Lapis Lochatlan

Lapis Lochatlan played by IGN: Lapisor is an Anglunian citizen, and moved to Renpaard after previously residing in Norstaeyya.

Early life
Lapis was a very makeshift creation. Their parents struggled to find any solid stone, and thus settled for condensed blocks of gravel, hoping it would suffice. It did not. As soon as they were animated, Lapis' body slouched down from the regular 8' of a child Orion, down to a measly 4'. Upon this, their parents immediately abandoned the poor Lapis, shoving them into a cave and blocking off the entrance. Despite being a pack species, Lapis was left to grow up all alone.

Lapis was determined to grow up into something big, no matter the cost. They spied on their former family, watching how they talked, and slowly began to teach themselves the Grunda'ine language. They learned this, and many other life skills by spying on their family. It was this experience that taught Lapis to be such a quick learner. They watched their family for millenia, but never tried to reintegrate themselves in fear of rejection, or worse. They also began to pack stone into their gravel, buffening their structure up, but this flatlined at around 6', and they were unable to put any more in. Eventually, frustration overwhelmed the poor being, and they stormed off through a labyrinth of a cave system, and was unable to find their way back to the horde, even after the wave of anger had left.

Lapis spent the next few millennia truly alone. They sat, twiddled with the nearby rocks, and sang old folk songs they learned from their previous family. They would sometimes ponder the cave system, investigating the structure, and perhaps even finding their old family. They never did find them. What they did find, however, was a thin cobblestone staircase leading down to bedrock, and up into a shining light. Lapis was infatuated with the brightness, and began to camp out around the staircase. That was, until one day, they heard footsteps.

Meeting Tylorh
Someone trotted down the stairs. Plop. Plop. Plop.

Lapis had heard the murmurs of this species a few time, and as such knew basic Traveller's Tongue, but it was barely conversation-worthy. But this would soon be put to the test. Lapis peeked around the corner of the staircase, and saw a young Yirsi walking down, pickaxe in hand. And the Yirsi saw Lapis too.

He jumped into a corner, curled up into a ball in fear. The Yirsi came into the cave, and said hello to Lapis.

"H-h-hello?" Lapis stammered.

The Yirsi was shocked. He didn't expect the rock beast to speak! They started a conversation, and Lapis eventually learned of the Yirsi's name. Tylorh. They had chats every time Tylorh went mining, which evolved from simple greetings to full conversations as Lapis began to understand Traveller's Tongue more and more. Lapis had finally found a friend, after tens of millenia. But it didn't stop there.

Surfacing
Lapis' eyes slowly adjusted to the light, as they waited for Tylorh to come down every day. After a week or two, they were able to fully see the house that the staircase was kept in. One day, Tylorh came down with various things in a bag: Yirsi clothes. A wig, a jacket, trousers, and a couple more items that would let Lapis truly blend in upstairs.

"Come upstairs with me!"

Lapis was... incredibly anxious. They had heard how it was much happier than the caves, yet was apprehensive nonetheless. Although, they rather enjoyed the clothes, the emotions, and the technology.

"Ok." they responded, after pondering the thought. "I'll do it."

The two walked up the staircase, Tylorh leading the way. As they left the door, Lapis was greeted with a paradise. A blackstone path, clusters of houses, and a water lake much clearer than the underwater springs. They would soon learn that this place was called "Norstaeyya."

Tylorh immediately led Lapis to his adoptive mother, Hadanna Alsey-Lochatlan.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOM" Tylorh whined. "CAN WE KEEP IT?"

Lapis stood in the corner, as Tylorh and Hadanna conversed in a language completely different to the one Lapis knew previously. After a couple minutes of conversations, Hadanna spoke to Lapis in Traveller's Tongue, a language they finally understood.

"Hello Lapis. Would you like to join the Lochatlan family?"

Integration into Norstaeyya
Lapis immediately began to learn Yirsi'tal, the town's main language, to better blend in and talk to the locals. They found a few books in Hadanna's chests to learn the the basics, and picked up the rest from the locals. Lapis began to do recreational activies, something extremely rare in Orion culture. They fished, they drank, they ate, and they learned about nature in the surface. It was all very interesting to learn.

In order to further integrate with the surface culture, Lapis began to earn money. Some basic research uncovered that mining was one of the best ways for a beginner to start earning. Lapis drank a haste potion and grabbed a pickaxe, unknowing that these tools once slaughtered millions of their kind, and began to dig. For some reason, the surface creatures valued items such as iron and gold quite a lot, despite their lack of rarity. Life was going smoothly for Lapis, for now.