Advent Prompt 7

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Rhalia
New Adventurer
Posts: 50
Joined: Sun Apr 26, 2020 6:56 pm

Advent Prompt 7

Postby Rhalia » Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:12 am

I met an enchanter the other turn. He was a thin, wiry fellow, with pale skin and dark hair which smelled of sandalwood.
We just happened to pass one another in the dark forest, though it seemed that he had just come from somewhere less hospitable. Regardless, he greeted me with a wide grin.
"Greetings. I hope the turn finds you well.", he offered.
"Smiling, I returned his greeting.
"Greetings to you, well met."
We stood there a split-marc, both smiling at one another before the gentleman flicked his brown eyes about, as though checking if anyone else were in the area.
Then, with a conspiratorial grin, he motioned for me to come closer.
"You seem like the trustworthy sort. I've got a little secret I would like to share with you."
Intrigued, I approached, settling less than an arm's length from the stranger.
The enchanter reached within the folds of his robes and drew out an envelope.
"This is a highly guarded secret that I have managed to acquire. I have gone through great pains, with significant risk to myself to gain the knowledge contained in this envelope. I have made copies and have been distributing this knowledge throughout Valorn to break this secret wide open. Will you aid me in exposing the information in this envelope?"
I regarded him skeptically for a split-marc, before asking.
"If you have gone through so much trouble to gain this knowledge, then why would you risk passing this on to a complete stranger?"
The enchanter grinned and simply shrugged.
"BECAUSE you are a stranger. I need assistance distributing this information, and it is better to deal with adventurers with whom I have no prior affiliation."
Tentatively, I accepted the envelope and stuffed it deep within my pack.
"How shall I disseminate this knowledge?", I asked finally.
"Just make copies and hand them to any tavern owners you may come across. You may also give it to any interested adventurer.", he answered simply before leaving me with a grin.
After he had gone, curiosity got the better of me. I fished the envelope from my pack and opened it, reading the contents therein.
What I read was astonishing. There, laid out in detail were instructions on how to assemble a still and the recipe for hollowshine.

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Bifrost Janger
Experienced Adventurer
Posts: 412
Joined: Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:02 am

Re: Advent Prompt 7

Postby Bifrost Janger » Wed Dec 08, 2021 2:46 am

"Mister Bifrost Janger?"

"Yeh. That's me."

Bif set aside his parchment and quill as the stranger started toward him. Judging from his garb, he was one of the couriers of the lands.

"Got a letter for ya. Still eight silver delivery fee to pay on it, mind."

Bif frowned, but reached for his coin purse. Who in all of Valorn would be sending him a letter that they could not pay for? None of his friends were so hard up. He counted out his coins and handed them to the courier. The lad might be a few years younger than Bif; but perhaps not quite as young as Ivan.

"Thankee," He said, as he exchanged the coins for an envelope.

He tossed the thing down on the table before Bif, before turning to leave; whistling a merry tune to himself as he did. Bif pushed his spectacles back up his nose and reached to draw the envelope towards him. Though, for what he saw caused him to pause and frown. For there, scrawled across the yellow parchment was his name, wrought in a childish hand.

Curiousity got the better of him then, and he flipped the envelope open to break its seal. Inside, was another sheet of parchment; folded, and filled with the same juvenile script. It read:

Hello Bif

This is mum. I just wanted you to know that I am sorry. I would like it if you would come home for Winter's Waming. I am sorry. I wish that I had done better.

I walk to do buziness with the bos maids on Tuesday, if you should care to find me.

Lots of love
Mum x


Bif stared at the words before him.

Hello Bif. This is mum.

Hello Bif. This is mum.


His vision swam before him as his eyes filled with tears.

Hello Bif. This is mum.

A choked sob escaped him then. And Bif found himself grateful, that the Caer library was as empty as always.
Fear is a strange soil. It grows obedience like corn, which grow in straight lines to make weeding easier. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground. - Terry Pratchett

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Pallas
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Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2005 11:40 pm

Re: Advent Prompt 7

Postby Pallas » Tue Dec 21, 2021 8:34 pm

( To my mind a prompt is a way to inspire or spark an idea which may or may not follow the suggestion fully. The prompt was ‘You meet a fellow traveller. He has a secret to tell.’ I have ignored the final two words. I think of this as ‘creativity’. No doubt Raffe will let me know if he considers it ‘cheating’ heh! )

I was walking from Caern back to Milltown a few turns back. The path is, in some areas, fairly straight giving a chance to see quite a way ahead, I saw a traveller approaching. He trudged along, seemingly weary, walking slowly as if he carried the weight of the entire lands on his shoulders.
‘Greetings. A good turn to you,’ I said as we came together.
‘Maybe it’s a good day for some,’ he muttered. I noted lines of worry on his face. His eyes were blank and fearful, the skin around them ringed with fatigue.
‘Not for you?’ I asked. I gestured upward ‘The ‘rifter blesses us this turn, shining bright on us. And the path, though rough in places, has a wild beauty.’
He shook his head. ‘Such beauty isn’t for me. I have an errand to perform. And something on my mind.’
‘So it would seem.’ I offered him a waterskin, the liquid inside still magically chilled.
He took it and almost completely drained the skin before passing it back. ‘My thanks,’ he said. ‘The water will help me on the path I must follow.’ He heaved a great sigh, and seemed about ready to once more be on his reluctant way.
‘Why not tarry a while? I don’t know you and I doubt you know me. So I could not relate anything you say with a likelihood of being believed. They say a worry shared is a worry halved. Why not unburden yourself? Whatever you have to say will go no further, I assure you.’
He gazed at me for a moment. Dark eyes rested on me and for some reason I felt a shiver pass through me, and the hair at the back of my neck was prickling. ‘You can be trusted to keep a confidence to yourself?’ he asked at length.
I nodded. ‘If asked, aye.’
‘Well then, stranger, know this. You can keep a secret – and my doom is to do the same.’ He spoke with despair evident in his voice, and with those words he was gone.
Image

The joke is on the bloke who never spoke a word at all
But whose dreams lay unrevealed 'til they were rotten ...

Lindisfarne 'The Things I Should Have Said'


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