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 had just happened with Aralt was something that wasn't following true as he tried to put together the pieces of what he had just seen. Aralt walking through a portal and disappearing was not that unusual in the Realm of Wymsy. Granny Flare did it all of the time... and blue Wysps were as annoying and as numerous as mosquitos in a swamp... but something that he saw was still nagging at him. "What is it that keeps bugging me," the hunter thought. Then it struck him and he almost stopped running! It was the way Aralt had entered the portal! "The portal was already there and he did not cast the spell to open it," realized Nemmer. "It's as if he knew what was on the other side." Nemmer now knew he had to get to the Baron's Mansion as fast as he could. "The Dowager was right," he thought. "Aralt may be a bigger danger than even the Dragons returning." It did not seem soon enough for Nemmer, but shortly he was standing at the doors of the Mansion knocking and waiting for someone to let him in. After only a few seconds, Nemmer got impatient and started banging on them. "Come on... Open up already!" he growled.
His choice was rewarded as both the Baron and Griselda were there drinking tea as he entered unannounced. "Sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to both of you," he said as they saw him. It was then that Nemmer saw that one other was in the room also. It was Dree who was sitting on the floor with a pillow that he was adjusting to get more comfortable as he leaned against a wall. "Should I leave?" asked the Dragon to his hosts. "I think you should hear this Dree," answered Griselda as she stared at Nemmer, "as I have a feeling that what Nemmer has to say will probably involve you also." Nemmer nodded his head affirmatively and then began telling the three what he had seen and his concerns. When he had finished, both the Baron and Griselda gave each other a concerned look before saying anything. "I agree with your assessment and what you have told us makes it even more clear to me," replied Griselda. "The Herald has an agenda that I don't think is in our or Dree's best interest. My guess is that the portal goes to where ever the Dragons currently are and he will shortly be bringing them through. We must be ready." With that, the Dowager took charge of the campaign soon to come. Quickly she sent Sneefle, Fiddlefaddle, and Nemmer off to start alerting the others. Everyone needed to meet at this mysterious new portal for they needed to all be there when the Dragons came through if it wasn't already too late.
Aralt, already forgetting about the Wysp, continued down the tunnel leaving the barrier and the Wysp behind. Far up ahead he could see a familiar glow… it was the glow of a Dragon breathing fire! “I’m finally in the right place,” he told himself as he continued towards the light.
“Aralt walked through, so either he was invited or he has his own stone,” thought Nemmer. “Either way, it can’t be good.” The archer watched the blue Wysp for a little while making sure that it could not get through. When he was sure the Wysp was not going to get in, Nemmer decided his next stop would be the Baron’s Mansion. He needed to tell the Dowager Griselda what was happening. “She will be able to tell the others faster than I can. I hate running but for this I think speed is needed right now,” he mumbled to himself as he took off in a hunter’s run. As Aralt turned the corner, the first thing he saw was a Dragon’s head. It was ‘Her’… how could he have been so lucky to find her first? Her eyes were closed and it looked like ‘She’ was sound asleep, but Aralt knew better. She was a tricky Dragon… that is how she had managed to be the ‘unofficial’ leader of the Dragons for many, many, many years. Without even thinking about it, Aralt touched first the golden corolla on his brow and then the locket holding the emerald Dragon heart stone making sure they were both still there. That is when the Dragon smiled. A very large toothy smile… a smile with a lot of very large and sharp teeth. Opening her eyes, she just looked at the Herald and waited for him to speak first. Aralt knew what ‘She’ wanted. It was the recognition of an underling. “She is waiting for me to address her first as her inferior,” he remembered. Rankled at the thought that he was subservient to her but realizing that she would not speak until he started, Aralt spoke. “Greetings your Most Worthy. It has been a long time.”
“How dare she mind-speak to me!” he thought as he realized she was still smiling her toothy smile but her lips were not moving. “I am not one of your underlings” he wanted to reply, but he knew that would not get him what he wanted. In the long run it only would start another of those many arguments they had before he and the Dragons had parted ways. One thing Aralt had learned over the many years of being with Dragons though was the technique of manipulation. Smiling, the Herald replied, “Oh, I am sorry. You must be weak from your travels as you are only able to mind speak. You are old after all and not in your prime anymore. I will depart and return when you are feeling better,” and he turned as if to leave the cave. “Where do you think you are going?” demanded the Dragon. This time she did not mind-speak but spoke it aloud causing the stalactites in the cave to sway slightly and a few of the loose stones on the floor to tremble. With his back to the Dragon, Aralt took a second to remove his smile, and then turned around to face the mighty Dragon. “Ah, I was mistaken. Now you sound like your old self. My pardon. How are things in your domain and will you still need the services of a herald?” he asked.
Aralt did not disappoint her. Soon he was telling her of his many journeys after the Dragons had left this Realm. As she listened, she also started to consider ways to include him in her plans, or maybe not... that was for her to ponder.
For another, it’s all in the preparation. A House Brownie will start planning and preparing for Spring cleaning usually about a month before Spring starts (and sometimes sooner)!
Now this year, Granny Flare had been planning all winter and had finally decided that she needed to branch out and help others who were not so fortunate to have a House Brownie available for the Spring cleaning. The problem was figuring out where her perspective helpers were located now that they did not need to hide from Nemmer. “It’s a good thing that Nemmer quit bopping the Dusty Mytes,” thought Granny as she decided to go out and look for them. “It’s also good that the Dusty Mytes have gained some control over their forgetful dust. It just won’t do having them blow their dust around and everyone forgetting everything. It could set back cleaning for generations!” Granny shuddered just to think of it!
Soon Granny was in the caves and found where the Dusty Mytes had made their homes. It was neat and tidy. “Those noses do a good job of vak-u-ming up all of the dirt,” she thought as she nodded her head in approval. It did not take Granny long, but soon she and the Dusty Mytes came to an agreement and a business plan quickly worked out. Granny would find the cottages that needed cleaning, make all of the arrangements, and have the inhabitants go for a Spring outing, the Dusty Mytes then would come in and vak-u-m the homes. It did not take long for the word to get out which meant Granny needed a plan sooner than later to keep everyone busy while her "crews" were cleaning. With that the Spring Fair idea was born. Now, on the first day of Spring, everyone not in the cleaning crews were at the Spring Fair hosted by Efem, while Granny Flare and other House Brownies (with the Dusty Mytes help of course) are busy swishing, sweeping, and cleaning the old dusty winter gloom away. HAPPY SPRING!
The council meeting broke up as soon as everyone learned that Aralt had managed to leave Meen behind. With him disappearing the Dowager immediately sent Meen to warn Drat that the Herald may be heading towards the caves where Drat and Dree were supposed to be hiding out. Awena also wasted no time and went directly to her library to find the Dragon's Return prophecy to see if there might be a clue to reveal what Aralt's power over the Dragons might be. As she sorted through the many prophecy scrolls, more than once she thought that they should have some sort of index to be able to find the one she was looking for faster. "Once this is over, I will have to meet with the staff to figure something out," she told herself as she put another scroll aside in her search for the right one.
Normally Efem would almost dread having to enter the Sacred Grove to talk to the ancient trees but not this trip. Since learning they could speed talk, she hoped they would respond quickly to her requests for knowledge that only they knew from the roots of the Realm's past. "I hope that the Ol' Yew is not asleep," she thought as she approached the mighty tree. As she stood next to it and looked upon it's shiny green foliage, Efem was awed by a random thought of how much it must have seen during its life cycle. "I remember my mother bringing me here to see the Yew when I was a young sapling and the Yew was ancient even then." As she silently waited for the tree to notice her so she could ask her questions about Aralt the Herald, Efem was contently lost in her own memories of the past. "One of the stories of the ages and I don't know where to start," thought Snoop as he sat at his desk in the Bellwether and tried to put quill to parchment. "I promised the Dowager that I would not print anything that would give Aralt a clue as to Dree, but I have to print something!"
It was his pile of the Herald newspapers that came crashing down from a shelf and just missing hitting him on the head that made him think... "Herald! That's it! I need to write about what we know about Aralt the Dragon Herald. That way I won't give away what we know about Dree. Plus I can get the word out that he has returned. This will be a terrific article!" Right away Snoop was lost in his writing and not even wondering any longer if Aralt might have found the caves where Dree was hiding.
Not everyone else was smiling though. Especially not the town council members who had glanced at each other when Aralt had disappeared behind his doors and now started back to the council chambers. They definitely needed to talk. Shortly all of them were sitting around the conference table thinking about what to say at the meeting. Each of the councilors had their chief minion there in case an errand or message needed to be delivered awaiting in the chairs spaced against the wall of the chamber. Even if they were longingly gazing at the buffet table that Granny Flare and Cornelia had setup for everyone to snack on, they understood the importance of the events of day. Finally it was the Dowager who started the conversation. "Well, that went well." Those four words were all it took to get everyone talking at the same time. "Who would have thought he would be so short and I don't just mean in stature," snapped one member. "How can he think I will let him stay on the grounds of my castle," growled Queen Ffion. "What are we going to do now?" both Awena and Dulbbe silently thought to themselves as they listened to the others talk.
Each of the council members sat quietly, thinking about the Baron's question. Indeed, what do we do now? It was a quandary. "There is one thing we probably should do," grumbled Nemmer as he watched the others staring at each other around the table. "Maybe we need to hide Dree until we know more about this Herald business." It took a minute, as the others were heavy in thought about the situation, before they realized what Nemmer had just muttered. "Nemmer is right," smiled the Dowager. "Dree should be hidden until we know enough about Aralt before they meet. We don't want the two of them to get off on the wrong foot. But I also don't think they should meet until we find out what the Herald's plans are first." After a short discussion, the rest of the council agreed with the Dowager, but who to send? For they needed to distract Dree and to keep him away until the council had their chance to find out Aralt's plan and that wouldn't be easy. "I could send Meen," volunteered Queen Ffion as Meen jumped from her chair when she heard her name. "No disrespect to you or your minion, Queen Ffion," answered Awena, " But we need someone who might be able to distract Dree as to the arrival of the Herald but not spill the beans about him. Meen would get so caught up playing and probably tell Dree everything since she is a twiddletop when it comes to keeping secrets." The conversation continued for some time, going back and forth on who would be best to inform the Dragon, but it wasn't until Dulbbe, the Troll King, made his offer before they selected the messenger.
Realizing that his boss was both correct and actually giving him a compliment, Drat blushed slightly and bowed his head. "As you command Sire," he replied as he departed on his errand. "Well, it got me out of what looked like a long and boring meeting," thought Drat as he darted down the street to the caves under the Baron's mansion all the time working up a plan to keep the Dragon busy without letting him know he was being hidden away again for now. "I wonder if I can get him into a game of Tic Tac Toe? That could take a while if he doesn't know that secret. But I will definitely need to let him know that it doesn't require body parts or eating."
"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.
Now she could focus on the real problem. She realized what she needed to do. "I should have thought of this earlier," she mumbled to herself. "Maybe it's time to talk to the trees. After all they were here when the Dragons were plentiful. As a Tree Mother, I should have thought of this before now," Efem continued to herself. " I will make time now to go to the Sacred Grove." Earlier, before Nemmer delivered his good news, Efem had received a Flutterby from the Dowager. Griselda told her about the scroll and how she had seen the Herald named Aralt in her vision. "I'm old, but even I don't remember anyone named Aralt," Efem thought. "Maybe this Herald can help us when the Dragons arrive." Now that she had a plan, Efem started her preparations. "One doesn't just walk into the Sacred Grove and ask questions." she mumbled to herself as she started looking for some necessary items. "First I need a small satchel bag to carry everything."
Nemmer would not admit it to anyone, being a little stubborn, but sometimes he liked fighting with The CAT. "Now that stupid CAT has me thinking about him just because he had to go and do something noble," Nemmer grumbled to himself with a slight pang of annoyance and a touch of nostalgia rumbling around in his chest. "Durn fool CAT. Why did you let that stupid troll pull you into that portal? You could have blinked out of there and gotten away," growled Nemmer as he was thinking about what the others told him had happened. "If I had found Hungry, then I would have been there to save you," Nemmer whispered to himself as he leaned his back against an old oak tree. So, that was it! Nemmer was feeling guilty about not being there and possibly saving The CAT. "If I was a better hunter, I would have found that Dragon first," moaned the archer. "Maybe I am not as good as I thought I was," he said as he slumped down the side of the tree to sit on the grass by the trunk.
While he was standing under it and trying to see through it, another apple fell out and almost hit him again. "Ha! Missed!" crowed Nemmer prematurely as another one fell out of the portal and smacked him again before it closed and disappeared. It was as he was rubbing his sore head and looking at the last apple that had hit him he now was holding in his hand when the realization struck him. "He's alive! That blasted CAT is okay! I've got to tell Cornelia and Efem. They will both be happy to hear that their CAT is still out there causing mischief and mayhem." It was with that thought Nemmer picked up the rest of his arrows (for an Archer of the Elfshot Guild would do no less) and started out to the cottage he shared with his wife Cornelia. And where was The CAT and what mischief was he getting into... well, that is another story.
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.
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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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