SFF Short Stories

Session Summary
Milyagon Adventures
Just Quest Sandbox
Library Game Day
August 10, 2024

This map of Woods Way across the magic forest, Wilken Woods, was drawn by Bre who played Flower the halfling cleric.

Amberly, an elven ranger, and Ukelele Elf, a human rogue, traveled from Milyagon across Wilken Woods to Tobbins Shire for the fair. In Tobbins Shire they meet Flower, a Halfling Cleric who loves nature. She decided to return to Milyagon with them for the scenery and the company.

Our story begins when they leave Tobbins Shire, cross the bridge, and step out on Woods Way. Amberley is walking lead point and after about an hour she notices something ahead, just off the trail on the left, that looks like a nest except that it’s a little bit too orderly.

As she approaches she can tell it’s a basket so she takes a step off the road where she can see a human baby sleeping in the basket.

The babe wakes up when Amberly picks up the basket and brings it onto Woods Way. Flower immediately loves the baby and lifts the babe out of the basket and gives it a gentle hug and a rock. Ukelele Elf has no experience with babies and he is also quite afraid of Wilken Woods as he has heard the story of Yon Rogar’s Hat.

After a short discussion the party decides to take the human baby on to Milyagon, a human village, rather than back to Tobbins Shire. There is a Biguns Road in Tobbins Shire but if a human babe had been missing it would have been the talk of the fair.

Generally speaking, Woods Way is safe for travel during the day, so the party hikes on for several hours without incident. They can see a large tree on the right with branches overhanging the road when suddenly they hear a loud noise behind them, like a tree falling in the woods. They turn to look but don’t see anything. When they turn back there are three owls perched on a branch in front of them, above their heads.

Their eyes all open wide and Flower waves a hand and says, “Hi”, feeling kind of silly talking to some owls in front of her new friends.

The owl in the middle says, “Hello. I see you have a baby.” Everone is surprised to hear the owl speak but, after all, they are in a magic forest so they’re not that surprised.

Amberley and Flower both speak to the owls asking what they know about the baby, do they know where it came from, have they seen it before?

The owl in the center says, “We don’t know where it came from but we did see it before. The fairies had it in the woods.”

Amberly and Flower wonder if it is a human baby, since the fairies had it.

The owl in the center says, “Indeed it is a human baby. It’s often hard for us to determine what the fairies are up to since they are so flighty.”

Amberly thanks the owl for the information and says they are taking it to Milyagon to see if they can find the baby’s mother or at least someone to take care of it.

The middle owl says, “That’s probably wise.”, and then all three of them are gone in a frenzy of flapping wings and feathers.

After about another hour of hiking the party crosses the bridge over Rune River, they see Milyagon ahead and to the left they see Yon’s brother, Jon Rogar, over by the docks.

Ukelele Elf shouts out, “Jon, we found a baby.”, and Jon waves them over. Ukelele Elf works for Jon in an informal capacity and he sleeps in the stables so he is glad to leave the magic forest behind and be back home.

Amberley carries the baby over and Jon and the baby grin at each other.

Amberley asks Jon, “Have you heard of a missing baby? I found it just off the road on Woods Way.”

Jon says, “No. I haven’t heard anything about a baby but it sounds like fairies to me.”

Ukelele Elf shouted out, “The owl said he saw the baby with some fairies.”

Jon nodded and said, “You better take it to town and ask around. That baby can’t take care of himself”, assuming the baby is a boy without actually checking.

Now Milyagon is a small village centered on an old army fort with log walls and lookout towers. Since they are no longer at war the gates always stand open. Mayor Bannych and Sherrif Slykver oil the hinges and close and open the gates on the first day of every month just in case there’s an orc raid from the north or possibly a group of bandits hungry enough to try to get at their stores. Since the end of the war several buildings have been built inside the walls leaving roads and alleys between them. (See the Milyagon Players Handbook Minizine or One Page for maps and NPC descriptions.)

Just through the gates is the inn so the party decides to stop there first to quench their thirst and ask about the baby. Tyad Miggles, the innkeep, approaches the party with a grin. “Amberly, Ukelele, what’s this?”, he says, “A halfling and a baby?”

Amberly introduces Flower to Tyad and says, “I found the baby just off the road on Woods Way. An owl said the fairies had it.”

Tyad nods his head and replies, “Oh, so you talked to the owl. That’s probably right then. Fairies have been known to play tricks like that.”

Flower says, “Do you know about a missing baby?”

Tyad shakes his head, “No, you better try to find the Sherrif. He was here a few minutes ago. He’s probably still in town.”

So after a quick quaff the party is back outside looking for the sherrif. Making a circle past the well they pass the mayor’s house and go into the Town Hall. They are greeted by the clerk and they ask for the Sherrif. The clerk says the Sherrif is with the Mayor.

So it’s back to the mayor’s house where they knock on the door. Mayor Bannych and Sherrif Slykver come out onto the porch.

“So Amberly”, says the sherrif, “When did you have a baby? And who is the cute halfling with the big stick?”

Amberly introduces Flower and says, “It’s not my baby. It’s human. Do I look human?”

Ukelele Elf shouts out, “We found him in the woods. The owl said the fairies had him.”

The mayor says, “So you talked to the owl? Probably fairies then. But we haven’t heard of a missing baby. In fact there’s been no baby born recently in town.”

The Sherrif says, “You probably better go see the witch. She delivers most of the babies around here. And she always knows who’s had a baby.”

The witch lives about three miles north of town so after a few more hat tips and nods the party takes their leave and heads north through the back gate.

Ukelele Elf shouts out to the gatekeeper, “We found a baby and we’re going to see the witch.”

After being introduced to Flower the gatekeeper says, “You should be safe enough with Amberley and her bow. There have been some bandits a little bit too close to town for my liking. The Sherrif and I will probably have to clear them out soon. If they’ve got any sense they won’t get crossways with the witch.”

Amberley ties the baby and basket around Flower’s shoulders like a back pack to make the hike easier and so their arms can be free in case of trouble.

After walking about a mile they see four ruffians off to the right up a hill in front of a wood lot. They don’t look like woodcutters so Amberley grabs her bow and Ukelele Elf pounds his club into his hand hoping the ruffians will stay where they are. But no, here comes the tallest one with the other three not far behind.

The bandit leader shouts out, “Don’t look like you have much. What’s in that basket, a picnic.”

Flower bangs her staff on the ground and shouts back, “No it’s a baby and you’ll have to come through me to get to it.”

Now Flower’s staff has a crystal attached to the top of it mainly because Flower thinks it’s pretty. She’s a cleric, so she doesn’t need a focus for her magic, but the bandits see a fierce halfling wizard threatening them with a staff. (The crystal does make a pretty good head conker.)

Amberley and Ukelele step forward in front of Flower and the bandits can see that they’re ready to protect the baby too.

Now they are closer, Amberley and Ukelele Elf recognize the bandit leader and he recognizes them.

He shouts out, “Oh, hey Ukelele, don’t mean no trouble. We don’t want a baby anyway. All that crying and mess. You all just go on your way and forget you ever saw us.”

Ukelele Elf leads the party on towards the witch’s cottage with Flower following. Amberley takes tail point walking backwards with her bow still in her hand. The bandits retreat back up the hill to the shade of the wood lot.

After they are out of earshot Amberley says, “Looks like we might have a problem to take care of after we see this baby is safe.”

They hike on and get to the witch’s cottage without any further problems. The witch is out in her garden tending her herbs.

Amberley calls out, “Grandma Mary, we found a baby on Woods Way. Come and see.”

The witch looks at the baby and you can see the gears whirring around in her head.

Flower says, “I love your garden. The plants are so beautiful. I wish I could grow plants like that.”

The witch says, “Plants grow themselves. If you have trouble gardening it’s almost always because of too much care.”

Flower says, “Any time I try to grow anything it dies.”

The witch says, “Well, you have to take care of this baby first. But then come back and enjoy the plants and I may have a pot or two around here where I can help you start a hardy herb and you can gain some confidence.”

Amberley says, “I love plants too but what about the baby. Do you know who the mother couold be?”

The witch looks at the baby’s tiny fingers and says, “This baby is young. The last time I saw Goodwife Jones she was big but I haven’t heard any bad news from that way. The Jones farm is on the right a few miles up the North Road. I think you should take the baby up there. But you need to watch out for bandits. I’ve been so busy I let them get too close. Of course, they don’t come around my place.”

Amberley said, “We already saw them and sent them on their way. I think the Sherrif has got the word too. Someboy’s going to have to deal with them bothering people just a mile out of Milyagon.”

So the witch repeats her invitation to Flower and the party is back on the road heading north again. In less than an hour they saw the Jones farm on the right, a nice little house and an open pole barn for the animals to get under during a storm.

They go up on the porch and Flower knocks on the door. Goodwife Jones steps out onto the porch and immediately notices the baby Flower is carrying in a basket strapped to her shoulders.

“Ohhhh, my baby!”, Goodwife Jones says as she lifts it out of the basket.

She cuddles the baby in her arms and the baby grins and says, “Gooooo.”

Goodwife Jones gets a confused look on her face and says, “But how could you have my baby out here when I just put her to sleep in her crib.” Amberly and Flower notice just how wrong Jon had been.

Goodwife Jones turns and walks into the house as the party follows. Standing by the crib they see another baby that looks exactly the same as the baby they had found. Goodwife Jones carefully lays her baby down next to the other one.

Everyone sees two identical twins laying in the crib, one sleeping and the other slowly reaching out. When the babies touch the glamour falls away from the fairy baby and now everyone see two babies laying in the crib, the one they brought, human, and the other one, fey. The fey baby wakes up and they both gurgle and goo at each other.

Now Ukelele Elf doesn’t like fey at all in fact he’s quite scared of them. He also has poor impulse control and before you know it his club was in his hand and heading straight toward the fey baby.

Fortunately Flower quickly intervened with her staff and reprimanded him saying, “Ukelele Elf, it’s a baby.” She snatches the fey baby out of the crib to give her some love.

Goodwife Jones says, “All day long I’ve been loving a fey baby and my baby was missing. I didn’t even know it.” But she still loved the fey baby and she took her from Flower’s arms.

Goodwife Jones’ baby suddenly noticed she was all alone in the crib and started to cry. Flower reached down and picked her up, comforting her.

Then Goodwife Jones said, “If those fairies don’t care enough about their own baby to care for it I’m just going to keep her and raise her with my own. I’ve got enough love in me to raise two babies and we certainly need the help on the farm.”

Amberly says, “What about your husband? What will he say about a fey baby?”

And Goodwife Jones says, “He’s going to love both babies because I’m going to tell him to.”

All present laughed and grinned, even the babies who didn’t get the joke but still caught the mood. Goodwife Jones put the kettle on so they could all have tea before walking back to Milyagon. (With a couple of side quests on the way.)

Actually the party was quite relieved that they didn’t have to care for a baby any more.

The end.
(Everybody levels up.)

Magical Adventures

Written by ChatGGPT. (This is pretty much an argument against AI authors.)

Prompt - write a fantasy short story of about 200 words

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there lived a mischievous fairy named Tilly. Tilly had a knack for causing trouble, and the other fairies in the forest would often scold her for her antics.

One day, Tilly stumbled upon a magic wand hidden deep in the forest. With the wand in her hand, Tilly felt a newfound power coursing through her body. She waved the wand and shouted, “Abracadabra!”

Suddenly, the world around her transformed into a magical wonderland. The trees grew taller, the flowers bloomed brighter, and the animals could talk!

Overjoyed with her newfound power, Tilly explored the magical world, casting spells and making friends along the way. But as the day wore on, Tilly began to feel a pang of guilt. She knew that the world was not meant to be this way forever.

With a heavy heart, Tilly waved the wand once more and shouted, “Undo, undo!”

The world transformed back to its normal state, but Tilly was left with a newfound appreciation for the beauty of the world around her. From that day on, Tilly promised to use her powers for good and to never take the beauty of the world for granted.
—
ChatGPT Feb 13 Version. Free Research Preview. Our goal is to make AI systems more natural and safe to interact with.

chat.openai.com/chat

Image generated by NightCafe.

https://nightcafe.studio/

prompt - mischievous fairy with a magic wand in a magical wonderland, fine face, fine hands

Everything is Public Domain.

Photo by Polarqueen - CC BY-SA
https://commons.wiki … /File:Fancy_mice.jpg

Mouse Plural

If we have houses
Why not mouses
If we have mice
Why not hice

I have done extensive research using an ancient computer program called the Wayback Machine.

The truth is there is no such thing as mouse singular. There is never one mouse, they come in families.

If a group is a nest
What about the rest?
The rest are in another nest.

What we have on the ship is what used to be referred to as a house mouse. Ship mouse doesn’t rhyme but it will have to do.

The problem I foresee is their breeding. Mice begin breeding when they are 30 days old. Then they have litters. And then back to breeding. In thirty days all the mice in the litter are breeding.

Computer scientists call this an exponential explosion. Look at the graph of an expoential explosion. It’s frightening.

If mice go unchecked on the ship, exponentially exploding and eating and eating, we will soon leave post scarcity behind and we’ll all be eating mice.

The Wayback Machine mentioned an ancient predator called cats that were used to keep the mice population under control.

I’m not sure what a cat is but apparently humans like cats more than mice. Cats also have litters of kittens so it’s competing exponential explosions.

A clowder of cats
makes kindles of kittens
and they’re so cute!

I saw pictures on the Wayback Machine and mice are really cute too.

For some reason there are thousands of pictures of cats for every picture of a mouse.

So maybe they won?

We better find out where we can get cats sometime in the next 30 days.

—

Licensed CC BY-SA

Jupiter’s Ghost is free culture collaborative science fiction.

https://intergalactic.computer/

Original post on Gamer+

A bard’s songbook is like a magician’s spell book in that it contains words of power, songs for wind, songs for rain, songs to make the fire burn hotter and warm the room, songs of companionship to warm the heart.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/797

Ari and Caper worked on Caper’s Song Book last night on Inspired Unreality.

First we worked on a list of songs.

Song to make people dance
Song to make people alert
Song to make people like me AKA the opening numbers
Song of reflection

Song of hope

We renamed Song to make people alert to

Song of perception
tin tin aree tin tin aroo
look about look about could be you
jump about jump about one and two
tin tin aree tin tin aroo

and we wrote the lyric.

To be sung by the whole party twice through to increases alertness and perception.

The bard leads the song. The party sings it twice around. Just that helps. Some DMs may give pluses or advantage on perception and other pertinent rolls.

We had a great time and I look forward to filling in more blank pages in Caper’s Song Book in the future.

Next week, Monday, August 2, is the first Monday of the month and we will be discussing Fantasy and Science Fiction literature.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

The Wizard and the Djinn
by Larry Heyl - CC BY

Setup

The party wakes up in the morning next to a clear running creek. There is a slight chill in the air so they stir up the fire and make hot tea. They eat fruit and biscuits with their tea as they trade stories around the fire.

(DM hint: time permitting go around the table with the stories allowing the PCs to fill in their backstory and add items to their character sheet.)

They hear a noise in the woods and they all look to see what it is. When they look back there is a striking figure wearing a pointed hat and holding a staff standing next to the fire. The wizard addresses the party saying “I’m Randolph the Red and I need your help with a quest. There is a famous Djinn, Coriandor, who has disappeared. He had a spell book I need called The Pink Omnibus. He also had gold and jewels. I don’t need the treasure, you can keep that. But I need the spell book and if we find his lamp I want that too. Grab your packs and fill your water bags. You’ll need water where we’re going.”

If party members do not do as told Randolph the Red puts a compulsion on them. They do get a saving throw but he is a very powerful wizard. When they all have their water the wizard steps into the middle of the party and slams his staff on the ground. They begin spinning in a large circle like they were caught up by a tornado and then they fall from the sky to land in a desert surrounded by sand vipers, no wizard in sight.

Goals

Recover the Pink Omnibus and the lamp.
Make off with the loot.
Somehow return home (Probably with Randolph the Red’s help)
Get Even with Randolph the Red for his compulsion.

Assets

Map of the desert area where they are sent

Pregen character sheets for the party
Character sheet for Randolph the Red
Character sheet for Coriandor the Djinn
Character sheets for Coriandor’s friend and family

Stats for Sand Vipers and additional desert monsters

Map of the camp where the Coriandor’s friends and family wait for him including his tent

Map of his tent with the treasure, book, and lamp

Hot Java Blues
by Larry Heyl
licensed CC BY

Joe could dig some hot java to loosen up his teeth. He’d been too long on this rig and even if he was a whole lot closer than he was just a little while ago he was still worried. If he could just get back to Europa with this rock in tow everything would be all right. More than all right. He’d be alive.

When he saw the rock he let himself get greedy. Sure it was at the upper edge of the possible but look at that ore! And just look at the size of it! He let himself talk himself into it. And that was just his first mistake.

He filled the basket and hit the side of the percolator with his wrench until it started bubbling. Joe was still worried. He couldn’t get over woulda this and coulda that with his 20 20 hindsight.

He felt better with a hot cup in his hands. Still worried but better. The coffee soothed him but it reminded him of his problem at the same time. Sure he got the rock. Sure he turned it around. He’d be at Europa in a week. Maybe eight days. But he was still worried.

He still had at least a week to go on this bucket and he only had a three day supply of coffee left.

Photo public domain from Pixy. Click

Snowy Owl by Francois Nicolas Martinet & Georges Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon dated between 1770-1786 , public domain

Milyagon Treasure Hunt

Week One

Ari, Caper, and Tude (Ari’s wildcat) got a message from Kendrick to go see the witch at Milyagon. The witch gave them their quest, to bring back an owl’s tail feather, some squamish mushrooms, and a branch from the ancestor tree in the Wilkin Woods. She also mentioned that no one knew more about Wilken Woods than the woodcutter.

The party went and talked to the woodcutter who drew them a map and gave them sage advice about the fairies.

They entered Wilkin Woods and traveled nearly all the way across it on Woods Way. About halfway across they ventured south and found the first marked owl’s eyrie. Returning to Woods Way by traveling due north they found a landmark, a tree with a burl on it that looked a little bit like a face with knotholes for eyes.

Continuing along Woods Way they realize they must have passed the second marked eyrie. Caper leads the party back, leaving the road to the west of the eyrie which they also find. It is now evening so they eat supper and prepare to camp hoping for more luck with these owls in the night.

The Woodcutters Map drawn by Larry Heyl CC-BY

Week Two

Ari, Tude, and Caper were joined by Bones under the owl eyrie. The party erected a large tarp using rope and Bones’ tent hoping to catch a naturally falling owl’s feather. Caper climbed a tree trying to make friends with an owl but when it started to get dark he had to come down. They attracted two owls by putting out some meat in a cook pot on a tripod.

Then Ari threw Tude’s ball under some bushes. Tude ran over and flushed a bunch of rodents and bunnies. For a few minutes there was a flurry of owls feeding. The next time Tude ran under a bush Caper shot a little bunny rabbit. Holding the dead bunny Caper called to the owls with a series of hoots. An owl landed on Capers outstretched arm and started feeding. With his other arm he slowly petted the owl. And then he had a hold on the tail feather that had been bothering this owl. Bones said we should scare the owl. Tude tried to scare it and Caper added in some cat noises and the owl flew off leaving one tail feather behind. Caper handed the feather to Ari for safekeeping.

We went south looking for the fairy circle trying to get some help from the fairies finding the ancestor tree. Ari and Caper kept true south while Bones scouted east and west. Bones was about a quarter mile to the west when he found the fairy circle. He jumped right in it and started dancing but fortunately he made his saving throw and didn’t fall into Feyland.

Bones stayed near the fairy circle and after a while Ari and Caper noticed he was late. Ari asked Caper if he had anything with Bones scent on it so Tude could track Bones by scent. Caper held his rope out for Tude to smell and then they followed Tude west to Bones.

Caper found some rocks for chairs and sat down about 20 ft. from the fairy circle and played his flute. Sure enough some pretty fairies came to listen to the music and the party started up a conversation with them.

Week Three

In which we recover all the loot, branches from the ancestor tree, squamish mushrooms, and a tailfeather from an owl, and complete our quest.

Last week we left off talking to the fairies near the fairy circle. Cautious not to ask a favor and indebt ourselves to them we finally found out that the fairies remembered when the woodcutter came through here and found the ancestor tree. When the fairies pointed out the trail that the woodcutter took, Caper couldn’t see it but Ari and Bones could and Caper soon discovered that it was a game trail and he could also help follow it with his tracking skills.

After hiking for about 4 hours we found ourselves at the foot of a large hill. The trail seemed to continue up the hill but it was not distinct. We decided to climb to the top before dark even though we were already tired.

It was dusk when we got to the top so we waited for dark to see if the big tree at the top of this hill was the ancestor tree. Ari detected magic on the tree and it was magical. She detected magic on branches on the ground and they were not. So this might not be the ancestor tree but at least we were in the right vicinity.

The moon was already up in the sky when the sun set. Soon it was dark and the moon lit the treetops but we didn’t see a fey glow. Bones helped Caper up to the first branch and Caper carefully climbed to the top where he could look out over the moonlit forest. After Caper got back to the ground he said, “I think we’ve come too far. The moonlit glow is brightest to the northwest and I think the ancestor tree is back a ways in the direction we came.”

In the morning Bones suggested that Caper climb the tree again for a daytime view but it was slick with dew and Caper couldn’t do it. (I rolled a 4) So we headed back down the hill the way we came and at the bottom with the sun peeking up over the eastern horizon we searched for a path up a hill to the northwest. Soon we were climbing the next hill and were at the top well before noon.

Of course there was a big tree at the top of this hill too. Bones boosted Caper up and he was easily able to scramble up to the top. When Caper climbed back down he said, “The next hill to the northwest is even taller than this one. I’m not sure the ancestor tree is there but I’m pretty sure this isn’t the ancestor tree.” So after we ate we continued on to the northwest again. Ascending the next hill we found a huge tree. It was time for supper. After we ate we thought we would look around for squamish mushrooms just in case this was the ancestor tree. Bones found a patch of them due west and then Ari found a big patch north of them.

After the sun set the big tree glowed brighter than the moon. We went to the big patch of mushrooms and followed the moonbeams penetrating the forest canopy and shining on the ground. With half the night gone Bones finally saw the moonbeams light some mushrooms and he was able to pick five of them which barely covered the bottom of the witch’s bag.

In the morning we ate and although we were tired we decided to search for a branch from the ancestor tree before we slept. We searched here and we searched there and then Ari found a big branch just north of the tree. She detected magic on the branch and sure enough it was a branch from the ancestor tree. Caper searched again to the northeast and Bones searched around close to the tree. Bones found one but Ari couldn’t tell if it was magic or not. Caper suggested that Ari carry her branch and that Bones should carry his back to the witch to find out if it is magic.

After their naps Ari searched for medicinal plants and Caper searched for mushrooms. Ari found a fever plant and harvested leaves. Caper found two large mushrooms he knew to be edible but when Ari detected magic on them she discovered that they were magical and Caper decided not to eat the magic mushrooms until he had talked to the witch about them.

It took two more nights to find enough mushrooms. The third night we spread out a little with Bones looking at the patch to the west while Ari and Caper looked at the big patch. We had good luck toward morning. With the moon near full it didn’t set until almost sunrise. We ended up with 30 mushrooms. 20 filled the witch’s bag half full and Ari put the other ten in another bag stowing them carefully in her pack.

Although we were tired we decided to hike on back to Milyagon. We found a game trail heading east and we left the Wilken Woods in the farmlands to the west of Milyagon. Soon we were across the bridge and at the Inn having a hot dinner, something Caper really missed while they were camping.

After we ate it was a short walk to the witch’s cottage to the northeast of town and she was vary glad to see us. She kept the branch Ari was carrying saying it would do fine. She looked at the branch Bones found and said it was also from the ancestor tree and was in fact a magic quarterstaff. She told Bones to keep it and thanked him for his help. When Ari showed her the two bags of mushrooms she was delighted and said that she would teach Ari how to make the squamish salve and she could keep the extra for her medicine kit. She grinned wide when she saw the tailfeather, stuck it in her bonnet where it looked right at home, rolled her eyes three times, touched her nose, and said, “Yes, this will do nicely. My thanks to all of you.” Then Caper showed the witch his magic mushrooms found beneath the ancestor tree and the witch said, “Now these are nice. These mushrooms are not dangerous but they should be consumed in moderation. One half of one of these large mushrooms will affect three people as if they had two large tankards of ale. And, of course, the mushrooms are much easier to carry then a keg of ale. Unlike ale the mushrooms don’t slow you down in fact they do the opposite and make you slightly more dextrous for about four hours.”

Slight Denouement

Caper and Bones found a bench under an oak tree and sat down to rest while Ari and the witch made the squamish salve.

They ground the squamish mushrooms into a paste with wild cherries and sage to make the salve which is good for treating carbuncles and other skin ailments and can also cure light wounds. About 2/3 of the salve filled a jar the witch had set aside so she went and got a smaller jar which she filled and gave to Ari.

With that task done Ari and the witch walked over to Caper and Bones and the witch said, “The items are for the Ogre up in the foothills Northwest of Milyagon. He has been under pressure from orcs and hobgoblins moving in. The branch makes a magic quarterstaff to fend them off and the mushrooms are the important ingredient in a salve for his carbunkles. And the feather? That’s for his hat. The Ogre has a magic hat and the owl’s feather, willingly given, is a component of the spell. He is smart for an ogre because of the hat so it is very important that the feather in his cap does not become bedraggled.”

Enlightened but still very tired the party made their way back to the inn where they ate a hearty supper and turned in early for the night glad to be sleeping on beds under a roof instead of on the ground under the stars.

—
This story unfolded over three nights of play on discord. Vivian played Ari and Tude, Carl played Bones, I was the DM playing Caper as an NPC. I also wrote the quest soon to be published as a minizine. The text is licensed CC-BY.

Photo by Paul L Dineen, CC-BY https://www.flickr.com/photos/pauldineen/46318283

#SixWordStories is a thing.

Xan is an expert.

Here’s my first shot at #SixWordStories.

And then the sun went nova.

- by Larry Heyl CC-BY

There’s a website.

Six Word Stories

And a Flickr group.

https://www.flickr.com/groups/sixwordstory/

Prefaced by “Just as a reminder here is the story that started it all. For sale: baby shoes, never worn. “.

Illustration from The Violet Fairy Book, public domain

Yon Rogar’s Hat
by Larry Heyl

It was late afternoon and Yon Rogar eyed his woodpile. There was no way that tiny little bit of wood was going to get him through fair day, tomorrow. The woodcutter was late with his delivery, probably carving on one of those statues of his. Yon decided to go after some wood himself. He threw his ax in his barrow and pushed it across the bridge to the Wilken Woods.

As usual it was slim pickings with very little deadwood on the ground. Yon picked up a few pieces and then pushed his barrow deeper into the woods. This was more like it, he picked up a few more pieces and then eyed a dead branch, about to fall off an old oak tree. That one branch would fill his barrow, he thought, so he reached up and gave it a tug. It was still well stuck to the tree and Yon couldn’t pull it loose. So he reached up with his ax and gave it a good chop. That did it. The branch fell at his feet.

It was then that he heard the moaning, deeper than a person or an animal would make and more substantial than the wind. He looked around but he didn’t see anything moaning. The wind was picking up, blowing through the leaves with a whooshing sound and the moaning was getting louder. The branches started to thrash about but not like they should in a wind. They were like the arms of a giant, moving with purpose.

One of the branches knocked the ax out of his hand. One slapped at his face and when he ducked it took his hat off. Yon was frightened. He threw the ax and the dead limb into his barrow and he ran for the bridge, leaving his hat behind.

The branch didn’t really fit in the barrow and everywhere it hung out it was getting caught on scrub and bushes. Yon just bulled through never even slowing down until he was out of Wilken Woods.

He threw the dead limb on the ground and made short work of it with the ax cutting it into pieces small enough to fit in the barrow. He worked up a sweat and wiped his brow noticing his hat was missing. “I’ll go after it later.” he thought as he loaded the wood into the barrow and pushed it across the bridge.

After he had stacked the wood he was still hot so he went to the Inn for a pint. “I’ll have a story to tell tonight, that’s for sure.” he thought.

He never did go back after his hat.

Epilogue

About a month later Yon Rogar was at the woodcutter’s cabin bringing payment for some wood left at his forge and making another order. After they were done with business Yon looked around and right there, on one of those ax hewn wood statues, was his hat, sitting on that wood head just like it belonged there.

Thinking the woodcutter had found his hat in the woods Jon said, “That fellow there is wearing my hat.”

The woodcutter said, “Well, it was your hat, but I see you’ve got another one now.”

“Still, I liked that hat better. I think I’ll just take it home and clean it up.”

“Best not,” said the woodcutter, “You lost your hat to the woods and it’s yours no more. Ain’t no use in stirring up trouble or that fellow with your hat might come a visiting, looking for it.”

So Yon thought better of retrieving the hat and on the walk home he near convinced himself that he liked the new hat better. It did leave him wondering though, how the woodcutter knew he had lost his hat in a fight with the woods.

“Yon Rogar’s Hat” by Larry Heyl is licensed CC BY. There is more about Milyagon including Mini Zine Quests at minizines.cc.

First Edition

E. Grosvenor log entry t-1
The Space Beagle is departing in the morning.
Although the rest of the crew seems competent I am the only
Nexialist aboard.
I am getting used to sideways looks.
They don’t seem to know what to think of me.
They are mostly old space hands.
But none of us has done anything like this before.
If all goes well we may return before we die.
The more I explain the odds against everything going well
the less they want to talk to me.
I did the math, I know I’m right.
That doesn’t make me popular.
The next time I make a log entry we’ll all be in space.
I’m as excited as a podcaster.

—

This is my first log entry on my Cosmic Voyage. I have decided to play off of the A.E. VanVogt novel, Voyage Of The Space Beagle.

My text is CC-BY

Basho by Hokusai - public domain

Seventeen Haikus
by Larry Heyl

The first haiku was
the last one written. A glimpse
into the future.

—

Honored instructor,

I know this is not my assignment but I have just completed the most remarkable work. Against all dicta I was overtaken by a creative impulse. Three days ago seventeen haikus poured out as if written by the hand of God. Of course it was my hand and my brain so these haikus were quite flawed in form and substance. I have spent the last three days perfecting this work, still under the direction of the divine, and I can find no further way to improve them.

They are a masterwork, short as they may be. I know this in my soul. Although I know we are tasked with studying the work of our ancestors and we are foresworn against the production of new art I could not stop myself. It was as if I was possessed by angels. The words came alive. They forced my hand to write and revise. Now I am done.

I would like to read my work to you. I feel that is the best way to unfold it. The seventeen haikus are meant to be read aloud.

I feel I must include at least one. So here is the seventeenth haiku, about silence.

Silence permeates
the ethos. This is not death.
Still, this is silence.

—

As soon as I sent this message I had second thoughts. What if instead of allowing me to read to him he turned me in. He was a full professor after all. The Stasis could come down on him as well as me.

I had a sick feeling in my stomach. I was not worried about the enforcers. I was not afraid of death. But the seventeen haikus had to live. That was most important.

So I made a file, seventeenhaikus.txt, and I posted it to every group I was part of. Scholars all over the world would share this burden. It was the best I could do.

—

Three hours later the enforcers came. They were too late.

300 years later schools of the New Renaissance covered the planet teaching the seventeen haikus as their core curricula. They were a revered text but they could not be taught as revered. For as soon as they were read aloud all who heard them knew they too had to create. Some wrote haikus, some novels. Some played music. Some painted, danced, or sculpted. But it was all new art. The Stasis had ended.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Cosmic Voyage

cosmic.voyage is a tilde community based
around a collaborative science-fiction
universe. Users write stories as the people
aboard ships, colonies, and outposts, using
the only remaining free, interconnected
network that unites the dispersed peoples of
the stars. If you would like to join us,
contact register [at] cosmic [dot] voyage.

I did. Sounds like a great project to me.