Sidequest: The Lovelocke Ring
1 Stripped Ashes, 2 The Ragged Rings, 3 Lords of Edge, 4 The Sky’s Names, 5 The Wife of the Alien, 6 Ship in the Scent
Stripped Ashes
In the forest dark where rain makes need of paths of rows of branches, and occasionally a bridge of ropes and planks, there is a yurt of wicker walls blanketed in old leathers and roofed with pitch and such, in it a dwarf sits by a fire, the dwarf carefully puts a bone over two twigs, and more carefully burns a stick and roasts the bones with wide eyes and close stare, putting the little torch down an open hand soiled and worn and looks like the bottom of its own feet it takes a tiny knife and strips away the ashes of the bones, this carefully shows one side grey as storm with moon, and one side made of glittering silver, scraped into a thimble and melting down most small of pellets, aside a woolen sack stuffed with feathers of some orange glean, and finished eats pieces only seared without.
The Ragged Rings
And takes the pellets in a box of suede and mink the dwarf to the town for which he’s come to, and in a tavern shop of maps and sorts requests a trade for things only dwarves would want to do things only dwarves would do and for a price only dwarves would ask, when the terms were balanced and compensation trades, the dwarf leaves with many eyes on him, not so many of them watching an elf twice as tall as any sturdy dwarf demanding a ring be made of the exchanged precious metals, only able to pay a broken ring, the smith in anger finds frustration as the elf insists, and offers to mend the broken ring, but the elf will only have a new one made with the blood of the dwarf, and attempts to steal the pellets when he is refused, the smith is strong and knocks him into sleep and sells him to the sheriff for peace of mind, all the eyes have left the tavern and many feet are behind the dwarf, they put the dwarf into a very big sack and drag him thru away, but the dwarf is just too heavy, and from the bag the callous hand grabs one and pulls himself out, and begins throwing them into each other like toys of waves, and takes their leader back to the tavern and presents him to the governor, demanding ransom for his face, they won’t pay and bargain for this to entertain, and proud dwarf puts his mighty hand on the elf’s face, and asks what motives had they gave unto the smith, he tells them about the new band and the broken ring and the blood they mentioned, but he is only a smith and not an alchemist or wizard all the same, there the dwarf does something sinking to the drunken elf, and demands the smith make the ring with his blood and the broken one mentioned in exchange for all the pellets he’d still saved, with the smith apt to mention the broken one could be with the elves, and after many pockets it wasn’t found, but the new ring with his blood was made and the elf was low.
Lords of Edge
The elf began his quietest steps in secret, and looking for elves finds them drinking at night sat on split wood fence, and takes one for their drunken attention, searching for the broken ring from hostage soon to ask the others where it was, with wrong answers they were dealt blows of fate, with what’s at stake the others hid in rooms with wine and candles, but with rope of loop the dwarf would yank them from their hiding spots like fish from water, by nights end the dwarf has found them all and asks for the broken ring, they ask him, why he needs a broken ring when he has a new one, for this he pardons them deeming their question fair and answers, for every selfish pride the point of principle as some balance despite the rugged rage and creating despair, and apologises, so they tell him it’s in the pocket of their friend who is unconscious on the ground, he searches the pocket and finds the broken ring, and apologises a second time, attacking one more for sport and running into the night on his fat sturdy legs like half a horse.
The Sky’s Names
The dwarf returns to his hut, and looks at the ring with a glass between his eye, and asks the ring its name, he puts a candle to the broken ring and it burns his fingers hot and he asks it why it burnt him, without answer, so he decides to melt the ring and be done, and it will not melt, hammering it doesn’t flatten, by bit of magic freezing it doesn’t shatter, soon to grind it on a stone it doesn’t scathe, and with the pile of feathers it makes the sound of a singing night, the feathers are too weak to scratch at it, he grinds a feather first and looks in his book, and decides to bash the ring, some marks are made where the dust and pestle strike each other, but little is done and he falls asleep, at dawn the fire burns the woolen sack but the feathers remain, so he spends the day trying to turn the feathers into torches and wicks and other tricks, defeated the dwarf sits and takes his knife in one hand and his hair in another and huffs and breaks a single teardrop before cutting a lock of his strands, a feather wrapped in hair burns with the smell of muddy dwarf, but the feather stays alight and with it the language of sky burns into the ring and rolls it over the back of his hand to burn the message on his skin, the ring screams and fractures and bursts into sulphur and smoke.
The Wife of the Alien
The dwarf leaps thru his door mostly into the mud next to the foot bridge, having to put his hands into the mud to stand, there a woman stands in the mud quite clean in blue on black with a cat purring and cuddling a nearby tree, who tells him he is too messy and should clean himself before his house or the dirt will follow him, the dwarf still proud states his name while he wipes his hands clean on the mud of his front, and claims to know why she has come and who she is, with shock she pauses then denies it and walks across the mud without concern and on the clean ground finds a seat on a tree stump, we haven’t met she says and he agrees, you are who comes when men have failed i hope it isn’t me, undoubtedly so much is true for you it shouldn’t be, but your next choice might be the one to set you free, kind and noble dwarf, Freton Hillborne of Lovelocke, another cat, with silence he slowly kneels back into the mud and lowers his head and then hat, for this the blue lady laffs in part with memory, i go gentle and quick your highness, and her eye almost a tear of laffing, no no you are now my familiar and will be fed, a half of a laff, until a soon ill fate, he asks her with many emotions surfacing as contempt, you mean until too late, his question, where her story blinds of present things to tell of a king, whose ring was broken and when misspoken to replace it made not one enemy but two, the dwarf confused ask for the painting of details of the picture she tell, instead her story considers mystery which had ended in a hunt for all before, from hunt to tavern and more, and hears her tell of how (who seems her king by her intonations) the man was a prisoner of his plans, how the danger of refusing her was worse than her demands, you will face the road unwavered, you will make for the port of thieves, and from the ship of choosing be it the first you see must take the landing port of demons across the gargoyle sea.
Ship in the Scent
He writes symbols in his book, clean he buys boots to make himself taller and a hooded cape to hide from rains and people, at the pirate port he watches good deals go quickly bad and messengers deliver letters paid for worths greater than all the cargo of the whole day, and so he takes the time to learn the jargon only to send an empty box, they quickly search and find a letter, a messenger is interrogated for the loose paper and the day continues, so he sends a box of empty boxes and in finding them it passes over the water and across the sea of rivers the demon port explodes, there is little that can be done to undo it, in a week the dwarf sends another crate with a boy in it, when searched they find pages about demonology and wake him with punishment and send him to confinement, and release the crate over the great sea of rivers, where none claim it, and with curiosity open it and it soon explodes, sooner than later a cannon shoots an iron ball at the pirate port, the third shot almost making shore, the pirates shoot an arrow the size of a cow and both sides quickly change their flags from red and black to red or black, high up the sea the goblins run down to aid the gargoyles, high up the river the elves come to aid the pirate men, and downstream the as many alligators can carry ten million scales open their eyes and wait for which bodies will drift toward them, and with this commotion Lovelocke grabs and apple as he walks and struts onto the closes warship and rides with a pirate army to attack the hellish and far shore, to obtain the king and his broken ring for the lady of the lake.
The lady in blue arrives at the pirate port and takes control with the pirate king’s throat at the wishes of her knife, where she orders them to open fire on the gargoyles and the pirates fighting together, Lovelocke begins fighting the pirates back onto the ships and back across the water with his narrow eyes and distant stare.
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Dwarf: Lovelocke
Smith: Norban
Elf: Preslyn
Lady: Skyler
Kid: Deni
Pirate: Cade
Gargoyle: Lajon