3. Campaign 1- Encanto Encounter

Luisa wanted a break.

She'd never admit that though. In fact even thinking about it made her feel bad. It had been drilled in her head even before she'd gotten her powers that the Madrigal Family had been blessed. Her abuela had been spared thanks to the magical candle and gifted their valley, where they could live in peace. And furthermore the candle had given the family powers. Fantastical, amazing powers. Ones that made them unique when counted amongst all the people of the world. To honor this gift each of them used their powers to help their community. No one got a free ride; all assisted. Her mama made food that could heal any injury. Her tia brought much needed sun and rain for the crops. Her hermana could grow all manner of flowers, helping not just make the village look beautiful but provide for the bees that were kept around their casita.

And Luisa was strong. Very strong.

She loved her gift. She would never claim not to love it. She was proud of how powerful she was, how she could do the work of 20 men so easily. How people would look at her even now and marvel at the power she had to move bridges and break open rocks with just a swipe of her hand. They relied upon her. Depended on her. Needed her.

…but sometimes she wished they didn't.

'It's selfish,' she thought to herself as she dipped her hands into a bowl of water one of the villagers had provided her so she might wash away the dirt that had gotten under her nails from dealing with the donkeys… again. 'We help them. We make sure that their lives are easier because we are so blessed.'

Yet… sometimes she wondered what it would be like if things had been flipped around. If she lived in the village and it was someone else who had to move the church each day because the preacher wanted the sun to come into the windows a certain way. What would it be like to have some free time, as she saw so many other people have, rather than constantly doing tasks or working out so that she grew even stronger so that she might do more?

Luisa flicker her hands to get rid of the heavy droplets that clung to her skin and sighed. She needed to focus on doing her jobs, not being ungrateful for all she had.

"Glad that is taken care of!"

"No problem!" she called out, forcing herself to smile. The donkeys were back where they belonged, that was what mattered. So what if the praise she got didn't sound as… expressive as she'd wished it to be. Where once the villagers cried out to the heavens about her help they now thanked her almost as a secondary thought- 'Stop that!' she mentally scolded herself as she made her way back into town, deciding it was time to get something to eat and debating if she should visit the local café or just head back to the house. "If you go to the house mama will make whatever you want," she murmured to herself. "But then Abuela will have more tasks… but if you find them out now maybe you can get them done sooner-"

"Someone is thinking hard," another version of herself said, moving to match her step for step. "You can tell by the way our brow furrows."

"Very funny, Camilo," she said to her primo who laughed and morphed back into himself.

"I thought so!" He gave her a nudge. "Come on now, I need to cut loose. I spent the entire morning standing still." He morphed into Senora Hernandez. "Being a living model for every dress that needs to be taken in or loosened is not very entertaining."

Luisa hid a grimace at that. She wasn't one who liked to stand around in one spot for hours on end either, though sometimes she needed to if she had to hold up something very heavy. But for Camilo, who was always bouncing about with energy like a monkey that had drank too much fruit juice? It must have been torture.

"Well, I am getting some lunch, if you want to join me."

"Casita or café?" Camilo asked.

"Does it matter?"

Camilo morphed into their abuela. "I have ten more things you must do, both of you! Why do you sit there doing nothing when you should be working. It is MY job to sit around doing nothing! Do you think you are your abuela?"

Luisa's eyes went wide in shock and she looked around to make sure no one had seen what he'd done. "Don't do that!" she hissed. "It isn't right."

"It's not polite," Camilo corrected her, having shifted back to himself. "But I am right." He sighed, threading his fingers together and resting his arms behind his head as they walked. "Don't you ever get tired of her treating us like this?"

"She treats us well, primo."

"She treats us like workers, not family!" Camilo complained. "I'm tired of it. And I think you are tired of it too." He began to morph into all sorts of villagers. "Move this barrel, will you Luisa? Dig a hole and put that full grown tree in it, Luisa. Pound that stake in with your fist, Luisa. I changed my mind, move the barrel back Luisa!" He became himself again. "I am all for helping but if abuela could figure out a way for us to work without sleeping she'd have us up while the moon was full!"

Luisa's eye twitched. She… wanted to agree with him. She also wanted to defend her grandmother.

She had no idea what she wanted.

So instead she said, "You've been thinking about this a lot, haven't you?"

Camilo nodded. "I have. Antonio's ceremony is… his birthday is in a month." He scowled at that. "His birthday. That what matters. Not what gift Abuela can exploit. But we all keep forgetting that. You know she's already planning what to do with Mirabel…"

"Is that what this is all about?" Luisa asked as they entered the main part of the village, dropping her voice a bit so the only ones that could hear her were Camilo and Dolores (assuming her prima was listening in to her and not someone else; the little snitch probably was and Luisa hoped it was sibling love that kept her from revealing Camilo's words). "It is, isn't it? It's about Mirabel."

Camilo shifted awkwardly. Not his form. Just himself. That… that was telling. Luisa wasn't the most observant person in the world, she would admit that herself. She'd heard whispers that she was basically just a well mannered bull. People didn't come to her to solve problems with her mind. BUT… she did notice things. When people didn't think you were smart enough to see what was going on that gave you the ability to see far more. Because they let their guard down. And in that moment she could tell that Camilo was struggling to hide his worry and fear.

"Talk to me," she said gently. It still felt odd that she was the one her primos came to. But who else was there? Isabela… sometimes Luisa didn't understand her hermana at all, as she had gone from her dear friend that looked out for her to snapping that she was just a big dumb ox that couldn't move through the house without breaking things. And Dolores… well, she knew your secrets already and if she didn't telling her ensured that Abuela would know them soon enough. Camilo and Antonio thus came to her.

It made her… happy. It was something she could do that didn't require her muscles. Just a different kind of strength.

Her primo sighed. "We were twins," he said softly. "We were supposed to be together forever, us vs. the world. And then she didn't get her gift and she left me and…"

"You don't know how to feel?" Luisa wagered. "Angry… sad… excited?"

"All of them!" Camilo complained. "It's like I'm trying to morph into Isabela and Antonio and Senor Rodrigo all at the same time! How can you feel all those things at once?!' He shook his head. "She left me here and I hate her for leaving me but I've missed her and I'm scared she'll have forgotten me and I want to show her everything here that she might not remember and-"

Luisa opened her mouth to calm her primo down only for a crack and a flash to fill the air, deafening her and blinding her at the same time. Camilo was thrown backwards while she struggled to stand, blinking back tears as her eyes tried to get the spots out-

"I told you I should have handled the teleportation spell!" a woman cried out in frustration, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the other person who appeared alongside her in the middle of the village. "We were supposed to sneak it."

Luisa took a moment to take in the two new arrivals. The man was wearing a sleeveless green robe, exposing his lean but muscular arms. His hood was up, making it impossible to see his face, but she did see he had on a pair of puffy pants and well used boots. Around his waist was a belt with all manner of pouches and little drawstring bags.

The woman was short, even shorter than her companion, but everyone was short when compared to Luisa. She had on an odder mix of clothing. Boots as well, loose trousers with suspenders, and a tan shirt. But strapped to her was armor, including a breast plate that seemed to be made up of multiple pieces of metal that locked together like fingers pressed together, what she would later learn were pauldrons on her shoulder that were rather smooth, heavy gauntlets, and greeves on her calves. There was a bandana tied around her head and she wore odd goggles, like ones she'd once seen a miner use when he'd dug into the mountains looking for precious metals. She also had all manner of pouches and bags strapped to her belt but she also had a wicked looking hammer dangling there.

Her abuelas stories of the warlords that had killed her abuelo flooded Luisa's memories and all at once she knew she had to protect to village.

"Get out of here!" she roared to the villagers that were milling about, staring at the new arrivals and trying to clear their minds after their appearance. "I'll deal with them." She cracked her knuckles and rolled her neck before stepping forward.

"See?" the woman said. "What did I tell you?" she stepped forward. "So-"

"You are not welcome here," Luisa said firmly, her tone cold as she glared at the intruders. "Leave now or you will be hurt."

"Uh… no?" the woman said, confused. "Listen, I think-"

But all Luisa heard was 'no'. This intruder, who had scared the villagers and invaded their valley, refused to leave.

So she would MAKE her leave.

She rushed forward, reaching out for the woman only for the robed man to suddenly get in her way, wagging his finger and shaking his head.

"Now now… I know your mama taught you better than that."

Luisa huffed. "Don't talk about my mother!" She moved to grab the man instead only for him to raise his hand… and deflect her blow.

She looked about, utterly shocked.

"You are being very rude. Very, very rude."

Luisa moved to grab him again but he kept ducking and weaving, avoiding her lunges like he was an eel. She snarled in frustration as they began to move through the village, the man leading her on a merry chase. Behind her she heard her own voice and knew that Camilo had taken on her form… only for him to yelp. She twisted around and stared in shock as a giant metal toucan beat its wings, forcing him back as he tried to cover his face.

"HEY!" Luisa bellowed, stomping her foot and creating a small fissure that forced her opponent to back away, though he easily dodged the crack much to her annoyance. But she pushed that thought from her mind as she rushed towards Camilo, who was now cycling through different bodies in hopes of getting the toucan away from him while the woman… was apologizing?

"Sorry, sorry! She's really protective of me! Bad Sofia! Bad!"

Luisa stopped for half a second and tried to process that before shaking her head. 'Save Camilo from metal bird, deal with insane woman after.' That decided she reached out and grabbed the avian's wing and hurled it away from her primo.

"Hey!" the woman said as the bird slammed into one of the houses, shaking its head. "I don't know what your problem is but don't touch my bird!" She stomped forward. "I'm sorry he attack Camilo but-"

Luisa grabbed onto the woman's suspenders and lifted her up. "Go. Back. To. Your. Home."

"…that's what I'm trying to do," the woman said in confusion before Luisa felt…

MUERTE

She turned to see the man towering over her, 50 feet tall, bathed in a green aura with blazing emerald eyes. His fist was heading towards her and in that moment Luisa knew if his blow landed she would die.

And then it stopped an inch from her face and a blast of wind sent everyone toppling.

"Tío Bruno wins!" the woman declared happily as Luisa stared at the fist which uncurled… and tweaked her nose. Suddenly the man was short again, the oppressive terror gone, and she was just standing in the middle of the village gaping at him as her brain slowly processed that- "You did really good against him, Luisa! Normally he only pulls out that punch when he's taking on necromancers!"

Luisa frowned, letting the woman go who landed on her butt with an 'oompf'. "Tío… Bruno?" she asked as slowly the pieces began to come together. The robed man smiled as he removed his hood, letting her see her tio's face for the first time in ten years. He'd grown out his beard, fuller than it had been before but well maintain, and he wasn't as thin as she remembered him when they'd said goodbye. Gone too were the bags that had been under his eyes and combined with him not being as gaunt as before his entire presence was far more kind looking that it had been a decade ago; not that he hadn't been kind but the villagers had all murmured in worry about Tio Bruno when he walked by and Luisa understood why, as he could look rather scary as he snuck about, trying to avoid people due to his shyness.

But now he looked healthy and strong and confident. His arms lean but filled with muscle. His head held high rather than dropped as it had been when he went about in public. His shoulders weren't slumped and he didn't walk with the twitchiness that as a child had amused her but now she saw as him being fearful of his surroundings.

"Tio Bruno!" she said, her earlier anger gone as she swept her uncle up in a hug.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to recognize me!" he teased her, patting her on the shoulder as she lifted him right off his feet. "Ah, Little Luisa, it's good to see you!"

"Little Luisa?" Camilo asked, rubbing the back of his head as he got up from where he had fallen. "There isn't much little about her." He shifted into a tiny little version of Luisa. "THIS is Little Luisa!"

"Maybe to you," Bruno said as Luisa set him down. "But to me she'll always be Little Luisa. Tiniest baby I ever saw… I could cup you in my hands."

"Tio…" Luisa whined, hating whenever he told his stories. Until she had gotten her gift she had been a small slip of a thing and her tio loved to tell everyone how he could carry her around in his pocket, making her smaller and smaller until she was sure one day he'd joke that she was so tiny he used to keep her in a hamster cage.

"Now Isabela… SHE was a big baby!"

Camilo choked at that. "You're kidding."

~22 years ago~

"HOW?!" Bruno cried out in horror as he looked at the 'newborn' his hermana had given birth too and then back at her. She was lying in bed, utterly exhausted, while Bruno was sure that the baby was ready to get up and go to the market at any point to get some groceries.

"It is the miracle of life, Bruno," Pepa told him as she cooed at the giant slumbering monster in the cradle.

"…we keep throwing that word around…" He muttered.

~MC~GF~MC~GF~

"You were the only one that was the right size," he said to the woman who was settling the metal toucan, stroking its beak and murmuring to it like one would a scared puppy. Of course the toucan merely fluffed out its wings and let out a metallic squawk. "Right temperament too. Dolores was far too quiet… one time I accidently left her at the shop and brought home a doll… please don't tell Pepa that." His eyes darted to the sky fearfully and Luisa smiled at the hints of the uncle she had known from before shining through in this new version. "And you were too wiggly," he said to Camilo, who smirked at that. "You were a treasure though, Mirabel."

Mirabel.

Luisa and Camilo shared a look before the final piece clicked into place and they slowly turned as one to stare at the woman that was caring for the toucan. She'd removed her goggles and put on a pair of tinted glasses but Luisa could see her father's eyes all the same. The nose she had kissed when her little hermana was fussing because she knew it would make her giggle. The curly hair that Isabela couldn't even tame.

Mirabel.

Her hermana.

"Yeah yeah, I was- OOMPF!" Mirabel gasped as Luisa and Camilo tackled her, hugging her tight and dancing about.

"You're here!" Camilo exclaimed. "It's you!"

"Last I checked!" Mirabel said with a laugh.

Luisa set her down and ran her large hands over her hermana's body. "Amazing," she whispered.

"What?" Mirabel asked with a laugh.

"Everyone… they see me and Isabela and say they can't understand how we are hermanas. More than one has said Isabala looks more like Dolores or even Camilo-" She glared at her primo as he shifted into Isabela, "-not like that… than she does me. But you…" She stroked her cheek. "I see it. I see our resemblance."

Mirabel sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Stop, you'll make me cry and I know I'm going to be doing that enough today!"

Camilo was instantly beside her, back to looking as himself. "Look at you though! No wonder we wouldn't recognize you!" He pulled on her shirt. "Is this the latest fashion trend in the jungle?"

"In Longrock, actually," Mirabel said.

Camilo blinked at that. "Longrock?"

"Dwarven village. Admittedly I had to get the clothing scaled up as I was only able to buy directly from them when I just started out but now that…yeah, not so much now. And to complete the look I'd need a beard but otherwise yes, Longrock."

Luisa and Camilo shared a look.

"I… didn't follow any of that," Camilo admitted.

Bruno chuckled at that, walking over and clapping them both on the shoulder. "Let me make it simple for you both: everything your abuela told us all about the outside world? It was wrong." He smirked and moved away from them, spreading his arms out wide. "I mean, sure, there are dangers out there. A lot of them." Him and Mirabel shared a look; it was very brief but Luisa didn't miss it. It was one that she'd sometimes see her mama and Tia Pepa share when they talked about the old days, before they'd become mothers. A past that they could both recall without saying a word. "But there are wonders all the same."

"So many!" Mirabel said excitedly. "We've seen so much… I have gifts for all of you and let me tell you it was SO hard picking out what to give you all because there were so many things I wanted to bring for you all! Luisa alone would have required three Valerias!"

Camilo opened his mouth to ask something, Luisa didn't know, and she never got to find out as at that moment the toucan flew over and landed on her hermana's shoulder.

"Is… is it safe to have that thing so close to your face?" Camilo asked worriedly. Luisa had to agree; up close its wings looked like they were razor blades and she feared that the bird was going to slice her hermana up to ribbons.

But Mirabel merely laughed, reaching up and stroking the bird's beak. "She's fine! Sofia is just very protective of me." She leaned her head towards the bird's who bopped its forehead against Mirabel's. "Thank you Sofia but this is my family. This is my hermana Luisa and my primo Camilo. Please don't hurt them… I swear they just-" She paused. "Why did you attack us anyway? I mean, I'm used to being attacked… half the time our party greets each other by attacking one another just to show off what new tricks we've learned… but I don't remember the family doing that." She poked at the inside of her cheek. "Unless we DO do that now… should I prepare for papa coming at me with a board with a nail in it?"

Camilo laughed. "If he did that-" he turned into Luisa's father, "-all he'd hurt is himself!" He tripped dramatically but shifted into a tumbler's roll, popping back up as himself.

"We were startled by your arrival," Luisa told them.

"You were?"

"You did appear in a thunderbolt," Camilo pointed out.

Mirabel though laughed at that. "Oh! That was just a teleportation spell. It's rude to do it in public which is why I was telling Tio that I should have set it up-"

"They don't do teleportation here," Bruno reminded her gently, causing Mirabel to stop her ramble.

"They… oh. Oh. I guess they don't. Huh." She rubbed her arm. "That's so… that's so weird. For me, not for you. For you it is weird that I use magic to teleport. But for me it's just a normal thing. Well, not super normal as those things are expensive even if you make one yourself. Unless you know a mage that can do it and I don't so I just make them but-"

"Teleport," Camilo said, cutting her off. "You can teleport? You can use magic?"

"You got a gift?!" Luica asked excitedly.

But Mirabel merely shook her head, a soft smile tugging at her lips. "I'm gifted but… no, I never got my gift from the candle. But that's okay because that isn't what my talent is!"

Camilo was clearly confused. "But… you said you could do magic."

"Right. My magic. It isn't that big of a deal. Everyone can learn magic they just need to figure out what they are skilled in." She jerked her thumb at the toucan, Sofia. "That's mine."

"Your magic… is the bird?" Luisa asked.

Bruno placed a hand on her shoulder. "They've lived a sheltered life." Luisa and Camilo grumbled at that, as they didn't like the sound of it, but Miravel instantly nodded.

"Right, keep forgetting that." She turned to her family and beamed. "Alright, quick demonstration and then I want to get something to eat. You were going to eat, right? Its noon."

"We were," Luisa said slowly, trying to keep up with the conversation.

"Right," Mirabel said, reaching down at patting the hammer that hung on her hip. "I am a Golem Smith."

She paused, as if she thought they would instantly get what that meant.

"Perhaps you should explain?" Bruno suggested.

"Right, so-"

"Luisa! Camilo! Don't worry, we're-OOMPF!"

The four of them turned in time to see Agustin trip over his own feet and fall flat on his face, Luisa's Tio Felix just barely managing to leap over him as he came skidding to a stop.

"…maybe we should do this at casita? So we only have to explain once?" Mirabel suggested.

~MC~GF~MC~GF~

Chaos Notes: So Garnett and I are rather interested to see what people think of Mirabel as so many of you were for sure she'd be a bard. The thing is, when I first began puzzling this story out I never saw her as a bard. For me the first image that popped into my head was her crafting something. Garnett mentioned that she thought it would be neat if she had an animal companion and that's when I struck on her having armor that turned into animals that could assist her. Garnett looked into it and the Golem Smith (and I know there are other words for it… Artifactor? Something like that, Garnett will correct me) was chosen.

As for Mirabel's outfit that is based on Audrey's design from Atlantis: The Lost Empire. I don't know WHY… that's just the first image that popped into my head for Adventurer Mirabel: her in pants with suspenders and hair tied back.

As for Bruno I don't want to get too much into him but one thing I decided VERY early on was I didn't want him to be a mage or a magician or anything like that. Because Bruno doesn't like his gift and in fact doesn't like magic all that much thanks to it. So even if he were trained to use his seer powers properly he wouldn't want that to be his focus. Bruno with a weapon though didn't seem right… and that's when I asked Garnett about Bare Fisted Monk. I knew a bit of that homebrew from Lannipator's Let's Play of Fallout 4 where he discussed that kind of archtype and I did my best version of that in Fallout with my female protagonist (former Hollywood actress who goes insane after her husband dies and becomes an amazon warrior when she finds the grognak costume and runs around with the Power Fist recruiting all the other women in the area to her Homestead… and Nick). I figured that if he could see very quickly into the future he could predict moves. Garnett suggested using aura to enhance his body and I hit on him, when he goes for power punches, looking like Camilo described him in "We Don't Talk about Bruno": 7 feet tall, glowing green eyes.

Garnetts Notes: Ya I'm currently hedging my bets on you all either going 'That doesn't fit her!' or "How didn't we see that coming?!" As Chaos said Mirabel is an Artificer (You where only two letters away~!) To be exact a homebrew subclass called, Golemsmith...Which we've kinda homebrewed a little farther but hey. The basis of a Golemsmith is they make a golem companion they add new modifications to every few levels. Though Mirabel here has made a new Golem ever few levels instead which, just feels right for her. She loves her big family and would want to make a big family of her own with her creations. Bruno as mentioned is a Way of the Astral Self Monk which...Honestly Chaos has explained pretty perfectly, he can bring forth his spirit and aura to enhance his self in battle, give his self extra limbs, appear much bigger and taller then he is. He's also a little of a Multiclass as he wasn't lying about that training he got. It's just it wasn't really for him and he found punching things a much better outlit for both his powers and feelings XD