Alaric Grainshear
Name (Etymology):
Alaric — From Old Wendmorian alā (“to press into the earth”) and ricen (“a pattern” or “yield”).
Grainshear — From graeyn (“memory-grain”) and sheran (“to separate gently”).
Combined Meaning: “One who plants with purpose and draws meaning from what remains.”
Details:
- Age: Appears late 30s
- Gender: Male (He/Him)
- Race: Trollkin (Earthbound Folk)
- Occupation: Farmer, Soil-Keeper
- Region: Southern Reach
- Affiliation: None formally, but respected by Bella, Enzo, and Mina
Appearance
Broad-shouldered and sun-darkened, Alaric wears simple dust-colored tunics belted at the waist with a thick leather tool-wrap. His skin is a rich leaf green, laced with lighter moss-tones around his forearms and jawline — a sign of long sun exposure. His hands are rough but careful. His gaze is thoughtful, and his smile arrives slowly, like sunrise over loam.
Home
Alaric lives in a sloped, sunlit cottage on the eastern edge of Seven Mile Bottom, where the wild herbs start to take root. His roof garden is quiet, practical, and always in use.
Background
Alaric hails from the Southern Reach, where desert meets loam and patience grows deeper than roots. Among the Trollkin, he was grove-bound — raised in a soil-sharing collective that prized long plans and low drama. But when it came time to bind himself to that land for life, Alaric walked on.
He passed through the central farmland just seasons before your arrival — helped dig a trench, nearly stayed — but the ground, he says, “already knew someone else’s name.” So he continued to Seven Mile Bottom, where the soil didn’t recognize him. That, somehow, felt like permission.
Now he tends a modest terraced plot near the riverbend, where he grows herbs for Bella, trades compost advice with Mina, and occasionally lends Ramu his sun-drill.
Skills
- Reading soil memory through moisture, root patterns, and shade
- Patient composting and regenerative planting
- Solar-aligned breathwork and affirmation rituals
- Crafting irrigation tools from scavenged parts
Notable Belongings
- A clay-sealed pouch of seed augers carved by hand — three are missing
- A notebook of planting dates written in compressed pictoglyphs
- A stone-handled sun-dial used to track intention, not time
- A small jar of desert glass — the only item he’s kept from his original grove
Reputation
Known as one of the few people who can make Enzo pause mid-anvil. Bella calls him “the deepest root in town,” while Ramu claims he once saw Alaric stare down a snapping weed for five minutes before deciding to let it live.
Children say he talks to seeds. Alaric doesn’t correct them.
Some folks find him too quiet. Others swear his silences say more than most people’s speeches. He’s the one you ask for advice when you’re ready to listen — not just to the answer, but to yourself.
Ongoing Project: The Companion Crop
Alaric is working to cultivate a plant that doesn’t grow well alone — a rare companion crop that needs the right partner to thrive. He once saw it in the Southern Reach, growing silently alongside another plant he never learned the name of.
The crop refuses to grow in isolation, no matter how fertile the soil.
He calls it a mystery crop — the kind that teaches patience before it gives answers.
Bella says it might be a metaphor.
Mina says she’s trying to cross-breed a solution.
Alaric says, “Maybe it’s waiting for the right hands. Or maybe it’s stubborn. That happens too.”
He doesn’t expect it to bear fruit this season. But he’s made space for it anyway.
Quote
“The sun doesn’t burn you if you respect its rhythm. Rush the work, and the light will teach you better.”