What was special about this year's celebration was that the Baron and his mother, the dowager Griselda, were hosting the Harvest Event at the Baron's Mansion. As the Baron was discussing the seating arrangements with Snoop since both were nobility in their own ways, the dowager was directing their servants Fiddlefaddle and Sneefle in their duties. "Now don't forget, today you will be serving our guests more than you will be catering to my son's or my needs," she reminded them over and over again.
Meanwhile, Granny Flare was busy in the kitchens in the back of the mansion making sure that everything would be ready for the feast. As she checked each item as it was prepared, Gardner was bringing in the fresh vegetables and fruit that he had grown specially for just this occasion. "Here is the last of it," he told Granny as he set the heavy crate down on the kitchen floor. "Is there anything else you need brought in?" he asked as he stood besides a large boiling pot and enjoying the wonderous aroma that it was making. Granny just smiled as she gave him a couple of the hot pumpkin spice cookies that had just come out of an oven and shooed him outside as she told him to come back in a couple of hours. "By then I will know if I need anything else," she told him.
In the grand ballroom Efem, Cornelia, Parsley, and Nemmer were busy cleaning and setting up the decorations. The dusty mytes were being extra careful (and under the watchful eye of Nemmer) to only suck in the dust as they cleaned instead of blowing any out. "All we need is for them to make everyone forget today," Nemmer thought as he kept one eye on them while he was helping with the decorations. And finally, there were many more helping outside in preparing for the arrival of those who were invited. Since everyone in the Realm was on the guest list except for the Wysps (who would show up invited or not if whoever held the leadership stick felt like it), that meant that a lot of chairs, tables, and tenting was needing to be setup. Dewin, the wizard, was using his magic to have the folding chairs unfold and stand up where he directed while Scarlet was watching over the Nytemares as they dragged in the tables and large tents. So, as all of those who live in the Realm of Wymsy prepare for this thanksgiving feast, we at MisPlace Dolls would like to thank all of you on this Thanksgiving Holiday as we come together to celebrate. Happy Thanksgiving!
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"What are we to do now?" replied one member followed by "What do you think he will look like?" from another council member. In the middle of all this chaotic noise, Fiddlefaddle leaned over towards the Baron. Being the Baron's all around handy man and procurator of travel arrangements he quietly asked, "Do you know where he will be staying since we don't have what the Outies call a hotel here in our small village?" With that small question, the noise stopped instantly in the council chamber that one could have heard a pin drop if one was listening for that pin. Finally, Nemmer was the one who broke the silence. "There is a room over at the Rusty Nail Pub. I was just there this past week with my fellow archers and I am sure I heard the owner mention he had a spare room available." Which of course set up another flow of highly opinionated views on that suggestion. "No, I don't think that is a good idea," replied Awena. "I walked by there on my way to the council meeting and heard that the little old lady that owns the place just picked up a set of Peerrots (in the Outie world would be known as parrots) that squeal 'Rise & Shine and Git Out' every morning now. I don't think we want our guest to think we don't want him here," continued Awena. At that moment a golden coach pulled up in front of the Village Council's building. All the members stood in anticipation for the Herald to exit the coach. As he did he simple stepped down, gave everyone a cold look, paid the coach driver, and then turned towards the center of the Village as if looking for something. He then proceeded to walk off and left without a word of acknowledgement or greeting as the coach departed in the opposite direction. So, just like the Pied Piper in tales of old, the Herald continued walking down the center of the small village neither looking left nor right with the Council members (now with a few curious villagers who were wondering where the parade was going and what was it for) all following behind him. Little did they know that Aralt was focusing on the ley lines of the area. He could feel them and though it had been many many years since being here, especially without the Dragons to feed them, the lines were still here, though very faint.
"If he thinks he is staying at my castle without an invitation or greeting, I don't think so!" Ffion growled to herself as the crowd all turned towards the Shadows' Queen castle. They all continued walking down the road like a gaggle of geese following the Herald's lead as he walked into the courtyard of the Shadows' Queen's castle and proceeded to the back upper garden where several of those following soon realized it was the same garden where the young Wish Dragon had transformed into a Moon Dragon. Aralt then went past the waterfalls (that covered the entrance to the secret cave that held the Dragon tablet recently taken by a Borrower) towards a wall covered with bramble vines that grow only in a darker corner of the garden. With his arms raised and the stone in the locket glowing that he always carried with him, Aralt spoke. " Rise to the left. Shift to the right. Reveal these doors to my Sight." Magically the brambles began to pull to the left with some shifting to the right, soon a massive stone door appeared that slowly opened for him. Apparently, by everyone's stunned reaction, Aralt realized that most of these simple people didn't know about the Dragons' Cave below. He finally decided to address the crowd of followers and turned to face them. "Excuse me. This is where I'll be staying. It has been a long day. I will meet with you tomorrow," and with that walked through the now open doorway with them shutting behind him. All the villagers stood there stunned with their mouths hanging open, wondering just what had happen.
"But Dowager," answered Fiddlefaddle, "How will we summon so many? I don't speak Bee-G and nobody but Parsley knows how the Mushroom Line communicates..." Before he could continue Griselda cut him off. "That is not your problem. I will take care of that. You will just need to give them the messages when they arrive. Make sure that the right messenger gets the right message. If I tell you that it has to go to a cave, make sure that the Root Connection make the delivery. If the message is going to a mountain peak, then make sure the Twitter Birds get it. I am sure that between the two of you, you will be able to figure out the best way to send the message. Now I have to get busy writing messages. The Baron has his own tasks to do." Knowing when they had been dismissed to get on with their work, both bowed and left the parlor. "If the Dowager was writing the messages, what could be my task? thought the Baron. Since just returning from the Council meeting, it struck the Baron that maybe someone should check on Dree. As he brought the subject up to his mother, she realized that he was right. No one had thought of how the one Dragon that was already in the Realm would feel if everyone else thought the Dragons' return was to be a dangerous situation. Given the fact that Dree was a new Moon Dragon and unaware of the powers that he possessed, now would be a good time to make sure he was not upset or scared. Upset or scared powerful Dragons could cause a few problems - especially when they are only partially trained.
For that the Baron was grateful. "I have walked enough today without having to go searching for Hungry, oops, Dree, somewhere in the Shadows' Realm," he thought as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Opening the door to the secret caverns below his mansion, he could tell that they had another visitor. "Even the dirt on the floor is clean," he chuckled to himself about the house brownie. "Granny Flare must have been here." Soon the Baron was in the chamber where Dree was sitting on a stack of pillows and reading a book. At first the site of it surprised him, but after a moment, he started to chuckle. "Why not?" he decided to himself. "His teachers would be proud of how well the new Moon Dragon was applying himself to learning." It was the chuckle that alerted Dree to the Baron's presence as he looked up from the book. "Good day Baron. Have you read this book yet? It's fascinating! It's all about Dragons. Granny Flare left it for me to read." Deciding that it would be a good way to start the conversation he knew he would have to have with Dree, the Baron answered. "No, I have never seen that one before. What can you tell me about your kin?" Soon Dree was telling the Baron about the different types of Dragons and the things they could do... "Now, this one is a water Dragon and he can swim and use water to build things with. Won't that be neat? If I could do that I could make blocks of water with fish in them and then stack them up along that wall," as he pointed to a wall in the cave, "and watch them swim around without getting hurt." "It's funny that you said that," replied the Baron. "Dree, you were at the Council meeting today and heard what the Dowager said. Do you understand why we are all so concerned about the Dragons returning?" The question made the young Dragon stare at the Baron for a minute. Then he put the book down on one of the pillows and stared at the wall he had pointed to only minutes before, not saying a word. After a short silence, Dree finally turned to look at the Baron and answered. "Yes, I think I do. You are afraid that with the return of the Dragons that whatever made them go away might happen again. But maybe this time it will happen after something bad occurs. You are here because you don't know what I will do now that I am a Moon Dragon." As surprised to hear that the Dragon did understand his concerns, the Baron knew now was the time to ask his other question. "What will you do?"
"When a certain student decides not to disappear to go off and play... not too bad," answered Dewin with a disgruntled look. "We were supposed to have a belching class this morning but he skipped out somewhere. I have been looking up some more information for his studies in my crystal ball for when he returns. He will wish he had attended the class instead of going off to play by the time I get done." It was when looking up from the crystal ball that the wizard noticed that his three visitors all looked a little more than just concerned about the absence of the Wish Dragon. "What's going on?" asked Dewin. "Is there something I should know about?" The Baron started out and then Hewy jumped in to explained their concerns about Hungry's safety. "Yes," said Hewy, "the Troll King has been asking a lot of questions about Dragons and that he was hearing about a Dragon tablet. We're concerned about what the Troll King might do if he could capture Hungry."
"Recently I was looking over some old scrolls, preparing for a lesson with Hungry, when I found a reference to a Dragon Transformation ritual. It was just a small note scribbled on the margin that I just took as a pondering note, but now it makes some sense." The others did not interrupt the wizard, so he continued his ponderings. "It mentioned a disaster with the Dragons. Something about how a Wish Dragon was undergoing the transformation when a bird interrupted the ceremony. From the sounds of the note, things did not go well for the Wish Dragon. That is all I know about it as sadly what happened wasn't written." The three visitors concernedly glanced at each other and made a decision. "We need to find Hungry now to make sure he is safe and well hidden from the Troll King until we have the tablet," said the Baron to the others. Even the wizard nodded his head in agreement since it was now not just finding a truant student, but possibly the future of the realms.
Nowhere did there appear to be a regular chair or seat to sit down on while he and Fiddlefaddle waited for Hewy and the Rock band he was jamming with to finish. After another quick glance of the room, he noticed Fiddlefaddle waving to him and pointing at a log that was up against a wall. "At least I will be able to sit down on something not pointy," decided the Baron and started towards his faithful BAT man. Meanwhile, Fiddlefaddle was brushing the lose bark off of the log and setting a cloth over it so the Baron would have a place to sit without sticking to the sap leaking from the tree. It was then that he realized that the log (being about 3 feet around) had not been cut down but had been broken in half like it had been smashed with something heavy. "A fist maybe," thought Fiddlefaddle! If he was worried about what kind of place they were in before, he was even more so now... "Sir, I have prepared a place for you here," he told the Baron. "What would you like to drink while we wait for Hewy?" Thinking that this was turning into a new adventure, the Baron decided to go with the flow. "Whatever their special is today would be fine."
Now Fiddlefaddle was not going to ask about the extra because he really did not want to know what it might be, but went ahead and ordered one for the Baron. As he was taking it back to him, Fiddlefaddle noticed that the Baron was now talking to Hewy who had finished his last practice set and was now taking a break. "I know where some of the Borrowers live but they are a secluded group and usually live away from each other instead of in a community. Borrowers like to work alone when they can. They normally don't like to be too close to neighbors because either a fight happens because they 'borrowed' something or the neighbor did," he heard Hewy tell the Baron. "But Hewy, we must find this Borrower because it has a Dragon tablet that may change our entire realm if it gets into the wrong hands," whispered the Baron as he leaned into the troll, hoping that no else was listening in. "Or Troll's hands you mean. This must be what the Troll King Druzzy is wanting," replied Hewy. "Lately he has been trying to get me to bring Hungry to him and he keeps asking me about any information or old songs about Dragons that I might know about. The last time he summoned me to his audience room, he said that as a musician I must know how to read music, but could I also read Dragon? It made no sense to me at the time, but now it does. He must really want that tablet." "I don't think it would be a good thing, Sir, if he gets it," interrupted Fiddlefaddle. "Sorry sir, your drink..." holding out the tray to the Baron. As the Baron's thoughts were on the problem he and Hewy were discussing, he grabbed the handle of the drink and started to take a sip... but before he could, Hewy's hand covered the top of the tankard and pulled it from his grasp. "Is this today's special?" he asked Fiddlefaddle. "Yes, it is what the Baron requested," he replied. "Unless you want us to carry you out of here, I would not drink that. The special ingredient is a large shot of aged Dragon's Brew and even that is strong enough to put a troll asleep under a tavern table let alone under a bridge," Hewy told the Baron. Deciding that Hewy's warning was good enough for him, the Baron decided to forget about the drink and continue the discussion. "If Druzzy is interested in Hungry, then we should warn him or maybe consider hiding him deeper in the forest."
"Fiddlefaddle, next time you order the special, maybe you should get some ice (lots of ice) to water it down a little bit?" the Baron told his BAT man as they followed Hewy to the tavern door and into the street. As Fiddlefaddle followed the Baron out of the door, he made some notes in a little journal that he carried for information just like this.
As Arnie was thinking of the things she could do to the Wysp if it was tricking her again, others in the Realms were also making plans...
After a short pause, Awena continued in a low voice, "I believe that Fae could may be you as you were the one who was able to open the enchanted book when no others could." "I feel that you are wrong, but tell me more about this prophecy," answered the Dowager. "There are so many other Fae involved in this mess with the Dragon tablet that you must be wrong." So, as Awena and Griselda discuss the prophecy, others were also busy...
"I still think that checking with Drat (the Troll King's top minion) might be more beneficial," he continued. "Come on you scaredy-cat! If we talk to any the Troll King's minions or the Gooblin King's, then they will know what we are doing. Now, just follow my lead," said the Baron as he walked into the Troll bar right past the sign that read "Aged Goat's Milk Today's Special - 100 Proof" as they looked for Hewy...
"No, I don't know. As far as I have found, nobody even knows what they looked like for sure," answered the Sleeping Sister. "There are no sketches in any of the scrolls and no descriptions. For the power of the magic they had, we can only assume that they could probably also change shapes and may be with us still."
Soon they were sipping tea and slowly Griselda was beginning to come to terms with this discovery. "I felt betrayed by them not telling us, but now that I think more about it," she told the Sister, "I guess that it was never my place to know. It's just hard to fathom that Dragons were at one time just another being in the Realms and not the powerful creatures they became..." After a long pause, and when Griselda did not continue, Awena decided it was best to tell her old friend of her concerns. "Griselda, I believe that the finding of the tablet by the Borrowers and your discovery of this book were meant to be. Somehow they are tied together and you are going to be a major player in the game." What the Sleeping Sister did not say but was in her thoughts was, "and I hope you have the strength for it."
As Fiddlefaddle started to leave the room, the Baron remembered how exciting it was to head out on an adventure. He called out to his BAT man with a sparkle in his eyes. "If either of us find out where to locate them, you and I will be heading out on the road once again just like old times!" Everyone is reading all about it!!! Snoop got the scoop! The truth behind the strange sightings in the Wandering Woods (or at least the foot prints and strange lights anyway) has been discovered. Several days ago Snoop volunteered to search out the Woods to discover the strange reports that had been coming in. What he has discovered will change everything in the Realms and you are reading it here first!
Taking a break from his many duties at the stable, Scarlet was spending a minute reading the latest edition of the Bellwether. “Did you see this Meen?” asked the farrier to the jumping Pyksee. Before Meen could answer he continued, “Your Dragon friend has been discovered to be lose in the Woods and will be making an appearance at the Magical Wishing Well out back behind the King’s Castle today. Let’s go see how he’s been doing but first you should tell the Shadows' King.” … and yes readers, we too will have a representative of the Bellwether on hand at the meeting to keep you informed as to what transpires at the Magical Wishing Well.
Little do they all realize, but this unique meeting could shape the entire future of both the Realm of Wymsy and the Shadows' Realm.
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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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