"The landscape looks the same in all directions, so I have as much of a chance finding others or a way out no matter which direction I chose to go," he thought. "I am going to close my eyes, spin around in a circle and when I stop that would be the direction I will go," he decided. Planting the heel of one boot on the ground and starting his spin, he was reminded of how he got his name. "Lil' Boots indeed," he smiled at the memory. It had been during the time of the Wish Dragons when wishes had been granted willy nilly making strange things starting to happen. One day he had been sitting on a tree branch when out of no where a cat appeared. This was not an ordinary cat as it wore a tunic, carried a small sword, and had on a pair of large boots on its back feet! The little fae was used to cats walking on all fours, but this cat stood erect and walked like one of the Outies that had came to the realm. At first the cat was too distracted to notice the little fairy in the tree as it was wailing that it needed to get home to help his master, the 'Marquis of Carabas'.
"Hello," he said as he hovered over the unsuspecting cat. "Do you need help?" The startled cat looked all over but did not see anyone! "Where are you?" it asked. "Look up," was the reply he received. As the cat peered upwards, it was startled to find a fairy floating in the air over it's head. "I must have hit my head," the cat muttered to himself. "Do you need help?" the fae asked again. Back home, this cat was known to think fast and quickly realized that any help he could get was better than no help so it replied, "I need to get back to my master's castle before the ogre returns." "That's easy," answered the little fae as he held up the portal stone and told the cat to look through the hole and think about where it wanted to go. In an instant the cat could see the castle. "I see it, now what?" he asked the fae. "Just tell yourself that is where you want to be, but make sure that you pick the spot you want to appear or you might find yourself in a tree or pond," answered the fae. Before the cat disappeared though, he wanted to give the fae a gift. It was the cat's most precious possession... his boots. From that day forward, the little fae had picked his name. He was now Lil' Boots! As Lil' Boots stopped spinning, his mind was clearer and he realized that he was in the same predicament as the cat those many years ago. "Now to find someone who can help me get out of this place," thought Lil' Boots as he also wished he had not yet returned that portal stone to the Brownie who had lost it.
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"With that, I will now be able to serve him again." Time was not something Oracle felt as the Oracle did not age nor had It become less powerful. Time was only a tool for It to learn more to aid his Moon Dragon master. "There is so much my Master does not know that I shall be able to tell him from during our time apart," realized Oracle. "That must be why he was testing me." Deciding that It's assumptions must be correct since Tun'Gul was the only Moon Dragon. "For he did create me to be aware of challenges and tests in my purpose of gaining knowledge," as the Oracle thought about his Master. The problem with Oracle's assumption was that no matter how much information It collected, It could not reason out that there might exist another Moon Dragon and how that Dragon could come to be... While Oracle waited for It's Master to ask another question, It decided to review the time before they had become separated just in case It was tested again. "It was shortly after when the Dragons decided to leave the Realm and travel to other safer lands," It remembered.
The thought of why they had separated never once entered Oracle's mind for It did not have any emotions to feel the Dragon's lost connect. Emotions were not something that the Moon Dragon had bestowed upon It. Oracle was given pure logic and the ability to remember in detail events that It had observed from It's beginning to now. Oracle could surmise the purpose of everything and could compute what events might lead to what outcomes, but could not read minds of any other than his Master (and only then when allowed). The only conundrum with Oracle was that It was aware of a problem that It could not understand. Maybe that was because It had been out of communication with It's Master for so long or maybe It was malfunctioning. Oracle could not determine which...
"I cannot hear your random thoughts Master unless you focus them towards me like you have just done. But why do you ask these odd questions as you are the one who made me as I am?" the voice answered in the Dragon's head. With this answer, Dree almost stumbled over a tree root. He realized that it was extremely difficult to have this conversation, walk on an uneven trail, and also keep an eye on his two friends ahead of him so they did not think he was "loony-tune" (as the 'Outies' would say) talking to himself. Then the whisper of the smell of bakery ovens invaded his sensitive nose as he quickly formed a plan.
"Sure Dree. Take a seat," said Drat as he pointed to a large boulder, "and we will be back shortly with something to munch on." Soon Arnie and Drat were down the trail and out of the Dragon's sight. Quickly Dree opened the bag and looked inside. "It looks like a large coin," thought Dree as he pulled it from the bag. "Are you there?" asked Dree out loud to the trinket. "I am," the voice replied in Dree's mind. "I think we need to talk," started the Dragon. "I did not make you and I do not know your name."
For several minutes Dree just sat and stared at the trinket before swallowing and asking what he thought was the most important question of the thousand bouncing around in his mind. "Can you tell me more about your master, the Moon Dragon?" "Ah, a test," responded the trinket. "As it has been so long since you have used me, you want to see if I still remember. Very good. You are Tun'Gul, the only Dragon to become a Moon Dragon. You conquered the Ogers (relatives to what the 'Outies' call Ogres who are just as large and smelly as their cousins) when others could not. You are the discoverer of the portals between realms and have created objects that can see through time." After a short pause, the voice said one more thing and then stopped. "You are the Dragon Supreme." Working hard not to direct his thoughts towards the trinket, Dree made a decision as he heard his friends returning. "Thank you," he told the trinket. "As we have not talked in a long time and I feel like I am meeting an old friend after so many changes, I think it is best to reacquaint ourselves. I am now known as Dree. How would you like to be addressed?" "Welcome back Master Dree," the voice answered. "I would like you to continue to call me Oracle." 
"After all, a secret is no longer a secret if everyone knows about it," Dree reminded his friends. "And each of us should be allowed our personal secrets when they hurt no others." Arnie did not have a problem with this as she kept many secrets herself, especially as a 'Borrower' of somebody else's stuff. Drat, on the other hand, being the chief minion for the Troll King, had a few misgivings about keeping secrets from his boss. "Think of this way," Dree had told him, "Once we help the Gooblin King obtain his secret desire, then it won't be a secret anymore and you can tell King Dulbbe all about it." Finally Drat agreed. The real surprise about the secret to Dree was that even though Hir'aeth thought Dree knew all along what it was because of his one word answer, Dree was just as in the dark about what was the secret as his friends. "If whatever is in the bag hadn't told me what to say, we would all probably be sitting in a deep dark dungeon by now," thought Dree. He knew that it would have been a short stay since the Gooblin King didn't keep prisoners for very long. But still sitting in any dank, dark, musty, spider covered cell would not have been fun no matter how long one was in it. "I wonder what is in this bag?" Dree pondered while Arnie and Drat were heavily discussing any ideas they could come up with on how to fulfill Hir'aeth's desire. "I am in the bag Master," came a voice that only Dree could hear. "I have waited long for you to find me. How may I serve you?"
"I understand," the voice replied in the Dragon's head. "I will only hear the thoughts you send when you first speak my name or hold me close as you are doing so now." "But I don't know your name," realized Dree. "I don't even know what you are!" "But Master, you are the one who made me... How could you not know my name?" the voice asked sounding very confused. It was then that the others interrupted Dree's silent conversation with the trinket in the bag. "I was just telling Arnie that I explained to the Gooblin King about the current Dragon issue and their return to the Realm of Wymsy. I am glad he agreed that his desire can wait until we have taken care of that situation. Are you ready to go?" Drat asked Dree. Dree glanced once more at the bag in his claw and decided this was not the best place to continue his 'private' conversation with the trinket. "Yes, we need to tell the others what we have discovered." When Hir'aeth returned to the throne room, Dree approached the king as Gooblin King sat on his throne and requested permission for them to depart.
"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.
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!
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."
The Gooblin King Hir’aeth had left his three ‘guests’ in the throne room while he contemplated this surprising offer.
Meanwhile, as Dree was waiting for the King’s answer, Drat and Arnie were still looking at him to try and figure out what he was doing. As soon as the guards looked too bored to care about them, Drat slid up to the Dragon and whispered, “Do you have a plan or are you just winging it?” Dree smiled as Drat said ‘winging it’ as their friendship was at the point that they could make subtle jokes about each other without the other being offended. “Don’t get your tail into a trap” he whispered back as he winked at the rat.
“I have decided,” began the King looking directly at Dree, “but you must tell me how your favor would help me?” The Dragon did not even blink before responding. “I will help you obtain your greatest desire.” That answer did surprise the King and even his guards were taken aback as they rarely saw their king surprised and now it had been twice in one day!
“How…” started the Gooblin King as he backed away from the Dragon to lower himself down in his throne. Looking like all of the air had been knocked out of him, the Gooblin King took a couple of minutes just staring at Dree before he waived all of his personal guards away and told them not to let anyone into the room until he summoned them. Quickly the only ones left were the King and his three guests. “Do you all know my secret desire?” he asked them. Drat and Arnie just looked at Dree to answer. “No, your highness. I have not told them nor anyone else. It is a secret that currently only the two of us share, but their help will be needed in obtaining it. They will have to know what it is if you agree to the trade,” replied Dree. The King was going to trade the Dragon the strange bauble anyway, but now he was not concerned about the consequences of giving it to Dree. “My greatest desire,” mumbled the King to himself as he tossed the object still wrapped in the rag to the Dragon and asked “I have hoped for so long. When can we start?”
"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.
He had heard through the Mushroom Line about a Dragon in this new realm where he was traveling to that liked to collect jokes. Nutmegg memorized a few so he wouldn't forget them. Like, 'What did the yarn say to the needle? - You got me in stitches!' or one of his favorites, 'What do you call a detective who knits? - Sherlock Woolmes'. For yes, Nutmegg was also a great reader of who-dun-it books by the Outies... well, actually anything he could get his hands on to read but he enjoyed who-dun-its the most. Breath in - slowly breath out - while all the time repeating "Knit one, Purl two" in his head to keep calm since he had missed his last connection. When he finally was calm, Nutmegg walked over to the newly posted schedule hanging on the wall of the subterrain slugway. The next travel slug should be showing up any minute now so he could get on his way to meet up with Allspice. Double checking one more time, "Yep, my hat is on. My handwarmers are doing their job of keeping my knitting fingers nimble and though I am not excited about taking on this new job, it is what I have to do," Nutmegg reminded himself.
For he knew that all Dragons weren't necessarily evil but the Wish Dragons were a huge problem to affected everyone which is why he signed up to be a SPICE (Stewards Preventing Imperfectly Casted Enchantments) agent.
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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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