Harmonious_Echos

Not kidding, this looks really fun! I would definitely try getting or somehow crafting your own set and trying out the play style first, but after that maybe you could pitch it to Hasbro since this sounds awesome. And for a name, I'd go with just "Scoundrel" or "Modern Scoundrel"? It fits with the cards and the more modern take on the game. I LOVE all the ideas you had here & if you need any help creating art for the game board or the cards, let me know. I'd love to help.

Well, yeah. Floe is 14, escaping assassins and an arranged marriage by fleeing through city sewers... in a post-apocalyptic world where 90% of the earth's human population is contained in a densely-populated, roofed, & climate-controlled city, approximately the size of the state of Alaska. People inside the city are governed by the Officers, a police style Oligarchy/Monarchy controlled by a few ruling families, the leader of which is called the Supreme High Officer. Floe is the Supreme High Officer's daughter, and his bloodline's only heir ...in spite of having several concubines. This is due to a cocktail of war-related toxins in the 'outside' environment, which have faded over time... World War 5 had combined all nations into one, and the total human population was significantly reduced by war; almost all the earth's landmass was uninhabitable, and so with what specialized medicine and technology they had, the survivors of that great war produced the domed city, built its system of government and made it self-sufficient, and attempts were made to increase fertility rates. While increasing fertility didn't work, they did discover and develop a DNA-coating elixer, that greatly lengthened the lifespan of the current population, in order to allow humanity to produce more children over time. With this came a great drive to produce children, and women came to be married as soon as they 'came fertile' due to social pressures to increase population and squash the low birth rates. It has been 27,500 years, and the population of the City has finally begun to bounce back. However, so many of the original settlers have passed on that no one remains who knows how the city came to be built, and things like science, technology, and medicine have become very limited. (Think "roman empire" type levels of civilization and technology). No one still living has the capability of telling who will be fertile and who won't be; so due to the social pressure to be fertile and produce heirs, women are socially forced to immediately marry and become mothers as soon as they are physically able. Men, too, are expected to be fertile, so if a man cannot produce children, they lose much of their social standing. If they are wealthy, they can take on concubines and attempt to produce an heir this way; some adopt a lower class family's child as their own. If the person, male or female, is lower class and infertile, however, they run the risk of being proclaimed Nameless, or 'a Non-Fertile'. These are people who are city citizens, but are legally permitted only a first name, and who are sold into slavery or made indentured servants of the ruling classes, since they are considered near-worthless for anything but manual labor. Floe's never thought much about those things, though. She's had loads of formal training to be a ruler, since she would be expected to be the next supreme officer (it is an ungendered role). However, as a female, she would also be expected to take on a high-society concubine and bear heirs herself, for her family's name and bloodline to be passed on...basically forcing herself to be repeatedly impregnanted by as many men as will bed her, to raise her chances of having a child. Yet, in many ways, she's still a child herself. Now she's running from the assassins sent by the next-highest ruling family, who have already murdered her mother, her father, and kidnapped several of the other concubines, with plans to remove her bloodline all together, and elect someone from their family as Supreme High Officer. She's dressed in dirty castoff rags, and she's just been shoved down an ancient tube-style drain in the side of a building, meant for food waste and large piles of street filth. She's the princess of her realm, and she's now in the nation of rats...and the rat-catching Orphans, a race of strange, mutated humans who somehow survived and thrived outside the city, who came into the city sewers through the gated doors outside the sewers; who live in what is now becoming once again, a beautiful, natural world--remade by war, reborn as a new Eden. A world Floe, and all of her generation, have never seen, heard of, or ever dreamt of.... (Feel free to use this idea if you like. I will be using it too, though, so be forewarned...)

Sorry... I totally got stuck on thinking "What scars would the F-bomb make?" 🤣😂 ANYWAYS I would totally use this (what you wrote) as the premise of a story, I could see it being a good one, too, if I knew a bit more about science maybe? Definitely a fun start.

Floe lifted a hand in front of her face. In the darkness she pictured her hand, lifted like a dancer's, soft and white and slender, gracefully tilted at the wrist; tried to picture it moving, wriggling her fingers in front of her face to see if she could see them. Then something thick and sticky plopped from the ceiling onto her hand and slid off, leaving a greasy, smelly trail. She retched and shuddered, attempting frantically to wipe it off on her clothes. That made it worse, of course; the rags she wore smelled horrid too, and she felt a faint sensation of crawling on her skin which she was desperately trying to ignore. The darkness was like a heavy blanket, weighty and black over her eyes, making it impossible to use them at all. She'd have relied on hearing, but all around her she heard soft squeaks and scurrying, the occasional plip-plops of dampness dripping from above, and the rumbles and whooshes of sewage systems above, carrying waste downward into the tunnels. Alone, one of those sounds might have been easy to pinpoint; but together they made an almost overwhelming din of sound, a low roar, not loud, but continuous, blurring each of the echoes into more echos, again, and again, and again. It never stopped. Floe remembered how she had been thinking it would be very quiet in the sewer system, compared to the city above. How wrong she'd been! There was no silence here. This was no calm, hidden place. This darkness was ALIVE.

A sharp, cold sunshine fell across the dusty hearth when Harmony awoke. The fire had been allowed to die down to a few glowing coals, hidden deep in white ash; the morning air smelled of wood smoke and sheep and herbs, and a rusty tang of iron, from the forges. A small, thin boy sat by the door, a wooden bowl in hand, staring at Harmony with dark, deep-set eyes. Muse and Kyir were nowhere to be seen. Harmony reached out a mental thread; there they were, outside, with Agatha in the garden. Harmony felt the breeze caress Muse's fine hair. She drew back and sat up, feeling hungry and confident; she felt they had a good chance of staying here, in Grebefal, until she could figure out how to rebuild the link which had transported them both here. World-bridges were complex, but also simple; a mere thought while sleeping or a dream could have brought them here, although Harmony couldn't guess what had caused her to stay--or be buried in the crypt, pregnant... so many questions; it was high time she found some answers. Agatha entered the room like a soft summer thunderstorm, carrying 5 baskets at once, as if the weighed nothing at all, and began busily putting away various herbs and foodstuffs into basket-drawers, crocks, and jars on the far wall of the room. While she did that, Muse handed Kyir to Harmony; he nuzzled at her, and she gave him his breakfast, grinning at the soft greedy grunts and wriggles he made. Such a soft, funny thing he is....and so sweet, in a baby way. Harmony felt a little pang of anger and hurt at the thought of waking up pregnant, not knowing why or how, but she snatched the thought and pushed it deep down. This little one didn't deserve such feelings. It's not his fault, and he's mine. I won't let anyone hurt you, she thought. Even if I was hurt by someone, to get you. Muse nodded in agreement from across the room, behind Agatha's back. He's innocent, there's not a single bad bone in that child's body. Some strange magic, to be sure--but no darkness. Agatha, finished with her chore, turned and smiled at Harmony. "Up now, are you? I would guess you will be wanting some breakfast before you go to the Lord's court. Help yourself to food; there's bread on the table in the dining room, and fruit. When ye come back there'll be stew and mash, if you're hungry then. You've paid me finely and I don't mind sharing our provisions, since ye seem to be needing it." Harmony smiled "My thanks, Agatha. I will, I'm a mite hungry right now. Do you know if there are rules I should remember about approaching the Lord? I have heard only that Grebefal is ruled by this Lord, I don't even know a name... Lord what?" Agatha nodded and grimaced slightly, her gentle face showing her consternation. "The Lord prefers his anonymity–it’s likely you won't even see him. His name is Lord Grebe, he has requested we all just call him “Lord”. Everything in Grebefal is handled by his two staff, the Lord's Hands, Master Jer, the butler, and the head housekeeper, Madam Fyn. There's only two castle maids and they handle everything else. The only one who sees the Lord besides those, is Neil Jaksson, the guard captain. He gets his orders and makes a report to the Lord once a week." Harmony remembered the tall, thin, dark-hared man from the gate, with his sharp features and suspicious gaze. He didn't seem the type to give out any information, to be sure. Harmony guessed she would have to speak with the butler. Muse fetched her a hunk of bread and a soft, round reddish-yellow fruit with a creamy taste; Kyir finished nursing, and Harmony changed the soiled the downy-fluff liner of the diaper he had been packed into. Silently, she blessed Granny Jak for giving her an ample supply of the stuff. Muse carried it outside to the compost, with a wrinkled nose. Harmony recruited Agatha’s help to teach Harmony to pin a new diaper on; it took Harmony a few tries, and her diapering skills were nowhere near Granny’s level of expertise, but she got it to work, finally. Not without a few finger-pokes, which she healed surreptitiously. Then she wrapped Kyir in a section of her cloak again, and then Muse rolled up and put all of their new clothing and other various belongings into a wide fabric bag Agatha provided. Next, Agatha showed them the way to a room on the upper floor; this room was large and clean, with white-washed walls and a high ceiling, and had two large, many-paned glass windows which stood open to the sun. Each had a heavy curtain of tan fabric, pulled off to one side. Two heavy wooden beds with thick mattresses, pillows, and coverlets, stood against the walls; beside one, a large woven basket had been set up as a baby-bed. A small wooden desk sat between the beds along the far wall, with a candelabra, mirror, and stationary-box arranged on top. In the center of the room, a small table and two chairs sat, decorated with a vase of small flowers, looking festive and sweet. A large woven rug covered the cold floorboards, and behind a privacy-screen sat a large, low wooden tub, meant for bathing in, along with a stack of towels, and buckets for hot water. At the foot of each bed stood a small chest, made for clothes storage. Harmony took it all in with a sense of deep gratitude, and a little pang of chagrin; Agatha clearly didn’t know how simple and easy summoning those gold coins had been, for Harmony. She had worked hard to make the place lovely, and had made sure the room had everything they would need to support them, all in one place. Agatha gave them a nod and left them, and Muse helped Harmony unroll the clothing out on the beds. There were long fabric leggings and new shoes for each of them, made of some sort of brushed suede. For Harmony, there was a short, light outdoor work dress, a long, deep-brown formal dress with a corset and petticoats, and a night-dress. For Muse, there was a nightdress and a sturdy, un-ornamented everyday dress. A carryall and wide leather belt for Muse; a large, soft shawl and wide brimmed hat for Harmony. And for Kyir, a long, soft shirt with a drawstring to close it at the feet; a soft blanket, and a tall stack of diapers and fine silver pins. Harmony carefully dressed Kyir in the shirt and swaddled him in the blanket, then helped sort and fold the clothing, and laid their outfits out on the beds while Muse carried buckets of water up to the tub. First Harmony, and then Muse, had a quick, cold-water wash; then, cleaned, fed, and dressed in their fine new clothing, they started out for the castle.

Aga'te--or Agatha, as she introduced herself, in a refined tone--was a tall, strong-looking woman with an air of genteel nobility, in spite of her plain linen shift and bare feet. She opened the half-door and stood aside to let them in, and Harmony nearly tumbled headfirst into the straw flooring. She was totally and completely exhausted. Agate took one look at the coin she offered and stretched out a steadying hand to Harmony. "Upstairs are our finest beds, my Lady, but the climb is steep and you appear to be weary. Would you allow me to offer you a bed by the fire for now?" Harmony nodded and pressed the coin in her hand, too tired to do more than cling to Kyir in his basket and sink onto a nearby bench. Her eyes swam and Muse held onto her arm, concerned. "Harm...ony? Are you all right? Let me take Kyir. I'll feed him if he wakes. You need sleep!" ..... Her voice separated into several voices, and her figure multiplied, sounding and looking like an odd bunch of mirror Muses...then faded as Harmony's hearing blurred and her vision faded to black.....safe and warm, fears eased, and baby attended to, she slumped forward into a fainting sleep. ~~~~~ A huge, pale wave rose high before her eyes... higher and higher until it crashed down on her, covering her with a fine white powder which ran and dripped like a liquid. The sky was dark, and full of blazing stars, unfamiliar stars... and beyond the wave, a thick blackness rose, soft as fur and black as the antithesis of all light. From within it, near the top, two of the stars in the sky now moved, gleamed, blinked, and became eyes, focused intensely on her... She felt a deep distrust, but no animosity or anger, emanating from those eyes. She felt an odd longing, and a powerful curiosity to see what creature owned those eyes... that soft, luxurious blackness... the ruler somehow, of this scene of burning stars, hard, blue night, and this moonless, dusty, bone-white landscape.... Suddenly Muse stood beside her, in her elf-like form, carrying something that looked like a weapon in her hand. She seemed to recognize this creature and flung the weapon at it, which flew from her hand in a stream of silver light. Harmony felt a sharp pain in her own chest as the weapon struck the creature. Light from the weapon spread through the creature like flash-flame, burning upwards and outwards, leaving a hole, a nothing, a soundless and scentless erasure of existance, burning, burning, burning.... BURNING Harmony smelled fire, and something else. She opened her eyes and felt a sharp stinging pain; she slapped at it and the pain eased. She was on a cot beside the hearthfire, and an ember from the fire had landed on her throat and had been burning her. Looking around, she saw Muse staring at her oddly, rocking in a chair a few paces away, holding Kyir who was happily suckling on her thumb. Did you see that? Harmony thought at her, picturing the dream-scape she'd seen. Muse nodded. Yes, I was beside you, came the reply. I don't know what that was, but it didn't want you. It wanted Kyir. It was pulling you closer, and you were pulling Kyir closer.... I felt its hunger and struck to drive it off, but I think I may have killed it. Harmony sighed. Just what she needed... another mystery. She closed her eyes. I'm going back to sleep, she thought. Mused grinned. You do that.

Hmmm.... or maybe running water (topic 1) actual, magical, and supernatural equines (topic 2) and a group of teetotallers (aka designated drivers), for the last one... 🤣

Welp, that's proper terrifying.... I like it though 😈

Just throwing out a few of the ideas that keep pestering me (Muse, stop that! I have work to do!) ~A young girl from an abusive 'reality' becomes a lucid dreamer and discovers a way to telepathically communicate with beings on other planets; At first she thinks she is still dreaming, but they give her "proof" by changing her circumstances (kind of like a sci-fi redoux of Matilda?)... ~A little boy wanders off from a family picnic and falls into a mysterious pool that transforms him into an ant. He discovers that the ants have a whole life and community and world down among the rubbish beneath a pine tree, and even strange magical powers which make him question the whole idea of human freedom... ~A girl discovers she can produce portals into other planes of existence, and has to learn to use them in order to stop her powers from turning her whole 'plane' inside out and destroying everyone & everything she knows. (on one of these planes she befriends a massive 12 foot tall white otter named Finx. It helps her discover the tools to repair other bridges of worlds, and move on to the next plane). .. ~a mother in a town about to be destroyed by a volcano has a prophetic dream about the destruction of her entire town. She attempts to tell everyone but gets jeered out of meetings and laughed out of the town hall and finally sent to an asylum for treatment since they all think she's crazy. Her children discover she's right and use newfound super powers to rescue thier totally sane mother before the town gets destroyed. They don't make it in time, though, and everyone is buried beneath the ash and gas clouds, and the children have the tough choice to either save everyone and show thier powers, or hide them and escape with thier mother. The mother helps them decide... ...will add more as I think of them... Feel free to use or to add more!

Harmony glanced at Muse, who was busying herself with a hard roll from the basket Granny had passed to her. They were now seated at the table; Kyir was snoozing peacefully in a reed basket, covered in some odd white and brown downy material, which Granny had called "Waterwort fur". Harmony hadn't known where to start on thier story to Granny; so she had started with the simplest version she could. "We are from a country called Joei, and I don't know how we got here...I'm a mage, where we come from. I was asleep, and then awoke and found myself pregnant and alone in a cave in the mountains with Muse. We found our way out and I had the baby outside on the mountain. We just want a place to stay and we don't mean anyone any harm. Could I find work in Grebefal? Do you need a mage here?" Granny looked Harmony up and down, as if she was assessing a horse or a cow. "Well, we've no Mage here, but I dinna what we've need of one fer. Unless someone gits in some fearsome way. We coulda used ya a few years back when ma house caught afire. Ma sweet Bertie passed after that fire." Granny's eyes softened and she turned away for a moment. Then she coughed and cleared her throat. "Ye, well, I reckon it'd be right fine to have a mage in Grebefal for a time, if ye'r fixin to stay. But y'll have ta see the Lord and git ye an order and a room claim so's you can set up shop. I kin take ye there in the mornin'. For now I'll take ye ower to the inn." Harmony nodded. "Thank you, Granny Jak. That would be much appreciated." Harmony rummaged a moment in the folds of her cloak and pulled out the wand. "Might I offer you some payment for your help? Is there something I might help you with?" Granny eyed the wand. "Mayhaps. Kin ye fix that old shutter-strap on the high window there? I'm a mite too short to reach 't, an I like bein' able to close it after I look out." Harmony raised the wand and focused. The leather strap wriggled, stretched, looped itself over and tied to the window-handle, then around the large nail above; then grew down, down, down to coil on the floor, a leather rope now, instead of just a broken strap. Granny eyed it, as if expecting it to leap at her like a snake. "that's mighty strange, but ye did fit 't. That's a good work ye do. Ye'll be in high demand with a skill like that." Harmony sighed. It had been such a long day, and hse was still feeling the effects of blood loss, the long hard ride, and now magical drain as well. "If there's anything else, Granny, I'd be glad to help. But I will need some time to renew the power I used. It isn't unlimited." Granny nodded "Ye, makes sense, that does. Well, let's go git ye and yer bunch a bed." She hopped up from her place and shooed them outside with surprising quickness. "Ower there. The big yellow house. That's our inn. It's closest t' Market and has more floors that t' rest. Hope you've coin though, or Aga'te will have ye sweepin up and muckin out for yer bed." Harmony nodded. She was too tired to explain that she could easily magic up money, if needed, besides which it probably wasn't a good idea to let too many people know she had such powers. So far, the people of Grebefal had been pleasant enough, but unlimited funds could, and often would, ruin anyone.

🤣 Yes, it has been every other year, how weird is that?! I feel old now... *cough* ANYWAY It was pretty odd, coming back and seeing "five years later".... and "three years later"... etc, on my posts. Embarrassing. But Muse and Harmony are very much still alive & kicking, so I'll keep going!

This story has really taken on a sort of "life of its own" I think... With Harmony becoming more and more her own character, and Muse as well, and adding in new characters.... and I'm wondering if I should continue to write it here, or take it and try to produce it, in a more formal sense. Opinions? It's definitely in need of a lot of polish and fleshing out, and it might take me another 10 years to complete, since (as we know) I take long breaks. Long, long breaks. But it's been really nice to write it here and see it grow into more than just a silly whim-post about myself (Yes, I actually WAS pregnant when I started this story). My army of small, semi-rabid monkeys has grown to 5 since the time I started this tale. Muse, however, abandoned me until very recently when I finally published that book. Now she's back, and much more solid than before, with helpful hints and a toothy grin.... but I digress. Either way I'll probably continue writing bits here from time to time, since I like it here. It's quiet and smells of old libraries and squirrels.

Up close, the dusty paths and small gardens were much, much larger. The houses, too. Harmony gazed around at the structures, wondering; second, third, and even fourth stories loomed awkwardly above them, looking very, very old. The massive foundation timbers were cut and sunk into solid rock, with a precision that hinted at a high level of engineering expertise, and tools that these people definitely didn't have. The walls greyed with age, and with sun--but no decay. Vines climbed over them, and the fruit trees wrapped hug limbs around the sides. These were houses for not just a family. "you could house a whole village in one of these!" Muse murmured, and Harmony agreed. The "spiked roof" house was the only house that showed some wear and tear; black sooty streaks down one side and a newer-looking roof, of thatch, not slate like the rest. It, too, was grey with age, but seemed not to have any other form of decay. The straw thatch stood up in a spiky edge, along the ridge. At one corner a clay chimney-pot rose through the thatch, and at the top of it, a large black bird sat, eyeing them. It croaked loudly and dived, and Muse stared as it seemed to vanish, diving down the chimney into the house. "How odd.." Harmony tapped on the heavy wooden door. A small window above it popped open with surprising quickness, and a tiny, withered face peered out. "What you want?" Harmony, taken aback, stared with mouth open; Muse grinned her wide grin and answered in her stead. "Are you Granny Jak? We've come with a new babe and a mother who needs a healer. We've come a long way, from over the mountain. Have you any heal spells or potions?" Granny Jak, for it was she, frowned. "Naw. I have herbs and poultices. And nawt for a babe. But for you-" (here she eye Harmony suspiciously) "For you I've briar tea, to help the milk come in, if you like. But you're in fine fettle; anyone can see that. Dunno why you'd call on an old lady and waste her time for nothing" The window slammed, and the door jerked open. The old woman stood staring up at them from Harmony's waist level, and Muse stifled a giggle; Harmony glared at her, because she heard full well the roars of laughter in her mind. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHa......she's so short! And she looks like a bog-troll! I can't HELP it!" Granny eyed Muse sharply, and grasped Harmony by the hand, pulling her through the door. "come on. You need to let that babe suckle so's he can stop his whining. There's a seat in the kitchen. I'll fetch the tea." Harmony gratefully followed Granny Jak into the kitchen, and almost fell to her knees at the smell of fresh bread and savory stewed meat. Granny snorted and pushed her into a high-backed chair. "sit. Feed the babe. I'll get you and your little maidling something to eat and drink. Then I want to hear more about how you came here. You can pay me with your tale."

**Stares ominously** YOU ARE NOW MY FAVORITE DECORATION PREPARE THE CARBONITE

Wrote this one standing at my kitchen sink. (I wonder why....) My house is full of ghosties! You cannot see them there They leave thier dirty glasses And stinky underwear I make so many passes Round and round the house, They're louder than six elephants But shyer than a mouse! My house is full of ghosties! You'll never see them first, You'll see that all the lights are on, And piles of dirty shirts! My house is full of ghosties! They never seem to care Where there's a chore Or several more You'll never see them there. But bring out all the sweet things The drinks and things to eat Then suddenly they all appear! Consume, and then retreat... **These are the selfsame ghosties which love to leave dishes in my sink. Or rather, all over the house. IT NEVER ENDS *cries*

I have FINALLY managed to finish my book of poems and wanted to share that here... it is LARGELY thanks to this forum that I even have these to publish, some of which I wrote as far back as 1997. I'm very grateful to have had those written and archived here in a post I made, back in the "good old days" of MySpace and Yahoo messenger chats. So, without further ado; I introduce "Twilight Riddle, a book of neurodivergent poetry (and winged frogs)" I don't expect anyone to buy it, but if you ever see one at your local library, don't hesitate to check it out and have a chuckle at my expense. To all my Pen friends, gratefully, Helena J. Marfell https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twilight-riddle-helena-marfell/1143987004?ean=9798855610208

*Muse busts down the door swinging a lamp like a weapon* NOPE NOT GONNA LEAVE, YOU CAN'T MAKE ME *transforms into giant toad & chains self to floor* SEE, I AM LEIA THE HUTT

(I never knew my grandpa well, and am now wondering what I may have missed!) My condolences for your loss? And nice to see you back again.

Harmony wanders in, followed by Muse, who sniffs around for the dust-bunny and pounces in corners, shrieking high-pitched gibberish. (Harmony ignores her) Loving this story; please don't stop! I immediately connected because of Scherezade and James in the tale, but I'd still appreciate it even if the names were different. Great to be back at the Mighty Pen. ❤️

Ugh. Gross amounts of money are for dragons, or miserable rich widows who stare morosely through tall dark windows in overly-elegant rose-colored bathrobes... The second place sounds nice, though. Too bad they couldn't actually help there! Sending comforting thoughts to Vibs, I too have felt the existential dread of the Ages on this side of the pendulum's swing. And I have a thing for frogs, obviously.

Muse was nearing the gates, now. They weren't gates really, more of an open arch guarded by four tired-looking, middle aged men with rusty polearms... no armor, not in this heat. Just dusty linen tunics and loose pants, stained brown from sweat & long wear. The length was too long on one; another's tunic pulled tight across his chest, slightly bunched at the armpits & hanging down at a comic angle. Hamony smiled. There was nothing threatening about this lot! Still, it was better to be cautious. One never knew what sort of traditions these villagers were accustomed to, or what their rules were about outsiders. Muse shook her mane. "Harmony. I have a feeling it's better if I don't transform here. What should I 'be' while we are here?" Harmony thought for a moment. "A cat would probably be good, but if I needed you to do things for me, it could raise questions... Can you do a normal-looking person?" "what is normal to you?" "Ah. Well, something similar to these people... or to me? But not an exact copy. A human or an elf, maybe, with skin the same as mine, and hair close to the same color?" Muse seemed to consider. Slowing to a halt, she knelt to allow Harmony to get off, and then trotted behind some nearby boulders for a moment. When she emerged, she was a small girl-child, an elf. She stood shoulder-height to Harmony, with pale, luminescent skin, long white hair, and Muse's classic purple eyes. Harmony grinned. "Do you ever get tired of white and purple?" Muse returned the look. "Well, no, but I CAN do other colors..." she snapped her fingers and her hair darkened a few shades, to a soft dusty blonde. Harmony gaped at her. "Muse, you can TALK!" "well, yes, when I need to. I prefer the rift-speech, mind to mind... but I can pretend?" Muse blinked her deep purple eyes, which faded to a soft lavender hue. "And I can't very well rift-speak to the villagers without raising questions about who we are..." Harmony nodded. "Yes, I'd rater not explain, since I don't even understand it all myself. If I can't, who could?" Muse snapped her fingers and clothed herself in a long linen tunic, like the guard's, but without ornamentation. "Needs something..." she looked around, then grasped some dry grass and twisted it. A rope belt & pair of simple sandals appeared, which she clumsily put on. Hamony giggled, hugging Kyir who had been quiet for the whole ride, asleep. Now he stirred with sleepy squeaks, and nuzzled at Harmony. "Muse, I think we might need to wait a bit before going in--Kyir needs to eat." Muse smiled a tiny bit too-toothily and glanced meaningfully at the guards at the gate. "If he's hungry, it's a good excuse to let us in, right?" "I suppose..." They approached the arch, sticking to the trail that emerged from the grass to wind up through the gate. Beside the trail, farm fields could be seen; some type of cluster shaped grain, and a small, deep red fruit, ones Harmony wasn't familiar with. A mouth-watering smell wafter from them, and Muse frowned. "Why does my body ache from the smell? It is pleasant, but it makes me hurt." "that's hunger, Muse. You aren't used to it, but in this form you must need to eat." Muse sighed. "And I suppose it would be bad form to eat those fruits...." Harmony smiled again. "Yes, at least until someone who works in the fields offers us some. They don't belong to us." As they approached the gate, the largest of the men snapped to attention and said "Halt!" Muse & Harmony stopped, waiting. The man sputtered a bit, as if he had expected them to pressure him, and had forgotten what to say if they complied. Harmony smiled at the man, and he blinked, then stared. "ER, excuse me, my lady. What brings you to Grebefal? There isn't much for a fine lady, to be found here..." One of his fellows approached him at this, a taller, younger man with a thin black beard & hair, studying them closely. "Vern, she's not a lady, look at her. What lady travels barefoot with nowt but a single servant and a mewling babe?" He frowned. "Where have you come from? You can't have come far, with those companions." He turned back to Vern. "we should take them to the castle, to see the --" He broke off as Kyir suddenly let out a hungry wail, flailing his tiny fists in the air. "Um. I mean, probably they need the inn..." Harmony nodded. "Yes, please. And is there a resident healer here? Or a mage?" The young man shook his head. "naw, Grebefal is too remote for such luxuries. We heal ourselves, mostly. There's Granny Jak, who does births and deaths. That's all." "May I see her, then?" He nodded, motioning them through the gate. "Yep. Second house on the north side. The one with the grey spiked roof 'n the raven on the chimney". Muse and Harmony walked through, looking around. Muse looked back at the guards and grinned at the dark-haired man. "What's your name?" He looked unnerved, but smiled back. "Neil Jaksson. Granny Jak's my Grandma. We're all related here, one way or another." Vern nodded, leaning against the wall "Yeah. I'm married to his sister 'n he's-" -here he motioned to the other two guardsmen- "-my sister's man, and our other brother. Kade and Hasren. We're here most days. Lord's orders." Harmony lifted the now-wailing Kyir to her shoulder. "Harmony and Muse, and this is Kyir. My thanks for the directions. I should go now, Kyir needs his meal and I am in need of a rest." The guards nodded and Muse cheerfully waved as they crossed the market-space and down the path, towards the first house.

It was a cold and restless night for Harmony, even with the exhaustion, Muse's warmth, and the forest's goodwill seeping into her bones. The crackling fire seemed to whisper into the darkness, and the small, hot form of Kyir on her chest made her painfully aware of how vulnerable they were... a few hours after her first sleep, she work with a moan, flinging off the weight of a horrible nightmare about ghouls coming out of the grave-cavern and tearing them apart. After that her eyes would not close so easily. The bleeding had stopped, thankfully, and she found herself in need of relieving herself. She wrapped Kyir tightly in her cloak and managed to squat awkwardly behind a bush while hanging onto the babe with one arm and a tree branch with the other... not the most comfortable of positions, but it worked, and she hadn't soiled herself. She heaved her still-heavy body back up to standing and kicked some forest trash over it, then wobbled back to the fire. Muse was already there, a white were-cat with purple eyes, staring at the fire. When Harmony approached, she glanced up and sniffed a sigh. "what do we do now?" Harmony shook her head. "I don't know...Kyir needs real clothes, and shelter. We need a place for him. A village, or something." Muse stood up cat-like, stretching out to nearly three times her seated length, then arching her back, and then finally standing. She turned her gaze eastward, where a glimmer of sun could be seen staining the sky pink and gold. "A village is there." Harmony looked; a faint black outline of mountain, trees, and other shapes--man-made shapes--stood black against the far horizon. "That's a least a day's travel by horseback, Muse... We can't walk that!" Muse grinned a cat's grin "have you forgotten ME so soon?" She lept into the air, and came down a white war-horse with a beautiful, flowing mane and tail. Harmony smiled in admiration and appreciation. "I guess I did forget. That's a nice one, you should use it more often!" Then lifting her wand, Harmony flicked water from the creek onto the campfire until it was out, and even the ashes flowed away into the grass. Muse laid down to let her mount, and soon was cantering tirelessly across the ground, hooves missing rocks and branches in a way that would never be possible without magic... Trail-less terrain that would've taken a normal horse a day, or even two, took Harmony and Muse less than a day to cross. Soon the shapes that were seen by early morning's light became wooden buildings, rugged but sturdy, a group of about 10 in all, surrounded by a high stone wall and a guarded gate. On the far side of the wall, it thickened and stretched upwards into a small stone castle, simple and sturdy like the houses below. From the mountain-side, Harmony could see directly into the town itself. Dogs barked and chickens pecked on the ground; a few fruit trees grew beside houses, and small gardens dotted the spaces between. On the gate-side, the wall opened up to a wider space where a few market stands stood, and on a raised platform a bard in a wild costume waved his arms and some kind of instrument, telling news of other lands for a mixed group of children and adults. Beyond the market-space, a second lower wall separated the castle from the town & protected a large, low building where a furnace was obviously burning, from the large smoke-stack that was billowing smoke. Harmony smiled. The place reminded her of a great stone mother hen, hovering over her chicks. It felt warm and quiet and safe, and Harmony ached with the hope that she could find a place there. She knew it might be too much to ask.

They say a picture's worth a thousand words. What words would you use for this one? I feel like there's definitely a story here.

I think we could totally world-build a cooperative writer's group game, not necessarily actual D&D but we can definitely use the characters or design it along similar lines? For example; my family like to play & I, although I have never played, greatly enjoy listening to them talk about their campaigns back & forth and laughing about the stuff they did. Taking it 1 steep further we could just have our own no-rules campaign with a bunch of Pennites, jumping in to play whomever or whatever character we "are"... it definitely would be a lot like Death of the Mighty Pen or other threads here I say let's do it I mean I'm already a Muse, might as well continue flitting around obnoxiously chitttering at people until they talk back 🤣

(munches popcorn) Wow!! I love this character-building. It's funny to me that although I have ZERO history I'm still pretty much following this, it's very scifi but I would love to see more.