H O M E P A G E

T E A C H I N G

W R I T I N G

R A D I O

W E D D I N G

R O L E P L A Y I N G

T O Y S

M I S C .

Last updated

May 2002

by

david.tulloch@
paradise.net.nz

Dragons in the Borderlands

Volume One of the wandering adventures of Vasaän, Shylock, Khalid, including how they were joined by Co-lin, Shaba, Athora, and Niathe, and featuring the tale of the Fall of the Northern Fortress

Click here to go back to Chapter One

Note: There are no new pictures for this chapter at the moment, as we are waiting for the film to be developed. Check back later in the month for another half dozen illustrations of the story.

Chapter Two: Inside the Tree of Morella

They had traveled for two days inside the great forest. It was called Helmand by the humans, and Nimruzalule by the elves. The trees were tall and true, and alive with insects, birds, and various animals. Elms, oaks, chesnuts, beech, and occasionally the rare elvish varieties with their sparkling gold, silver, and bronze leaves, and bark that was a rich brown, a dazzling white, or a threatening grey-black. The elvish trees had once made up entire forests to the north, but now all that remained of them in the northern lands were the scattered groves throughout this forest and one to the east. Human legends could barely recall the horrors of the demon invasions of the past, but to many of the elves it was an all too real personal memory.


Khalid	Shylock	Vasaän

The ranger, Khalid, could barely restrain himself. He had seen seedlings of elvish trees in the town of Gereshk, but never a fully-grown tree. They grew so slowly it was said that fifty generations of men would pass before a seed would grow into a mature tree. In many ways they made Khalid nervous. Such life-spans reminded him of his own mortality. But they also filled him with great joy.
“Impressive, isn’t it?” said Vasaän, snapping Khalid out of his thoughts.
“What?”
Vasaän pointed up, and Khalid’s gaze followed the arm.
“Mother of gods!” said Khalid. “It’s huge.”
Climbing high above the canopy of leaves they could see the Tree of Morella. It stood above the lesser trees, putting them to shame. Khalid could barely take it all in.
“What kind of tree is it?”
“No one knows,” said Vasaän. “It was here before we elves came to these woods.”
They all stared at the giant tree for several moments. The two humans had never seen anything so wonderful. The tree seemed to be of several different varieties that had been blended together. As they walked closer they noticed pinecones, various nuts and berries, and a dozen kinds of leaves, all growing on the tree.
“So what do we do?” asked Shylock.
“I’m not sure,” said Vasaän.
“I thought this was an elvish tree,” said Khalid. "
“Not really,” said Vasaän. “It’s more a faerie place.”
“Faeries!” said Shylock. “Aren’t they dangerous?”
“No,” said Khalid confidently, “they’re helpful.”
“Actually,” corrected Vasaän, “they’re both dangerous and helpful.”
Khalid and Shylock looked hard at the half-elf.
“What does that mean?” asked Khalid.
“It means that there are helpful things and dangerous things inside the tree, and we have to be careful.”
“Inside?” said Shylock.
“Inside, inside, inside, the tree, you’ll find death, laughter and me,” said a high pitched sing-song voice. Looking up they saw several small flying faeries. They were barely dressed, their scanty gossamer clothes making Khalid blush and Shylock stare open mouthed. They flitted about the three companions, occasionally throwing small nuts at Shylock and Khalid.
“Make them go away,” said Khalid as he was hit on his nose by a chestnut.
“You can’t make Slyphs do anything they don’t want to,” said Vasaän. “Be nice to them.”
“Why should I?” said Khalid, as yet another nut stung his face.
“Because they can either help or hinder you. And you don’t want to anger them.”

The party are greeted by a pair of flying faeries as they approach the Tree of Morella.

“Should I give them something?” asked Shylock.
“Shiny-brights, shiny-brights,” sang the Slyphs. “Give us shiny-brights.”
Vasaän gave Shylock a cold stare. “Now you have to give them something,” she said disgustedly. “Never give Slyphs ideas.”
Shylock and Vasaän each throw the Slyphs a few silver coins. After a little persuasion Khalid followed suit.
“Advice we give,” said one of the Slyphs. “Advice to the bold and brave.”
“When you know not the answer to a riddle, say nothing,” the Slyphs said in chorus.
“Say nothing,” echoed one of the circling faeries.
“Hmph,” snorted Khalid. “Three silvers for that?”
Vasaän shrugged her shoulders. “Advice is advice,” she said. “I suggest we go into the tree and see just how useful it proves to be.”
Ahead of them there was a large fold in the trunk of the tree, with a doorway inside. The three adventurers checked their weapons, and Khalid lit a torch to give them light inside the imposing shadow of Morella’s tree.
“Here goes nothing,” he said, and stepped through into the dim interior. Cautiously Vasaän and Khalid followed.
They entered a dark, overgrown area, smelling strongly of rich decaying earth and fungus. Dark green creepers hung from above, and underfoot were dead dry leaves. Ahead they could make out a bright light, and some small dancing figures.
“Pysks,” said Vasaän. “Be on your best behavior.”
“What’s a pysk?” asked Khalid.
“A very mischievous type of faerie,” explained Vasaän. “Some humans call them pixies.”
The three comrades approached the bright light, which seemed to emanate from a large stone around which the pixies danced gaily. Suddenly the pixies stopped, and as one turned to face the three intruders.
“Greetings to you, fair ones,” said Vasaän in elvish.
“Greetings returned, she who is half-fair,” replied a Psyk, a teasing smile on its face.
Vasaän knew enough about the fey folk not to let such teasing rile her.
“May we pass you, spirits of fun and frivolity,” said Vasaän.
“How could we refuse one so polite,” said another Psyk. “But before you pass let us tell you this.”
The pixies began to dance again, and to speak in Baluch, the human tongue.
“Go up or down, each will give you a smile, each a frown. But don’t take fire inside the tree, or snuffed out will you be.”
The pixies went back to their dancing, taking no more notice of the three companions.
“We must put out our torches,” said Shylock.
“I’m not going on in the dark,” said Khalid.
“We have no choice,” said Vasaän, “unless you wish to die.”
Reluctantly Khalid smothered the flames of his torch, until it gave off no light.
“Great,” he said, “stumbling about in the dark being teased by faeries. This is going to be so much fun.”
“There’s some natural light coming from the walls,” said Vasaän, whose eyes were more receptive in the dark than the others.
As they left the pixies and their glowing rock behind they noticed the walls were filled with small spots of light, giving off an eerie star-like glow.
“Glow-worms,” said Vasaän, inspecting a point of light up close. “I’ve never seen so many together in one place before.”
“Shh,” said Khalid, waving his free hand, “I can hear something up ahead.”
A tinkling noise, and then a series of thuds as a hammer was hit on something soft and pliant. Motioning for the others to follow him, Khalid advanced cautiously. Moving quietly was difficult, as the dead, dry leaves that blanketed the floor crunched and crackled under every step.
As Khalid rounded a sharp corner in the curving wood he saw an open space containing a workbench. At the bench, hammering together a pair of shoes, was a small happy-faced cherub of a man, with a beaming smile and shiny red cheeks. On his head sat a comical floppy pointed hat, topped off with a shiny bell.
“It’s another kind of faeire,” whispered Khalid back towards Vasaän and Shylock.
“What kind?” asked Shylock quietly.
“I don’t know,” said Khalid frowning.
None of them knew what it was.
“I thought elves were supposed to know about such things,” said Khalid to Vasaän.
“The fey folk avoid even the elves. Some are mysteries to us all,” she said.
“Do you think it’s friendly?” asked Shylock.
“There’s only one way to find out,” said Vasaän, and she stepped forward into the room.
“Greetings travelers,” said the creature, “would you care for a pair of shoes.”
“Um, certainly, O creature of the wood.”
“Then you must pay me the exact amount I will ask you more. No more and no less,” said the smiling shoemaker.
“If we can afford it,” said Vasaän, “we shall pay.”
“What is more powerful than the Gods? More evil than Demons? The poor have it? The rich do not need it? And if you eat it you will die?”
“Oh please, not another riddle,” said Shylock.
“I hate riddles,” said Khalid.
“I fear riddles and tricks are what we can expect from the fey folk,” said Vasaän. “But we can also expect gifts and enchantments if we play their games.”
“Any idea on what the answer is?” asked Khalid.
“No.”
“No.”
“What could be more powerful than the Gods?” asked Shylock.
“Or more evil than demons?” said Khalid.
“My old guild master was fairly evil,” said Shylock. “But I don’t think he’s the right answer.”
“Could it be some sort of dragon?” suggested Vasaän.
“Maybe, if you tried to eat a dragon you’d die,” said Khalid.
“But the poor don’t have dragons,” said Shylcok.
“What was it those Selfs said?” Khaild asked.
“Slyphs,” said Vasaän.
“Slyphs. What did they say,” Khalid continued. “If you don’t know the answer say nothing. Maybe we should just not answer the riddle.”
“But we have to pay him the correct amount for his shoes,” said Vasaän. “Saying nothing won’t give us the correct price.”
“That is the answer,” said Shylock excitedly. “Of course!”
The other two looked at him.
“Nothing. The answer is nothing,” said Shylock. “Nothing is more powerful than the Gods, or more evil than a demon.”
“So, we pay nothing for the shoes,” said Vasaän.
“Yes,” said Shylock.
“That’s a bargain,” said Khalid.
“It most certainly is,” said the red-faced faerie, holding a pair of shoes out for Vasaän. “Treat these well, and they will keep your feet sure.”
“Many thanks, fey shoemaker,” said Vasaän and she changed out of her old boots into her new shoes.
“Do they fit well?” asked Shylock.
“Better than any I have ever worn,” she said.
This impressed Khaild, who had heard tales about the marvelous elven boots of the forest, and had always considered them to be the best boots he could aspire to own. It seemed the skill of the elves could be bettered.
“Thanks again to you, shoemaker,” said Vasaän.
The three adventurers moved on, leaving the strange shoemaker to his work. The interior of the tree offered them only one way to, and they soon found themselves at the entrance to an area surrounding a large pool of water. In the centre of the pool was a fountain carved, or formed, out of the wood of the tree. From its highest point shot a steady jet of water high into the air, which then rained down over the pool in a fine mist.
Playing and dancing in the pool of water were eight fey maids with golden hair. Their long hair appeared to be their only clothing. As they saw the three companions enter several of them swam to the closest part of the pool, splashing and laughing as they went.
Shylock stood open-mouthed. Khalid, blushed and turned his head, while Vasaän, more used to such sights, greeted the creatures in elvish.
“Hail, fair faeries,” she said, “greetings to you all.”
“And you fair one,” one replied.
“Who have you brought to us,” said another, tossing her hair over her head.
“They look good enough to eat,” said a third, and they all laughed.
Shylock’s look of awe turned to fear.
“They want to eat us?” he said to Vasaän.
“I don’t think so,” she replied. “They are Undines, the dwarves call them the Nokke. They are friendly, although they do have a dangerous sense of humour.”
“I think we have frightened them,” said an Undine.
“Perhaps a gift would make them feel more at ease,” said another.
“Would you like a gift?” said the closest of the frolicking faeries.
“Do we?” said Khalid to Vasaän.
“While faerie gifts can often be dangerous,” noted Vasaän, “to refuse them can only be a greater danger.”
“We gladly accept you kindness, O maidens of the pool,” said Shylock.
The Undines swam together, and whispered things in a language that seemed to Khalid’s ears even sweeter than the fair elvish tongue. Then, after a peel of giggles, they turned toward the waiting trio.
“The gift you receive depends on your wits. Think carefully before you reply. The riddle is spoken in the common tongue, as should be the answer,” said an Undine.
Then, as one, they chanted. “Ten fish I caught without an eye and nine without a tail. Half of eight, and six missing heads landed in my pail. Who can tell me, as I ask it, how many fish are in my basket?”
“Did I mention I hate riddles,” said Khalid, sourly.
“Any ideas?” asked Vasaän.
“Let’s see, ten fish without a eye,” said Shylock. “That’s still ten fish, even if they are missing eyes. But nine without a tail, that’s got to be four-and-a-half.”
“You think it’s just an counting problem?” asked Vasaän.
“Have you got any better ideas?”
“Keep counting,” said Vasaän.
“Right, half of eight is four, so that’s eighteen-and-a-half so far. Then six missing heads, so another three. So the answer is twenty-one and a half,” declared Shylock.
“We answer Twenty-one and one half fish, O watery maidens,” said Vasaän, sounding a little unsure.
One of the Undines swam to the edge of the pool, and held out an open hand. Vasaän reached out and took from it a small rounded stone.
“Thanks to you and your fellows, sweet Undine,” said Vasaän.
The creature splashed away, and returned to frolic with the other water maidens.
“It’s just a stone,” said Shylock, a little disappointed.
“Maybe you got it wrong,” said Khaild.
“No. I checked the numbers twice,” said Shylock. “It was definitely twenty-one and a half.
“I don’t think it was a counting puzzle,” said Vasaän.
“Maybe it had a cryptic solution,” said Khalid.
“Twenty-one and one half,” said Shylock to himself. “It was twenty-one and one half.”
“No use arguing about it now,” said Vasaän. “What’s done is done. Let’s move on.”
They stepped further on into the tree’s depths. Ahead they saw a fork in the wood lined tunnels of the tree.
“I’ll scout to the left,” said Khalid.
“I’ll check the right fork,” said Vasaän.
Shylock waited in the dim light of the glow-worms. “A stranger place I have never been,” he thought. He heard his companions returning.
“I found some stairs going up,” said Khalid.
“I saw stairs heading downward,” said Vasaän.
“Do we wish to go up or down?” asked Shylock.

GM's note: The answer to the Undines riddle was zero. A 10 without an 'I' is 0, and 9 without a tail is ^o. Half of 8 is also o, and a 6 without heads is o again. It was a fairly nasty riddle to give them, but in the end they things still worked out for them. If they had of answered it correctly they would have been given a dead sparrow by the Undines, which may have confused them more than the stone did. You'll see what the dead bird was for in a chapter or two.

Next month
Chapter Three: Adventures with Fish, Branches and Vines.

Click here to go back to Chapter One