Vincent, or should I say Thoric, slowly felt himself waking up. He was warm, and still full of his earlier meal. The light in this room flickered and waved but wasn't so bad. His newborn eyes really couldn't focus on anything thus making everything a blur. As he came fully awake he realized he couldn't move. This caused a little panic but then he remembered where he was, and it made sense about his restricted movement given that he was probably swaddled. This wasn't so bad, what concerned him most was the feeling of sitting in a hot damp swamp with his downstairs region itching like crazy. He knew he was a newborn and couldn't move but instinctually he tried. Regardless the itching was getting worse and boy did it smell in here. Wait! Smelly, itchy, wet swamp, oh gods he had shat himself and was now sitting in his own fecal matter. Logically that shouldn't have bothered him, and he knew the gods had removed a lot of the memories from his old world that could cause him emotional distress, but regardless sitting in your own poop was universally a horrible thing to have to do. What should you do? He took a deep breath screaming for someone the change him however all that came out with a loud cry.

He hears a door open and close, then he sees what is best described as a blurred outline of a person. With the pink hair it reminds him of a tiny pink mop coming toward him. He feels himself being picked up and his eyes are able to focus on who is picking him up. The face that appears before him instantly evokes an emotional response. Instinctually he knows this is mother and he immediately feels for the first time ever true love. He feels his mother lay him down on another table and start to undo his diaper. With the diaper removal, the cool air hits his block and tackle, along with his posterior, making the itching vanish. He is so happy he tries to vocalize and all that comes out is the baby noise of giggling and cooing.

While lying there getting his diaper changed, Thoric decides to inspect himself as best he can. Wiggling the best he can and lifting his arms and legs while he's free of the swaddling, he sees he has 10 toes and 10 fingers just like any other baby. His skin color is a somewhat grayish brown color, and he can see the fine red baby hair covering his arms. His eyesight is poor and he loses focus after a very short distance, and all the sounds seems blurry somewhat but loud at the same time. His mother is singing a song as she changes him, but he has no idea what she is saying. The language is a flowing language that sounds like it was should in a Peter Jackson movie about of some fairy or wee-folk, and yet, it reminds him of the sound that a brook would make as it flows through a pastoral setting.

As his mother finishes his diaper changing him, he feels a gurgling in his stomach. He could probably eat again but it feels like he has got to go to the restroom. Unfortunately, a baby’s muscle control is none existent resulting in him filling his newly change diaper right back up. For some reason this is extremely comical to him and he starts laughing. He sees his mother’s face scrunch up and she starts the whole process over again. As he is changed again he can’t quit laughing and thinks, “Sorry Mom.”

Mom. He actually means that and he can fill it to the core of his being. After she finishes change him she proceeds to drop his dirty diaper into a basket for washing and put away all the changing implements. She takes what appears to be freshly laundered diapers and stack them next on a cabinet of some kind near one of the torches on the wall. After she is done she swaddles him backup and proceeds to free her baby feeders from her dress. As she presses the nipple against his mouth he greedily takes it. Damn, this stuff is heaven. Did it taste like this in the old world? As he hungerly drinks for all he is worth that tingling sensation comes back. After just a few minutes he starts smelling smoke from somewhere. Simultaneously, his mother shrieks and stands rushing from the room….

The new mother and father are sitting in freshly cleaned bedroom holding one another in morning, their son slept in the nursery. Before Breldra had left she had her perform magic that would allow Kat to lactate and feed their son. She and Vorin were discussing their son and household now. It had been a couple of days since the birth.

“Vorin, would you let what the elder said go. She was probably just saying it because he was so difficult to deliver. It has been a few day and nothing drastic has happened. You know grandmother, I meant, Breldra has a weird sense of humor.” Kat says.

Vorin replies, “Okay love. I'll drop it. I can't believe he's finally here and I am a father. But it hurt to loose Elizabeth. I was fearful I would have to take a third wife soon if I couldn't produce a heir with her. You know I am the last male of our family and the priest said that I would never get a son off of another dwarf.

I have one more day and then the King has order me into the western mines. Apparently, there is some activity and a few miners have been injured by some sort of beast. This has caused our production to decrease and the trading delegation leaves in a just over 2 months and you know we only send one out every 5 years. I will take our house troops and clear the mines because we need that income, especially now that I have to provide for the future of my son. It shouldn't take over a few days. In the meantime, I'm going to see about arranging a visit for your parents. While you slept I sent a clay tablet with the message to the king over to the seneschal. With luck, we should hear back from him in a few days and we can arrange for your parents visit.

Katarina replies, “My parents visit? Can't we just go see them?

“No, my love. Recently gnolls, goblins, and other monsters have been quite active on the surface. You know our King has no love for the kingdoms of non-dwarves. Except for some of the highest ranks in the library, most of us know of little to nothing of outside world. Myself, who is considered well travel has never been farther than Riverheart of the united humanoid kingdoms and Forest Edge of the elvish nation. Riverheart is also a 40-day travel thru some monster infested lands and I refuse to let my son, even under guard, any risk at this age.

When we married 30 years ago you remember how hard it was for the King to allow you to live here and not force me to live somewhere else to be with you. And the only reason Elizabeth was allowed was because she was pregnent. Only those born into a dwarven family are allowed inside anything other than the surface trading village. As far as I know unless you are born here or are married it has always been that way and will continue.”

Suddenly from the other room, a loud wailing interrupts their conversation. Vorin chuckles while saying, “Well he's definitely got a set of lungs on him. I'll go get him wife.”

Katarina stands having already recovered from her birthday thanks to her gnomish physiology, even though a dwarf recovers in less than an hour. “Nonsense love. I'll go in there and take care of him. He's probably hungry anyway and you are not equipped to solve that.”

Vorin fakes surprise, “I could always feed him sheep's milk. Give him some muscle and turn him into a great warrior like his old man.”

Katarina slaps him on the head as she gets up and proceeds toward the nursery. Thinking to herself, that this is definitely Vorin’s son with a set of lungs and a voice that loud. As she opens the door to the nursery, horrific stench hits her nose. Kat scrunches her nose up and wonders how such a tiny thing can produce such a horrific smell. She chuckles to herself thinking, maybe she should let her husband take care of him this time. Walking over and picking little Thoric up from the nursery bed she places him on the stone changing table. Undoing the copper pins that hold on his cloth diaper, she proceeds to remove it. The smell is 10 times worse freed from the confines of the diaper. Throwing the diaper into the dirty hamper for laundry she grabs a freshly laundered one. While changing the diaper, she sings the gnomish lullaby that her mother had taught her. The baby is giggling and cooling all the time she's doing it and it. Yep, just like his father the worse it smells the bigger the laugh. This brings a smile to her face.

Immediately after she finishes changing the diaper the baby purses his lip, stopping his giggling and cooing, and immediately the smell returns even stronger. The baby giggles louder to Kat’s exasperation. Kat sighs and thinks little stinker already playing jokes as she grabs another diaper to replace the dirty one. God does this stink worse than the last one?

After she finishes changing him again she stacks the clean diapers on the clothing chest because she has a feeling they will be needed. Turning she hears a growl coming for little Thoric’s belly. She takes down her bodice on her dress to feed the little one. He clamps on with a vengeance and seems to be sucking extremely hard, almost like he is starving. Thoric is much larger than a gnomish child of her blood would be, taking his width from his father and height from Elizabeth. The parts she sees in him from Elizabeth are his golden eyes, his narrower frame, and a slightly pink tinge to the skin. He is sucking so hard that it is starting to be a little painful when suddenly she feels her mana flow out of her into her son. The room light flickers as the flames on the mana torch invert downward at a 45 degree down toward her son. Unfortunately, one of those flames is going right onto the stack of clean diapers she had just place moments ago setting it ablaze. She shrieks as she grabs her son and rushing from the room. Her one thought other than the safety of her son was I know what grandmother meant now by a hell of a ride. If their son could do that at less than a day old what would the future hold for him and better yet where could they find someone who could train mana in a dwarven enclave?