Challenge #01419-C324: Creatures of the Night
Quote from Hellboy: There are things that go bump in the night. We’re the ones who bump back. – Anon Guest
[AN: I haven’t had the dosh to acquire the original comics, alas. I want to get them though.]
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties…
It was a fine thing to believe in a merciful god. Chanda endorsed it. Belief is a powerful thing and a defense against certain evils. Unfortunately, with belief in the good, comes belief in the evil.
And that’s where people like Chandra came in. She was a Sensitive. One of those who could sense the presence of the evils that many could not perceive.
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Challenge #01413-C318: The Otherworldly Ones
http://phantomrose96.tumblr.com/post/152590950362/airyairyquitecontrary-aprillikesthings
Humans are Fae for urban animals – @callmegallifreya
“They live in a cave,” the corvid insisted. “Caves all over the cliffs. Caves in the grasslands. They’re all so confusing that it’s difficult to find your way out again. The sky turns into a wall. But if you find a nice one, they will take you to the wall that is open and let you be free.”
“They leave food,” said the possum. “Some even give it when it’s fresh. Most leave it in the cans of plenty in the grasslands.”
“They saved my babies,” said a duck. “They are gentle and kind.”
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Challenge #01405-C310: Friend of the Fae
There’s a reason fairy rhymes with scary – OohLookShiny
[AN: There’s a reason why I use ‘faerie’ as a spelling for them]
Now let’s be clear, faeries don’t exist. Everyone knows that they’re just old wives’ tales about dangerous places that have long since be rendered safe…
But…
Just in case…
Don’t fell a faerie tree. Don’t disturb a standing stone. Keep away from the faerie hill. Never whistle at midnight when you’re in the woods. Throw the salt over your shoulder. Share sugar for joy. Paint certain flowers on your baby’s cradle. Hang a horseshoe over your threshold.
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Challenge #01403-C308: Making Wishes Three
Someone actually makes three sensible wishes. @knitnan
“Three wishes, you say,” said Lynn. “May I think about them?”
“Of course,” said the Djinn. “But no thinking out loud.”
Lynn sat on a handy rock and took out her notebook and pencil. The good one with the decent eraser. She wrote, World peace and remembered that episode of the X-files. No. What she needed was unbreakable, unbendable, non-interpretable set of wishes. She stuck her chewelry gem in her mouth and got to really thinking.
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Challenge #01396-C301: Unconventional Saints
While skimming Reddit’s D7D page, I ran across a thread discussing interesting house-rules various groups had invented for their games. Some were mundane, like what weapons did certain amounts of damage on critical hits, or which monsters were weak to certain elements, but one strange one stuck out…
“Paladins and Clerics who are sworn to the service of gods who are Lawful Good in alignment are, as a result of their intense piety and devotion, actually and literally able to piss pure Holy Water, imbued with all the expected blessings and divine endowments therein.” – Anon Guest
Of all the strange things that Saint Grelf the Strong of Arm did, the one that mystified Diherna the most was the peculiar habit of relieving himself into marked containers. Since she had been rescued by the fighting saint, she decided not to mention his odd habit.
It got even more peculiar when he sealed them in wax and then gave them to any passing travellers as Holy Water. And warned them not to drink it.
He had between five or ten to give to any house that let them rest on their property. He even paid for rooms at an inn with a brace of the things.
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Challenge #01394-C299: Gods Grant It
In some religious systems the ruling Deity ‘rides’ or speaks through a member of the congregation. Like Lois McMasters Bujold’s “Saints” I wonder if it’s more of a problem than an honour. – Anon Guest
[AN: I firkin LOVE anything written by Lois McMasters Bujold]
One good thing about taking shelter in an abandoned temple, Josephine mused, was that one was technically close to the gods. She’d prayed at half of those altars in the dead of the night. And now, at the strained light of dawn, she knelt at the Goddess of Futures and Portents.
She was always portrayed with blood in her lap, but in recent decades, men bowdlerised her image by adding a bowl and a sacrificial animal. This was one of the older ones, with just the blood between her spread thighs.
Josephine lit tinder and a handful of bay leaves in the brass container for such offerings. Made sure she breathed only a small portion of the smoke.
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Challenge #01386-C291: Anti-serendipity
“What happened to the scarf of invulnerability?”
“Uh… my cat ate it.” – OohLookShiny
The cat in question growled from its position under the ottoman. Yellow eyes glowed out from the shadows.
“The good news,” said Ki'van, “is that the scarf itself is invulnerable. We… um… just have to wait a bit.”
Now the growling from under the ottoman took on a slightly musical quality. So… the cat wasn’t just pissed at him.
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Challenge #01379-C284: Not a Joke
And so the Princess kissed the frog, and the Prince laughed because, How did she fall for that!?! – OohLookShiny
The Princess Orinoco glared at the Prince as he laughed so hard that he fell out of the tree he’d been hiding in.
The frog in her hands said, “He promised he’d release my family… Please forgive me.”
Princess Orinoco carefully put the frog down by the pond, drew her knife, and marched over to the laughing Prince. His laughter cut short as she threatened to cut his throat. “The frog’s family. Where is it?”
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Challenge #01378-C283: Heavenly Host
http://callmegallifreya.tumblr.com/post/151095300715/deliverusfromsburb-gods-falling-in-love-with The god that adopts a ton of kids
1) In the beginning. Stupid mistakes, awkward moments, working out what to do and what to tell the kid
2) Later. There’s a horde of them, some of them have grown up and left but there’s always more that need help. – Anon Guest
[AN: this puts the gap count down to TWO]
1)
Hestatus, God of home and hearth, used to be a minor god. And like all minor gods, was really invested in answering prayers.
“Please let there be enough food for tonight?”
Hestatus manifested a feast on their household table, and thought that it was good.
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Challenge #01371-C276: One Small Difference
Dragon: Tries to kidnap a princess
Dragon: Accidentally saves a Prince from a tower
Dragon: Isn’t sure what happened – OohLookShiny
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a young Dragon in possession of a good lair, must be in want of a Princess. So it was for Ginrauth, who had not only terrorised the local Dwarfs into submitting ‘donations’ to his hoard, but had also found an abundance of shiny gemstones within the cavern he dug. He knew all there was to know about setting up a great lair, and having goodly part of it being an enormous geode was just a bonus.
Ginrauth went looking for towers. Humans stored all sorts of valuables in towers. Gold, grain, armaments… and Princesses of the right age.
Sometimes, there was a sorcerer in them. That was a loss of sorts. The really good sorcerers had wards and protections to keep Dragons away. The bad kind were crunchy and tasted excellent once flame-roasted.