August 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 since we are light this month, try for all three topics for stories. (but participation is appreciated more than strict adherence to the 'rules')

Stories and poems can be as long as you want them to be. Images of artwork should be resized to 1024 wide or less for easier viewing (but feel free to link to your full size artwork if you desire.)

Elements:
Heat
Cave Flower
Crystal

The month got away from me, and the idea I had at the beginning of the month didn't work out yet... I'll keep at it, but until then...

heat
cave flower
crystal


Those short lived beings of the surface, the ones that may not spend enough time in one place to see the mountains walk as they do, there is little they would understand of the beauty of time underground.

But those such as I who have been committed to staying, as I have, for so long that the slow creep of the ground is noticeable, even deep underground where the only sense of this journey of mineral and mighty stone is the gradual change in how the tunnels twist, there are rare sights to behold.

In this case, long ago in the far reaches of an abandoned mine, there was a rupture in the floor, a pocket of vapor burst forth and killed the crew that had tunneled this way, and ever since, the hot breath of the bowels of deep below has hissed away, gradually fading as it did so. The area was safe now, for me, as I went back to visit the flowers that now grew there.

It was a rare thing indeed, since it was hard to find a fissure like this in a tunnel, with a leak such as this, but for the air that came from it to grow crystals over time, it was a treat for a prospector such as I.

I have come here every few eight-eights of eights to see how it has developed, and it has grown into a forest of crystal flowers. They had started out blue when I first found them, but the newer parts of them are more pinkish-white. My torch glints from the thousands of facets, which twinkle as my flame dances. It is true, that some others of my kind would have shattered this thing of beauty long ago, and come back to gather more crystals as they grew, trading this for a brew or other short lived frivolity... but I had decided long ago that I would leave this to come back and see whenever I felt a little unwell, to raise my spirits and make me smile.

It wasn't as though there was enough here for a Nameless One such as I to end his exile anyway.

Sounds like Two Edge is coming around again. Is he?

Those crystals are magical! I can imagine the enchanting athmosphere of this place.    

TrollHammer wrote:

... but I had decided long ago that I would leave this to come back and see whenever I felt a little unwell, to raise my spirits and make me smile.
.

Whish I could do this, too, in my spare time

Yeee wrote:

Sounds like Two Edge is coming around again. Is he?

I have the same question...is he?

I participate with a poem about one of my fav characters:

Nice poem Prayer! It wasn't until reading this that I realized the greater contrast between Winnie and Leetah: Leelah THRIVED in the desert, surrounded by desolate sand and miniscule resources, she did not succumb to any lack of what Winnowil had in plenty. Blue mountain was surrounded with water, food, wood, magic users, and followers, yet Winnowil withered and grew sickly in her comfort.

A Desert Rose indeed. I am well acquainted with the desert, and flowers blooming out in the dry, dusty ground seem all the more special.

RE: Is it Two Edge?

No, the Nameless Prospector is not Two Edge. I'm my imagining of "traditional troll culture", there would be the King's favored, who could do just about nothing wrong as long as they met quota and kissed up to the King. There would be the rest of the working class which would be broken into skilled and unskilled, in that the skilled would be those considered to be highly valuable in what they did for the kingdom, and the unskilled would be those that do the petty stuff no one else wanted to do.

If you ran afoul of the King's displeasure, it would seem that:
A) upper working class has some leniency, so long as they made up for it or could pass the blame to someone else.
B) skilled lower working class: punishments include disfigurement, shaming, banishment, loss of possessions, and downgrade in labor position.
C) lower class unskilled: these would usually just run off if they knew they were likely to be in trouble, but if they are too lazy, inept, or oblivious, the King would find much more value in using one to be an example. Amputation, death, or other horrendous penalties, or for lesser irritation, impossible missions they could not return from without something of high value have been known.

The Nameless Prospector has had his name and most of his title removed, and lives banished from the kingdom. It is implied he could return with something of extreme value and essentially buy his way back into the kingdom. Prospectors generally are skilled workers of value, in that they must be physically fit enough to tunnel, know how to read the stone for likely deposits and structure, and be knowledgeable about a great many things. They must also be trustworthy enough to report findings properly so the King knows what he has. Therefore, one who considers themselves a banished prospector is one of two things: one of the unsuited that was smart enough to exile themselves before they were caught, and are living to themselves as to what they are, pretending to be prospectors to explain their solitude (though they would generally retain their name, to themselves at least), or a valued worker that was truly banished for some perfieved wrongdoing. In this case, our main character is likely a valued worker that was blamed by one of the upper class for something he didn't do, and the King, not being dumb, but victim of his own methodology, exiled him with simple conditions that do not really harm him, but give a clear picture to his lackies who value social status.

Also the Prospector seems I sightful and does not seem to feel drawn back to the kingdom, implying he is, indeed a skilled, smart troll that may be lonely, but enjoying what he can of his freedom.

(Had no internet to speak of for a bit, couldn't log on, but I'm back)

Thank you, TrollHammer. Leetah and Winnie are a bit like contrasting sisters - light and dark. Both powerful yet one thriving and the other withering, one choosing love and the other choosing (or giving in to) hate and grief.

Flowers in the desert must indeed look very special and beautiful.

Thank you for explaining the Nameless Prospector! Insightful what you write about the working classes (brutal, too). Hopefully the Prospector isn't too lonely and how unfair if he was really being punished for something he didn't do...