"If we don't get at least one mis-enchanted return, then we are going to have to find something with a little more kick that makes these Dragons belch," he continued. Thinking about what that might be just made Allspice smile. "What indeed could we feed a Dragon to make him really burp and yet keep down the flames?" he asked Nutmegg but knew that he would not really get a useful answer. It was one of those discussions that always became more fanciful the more they passed it back and forth. "I was thinking of something the 'Outies' call Rootbeer. Supposedly it gives you lots of gas but I can't ever seem to find anyone who knows what roots to use." "Let's see. After Aralt left, I decided to check out the area where Aralt said he first had met the Dragon named Dree. He had mentioned it was at the caves by the water. Since many of the caves here are by a stream or some small amount of water, that wasn't really helpful so I decided to choose what was the biggest body of water and start from there. Also my choice was a little bit based on if there were anyone else living nearby the caves. After meeting a couple of talkative Wysps who bragged about some of their 'good' deeds, I found that the Dragon was living in the caves near this small lake. These caves are also tucked back beneath a place they call the Baron's Mansion. I decided to check it out and spent a while searching through the caves. It is a good spot to hide as there are many tunnels leading to other locations and was hard to find where the young Dragon lived." Since Allspice did not ask any questions, Nutmegg continued. "Finally, I heard some talking and managed to follow the voices until I came across a large opening. There were a couple of privacy screens, a few piles of pillows, and a couple of large stacks of books. Sitting on the pillows was a large white rat and the Dragon I had been looking for. The Dragon and rat were talking about some meeting they needed to get back to. Apparently they were taking a break and now needed to go back to this Baron's Mansion to talk with some oracle." "That's terrific!" exclaimed Allspice. "Now we know where he is if needed before Aralt and Siate' find him. The question is, what do we do now?"
"Well boss, I kinda told them all about SPICE and the problems with Wish Dragons' wishes going bad. This seemed to bother the young Dragon a lot but I don't know why... Otherwise it seems they want to meet with you at the Baron's Mansion if you will come so they can talk with you. Whatcha think? Should we go?" asked Nutmegg. When Allspice told Nutmegg to do his detective work on the young Dragon, this was not what he had expected, but sometimes it is the unexpected that works out better than the plan... "Why not. Help me dampen the brewing fires and roll this barrel of Ambrosia over to the store room. Then you can take me to the Baron's Mansion and we will find out what they know. Maybe we will find the answer to how to take away a Wish Dragons ability to make wishes," Allspice answered as he started putting away his cooking utensils.
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Faun decided to let the wind guide her to any nearby flower patch. So when the winds from the mountains brushed past her sensitive nose, she followed them to the Valley of the Caves. Normally the fauns did not travel to this valley as they don't really like being underground and can't see a reason to want to be. "Ugh - caves!" Faun thought as she traveled past the first of the caves in the mountain side. It was then that she caught a whiff of a daisy. "Theres one. Now to find it," she told herself. As she came around a group of large boulders and a few fallen trees, she spotted the daisy patch. Smiling to herself, she plucked a petal and slowly chewed on it before swallowing. "Just right," she thought as she pulled out her map of the valley and marked the spot for others to be able to find the patch.
"Ah... no. I thought they were wild and just need a few for something I am baking up for my friends. Is it okay if I have some?" Allspice asked the faun. The look that Allspice had as if he was a small child caught with his hand in the cookie jar made Faun laugh before she answered. "No, these are wild and are available to anyone. My name is Faun. Do you live near here?" Allspice smiled at the faun and also introduced himself. "I am Allspice and my kitchen is in that big cave over there," he told her as he pointed to one of the caves on the mountainside. Would you like to see my kitchen?" Faun just shuddered thinking of being underground so she politely declined. "Well, I must be getting back to my kitchen. It was a pleasure to meet you Faun," Allspice said as he started back to his cave while the faun watched him go. It was then that Faun noticed some other movement in the bushes near another cave. As she watched, there appeared a young Dragon! Now Faun had met Dree earlier and knew what the Dragon looked like. Then just as quickly she realized something. "That's not Dree!"
"Had possibly Siate' and the other Dragons chosen another Herald to replace me since I did not leave with them on their exodus?" Aralt thought. "I need to listen to more of what they are saying," he decided before exposing himself to them.
Apparently the Ambrosia was the key, but in the time that he tried to overhear their conversation, he could not figure out how it worked. When finally the Herald thought he had learned what he could, he quietly snuck back to the entrance of the cave and then turned around and started making as much noise as he could by calling out loudly if there was anyone home. That brought the two bakers outside and to him where he figured he had the advantage and could watch both of them easier. "Can I assist you?" asked the short heavy baker. "I am Allspice and this is my friend, Nutmegg." "I am looking for a young Dragon with the name of Dree. Have you seen him or maybe know where he is?" asked Aralt. Allspice and Nutmegg just stood and stared at Aralt saying nothing until the Herald realized that he had not introduced himself. "I am Aralt," was all he said as he did not want them to know about his relationship with the Dragons. What Aralt did not know was that Allspice had already seen him with Siate' and had already told Nutmegg.
When Aralt was out of site, Nutmegg turned to Allspice. "Now we know where this 'Dree' lives. I think I need to go check it out," Nutmegg said with a twinkle in his eyes. "Are you good here to continue without me for a while?" Allspice nodded and laughed. He could always tell when "the detective bug" had hit Nutmegg. "Go. I will be fine," Allspice answered as he laughed again and headed back into the cave to start another batch of Ambrosia.
Finally, as his feet were sore from all of the walking (which he was still not used to doing as he was used to being carted around in a carriage and treated with honor... What Had This World Come To!!), the Herald decided to take a seat on a large, flat rock in front of a cave. As he massaged his tired feet, he thought he heard some distant music. "I wonder what the occasion is," he pondered as he turned his head in different directions to see if he could figure out where the music was coming from. It didn't take long before he realized that the music was coming from the cave and it sounded like there might be more than one player. "If it isn't the young Dragon, then maybe they will know where to find him," Aralt decided as he entered the cave. Upon entering the dark entrance, the Herald waved his hand and a magical glowing light appeared. "This should work," Aralt murmured as he followed the sound to the source of the music using the light to show his way. As he approached and the music became louder he thought that he could see the path without stumbling. Not wanting the players to see him he banished the light and slowly proceeded down the cave. Hoping for answers and not wanting to scare away the musicians, Aralt slowly peered around a large rock to see who was there.
"This is just getting stranger and stranger," muttered Aralt quietly so the others would not hear him. As the Herald hid behind the rock and watched them, soon the music stopped playing and the one cooking clapped his hands and shouted "Ambrosia!" Startled, Aralt jumped back from the rock, but luckily the others did not see him as their attention was on the green glowing liquid.
"I have been thinking about what you told me, Allspice, and though the Ambrosia doesn't stop the Dragon's wishing power, do we really want to take away a Wish Dragon's ability to grant wishes?" asked Nutmegg. Hearing that made Aralt freeze. "What's this?" he thought. He then tried to block out all the other sounds in the cave so he would not miss this revealing conversation. Nutmegg continued. "If their ability to grant wishes was taken away from them, then would we be able to restore those Fae lost due to mis-enchantments? Also, I don't think there is a way to take away their power especially since they are immune to any magical spells and devices that we know of." "That is what I thought at first, but if Siate' is worried about that young Dragon who said he is no longer a Wish Dragon, then there must be something behind it," answered Allspice. "I agree, there is something of a mystery here," replied Nutmegg, "and you know that I love a good mystery who-dun-it."
"Sometimes feelings conflict with logic," he told himself as he repeated his 'knit one, purl two' mantra to keep his anger in check. By the time that Allspice saw Nutmegg and approached, Nutmegg had his temper in check and realized that he actually was a little glad to see the leader of SPICE. "How was your trip?" Allspice asked as he helped Nutmegg with his baggage. After the usual banter about delays and overcrowding, they both started their walk to the caves where the SPICE kitchens were being set up. "I wanted to meet you when you arrived so I can also bring you up to speed on what is going on in this realm and an update on the Wish Dragon activity," said Allspice.
Allspice laughed and told him, "If I knew the answer to that, we might be going home especially if I thought they were going to stay here and quit causing mischief with those mis-enchantments. As SPIs, that is probably the first thing we need to find out." While Nutmegg was mulling over that answer, Allspice continued. "This land is overall the Realm of Wymsy which also includes the Shadows' Realm and several other outer lands. There is a mix of Fae and the mundanes that the Fae call 'Outies' for the 'Outies' do not possess magic. They, for the most part, live together peacefully and work together. The usual prejudices don't seem to be too prevalent, just the irritation of some of the usual nature of different races. For example, almost everyone gets grouchy over the Pyksee and Wysp antics for practical jokes." This slightly surprised the Hobb-goblyn who was used to others not accepting his race. "May this won't be such a bad assignment after all," Nutmegg thought.
Afterwards I heard Aralt and Siate' discussing one of the remarks made at that meeting with the young Dragon. It had to do with taking away a Wish Dragon's wishing ability." As Nutmegg silently was thinking about what he had heard up to that point, the last line of Allspice's update threw all of those thoughts out of his head! "Take away a Wish Dragon's ability to grant wishes? Can that be done?" Nutmegg asked before he realized that if Allspice knew, they would have already done it to stop the Wish Dragons from casting more mis-enchantments. "That's something we need to think about and figure out how we are going to find out more about this young Dragon. I have found out he goes by the name of 'Dree'," Allspice said as they arrived to the caves where they would finish setting up their kitchen and temporary homes in this Realm of Wymsy.
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GreetingsWelcome to my blog. This is where I will reveal the magic of my Fae and their stories and share with you some of the success and pitfalls through the journey of doll making, sculpting, and other crafts that all come back to my dolls in many ways. Archives
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