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  • #280

    When Rudy the myna had come back crashing on the boat, it all became suddenly a huge uncontrollable chaos.
    The hovering menacing clouds that were looming in front of them were coming closer at a dreadful speed, and even more concerning were the rocks that were appearing everywhere now, that they had more and more trouble to avoid in betwixt the turmoils and eddies.

    So they had finally come to the Great Rift, Bådul was thinking. The back of the legendary water dragon that noone was known to have crossed.

    But Bådul knew better.
    He howled orders to get everybody ready at their posts, and felt reassured when he saw that Austor was maneuvering with dexterity and confidence through the rift.
    He ignored the crazy laugh of Razkÿ, the madman who was now shouting with a manic laughter “We all gonna diiie! AHAHAHAH! DIE! DIE!” Then winking at Bådul and laughing again.

    :fleuron: :fleuron:

    A few months earlier, Northern Åsgurdy

    A huge cloaked figure was riding in the middle of the deserts. The saurhse, a bit small for its rider, was getting tired, but the man wanted to move before the night came. Åsgurdy had a climate which made travels uneasy on land, and only on these bipedal saurians they named saurhses, could Åsgurdians easily travel on the burning hot sands by day. Then, they could gain the high plateaus of rock and ice, where the temperature was kept cold by the high chilly winds. But at night, the deserts would be chilly too, and the cold-blooded creature he was mounting would require a shelter.

    He knew that such a shelter wouldn’t be far away now.
    That region was mostly uncharted as it was fairly remote from all known cities, but that strange man he had met had said he was a traveler who knew were he could find something priceless.
    At that time, Badul had felt he had nothing to lose, and said to himself “when in doubt, go for the experience”.
    He had felt he could trust that man known to him only by a strange name, something like Gheorg.
    There had been nothing boastful about him, and he had been kind to him. He had been the only person in the World he had known to have given him back his dignity as a human being, and even more, to have given him a reason to live.
    He owed him a lot, and perhaps even more as he was now drawing closer to the cave… that same cave which was a mere cross on the torn map he had been drawing hastily before vanishing almost preternaturally, living him a bit of money and that map…

    ~~~

    Roselÿn had felt the urge to move somewhere else. This land didn’t resonate with her energy, and that of Rëgkvist, and of the few eggs the dragon had managed to lay, none had actually been able to hatch.
    It had affected her so much that she had even retreated from her sisters’ usual talks through the glubolíns.
    She needed to move on.

    ~~~

    When he entered the cave, Badul was disappointed. He could feel there had been someone living here quite recently, but it was like the cave was now abandoned. He hoped he could have found more answers, but now it was again like burning sand slipping through his fingers.

    In a fit of rage, he took a boulder as big as him and threw it across the cave with a roar.
    Something was brought down by his huge force further down into the cave and he heard it quite distinctly.

    He tied up the saurhse at the entrance of the cave, and entered it with determination, ducking through the tunnel too narrow for his big baby-faced frame. Then he found something glowing. At first, he thought it was some gold, but what kind of fool had been living here before and had been in such a haste to move as to forget gold?

    It was not gold. It was something like a broken shell. The broken bits were like a jigsaw puzzle and he wished he could make it one, as he was attracted by the strange radiance of the thing.

    :fleuron: :fleuron:

    Austor did not believe his eyes…
    They had crossed the Rift, all three of the ships.
    And it was nothing like the dark void they had nearly expected behind.

    It was an open sea, glistening in the sun, and all hope had come back through them all.

    #79
    ÉricÉric
    Keymaster

      These are excerpts from Yuki’s diary, explaining some of the details of the experiment called — Malvina’s story —.

      Note: for the reader not familiar with all the names here is a quick reminder:

      • Araili > Yann, Írtak, Sam, Jacob …
      • Armelle > Fiona, Arona, Tina, Qixi …
      • Rafaela > Dory, Illi, Becky, Rodney …
      • Yuki > Quintin, Al, Janice …

      September 12 th, 2007

      Today, an experiment has been launched by Quintin. Time will tell if it will bear some fruit, but the idea sounds good.
      Having people join in a story telling, and see what happens, what are the “lessons” one can draw from this…

      Armelle, Rafaela and Araili are already on the starting-blocks, though Quintin is not quite aware yet.

      I can hear some thoughts: Let’s say for the moment that there are no rules. We will see what prompts the desire for having rules…

      September 13 th

      Some of the people familiar with Janice and her friends’ adventures have already joined in with much enthusiasm.
      This first comment seems very promising.

      Right now, it feels easy and fun.

      Quintin seems to think that everything is very straightforward.
      The magical world with the cave in one part, separated from the “real” world. (Two Worlds, and he thinks that will be enough to content Rafaela, ahaha, how presumptuous)
      The first he sees as a representation of what psychologists think of as “subconscious”, and the other being the conscious, physical part.

      But of course, he thinks he knows better than that. He calls the first one “subjective” rather than subconscious, because it’s a translation of subjects which unfold in many related objects in the “objective” or physical world.
      That’s a good point, though a bit distorted. It would be better to say Malvina’s World is a translation of the subjective, in the manner of a Heroic Dimension.
      But the thing is, that he missed the point in thinking one World is more “real” than the other.
      We’ll be having some fun soon…

      First remark… The second comment of the story has been interrupted abruptly in the middle of a sentence. That is interesting. We will urge Quintin to leave it as it is, despite his feeling of it being awkward.
      We will appeal to his imagination.
      It seems he has heard the suggestion.

      September 14 th

      For the most part, the story starts to get much involvement. Lots of energies are being projected into it, and with every adjunct, each participant’s perception stretches to accommodate the changes and smooth out the bumps in their own sense of continuity.

      But as I expected, some challenges seem to appear already.
      Is it raining or not in that world?
      The question seems simple, but it is very profound and Fiona seems to struggle a bit with it, as is Quintin. The question frame itself [“that World”] shows where the difficulty lies.

      He seems to avoid the discrepancy and pretend that he has not seen it. Mmmm, avoiding the obstacles… that will very soon come right back in front of you dear Quintin, for Dory is quite playful.
      At least Fiona has been challenging Dory for not paying attention… Armelle’s ineffable loving ruthlessness!
      How will it unfold?
      Rafaela seems to be delighting herself as though she’s preparing some mischief, but Dory struggles in the “back”…

      September 15 th

      Dory is indeed very playful and her imagination is unrestrained. I extend much appreciation to this focus of Rafaela, especially as Quintin has to stretch his imagination to make things “fit”.

      Quintin is still avoiding the issues that appear sporadically and prefers to stay focused on his own perception of the story… Careful Quintin :face-smile:

      Yann joins the fun —objectively, that is, for Araili has been present already since the very beginning.

      September 16 th

      Halcyons days…
      My dear friend Archie is answering some of Quintin and Yann’s questions.
      Something starts to dawn on Quintin. But his mind is on other matters.

      He understands that the energies of the writers are melding in writing the story, but he still tends to think that they blend completely.

      September 18 th

      Quintin has been drawing some of the characters of the story. It’s interesting.
      He had good insights, as Yann will tell him later that his clothes today were exactly the same as the colours he had drawn.

      Characters drawn:

      • Mavina, Leörmn the dragon and weaszchilla, Írtak, Huÿgens (and Fjutch), Arona and Illi (the gripshawk)
      • Malika, Quintin, Yann, Fiona and Dory

      Interestingly, Fiona resolves her issues in her cave.
      Dory too, but she did not need the cave to do this.

      September 21 st

      For Quintin, the story seems to lose all common sense, as some characters move from World to World. You could have expected that Quintin!
      And Dory pops in and out, in her mind, in her dream state, or in future timeline mixed with present or past one.
      Quintin will soon realize that he himself is doing this constantly, though he does not register it.

      But the worst thing for him is that there are bleedthroughs in between Worlds. The Reality Times newspaper was brilliant Rafaela, a perfect trigger for the beliefs that the Worlds are closed and impermeable to each other!

      Archie has been answering new questions about that story and this had been quite interesting for all of the participants.
      There is much for them to digest from the realization that each of them had been creating their own versions of the stories through their perceptions. And that they were each having their version of the story, drawing from each other’s input, like a conductor of an orchestra incorporating some instruments.

      Of course, some things still matter, and one of the point of the story is also to discover these.

      September 22 nd

      Quintin has been drawing new characters.

      Characters drawn:

      • Båd Al’Guz (Bådul), BelleDora, Buckberry the dragon, the twin dragon eggs, Archibald the parrot, Sanso the Wanderer
      • Illi Fergusson, another Illi that Quintin has tried to sneak in as a bait for Dory, with hints that she is disengaged (or “dead” in common vernacular) and merges with others of her focuses…
      • Jacqueline Bleomelen (Nanny Gibbon), Lord Wrick, his great grand children the twins Cuthbert and India Louise, Manfred, William P. Jobsworth the painter

      A new perception trick: Dory felt relieved upon seeing the moth feelers of BelleDora.
      She had at first thought they were whiskers, which was not Quintin’s intent…

      September 23 rd

      Quintin seems to have connected to a map drawn by Lord Wrick, when the old Lord has started to document his great grand children travels.

      Quintin had tried to put some annotations on this fragment, but he doesn’t yet completely understand that his perception of this World, though accurate, is only valid in this present moment, and may change at any time.

      Up to now, here are the names he could find:

      • North: the Icy Lands, and Dragon Cemeteries
      • Center: Goldfindely, homeland of Arona, connected to the Warring Kingdoms of Lan’ork by the Isthmus of Ghört’s Hammer. The Isthmus of the Dragon Head seems to lead to Malvina’s cave and hideout. Mount Elok’ram is pointed as the highest place of the World yet discovered. Three main rivers are drawn: in the ancient myths of the people of this land, they represent the three Daughters of Ghört, weavers of men’s destinies: Tibreÿa, Uleÿa, and Snimeÿa. Snimeÿa cuts the thread of life, which is shown as the river leads after many meanders to the Marshes of Doom.
      • Far East, North: the Land of Båd Al’Guz, Åsgurdy. A harsh mountainous land of islands and seas.
        Both parts of the World seem to ignore each other till now, as they are separated by the Great Rift, which in the past has deterred many intrepid navigators.
      • South: the Desert Lands. Illi’s birthplace, rarely explored by humans thus unaware of most of its marvels, gripshawks nomadic tribes included.

      When he discussed Arona’s village with Fiona, Quintin had the vision of some dolphin-like creatures, but bright yellow. They are called golfindels and are mostly seen on the northern shores of Arona’s homeland, which is thus called Golfindely.

      #269

      Malvina had been busy opening doors for herself, and thus, for the All.

      Creating the sabulmantium with Leörmn had revealed new potentials to her. And just before putting the final touch to the device, she had felt engulfed in a huge wave and before she knew it, she was talking with someone. A great creative power, which was stemming from herself, and also from which she stemmed too.

      It had named itself Naasir.

      It had revealed to her, in the form of a dark abyss, myriads of unknown potentials waiting for her to leap in faith into them. It had gently requested that she release her hold on the caves openings, so that she could explore more, and also bring more to herself.

      Then Naasir took the form of a great dragon in that abyss, from which roots were growing and pushing their way, slowly and surely, into the rich soil towards the light of their fullness.

      She had then seen the dragon’s arched back and tail shift into a chain of spiked rocks, separating the worlds seas in two. Three of the scales on the right of the dragon’s skin were glimmering, and she could see they were looking for a passage.

      Would she allow that to happen? Yes, she wanted to. Open the doorways, and reunite what was separate, but gently, one at a time.

      Slowly, the kite-shaped rocky plates on the back of the dragon moved apart, to open a slight, safe passage for the glimmering scales. They were caught in the eddies that surged from the opening, but Malvina’s focus helped them to float and cross safely, as they wanted to.

      She then came back to herself, seated in front of the glass-shell dragon egg filled with coloured sand, awed with that power she had just felt through her. She knew it was her own power, and that the device had only allowed it to be expressed, but she had felt wary of how the sabulmantium could be used by others.

      At the same time, Leörmn who was once again the tiny weaszchilla trotting on the wooden table in front of her had laughed squeakingly. And looking at the toy in front of her, she had understood how it could only be used by those who would see beyond the thinly veiled surface. For the uncaring eye, this would only be a toy, mundane and without interest, but for the pure of heart, its help could be harnessed.

      That’s how she’d knew she did not need it any longer, and could release it.

      So, the doors had been opened, and people were feeling the new jewels sparkling behind the dark passages. And gifts from friends could now come across the veils.

      Malvina saw that during the last transmugrification, Leörmn had created an entrance near her laboratory, and it was as if it beckoned her now.

      When she entered, she saw a guéridon table in the middle of a moistly pungent room. On the table, a polished egg was here. She recognized it at once. It had an azure blue glow to it, and fond memories came back to her.

      Back then, she was a young Sorceress in training on the Island of Mörk, in the middle of the Icy Lands, the birth and dying place of the dragons.

      This egg was one from a set of three. It was the first glubolín she’d ever made, along with her two companions. They had kept it to communicate with each other when they parted.

      Malvina, the youngest of the three, had kept the azure blue, and chose to go to the Dragon Head Peninsula.

      Oörlaith had kept the mauve, and went near the town of Kapalÿka, on the Snimeÿa River delta bordering the Marshes of Doom.

      As for Roselÿn, the eldest of the three, she had taken the amber one, and had went as far as anyone would have dared go, flying on her spiked dragon Rëgkvist, past the Great Rift.

      They had kept in touch, but contacts had been more and more sporadic as each were discovering their own new environments, and had ceased altogether, almost at the same time.

      As far as she knew, Roselÿn had been starting her own rookery in the sandy ice deserts of Åsgurdy, mostly hiding there from the superstitious people of that land. And Oörlaith, whom she was closest to, had been devising another funny way to keep people away from her rookery. Her own dragon, the playful Andarión, was shape-shifting as a huge shrimp to pretend that the surroundings were haunted.

      Recalling all these moment, Malvina laughed at how silly they all were, and felt a long to be connecting again with her friends. Would anyone of them be around their own glubolíns?

      #245

      Captain Bone was packing his trunk. The boat was leaving at noon from the quayside of the fishing village, and the captain was nearly ready to say goodbye to the Sharples family. He’s been happy staying with the Sharples and their unruly brood, but he was a man of the sea, and the salty breezes and rollings waves and promise of new adventures was beckoning.

      The sea mist rolled over the cluster of cottages as it often did in the early mornings, mingling with the aroma of coffee and freshly toasted crumpets. Captain Bone remembered other morning mists from other shores, warm ones laced with cinnamon and cloves, and chilly ones pungent with fishy smells and squalking gulls…… bright sunny mornings with long golden shadows and the endless half light of arctic northern ones.

      The captain closed his trunk without checking to see if he’d remembered everything. Whatever he needed on his journey, he knew he would find. Whatever he left behind, he knew the Sharples would keep safe until his return.

      ***

      Manolo the vet helped the captain onto the boat.

      ¡Hasta la vista, hombre! ¡Buen viaje! Long Tom Bone winked and smiled. As soon as he’d set foot on the boat, he sighed a huge sigh of relief, and all the aches and worries of living on dry land drifted away.

      The Sharples family passed the tissues round. It was going to seem strange for awhile without the captain.

      #200
      TracyTracy
      Participant

        Lord Wrick was reading a bedtime story to his great grandson, Cuthbert. A huge open fire roared beneath the stone mantelpiece, and cast tall flickering shadows in the dark corners of the room. Cuthbert snuggled in to his great grandad, who pulled the red tartan shawl up under his chin. The Orkney Islands were cold in September, and a chill draught was ever present in the ancient castle. Cuthbert’s twin sister India Louise had already been taken to bed by Nanny Gibbon, who would read her a story in the nursery.

        “Back from the depths of his sleep, the dragon Naasir exhaled in a puff of smoke” read Great grandfather Wrick. “He’d just woven a wonderful dream…”

        A parcel had arrived at the castle yesterday, delivered by a travelling artist, who had been invited to paint portraits of the Wrick family. There was no message with the parcel, and the artist, Bill Jobsworth, explained that an old woman in black had given it to him at the crossroads, asking him to deliver it to Cuthbert and India Louise Wrick.

        #171

        The life I lead is mere hours or less
        I serve all my time by being consumed
        I am quickest when thin, slowest when fat
        And wind is the bane of the gift that I bring

        Dragon, is that you?, Arona looked around, peering into the half light, but she could not see the crafty dragon, who had once again taken the form of a tiny weaszchilla. He had however retained his own voice, for a weaszchilla cannot be heard easily by human ears

        Why should you care, do you want to see my stupid dragon face now?

        I said silly, not stupid, and perhaps your face is not really so silly for a dragon, however your personality is certainly not that endearing, grumbled Arona

        It doesn’t bark
        It doesn’t bite
        But still won’t let you in the house

        Arona thought for a moment, a lock

        Well I suggest you turn your attention to it then, because it is the only way out now.

        Arona was alarmed, What do you mean?

        The dragon laughed and as Arona turned around again in search of him, she discovered to her horror that the tunnel she had just traversed had disappeared, and was now a wall.

        What’s the matter? Were you thinking of turning back? Leormn grinned to himself. He was enjoying this, but perhaps it was time to return to his other business and let the girl get on with her adventure.

        Oh well, perhaps just time for one more for riddle before I go, the dragon thought, he was having so much fun.

        The more that there is
        The less that you see
        Squint all you like
        When surrounded by me

        Oh that is too easy Dragon. The answer is darkness said Arona in a quiet voice.

        The dragon had to hand it to her, she wasn’t stupid.

        By the way, he called as he disappeared down a weaszchilla sized tunnel he had created for himself, aren’t you rather hot with that cape on?

        The life I lead is mere hours or less … oh he means the candle said Arona to herself, and pulling her cloak around her, turned to face the door.

        #165

        Illi woke up and groaned. Her back was aching and she felt like she’d fallen down a hill, or plummeted into a hole. I thought sleep was supposed to be relaxing, she grumbled as she shuffled off to make coffee. Ten pairs of eyes followered her every movement, assessing her mood. Some of the eyes winked at the other eyes, and nodded…yes, let’s remind her, she’s useless at these clues, ok guys, everyone ready…steady…GO!

        Illi jolted unpleasantly and painfully as a dreadful cacophany of dog barking erupted around her, and warm squirming bodies tumbled everywhere.

        How can I possibly focus on SELF, you stupid creatures, when you keep barking like that! Illi sighed, she knew she was getting it backwards, but her whole world was topsy turvey, nothing was as it seemed anymore. Which comes first, the dragon, or the egg?

        dragon or the egg, hhmm, egg before the dragon? or the dragon before the egg….irritated because the dogs barked? or dogs barked because I was irritated? eggs, dragons, eggs, dragons, dogs, eggs dragons eggs…..

        Illi sighed, and made another cup of coffee.

        And then as if by magic an extraordinary thing happened….

        #160

        Leörmn had been moving along very swiftly, shapeshifting into a tiny weaszchilla so as to move around unnoticed by Arona.

        He had laughed a tiny squeak when he had heard her gasp “Rats”, but it had been muffled down by the flight of the schpurniatz. That was another test for the girl’s endurance, and she had brilliantly passed.

        Of course, as he could change the cave’s tunnels into his mind, he would not have let Avona fall into a pit… Well now that he thought of it, that could have been interesting and quite funny, but she probably wouldn’t have appreciated that kind of humour.

        But the dragon also was not really giving her clues as to how she could perceive the tunnels, because after all, she was also choosing her way, in a sense.

        You are so wicked! laughed the delightful vibrant voice of Malvina in his head.

        Oh yes, he answered mentally, and I see that you enjoy it too

        #135
        F LoveF Love
        Participant

          But Arona had more compelling matters to pursue. The music was calling. She pulled her cloak around tightly around herself, for she knew there was strong magic in these parts, and one could never be quite sure … yet she was learning to trust her inner knowing, and there was a lightness to be felt in the air.

          The music came from a cave in the hillside and she moved gently towards the entrance.

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