As they approach the girls' room Sakitu doesn't know how to feel. All day, ever since yesterday, she's been all over the place. It's all been good. Not just good, very good! Her feet haven't touched the ground all day. Having breakfast with Fin, spending the day with Fin, even taking a bath with Fin. And now, she was going to be apart and she wasn't sure she could handle it. Maybe the other girls would let Fin stay in her room. No! That was out of the question. Or maybe she could stay in the boys' room. That might be worse! None of these thought in her head were resolved when Fin opens the door for her and guides her into the room. She steps in but he stays at the threshold so she turns to face him. "Well, kind sir, what now?" she says while batting her eyes and smiling a knowing, wanting, desiring, teasing smile. "I mean, like, I guess we each have our rooms and there's nothing we can do about that." She lifts up on her tippy toes and kisses him in a way that leaves him breathless. "See you tomorrow morning." She leans back away from the doorway and slowly closes it. Once the door is closed she leans against it. Her heart beats almost uncontrollably. Isn't that what Quasit told her to do? You can't give the men everything. You have to tease them and make them keep wanting. Well, what about herself? Does she have to keep herself wanting too? She finally takes a moment to see if any of the other ladies are in the room before she makes her way to her bed and gets in.
Lying on her side and with her eyes closed, Sakitu breathes deeply. She feels Fin's warm body wrapped around behind her. The gentle and regular cadence of his breath makes her think that he's asleep. But doesn't Fin always say that he doesn't need to sleep? Maybe this is different. It doesn't matter though. She doesn't want to disturb the absolutely overwhelming feeling of contentment and joy and happiness and even love that she feels. No wonder they call it love-making, she thinks to herself. It was wonderful. The whole experience. And Fin, he was gentle in ways that she didn't even know she needed him to be. It was amazing and unbelievable. A thrill shoots through her body. Chills run down her spine. She presses herself back into Fin a little more strongly and his arms that are wrapped around her instinctively pull her in tighter. She allows herself to indulge in the comfort of his arms for a few more minutes and then she rotates onto her back and turns to look into his face. His eyes are closed but she still can't tell if he's asleep or not. Maybe he's just relaxing. She doesn't want to break the magic of the moment but she has to. "Fin," she whispers. "We have to get ready for the feast."
As the tickle fight ends Sakitu sees Fin getting out and ready to leave. ”Although I’d rather tarry here longer, Hlao-roo, I’m sufficiently shriveled like a prune for now…I’m gonna go back and get dressed for the celebration, perhaps practice my dance moves, I might be rusty. Do you want to go back with me or stay and play with Maka?" She looks around and sees that Quasit has already left, or she's still behind the screen changing. And Maka seems to be getting ready to leave too. She nods. "Ok. Yeah, let's go back and get ready." She let's Fin help her step out of the bath and tries to avoid watching his naked body. As task she is not successful at. While he dries off she also wraps herself in a towel and gathers her belonging. As they leave down the corridor heading back to their rooms she is nervous. It isn't long before they arrive at their rooms. Fin's door is on the left and the door to her quarters is on the right and down the hallway a little further. "Well, I guess we should get ready then." She stands on her tippy toes and leans in for a kiss. When Fin's lips touch hers she almost buckles and she pulls back abruptly. Standing there with Fin half naked and herself barely covered in a towel and undergarments, she can barely manage the strange feelings inside her. "Uh. I guess we'll meet for dinner then." Before waiting for a reply, she races the few steps down the corridor, opens her door, then slips. heads back to the room. He hangs up his damp clothes, along with the towel, before going thru his backpack; he retrieves some clean undergarments, dons them, and lays out his grandfather’s court outfit, awaiting Maka to heat out any kinks or wrinkles. As he awaits, Fin quietly goes thru some of the stretches Maka taught him in training sessions; he tries to mentally recall the different dance forms he had learned back in Kyonin and incorporate some of them into his stretches… With the door firmly closed behind her, Sakitu leans against it with her back. She drops her soiled clothes on the floor, closes her eyes, and clutches the towel holding it tightly around her. Her heart is racing and her head is spinning. "This is stupid." she says to herself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She opens her eyes. Her bag, the one that contains all her clothes, is on the bed. "I'm doing this!" She practically leaps across the room then digs through her bag. She finds clean underclothes and a dress for the evening. Then, before she can talk herself out of it, she returns to the hallway and struts to Fin's door. Still clutching the towel around her and with a bundle of clothes tucked under her arm, she knocks.
Fin’s eyes go wide and his face blushes dark red as he stammers. ”N-n-no, Hlao-roo, not…exactly…not like that…it’s j-j-just an expression. It means I know how to…p-p-pick…a nice lady…it was meant as a compliment to you…” Almost as soon as she says it, Sakitu realizes that she really stepped in it. She watches Fin turn red and stammer then Maka hollers from the other side. "Don't worry, he's good at it. But you don't have to do anything until you're ready Saki." Maka called back in an honest attempt to be helpful. Then Sakitu realizes what she said and her face flushes crimson. She quickly transforms into her vulpine form to hide her red cheeks. "Oh.. Uh.. I see. But like, I didn't mean that. I thought that maybe, you know, being an elf and ..." Sakitu stops when she sees that there is nothing she can do to make this better. Then Selena piles on. "That's not what I heard. Rumor has it, a good man can make a girl like being eaten. Sounds more like an activity of some sort to me, though obviously not literally eating. I think he meant licking or something." Selena remarks, oblivious to the full meaning but enjoying Fin's embarrassment (which she looks away from like it confirmed something to her.). Sakitu turns and buries her face in Fin's chest. "That's so embarrassing," she whispers but still holds onto Fin until the dragonkin arrive. It doesn't take long for Sakitu to gather her belongings and find a ride. Whispering to Sakitu, ”C’mon, Hlao-roo, let’s mount up…we can talk about…this…later…much later, if you like…” She nods. "Yes, I'd like that. But somewhere private." She squeezes Fin's hand. She looks around and no one seems to be watching them so she pulls him down to her and kisses him. All her pent up emotions flow through the kiss. She wants it to linger. She wants it to soak her all up. She wants it to steal her soul. But she can't. Not here. She pulls away and takes a deep breath. "Yes. We must talk later." As she adjusts in her saddle she spots Kalchine watching her and is perplexed and curious.
She is surprised with how much relief she feels at the sight of Spurhorn.
As the party moves away from the fortress over the course of a couple days, Sakitu finds herself staying close to Fin. The walking is casual and the talking is comfortable and the occasional touch is exhilarating. At times she can't believe how lucky she is to have someone like Fin. The evenings are nice too. They lay close together when they sleep. She knows that Fin has strong desires but she can't bring herself to getting that close. Not out in the open and in such close proximity to their friends. But she dreams. Around the middle of the third day, when the party is in the shadow of a small hill, everyone stops for a break. He walks over to Sakitu, kissing her lightly before murmuring, "We did it, Hlao-roo…Erastil knows where the hut takes us next though…c’mon, let’s watch the show…" Sakitu settles in on Fin's lap. She rummages in her bag looking for something to eat. "I don't know about you guys but I'm getting a bit tired of these rations that I'm carrying around. How soon do you think we can call our rides so we can get back to a decent kitchen sooner?" Her eyes light up when she finds a tiny chunk of chocolate. It must have fallen in her bag several weeks ago when Quasit was passing it around. "Oh! This looks good." She's about to put the small piece in her mouth but then looks to Fin with a tiny smirk. "I have something for you. Do you want a bite?"
"Fin, you are a god." she says after a long, luscious first sip. "Yeah! I know! That's what I keep telling him but he says he's not." Sakitu elbows Fin the ribs. "See?" Then she turns back to Quasit and puts on a lower voice and a serious face, trying to imitate Fin. "No, my little Hlao-roo. I'm just a normal man, just like you, except I live for hundreds of years, don't need to eat or sleep, and can sneak around in the woods like I'm invisible. Oh, and I like to get attacked by monsters and almost die."
Demonstrating a point he doesn't intend, he then cracks open the shell with his teeth, pulls the meat out and eats it. Sakitu's eyes grow wide in shock and horror. She looks, a little frightened, from Fin to Quasit and back again. They don't seem to be bothered by what they saw. But Kalchine just said that they eat their friends here. That doesn't make sense. She hadn't see anyone doing that. She nudges herself behind Fin. The conversation moves to other things but Sakitu can't get the imagery out of her head. She keeps her distance from Kalchine the rest of the evening.
Sakitu races through the icy chamber as if running on solid earth. She skids to a halt at Fin's side. "You look ok." she says while feeling over his arms and legs and chest and back with rapidly moving hands. "I mean, you've got some wounds but I know that Kalchine can heal those." Just as she says it she sees Kalchine moving in to apply some healing. When he's done Sakitu thanks him and then goes back to hugging Fin. Fin shrugs. ”What would you have me do, my friend? I guess I could just stay in the hut the whole time…but that means my friends would be the ones getting hurt…or dying. That I cannot abide; I’d rather it be me as opposed to one of you…” Sakitu scrunches her face. "Finny, it's not one or the other. Oh!" She slaps his arm. "You are so extreme."
Sakitu picks through the food and drinks only a little. Battles tend to affect her and it takes time for her feelings to straighten out. The anxiety and adrenaline just feels like too much at times. But it is fun watching Quasit and her juggling. When Fin stands and starts singing, Sakitu covers her eyes and giggles, but as the song progresses, it turns out to be better than she thought it would be. She sneaks a glance at Fin. His head is tilted back while he loudly sings the last line of the song. There's a huge grin on his face; he's obviously having a great time. No doubt the Triaxian liquor is helping. She giggles some more then reaches for his arm, pulling gently. "Here Finny, come sit by me a bit. That was a lovely song." They continue to eat and drink and talk for several more minutes then Fin rises. He rises, bends over to brush his lips across Sakitu’s, whispering, ”Think I’ll hit the hot baths early, Hlao-roo…I know how you like girl talk…you can join me whenever you’re ready…” Feeling surge up inside her. More anxiety but a good kind this time. She nods, barely, "Yes. That sounds good. You go ahead. I'll be there soon." She pats his arm. The touch of his lips on her leaves them tingling but she let's him go. Her eyes make contact with his and her heart surges again. "Soon. I'll be there real soon." she replies. After Fin leaves Sakitu slides over to sit next to Quasit. She scooches right up next to her, shoulder to shoulder, smiling. After a moment she nudges her gently with her elbow then leans in a whispers, "Looks like it's your turn for a crush. I mean, Kalchine, right?"
At first, the name Yanmass brings nothing to mind for Thalasou but when Aerith mentions it, he recalls hearing of the city, or is it a region. He only knows it's far away. Bimble confirms with a brief rundown of the travel route. Capricia seems to know a bit about Prince Carrius -- again, someone he's barely heard about. The smell of the honeycakes on the small table at the side of the room makes Thalasou's stomach rumbles. He gets up as inconspicuously as possible and heads to the table. It looks very fancy. A white table cloth covers it while fine porcelain dishes and platters are placed neatly to present honeycakes and tea. Thalasou reaches for a couple honeycakes from the platter. Normally honeycakes are a little dry but these ones, no doubt made by the finest bakers in the region, glisten with a sweet syrup saturating the light golden sponge. The cakes stick a little to the plate as he takes a couple and balances them on the fingertips of his left hand, avoiding touching them as much as possible. A couple sticky drops of syrup fall into his palm. He considers for a moment then grabs another of the small cakes and stacks it on top of the other two. Then he notices the pot of tea. The tray holding the dainty tea cups is on the other side of the table, almost out of his reach. Thalasou stretches and leans over the table. He is barely able to reach a cup and the stack of cakes balanced in his hand wobbles precariously but he manages to grab a small cup and move it to the table in front of him. Taking the tea pot, he starts to pour and as the steaming black tea starts to flow out of the teapot, the lid of the teapot slides and starts to fall. Realizing too late that he also needs to hold the lid while pouring, Thalasou swings his left hand to hold the lid. The sudden action causes the balanced cakes to fall. The sticky cakes hit the edge of the half filled porcelain teacup before splatting on the table. The impact tips over the half-filled teacup, spilling brown liquid all over the white tablecloth. Thalasou freezes for a second and his face flushes red immediately. He stares at the mess on the table and then glances side to side to see if anyone noticed what he did. He tries to cover it up as best as possible then retreats back to his seat without any cakes or tea. Maybe no one will notice.
Fin, I'm a published poet too! I won second runner up for my poem in my university's student-published book of poetry in college. I'm so proud of my poem. I even got to perform it in a reading. I've remember the poem to this day. If you're interested, I've posted it in a spoiler below. Beware, it is very profound. poem: Some once told me Poems don't have to rhyme. This one doesn't.
The Elf bends down and brushes his lips lightly across hers, then smiles shyly, murmuring, ”I’ll catch up with you a little later, Hlao-roo…” Sakitu lifts on her tippy toes to press her lips a little more firmly on Fin's for their brief kiss. Will she ever get over the dizzy feelings that threaten to overwhelm her? She smiles at him and waves. "Ok. See you later." When he leaves she turns to find Quasit and Maka staring at her. Quasit grabs her hand and yanks her to the bed. "I take it things went well! He kissed you right in front of us and the gods and everyone! And he was hlao-roo-ing you! You little minx, I told you you had nothing to worry about!" Sakitu glances as Quasit and Maka, feeling a fierce blush rising on her cheeks, then turns her gaze into her own lap. "Yeah, I mean, I think so. I mean, I was trying to talk to him and then he said stuff and then the next thing I knew he was kissing me. And, I mean, wow. I've never felt anything like that before. You know, where your insides start tingling and then it was like my heart was going to burst and then all I could think about was how he smelled and his warm lips and... I don't know. It's all so amazing!" She looks up and her eyes glisten with excitement and happiness.
he turns to Sakitu, flashes a grin, asking, ”Quite a view isn’t it, Saki?” He was looking at her when he said that. Sakitu can't tell, did he mean the 'vista was quite a view' or 'she was quite a view'. Oh. This was just hard and killing her with anxiety. She giggles. And turns her gaze outword. "Yes, it is a great view." She steals a glance back at Fin's handsome face. She did mean that he was a great view. Surprisingly, Fin also looks nervous. Before Sakitu can say anything else he starts speaking again. Saki…I get the feeling you’d like to talk with me…about…something. And I think I can sense you might be…anxious…about it. Forgive me for being forward…but…do you…like me?” Oh! Well! Straight to the point. Her eyes grow wide and she is paralyzed for a moment or two. A few heartbeats later, the flood of hormones through her brain calms enough for her to reply. "Well. I mean, yeah. I did have something I wanted to talk about. And, well, you kinda already guessed it." She fidgets with her hands and drops her chin, unable to look Fin in the eyes. "I mean, you're so handsome and strong and mysterious and perfect. I can't help it." She covers her face with her hands to hide her embarrassment.
"Bulvi? No, he wasn't in the room. I don't know where he is." There's a flash of anxiety in Sakitu's chest but then she remembers how well Bulvi is able to take care of himself. It calms her a little. "I'm sure he's fine though." At Fin's touch, her shoulder tingles and a new surge of emotion washes over her. She stammers a bit. "Oh. Fin. It's ok. I mean, well. Yeah, I'm still a little hurt from that fight but I mean. It's ok. Cause, you know, just being with you makes me feel better. Uh. I mean you all. Right? Not you, like just you. Being alone with just you wouldn't make me feel better. Uh. I mean. It's not like I don't want to be with just you. But, well, I was... I mean. Like, at the baths. Everyone was there and that was nice and made me feel better. It's not like I was saying that if it was just me and you alone in the baths that that's what I meant because that would be what I wanted or something but that's not what I meant and it would be ok. But. I mean..." Without meaning to, Sakitu's form slipped from vulpine to human, revealing a furious blush, then back to vulpine a few seconds later.
Sakitu's eyes go wide at Quasit's invitation. "A communal bath? You mean where everyone is in it together? Naked?" She shakes her head vigorously and blushes at the thought. He blush grows even redder when she considers that Fin would be there and he'd see her naked. "No. Sorry, I can't."
Sorry to see you go.
"Fighting styles? I think my style is 'not fighting'. I like that one best." Sakitu glances at Maka. "I mean, no offense Maka. I know you like fighting. But enough fighting talk for me. We're sleeping here tonight, right? There doesn't seem to be a lot of room. And did anyone bring food? I'm hungry." I’m gonna hit the hay…I only need a couple hours of sleep and then I can stand watch the rest of the night, if you think it’s needed. G’night… Sakitu watches Fin move to a corner of the room. The thought of putting her own bedroll close to his flits through her mind. She feels the heat of a blush rising on her cheeks and once again she is glad for the fur covering her skin.
Sakitu gasps. "Watch out Bulvi! Don't let that thing eat you!" She moves to get a little closer but also to find a spot where she can shoot at the creature without hitting Bulvi. The plant is all vines and snapping mouths. Sakitu gestures in its direction and five magic missiles fly towards it.
Thalasou looks a little shocked at Sara's suggestion. "You want to cut my rope up into pieces. But... but. Then it wouldn't be fifty feet long anymore. What if we need something that long?" His objections peter out as he realizes that it doesn't really matter. He can always buy another rope.
Sakitu listens and lets Quasit talk and talk and talk. Sometimes it's best not to interupt and just let someone let it all out. That's what Quasit needed now. As she finishes, Sakitu leans back onto the ground to match her friend. She stares up at the sky along with her. "One day last summer, at home, my dad took me for a walk along side the small stream near our home. We went there frequently but this time it seemed like he had something important he wanted to say. That was how my dad was. He always had some wise words to tell me. I still don't understand most of it but he always tells me 'When you get older, it will make sense.'." "But on this one day, after walking nearly a mile along the stream, just talking about inconsequential things, we reached a calm spot on the stream. Upstream from us was a small cluster of rapids but then the water spilled into a wide open area where the water moved slowly. He sat down on the bank so that we could watch the smooth water. He was silent. In a few moments I saw a yellow leaf, about the size of my hand, floating slowly in the pool, carried by the gentle current. The leaf was spinning, still recovering from the trip through the rough water. My father then said, 'What do you see there, little whisker?' The only thing he could possibly talking about was the leaf so I told him so. 'Yes, it's a leaf and what's it doing?' 'Floating down the river,' I replied. 'And I guess turning slowly as well.' My dad smiled, one of those knowing smiles that shows that he's thinking more than he's saying. 'And why is it going that way?' He pointed downstream. The answer seemed obvious. 'The current?' I asked. He nodded. 'But what if the leaf doesn't want to go downstream?' He didn't let me answer before he continued. 'You see, that's not just a leaf. It's a life, a soul. Where will it end up? No one knows exactly, but it will be down there somewhere. And the leaf, it is just carried on the stream, with no ability to change its course. Do you see? That is the path of life, or, as some call it, Fate.' I was puzzled. It seemed like just a leaf but my dad seemed to be telling me that it was some lesson about the nature of the world. A slight breeze ruffled the surface of the pool and hit the leaf scooting it across the pond where it came to rest in a slow swirl of water caught behind a large boulder in the water. I pointed at it. 'Ah. Dad. See, that wasn't the current that moved that. And now the leaf isn't going to go downstream. It's going to stay here -- at least for a while. Are you saying that the wind is fate too?' My dad closed his eyes and smiled. 'No, my little whisker, the wind is not Fate. The wind is Spirit. It is the Will of the leaf. The leaf cannot change the overall course of its life but by exerting its Will, it can maybe alter the path, slightly.' He paused for a longer time. Eventually he stood, without speaking of the leaf again and we headed home. I'm sure that my dad thought I understood his lesson but I really didn't. Not then. But I think I do now, Quasit. You are the leaf floating on the stream of life. That's Fate, right? We're all in it. But we're not helpless. We can make wind and blow ourselves around on the stream. Maybe we can direct ourselves down a smoother channel to bypass the worst of the rapids. Or, if the wind is strong enough, maybe it can lift us out of the stream entirely. I don't know. Maybe I'm saying that it's both Fate and choice. They work together. Maybe that's what my dad meant."
Sakitu is a little surprised at Fin's approach. Not because of Fin but because... well, because of Fin. He's so handsome and regal and exotic. Sakitu's heart flutters. A dance with him? She is too nervous to accept but too thrilled to decline so she stops thinking and lets herself be guiding by Fin. He pulls her to her feet and soon she's floating over the ground, her skin tingling in each place where Fin touches her. After countless moments that go by as fast as if they were one Fin says. "You dance well, Saki; have you danced much before?" Sakitu giggles. "Uh. Well, at home. Yes. But never like this. I mean like never with a man, uh, elf, as handso... I mean like you." She stumbles over her words and then smiles at Fin. Her eyes sparkle as she blinks.
Sakitu just sits and relaxes while the others are discussing baths and minks and oysters. Fin was obviously embarrassed about the oysters but Sakitu doesn't understand why. Back home there were oyster beds not too far down the coast. People there liked to eat them quite frequently. As for the baths, her only concern is people leaving and getting separated. She pipes up. "I don't know if I want to get in a bath. Not here, but I don't want to be left behind either. If you guys go, let me know. Even if I drift off to sleep here. Be sure to wake me."
Sakitu is about to jump in and give Fin magical resistance when Selena beats her to it. She glares at the back of Selena's head for a moment or two before she folds her arms across her chest then steps to the other side of the pit to see what happens.
"Fin. That was so good. I can't believe how fast you can fly. And, well, uh. Was there any bad magic there? Are you ok?" Before Fin can answer Jadrenka appears before them and Sakitu slinks back. The gold nugget must be another part of the key but Sakitu isn't going to touch it. She reaches forth with her magical sense to see if there the nugget is imbued with any magic.
"I don't know Erond. We don't want to make those guys inside jumpy. That might make it worse for Cordwin and Feywen. Hey, I just noticed. They're the two 'wins'." Druamin chuckles at his own joke.
Fin's grin turns to a frown as he moves close to the pull. Clearly disappointed, he says. "It's a pool of blood? Erastil's Antlers, I swear it looked like water when that creature arose from it. Bloody hell! My kingdom for a bath..." Sakitu looks shocked. "Fin? You have a kingdom? You're a king?" She turns to Quasit. "Did you know this?" She eyes Selena as well. "So I guess you're not the only noble here, right? And notice how Fin doesn't make us all feel bad for it?" She sighs. "Sorry Selena. I'm trying to be nice. But sometimes you make it really hard. But I'll try harder."
Sakitu lets the troop of monkeys disappear back into wherever they were summoned from. The excitement, and not a good excitement, of the moment still has her nerves on edge. Only now, she is able to get a better look at the room. The sight of the gutted and strung up giants causes Sakitu to gag. The odor in the room is nearly unbearable. She notices Maka and Quasit sitting and moves to join them, listening quietly to their conversation. She quickly figures out that Maka has been blinded but Tez comes over and heals her. She was made deaf, Maka was made blind. All in one day. The only thing that would make this any good is if something could make Selena mute. Sakitu chuckled to herself. That wasn't nice. Sure, Selena was all 'high and mighty', but she was still a person. She didn't deserve to be treated in a way that made her feel bad. After a moment Sakitu recalls something that she heard Fin saying. She stands and walks over to him. "Fin. Wait! Did you say that you wanted to take a bath here? In this room? With those things hanging here?" She points to the giant corpses. "Really?"
Balmir watches as Mouser searches the room. When he sees the pile of round stones in the corner his eyebrows raise. [b]"Wow Mouser. Those are some big balls!"
There seems to be a lot going on in the manor. I went back through the postings since we arrived here and made some notes. Maybe you will find these helpful. Foxglove Manor
B27 -- storage room. A bunch of rats
Kakrish swings his sword at the water elemental in front of him.
By now, the group has a fairly regular morning routine. Tez finds a quiet place to meditate, or something. Fin runs off to wash, when there's water. And Quasit can always been seen with her toothbrush. Bulvi and Maka seem to busy themselves around the camp chopping wood, in Bulvi's case, or burning wood, in Maka's case. Sakitu's job in the morning is to sit bundled in her bedroll until the last possible moment. That moment inevitably comes before she wants it to. The journey in the morning is the same as previous days but Sakitu's thoughts keep going back to Fin's sad song. A dark and melancholy mood overcomes her. Her own problems at home seem minuscule compared to what he has gone through. And Quasit has also hinted at some big hurts in her past. A flush of embarrassment rises in Sakitu's cheeks. Her complaint was what? She was bored? None of the boys liked her? She was ugly? What stupid little problems. She was just a stupid girl. Sakitu's face continues to fall and she keeps her gaze at the ground. She doesn't notice that everyone has stopped before the open plains until she runs into Maka. "Oh. Sorry," she says in a barely audible voice. She glances up and out across the boggy plain. The hills on the far side draw her interest. She turns to Erdija. "Is that where we're going?"
Sakitu dances in circles with Quasit, laughing at her silly song. When Quasit finishes her stanzas Sakitu jumps in with her own. While all the fun was afoot
Like she wanted a kiss on his beak
Sakitu's song petered out at the end but it didn't matter. She was laughing too hard to continue. Eventually she joined Maka and Quasit and snuggled into bed. "Well, my two best friends ever. This has been the best night ever."
This reminds me of an old joke I heard many years ago. -----------
God listened very patiently and kindly to the man. After the scientist was done talking, God said, “Very well. How about this? Before I go, let’s say we have a human-making contest.” To which the scientist replied, “Okay, we can handle that!” “But,” God added, “we’re going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam.” The scientist nodded, “Sure, no problem” and bent down and picked up a handful of dirt. God wagged a finger at him and said, “Uh, uh, uh. Put that down. You go find your own dirt.”
Whether Gary Gygax acknowledged it or not, his outstanding creation (D&D) was only able to flourish because Tolkien proceeded him and created fertile ground in which D&D could grow and engendered a generation of people with an appetite for the sorts of fruit the D&D tree would produce.
Tolkien. My all time favorite author. Ever. He was the first fantasy I read (around 12 years old). Started with The Hobbit and then burned through LotR. Reading those books opened my eyes to language (the invented languages) and concepts that I had not really known before. It is hard to overstate the impact this has had on my for my whole life. I won't bore you guys with the details. Next after Tolkien was Narnia. After that I read the Prydain books, a good number of the Xanth books, some Robert Aspin (Myth books), basically, all the fantasy I could find in my small school library. There was non-Conan fantasy before Tolkien but it wasn't well know. There was George MacDonald's Lilith and Phantastes. There was also the stuff by Lord Dunsany. These works were all proto-fantasy but some of the beginnings of the fantasy staples were there. One could argue that the very first "English" fantasy work was Beowulf. (BTW, I wrote a paper in college British Lit that showed the correspondence between The Hobbit and Beowulf. Did you know that the scene where Bilbo enters Smaug's Lair while being invisible is almost a direct copy from a similar scene in Beowulf? The descriptions of the room and the treasure are almost identical. No surprise, Tolkien was a Beowulf scholar. Anyway, my paper got a gigantic A and totally blew away my professor who, prior to that, had turned her nose up to 'popular fiction'.) If you go further back, there is the Greek author Lucian's "A True Story" (2nd century AD). But even further back is Homer's Odyssey. We're still borrowing material from that. But wait, there's more. The oldest known written work, written in 1500 years before Homer, is called the Epic of Gilgamesh. It's a story of heros, gods, quests, etc. Sounds very much like fantasy: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-epic-of-gilgamesh/summary Back to modern times, the guy who finished the Jordan books was Brandon Sanderson. If you haven't read his Stormlight Archive books, you are missing out. That will probably lead you to read his other books which are all good too. Be warned, he writes long books. Each Stormlight book is between 1000 and 1200 pages. It is a 10 book series and he's only written the first 3. The 4th comes out this November. An interesting note about Tolkien and D&D, BTW, is that Gary Gygax was not a fan of Tolkien at all. He claimed that Tolkien had very little influence on D&D and that he found Tolkien's writings to be boring and tiresome. I could write about this topic forever...
I've been totally lost for a while and honestly was almost frustrated to the point of giving up on the game. Something I can hardly believe I considered doing! I'm super determined to stay with things so I went over to my local Dollar Store and bought a composition book then went back to the posts starting just before the hut hop. I've carefully reread all of the posts and filled about 10 pages of notes in my new notebook. Now I feel I'm ready! And this notebook isn't leaving my hands. And, I really like the story, now that I know what's going on. :-)
Druamin watches Trox insert a coin and then the door open. "That's nice. I agree Faywen. Would have thought it would be more involved. I wonder why Nualia and her group never figure this out." He pats Erond on the shoulder as he walks by and into the secret room. "Well, my friend. There's only one way to find out what those other defenses are. Right?"
The ray of frost shoots from Sakitu's finger and slams into the oven but then the ray seems to hit a wall. The cold energy pulsing from her finger keeps flowing but instead of harming the oven, it swirls in a ball of cold magic, coalescing into some formless creature. Sakitu tries to stop the magic but it keeps drawing from her finger and the ice monster keeps growing. She begins to panic. The ball of swirling cold magic takes the form of a dragon. Ice blue eyes focus on Sakitu and it opens its mouth to suck in air. Sakitu shakes her finger wildly and desparately trying to stop the magic from siphoning out of her body. Somehow it stops. She glances at the looming ice dragon and shrieks. It is only moments away from unleashing a devastating blast of icy breathe. Sakitu turns and runs as fast as she can.
Sakitu watches the battle with wide eyes. Her gaze switches to Quasit leaning against the far wall, her lower section and the floor around her covered in blood. "Quasit! Use your potion!" she urges her friend. Concern is clear on her face. Tezuzu's command brings her back to focus on her own danger. "Ok. Yes, I can move away. But first..." She reaches to Tezuzu's arm and pushes a flow of her innate magic into his arms. A hoary frost covers them. "There, you will do more damage for the next few seconds" Then, she steps back and moves towards Quasit.
"I've heard of things like this. They will likely only come alive when whatever special instruction they were given is met." Seeing that Maka, Fin, and Quasit have all moved up, Sakitu scampers up behind them. She doesn't want to be left alone. "Hold on. Oh. Wait a sec. Maka, do you want some magical protection? I think you said so before." Sakitu touches Maka and says a few arcane words. She repeats the process on herself. "There, now you might feel a little safer."
"Really, he thought you were a boy? I mean, that's obvious, isn't it? I mean, obvious that you're not." Sakitu shakes her head giggly. "I'm tempted to say 'silly bird' but that's only because he's not here." She giggles some more. As they enter the bath she shifts into her fox form. "Yeah, I only need to clean one body. See, if one is clean, when I shift, the other is too. Or, if one is dirty, the dirt just transfers. It's weird that way. Guess I never thought about it." She splashes water playfully at Maka when asked about cutting her hair. "See that's a different thing. When I'm in my fox form, my hair is one length, like this." She gestures to the short, reddish fur that covers her face and head. "But then when I'm in my human form," she shifts, "then my hair is like this." Shoulder length locks of auburn hair, the tips getting wet in the bath water, appear from her head. "It would just be strange if my hair had to be the same length, don't you think?"
Sakitu rises with everyone else and tags along to do some shopping. It doesn't take her long to find some interesting items.
Druamin moves swiftly to close with the remaining hound. He brings his axe around in a deadly stroke.
Kobu races around his master and then slaps his tail at the hound.
I could say: I watched the video. I have some opinions. Or I could say: Only the two desk lamps illuminated my office in the early morning hours. The rest of the house still lay in slumber, except for one of the cats who was making a half-hearted attempt to play with a small stack of cardboard boxes that had not yet been moved to the recycling bin since Christmas morning. Putting on my headphones, and selecting the dark blue colored text "Show, Don't Tell", through the magic of technology I was transported to a different world. Suddenly there in my West Coast office, an accent from the other side of the world came to me. A cheerful voice full of pep and vigor. Without hestitation, she jumped right into her topic. Her clear voice transmitting to me, across time and space, one of the sacred nuts held by all druids of the mystical art of writing. With each prosodic rise and fall of her voice, sychronized withthe tilt of her head, I felt that time-tested wisdom being poured into my own fledging vessel. Yet, as she finished I was still left with questions. Was not the statement "she slammed the coffee mug down" simply "telling" me something as well? Isn't it true that in dialog a person would naturally say "I am angry."? What at first seemed like a clear and refreshing vision of the path into the mystical circle of menhirs, the sacred inner circle of writers, quickly became obscured with the all too familiar swirly thick mist and fog. The ellusive path lost once again. I sighed.
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