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Did the Borrower find IT???

5/31/2022

As Dulbbe left his small room down in the lower levels (and luckily next to the library) of the Shadows' King castle to answer the King's summon, his head was still going around and around about learning Ancient Dragon thanks to the Dragon Crystal ball.

He was almost to the gardens when he thought "I better focus on what could the King possibly want, especially since he said not to forget to bring my glasses."

Meanwhile, when Dulbbe had been still questioning the crystal ball about Dragon Lore, the Borrower in question had finished exploring Ffion's garden (finding nothing worth borrowing) and was stepping back through the waterfall into the tunnel.

"Well, this was a dud," thought Arnie. As her eyes adjusted to the dark tunnel, she realized that the Wysp who had led her to the falls was no where to be seen. "At least that's something," sighing with relief. "I will get even with that little troublemaker when I have more time," she vowed, remembering how it had abandoned her in the dark cave earlier.

"Why is it always me?" she thought. Looking upward for answers (that never seemed to appear), she decided to light one of the small candles she stashed in one of her many pockets. Still getting no answer, Arnie soon started the trek up the tunnel back to the hole she had entered into the cave. It did not take long before Arnie's temper had risen another level higher at the Wysp!

"Here is a smoother and even trail the Wysp could have taken me on instead of the winding and rock covered trail it had lead me over!" Arnie whispered to herself "Grrrr - I will find the time to get even with that Wysp," she growled.

As Arnie was walking in the tunnel and Hunter, the Shadows' King, who was pacing back and forth while waiting for Dulbbe to show up, asked Ffion, his daughter "Where did you see this stranger?"

"It was over by the waterfall. Actually, it had come out of the waterfall," replied Ffion.

Startled, Hunter stopped pacing and turned to look at his daughter. "What are you talking about?" Having to skid to a stop since the King had been going so fast that she had been practically running to keep by his side, it took a second to answer. "I was looking at the pond and the flowers around it, when all of a sudden a hand appeared and then an arm started poking out of the waterfall. Finally, it disappeared and then the stranger came through completely," she told him. "That's when I decided I should let you know that someone was in my garden."

Hunter, ignoring her reference to it being 'her garden', started walking even faster now towards the waterfall. "Has someone found it?" he wondered to himself. "It is one thing to be curious what a Borrower had found, but if it was MY dragon tablet that I have been guarding, then I need to find that Borrower NOW!" the King was shouting in his head.

Ffion was running to catch up with her father as he was walking faster now than he did before. About this time Dulbbe was crossing over the garden to meet them. Before he could say anything the King shouted "About time. Did you bring your glasses? Look at the waterfall and tell me what you see with them!"

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Dulbbe's mind is blown away...

5/24/2022

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Running his fingers through his long stringy hair, Dulbbe stretched out his arms and got up from his chair to give his long legs some uncramping too. He had been sitting way too long. "It seems like eons have passed while I have been sitting at this table," he thought.

As he stood, he also realized that he had drank more than his share of his magical brew (coffee). Enough to float a whole galley of the King's boats at this point.

The problem was there was just so much to learn from the Dragon Orb... and it was so interesting too!

Forgetting about the coffee, Dulbbe started searching around his chair trying to find another quill from his bag. He had written down so many notes that he had almost demolished his whole six month supply of quills and ink. "It's a good thing I had a lot of spare parchment with me too," he thought. "I really did not want to have to write on the sleeves of this shirt. It's the last fairly clean one I have."

As he continued searching for a new quill, he reminded himself that he really needed to watch keeping his hands out of his notes. It added to why his clothes were always stained from the ink he used, especially his sleeves, but this time it was because of something different. What he was writing down was just too awesome that he didn't want to smear his notes of this Dragon Language of Old. "I am learning Dragon!" he told himself again in disbelief. "Who would have ever thought I would find another language to learn."

Dulbbe considered himself very proficient in languages as he knew so many and even a few obscure ones, like the one of numerology. But this Dragon Language was totally unique. It almost had a musical quality to it plus a hint of the numbers which added to it's mystery. He couldn't wait to tell his cousin Hewy (click here to learn who Hewy is) about the musical side and wondered what he would make of it.

Reaching up to rub his tired eyes, Dulbee was careful to first remove his special glasses. They not only helped him to read but the darker lenses helped him to see what was hidden. Whether it was someone hiding in a cave or field, or a text hidden in a obscure line in a book, when he used these lenses all hidden objects appeared clear. "Maybe it's time to take a break and a short nap," he realized as his mind had certainly been blown away with all this new stuff to learn and he was beginning find it difficult to keep it all straight. "Better to start with a fresh mind and fresh quills again in a few hours," he told himself as he packed up his bag and headed out of the library and to his room in the castle.

But like so often, he barely got out of his clothes and his head hitting the pillow before there was a loud rapping on the door. "You are wanted by the King," a voice was shouting through the door. "There is an intruder in the garden and he commands you to bring your glasses." (Click here if you want to know who is the intruder.)

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What Do You Seek? ? ?

5/17/2022

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" A DRAGON is talking to me!" Dulbbe thought as he still had not said anything being too surprised to answer the Dragon head in the crystal ball.

So again the Dragon asked, "What knowledge do you seek?" While in Dulbbe's head the first thing that came to mind was "Who are you?" and were also the first words out of his mouth before he could think of a better question.

"I am the Crystal of Knowledge. All that is the Ancient Dragon's Lore, I possess," it answered. "What knowledge do you seek?" Now that the shock had worn off, Dulbbe realized this was the answer to his problem! "What is on the tablet that a Borrower has found?" he asked.

The eyes of the Dragon lit up briefly and then returned to normal as it responded. "Your question is incomplete. Specify the name of the tablet or hold it up to the crystal to be identified."

"I don't know the name of the tablet and I don't have it to hold it up," growled Dulbbe starting to get a bit frustrated. The only response Dulbbe received was "What knowledge do you seek?"

Now that was interesting if not helpful yet. There must be a lot of Dragon tablets for them to be 'named'.

Realizing that this was going to take longer than he expected, he decided to pull up a chair to one of the tables in the room and taking out his notebook and quill, started jotting down his thoughts so he could organize them.

"What knowledge do I seek?" he mumbled to himself as he began to write. "First, I need to know what is on the tablet the Borrower has," he thought to himself, but his question to the crystal orb was still unanswered. Tapping the feather part of the quill to the side of his head (this kept him from smudging ink onto the paper) he pondered his options.

The analytical side of this rock troll was in full force as he started to create a list of what he wanted. Like if there were so many tablets, what language was used on them? Would it be a Mathematical one or a Ancient Dragon tongue?

On the top of the list was his one true desire, to have Ffion notice him as something more than just another person in the castle staff. Thinking about what the orb had said about it possessing all of the ancient Dragon lore, an idea started to form. Once again he looked into the crystal and waited for the Orb to ask what is it that he wanted, he had made his decision. "I seek the ability to be able to read ancient Dragon script."

The eyes of the Dragon again lit up briefly and shortly returned to normal as it responded. "Your request is accepted. We will begin with the alphabet and correlations of the written symbol, thought, and meanings." Dulbbe realized at that moment he was going to need something else. "I am going to need my magical brew called 'coffee'... Lots and lots of coffee!"

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The Mystical and Magical Power of Numbers...

5/10/2022

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To keep him from pining over Ffion, Dulbbe, being the Chief Scribe and Keeper of the Records, often turns to the comfort of numbers. The way he is able to manipulate and create order with them helps his focus and has always provided a calming effect. That is probably why Numerology fascinates him.

That mystical and magical power of numbers was something Dulbbe wanted to understand! In a realm of magic, he would label himself at the lowest level of power - but in a world where numbers had power - Dulbbe could be a master!

And this is why he found himself down in the lowest, dankest, and most secluded part of the Shadows' King's library looking into scrolls and the old tomes stacked on the shelves. Many in the castle did not even know of this part of the castle which is why Dulbbe was sure that he would find what he was looking for.

Recently he had heard about a Borrower finding a Dragon tablet and it made him wonder. "What if I was the one who was able to read it?" he had thought. "Maybe this would get the princess to notice me as well as the King! Then I might just have a chance of her love!" So, with that thought in his mind, he had decided to see if he could find something in the King's library that would help him in his pursuit of love.

What he hadn't figured on was the number of books in the library. He had been to Atian's library once looking for some light reading on numerology (Dulbbe even remembered the title - it was something like "By the Numbers" by The Count somebody or other...) and at that time had thought the library was fairly large, but now realized that compared to the King's library, Atian's was just a news stand. That was probably because few knew about the hidden doors to the connecting rooms. A casual wanderer would only see one small room filled with books not knowing that there were a hundred more such rooms if only they knew where to look for the hidden doors. Being a numbers person, Dulbbe was probably the only one (other than the King), who knew there were exactly 103 other rooms after the first, all filled from floor to ceiling with reading materials!

That is where Dulbbe was now - in room 83 and reading a particular tome about how everything in the universe was based on a mathematical formula consisting of even imaginary numbers! "Who would have thought imaginary numbers would be so important," thought Dulbbe as he turned to the next page, not even noticing the imbedded ink smears on his hands and cuffs, the callings of his profession of being a scribe. At least today he did not have that tell-tale ink smear on his lips where he would occasionally put the quill into his mouth to straighten the tip.

As he turned the page of a tome he was looking into, a small scrap of parchment fell from the book to the floor. Quickly he picked it up as he thought that he might have just ripped the page and did not want to lose it. As he picked it up and gave it a quick glance, he realized that it was just a note that had been used as a page marker. "Somebody else must have been looking in this book and they marked the page," Dulbbe thought. As he was putting the scrap back, he noticed that there was some writing on it. "What's this? The note says, 'Don't forget R101 3rd S R4 in the D section. Should have a green cover'."

"Now here's a challenge," he decided. "Let's see how the numbers add up. This is no more cryptic than some of the receipts I have received from the cook." Smiling, Dulbbe started to figure out the note. Talking out loud (since no one else would overhear him here in this room of the library), "If I assume that 'R101' is room 101, then '3rd S R4' would be the third set of shelves and in the fourth row. I don't recall a 'D section' there though." Shrugging his shoulders and putting the book he was reading back on the shelf, he decided to check it out. "Who knows," he thought.

Soon Dulbbe was in room 101 and standing before the third set of shelves and the fourth row. "I must have been wrong," he mumbled to himself. There were no books here - it was a row of ornate boxes and bottles. About to leave, he suddenly realized that on the row was something covered by a green cloth.

As he was about to lift the cover, he also realized that everything else in the shelf had a fine layer of dust covering it - everything except the green cloth! "Someone must have been in here recently," Dulbbe realized. Now even slower, (and a little bit more gently just in case), he pulled the cloth off of the thing it covered. Aw, it's just a crystal ball... nothing new here he decided. As he started to put the green cloth back, suddenly the crystal ball started to glow and a head appeared. It was a Dragon! It took a moment before Dulbbe realized the head was speaking to him... and a moment longer before he realized it was asking him a question!

"What knowledge do you seek?" asked the Dragon.

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Heart of Stone or a Gem?

5/3/2022

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Awww... poor Dulbbe! He is working on his image for he is in love with the Princess Ffion. He knows that he will never get her attention being a lowly pencil pusher (Chief Scribe and Keeper of the Records) for the Shadows' King.

Most people think that trolls have a heart of stone which just isn't true - even if Dulbbe is a Stone Troll!
(To read more about trolls - click here.)

Was Dulbbe going to be like his distance cousin Hewy? Hewy had his heart broken by a lost love (Awena).
(To read about it - click here) At least he found Rock & Roll and let it become his new passion. Now he writes music to help others fall in love.

Dulbbe was happy to hear that Hewy and Awena were able to become good friends now that he found her again, but that still did not solve Dulbbee's problem.

Yes, he has often heard others in the castle say that he was a "gem" of a guy, but he was never sure if that was because he worked hard for the King or that because he could be counted on to help his fellow workers shine as well. Being a Stone Troll who is normally a very solitary individual makes him aware how precious friends and the heart is.

Either way, he knew for now that he is just another member of those that disappear into the depths of the castle carrying out the many orders of the Shadows' King - never to have his love be noticed by the one he wants to see him the most! "Oh Ffion. What am I going to do?"

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My Brambles

Did the Borrower find IT???

Dulbbe's mind is blown away...

What Do You Seek? ? ?

The Mystical and Magical Power of Numbers...

Heart of Stone or a Gem?

Greetings

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