While I’m nowhere near finished tweaking things, I’ve come up with what I hope will be a fitting addition to Live Novel Friday’s tale.
While I can’t tell you the story yet, it is coming along rather nicely. I won’t say anything on names, as of yet, but I wanted to give you a chance before Friday to offer up some names and more ideas for this weeks episode of The Wharf.
Let me know what you think so far…
He still needs to become more animated, so as to match up with the visuals I’m using for our story.
Oddly, Norbert offered up a rather realistic looking baby, though he’s a bit too real to work with if I want him to blend into the story properly…
I’m nowhere near done, but once we’ve gotten a good number of images for him, I’ll create his permanent Avatar. I like the second image better than the first, but I want to fix his teeth to match up with the first image. Those teeth should be on the second of the two images, as well as the first. This way, the final Avatar will always have baby orc teeth in his mouth. We want continuity.
Tell me you wouldn’t binge watch videos of children’s antics during an Easter Egg hunt, but you’d be fibbing.
Watching one child take eggs out of the basket of another who isn’t looking, or following another child around, only to steal his or her egg find? You’ve never watched? It’s a riot! I’d binge watch that Olympic sport for hours, if I could.
An egg hunt is the best place to determine whose going to be the next pastor, and/or who will be the next politician… just sayin!
**As per our conversation last week, I’ve settled on Ollie for our portly Ogre innkeeper. He has a rough and intimidating presence, but for those who know him, there is also a kind heart hidden beneath all that muscle and aggressive demeanor. Our young barmaid has learned to avoid Ollie’s grumpier side, using her quiet and unassuming nature to sooth his rough mannerisms. Though his frightening appearance and frequent angry outbursts keep the customers in line, our young lass has grown to love the grumpy old innkeeper. We’ll call the tavern The Ogre’s Rest, and I think that Maiyah is a fitting name for our young barmaid. Be sure and answer the questions at the end of each episode, so I’ve a story to work up. Enjoy Episode II…
This night, like any other night here on the wharf, Maiyah has been busily serving customers and helping in and around the kitchen. The cook asked that she bring in another fish from the barrel out on the dock in front of the tavern, so she retrieves a container and heads outside for the barrel.
As the young barmaid is pulling a sizeable fish out of the barrel, she spies movement from behind the container. Briefly glancing down, toward the disturbance, she spies what looks like a tiny shoe sticking out from behind the barrel. Rule number three kicks in, warning her not to bring attention to herself, so she continues on about her business, carrying the fish inside to the cook.
As she cleans and serves food to the customers, several pieces of dried meat and fruit cake left on guests’ plates, happens to fall into her apron pocket.
Her sleight of hand skills rewarded her a small water flask, from the pocket of an old tinker, snoring blissfully in the corner.
Since her shift is coming to an end, Maiyah carries her cleaning supplies out to the shed, next to the barrel on the dock. Inside the shed she takes a strip of cloth hanging on the wall, folds the food and water inside, and casually walks back toward the tavern, discreetly dropping the small package behind the barrel as she walks past.
Once inside The Ogres Rest, Maiyah retreats to her room above the bar. Her room is small, but offers a window that looks out over the wharf, to the sea beyond. From here, she can see directly down upon the front of the tavern, where the shed and barrel both sit beside the water’s edge. She dresses in her nightgown and settles in at the window ledge to watch…
There is just enough light cast, from the tavern’s doorway lantern, for the young barmaid to have a clear view of the barrel. She spies movement from behind the container, but only enough to confirm that there is indeed someone there, but whomever it is, hides themselves very well. She falls asleep with her head resting upon the window sill of her tiny room above the bar.
Who or what do you think might be hiding behind the barrel?
With the clues given and remembering the three survival rules, what do you think Maiyah will do?
I know it’s just a blogging site, Eustace, but I still believe that if we can imagine a thing that is good, healthy, and full of wonder, someone will believe in it!
If I believe in something wonderful, and you believe in it too, Eustace, then it will grow strong like a tree. It’s roots will spread powerfully beneath the soil. With the Son’s warmth, and the Father’s fertile ground, all we’ve left to do is water it with our faith.
If you’ve never watched The NeverEnding Story, you really should. That scene where the princess and Atrayu sit in the darkness together, holding onto the last spark of imagination left in the world, was my favorite part of the whole movie.
If we lose our childlike wonder and imagination, where would all those fantastical dreams and stories go? I’ll tell you where… gone! They would simply disappear, leaving us in a world that lacks all beauty… a world devoid of creativity.
I know today we’ve left you with some deep things to consider. Well, Eustace is a very deep thinking camel, you know, so it shouldn’t surprise you that we often have deep philosophical conversations. Just sayin…
***So, here’s how this works. I want to try for a graphic novel style, but with a twist. Each week, I’ll release a new episode accompanied by several questions for you to answer. These answers will determine the next weeks episode. Some weeks I may give you two alternative outcomes, while at other times, there will be questions that will direct the path of each character involved in the story. Sounds easy, right? I’ll do all the heavy lifting. Each episode will be flagged, so if you come in to the story midway, all you need do is scroll back on the feed to catch up. Let’s do this!***
The Wharf…
Episode I –
Life here can be very tough, for any soul not already hardened by life’s cruel realities!
The taverns and store fronts along the wharf are owned by varying disreputable men and women, both of which would sell you to the sea for the right amount of coin.
If one wants to eat, they must live and work in the midst of pirates, slave traders, treasure seekers, and drunkards. There was no room for anyone with weakness, nor naivety, of any kind. Letting your guard slip, even for a moment, might very well bring about your doom…
Within the Wharf lay a tavern, filled with all manner of vile men, most living and working on the filthy trade ships, arriving here daily. Few of the locals in the nearby farming communities ever come to the Wharf, let alone frequent such a dangerous establishment.
If you were a woman, either you came into the tavern to work, or you were dangerous enough to hold your own in a fight.
The Wharf was no place for kind folk, nor was the tavern safe for anyone carrying a coin purse without a gun or a dagger for company.
Inside the tavern you see a young barmaid, busily sweeping the floor near the doorway. She belongs to the owner of the tavern, purchased off one of the slave ships some years prior, when she was rather young.
She is quiet, very obedient to the one who feeds her, and always works busily, both in and around the tavern. No one bothers her, nor do they pay her any mind at all! Everyone here knows that she is not to be touched, as the owner of the tavern would kill you for even considering it!
Don’t let her meekness fool you, as she is not what she seems. If you did look into her eyes, you would see danger floating within those dark pools of green, staring right back at you! In her short life, she has seen too much, felt too much and lost too much!
This has molded her into a very hardened and wise soul, for one so young. She is also very smart, both in book knowledge and being street savvy. Her three rules for survival are,
Don’t make the tavern owner mad…
Stay out of folk’s business…
Do not bring attention to yourself…
These three rules were born of painful lessons learned over the years of service to the owner of the tavern… most assuredly, the only reason she was still breathing air, even if it did smell of stale rum and dirty pirates!
Question #1 – Our heroin needs a name. I’ve already a name in mind, but this is for you to choose, not me… not this time. What shall we call our young lass?
Question #2 – What should we call the tavern?
Question #3 – Will the tavern owner be a burly old one-eyed ogre, or should he have a hidden softer side to him?
I went easy on you this week, since this is a whole new thing, and all. Each episode will have harder questions, but you’ll know more about the story as time goes on. My hope is that you’ll become invested in this tale, which will only gain strength with each weeks answers. This should allow the story to expand and gain traction, as time goes on. Who knows where this will lead.
How come grown-ups smile when they’re sad, but cry when they’re happy?
Why do we always have to clean our rooms? It took me hours to mess it up.
How come grown ups say “eat all your vegetables”, which are sometimes yucky, but they say “don’t fill up on sweets” when we eat fruit? We need both, I’m thinking.
Will I be allowed to ride the bus to school with Tommy, next door?
Surely, people have met trolls before. Miss Wiwohka doesn’t think it’s a good idea, because some folks can be sort of mean about the whole ‘pointy’ ears thing.
If I climbed those rafters with one of Wiwohka’s pillow cases, I think I might be able to float down without getting hurt. Maybe I’ll spread some hay on the floor, just in case.
I wonder if Pumpkin would be willing to give out rides across the pond, this summer…
If you’re wondering why today’s Thursday Thoughts are brought to you by me, Peanut, it’s because I never get to write for our barnyard, because Lilly and Eustace always hog the computer. It’s not fair, I say.
Well, things are about to change!
Today, this troll got here first!
And, I’ve been writing my thoughts out while she was taking her shower. Don’t judge! A troll’s gotta do what a troll’s gotta do, right?!
Pssssstttt! (whispers the troll) I’m getting out of here before she comes out… (Wiwohka’s voice can be heard in the background) … hey, what have you been up to, Peanut? … nothin (an adorable little red headed troll peeks out from the bedroom doorway).
I have to be a bit mysterious this morning, as I don’t really want you to see what I’m working on. I’m creating the avatar for our Live Novel Friday episodes, and I wanted it to be a surprise. Unfortunately, I need you to help decide on the final touches of our heroine in the story.
Without disclosing too much, I will share the final image that I want for her…
Short day, I know, but I’ve several important appointments that are unavoidable. I shall return tomorrow…
I know it’s not technically a skill or ability, but it kind of is in the world of imagination. That’s how I wanted to answer this prompt, so there’s that!
I hate to sit in an airplane, next to the door with the writing, “Occupied” above the handle. I want to travel, and see my loved ones, but between the cost of the flight, whether I want to pay to take my toothbrush, or if I want to drink anything better than water and a biscuit, I get discouraged.
Not even reserving my spot in 1st class, premier, or anything other than, hurry get on or we will leave you here, it is no longer easy, nor is it fun for me to travel.
If it were not for the blip in a movie where the object arrived inside out,
I would have pursued building and trying to use my own. For now, I will leave it to Hollywood, but once a large number of more daring volunteers successfully make it, I am for sure, all in!
Cookie?
I wasn’t sure if you wanted plain or frosted, so I made both…
Maybe cookies are actually my real secret ability, after all!
While Wiwohka has to go to one of her appointments, she’s given me my first actual job to complete in her absence. I’m doin WordPress this morning… ALL by myself!
The Daily Prompt wasn’t so bad, since I was able to pull from the archives, but I discovered something in the process of digging up an old answer. Wiwohka wrote something odd in her answer that sent me searching for some wordsy explanations. This ant has questions!
Did you notice the part where she used whether and weather in the same sentence?
While Wiwohka made it seem funny when she wrote it down, I didn’t get the joke. What was so funny about how she wrote that sentence? I needed some answers, because I have begun seeing this strange phenomenon quite often, while reading. What gives?
There are a great many words in the English language that have gathered a nefarious shadow word, which follows the regular word around but isn’t the same, at all! I find this very unfair to us young readers, wouldn’t you agree?
Out of necessity, and a good deal of curiosity, I posed my question to Mr. McGoogle…
“What are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings?”
The response was a rather wordy one… Literally!
AI Overview
Words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings are called
homophones (or heterographs). Common examples include to/too/two, there/their/they’re, pair/pear, see/sea, and hour/our. These words sound identical in speech but have distinct meanings, which can create confusion in writing.
Here are common homophones categorized for clarity:
Commonly Confused Homophones
There (place), Their (possession), They’re (contraction of “they are”).
To (preposition), Too (also/excessively), Two (number).
Your (possession), You’re (contraction of “you are”).
I don’t really have any problem understanding the difference in the words that are similar in sound but not in spelling. These, I can easily understand to be different from each other by their unique spellings. But what about the words that remain almost identical in spelling, but only one or two letters change? Why did they have to make things so difficult?
It’s a good thing that our brains are capable of detecting even the most minute differences in how a word is pronounced, or spelled, for that matter!
Before you start thinking that I was done… I’m not, just so you know.
They didn’t stop at Homophones, no no. They went a step further into the art of confusion by adding another additional type/category for these words. Yes indeed, they did!
Mr. McGoogle calls them Homographs and Homonyms. Oh yay! Really?!
Check out these little rabbit holes in the English language…
Homographs: Spelled the same, but different meanings/sounds (e.g., bark of a tree vs. bark of a dog).
Homonyms: Words that are both homophones and homographs (e.g., *bat
These are dark days in the kingdom of words, my friends. Dark days, indeed…
Journey With Me! 