door. The Huntsman stands from his chair and grabs something from the drawer by his fireplace while he makes his way to the knocking wood.

“Who goes there?” The Huntsman asks whatever is beyond the doorway.

“Oh, sir, may I please come in and warm myself by the fire? I saw your chimney from far off and it is dreadfully cold out here.” A muffled voice answers.

The Huntsman pushes past his dogs that stand like statues, pats them on the heads and they move behind him. The Huntsman opens the door to find a tall girl of about 24 years of age standing there shivering from the night air. “Come inside my dear. Your bones must be rattling.” He says as he motions into the hut and towards the fireplace. The dogs immediately sense the tone in their companion’s voice and circle around the girl to begin smelling her. “Oh, don’t mind, just push past them and make yourself warm in my chair.”

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Damon looks down to see Barene blink her eyes more lazily and lose focus.

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“--just push past them and make yourself warm in my chair. They won’t bother you.” He says as he brushes a hand by their heads and disperses them into the hut. The girl slowly and cautiously makes her way into the hut as the Huntsman closes the door behind them. “Sit, please. I’ll fix you something hot.”

The girl sits in the Huntsman’s chair and feels the ghostly warmth that was in the chair from the previous person.

“We don’t– ahem– I don’t get much visitors out this way.” The Huntsman says as he makes his way into the kitchen and begins opening containers. The dogs get excited and circle around him. “What brings you out into the woods during a cold night?”

“I was tracking something and I got lost as the sun went down.” Her voice is soft but constant and comes from her lips with a delicate force. The Huntsman notices a sling hung from the girl’s waist, along with a thin stone object strapped to it. “I thought I was travelling South, back to my town, but I think I’ve been heading North this entire time.”

The Huntsman calmly places a wooden spoon down into a warm mug and says, “No. You weren’t.” He walks over to the young girl and presses the mug into her palms that heats her hands and heart immediately. She stares at the Huntsman’s hands, his knuckles look like old knots of a tree and his skin looks to be made of bark.

The cold girl pushes from her lips, “The Darrobushkyi…”

The Huntsman smiles at the girl and scatters a handful of items around the dirt floor of the hut. The Huntsman’s dogs equally scatter to grab all the treats they can.

“Come now. Let’s sit and enjoy that warm mug.”

The girl’s hands slowly sap the heat from the mug as she settles into it. Everyone finds their seats and–

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"Sounds nice," mutters Barene.

Damon wipes his heavy eyes with the back of his hand while stretching his tight neck, “What was that, honey?” The book pages flutter together and he loses the spot.

Barene continues with her eyes closed and shifting down onto the flat of the bed, "That place sounds nice.” She yawns a big yawn that stretches her entire head, “He's surrounded by everyone that he loves and they love him. That sounds nice." Barene grabs a pillow and snuggles her face into it.

Barene's father stands up from the bed with a smile and fully closes the book. "Never change little lizard." He kisses Barene on the forehead, “You’re perfect.” and tucks the blanket beneath her. The candle gets snuffed out by his large hand as he makes his way through the doorway of Barene’s bedroom for the last time.

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- Chapter II -

* COMING SOON *