The Fairy Diary Day 339 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Noralei remained with Navril and his elves, and will assault the gate of the stronghold from the Low-way. I went down the passage to the chamber of the junction nearest the stronghold to join Rumble and Dunfallon. 

Only the Dromadil pixies, all veterans of the Battle at the Bottom of the Shaft, were there when I arrived. They had set up a barracks of sorts in the chamber and in parts of the various offshoots. They told me Dunfallon and Rumble were off scouting for the hidden passage into the stronghold.  

I was growing edgy waiting for news when Noralei came up from the Low-way to check on us. That is when Rumble emerged from a passage with news that they had made their way into the stronghold. Dunfallon had ascertained that it comes out within the city walls above the gate. 

I sent Noralei back to Navril and his troops to await our actions. 

I marshaled the Dromadil pixies and together we followed Rumble down the secret dwarf access to the stronghold. 

Dunfallon met us within the city wall with the report that Nililitil had begun the assault on the other side. 

It was the opportune time for us to strike. For the gate tower was deserted. 

Working in tandem Dunfallon and Rumble loosened the mechanism operating the gate. And Noralei and Navril and his troops rushed in to join us. 

What happened next I need more time and considered thought before I write it all down. 

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The Fairy Diary Day 293 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

A major problem arose before we had released all of the goblins. The Dromadil pixies were pushing below the level of their great burrow and had discovered the barracks offshoot with all the goblin graffiti. And panicked. 

Fortunately the potential problem of goblin/pixie conflict had occurred to Dunfallon and he was on the way to confer with the Dromadilians when he happened upon their advance scouts – the exact moment of their discovery. 

Our pixie accompanied them back to the surface to confer with the Dromadil leaders. He was able to diffuse the explosive situation and got them to agree to set aside the question of ownership in order to face the greater danger posed by the feared return of the dark elves. 

While Noralei and Rumble kept about the business of freeing the goblins, I followed the lead of the goblin king as he went in search of their jailers. For he is certain at least four dark elves tended to them in their captivity. 

That made sense of those mysterious footfalls we had heard avoiding us.

The Fairy Diary Day 290 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

I felt we have yet to plumb the depths of our situation. Something else lay behind the predicament of these tortured goblins. We needed to continue our exploration here below. 

We kept to yesterday’s decision and stayed together. We crossed around the shaft from the barracks offshoot to the treasury one. Immediately upon entry my pendant lit up and floated up to eye level. 

Thus I was able to see what none of my companions could. There lining the walls into the treasury were goblins hanging from shackles. The glow from the treasures beyond drew us onward past the pleading voices. 

My pendant also allowed me to see the pattern of the way the jewels and coins and precious metals were laid out. 

Before I could stop him Dunfallon was down on all fours scooping up some loose coins. Rumble and I scooped him up and carefully replaced the money. 

The treasury had been arranged as a nest for a dragon’s egg and the goblins left in place to feed it upon hatching. 

We retraced our steps and I composed a message to the High Fairy on the scroll. And summoned Merlin.

The Fairy Diary Day 289 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

The barracks offshoot contained no visible creatures. But Rumble did find signs of recent occupation. And he thinks the markings left on the walls look like the work of goblins. We pressed onwards only to hear the sounds of footfalls fleeing from us. Emboldened by their flight Rumble hastened his pace. Fearing a trap I stopped him and together we decided that it would be better if the four of us tackled it together. 

So we went deeper in search of our comrades. 

We found Noralei and Dunfallon outside the second uncharted offshoot. 

They also had had an encounter. Noralei confirms that goblins are involved because that is what they told her. The beings had made their presence known by their voices only – pleading pitifully for help. They want to be visible again. 

All at once what we had experienced and not seen down here made sense – especially those mysterious workers at the forges.

The Fairy Diary Day 288 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

I filled a good section of the scroll in my message to the High Fairy. 

His reply back to me was equally lengthy and started with the good news that he and the fairy troops had been successful in turning back the dark elves from their assault on Corbelin. (He does confirm that they are dark elves). 

As for my news he is skeptical about my conclusions from a dream that a plant however big could be responsible for all this chaos and wants us to look deeper. 

I took this advice to heart and called a meeting to re-examine the map. 

According to Rumble’s understanding there remain only two more branches off the shaft that are lower than the one containing the forges and the fire plants. One bears the label “barracks,” the other “treasury.” 

Dunfallon disagreed and insists there are at least five more offshoots off of the shaft, not two. 

At that point I prompted Noralei to join with the pixie and explore the unmarked passages. 

Rumble and I will visit the two identified ones.

The Fairy Diary Day 188 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

We have heard from the High Fairy. He has found more of those suspicious black plants in and around the capital of the Faerie Kingdom. 

After some deliberation between his excellency and Merlin they have decided to remove only the most mature plants in the sensitive areas. And the queen has posited a stratagem to march her forces continually around one in particular near her barracks so that her forces will seem a hundredfold. 

Sounds good to me. If only we could think of something here to entertain these prying eyes. 

Our preparations are almost finished here. Tomorrow may be the day. 

Merlin will make the final determination as to the timing.

The Fairy Diary Day 109 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Another day has gone by and we were the only ones on the road again. The last fairy town is in sight as we settle for the night. We should reach it tomorrow. 

It looks much larger than I thought it would be. And bits of wall can be discerned, stretching across the horizon. 

I wondered if it was a new addition. The defenses didn’t look to be normal for a frontier town that faces human territory. 

Or so I commented to Rumble. He set me aright. 

What I took for walls he says are barracks set up for fairy troops. He guesses that a whole army has been moved down from the capital. 

Considering this, soldiers may be all that we will find there. They may have forced all in the town to relocate.

Day Five Hundred Nineteen #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

We were no sooner settled in than we were out again. Some barracks space has been made available to us, Elijah and myself, among the crew for as long as the ship is on the stocks. Or as Tomas has come to call her lovingly “the rust bucket.”

She may need more than a fresh coat of paint, however. All depends upon what they find upon a closer examination.

All hands will be called to help.

We have conferred at length with Tomas and the Captain. Time is not on our side. Just as we have witnessed the aggressive movement in our journeyings of the global faction, so too have they been dogged by similar actions upon their coastal cruise.

Day Three Hundred Seventy Seven late morning #DiaryoftheEndoftheWorld

Elijah writes:

The Captain got us to sea with only a short delay. His plan had been to take aboard as many containers as possible, but curtailed that notion in favor of a few select ones with foodstuffs.

Once underway and with our course set southward, Tomas and I brought the government guard up for questioning.

Tomas doubts his truthfulness, but I thought him quite forthcoming. He had held up all alone at a barracks outside the city. There he found the communications that pulled him back to the ship. That marks the limit of his knowledge.

I know more. The container transferred to the warship was a weapon resupply.