I wrote for three days in a row because I liked pain. I don't like this whole sequence at all; I think I wrote and presented it poorly and not with the care I should have for how heavy it gets, but here it is.

Iphnis kept a steady pace all that day, and the next. Where it would take most humans to reach the mountains in a week, he did it in three days. Gnome's had special shortcuts that no human was allowed to know of. Soon enough, the Sergai mountains loomed up before him, larger than life. He climbed as quickly as he could, and made it to his destination by the time the sun had set. He stood before the doors to his family's house, hidden from human eyes. Special spells were laid upon them to prevent any humans or unwelcome visitors from the outside world. He placed his hand upon a marking on the rock, then disappeared through a slim crevice that appeared. To any human watching, it would appear that he'd just vanished into the side of the mountain itself.

fun fact, gnomes don't have physics

He wound his way through the stone mazes, till he reached the center; his father's hall. He pushed open the great, heavy, stone doors and stood before a long, high ceilinged hall. Lined with burning torches and decorated sparsely, but well. Iphnis strode to the front of the hall and bowed before his father, who sat in a great chair at its head.

alright so now we're in the gnomes center. I'm sure you've all been wanting to know more about them, I know I have. I think i tried basing gnomes sort of off like early medieval or something. Norse comes to mind but that was far far in the background. There's a sort of formality in the way they do things. I wanted them to be different from humans. Humans are different from each other and I wanted gnomes to be different from humans in general.

"Greetings, Father," Iphnis said as he stood upright again. He directed a smile at his mother, who stood by her lord's side. But she didn't return the smile. His mother always returned smiles.

and now I'm really curious about Iphnis' family and growing up and stuff

Cold silence was the response.

The worry that had plagued him for so long returned. He glanced to the side of the hall where his brothers stood. His two older brothers, Paladin and Mochni, eyed him icily, but his younger one, Asofa, looked almost scared. Now Iphnis was scared too. He turned his gaze back to his Father.

alright so i really don't like these next few scenes so I'm going to interrupt them a lot because i can

"My lord?"

"Late, Iphnis," His father said.

Iphnis swallowed hard. "What?"

"Too long have you mingled with the humans, our sworn enemy, and treated them as friends. This is unacceptable." His Father said. His tone cold, and his gaze stern.

Oh dear

"Father--" Iphnis started, but was cut off.

His father silenced him by raising his hand, "Do not try to get out of this. You should have known better."

i mean... cut him some slack, you should know your own kid better

"But Father, I was helping them with something and I couldn't just leave..." He knew it was the wrong thing to say at once.

His Father's eyes flared with anger and disappointment. "You went so far as to help them? How many times have I told you cease your dabbling in the human's affairs?"

dabbling? before this he was stalking them from between tree branches he's only been legit helping them for the past....... few months and given that gnomes are longer lived, a few months to us is like a few weeks to them so i really don't think that's a legit enough claim.

unless like way back when he was way young he was interacting with humans then too

"Many times, but--"

"Apparently not enough." He cut him off again.

Asofa came forward, a bundle in his arms. He handed it to Iphnis. It was a bag. Iphnis glanced inside to find it was his belongings. His things. That could mean one things...

all of his stuff can be fit into one rucksack sized bag? All of it? Are gnomes the most hardcore minimalists ever or something?

His Father stood up from his high seat. "Iphnis, I hereby declare you cast out from this family, and cut off from the race of Gnomes because of your rebellious and foolish actions." His father declared.

Oof. remind me why i did this? i don't know. yes I do. it's because i like pain.

Iphnis couldn't speak. He couldn't breath. His worst nightmare had come upon him. It was more terrible than he'd imagined. Surely, there must be some way to gain forgiveness. He threw himself down before his Father and pleaded, "Father, please, I'm sorry, I'll never see any humans again, but please--" He didn't finish. Two pairs of hands roughly grabbed him and pulled him up.

this sucks man. this really sucks. Aight so his worst nightmare is being cut-off from his people, and with his interest in humans that runs a higher risk than most, yet he persists. So iphnis is the kind of guy that wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to be a part of his people, but also do the thing that's most forbidden by his people. Interesting.

"Shut it, Iphnis, it's too late," His oldest brother, Paladin, growled.

"B--But..."

"Stop your sniveling, it won't get you anywhere," Paladin sneered at him. Then, addressing Mochni, "hold him steady,"

His brothers are jerks. I think this was an unconcious inclusion of  some of my own sibling dynamics in that my two oldest brothers were thick as thieves, and I, the youngest, was rather outside of that. My two oldest brothers were not huge jerks though.

A stinging pain flashed across his right cheek. He cried out and shied away, bringing a hand up to his face. When he drew it away, it was covered in blood.

Ouch. Also one of the things i don't like about this whole thing is that it feels very theatrical and dramatique. It's outside of the rest of the story's writing style, and that could be good because it's outside of the story's usual setting, but I just think it's dumb here.

"The mark of banishment is upon you. Now go!" Paladin cried.

"But--" Iphnis started, but was cut off by a kick to his ribs.

"We said: go. Leave!" Mochni shoved him hard away.

Iphnis stumbled back and fell to the ground. He was utterly bewildered. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't. He sent one last glance at his mother, his eyes pleading for mercy. His mother looked away dismissively. Iphnis looked at Asofa. He looked almost horrified at what he was seeing, but there was also a gleam of satisfaction in his pale eyes. It was made clear to Iphnis. No one here cared about him any more. He picked himself up slowly. He sent a wary gaze to his older brothers. They took a menacing step forwards. Iphnis retreated, still looking back at them.

Note, I was totally making up this whole banishment ritual as I was going along.

"You're not welcome here, anymore. You're a stranger now. Go!" His Father shouted, raising an arm and pointing towards the back of the hall; towards to door.

Iphnis fled, pursued by his older brothers. He didn't know what else to do, so he ran. Back through the mazes. Every time he started to stop, his brothers would call out after, him, "Keep going!" and Iphnis would keep running.

Man this sucks. Poor Iphnis guys. He doesn't deserve this.

Finally, he reached the outermost door and stopped. He didn't want to leave. He stopped. His older brothers caught up. They grabbed his arms and threw him out the door, his sack of belongings after him.

"Do not try to return." Paladin warned.

"We will forget your existence." Mochni finished.

"Do not try to return." Paladin said again. Iphnis heard a sharp thud, and clack. The door was shut.

:///////////////

Iphnis lay on the ground, bewildered, his head spinning. He got up. He looked around. The full moon glimmered on the patches of snow that lay around. Iphnis wondered if it had been a dream, and that all he had to do was enter and he'd be welcomed by his family, as he always used to be when he returned home. He reached up to touch his cheek. The blood was still there, as was the pain. Iphnis couldn't see it, but he knew the mark. Three parallel scars would be on his face ever after. Noticeable. Any Gnome who saw him would know that he was banished. Cast out. He got to his feet and whirled around to the door. He stumbled forward and dropped to his knees before the stone. He searched and searched, but the marking wasn't there. He placed his over where he remembered it being, but nothing happened. The door was shut. He could never get in again.

Another thing is that this is supposed to be extremely jarring to Iphnis and I don't think this cuts it. Everything we know about Iphnis' family is right here. If there was a little scene taking place before this of him and his family where everyone's happy and together then this would carry more weight, but as it is, this is just lotsa drama that feels, well, cringe to me. 

Tears sprang to his eyes. It couldn't be true. It couldn't be true! "Father!" He called hoarsely. "Mother! Please!"

No answer. He rammed himself against the solid rock, thinking maybe he could shove the door open. But no kind of force could break that door. You'd have to break the whole side of the mountain. He called out again. He wept. But no answer came. He sank down to the ground, leaning against the door. His knees were up to his chest, and he wrapped his arms around them.

i base gnomes off of elves but i give them dwarf doors.

"Please, I'm sorry," he cried again. "please!" He begged.

No answer came.

He curled into a ball, buried his face against his knees, and sobbed. He'd never see his family, or his people again. He wasn't sure which hurt more. They were both so painful. How could he live without his people? How could he survive, knowing that his family had kicked him out. Not deeming him worthy to be as a Gnome anymore? It was more than he could bear. He stayed curled up and sobbed until he fell asleep.

One more time...

Oof