Fantasy
The Queen of Windmere Returns
The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. That was commonly known lore throughout the kingdom of Windmere. None of the Elders knew where it came from, just that it was something that happened a long time ago. Their current queen, Ashland, believed it was her great-great grandmother who disappeared.
By Barb Dukeman2 years ago in Fiction
Sentinels of the Arcane. AI-Generated.
The mountain winds howled fiercely as the party made their final approach to the Forbidden Library. For centuries, the library had been lost, hidden among jagged peaks and treacherous paths, spoken of only in hushed whispers by scholars and treasure hunters.
By Richard Bailey2 years ago in Fiction
Brink of War
The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. That was a thing about which the Goddess very rarely liked to talk, for it was herself who had caused the river to reverse course. She had done it out of spite, the queen had rejected her offer to join her in spreading the word of her church and philosophy, and so she had turned the river around to destroy all the lands of her kingdom, then banished her to another dimension where she lived as a lowly maidservant, all her memories of being a Queen and her former life erased. It was a harsh punishment indeed but the Goddess was capricious and sometimes cruel. She only took men as her servants but would accept women into her church if they desired it. Over the millennia very few had volunteered and those few she had invited to join had each rejected her offer, and all had met equally terrible fates. The bulk of her church was made up of captured men. Most had been forced into servitude as Baj had been so many years ago. Tricked into servitude in his case, but that was a tale for another day.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Fiction
The Temple At Ephaistos
The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. "Sounds like something Aphrodite might say" the Goddess snorted in disgust as she read the words aloud from the inscription on the stone tablet which currently sat upon her lap "That whore has vexed me again." Baj winced at the mention of the Goddess Aphrodite. As with Athena, Elyria held a strange fascination bordering on obsession with the Goddess of love, but, unlike with Athena, for Aphrodite, Elyria bore no admiration or grudging respect. Instead she expressed only contempt and a deep seated hatred and jealousy. Whenever her name was spoke aloud he knew he was in for a long winded tirade describing the many faults and shortcomings of Aphrodite and her hordes of "zombies" as Elyria referred to the unfortunate men, who, like himself had been pressed into service of a Goddess mostly against their will. Although his own forced servitude was painful and humiliating, when he thought of Aphrodite's zombies he was thankful for his own fate. Unlike Elyria, when Aphrodite enslaved a man she took not only his body and spirit, but also robbed him of his mind. They became like empty shells, not able to think for themselves, or act in any way without the express approval of Aphrodite herself. Only breathing without permission was allowed. The zombies could not eat, bathe, or even piss or shit without first asking Aphrodite. Many of her men died of starvation or disease, not for lack of food or clean clothes and shelter but because the Goddess simply forgot, or actively withheld, approving their ability to eat or to bath themselves. For a man like Baj, it would be a fate worse then death. After giving Elyria a moment to compose herself Baj dared ask somewhat impertinently "What has she done this time Goddess?" Elyria fumed at the question, her cheeks reddening a bit, biting down softly on her lower pouty lip before replying sharply "Several of her zombies have managed to infiltrate my great temple at Ephaistos and stolen one of my Elyrian spears." The spears were powerful weapons indeed. When thrown by the Goddess they could travel many miles at speeds approaching that of sound, and they always found their target. They were said to have been forged of purissimum argentum by the great dwarven silversmith Skardak Forgehelm and had been given to the Goddess as a gift by the dwarven demiGod AnKaris whose love for Elyria was legendary, at least in the mind of the Goddess. In reality, AnKaris was something of a player having impregnated at least three Goddesses including Elyria in the span of less than 100 years. A timeframe that for a mortal would equate to someething like a week. One of the other impregnated Goddesses happend to be Aphrodite, a fact that no doubt contributed at least in part to Elyria's seething jealousy and hatred for her. "The great temple at Ephaistos is one of your strongholds Goddess. How could they manage such a thing?" Baj asked with only the slightest hint of sarcasm, which, of course the Goddess either did not, or pretended not, to notice. The so called "great" temple at Ephaistos, was, like many of the Goddesses temples only great if you considered a run down rock strewn former castle guesthouse, overrun by weeds and dikon lizards great. On a good day it boasted a contingent of no more than 20 of Elyria's servants and supplicants. Those few that did "live" at the "great" temple were typically of less than sound mind and body and many stayed only because they were given three meals a day and a stack of hay upon which to sleep whenever they did. The fact that they were also forced to spend up to 8 hours a day attending courses and listening to lectures describing in excrutiating detail the philosophy of hope and love espoused by the Goddess caused most of the homeless to quickly decide a life on the streets was preferable. "According to reports they disguised themselves as supplicants desiring to learn of my philosophy of hope and love. They said they had heard of my many wise teachings and great beauty and were so enthralled they immediately began a pilgrimage to the nearest temple dedicated to me so they might pledge themselves as supplicants." "And your temple guards believed that obviously made up story?" Baj sneered, then immediately regreted his words when he saw the anger twinged with hurt on the Goddesses face. Then he felt the pain, the sting of the mental whip she stung him with. He dropped to a knee and gasped as he always did whenever she punished him in this way. The pain was significant and severe and in this particular case she had struck him hard, very hard. "Of course they believed it. Such a thing is a very common occurrence at my many temples human. Now get up and shut up. It is time for us to leave." the Goddess spat angrily "To where do we head Goddess?" Baj asked timidly, still regaining his senses and a bit off balance from the whipping he had just recieved. "To the great temple at Ephaistos of course. Where else?" As they set off to gather their belongings for the long trip west to Ephaistos Baj fumed in anger at the Goddess for the punishment. It was not deserved and unjust, arbitrary and capricious and he hated the Goddess for it each and every time she did it. And yet, it was not the anger in her eyes that he remembered when he replayed in his mind what had just transpired, but rather the hurt. Surprisingly he found himself regretting what he had said because of the pain he had caused. He was sorry for the small seed of self doubt he had sown in her mind with his comment. Quickly he reprimanded himself. She is an evil creature Baj, not to be trusted, only to be used as I need her, nothing more he thought, and he almost believed it too.
By Everyday Junglist2 years ago in Fiction
Summer's End
¶ The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished. It was the one good thing that happened that day. The leaf-shaped boat was tossed in the spray, pulled backwards up waterfalls and rapids. Puck held on for dear life, swinging the oar to and fro. He avoided rocks and rounded bends that seemed MUCH sharper going the wrong way. The spray drenched his green travelling cloak, and he hunched over the fragile little bundle wrapped against his chest, desperate to keep it dry. He sung soft nonsense words, too distracted with surviving to think up a proper lullaby. He hushed and crooned, trying to sooth the baby as it wailed shrilly enough to shame a banshee! He heaved on the oar as he saw another inverted waterfall up ahead, and desperately tried to shield the baby from the spray!
By Malcolm Roach2 years ago in Fiction
The Quest For The Blessed Scimitar
'The river ran backwards on the day the Queen vanished.' The story starts here: The Quest For The Blessed Scimitar So, it was decided. The town needed the Scimitar and a Champion to defeat Kongaray, or at least subdue it.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 2 years ago in Fiction
The Raven Princess
The river ran backwards the day the Queen vanished; her husband, the Prince Consort put on a façade of worry and fear for his wife -one that her Queen's Guard saw right through. They had never trusted the Prince from the far off Kingdom, as he was the last in the line of many in his family. The moment the morning of the Queen's supposed disappearance came, the Captain of the Queen's Guard, Ser Harold, sent word to the Queen's cousin, Princess Iradessa; the Sigil of their House -The Raven- had appeared to both the Princesses on their shared 16th nameday, Ser Harold had seen it. So had the entirety of the Queen and King's Guard.
By Mara Edwards2 years ago in Fiction
