January 2021 "Grab Bag" Stories and Art

Stories, poetry, artwork, whatever your talent to share - must be ElfQuest themed - and may contain canon ElfQuest characters (Cutter, Leetah, Skywise, etc) or custom characters of your own (as long as it's in the "ElfQuest" universe).

Your submissions should include at least one of these things (for art), and at least 3 of the 5 (4 this month) for stories (but let's see you use all five (four)!)

Stories can be as long as you want them to be.

January 2021 Element Suggestions:
- Hope
- Breaking Free
- SABOTAGE
- New Beginnings (can be anything that shows something new; in seasons, thought, life, choices, or even the words together "new beginnings" - such as 'Here's to new beginnings!', etc).

hope
sabotage
breaking free
new beginnings

(continued from last month's grab bag)

She was on edge.  While the dark places and misshapen walls seemed to imply an almost overwhelming number of places that a predator could be, Jaida's senses treated these like the gaps in the branches in the trees of the forest, and sought out all the likely places she might be watched from.  After Winnowil's... invasion into her mind and body, it was hard not to feel as though spirit-makers were crawling all over her.  The dark, eyeless gaze haunted her even now, and it was only the eerie silence of this blue mountain that allowed her to maintain her composure and not jump out of her skin.

And while the experience had left her with questions that she didn't quite know if she wanted answered just yet, the nostalgic feeling of a more youthful time made her feel exhilarated and alive: this feeling as though she were being stalked by a wise, old bear or cat reminded her of one of her first lone hunting trips.  Hunters often crossed paths, and while on the trail of a nice deer she'd crossed the path of a rare frost-kit.  She wasn't sure who'd named the creatures, and perhaps her family had just made it up when she eventually outsmarted the creature, dispatched it, and dragged it back to camp with a story to tell and some deep scratches to record the tale upon her flesh.  Now, she smiled at herself for focusing too much on the deer and allowing the beast to even get a claw in her, but the experience had left her senses buzzing, searching for eyes, claws, and fur in every distant gap in the branches for as far as she could see.

So now, with curling branches of stone surrounding her, she sought out the stalkers around her, her senses heightened by the experience with Winnowil, and her blood rushed with a thrill of the hunt she hadn't felt in quite some time.  She hoped it meant her future hunts would be as successful as they were after that frost-kit experience of her youth. Her family ate well for two moons after that, with Jaida's new knack for finding even the most distant of small creatures in the darkest forest during that time.

But what she found strange in this forest of stone was that there were, indeed, hungry eyes watching from many places, and many places around that were carved out strictly for eyes to watch from, the eyes were not watching her.

This place is strange, she thought to herself.  Comparing the hollow stone mountain to the caves her family occasionally dwelt in, there was space in this mountain for far more elves that actually lived here, and while she rarely met another living thing face to face during her tour, there were so many elves here. Far more than her own family, and likely as many as the tribe she had heard they came from.  So many elves, and other creatures she could smell as well, with so many hungry eyes watching them.  Eyes around corners, in the cracks in the ceiling, down distant hallways... even the stone itself seemed to watch... and while Jaida could tell she was noticed by the watchers, she wasn't the one being watched: it was the inhabitants that were watching each other so hungrily. As though a herd of deer had become blood-mad and were eyeing each other, waiting for one of them to weaken enough for the others to feast upon them.

Jaida was not exactly feeling like prey in the sense that the others here were interested in her just yet, but she feared that it would only be a matter of time before those eyes followed the path Winnowil's took and sought her out as hungrily as they sought each other out.  She would have to free herself of this stone bird cage before that happened.

She was led back to her room. Flurry had awakened and flew to her shoulder as she entered.  Flurry was a bird of prey, and smart for an animal, but while there did seem to be a sense of familiarity expressed towards Jaida by the bird-friend, it wasn't as though the creature had been worried.  Jaida noticed she missed concern, missed her family, and that it was time to get back.  She would often go off on her own to hunt or be alone, but after a while she felt a longing for her kin, and would circle back to camp whether she had found whatever it was she had left for.

And it occurred to her that these elves she had crossed paths with were, in some sense, her kin. At least, they were kin in that they were elves and not birds or wolves or deer, but that was as far as the similarity extended. Until she thought about it, she hadn't realized she felt no kinship with these mountain elves.  If indeed she and her family were to come and live here, there would be no warmth from the others, no consideration beyond whatever these elves hungered for. As Jaida sat down to look into her snow-owl's eyes, it seemed as though this bird was more akin to herself than the others of her kind in this place.

The wide eyes stared back, occasionally, between the times the head swiveled around to search out the den.  Jaida always felt mesmerized by Flurry's face when she took these quiet moments to watch the bird.  One hunter admiring another, she started to relax as though this room was actually safer and more defensible with two sets of eyes watching for signs of trouble.  She meditated on her situation while she allowed herself to be mesmerized by her only friendly companion.

There was a large area that she had been led around, a large gap in her mental map of the mountain.  There was a smaller gap in the map above and near the den she'd been granted as her own. And there was the closed flap on the far end of her room to consider.  There hadn't been much time to explore that before she'd been led around the maze of stone earlier.  Considering the shape of her mental map, she imagined it led outside, and considering the layout of this room, the enormous perch along one side, and no other way for anything else to use it except through that large opening, it seemed likely.  Still, it didn't escape her notice that she'd not been shown a single exit back to the forest or foothills in all of the demonstrations of wonders that were to be seen here in this place, so it seemed likely that there would be a reason she couldn't leave through that opening.

Flurry's eyes had nearly closed, looking distantly over Jaida's shoulder. It seemed the bird felt just as safe with her as she did with it, looking out for each other.  Jaida continued thinking about the gaps in the map, and felt that, whatever would be keeping her from leaving through the large opening in her own room would keep her from leaving through the area above her, and so she set this area aside.  It didn't seem likely that the large, egg-shaped area in the middle of her mental map lead outside of the mountain, so she considered everything else she'd seen and learned.

There were other creatures here besides the elves.  Birds were usually so small that they carried little scent, but Jaida and Flurry had hunted other birds before and she had a sense of what birds in general smelled like. That smell permeated this room and seemed to waft down the hallways from the above areas.  There was little reason to deny that what she'd seen a glimpse of before coming here had been, indeed, a gigantic bird large enough to make Flurry look less than tiny in comparison, and it was likely there was more than one.  

There was an odd smell here, though.  Jaida was familiar with the smells of all sorts of furry and feathered animals, and could smell the differences in the elves of this place from those of her family, but there was several other, unfamiliar smells. One of these was very similar to that of Winnowil, but faint and lingering aged in the background, the source not currently among those that live within this mountain.  Contrastingly, however, the almost overwhelming stench of some present denizen of the mountain seem to waft up from below, even though Jaida had not been shown a path that lead anywhere below the lowest levels she had been led to.

Flurry was all but asleep on her knee.  Sleep reached out for Jaida as well, but she knew if she left stalking this thought for the morning she might not be able to pick up the trail again.  In her weariness she almost pondered how easy a bird's life was, flying where it wished and hunting what it wished, when it wished, moving on without a care if it missed it's quarry... but she mentally forced herself away from such things that would lead on toward sleep. She looked away from her bird and into the smooth gray stone of the wall beyond.

She remembered that this mountain was large. She remembered seeing it as she rounded a hill in a clearing in the forest, one of the largest lone mountains she'd ever seen.  While the area she'd been lead through had taken all day to explore, and filled an enormous amount of space within the mountain, it seemed unlikely it filled the whole thing.  She fought weary mental fog as dull as the stone in front of her as she tried to put the simplest of thoughts together and came to the conclusion there was quite a deal more below, perhaps even underneath this blue mountain than she had been allowed to see.  It was even likely that these areas away from the heights of the peak would allow her access to the forest outside, and would allow her to break free...

She fought off the further suffocating urge to sleep. She considered tapping her foot or wagging her head back and forth to stay alert, but this would awaken Flurry.  She recalled those times in a tree, waiting for game to wander by, playing games in her head to stay awake. She was no stranger to having to stay alert and still, but usually there was nothing she had to think about in those instances than the hunt. A mental game, watching Flurry or one of her other bird friends over the years circling overhead, these things took little effort and were not tiring.  Making a plan while actively stalking game didn't seem tiring either, the activity and thrill of the hunt was more than enough to stay awake, but sitting still and quiet while plotting an escape through tunnels she'd never seen, while keeping her captors... she was now starting to think of Voll and Winnowil and the others as such now... her captors in the dark as she tried to find a way to halt these other's plans to keep her here... This was exhausting, and there wasn't much Jaida could do to keep from dozing off.  Her gaze had fallen back to her sleeping companion and she found herself contemplating the branching of fibers on the smaller feathers around it's closed eyes... If only she'd balanced herself on the perch... pretended she was in a tree and needed to keep from falling from those branches...

Flurry's eyes opened and it's head swiveled to face the entrance to their den.  Jaida's head snapped around to follow her bird-friend's gaze. Yeyeen peered around the edge of the opening, a mild but strange look in her eyes.  When she noticed she'd been seen, she stepped fully into the den and apologized with, "I'm sorry, I hope I'm not disturbing you, I was just coming to see if you were sleeping well.  You do need your rest after all you have been through."  Yeyeen looked to the furs in a area near the perch, obviously meant for someone to sleep in, and asked, "Are things not comfortable? Is there something you need? There is water and food over on this table..." she explained as she moved to indicate the refreshments.

Flurry flew over to the perch as Jaida stood up. "No..." Jaida's thoughts were that of a treed hunter, quickly looking for options as she tried to find her voice and dismiss the intruder, but none of these rapid thoughts provoked the words needed. "I am... well.." she managed to get out.  This was another sign her family would not fit in here: she'd never had to say that she was fine, or even that there was some minor issue, since everyone in her family could just see if there was a problem, or, if something was needed, usually her whole family felt the same need, such as hunger, thirst, sleep, or whatever.  Even sendings were rare, as there just wasn't a need outside of coordinating the unexpected during a hunt. Family was family, they were all one and the same, there was no need to speak to one's own self.

"Are you not tired?" asked Yeyeen, "or are you so fond of your bird-friend you would rather watch it?"  Yeyeen's smile was not mocking, but almost had more interest and friendliness than anyone had expressed since Jaida had awakened.

Sensing a way to keep from explaining her thoughts, Jaida allowed herself to brighten a bit at the reference to Flurry.  It was not all for show, she had always felt drawn to birds of prey, with their freedom and strength, and though Jaida loved her family, at times she envied these mighty bird's ability to remain alone, not seeing one of their own kind for months.  Again, though, words failed to fully convey her adoration. "This one's name is Flurry" was all she could muster.

"Flurry... and white like the driven snow, so unlike the birds from this area.  Flurry has been with you for some time, then? You've traveled quite some distance I'm guessing, and seen much?" Yeyeen was much more animated with the talk of birds than Jaida had ever seen.

"Far." Jaida responded with a little regret, as she realized that it was likely that Flurry would fly off after leaving this place. The snow-owl was so far from its home area. "We have hunted much, together."

Yeyeen glanced at the door a moment, as though considering something that broke convention somehow. Hesitantly, she asked "Would you like to see my bond-bird?"

Here is the music for my mean SABOTAGE -vibe entry, enjoy if you can  

Fitting for the new year it`s another New Beginning with my ways to draw now influenced by addicting Hero Forge. I was working on my new OC Rayhan, but on the first picture in my sketchbook thread she turned  out too much like my old OC Raynah and also like Yeee.  Tonight I saw, what I missed on her, it was those cool eyes from Hero Forge I wanted the shape of those eyes but transformed into Elfquest size, so that they look no more so totally like Rayeks eyes in a female face as I kept on drawing before. I wanted similarity to his eyes but not equality. I think I found my eyes for "Antlerhead" Rayhan .
She is off to turn everything into ashes, fiercingly committing SABOTAGE!
First the mentor of the Go Backs fight training for Fawns is made rageous (his name is Terk and his hair got roasted) . But he is every training session near a nervous breakdown because of her and her rambunctious friends Fros and Sark (both were old OCs and friends of Raynah, now turned into new youth friends of Rayhan) . The gang always comes too late, tired and drunk   , breaks the training equipment due to incompetence and is just impossibly too lazy to fight right. But they can do Sabotage, oh yes they can!    
So after they are yelled away from the training ground by Terk, they search for the Wolfrider in their Holt near the palace and the Go Back lodge (AU) to burn it down. After they lit the foliage there, scorched wolves and got Suntop drunk, Cutter sent them away again from the Holt. etc....... but only with Suntop, whom they drag behind them, what he likes to let it happen. Unfortunately already they have spoiled him  badly!

this was my template, i am still training my skills on these


Edit: the picture and add: "Cutter used to call her "Metal Antlerhead" and mostly added something like cursed or damned ...wonder why

Am I understandng right? You matched the heroforge character from your drawing? Thats absoutely amazing. Its amazing however it is, the drawing is well done!

Hey, thanxs a lot .

"You matched the heroforge character from your drawing? "
The other way around, first I made the characters on Hero Forge and now I'm starting to draw them. That`s far more easier. Hero Forge is very limited in its choices. There are hardly any suitable hairstyles for elves, e.g. you can't forge a Cutter. I tried on a Rayek, he is in the Elfquest dolling 2-thread. But that doesn't quite go with the hairstyle for him either. But in any case I can practice drawing weapons and equipment with Hero Forge (and a new eye-style for elves), because everything can be seen and rotated nicely in 3D.
so, the design of "Antlerhead" Rayhan is nicked from Hero Forge.

Your story is again in blue mountain. Not far away from the trolls...

Yeee wrote:

Hey, thanxs a lot .    

"You matched the heroforge character from your drawing? "
The other way around, first I made the characters on Hero Forge and now I'm starting to draw them. That`s far more easier. Hero Forge is very limited in its choices. There are hardly any suitable hairstyles for elves, e.g. you can't forge a Cutter. I tried on a Rayek, he is in the Elfquest dolling 2-thread. But that doesn't quite go with the hairstyle for him either.  But in any case I can practice drawing weapons and equipment with Hero Forge (and a new eye-style for elves), because everything can be seen and rotated nicely in 3D.
so, the design of "Antlerhead" Rayhan is nicked from Hero Forge.

I saw Rayak. Was highly recognizable. Whether you drew from or made from drawing, its beyond my ability to draw as you do, Impressive either way!

Yeee wrote:

Your story is again in blue mountain. Not far away from the trolls...

Hmm... Seems that few places are far from the trolls... lol. Its a small under-world after all!

January 2021 Element Suggestions:
- Hope
- Breaking Free
- SABOTAGE
- New Beginnings (can be anything that shows something new; in seasons, thought, life, choices, or even the words together "new beginnings" - such as 'Here's to new beginnings!', etc).

Recap Cliffnotes for YEARS of story writing is here: http://www.tawmis.com/stonehowl/stonehowlrecap.html

Rumdreer – a vicious human, widely known to Buren from a tribe called The Bloodtide – name so, for the sheer violence they thrived in. Rumdreer had just thrown his axe – an axe he’d used to kill over one hundred other humans and “demons” – and watched in horror as it stopped in mid-air, stopped by Stonecutter – the young son of Buren and Stream. Stonecutter with a thrust of his hand had thrown it back at the violent human, who easily dodged the axe that landed somewhere behind him.

The skies above darkened as grey-black clouds blotted out the moons and stars. Windfetcher signaled for the approaching wolves to stop. Their eyes glistened like golden orbs, reflecting the torchlight held by some of the humans.

“Do you think we’re afraid of your wolves,” Rumdreer laughed. “We killed giant eagles that demons like you rode upon. What is a wolf going to do that a demon’s giant bird can’t?” He pointed to his axe lying on the stony floor behind him. “I don’t need that axe to kill you. Hundreds have died, choking for their last breath, with my hands firmly attached around their throats.”

“I’m disappointed in you Buren,” Rumdreer sneered. “Your father – despite the coward that he was, running to his bitch shaman for help – he at least remained in charge. He knew that a woman could never lead. You were next to lead his people. He tried to groom you for that. But he said you were too weak. And I see it now. You let this woman – and,” he looked over Windfetcher, “by the looks of it, she’s barely older than you. And you lay with one of these – that one,” he pointed to Stream, “is my guess, by the look of concern in her eyes. Your father was right. You’re weak. Driven by the need to please women. Women don’t want that. They want to be taken. Told what to do. Have a strong, male leader tell them what to do. What to think. A woman’s use is to bare children. Continue your bloodline. You at least got part of that right – but you did it with a demon.”

Rumdreer signaled for the others to unleash their arrows. He waited to hear the sound of arrows whistling by his ears as he’d heard hundreds of times before. He turned and saw all of them had held their place. “Fine,” he growled, “I will do it myself.”

He reached down for his axe, surprised to see it was no longer lying on the floor. He looked up, just in time for Ayav, a strong, six foot, blond female, with piercing blue eyes, bringing his own axe into his chest. He stared up at her in horror as his life bled out rapidly from his chest.

She kept a firm clasp on the hilt of the axe as she brought her foot up and kicked Rumdreer off the axe, and watched as his eyes gazed up to her, his life bleeding out as quickly as the blood on the floor. She looked at the elves then slammed the axe, blade first, into a nearby tree, burying the blade deep into it’s bark.

“Why?” Burn asked, still with an arrow in his shoulders. The other humans had withdrawn their arrows and were already turning around silently to head back down the path.

Ayav nodded to Windfetcher. “She was right. He talks too much. All we’ve ever known is hatred. And it was easy. Because we saw the ‘demons’ as different. This is the first time we’ve seen a human living among the demons. And a child born of that human and demon. We can’t be forgiven for what we’ve done, but we can hope to perhaps change our ways, find a new beginning, and break free of our old ways.”

As she turned and began to leave, she paused and looked over her shoulder. She looked at Buren, then Stonecutter, then Rumdreer, whose pale white body and blue lips, was clearly now dead. “Cut out his eyes,” she said, “so that in the after life he can never find his way.”

And then she continued down the path.




• Vineweaver (Male Soul Name: Reyk) – Auburn Hair, Blue Eyes (Tree shaper, Soul Mate of Stillbreeze, Plant Shaper)
• Stillbreeze (Female Soul Name: Hewl) – Brown Hair, Brown Eyes (Soul Mate of Vineweaver, Tanner)
• Echo (Male Soul Name: Ayav) – Brown Hair, Green Eyes (Cub of Stillbreeze & Vineweaver, Magic)- About twenty three years old.
• Windfetcher (Female Soul Name: Burm) – Auburn Hair, Brown Eyes (Cub of Stillbreeze & Vineweaver) – About twenty three years old, Chieftess
• Snowspring (Female, Soul Name: Tylo – Black Hair, Green Eyes) – Fourteen years old. Daughter of Shadow and Foxhair.
• Stream (Female Soul Name: Vree) – Red Hair, Green Eyes (Healer)
• Buren (Human, Brown hair, hazel eyes) – About 25 years old in human years
• Stonecutter (half elf/half human, son of Stream and Buren – brown hair, green eyes) – About seven years old

@Tymber
A sudden end to a blowhard tyrant! Down with the scoundrel, he is meat to be wasted. I like that it was Ayav that dook him down, though I wish she would have gave him a piece of her mind and unwound a bit, woulda been in character for a pirate taking down a hated leader. Will have to see if these guys show up down the road again and see where they end up!


Thanks for your story, I understand you're busy these days (who isnt), Im glad you posted up the continuation of Buren (and let them all live relatively unscathed. Makes me wonder: down the road, will Stonecutter's decendants become magic using humans like those of Tamia and Jink's time? (Tweaks, if I recall)

TrollHammer wrote:

@Tymber
A sudden end to a blowhard tyrant! Down with the scoundrel, he is meat to be wasted. I like that it was Ayav that dook him down, though I wish she would have gave him a piece of her mind and unwound a bit, woulda been in character for a pirate taking down a hated leader. Will have to see if these guys show up down the road again and see where they end up!

Thanks for your story, I understand you're busy these days (who isnt), Im glad you posted up the continuation of Buren (and let them all live relatively unscathed. Makes me wonder: down the road, will Stonecutter's decendants become magic using humans like those of Tamia and Jink's time? (Tweaks, if I recall)

Thanks. Yeah. I am just "phoning it in" as they say. There was a time, I was writing this and spending time to really develop the story. But now, I copy and paste the grab bag items - start the clock - and give myself 15 minutes to write it just to force my brain to make these elements fit, rather than writing a novel.

You can try and guess - because normally I spend a long time on names - but for the woman, as I was writing - I didn't want to get hooked on thinking of a name - so I thought of a powerful female figure I like - which made me think of Vaya - so I just reversed the name and made it Ayav. And I figure she wouldn't have shared her mind since she was complaining the leader talked too much. (His degrading of women over the last three was her reasoning for finally being like, "Eff this guy" - ax to the back).

Wanted to keep the ax in the tree as a symbol - maybe do something later with it - because you'd made that cool ax.

Are there already Half-Elves in ElfQuest? I know there's been humans turned to elves and vice versa.

Tymber wrote:

TrollHammer wrote:

@Tymber
A sudden end to a blowhard tyrant! Down with the scoundrel, he is meat to be wasted. I like that it was Ayav that dook him down, though I wish she would have gave him a piece of her mind and unwound a bit, woulda been in character for a pirate taking down a hated leader. Will have to see if these guys show up down the road again and see where they end up!

Thanks for your story, I understand you're busy these days (who isnt), Im glad you posted up the continuation of Buren (and let them all live relatively unscathed. Makes me wonder: down the road, will Stonecutter's decendants become magic using humans like those of Tamia and Jink's time? (Tweaks, if I recall)

Thanks. Yeah. I am just "phoning it in" as they say. There was a time, I was writing this and spending time to really develop the story. But now, I copy and paste the grab bag items - start the clock - and give myself 15 minutes to write it just to force my brain to make these elements fit, rather than writing a novel.

You can try and guess - because normally I spend a long time on names - but for the woman, as I was writing - I didn't want to get hooked on thinking of a name - so I thought of a powerful female figure I like - which made me think of Vaya - so I just reversed the name and made it Ayav. And I figure she wouldn't have shared her mind since she was complaining the leader talked too much. (His degrading of women over the last three was her reasoning for finally being like, "Eff this guy" - ax to the back).

Wanted to keep the ax in the tree as a symbol - maybe do something later with it - because you'd made that cool ax.

Are there already Half-Elves in ElfQuest? I know there's been humans turned to elves and vice versa.

Only in fandom, as I understand. Seems like there was a posting by Wendy at one point explicitly saying Two-Edge is unique, there are no other hybrids, other than the shape changed. Some other instances of characters are also intended to be one-of-a-kind. I believenit was also stated there would never be any dragons in Elf Quest (though to me the Neverending look distictly dragon like, though this might not have been a Pini drawn creature, I cant remember).

But that doesnt stop us from writing them in. I specifically broke every one of the rules listed in that post when I wrote Santa Quest. Write what you feel!

"Seems like there was a posting by Wendy at one point explicitly saying Two-Edge is unique, there are no other hybrids, other than the shape changed."

She said that? What are the Wolfriders ? No hybrids? That mingling of elf -wolf with Timmorn as result was the craziest interspecies mix I ever heard /read of. With that you can produce as much fanfic interspecies hybrids as you wish, have fun with them!

My brain is nutmash, sorry. Memory is fading away....

Here is a current statement about elf-human hybrids. I shoulda just posted that from the beginning and kept my foot outta my mouth.

Don't worry - that's what I assumed you had meant. Although, how do the Sea Elves work? I don't think a High One shaped itself into a fish of some kind that spawned them - I assume they (as High Ones) took to the water and adapted their form and that just became their genetic level over the years? (I don't know enough about the Wavedancers, clearly).

But I did find this interesting -

Richard Pini wrote:

We (Wendy and Richard) decided long ago, at the very beginning, that there would be no elf-human hybrids in the world of Elfquest. Mostly, we did this for one very good reason: many other fantasy worlds allow them. To us, the elf-human mix has become, well, kind of tired and a bit boring.

The twist in that logic is - in order for half-elves to become "kind of tired and a bit boring" is that they would have to exist in a world with Elves. And by logic, there are plenty of other pieces of literature that don't have "half-elves" thus making elves in literature a far more common occurrence than half-elves.

TrollHammer wrote:

There was an odd smell here, though.  Jaida was familiar with the smells of all sorts of furry and feathered animals, and could smell the differences in the elves of this place from those of her family, but there was several other, unfamiliar smells. One of these was very similar to that of Winnowil, but faint and lingering aged in the background, the source not currently among those that live within this mountain.  Contrastingly, however, the almost overwhelming stench of some present denizen of the mountain seem to waft up from below, even though Jaida had not been shown a path that lead anywhere below the lowest levels she had been led to.

I assume this is a reference to either Two-Edge or Smelt?

TrollHammer wrote:

Flurry's eyes opened and it's head swiveled to face the entrance to their den.  Jaida's head snapped around to follow her bird-friend's gaze. Yeyeen peered around the edge of the opening, a mild but strange look in her eyes.  When she noticed she'd been seen, she stepped fully into the den and apologized with, "I'm sorry, I hope I'm not disturbing you, I was just coming to see if you were sleeping well.  You do need your rest after all you have been through."  Yeyeen looked to the furs in a area near the perch, obviously meant for someone to sleep in, and asked, "Are things not comfortable? Is there something you need? There is water and food over on this table..." she explained as she moved to indicate the refreshments.

Flurry flew over to the perch as Jaida stood up. "No..." Jaida's thoughts were that of a treed hunter, quickly looking for options as she tried to find her voice and dismiss the intruder, but none of these rapid thoughts provoked the words needed. "I am... well.." she managed to get out.  This was another sign her family would not fit in here: she'd never had to say that she was fine, or even that there was some minor issue, since everyone in her family could just see if there was a problem, or, if something was needed, usually her whole family felt the same need, such as hunger, thirst, sleep, or whatever.  Even sendings were rare, as there just wasn't a need outside of coordinating the unexpected during a hunt. Family was family, they were all one and the same, there was no need to speak to one's own self.

Yeyeen is new to the story right? I don't recall Yeyeen in the previous installment. But at my age, I barely remember two minutes ago.

TrollHammer wrote:

Yeyeen glanced at the door a moment, as though considering something that broke convention somehow. Hesitantly, she asked "Would you like to see my bond-bird?"

So she's one of the Gliders? Existing or your own?

As always, you're quite the word smith and weave a very visual tale. It was cool seeing Jaida (and Flurry's!) tale continue from the previous month! Will this be a regular monthly on-going from the grab bags? I feel like we've barely touched Jaida's story, so it would be wonderful to see it grow.

" I don't think a High One shaped itself into a fish of some kind that spawned them - I assume they (as High Ones) took to the water and adapted their form and that just became their genetic level over the years? (I don't know enough about the Wavedancers, clearly)."

That is a good approach to explain sea adapted elves and Fungus elves and maybe snake -elves and whoops,  suddenly there are hawks elves, cats elves and platypus elves. Bad luck, Richard P.  
.
But hey, many of Wendys elves can do UNIQUE things (as it was explicitly worked out by the Pinis) and the fans elves can do nothing but can only sit next to them and applaud (like Shenshen looking at Leetah , "standing in Leetahs shadow").
nope!
The Pinis can say that they determine everything in Elfquest, but that is just playing God but has nothing to do with logical explanation and argumentation. Won`t accept that.


Edit:
Timmain should only be able to influence the genetic, yes and suddenly that can also winnowill, there are already 2 who are the only ones who can do that. With logic, others can do the same and then there are those magical pools that Madcoil made ... etc
feel free to write as you wish storytellers, there is no limit!

Tymber wrote:

TrollHammer wrote:

There was an odd smell here, though.  Jaida was familiar with the smells of all sorts of furry and feathered animals, and could smell the differences in the elves of this place from those of her family, but there was several other, unfamiliar smells. One of these was very similar to that of Winnowil, but faint and lingering aged in the background, the source not currently among those that live within this mountain.  Contrastingly, however, the almost overwhelming stench of some present denizen of the mountain seem to waft up from below, even though Jaida had not been shown a path that lead anywhere below the lowest levels she had been led to.

I assume this is a reference to either Two-Edge or Smelt?

When I write, I try to put myself into the character's roll, only 'knowing' what the character 'knows'.  In this case, she has never met anyone not mentioned or explained in the story, and it's hard to convey stuff that we, as EQ readers know, but she does not. Its one of the things I try to work on, as communication is not one of my strong suits.

That all said, yes, the 'smell of one like Winnowil' is that of Two-Edge, and he hasn't been around for a while. Spoilers.... maybe... but the other 'stench, from below' is a reference to the human pets from the Hoan G'tay Sho tribe, presumably kept in a separate portion of Blue Mountain.  In my mind, Jaida has never met a human.  I don't know if she will, I can't see her future, for the most part, and don't dwell on it or I won't ever write it.

Tymber wrote:

TrollHammer wrote:

Flurry's eyes opened and it's head swiveled to face the entrance to their den.  Jaida's head snapped around to follow her bird-friend's gaze. Yeyeen peered around the edge of the opening, a mild but strange look in her eyes.  When she noticed she'd been seen, she stepped fully into the den and apologized with, "I'm sorry, I hope I'm not disturbing you, I was just coming to see if you were sleeping well.  You do need your rest after all you have been through."  Yeyeen looked to the furs in a area near the perch, obviously meant for someone to sleep in, and asked, "Are things not comfortable? Is there something you need? There is water and food over on this table..." she explained as she moved to indicate the refreshments.

Flurry flew over to the perch as Jaida stood up. "No..." Jaida's thoughts were that of a treed hunter, quickly looking for options as she tried to find her voice and dismiss the intruder, but none of these rapid thoughts provoked the words needed. "I am... well.." she managed to get out.  This was another sign her family would not fit in here: she'd never had to say that she was fine, or even that there was some minor issue, since everyone in her family could just see if there was a problem, or, if something was needed, usually her whole family felt the same need, such as hunger, thirst, sleep, or whatever.  Even sendings were rare, as there just wasn't a need outside of coordinating the unexpected during a hunt. Family was family, they were all one and the same, there was no need to speak to one's own self.

Yeyeen is new to the story right? I don't recall Yeyeen in the previous installment. But at my age, I barely remember two minutes ago.

I know what you mean, it's been a strange introspect for me the last month or so looking at the old forum and old stories I wrote and don't recall... I used to have such a good memory when it came to 'had happened', I don't recall when I started to forget....  

But Yeyeen isn't new, she just wasn't a main character last month. She was the glider that 'found' Jaida.

Tymber wrote:

TrollHammer wrote:

Yeyeen glanced at the door a moment, as though considering something that broke convention somehow. Hesitantly, she asked "Would you like to see my bond-bird?"

So she's one of the Gliders? Existing or your own?

Pre-existing. I just went on the Who's Who on the main EQ site and picked one that didn't have much back story to contend with and that I couldn't really remember, and rolled with it.  She's one of the Chosen Eight, one of the ones Skywise and Cutter stuffed into a closet during the Siege, and presumably died in the fall of Blue Mountain. Outside of that there's not much else to tell.  Figured it was a grey space to play around in. That's all I do when I write 'might have possibly been canon' stories, is find 'grey space' and fill in blanks with stuff that doesn't matter.

Tymber wrote:

As always, you're quite the word smith and weave a very visual tale. It was cool seeing Jaida (and Flurry's!) tale continue from the previous month! Will this be a regular monthly on-going from the grab bags? I feel like we've barely touched Jaida's story, so it would be wonderful to see it grow.

We've talked in the past how you and I are similar in the way we write, and far different from any textbook writing method. We write what we feel, when we feel it, and sit back on the edge of our seats watching the tale play out in front of us as we write, sometimes in breathless anticipation, fearing the worst and hoping for the best.  I don't outline, plan, or anything, because if I know the end of the story, I don't have a reason to write it (that's what burned me out before, taking out too many big projects and losing track of where I was, so I outlined and made notes for 'next time' I had time to write, which sated my muse, and I felt no compunction to go back and write it, except out of obligation, which never works out well for me.)

So I take it one story at a time.  I dunno what's going to happen next month, or later this month, or whenever, just will write what the elements make me feel.  I did have last month's planned to be short, sweet, and to the point, done in one post, and not taxing on a reader, but I got lost in it, exploring a world from a new perspective... I didn't have many other creative outlets other than writing Elfquest fanfic.  The only other thing I explore is scientific philosophy, but that's internal and I have no one else to share that with.  I used to write Superhero scandal and mythology (fanfic, but I didn't know the word at the time), but back when I was writing that it was to de-stress, explore a fantasy world with few rules, and the stories were far too wild to consider letting anyone read back then. These days they'd be too 'meh' to even bother with. Funny how the world has changed.

I do hope that I will write Jaida out of her predicament, as was intended, but I  don't restrain the muse.  I may not even write if it's going to be forced, but might make some other artsy fartsy stuff like I intended in december (which didn't happen, the muse wasn't interested, but might have gotten poked this last week... will see!)  You'll have to see what happens, you'll find out shortly after I do. lol.

Yeee wrote:

" I don't think a High One shaped itself into a fish of some kind that spawned them - I assume they (as High Ones) took to the water and adapted their form and that just became their genetic level over the years? (I don't know enough about the Wavedancers, clearly)."

That is a good approach to explain sea adapted elves and Fungus elves and maybe snake -elves and whoops,  suddenly there are hawks elves, cats elves and platypus elves. Bad luck, Richard P.  

But hey, many of Wendys elves can do UNIQUE things (as it was explicitly worked out by the Pinis) and the fans elves can do nothing but can only sit next to them and applaud (like Shenshen looking at Leetah , "standing in Leetahs shadow").
nope! The Pinis can say that they determine everything in Elfquest, but that is just playing God but has nothing to do with logical explanation and argumentation. Won`t accept that.

Timmain should only be able to influence the genetic, yes and suddenly that can also winnowill, there are already 2 who are the only ones who can do that. With logic, others can do the same and then there are those magical pools that Madcoil made ... etc
feel free to write as you wish storytellers, there is no limit!

To be fair, the quoted statement was dated 2015 - which was 5 years ago, and prior to Final Quest.
But yes - I would like to see how they explain the Wavedancers now that they're officially canon ElfQuest, or the "Moss" Elves, etc.
But I think they mean the unique factor of half breeds among Elf and another humanoid (Human or Troll). And probably primarily targeting the idea of a Half-Elf (From Elf and Human).

But yes, being the world of fanfic - and clearly not applying to write for ElfQuest professionally, I am sure I've broken a thousand rules the Pinis would have in place for official content (the most recent being the Half-Elf [half elf/half human] child I introduced).

The only rules I follow here are the rules placed by the grab bag - has to be the ElfQuest world and use "X" amount of elements. Everything else is free game.

TrollHammer wrote:

When I write, I try to put myself into the character's roll, only 'knowing' what the character 'knows'.  In this case, she has never met anyone not mentioned or explained in the story, and it's hard to convey stuff that we, as EQ readers know, but she does not. Its one of the things I try to work on, as communication is not one of my strong suits.

That all said, yes, the 'smell of one like Winnowil' is that of Two-Edge, and he hasn't been around for a while. Spoilers.... maybe... but the other 'stench, from below' is a reference to the human pets from the Hoan G'tay Sho tribe, presumably kept in a separate portion of Blue Mountain.  In my mind, Jaida has never met a human.  I don't know if she will, I can't see her future, for the most part, and don't dwell on it or I won't ever write it.

Ah yes! Winnowill did spend time with those humans! I had forgotten.

TrollHammer wrote:

But Yeyeen isn't new, she just wasn't a main character last month. She was the glider that 'found' Jaida.

I clearly need to re-read it.

TrollHammer wrote:

We've talked in the past how you and I are similar in the way we write, and far different from any textbook writing method. We write what we feel, when we feel it, and sit back on the edge of our seats watching the tale play out in front of us as we write, sometimes in breathless anticipation, fearing the worst and hoping for the best.  I don't outline, plan, or anything, because if I know the end of the story, I don't have a reason to write it (that's what burned me out before, taking out too many big projects and losing track of where I was, so I outlined and made notes for 'next time' I had time to write, which sated my muse, and I felt no compunction to go back and write it, except out of obligation, which never works out well for me.)
You'll have to see what happens, you'll find out shortly after I do. lol.

Well I look forward to it.

Yeee wrote:

The Pinis can say that they determine everything in Elfquest, but that is just playing God but has nothing to do with logical explanation and argumentation. Won`t accept that.

Regardless of how I feel about the way certain things have been handled at times, I have to say, for any story, it's the teller that decides what gets told. If the Pinis wanted to set rules for themselves (or, in the case of those licensed or hired to write officially for the series, others in this sense), if anything it's just a bar or challenge set to work against for themselves. We aren't restricted in this way, though. When we are the ones telling a story, we set the rules, the limits, and so on. I've heard about a dozen different versions of Three Little Pigs, all with different morals, themes, etc. One even had the end goal of teaching the wolf to be a vegetarian. So yes, within what you create, you are the creator, it is expected that you play god with your story, even if it's a different story with elements from someone else's. No one else is going to push your pen across the page, or press the keys for you, so unless you've agreed to be bound by someone or something (such as grab bag elements) else's rules as you create, create freely!

Yeee wrote:

Edit:  
Timmain should only be able to influence the genetic, yes and suddenly that can also winnowill, there are already 2 who are the only ones who can do that. With logic, others can do the same and then there are those magical pools that Madcoil made ... etc
feel free to write as you wish storytellers, there is no limit!

Amen.

To the quandary of the genetic half-breed whatevers... Yeah, the only 'canon' true mixing was with Timmorn and Two-Edge, each with a flesh-shaper elf as a mother. I spent some time trying to organize the powers in my head, both for storytelling and game making, as to what is genetic when it comes to magic and whatnot. Other than the strictures the Pinis placed on themselves, within the told framework in the story, there's no real limits placed as to what can and can't mix, but it is strongly implied that the mother be a healer (flesh shaper elf). As to all the other 'adaptions' that are tribally distinct and ridged, it seems as though all elves have some form of self shaping, even if limited, so it seems likely the implication is that the adaptions (fins, extra melanin, unexplored fungal effects) are not genetic, just flesh shaping. I'd love to deep dive into this but this isn't the place for it, but I was just going to point out one last thing was all:

Of all the healers, the one that seems to have really broke free of limits is Leetah, who has pushed past simple flesh shaping, and delved into what binds a soul to the flesh, even to the degree of mortally injuring herself and pushing past the inevitable. The path was dropped in the OC, but one could explore, in fanfic, the implications of a new line of 'life-shaping' both good and bad, that even the original high ones didnt seem to be able to do.