July 2021 Grab Bag - stories | poetry | 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, or AU there-of).

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

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

Elements:
unnatural sleep
light
raid
Pegasus (or any flying horse)

First foray into a wavedancer story, sort of. While I do read the stories I’m not usually drawn to them as writing material, but then I let my fingers fly where they may on these grab bags. Never know where I’m going to end up...

Elements:
unnatural sleep
light
raid
Pegasus (or any flying horse)

The feeling of drowning was overwhelming as Fen tossed and turned in the patch he'd chosen to bed down in. It seemed that he would never get the hang of this, no matter what the dark one said... it wasn't right to sleep underwater. Not for a nomad who had walked far and wide for as long as he had.

Where was the promised sense of discovery? There wasn't a hint of joy in seeing the waves from below, even with the moon light dancing across the sea-bed. The dark form of the sea-mother neared him.

*What troubles you, having trouble sleeping?*

*As usual, I can't get passed the feeling of not being able to breathe. I know you made the neck-slits of a fish for me to breathe just fine here, but it doesn't work while I'm half asleep. The water hits my throat and wakes me up, and...*

*Now, now, close your eyes, I'll take care of that...* And with a slight touch of her hand, Fen drifted off, fitfully.

***

A great tongue licked at him, as though a great stag or wolf lapped at his face. Too many sensations accosted him to stay asleep, and he lurched awake.

So great was his movement, water sprayed away from him. it seemed as though he could see a tiny sea-horse hurdling through the air away from him a midst the sea-water and kelp. He shook his head and blinked at the bright, shining sun glaring at him.

The tide had gone out, and it must have been quite the low tide, as the usual pools were half way between here and the beach. The Sea-mother's magic hadn't removed the ability to breathe above the water, but it hurt as Fen tried to push the water out of his chest.

He wasn't sure, but this didn't seem like the way it was supposed to be: he'd heard of other elves that lived in the sea, and it was these stories that had brought him to the coast to seek them out, but there were no stories about these distant cousins having trouble moving from sea to land and back again... his neck-slits felt like they were burning, like his throat when he was dry and thirsty, and he coughed fitfully to clear the water from his chest, his stomach cramping now that he was fully awake and aware of what was going on.

The coughing went on and on, and it occurred to him to try to stand and bend half over, to try and get the water to drain out. He saw stars and fought to keep his eyes from bulging as he coughed out the last bit of water. His stomach cramps did not end, however, as the coughing had caused him to vomit. Now he fought for every breath and considered diving back underwater, but remembered how torturous it had been when the Sea-mother had shown him how to use his neck-slits and first breathe underwater just a few days ago.

But the fits relaxed, finally, and he was able to look around himself. The morning sun was at his back and this was good, as he could make out all sorts of tall-ones combing the tide-pools for things to eat. The roar of the waves must have kept them from hearing his coughing fits, as they didn't see him yet. Fen lowered himself away from the beach until just his head broke the surface.

It had not all been pain and anguish the last few days. This was one of the things he'd enjoyed, rising and falling with the waves as they undulated around him. He imagined himself as a piece of kelp, washing back and forth, not fighting the current but drifting with it, without a care in the world.

The Sea-mother had promised him time and time again that she would take him to see the other sea-folk soon, but after her sudden appearance and causing him to sleep as she had, he began to feel picked on, as though her goal was to keep him here, not follow his heart.

After his neck-slits had been whetted by the waves a bit, he bobbed down the coast-line away from the piling of rocks that jutted out to the deeper sea. This seemed to be the direction the tall ones came from when they visited the beach, and while no sane elf would seek out a meeting with one, Fen had often found interesting things to be learned when he spied on them.

He'd learned some of their speech over the seasons, and didn't have to get very near their sea-dens to make out some of their shouting:

"...missed the (something) and now we have to wait for later!" said one angry tall-one.

Another tall-one shot back: "Well if you hadn't been out with the (something something) you could have helped me load up!"

The first hushed him, clapping his five-fingered hand over the other's mouth. "Hush yer jabbering, You can't prove that and other than stir up trouble, there’s no reason to bring it up!"

Fen snuck from wave-crest to wave-crest to get near the sea-den tied up in the surf. The pair fought a bit until the second tall-one finally pushed the first off of him. "Yeah, well, this ain't helping us get out to sea any sooner. But I don't really see any reason this was going to change much. Those fish-folk aren't goin' nowhere."

"That's assuming the (something) knows what he's talking about. After the last few trips out, I've been wondering if he's gotten a little... off?" said the first tall-one.

"Funny how you aren't worried about sayin' things like that out loud but don't want me talkin' 'bout your nights out..."

"Just shut yer yap about things you don't know about."

"...and if you're so... drawn... to the stuff
(something) why are you going out to sea? Land seems... safer for you, especially if you think this trip to wipe out the fish folk for the reward is a fever-dream..."

Fen dropped below the waves like a stone. As it was with most places he'd visited, the tall-ones here were bent on ending his kind, and supposedly had a plan to raid them soon!

He held his breath, not risking another fit from forcing water into his lungs, and headed out to sea, not coming up for air until he couldn't stand it any longer. He rolled over so only his face broke the surface, and gulped air while he glided. He hoped there was enough glare from the rising sun to keep the tall-ones from looking his way while he thought about what he should do....

Awww, LIKE!
I like this story: where do I start? "Fen" is such a lovely name.

" There wasn't a hint of joy in seeing the waves from below, even with the moon light dancing across the sea-bed."
Beautifully described but sad. Such a beautiful atmosphere you describe here, I would like to lie down on the ocean floor and look up too like Fen, one of my impossible wishes. It's just such a shame that it doesn't give Fen any good feeling .

The Sea-mother! She seems to be a sly bitch, a classic siren that promises a lot and keeps nothing, and instead seems to seek to end his life. Fen fights for almost every breath and is sedated (?) By her. Sounds like she's trying to slowly drown him. As if that didn't sound like Winnowill? I am so curious, who she is! Will you write more of Fen? And will he find the other sea elves? And where does this guy comes from and who are those other sea elves ...and..and...and
Pllllllz more of it! Maybe next grabbag?

" This was one of the things he'd enjoyed, rising and falling with the waves as they undulated around him. He imagined himself as a piece of kelp, washing back and forth, not fighting the current but drifting with it, without a care in the world."
Luv this scene! Wanna swim with him like kelp and caring for nothing but the sea!

I have no idea what I'll write in the future. Anytime I try planning a story or whatnot I fail to finish it. As has been said before, for me, I'm discovering the story as I write it, and usually have little clue where it's going to go until it organizes itself in front of me. I don't know how else to describe it.

I'm glad you liked it. I didn't know what I was going to write about until seeing the 'flying horse' reference, and a seahorse popped in my head, and with all the merfolk art going around of late, i figured I'd give it a try. Not the easiest thing for me, living inland as I do, but I did swim quite a bit growing up, to the point I could just about fall asleep underwater (which sounds funny now that I type it, but as I don't float well, or rather, at all when I was younger, it was easy to lay down on the bottom of the pool and relax, nearly weightless with the mild current tugging me around. I was often used as a 'victim' for training... lol) Trying to get 'Raid' in was the hard one, as I hadn't set up much interaction for Fen. In fact, he didn't even have a name until I had to differentiate him from the sailors. I usually write from my own perspective as though I were there, so, as I don't generally reference myself to myself in normal day-to-day, I hadn't even realized he didn't have a name until then.

I like writing. It's often an adventure to itself.

I don't know what will happen with Fen. I kind of see him as a Indiana Jones type, out seeking new experiences and going where he is pushed, which, hopefully, won't lead him to a dead end. We'll see.

Oh, and yeah, he's got a kind of love/hate thing going on with his situation, as the area of the coastline that the Sea-mother has him cooped up in (for whys and wherefores we don't know yet) is pretty bland. If you were locked in a white room with little in it except perhaps some shadows of things outside, waving in the wind, no one around but the one keeping you there, and little else but a floor and a ceiling, it wouldn't matter how pretty the shadows were or the light from the sunset if that's all you saw or experienced. It may have started out as pretty, but becomes fairly monotonous after a while. He thrives on new experiences, and being 'stuck' as he is does not sit well with him, even if it's for the promise of new experiences 'soon'.

I liked the story very much, TrollHammer! Glad the flying horse inspired you to come up with a sea horse! That's so cool and creative! The protagonist Fen really has such a beautiful name. It seems like there's the dawning star of a hero in him!    Thank you for explaining more about his character, for example comparing him as the adventurous Indiana Jones type!

I find it a bit hard to create a visual picture of him in my head...how does Fen look like? How does Sea-mother look like? Does ''dark form'' mean she is moving in darkness, thus one only sees a dark shadow of her or are her colors black?

Moreover I am absolutely amazed that you are one of the kind of genius writers who are just writing automatically without a plot in mind...


...to have such a talent and intuition is a TRUE GIFT.          

Thanks for the complements, but my writing ability only seems to work for Elfquest. I have a few other stories in other settings (I think I did a Eragon/Starwars crossover once, and one on Supergirl if she had been sent in a pod to our earth actual instead of Kal-el.) but EQ is the only place that I seem really comfortable anymore. But thanks for the complement, though!

As I stated earlier, when I write I don't really 'see myself' when I write from my own perspective within the story, so if there are no mirrors of note (pool of water, or perhaps some figurative twisted reflection of one's self), or it doesn't come into play, it usually doesn't get mentioned. It's a weakness in my writing that bugs a lot of people. I work on it and then forget down the road. Anyway, I have no mental image of Fen at this time. Perhaps a rather plain male elf, perhaps a plains elf, likely at this time without much for clothes above the waist due to being under water (I've swam with clothes on before, jeans t-shirt, socks, shoes and sweatshirt, and it's... very tiring.) and... probably short hair? There's really no reason for it to be short, though it would be likely he'd have a knife or similar tools if he's traveling and having to craft stuff along the way. He's only been acclimatizing to the water for a week or less, so it's not likely he'd have a lot of sun exposure due to this. Outside of that, I have no idea what his complexion is or other features. Leave it up to your imagination (most of the books I've liked the characters I've imagined have been quite different to later depictions of them in movies or illustrations, and I figure most people are that way, so why force it?)

Sea-mother... hmm... Obviously, Fen should have seen her before, but within the context of this story, she seems to keep to the edges of his vision, or not allow him to be alert enough to look at her properly. Yes, I see her as Winnowil, though I'm tempted to make her perhaps a 'wannabe', like another healer that noticed her at some point and took up Ol' Winnie's methods. A mystery for now. Dunno what will happen yet. I try to keep things like that loose, so I have room to write what I feel later. If I nail something down too 'set in stone' then I end up with more difficulties if I need to write around something later. For now, think of her as something similar to Winnowil, looking something like Ursula but more 'lamprey eel' like and elfin.

I look forward to seeing what you come up with, Prayer. I do like seeing other's imaginations run wild!

TrollHammer wrote:

Thanks for the complements, but my writing ability only seems to work for Elfquest.

Isn't that kind of a funny thing? How it's easier to write someone else's characters and world than invent your own. I guess because the tone, and much of the work is done--- so you just have to jump in running.

But I bet you could. If you wanted to. Writing is writing.

In the meantime, your stories are great and I'm enjoying them!

Thanks! always good to see you around Luna.

I actually read this a few days ago and figured, hey, why not try it. Challenge accepted.

Got into an existential crisis trying to get passed writers block, spent a few hours writing about whether or not writing fiction in a reality vein is lieing and what not (I actually do write a lot about philosophical things, no one ever sees them, but I could probably compile them into a book and it would hit an inch or two thick double sided... or more... dunno, never worried about it. lol.) Anyway, finally popped out of the argument with myself with hey, why not work on one of my story lines I did in middle school? Got a couple paragraphs in and had to close up the ol laptop for the day, so who knows what will happen to that.

Got a 3d printer put together, all but the leveling. I've been looking for years for EQ related prints to make or modify, but this subject is such a small microcosm that I can't find much. Well, besides the Heroforge stuff done on here. If I get into tabletop RPG Ill try pursuing those, but what I'd really like to find is some posable 3d models of the actual EQ figures, including the wolves, and especially the trolls. I made some low-polygon models back when I was working on the game that went no where, but I didn't think they were all that good. Still, with a new reason to 3d model again, maybe I'll work on some? Use grab bags as a muse-kicker? Hmmm...

Anyway, again, nice to see you around Luna, and if you want to kick stories around the forum camp fire again, let me know. I completely understand how fleeting and scarce time is for you, but I also know how nice it is to have a little corner of the internet to hide and relax.

Today I finally got time for my grab bag contribution.     I was amazed by TrollHammers contribution and really fell in love with the characters. So I drew them how I imagine them to look like.

Awwww, it is Fen and his misleading "Sea mother". Cool drawing!

Great drawing! I wish I had time to kick around stories-- but I'm a little overwhelmed by life right now. Maybe when my daughter starts school, I'll have some more time. In the meantime, I'm enjoying lurking and following you all. I do stop by often, to read what's going on here. I don't often log in, because I tend to be using my phone and it always logs me out. My thumbs are clumbsy in typing passwords!

Ok, last day of July. No I didn`t finish my Grab bag project (again, sigh) but at least here is the pencil version of it, so that you know, that I have a contribution for this month.
If someone notices mistakes, they are welcome to contact me again before I ink the outlines.  Well,If you can still see anything at all, because this is my large-format sketch book.
that's really a lot of work, whew  
raid
Pegasus (or flying horse) well, not voluntarily, LOL

Poor human ... poor pony 

Artwork looks great, tho!

thanx, Em.

@Prayer Thanks for breathing life into these characters, you have a very good imagination and sense of proportion, and the lines flow well. For as bleak of a situation as Fen is in, your image is still cheery in its own way. At least it made me smile.

@Yeee Those darn harpies! Someone sign them into Netflix or something so they don't get so bored they just start dropping things, people, animals... If they don't watch it, they'll get confused for sea gulls. As per usual, you have a knack for telling a whole story in one flowing image. Still, I'd like to see more, like a bigger picture: is this one small portion of a larger battle, or is it like Kahvi's focused attack, a small group or individual with a small set goal?  Mysteries teasing me.  Great to see it!

@Luna: Just having you lurking around is awesome. It somehow feels better to know there's a cat watching from the corner of the room...

Thanx a lot, Trollhammer.
Just like your story, this was just a spontaneous idea that went with 2 of the Grabbag themes.
And because there was a flying horse, the harpy elves fit pretty well.
There is no story behind the picture yet.
picture status still WIP, soon I will finish the inking.

finished:
raid
Pegasus (or flying horse)

The rider and his horse should not have climbed the mountains of the harpy elves.
Soaron does not allow the nests to be in danger ...

After his "heroic deed" Soaron is honored at a campfire by the harpy elves. (no more drawn pictures  but fitting in greatly here for the storytelling )
"... and then I came from the other side of the mountain, flew silently over the top very close to the ground ...


..and bang! The two flew back all the way they had laboriously climbed to the top ...


...They couldn't have foreseen that, ha ha!"


"Yay! Great! Smart!" ... languishes for Soaron ...


Bah, I could have done that very easily too.


"Really?!?"


"Yes, and then I would finally get my adulthood ceremony animal skull too!" ... sulky

Hareesh laughs uproariously
Edit (now I have pictures of Hareesh)

Heheh hahaahaaaa

and Aneret enjoys the horse's leg and refrains from stupid sayings like Shaheer.

"Go play, nestling!"


Grrrr, growl "Say that again!"

It just developed spontaneously at writing that Shaheer is jealous of Soaron ...  more stuff for storytelling
"Enough!"

"Annoying Shaheer is my privilege, not yours, Soaraway!"

"Yummy Hoarse!"

"Stop annoying each other, hatchlings! We adults want to eat in peace, so shut your beaks! "

Aneret has the final say...

@Yeee: You have so much fun with those. and it's so much fun to watch your interplay between the figures.

There was one... small... thing that popped into my head after seeing the goggles... and then other adornment...

I know it's a limitation of Heroforge vs what you draw, but...

how do they put or adjust the goggles (and other things) without fingers?

(purposely being silly, but it could lead to some funny explorations of their interworkings as a group)

Yay, thanx! Yes it makes so much fun to play with HF !

"how do they put or adjust the goggles (and other things) without fingers?

(purposely being silly, but it could lead to some funny explorations of their interworkings as a group)"
Well, that would certainly lead to very intimate interactions between the bird elves.