Prince Riyor was a bit of a ponce. At least, that was the prevailing wisdom. Prince Riyor was also 500 years old, so perhaps the prevailing wisdom wasn't that far off. It wasn't that he was overtly nasty, or even impolite. He didn't come across as supercilious, or put on airs. No, the problem was that he didn't think. And usually something really bad happened soon thereafter.
Riyor didn't look for trouble. No, trouble followed him around in the firm knowledge that it would have a busy day. There would be fire, and wailing, and the warm feeling of job satisfaction, not to mention job security. Riyor didn't look for trouble. No, he looked for things that he found interesting. He found levers. He found echoey caves that unfortunately didn't quite let elves Riyor's size into them (and were too shy to point this out until things had reached an unfortunate level of commitment). He found boxes with fascinating auras. When he wasn't finding interesting things, he was being distracted by them. All in all, life was a more entertaining enterprise with Riyor it. That is, unless you were in the immediate vicinity, in which case it was thoroughly exasperating.
Since he could walk, Riyor astounded his parents with his creativity. If they weren't fishing him out of a well (something about a dare, he claimed, and needing more experience tying knots), then they were disentangling him from the miller's water wheel (this time it was curiosity, and something about knots that wouldn't let go, and needing more experience tying knots).
On the whole, Riyor provided a seemingly infinite source of gossip and laughter for the principality of Cartmage. Most recent was the incident in the Castle West Wing. The blue flash could be seen from kilometers away, and the city swirled with gleeful stories of the thick layer of soot that covered just about every wall and furnishing in the West Tower, not to mention a ballistic prince going right over the Castle walls.
Some of its more discerning inhabitants had long since come to the conclusion that Riyor Was Lucky. This wasn't necessarily a good thing. Luck just meant that something unusual was happening, after all. For example, everyone was impressed that Riyor had survived, and all agreed that he was really lucky that duck pond had been where it was. However, the true connoisseur noted that he had managed to penetrate five ward spells to get to that box, and then tripped over the lintel carrying it out the room. No, Riyor wasn't lucky - Riyor Was Lucky. The poor bastard.
"Go fetch me some strawberries! Yes, I know they're out of season. This planet does have TWO hemispheres you know!" mimicked Riyor in a falsetto. He stared glumly at the back of Nigel's head, "Whatever happened to 'Argh! Go play in the traffic, Riyor'?". Nigel clopped along stoically. He was used to his rider having a case of the mutters. Riyor thought back to the Great Market Crash of '67 (involving a flea market, two incredibly large caravans of vegetable carts, a steep hill, some traffic, and him) and tried not to squirm. "Everyone's got to be subtle nowadays. Everyone's got to skip around the point", he grumbled.
"You try and help. People make offhand comments about boxes that could be important and won't open", he said, making little box shapes in the air with his hands. "Ok, so it didn't quite work out... and then... pow!", he gestured to the South sadly, "strawberries". Oh well. At least he now knew that strawberries were poisonous in large quantities.
Your fathers name is Shaya, your mother Lanara. Your small kingdom is in Germany. It is from here that you started out to travel to the southern hemisphere for strawberries. Your parents were wise enough not to attempt any more children after you. Life was actually kind of fun on the road, the friendly people a few miles back that suggested that you give some money. It was unfortunate that your money happened to be same bag as that vial of poison, that broke. Even more unfortunate for him when he bit down on it to test if it was real gold and got a bit of poison in his mouth. At least it was quick. But it was extremely nice of them to give back all your money and some more to boot. Ah well such is life.
Paris France.
A nice town to visit, wouldn't want to live there. People are a bit snooty, especially when the fire department has to be called before their morning croissant. Still no Strawberries though, the French said Spain had nice berries this time of year.
Madrid Spain.
Strange people here, like pointed ears are something that come off, really. Thinking that my skin had somehow gotten bleached is a really a very silly thing. Met a group of people though, called themselves Basques. They were a very serious lot, though they had a great deal of dealings with some people that only wandered about at night and wore cloaks. Drow or something they were called. They had some really cool toys. Lots of boxes that held explosives spells on them. They were fun to peek in. Lots of stuff inside, potions, weapons, other bits and bobs. Most of it looked mighty important. Odd though that they were trying to destroy the stuff. Might have been evil I suppose. Didn't look it but happens sometimes. Like a few summers ago, nasty time they say. Spewing cherry pits and the like, Lucky I don't remember most of it. Anyway, I seem to have worn out my welcome. Several humanish things, I will right them down here so I don't forget. Charles, Pike, I think, Ned, and William. Big guys, nasty accents, didn't look all that human, mothers must have been ugly or something. Maybe they said they were trolls, anyway the box that I opened gave them a nasty burn. They said that they would be looking out for me. I thought that was awfully nice, since I had just given them a burn but the next time that I ran into them they were carrying a bunch of swords. I took my leave of them. They were probably just making sure nothing snuck up on me. They had a boss along with them or two. Couple of dark looking elves, both very nicely rounded women. Quinon and Garlav. They seemed to want to parts of me. They kept yelling about my rod. I found that rather vulgar. But I think that they may have meant this green rod that I found in my pack. It's a very nice pale green color. It has a bit of script on it. Same stuff that was written on those boxes. Seems to be the number five. Well if they have four others then they won't miss this one.
Barcelona Spain.
The Spaniards here, seem to think that Strawberries will be in season in Portugal for some reason. I suppose its possible but its getting rather late in summer. When do these damn things get ripe?
Lisbon, Portugal.
Ran into some old friends of Quinons and Garlav's. They seem to be displeased with them for letting something important get stolen from them. I don't think that they lost anything when I was there. They seemed to think that I might have gotten ahold of it. But for the life of me, I can't seem to find what it is they are looking for. Well anyway, these guys were human, unlike Charles and company. They still didn't look quite right to me. Shera and Bondra were these guy's names. They seem to have been hired by some dude named Sodran to find a lost girl named Callas. I find Sodran's choice in detectives to be somewhat lacking. Their methods are a bit on the cruel side. It might behoove me to find this Callas. They seem to want to find me as well. They are a bit wary thought about some guy named Gaviao. Some sort of bodyguard to Callas. Makes one wonder, if they know that Callas has a bodyguard, why they didn't find her in the first place. And why Callas needs a bodyguard in the first place. Might be wise to find the lady. I think that I will. Well that's it for tonight. October 10th, 1347. Looks like it might be stormy night.
Riyor.
Journal Entries, Stories, Dreams & Visions
Story - she's walking on water when she walks in her sleep Riyor and Strawberries have a chat.
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