Post by Hera on Apr 29, 2005 13:05:37 GMT -5
This version of the villous family history was interpreted by historical facts given to the writer, Helia Hawke, It was proof read and adjusted a tad by myself. Enjoy.
It was sheer heaven…at least as close to it as Dar had ever come. He sat back in his favorite chair, at his favorite inn, in what was…in his humble opinion…the best inn in all of Britannia, in the land of Great Lakes. Taking a long slow sip of his ale…cherishing every nuance of the wonderful taste…he glanced out the window that overlooked the bay…
…as he admired gentle sea breeze, blowing through the trees, his reverie was broken by the sight of a young woman making her way across the square. The only way she could have said “tourist” was if she had worn a sign across her chest. He watched her weave back and forth across the square, pausing at intervals to look at a pit of paper she was holding in her hand. Suddenly, as if she where reading his thoughts, she looked right at the window of the inn, with a look of recognition. The young woman thrust the paper into her pocket and strode across the square, with a sudden purpose in her step. Dar lost sight of her at the edge of the window. A few moments later she the door of the inn opened and in she stepped….once again looking lost.
“Well, Dar, thought to himself, it’s your job to help her out…you're on…”
Dar extended his hand as he approached her… “Dar” he said.
“Pardon me,” she said, “Oh no…you must have me mistaken for someone else.”
“No. I AM Dar. Dar Villous.”
“Oh… she said, as a sudden look of recognition came across her face. You must be the companion I was sent to meet. I thought they said “Da’ Villous” like it was a title or something…I am new to these lands you know…”
Dar tried his best to put a polite smile on his face. “Da’ Villous” he said, “I’ve never heard that one before.” He had, in fact, heard that on a regular basis growing up. He pasted his most “concerned companion” look on his face, as every fiber of his being cried out… “What a noob.”
“A common mistake, Dar said politely. Come sit down. Have an ale so we can discuss what skills you would like to start on.”
The two sat together in discussion, long into the night. Dar had thought, at first, that Violet (for so she introduced herself) was a noob…a newbie…judging by the writing instruments and scrolls poking their way out of the top of her bag. She was, in fact…and much to Dar’s delight, already an accomplished field mage…accomplished in the arts of combat magic.
What Dar hadn’t realized…and what became readily apparent over the next two weeks…was just how accomplished Violet was. Instead of the usual “hand holding” to get a young person started, she needed little more than to be shown the lay of the land…the “Trammel Liberation Corps” was soon in the offering. Violet accepted. After a journey of half a day, they found themselves sitting around the fireplace in Dar’s tower, just outside Brit. Introductions were quickly made all around. Each member of the guild nodded to their newest member, Violet, as their name was called…
“Here she is, said Dar, the mage I told you all about. Violet, this is Chiapet, Heidi, Parn, Gregor Villous, and Atheena.”
Weeks passed into months. Months quickly became years, with hardly any of the guilds members noticing…as it should be when you are amongst friends. Dar’s tower became a hub of activity as the guild and it’s friends grew. Then came the day that will stand out in the memories of all TLC members everywhere….
Dar had just come home from hunting in the woods outside Brit. It was a bright sunny day. The sunlight shown through the leaves of the trees surrounding his tower. Even the bright sunlight couldn’t bring Dar out of the sullen mood he had been in for weeks. He struggled a bit under the weight of a deer he had brought home for the evening meal. Dar had been carrying the heavy load all the way from Brit and it had become heavier with each passing minute. Finally reaching the dooor….he reached for the knob; expecting to be able to heave his load onto the floor of the tower…only to find that the door wouldn’t budge.
He tried the handle again.
The handled turned alright, but the door wouldn’t open. Dar paused for a moment as a feint sound caught his attention…the lowing of cows! The difference is, the sound wasn’t coming from the neighboring fields…it was coming from inside the tower. Dar struggled under the weight of the deer as he made his way to the nearest window. Both deer and Dar’s jaw dropped to the ground at the sight that met his eyes. Dar’s tower…Dar’s…pristine, immaculate tower…was filled with wall to wall leather. The problem is, that leather was still on the hoof.
Dar quickly abandoned the idea of the door and ambled through the window. No sooner had his foot touched the floor than it promptly slipped out from under him…landing Dar with a splat on his behind. An all too familiar smell filled his nostrils as Dar realized exactly what caused the splat. The acrid smell of cow dung, normally reserved for pastured not only filled his nostrils…it filled his entire tower… enchantments flew from Dar's mouth faster than he'd ever recited them before, Dar rose shakily to his feet. The sullen mood had changed all right….
…it took 2 hours to clean the cow dung out of the tower. It took another 3 to clean the cow blood out of the tower. With a sigh, Dar wiped the sweat that had dripping into his eyes for the last hour and a half. Exhausted, he heaved the last of the butchered cows into the pantry. Turning, Dar surveyed the result of the last five hours of work…his tower was once again pristine clean. The one thing he hadn’t been able to get out of the tower was the smell. Tiring of the horrible smell, that had begun to ferment in the hot sun…Dar stepped outside to fill his lungs with fresh air. As the door swung open wide, what filled his ears instead was laughter…very familiar laughter. There sitting at the edge of the woods were the three McGee brothers…Dingus, Dorkus and Doofus…all rolling on the ground in fits of laughter…their chants, between fits of laughter and accompanying gasps for air, taunted him…
“Cow killa, cow killa, He killa my cows…” all three chanted in unison, and promptly broke into fits of laughter all over again.
Dar made, what proved to be futile, attempts to justify his actions.
“Look, Dar started again…feebly…taking care of the guild tower is a big responsibility. It takes a lot of work. This only slows things down…”
The McGee brothers thought his serious mood made the matter all the more hilarious and started the chants all over again…
“Cow killa, cow killa, he killa my cows any time.”
Realizing any and all attempts at holding a meaningful conversation with the McGee brothers would be a waste of time, Dar strode stomped angrily back to his tower…slamming the door behind him.
He heaved himself into a chair near the door with an audible sigh. If the famous “exploding moose” episode of a year and a half ago was any measure, he would not get rid of the McGee brothers any time soon. He had no idea what to do…
…then as a relieved smile crossed his face, Dar said out loud, “But I know just who will know how to get rid of the McGee Brothers.”
Climbing the steps to the rooftop aviary, Dar began mentally composing a note to his most trusted friend and advisor, Chiapet. “Chia will know just what to do” Dar told himself as he wrapped the message around a pigeon’s leg and set it loose….
…Chia read the note yet again. Laughed and thrust it back into his pocket. Wiping the sweat from his brow from under his bight green wizards hat, he set off to hunt that pesky troll. Chiapet was the guild leader and prankster. He was the sort of person who stretched oiled paper over the outhouse seats and greased all of the doorknobs. And consider the fact that if brainpower were gunpowder, the McGee brothers couldn’t blow up a wet paper bag…he…yes he was the brains behind the famous exploding moose episode; a fact that his dear friend Dar still hadn’t figured out. Nor had he figured out that Chia was, in fact, the one who had put the McGee brothers up to filling Dar’s tower with cows in the first place. …
…or so Chia thought. It took a week. Where the attempts at explanations had proven futile, the McGee brothers finally succumbed to bribery. It took him three sides of beef and his special barbeque sauce; but they had finally fessed up on who had put them up both the cows and the idea for filling his tower with them. Smiling, again he realized that his friend was only trying to get Dar to “lighten up.” It was advice that Chia gave him almost constantly. “For once,” Dar thought, “I am going to turn the tables.” He turned in the direction of Chia's villa and set off with a wicked little grin…
…Chia had finally returned from his week long “house hunting” trip. It was a successful hunt, but it was good to be home. With a big smile on his face he opened the door to his little villa…and his smile grew even bigger. There in his living room, was a small heard of cows. Not just any heard of cows…each cow was dressed in its own ninja outfit. There in the middle of the heard, perched atop the largest of the cows, was his friend Dar. For the first time in weeks his friend Dar was actually smiling. With a mischievous little smile, Dar said simply…
“It’s a heard of grandmaster stealth cows. I thought you would want to see for yourself!”
Both friends burst out laughing. The laughter filled the room and still seemed to echo through the halls when the last of the cows had been cleared out to make way for a huge banquet…of beef ribs. It was the same banquet that had ushered in a new era in Dar’s life; for it was the first time that Dar met the woman who would become the great love of his life…Rose.
It was sheer heaven…at least as close to it as Dar had ever come. He sat back in his favorite chair, at his favorite inn, in what was…in his humble opinion…the best inn in all of Britannia, in the land of Great Lakes. Taking a long slow sip of his ale…cherishing every nuance of the wonderful taste…he glanced out the window that overlooked the bay…
…as he admired gentle sea breeze, blowing through the trees, his reverie was broken by the sight of a young woman making her way across the square. The only way she could have said “tourist” was if she had worn a sign across her chest. He watched her weave back and forth across the square, pausing at intervals to look at a pit of paper she was holding in her hand. Suddenly, as if she where reading his thoughts, she looked right at the window of the inn, with a look of recognition. The young woman thrust the paper into her pocket and strode across the square, with a sudden purpose in her step. Dar lost sight of her at the edge of the window. A few moments later she the door of the inn opened and in she stepped….once again looking lost.
“Well, Dar, thought to himself, it’s your job to help her out…you're on…”
Dar extended his hand as he approached her… “Dar” he said.
“Pardon me,” she said, “Oh no…you must have me mistaken for someone else.”
“No. I AM Dar. Dar Villous.”
“Oh… she said, as a sudden look of recognition came across her face. You must be the companion I was sent to meet. I thought they said “Da’ Villous” like it was a title or something…I am new to these lands you know…”
Dar tried his best to put a polite smile on his face. “Da’ Villous” he said, “I’ve never heard that one before.” He had, in fact, heard that on a regular basis growing up. He pasted his most “concerned companion” look on his face, as every fiber of his being cried out… “What a noob.”
“A common mistake, Dar said politely. Come sit down. Have an ale so we can discuss what skills you would like to start on.”
The two sat together in discussion, long into the night. Dar had thought, at first, that Violet (for so she introduced herself) was a noob…a newbie…judging by the writing instruments and scrolls poking their way out of the top of her bag. She was, in fact…and much to Dar’s delight, already an accomplished field mage…accomplished in the arts of combat magic.
What Dar hadn’t realized…and what became readily apparent over the next two weeks…was just how accomplished Violet was. Instead of the usual “hand holding” to get a young person started, she needed little more than to be shown the lay of the land…the “Trammel Liberation Corps” was soon in the offering. Violet accepted. After a journey of half a day, they found themselves sitting around the fireplace in Dar’s tower, just outside Brit. Introductions were quickly made all around. Each member of the guild nodded to their newest member, Violet, as their name was called…
“Here she is, said Dar, the mage I told you all about. Violet, this is Chiapet, Heidi, Parn, Gregor Villous, and Atheena.”
Weeks passed into months. Months quickly became years, with hardly any of the guilds members noticing…as it should be when you are amongst friends. Dar’s tower became a hub of activity as the guild and it’s friends grew. Then came the day that will stand out in the memories of all TLC members everywhere….
Dar had just come home from hunting in the woods outside Brit. It was a bright sunny day. The sunlight shown through the leaves of the trees surrounding his tower. Even the bright sunlight couldn’t bring Dar out of the sullen mood he had been in for weeks. He struggled a bit under the weight of a deer he had brought home for the evening meal. Dar had been carrying the heavy load all the way from Brit and it had become heavier with each passing minute. Finally reaching the dooor….he reached for the knob; expecting to be able to heave his load onto the floor of the tower…only to find that the door wouldn’t budge.
He tried the handle again.
The handled turned alright, but the door wouldn’t open. Dar paused for a moment as a feint sound caught his attention…the lowing of cows! The difference is, the sound wasn’t coming from the neighboring fields…it was coming from inside the tower. Dar struggled under the weight of the deer as he made his way to the nearest window. Both deer and Dar’s jaw dropped to the ground at the sight that met his eyes. Dar’s tower…Dar’s…pristine, immaculate tower…was filled with wall to wall leather. The problem is, that leather was still on the hoof.
Dar quickly abandoned the idea of the door and ambled through the window. No sooner had his foot touched the floor than it promptly slipped out from under him…landing Dar with a splat on his behind. An all too familiar smell filled his nostrils as Dar realized exactly what caused the splat. The acrid smell of cow dung, normally reserved for pastured not only filled his nostrils…it filled his entire tower… enchantments flew from Dar's mouth faster than he'd ever recited them before, Dar rose shakily to his feet. The sullen mood had changed all right….
…it took 2 hours to clean the cow dung out of the tower. It took another 3 to clean the cow blood out of the tower. With a sigh, Dar wiped the sweat that had dripping into his eyes for the last hour and a half. Exhausted, he heaved the last of the butchered cows into the pantry. Turning, Dar surveyed the result of the last five hours of work…his tower was once again pristine clean. The one thing he hadn’t been able to get out of the tower was the smell. Tiring of the horrible smell, that had begun to ferment in the hot sun…Dar stepped outside to fill his lungs with fresh air. As the door swung open wide, what filled his ears instead was laughter…very familiar laughter. There sitting at the edge of the woods were the three McGee brothers…Dingus, Dorkus and Doofus…all rolling on the ground in fits of laughter…their chants, between fits of laughter and accompanying gasps for air, taunted him…
“Cow killa, cow killa, He killa my cows…” all three chanted in unison, and promptly broke into fits of laughter all over again.
Dar made, what proved to be futile, attempts to justify his actions.
“Look, Dar started again…feebly…taking care of the guild tower is a big responsibility. It takes a lot of work. This only slows things down…”
The McGee brothers thought his serious mood made the matter all the more hilarious and started the chants all over again…
“Cow killa, cow killa, he killa my cows any time.”
Realizing any and all attempts at holding a meaningful conversation with the McGee brothers would be a waste of time, Dar strode stomped angrily back to his tower…slamming the door behind him.
He heaved himself into a chair near the door with an audible sigh. If the famous “exploding moose” episode of a year and a half ago was any measure, he would not get rid of the McGee brothers any time soon. He had no idea what to do…
…then as a relieved smile crossed his face, Dar said out loud, “But I know just who will know how to get rid of the McGee Brothers.”
Climbing the steps to the rooftop aviary, Dar began mentally composing a note to his most trusted friend and advisor, Chiapet. “Chia will know just what to do” Dar told himself as he wrapped the message around a pigeon’s leg and set it loose….
…Chia read the note yet again. Laughed and thrust it back into his pocket. Wiping the sweat from his brow from under his bight green wizards hat, he set off to hunt that pesky troll. Chiapet was the guild leader and prankster. He was the sort of person who stretched oiled paper over the outhouse seats and greased all of the doorknobs. And consider the fact that if brainpower were gunpowder, the McGee brothers couldn’t blow up a wet paper bag…he…yes he was the brains behind the famous exploding moose episode; a fact that his dear friend Dar still hadn’t figured out. Nor had he figured out that Chia was, in fact, the one who had put the McGee brothers up to filling Dar’s tower with cows in the first place. …
…or so Chia thought. It took a week. Where the attempts at explanations had proven futile, the McGee brothers finally succumbed to bribery. It took him three sides of beef and his special barbeque sauce; but they had finally fessed up on who had put them up both the cows and the idea for filling his tower with them. Smiling, again he realized that his friend was only trying to get Dar to “lighten up.” It was advice that Chia gave him almost constantly. “For once,” Dar thought, “I am going to turn the tables.” He turned in the direction of Chia's villa and set off with a wicked little grin…
…Chia had finally returned from his week long “house hunting” trip. It was a successful hunt, but it was good to be home. With a big smile on his face he opened the door to his little villa…and his smile grew even bigger. There in his living room, was a small heard of cows. Not just any heard of cows…each cow was dressed in its own ninja outfit. There in the middle of the heard, perched atop the largest of the cows, was his friend Dar. For the first time in weeks his friend Dar was actually smiling. With a mischievous little smile, Dar said simply…
“It’s a heard of grandmaster stealth cows. I thought you would want to see for yourself!”
Both friends burst out laughing. The laughter filled the room and still seemed to echo through the halls when the last of the cows had been cleared out to make way for a huge banquet…of beef ribs. It was the same banquet that had ushered in a new era in Dar’s life; for it was the first time that Dar met the woman who would become the great love of his life…Rose.