Carja

The Tinkerwood

 Pelaria  No Responses »
Dec 162011
 

From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur:

My knowledge of the Tinkerwood is based solely on the word of my friend, Cyran the Tinkerer. It is an extraordinary tale that, were it not for my faith in my friend, I would discount as a fabrication. Cyran is not given to telling tall tales or exaggerating, so I believe everything he told me to be true. I plan on making the journey myself someday so I can see the wonders described to me with my own eyes.

As near as I can tell, based on what Cyran told me, the Tinkerwood has risen from the ruins of  the Lost Colony, which lied to the south of where Bree sits now, when Pelaria was young. The area has been mostly abandoned since the fall, mostly due to the difficulty in reaching it by paw. At one time, it served as a dumping ground, but as furs found better ways to dispose of their junk, the practice was abandoned.

From Cyran’s description, the Tinkerwood is a forest of metallic trees, composed of bits of fallen tinkers. I find it doubtful that a natural phenomenon caused the formations to take the shape of trees, though this of course has not been verified.

Perhaps most remarkable of all, is the being that resides in the Tinkerwood, a titanic tinker that towers over the landscape and who collects fallen tinkers to bring them to their eternal resting place. Cyran dubbed this terror the Undertinker.

The romantic in me would say that the Tinkerwood being where all tinkers go to die, their will to live on caused their metallic husks to assume the shape of the living, in this case, trees. It is just as likely that it is the Undertaker who shaped the tinker trees to honour the tinkers he brings there.

Carja’s Notes:

The Tinkerwood appears in the very first Animus story, Tale of the Tinkerwood. Ardebast’s romantic notion that it is where tinkers go to die reflects my original concept. Note that the title of the story was devised well after the story was finished. I had no notion of where the story would go when I started it. I was just writing a story about a rabbit out on a dark and stormy night. You could almost say that the Tinkerwood grew organically as the story went along. (Ha ha)

The Adventures of Red Rich – Part 4

 Stories  No Responses »
Dec 162011
 

Green Rich pressed his back against the wall and carefully peered around the corner. According to the young fox, the constable was being held by the Coven. “Why didn’t you tell me that in the first place?” He’d asked the lad. The lad tried to say something about not having the chance, but the coon had already left…again.

The Coven’s base was deep within the city’s underbelly. He felt dirty just being there. “Hmmm…I think Red Rich would have been better equipped for this task.” He said to himself as he spied two wolf sentries. Red Rich had better paw-to-paw combat skills. Green Rich was a better orator, but he doubted that the wolves would be subdued by his silver tongue.

There was no time to launder his costume however. Green Rich would have to do. Discretion would be the safest route. He drew his sword and stepped out into the open.

“You there! Wolf!” He called out to the larger of the two sentries. “Green Rich is here to rescue the constable!” He pointed his sabre squarely at the sentry. “You may cower now. There is no shame.”

The wolves blinked. “Who is this imbecile?” the larger sentry said to his partner. “Dunno…but I bet he bleeds good!” The two advanced on the coon, axes in hand.

“Foolish wolves! I may not be Red Rich’s equal with the sword, but I am more than a match for the two of you!” He moved into the en garde position.

The lead wolf chuckled, “We’ll be careful…”

Lancton

 Pelaria  No Responses »
Dec 142011
 

From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur:

Lancton lies on Pelaria’s southern border with the Wild Territory. It is the last line of defense against an incursion of the Wild. Befitting its military background, Lancton’s emblem is not surprisingly, the lance.

You would expect a military outpost to be a grim and serious place. And while the townsfolk do take their roles as defenders of the peace seriously, Lancton is a surprisingly jovial place to visit. My take on it, is that when you are continually faced with the threat of danger and death, you learn to embrace life to the fullest while you can.

In that light, with the notable exception of Sixtus, Lancton has more festivals than any other town in the land. They celebrate just about anything you can imagine there. My personal favourite is Spoon Day, where they celebrate the creation of the spoon. The traditional meal for Spoon Day, soup of course. Sure it may be silly, but oh, the soup is sublime!

While they never fail to warn visitors of the dangers of travelling near the border, Lancton is a welcoming place. No fur is turned away from its gates…at least from the Pelarian side. Furs trying to gain access from the Wild side however, will not receive as warm a welcome.

Carja’s Notes:

As I was drawing the map of Pelaria, I thought there should be more towns. That’s why I added the town that would eventually become Lancton. My memory is fuzzy, but I seem to recall that I came up with the lance bit AFTER I came up with the name, rather than the other way around as you would expect. Prior to writing this entry, the lance emblem was the only thing I’d decided on about the town.

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