Of things great and small

Member created stories, poems, & other creative work.
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Duck One
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Of things great and small

Post by Duck One »

While the smell of apple pie wafts throughout the building, a curious scene plays out in the Adventurer’s Guild kitchen. A quick glance into the room might give the false impression that some strange bomb had gone off leaving residue of a sparkling white powder on nearly every surface and especially covering the two small occupants of the room. A more careful examination would reveal that the two are not victims but rather the source of the mess. The young female halfling works flour and butter into pie crust while her pixie accomplice is peeling apples, albeit making humorous sculptures with the peels covered in pixie dust.

“No. No worms” the girl barks sternly over the animated protests of the pixie. “I don’t care if you think that eating worms is good for little boys and girls. It is not a flavor I want in my pies.” The pouting pixie resumes carving the apples with a pairing knife which appears much like a great sword in her hands. “We are losing the day, and we’ve got five more pies to bake.” The pixie mocks the girl by sneering and wagging her finger, but eventually relents and resumes peeling.

As the girl presses the dough into pie tins and mixes the sugar, butter, apples, and cinnamon into the filling, she pauses to reflect. “I can’t help but to wonder about this world.” Long spaces between comments seem to suggest that the thoughts are coming from a place deep inside. “Goblins are snatching babies and dragging them into sewers. Slavers are grabbing kids to steal away onto ships. Vampires are seducing people into the depths of villainy.”

She pounds the dough with a bit more fervor and shakes her head. “Why is it that so many feel the need to possess others? Is not their own existence enough?” The pixies stops her antics, looks at the girl as if to convey sympathy, and then helplessly shrugs.

“There was a moment in the house by the docks… amid the carnage of dead slavers and the smell of burnt furnishings. We opened the bedroom door and released those poor children from their binds. The little girl begged me to take her home. I was no taller than her, and she looked me in the eye with those tears, and then hugged me so tight.” After a pause, she continues as tears of her own begin to well up, “I felt in that moment every bit as vulnerable as that little girl.”

She sniffs a bit and wipes away a tear which was clearing a path of flour from her cheek, and then suddenly stiffens and stomps her foot in a fit of defiance. “Yes, but I won’t that vulnerable! Let last night be the first of many times that I dispense a bit of justice to slavers! Be it goblins in sewers, or men by the docks, or…” she glances to the pixie and meets her gaze then resumes the thought of the words hanging in the air, “…cruel overlords seeking to enslave magical creatures for their blood. We have much more justice to deliver indeed.” She punctuates the thought we an affirmative nod.

Then with a sigh, her posture softens a bit, “But not before we deliver some pies to some children in need of it.” With an exchange of winks, the two set about making more mess of the kitchen and sending forward sweet aromas.
Duck One

Some guy who used to do some work 'round here.
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Duck One
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Of things great and small

Post by Duck One »

“Oh, come now!” Daeges throws up her hands and surveys the dress she is wearing which has just become suddenly soaked in water and suds. “Okay, we’re washing the outfit in the tub, not the one that I have on. You’re getting me all wet.” The other patrons in the laundry have now all stopped doing their work to stare at the two in the corner making all the noise, with the pixie now exaggerating a snicker while pointing at the wet little hin.

With annoyed glare still upon her face, Daeges pulls the gown from the laundry tub and holds it up for examination. With a sigh she offers, “I think it is a total loss. I had hoped with scrubbing the burn marks may come out like it had for the blood…” The word stops her cold before she could finish the sentence. Tulia, recovering from her animated antics, changes expression as the word also has a similar chilling effect on her. It had not been Daeges' blood that was on the dress, but rather that of the two fallen comrades she helped carry from the cavern.

The pair pull and tug at various parts of the gown as though to give it more careful examination, but in truth it was to fill the time while looking for the words to recast the solemn moment. Resigning that the subject should not be avoided, Daeges addresses the harsh reality. “I suppose that losing a dress is trivial by comparison.”

With more reflection, “I did my best. Indeed for a brief moment, I was feeling a bit of pride at what I was managing. Summoning creatures, dodging boulders, slinging fireballs, and standing firm against a powerful and determined foe: huge ogres with magical powers! I dare say surprised even myself. I saw some looks of support, one might even go so far as to call it respect, coming from those in the group.” She gives a heavy sigh and lowers her tone, “Alas it was not enough…” She gestures to the formerly blood-stained gown and shakes her head dismissively, “… not nearly enough.”

The pixie flies over to her and lays her head on the girl’s shoulder in a sign of sympathy. The girl resumes, “Clarianna asked me how I was able to survive such an ordeal when so many others with much more experience were not so fortunate. The answer is simple. I had you by my side, Tulia. You sense that dangers I can not. One day I hope to be able to repay all you have done for me.” The two exchange warm smiles.

“Now, then. There are still some portions of this gown that may have useful cloth. Perhaps I could fashion a gown for you from it.” The pixie perks up, darts over to the material, and drapes a portion of it across her as though it is a gown. She then mockingly affects a regal gaze, staring down her nose, panning from side to side while waving to an imaginary audience as though she is a princess attending her royal coronation.

Daeges rolls her eyes. She then gets a devilish grin. With a wave of her hand, a spell cantrip causes the fabric to rap around the pixie’s foot, tripping her into the tub of suds and water. What follows is several minutes of magic-infused water fighting. Soon thereafter, the two can be seen dripping wet returning from the laundry back to the guild hall.

“Tulia, I imagine you could walk into any pub or tavern in this big city and hear dozens of tales of misbehaving drunkards and the consequences of their actions. But I am willing to wager you’d have to search long and hard to find another story of people getting tossed out of a laundry.” The pixie beams with pride.
Duck One

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Duck One
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Re: Of things great and small

Post by Duck One »

The fog is so thick that Daeges can barely see her hand in front of her face. She’s lost, not sure of where she is nor where she needs to be going; a feeling that she thinks she’s had for some time but can’t be certain. Then a faint tiny figure begins to come towards her. It is Tulia, or at least she thinks it may be. Finally she is able to discern the face, and there is relief.

“Oh, thank goodness!” She closes, but then slows with more confusion. It is not merely the fog which makes her a bit hard to recognize. Tulia is ghostly, seemingly not solid. “Tulia?”

“It’s me, Daeges.” The little hin’s jaw drops. In all the time that the two have known each other, the little pixie never spoke more than the occasional giggle.

“You can talk?”

“Yes. I owe you some apologies. Please let me explain. Firstly, my name is not Tulia. In your tongue, my name cannot really be pronounced, but I have grown used to the name you have given me, in fact somewhat fond of it. Secondly, I have known you since the day you were born. I watched from a distance as you grew. When you first discovered your powers, I wanted to be close to you to protect you; to keep you safe from the humans that would have sought to capture you should your powers have been discovered. My kin that was sent to protect your mother died trying to stop her capture. Regardless, I wanted to be the one to protect you, but the elders did not want to allow it. Over my protests, they made me promise ‘never to speak of it again.’ And so I have not. I knew that if ever I was to talk to you, eventually I would lose my will and tell you everything I wished you had known. However the elders said nothing about staying close to you, so I arranged to be discovered by you and befriend you, all the while keeping mute to not break my vow. But that promise does not matter now.”

Daeges squints trying to take it all in. Tulia continues, “Those markings on your body relate to the ancient past of your ancesters. Those are the markings given to the royal bloodline of the fey where we are from. The enchantment powers in you are the same that we use to bless the shape of the wildflowers and carve the frost patterns in the ponds. You, my dear, are Princess Daeges to us. It was my hope that you were destined to grow your powers and overthrow the overlord whose tyranny has reigned too long.” With a sigh, she adds, “Alas, that is not meant to be.”

A moment passes while Daeges takes in all that Tulia is sharing with her. “You no longer believe that to be my destiny?” she quietly asks.

“No. You no longer share my world. Your path lies in another realm now.” The tone is of regret and solemn resignation.

“What realm?”

The pixie waves her hand at the fog at Daeges feet causing it to part and reveal a scene below them. Through the mist a vision of the Adventurer’s Guild can be seen. From above they can see a sobbing Clarianna clutching the silver box which holds Daeges’ baking supplies. Over by the fire, a saddened Madog holds the small figurine of Daeges that Shalheira had carved. Towards the door, Wren paces the floor fuming with rage. As Daeges looks on, Tulia draws close and says, “The vampire Vansa has taken you from them.”

“Vansa! Now I remember! There. On the street. There were so many of us. We had moved through the house in the alley, slaying vampire after vampire, and the minions they had placed to try to stop us. We cleared the entire house, and laid waste to them all. But then outside on the street, the evil queen appeared. Cold and full of purpose. She spoke at us, ‘Eyes and teeth it is, then?’ She hissed in a mocking tone. I saw her begin to cast a spell, and I responded by preparing a spell of my own, and then…. and then…and then I must have been here. I remember nothing of how I got here.”

The expressions on the hin’s face as she told the tale has moved from anger at the mention of Vansa then to puzzling at the aftermath, but now drops to an expressionless epiphany, “Her spell did me in, did it not? I…I am dead.” Like she had answered so many verbal questions in the past without speaking to respond, the grimacing response from Tulia answers this question too.

“What happens now?”

“That is something you must decide. Listen with your heart.”

Daeges closes her eyes and focuses for a moment. “I can hear two voices. One…one calls me back to them. It asks me to return and be with those people; relieve their grief.” She pans her head a bit as though to try to sense a direction of a sound. “The other calls me forward.” She tilts her head and assumes a more discerning expression. “I think I know that voice. It is from my past.” Her eyes open, “That is mama.”

A sad smile creeps onto Tulia’s face. “Do you now know what to do?”

A tear forms in Daeges’ eye as she turns back to Tulia. “I do, but…” she chokes up and tries to continue with a cry in her voice, “…doesn’t that mean I must leave you?”

The ghostly pixie bites her lip, and reaches out with an ethereal hand which stretches into Daeges’ chest where her heart is. “I’ll always be in here.”

Several moments of tears pass. Finally Daeges clears her throat, “I don’t know what happens to me now, but I doubt I’ll ever know a friend such as you.”

“Nor shall I.”

Daeges turns and moves into the mist. “I’m coming, mama.”
Last edited by Duck One on Wed May 29, 2019 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
Duck One

Some guy who used to do some work 'round here.
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Mick
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Re: Of things great and small

Post by Mick »

Really nice, Duck.
Talk less. Listen more.

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Electryc
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Re: Of things great and small

Post by Electryc »

Great post, Daeges will be missed. (so will the apple pies)
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