Reading the Dice: Fantasy Edition

Story 7: Ink Blot Plot

Dice roll: troll, minotaur, cage, flute, helmet, Trojan horse, quill & ink, tiara, throne

Once upon a time, the Storyteller had a problem. She stared at her writing desk, scrolls and parchments at the ready, quill sitting quietly in the ink jar nearby... But the ink jar was empty. She rummaged through her drawers and found more empty ink jars. She got up and crossed the worn floorboards that creaked and bent slightly under her feet and threw open the closet. More papers, stacks of old stories labelled, "BURN," and trinkets abounded, but no ink.

She went to the attic, the basement, the bedroom, the dining room, the kitchen, even braving the jumble of the junk drawer...

...but not a single drop of ink was to be found.

The Storyteller glanced out the window as she pulled on her cloak. The sky was dark. A few fireflies blinked on and off as they passed the window. She sighed and put her cloak back on the peg by the door. It was too dark to find the nuts and berries to crush to make ink. She was going to need to get ink another way.

A Recall.

She returned to her writing room and went to the closet, still sitting open, and grabbed a stack of the old stories. She sat at her desk and began thumbing through the parchments, cringing at the sloppy turns of phrase and embarassingly cliché plots. Finally, she separated out three stories and set them individually on the desk, pushing the rest of the stack away in disgust.

She picked up her dry quill and idly tickled her chin with the tip of the feather, wondering aloud, "Who can accomplish this mission for me?" She glanced over at the books on her bookshelf, eyes dancing over the titles of various mythology collections, fairy tales, fables, and all sorts of fantastical stories.

"Riji," she whispered. "He'll work. But he shouldn't do this adventure alone... Who shall be his companion this time?" She looked at the three stacks of parchments on her desk again and cast her eyes to the empty ink jar. "Tauryn. The minotaur."

She placed an empty parchment before her and focused on the fantasy realm in her mind.

The troll ran into the minotaur on a dusty road and they both paused as a swirling, light-filled portal opened up just at the edge of the road.

A soft voice emanated from the portal; "Riji. Tauryn. You are needed for an important quest. Your reward will be a grand adventure."

Riji looked at the minotaur beside him, then took a step forward. "Okay. I'm game."

Tauryn also stepped forward on his hooved feet and joined the troll by the portal. "You know I like helping the stories develop. What do you need of us?"

"I need you to enter three old stories and retrieve an artifact from each. You need a helmet, a flute, and a tiara. Once you've gathered all three items, bring them to the old writer's hut in the woods and lay them beside the quill on the desk."

"Okay," Riji said with a shrug. "Sounds easy enough." He looked over at the minotaur beside him. "You game?"

Tauryn nodded his horned head. "Should be a good way to spend the afternoon."

"Thank you. This first portal will take you to the story that has the helmet you need. Good luck."

The troll and the minotaur traded glances, then both ran and jumped through the portal.

The troll rolled as he landed in the long grass, the minotaur landing heavily on hooved feet beside him.