Late last night Rave, his mechanical bird, had reported a story that was still traveling through the King's twisted mind.  He had found a group of "borrowers" who had discovered a tablet dating back to way before the last of the Dragons had left the realms!  Few tablets of this type had ever been found in the Realms but even fewer still were those who could decipher what was written on one.  "It's a good thing I am one of those few that can read these things.  I wonder what it says," he pondered.  "It is probably a recipe on how to cook trolls."  That thought made him smile again.  Here it was, not even breakfast time, and he had smiled three times.  "I better get hold of myself.  They will think I am getting soft!"

"Report," he told his chamberlain.  Instantly the chamberlain begin the routine briefing of all of the doings of the Kingdom in exactly the order the King wanted.  As he droned on and on, as the King wanted no details left out, a small chirping began in King's ear.  It was loud enough for the Hir'aeth to hear it, but low enough that no one else in the room even noticed.  Rave, his mechanical bird, had silently flown into the room and had landed on the King's shoulder.  It was letting him know that there was something important to report.

So what was the rumor and why the concern about the Wish Dragons?  When the Dragons left the Realms, they took with them some of the power of "belief".  When one quits believing in magic it diminishes - which then affect his power.  This isn't to be tolerated!  

​Good thing the Gooblin King, like all of the rest of his species, likes to tinker and make mechanical devices.  He decided after the bats fiasco, what better way to deliver secret messages than to have them delivered by his  own  flying machine.

Now the Gooblin King tinkered out many designs for his mechanical flying machine, but none of them had the ability to be his eyes and ears in his kingdom. After several days of contemplation (and a surprise visit by a bird who flew into his cave by accident but that is another story), he realized that he would create a mechanical bird!  And better yet, this bird would also have a magical mechanical optical that allowed Hir'aeth to see through.  What a better way to see the world than from a birds-eye view!  

So began the process to create his steampunk mechanical Raven along with dressing the Gooblin King. I will admit, even after 40 years of dollmaking, my characters never bore me and it is always fun to see what mysterious adventures they take me on.

Once he would have considered Hir'aeth, now the Gooblin King, a good friend.  That was many, many years ago  and before that moment.  "Ah, if he hadn't dropped it, I would have had it," thought Druzzy.  It had been their first search for a collectable.  Both had boasted about how they would be the one to find the  rare and precious bone sculpture.  It was a one-of-a-kind as only one had ever been made by the great Dragon master artist, Di-Zane, but it had been lost when Di-Zane left with the other Dragons.  After many years of searching, both the troll and gooblin had finally found the Dragon's lair.  Little did they realize that Di-Zane also left clever little devices behind to keep his secrets.  As Hir'aeth was the first to put his hands on the sculpture, a rock came crashing down and smashed it to a thousand small pieces.  Hir'aeth barely was able to remove his hands before the stone fell but the piece was now lost forever!  "If he would have let me take it first, I would have saved it," Druzzy still thought.

"Is everyone okay?  Where's the water buckets and I will start trying to put the fire out!" asked Hewy as he started towards the well.

"Hewy, It's fine.  The fire is out," Efem was finally able to tell him after she had stopped coughing.  Cornelia grumbled, since Efem was coughing again, "We have found out that when Hungry gets excited, he spits a little fire and a lot, and I do mean a lot, of smoke."

It took Hewy a minute before he realized what was happening, then since everyone was okay, he started laughing.   This is when The CAT joined in as he also thought it was funny.  Knowing that he was Hungry's Spite, The CAT was enjoying both being fed by Cornelia and Efem as well as the entertainment of these Wish Dragon's lessons.  Hewy, soon realizing that both of the Dryads were not as amused as him, quickly stopped laughing but still could not take the smile from his lips.

"And to what do we owe this visit from you today?" growled Efem as she wiped the tears from her eyes.  "You are not scheduled to be Hungry's teacher for another couple of weeks."

Having almost forgotten his reason for the visit, Hewy quickly told them of his meeting with the King of the Trolls and his concerns.  "I agree Hewy, he is up to no good," answered Efem.  "The question is, what do we do?"

"I have been thinking about that and the best I can come up with is to send Hungry somewhere for a while so Druzzy won't be able to find him until we find out what he is wanting," answered Hewy.  "The problem is that I can't think of anyplace safe and where he won't be seen."

Now Dewin, being a wizard, had given the others each a crystal to communicate with him over long distances so they could keep in touch.  They decided that would be the best for Hungry and after the smoke cleared, went back inside of the cottage  where they told Dewin about their concerns and request.  Shortly Sprigg'n, the Spite that had attached herself to the wizard upon his arrival to the Realm, arrived and they (Hungry, The CAT, and Sprigg'n) were off to the safety of Dewin's cave.

As they left and Hewy watched them crest the first hill and disappear from sight, Hewy finally felt that Hungry would soon be safe... ahhh, but will he?  There seems to be others who also wish to see the Wish Dragon and not all of them from just curiosity.  "Now," wondered Hewy, "in the meantime where I am going to disappear until this blows over?"

So silver is what will suit the Gooblin King.  And like how easily silver can be melted and fused into other things, so are my china colors.  For they are like silver in that they melt and fuse onto the porcelain.  Porcelain is glass and can't absorb paint... it can only fused or be sealed (for example) like in a glaze.

It is no secret that I am a bibliomania when it comes to reading.  Bibliomania is an extreme passion for books.  Which is funny since my favorite genre is historical romances (passion - romance--get it? *lol)  So what does that have to do with my question of does art create romance or does romance create art? 

If you are wondering where this is going, well the Gooblin King received his name, Hir'aeth.   It is a Welsh word with no direct English translation, but the definition also has something to do with the Gooblin's King's personality.  

So what is so important and why is the King of the Trolls trying to find a blue rose?  Ahhh, but this is not just any colorful flower.  This is a treasure of great mystery and power!  The Blue Rose is one of the greatest treasures in all of the Realm of Wymsy but it has been hidden for a very long time by the Sleeping Sisters... 

Maybe you will understand more if you knew the tale?  It all began a long time ago, not very far from this spot, and it involved four sisters who were just trying to find a way not to get into any more trouble... but let's have Awena tell the tale...

The more Hewy thought about it, the more he was convinced that the King must have another reason for summoning him than just to write the music for another party.  "I bet it has something to do with Hungry," he guessed.  ​At this time his own stomach rumbled as he had been waiting quiet a long time and was beginning to get hungry before finally Drat, the King's minion, came to invite Hewy into the royal chambers.

"How may I serve you sire?" Hewy asked as he quickly backed away from the King to be a safe.

"Hewy, I have heard about a young Wish Dragon and that you are to be one of his teachers, is that correct?"  Before Hewy could reply though, the King kept talking... "It has been a long time since the Dragons have been in the realm, do you think that you could bring him here to meet with me?  I would really like to have a private chat with him," asked the King, again giving him that wink-wink. Now, when a King asks for something of one of his subjects, it really is not a request, it is a nice way of saying that he wants something and it is up to the one being asked to get it.  The Troll Kingdom is no exception.

Hewy knew he was going to need to answer this request but he hoped he could delay it for a little while.  "I will have to meet with the young Wish Dragon, sire," answered Hewy,  "as he is currently with his other teachers."

"Now, the next step in getting the Blue Rose begins," snickered Druzzy with a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his larcenous eyes.  ​