Device

Device was a young adult Human man, and important member of the Minthunt Combine, stationed in his home town of Grajita. Being Mintborn, it allowed him to remember the events which took place inside of the Mint Garden after he had left.

## Appearance and Personality

Device was an averagely built Human man with blonde hair. He was quite stubborn about wearing the Minthunter's typical mask to conceal his face. He also wore a more elegant variation of the Minthunter's typical faded green uniform. He was moderately tall, and spoke with a rich voice similar to a youth coming of age.

Device was a bit naïve, easily coerced around other people's whims with minimal resistance. He even briefly thought Eiveah was interested in him romantically while she was manipulating him. Device was not a very intuitive man, and often had trouble reading others, especially Uocali. He was a little reserved and quiet before revealing his Mintborn status, and grew some innate resentment for his fellow Minthunters who barely acknowledged him until they learned of it. He showed some very strong willpower to make his way back to Grajita when gravely wounded.

His greatest comfort was a windy, endless field of maerygold flowers, with a small hut at the top of a slope. From the subconscious notes he would dream up in the Mint Garden, it appeared that he had dreams of living out a quiet life as a fisherman.

## Story

At some point before the events of the story, the leader of the Grajita Combine set up an arrangement with the King of Widerain. Normally off-limits, the Mint Garden under Widerain's control would be open for a very short time. This was when Device was supposed to enter, utilizing his Mintborn status to remember the location of a sister Garden before he left.

Unfortunately, right as he was about to enter, Eiveah slaughtered the four soldiers who were leaving the Garden before his arrival. Identifying his Mintborn status, she intercepted him before he could see the scene outside of the Garden, and convinced him to take her to the Combine. There, she would pose as a Minthunter briefly, revealing the location of Uocali's Mint Garden. Device and Eiveah were then tasked with finding it to verify the claims.

Once Eiveah had shown him the gates to this new Garden, she separated from him, allowing him to enter by himself while she eliminated the Pulsekyn inside Maevrix's Solam brewery. This would allow Device to safely attune the Garden's Pen to Reality, and be able to quickly sign himself and Uocali out.

During his time in the Garden, Device was very single-mindedly focused on finding the supposed map which would point him to the sister Garden. He had a very awkward chat with Uocali, who seemed to be lost in a fog of passing time, barely able to comprehend that someone else was in his Garden. When Uocali gave some basic examples of what a Greatest Comfort looked like, Device simply imagined a place of his own creation. Uocali would later remark that this feat was likely a rarity for those who visit a Garden for the first time, as conjuring the concept of "comfort" from nothing seemed almost like an impossibility.

Seeing the quiet loneliness all over Uocali's features, Device agreed to stay longer, but only if they shared names. Uocali agreed, and the two spent some peaceful days enjoying each other's company, sharing perspectives, small debates, and friendly banter. When Uocali tried to use the Roasche Stovetop to prepare a dinner like Device had done previouusly, he accidentally let the cabin catch fire, which would slowly spread out into the field of maerygold. Device was panicked by this prospect, not knowing what would happen if the entire Garden was destroyed by the flames, but Uocali was intrigued by the possibility. The two paced themselves away from the approaching fire for quite some time, before eventually falling asleep and feeling the flames overtake them.

Two two awake completely unharmed, and with the Garden reverting back to the original state Device had formed. Excited by the prospect of letting the flames chase them, the pair decided to repeat this process many more times, letting the Garden burn and reform many more times. After one of these attempts, however, the Garden didn't reform, and instead started to collapse.

As Uocali stood back in the white room waiting for Device to return like he promised, he noticed the map the Human was seeking plastered on the wall, with a marking over Jiarum. Device likely saw this marking as well when he returned, but was more concerned about trying to get Uocali signed out, and staying alive as the Garden collapsed around them.

After the Garden's collapse, Eiveah would return to witness the wreckage. She was impressed Device was still alive, but had her sights fixed on the Pulsekaw. When Uocali screamed from having his eye torn out, this slowly stirred Device to his feet, and he proceeded to make his way back to Grajita, barely conscious and gravely injured. Upon his return, he managed to communicate what he could to the leader of the Grajita Combine, then collapsed unconscious for several days. He would then be transferred to the infirmary within the Combine.

When he awoke, he was taken aback by the sudden fawning and attention he was receiving from the other members of the Combine. He felt unwanted and invisible before they had learned he was a Mintborn, and now that he knew the location of a sister Garden from his recent stay inside one, they were eager to learn of it. Device thought they were being vain and sycophantic, and was put off by it, refusing to part with the location they were hoping to extract.

A day after awakening, he was surprised by the sudden appearance of Uocali inside the Combine. The two had a very casual chat upon their reunion, but Uocali was fidgeting and visibly uncomfortable the whole time. Once asked about the objective benefits of pain, Device started to grow confused by his friend's choice of topics. Before he could even process what was happening, Uocali delivered multiple fatal wounds to bedbound man, and he died of his injuries within moments.

Moments after the attack, Wonder, Feyule, Gohst, and Wisest broke into the infirmary to witness the bloody scene while Uocali was processing his actions. In a panic, Uocali vanished, and left the four standing alone with Device's dead body. They were promptly blamed for his death, and captured by the Grajita Guard.

After the events of the Solam Burst Crisis in Grajita had been ended, Dried was charged with organizing a funeral service for Device, but feared no one would show up, as Device was a very quiet, secretive man with no real ties to Grajita beyond the Combine. When Uocali was asked by Feyule if he wanted to go to the ceremony, he refused, stating that his celebration of Device occurred in his own thoughts every day, "where it is quiet, and bothers no one".

Uocali quietly admitted to himself that he did dearly wish to attend.

## Quotes

*"I'll obviously tell them eventually. Maybe I'm just acting like a child, but I want them to actually need me for something. I guess that's pretty selfish, but it's how I feel."*

*"If I come back empty-handed, I'll be letting down countless generations of people who've been trying to solve this puzzle for centuries. If I can bring back even a single piece of that puzzle, maybe people will stop looking through me all the time. That's all I want."*