Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 4

Living Story Excerpts

He returned to Kharanos with the trolls dead and the meat and shimmerweed in tow. The dwarves gave him a feast in thanks, and Seryth went to bed with a bellyache and a sore head. He dropped off quickly into sleep, reflecting that he could always tell his father that the harvest had taken longer than usual to sell, hence his being away for a few days instead of the couple he had promised… Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 4”

Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 3

Living Story Excerpts

N/A.

Setting Translations

Also N/A!

Writing Process

This was a continuation of the scene started in Part 2, so I just had to complete the thought.

One thing I will have to watch in the future is how I describe rukh-shami. These ones at first act like moving boulders, but then Sirith notes they feel smooth and malleable like mud. Earlier in Chapter 1 he noted they bled sand. So which is it? Are these different sub-races? Or does it have to do with how these ones were burned to death instead of stuck with swords? Does normal fire even work on them? My world-building has a lot of unanswered questions…

The Prose

It was nearing sundown when Sirith approached the hills where the rukh-shami were supposedly encamped. He expected to see smoke rising in the air from campfires, but it was dark and silent all around. He pulled his ram to a stop and hesitantly dismounted, leading the riding goat into a brake of shrubs that he hoped would conceal it from sight.

Though the ympe clung impatiently to his shoulder, Sirith chose to approach the camps quietly, in a roundabout route up the shoulder of the hill rather than straight-on. He had an eerie feeling as he climbed Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 3”

Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 2

Living Story Excerpts

His fire magic kept him warm in the cold mountains, but it seemed to Seryth that it was just a little bit hotter, just a little bit wilder than it normally was when he summoned it…

Setting Translations

There’s nothing in this short excerpt to translate, except perhaps a reminder that Sirith isn’t in the mountains yet.

Writing Process

I read through some of the other chapters Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 2”

Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 1

Living Story Excerpt

Chapter 5: The ram finally slowed in Kharanos. By now, night had fully fallen. Seryth was hungry, and there were good smells coming from the tavern. "Stay here and don't get into trouble," he told the imp. The imp followed him anyway. The dwarves didn't seem to mint it, though, if they even noticed, and given the general level of drunkeness in the tavern, Seryth wasn't sure if they even did that. He asked a dwarf that seemed a little more curvy than the others where he could get something to eat. "Ye don't work, ye don't eat," said the dwarf, and handed him a requisition for boar meat and troll shimmerweed. Sighing, Seryth tramped back out into the snow... "Hey, at least you can get the bounty for the trolls while you're at it," said the imp, and then it quickly dodged a snowball.

Setting Translations

Kharanos = Svenby

When I’m stumped for a name, I’ll often look up words in a language that has the right look and feel for the culture I’m trying to name things in. Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 5, Part 1”

Conversion: Chapter 4, Part 3

Living Story Excerpts

The cat continued to follow him like a silent shadow as he walked through Ironforge. The tunnels seemed considerably smaller now than they had when he was a kid.

The gryphon master was uninterested in lending him a gryphon, and so Seryth hired out a dwarven riding ram instead. The beast snorted as he stepped it down onto the snowy cobbles of Dun Morogh. He looked back and saw the cat still standing behind him, watching.

Seryth sighed. “Oh, fine! Come along if you want, but don’t cause any trouble for me.”

The cat bared its fangs, and leaped onto the ram’s hind end, changing into an imp in midair. The ram bawled and bucked and bolted, and for a while, it was all Seryth could do to hang on. Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 4, Part 3”

Conversion: Chapter 4, Part 2 (Actually Chapter 3b)

Living Story Excerpt(s)

Chapter 3: The rewards for the gnoll-slaying and the farm chores were enough for Seryth to break even on his losses, but not enough to turn any profit. Seryth knew his father would be furious if he didn't come home with some extra silver to justify the trip. As he wandered the streets of Stormwind pondering the dilemma, Seryth was stopped by a dwarf smith who offered him coin if he took a message to Loch Modan. Loch Modan was a long way away, but the courier fees would more than cover the profits Seryth had expected to get from his now-stolen harvest. Seyth told the dwarf he would think about it and that he'd return in the evening if he decided to take the smith up on the job. The dwarf grumbled for him not to take too long.

While in the city, Seryth helped a child catch wayward balloons, bought himself a hat that was too big for him, and met a gnome with a pet bear named “Mangeclaw” that Seryth swore he had seen before, though it wasn’t clear to him why that’d be so, bears being a rare sight in Westfall.

Throughout it all, the calico cat continued to follow him.

As night fell, Seryth returned to the dwarf smith. Despite running errands for the local shopkeepers, he still hadn’t managed to make enough money for his foster father to be happy. Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 4, Part 2 (Actually Chapter 3b)”

Conversion: Chapter 4

Living Story Excerpt

Chapter 4: The tram arrived. Letting out a shout, Seryth jumped on it, thinking it would get him away from the imp. The imp only jumped aboard after him, still grinning as if baring feline fangs. "Hey, bud, I like you. You got spunk." It clung onto Seyth's robes and hung on as Seryth flailed around, trying to get it off. "Leave me alone!" "Nah. I can help you. You've got that kind of fire, y'see." The imp climbed up Seryth's robes and poked him in the chest. "You know the magic, right?" "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about--" Seryth had of course learned a few cantrips from the local hedge-wizard, mostly to do with making little flames in his hands or blinking around. He had a feeling the imp meant something else, though. "I mean you gots the FIRE," said the imp, digging a claw into Seryth's chest, hard enough to make him yelp. "I can sense it, right here. Don't believe me? Don't you ever remember a time that you just got a little..angry? And things seemed to happen, terrible, wonderful things, that fulfilled your wishes at the time?" "No," said Seryth sharply, trying not to think of his attacks on the gnolls. The tram had finally come to a stop on the Ironforge side of Deeprun, and Seryth hurriedly leapt down to the platform. The imp hopped off of him, taking a stance just a few feet away. "You should get, before some dwarf sees you and kills you," Seryth hissed. As if to punctuate the point, a gnome who had been standing nearby besides bunches of squeaking boxes, hailed Seryth and beckoned him over. Seryth side-stepped, the swish of his robes hiding the imp from sight. "Let me prove it to you," said the imp. "You help the gnome, and I'll help you." "Shut up," hissed Seryth, rubbing the clawmark in his chest. It was starting to bleed, sting, really, like a very hot fire. "I'll watch then," said the imp slyly, turning back into a cat.

Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 4”

Conversion: Chapter 3

Living Story Excerpt

Throughout it all, the calico cat continued to follow him. Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 3”

Conversion: Chapter 2

Living Story Excerpt

Chapter 2: Seryth noticed a gnoll skulking off to the side of the road. He wasn't sure if it was a sense of protection for other commoners that might pass this way or a rush of revenge that drove him to attack it. The gnoll fled into the forest, but Seryth was able to see the Stonefield Farm just ahead of him through the trees. Thinking he might be able to find work there, Seryth approached the family. Receiving only a few odd looks for his race and his -- by now -- scuffed up clothing, the family set him about various chores around the farm.

Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 2”

Conversion: Chapter 1, Part 5

Living Story Excerpt

Knowing his father would kill him (figuratively) if he returned empty-handed, Seryth pressed on to Stormwind, thinking perhaps he could find some other odd jobs to make up the difference before he returned home… Continue reading “Conversion: Chapter 1, Part 5”