Tales From Gallows' End, 17/7/09

Number of posts : 102 Registration date : 2008-08-25

The tavern night was well-attended, with members of all races and a few notable names showing up for an evening of swapping stories over Ryleen's excellent stew. The first to speak was a troll named Jhaga:

Jhaga's tale:

"Sum time 'go, coupleva weeks, I be in Dustwalla Mash. I bin dere lookin fa new pretties, as my lady Hethiss tells Jhaga ta do... and den, outta nowhere, sum hoo-mans in arma comin upta Jhaga. It be a big war-groop, tink I. So I hides right quick...I waits for dem to pass, as I be hidinn ina hole. But den some human sees I!

I tink quickly, and den p'tend dat I be hurt... I maka big howl "Aiiieeeiaeh!" Da hoo-man calls a docta or sum ting, tinking dey can 'terrogat I if dey make I betta!
When docta comes, I tell 'im dat I kin spek a littal of dey languuge. He asks I if I can lead dem to pest way outtada Marsh! I say "much yes"! Joo see, even den Jhaga be smilin. What happen nex...

Dey follow I... annaden I leds dem to good place outta marsh in barrens, by lotsa Quilboar! Den dey fights dem Quilboar, and I watchas dem with pa'tient. Den, when no one be lookin at I, I bin go stab der comman'dah and kikka him into a hole!
Ima much 'perience killin dem hoo-mans. Some be cleva, but none be cleva as I."

The next two stories were traditional Trollish fables, the first from Ryleen, of the Heritage of Zandalar, and the second from Doctor Ravajin Raptorclaw:

Ryleen's tale:

It's a story I was told when I was little. I'm sure some of you trolls here will have heard it before..

There once was a troll woman who got married off to the best of husbands. He was kind towards her and they were happy together. She was his only wife, and all that was missing was children. But she was young, no one thought it strange. But a year passed, and then another. And still no children. After seven years and they were still childless, she started to grow desperate.

She gathered up a great offering and went to a holy place not far from where they lived. Under a great tree, she presented her sacrifices to the spirits. She prayed to her patron loa, to her ancestral spirits and to the spirits inhabiting the tree. She stayed there in prayer all night, and the whole following day. After sunset the next day, the spirits finally answered her.

And they accepted her offering. She walked back home with a baby wrapped in her shawl.

There was great joy when she returned with the child. Everyone was happy that there finally was a son in the family. She sat with the sleeping child in her arms until sunrise, rocking him and singing for him all the while. A year passed... And she still kept singing the child to sleep each evening, rocking him to sleep in her arms. And yet another year.. And still, the baby remained all the same as he was the day he was given to her.

Five years went by, and the son was still a tiny little baby, sleeping in her arms. She went back to the holy tree, and her husband went with her, and so did their families. All to beg the spirits to correct their mistake. But they refused. She had asked them for a baby, and a baby she had recieved. There was nothing to do, and no one holds the power to force such spirits to change their mind. I am told that even forty years later, when she was old, withered and grey, she could still be seen, singing and rocking her little baby to sleep in the evenings.

One must learn to think of what they wish for, especially when dealing with such beings as the spirits."

Ravajin's tale:

"Help me," de ol' man beg. "My neighbour, he stole from me!" De chief, he listen gladly. It please him dat oders be recognisin' his wisdom. "What exactly be de problem?" de Chief be questionin'.
"My neighbour stole my raptors. Me be a poor man, too poor to replace dem."
"And what you be havin' to say 'bout dis?" de Chief be askin' de man's neighbour.
"I don' know what he be talkin' 'bout," de neighbour answer. "I be havin' many raptors but none o'dem belong to dis man."
Dis would not be an easy problem to settle. De chief would have to rely on his wisdom. It was de kinda problem he enjoy de most.

"I be havin' a test for you," de Chief announce. "Whoever pass de test, he will own de raptors. Go home until ya can answer dis for me. I want to know what is de fastest t'ing in de world. Do not return until ya have me answer
De two men left shakin' deir heads. Who could answer dat question? De old man, he repeat dis question to his daughter, Ziah. She as beautiful as she be wise. Right away, she whisper de answer dat would please de Chief. De old man return to de Chief de followin' mornin'.

De Chief be surprised. "Ya already have an answer to me question?"...
"Yes," de old man reply. "It was not difficult."
"And what is de fastest t'ing in de world?"
"Time," answer de old man. "We never be havin' enough of it! It always go too fast. Dere is never enough time to be doin' all dat we wanna do."
De answer amaze de Chief. He wasn't sure if he himself coulda answer de question so well. "Who helped ya? Who gave ya dese words?" de chief be demandin'.
"Dey me own words, me own t'oughts," lied de old man. "Dere is no one else be helpin' me."
"If ya not tellin' de trut', I will punish ya," warned de Chief.
De old man be too afraid to continue de lie. "It be me daughter, Ziah, who be givin' me de words," he confess. "She be a very wise woman."
"She mus' be!" de Chief t'ink. "I would like to meet dis woman!"
Not long after, de ol' man present his daughter Ziah to de Chief. If de Chief be amazed wit' her wisdom before, he be captivated by her beauty now. "Ya indeed be a wise an' lovely woman! I would be honoured to have you as me wife. Will ya marry me?"
"De honour is mine," smiled Ziah.
Although de chief be pleased, he also be concerned about havin' such a wise wife. He not be wantin' her to interfere wit' de problems brought before him. He not be wantin' to share dis honour wit' anyone, not even his wife.

"Everytin' in dis house be yours," de Chief declare, "I only have one rule for you. You mus' never involve yourself wit' de problems brought before me. Dis be ya only warnin'. If ya break dis rule, I be sendin' ya from dis house."De Chief's new wife only smile at dis command.

T'ings be goin' well for some time. De Chief continue to hear people's problems while Ziah kept herself busy wit'out becomin' involved. Usually she be agreein' wit' his decisions. One day, however, de Chief be givin' one o'his puzzles to two boys who be arguin' over a boar. Ziah know she shouldn't help de boy who really owned de boar, but he was so upset. She finally ask him to explain his problem.

"De Chief be askin' for de impossible," he sigh. "He give us an egg and say dat whoever can hatch de egg by tomorrow would own de boar."

Ziah knew she shouldn' help, but de answer be obvious to her. "Take some rice to de Chief," she instruct. "Tell him to plant de rice today so dat in de mornin' you will have rice to be feedin' your chicken. He will know dat it be jus' as impossible to grow rice in one day as it be to hatch an egg so quickly."

De boy ran to de Chief wit' de rice. He say exactly de words as he bein' told. De Chief, he not impressed - he angry! "Who be tellin' you dis? Who gave you de rice?" he order. "Dese words be too wise for one so young!"

"It was Ziah!" de boy cry. "She knew dat ya'd understand de wisdom."

De Chief, he be furious! His wife, she broken de only rule he be makin' for her. He called her before him and scold, "Ya not be knowin' dat all I have is yours? Ya be breakin' my only rule! So now, ya be goin' back to ya fat'er's home!"
"Before me be goin', may I be fixin' you one final meal?" de woman ask. "Den, I will take what is mine an' go."
"Yes," de Chief answer. "Make whatever ya wan'. Take whatever ya wan'. Jus' be sure ya not remainin' here tonight!"

Ziah prepare de Chief's favourite meal. She serve it wit' a generous amount o'rum. Before de meal be finished, de Chief become very drunk and quietly he fall asleep. Ziah's plan be workin' exactly as she hope! Wit' her family's help, she carry de Chief to her fat'er's home. Dey place him on a bed an' he sleep soundly t'rough de night. In de mornin', de Chief's voice boom t'roughout de house, "Where I be? What me be doin' here?!" he demand.

Ziah enter de room and grin. "Ya said I could take whatever I want from ya house. I be wantin' you, so I be takin' you."
"Ya certainly be a wise woman!" smile de Chief. "Come, return wit' me to our home. Only a fool would be sendin' away such a woman!"

"And you, my chief, be no fool," whisper de clever wife.

Number of posts : 102 Registration date : 2008-08-25

As the evening wore on, the quiet elf, Zensenza, spoke up with a tale:

Zensenza's tale:

"Yes. A man is brought into a dungeon, alone. One wall is covered in instruments. Of torture, I suppose. The lash. The Gilnean's daughter. The Amani boot. A demon enters. Looks at him sadly. The demon is stooped. Spine twisted. One leg is limp and broken. He has no skin.

The demon begins to speak. He says, "Time is fluid here," and lets the man consider this, but the man just stays quiet, in confusion.

Time. Then the demon takes down a cat-o'-nine tails from the wall. The man is scared, now. He begs mercy. The demon says, "In time, you will remember this with fondness". He begins to flay the man.

In time, the man experiences every use of every instrument on the wall. His body is broken. He is beyond recognition. Next, the demon looks into his eyes. He bids the man "Live". The man lives. Every day of his life, from the moment of birth until he is thrown inside the dungeon, passes before his eyes.

Soon he is done. The demon says again, "Live". The man lives again, but not his own life. This time he glimpses the lives of people he knew. He learns. Learns in detail, every small way in which the world is a worse place for him having been in it.

The demon was right. He remembers his physical torture fondly now.

He lies, broken in body and soul. He waits for the demon to speak again. There is no sound.

Eventually, he stands. He looks down at his own, skinless body, and his leg, shattered by the Amani boot, and reaches behind him to feel his crooked, broken spine. Then, he waits. After a time, a man enters the dungeon with him. He looks at the man sadly, and slowly speaks:

"Time is fluid here."

After the young troll Chabat's stomach had settled and she had been persuaded to come back inside, eyeless Doctor Alaster of the Ashen Order contributed a lighter story:

Alaster's tale:

"This tale I heard when last I was here.

I knew a man once called 'George', George was scared of the monster that lived under his bed. He went to see a Doctor, but the Doctor couldn't help him. He went to see a Priest but the Priest could not exorcise that which was only in George's mind.

I met George the other week and he was so pleased with himself and life that I had to stop him and ask how he was. 'I'm cured' he said, 'I no longer fear the monster under my bed, I spoke to Bob down the valley and he cured me.' I was confused, Bob down the valley was a carpenter, so I asked George how a simple carpenter could cure him of his fear.

'Simple,' George replied, 'He sawed the legs off my bed.'"

The next tale was from Mr. Arkand Matthews, also of the Order:

Arkand's tale:

Well, during my travels I've had the pleasure of meeting many interesting people and hearing many a story that had me baffled. There's one story though, which i tend to hold in the highest of interest. That is the story of Jurnda Clearwater, or Snowbeard as he was later known, a rather adventerus Orc, who also had a knack of getting himself right where he'd least want to be...

This story, though maybe not his greatest exploit I still find entertaining, is about the time when Jurnda found himself in the middle of the Alterac Mountains. He had been told there was gold to be found there, and was eager to get his hands on it, finally earning him the easy life he always had wanted. After having scoured the mountain passes for weeks finding nothing, Jurnda was getting ready to give up, until one day he was sitting down by a river to drink when he saw something glitter in the water...

Thinking he'd finally found himself the treasure he so desired, he started to follow the river up along the mountain. The river led Jurnda high up into the peaks, finally ending at a tiny crack in the mountain just below the glacier. Furious about not being able to find the source of his would-be fortune he started hacking away at the mountain with his pickaxe hoping to widen the crack enough to get through.

He hacked for days, each day widening the crack just abit more. Seven days later Jurdan finally could see something shine through the crack, and in his fervor to earn his price he started hacking even harder. However as he hacked he could suddenly hear a low rumbling noise. He looks up and sees the crack he's been widening indeed has widend, enough to even unsettle the glacier above him. In the nick of time realizing his mistake Jurnda flees for his life

Hearing the glacier crack behind him he runs even faster, but in the end it was to late. The glacier collapses and rumbles down the mountainside...

...Three days later a troll scouting party found poor Jurnda, only his beard sticking up from the snow, Hence poor old Snowbeard lost himself a treasure, and earned himself a new name."

To round off the evening, the orc named Cato gave a story about how he saved his nephew's life:

Cato's tale:

I remember when my young nephew was just a small child, no taller than my knee. I used to read stories to him and his brother. I used to reward any chores done during the day with a copper coin on the bedside table.

My young nephew was fond of picking the coin up and running it along his lips, a strange habit, but children do have the strangest of habits, don't they? I usually ignored it, but this time was different. All of a sudden, the boy started to cry hysterically. Unable to speak. I immediately recognised what had happened and calmly moved over to my Nephew.

I am not the panicy sort, I have worked under pressure all my life, so and palmed a copper coin that he happened to be in my pocket and pretended to remove it from his ear. Naturally he was so excited by this that he swallowed the coin in his throat and replied..

"Do it again, uncle!"

Subject: Re: Tales From Gallows' End, 17/7/09 Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:27 pm

Very nice initiative to save the stories like this!

Subject: Re: Tales From Gallows' End, 17/7/09 Fri Jul 17, 2009 10:33 pm

Thanks for sharing these nice story's for the guys like me here Wink

Seems like a good event with lot of attendance!

Subject: Re: Tales From Gallows' End, 17/7/09 Fri Jul 17, 2009 11:07 pm

Ye was a rely fun event … just lovely to lie there as a lion (cant wait till the new skins comes in next path) an listen to good stories in al friendly spirit Smile

Garchag/Leamhan

Number of posts : 78 Age : 30 Registration date : 2009-02-24

Ok, I want to express my love for Zensenza's story, that was a great one. Twisted Evil

Number of posts : 102 Registration date : 2008-08-25

Katheryn wrote:: Ok, I want to express my love for Zensenza's story, that was a great one.

Tehe, thank you. The story is actually Neil Gaiman's, called "Other People", because having an original thought would be too much effort for me. Wink

Number of posts : 78 Age : 30 Registration date : 2009-02-24

Hmm, somehow I'm not surprised that's one of Neil Gaiman's! Very Happy

Subject: Re: Tales From Gallows' End, 17/7/09 Sat Jul 18, 2009 8:06 am

I loved Ryleen's one. Smile

And Alaster's made me lol.

Subject: Re: Tale telling tavern night. Sat Jul 18, 2009 2:49 pm

Can I just say how much I enjoyed the night. I'm very sorry that I missed half of it.
Loved Arkand's tale about the orc.
Alastar's story made me laugh and snort wine up my nose.

Subject: Re: Tales From Gallows' End, 17/7/09 Sat Jul 18, 2009 5:42 pm

I enjoyed Ravajin's one a lot, too.
It's very heart-warming, especially in the troll society where women are oppressed so much.
Is it only a coincidence that the heroine of the story shares her name with a certain elf?

Number of posts : 58 Registration date : 2009-04-03

Excellent tales! I'll be damned that I missed this. Could probably have wrapped up one, too. Oh well, maybe next time...

Subject: Re: Tales From Gallows' End, 17/7/09 Tue Jul 21, 2009 1:20 pm

the next one is on friday 31st July, same time and place Smile

Number of posts : 78 Age : 30 Registration date : 2009-02-24

Lovely, more tales! Very Happy

Subject: Re: Tales From Gallows' End, 17/7/09

» Tales From Gallows' End, 31/7/09
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» Gallows' End Tavern Under new management
» [RP-Event] Gallows' End Happy Hour! Tonight! ((Monday 8th September))
» Tales From The Past; Tee's first Performance.