17 April 2024

I was quite proud of this one. The mother and love stanzas need work still, I think, but overall I like how it turned out. Especially since every character listed, except (maybe) Elliott, is or becomes a dragon by the end of the series. For context, stanzas 1 and 2 are book 1; 3, 4, and 5 are book 2; and the last is book 3, which has a lot more focus on Arylwen and less on Charles, so that makes sense.

I actually started this by trying to see how few words I could use to “tell” the Majesty story. I wasn’t happy with that, and wound up here instead.

There stands a boy

Trembling in fear at the feet of the Pirate’s throne

Yet does not yield

And the Pirate hails him, King

There stands a boy

Looking into the face of an old, tired Mountain

And offers hope

And the Mountain hails him, King

There kneels a youth

His surrogate Mother fading fast

He, helpless, weeps

And the Mother hails him, King

There kneels a youth

A ring offered to the Love of his life

Promise ensured

And his Love hails him, King

There stands a man

Confronting she who has conquered the world

At last, triumph

And the Conqueror hails him, King

There stands a man

Betrayed by one who was once his dearest Friend

Together in death

Only then does the Friend hail him, King

4 April 2024

This is a D&D character I’ve made but never really gotten to play; she was the focus of the June 6 post for last year. This is exploring what would happen if one of the two personalities died or disappeared.

Tarynn woke up in her family’s house. She didn’t have the presence of mind to wonder about that; something was missing, like a giant hole carved into her soul.

Her other half was missing.

The version of her that had lived in the back of her head since she was a child; the version of her the rest of her party had taken to calling “tari” to distinguish between them. The confident, bold version that could do all the things Tarynn herself couldn’t.

She was gone.

Tears started rolling down Tarynn’s cheeks. Then, at the edges of her awareness, she felt a whisper of someone. Without even noticing she was still in her pajamas, she dashed after the feeling. Servants called after her, but she ignored them all, until the feeling led her out to the gardens, to the special place she and Tari would ren to whenever they wanted to be alone.

Of course, Tari wasn’t there.

Confused, wrung out, Tarynn turned to leave. Then she heard a distinct voice from the back of her mind, “Farewell, little Tarynn.”

Tarynn’s eyes went wide, and she sank to the ground and wept.