Sam was sitting on his porch smoking from his pipe and drinking a cold ale from the cellar when he saw the Mayor and a fancy pants riding down the lane toward his farm. He would have gotten up and gone inside to leave his wife to deal with them, but the earful he would have gotten from her after doing that made him cringe. So, he waited for them to reach the porch.

The mayor jumped off his horse. You would not have guessed he was in his fifties, but he was an adventurer in his youth, so had some good stats. His companion was getting off slower with care. I would guess he did not do a lot of riding.

“Hi Sam, mind if we join you?” Said the Mayor with a cheerful voice.

Sam was tempted to say no, but he had to live here and the Mayor was alright, he just wasn’t in a good mood for conversation. He just limited his response to a grunt as the Mayor climbed up on the porch and turned to his companion.

“This is the senior historian all the way from Jorn here to talk to you.” Said the Mayor, which ended any doubt I had about what they wanted to talk about.

I sighed. “Have a seat.” That was the extent of my hospitality, no offer of a drink, which the Mayor caught with a frown.

The historian seemed both excited and dismayed at who he saw before him. I must admit I am not much to look at. Unlike most farmers, I have worked mostly on building up my Intelligence and Wisdom versus Strength. As a result, I was a little big around the middle and not a striking image of a hard-working farmer, which is due to my ability, which of course why the historian is here.

The historian leaned forward expectantly saying. “My name is Harris Gardener Mister Warner…”

Sam interrupted him there saying. “Just call me Sam.”

Harris smiled, replying. “Then please call me Harris. I was here to hear the tale of how you saved the village right from the source.”

“I am sure you have heard the tale already from better storytellers than myself.”

Harris shook his head and said. “Perhaps, but they are exactly that, stories. I want to hear the truth from the source.”

I sighed, I had tried. “Well, what do you want to know?”

“Well since your ability was key in saving the village can we start with how you got it?”

“Hmmm, I haven’t talked about that in a while. It happened when I was fourteen and still working on my father’s farm. While I was digging in the fields I hit a stone. After unearthing it I found it was a crystal about as long as my hand, with swirling red motes of light within, and as I held it in my hands I felt a shock up my arms and passed out. My father found me like that clucking a blacken crystal.”

“I was out until that evening when I woke to my parents arguing, which is unusual as they rarely ever disagreed. As I sat up in my bed I would see light from under the door dimly illuminating the room. I also saw something flashing in my lower left field of view. It moved as my eyes tried to follow it, always maintaining the same place relative to where I looked. As I tried to look straight ahead and focus on it at the same time it suddenly expanded.”

Congratulations

You have unlocked your ability Enlarge, 50 XP awarded. Basic 1.

Enlarge, Basic Level 1 (0%)

This ability allows the user to enlarge any whole or part of an object by 1% per skill level. An object can only be affected once by this ability. Does not affect sentient creatures.

Size Affected: Affects objects up to 100 pounds. Max size increases by 10 pounds per skill level

Cost: 1 mana per pound. Minimum cost 10 mana.

Range: 20 feet plus 2 feet per skill level

Duration: Permanent

Harris interrupted. “Do you still have the crystal?”

“No, my father destroyed it with a sledgehammer thinking it had cursed me.”

Disappointed Harris gestured to continue.

After that, I told my parents what happened and they were relieved. Then the next day I tried out my powers. I was going to pick one of the chickens, but my dad said I should use it on the eggs since I could only use it once something. My intelligence at the time was ten, so I only had 50 mana. The eggs were small, so I just had to spend the minimum, which was ten mana per use, I would use it twice before working on my chores and then using it again. Gradually I improved and we could see a noticeable increase in size.”

“In the years that followed our livestock was prized for its size and we were able to expand the farm several times before I purchased my own farm. People, of course, knew magic was involved, but the effect was permanent, so no one had any cause to complain. I made out fairly well and expanded the Farm over the years to the size you see today.”

“You have 400 acres now?” Harris asked.

“Yes, I do.” I said with a smile, sighing contently until I remember what we would be talking about next.

“Now could you describe what happened last May?”

“Well it was the end of May after the spring planting when one of the count couriers galloped into town leaving a message, isn’t that right?” I said looking at the Mayor.

“Yes, the courier dropped off a missive indicating the Count of Northridge was marching his men through the siege out Count of Glasmore. Not that we really cared usually. Other than paying our taxes we have very little to do with our Count. In this case, Northridge would be taking some two hundred men through our village on the way to Glasmore castle. Northridge was known to be a cruel man, so it would no doubt go bad for the village. The problem was he was only a day behind the courier.”

Sam nodded. “Yes, that was the problem. It took almost a day to inform everyone and then it was too late to flee. Since I was well off I had several horses and wagons. I loaded everyone up on the wagons and sent them out of town, while I went over to my parent’s farm to get them.”