The Fairy Diary Day 563 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

It was a time of leavetaking. 

Merlin departed first. With his blessing he left Cluyjil to help in our transport back to the repository. He shared with Dunfallon and me that he had a strong premonition of a need to look into Laguayil and Dromadil. He hopes that our actions here have brought them relief. 

With the wizard’s departure we turned our attention to Gibley. He and Conjil are staying here in the Land of Plenty. The goblin wants to travel throughout the land to check on what changes may have occurred since the rift was sealed off. Only then will he return to the canyonlands and report his findings back to his uncle and the clan. 

The rest of us waited for a message from the High Fairy that he had returned to the repository to summon us there. When his confirmation came we paired up – Noralei and Tinadell on Rayjil – and Dunfallon and myself on Cluyjil. After our swift journey across the colors of the rainbow we touched down in front of the repository. 

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The Fairy Diary Day 562 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

It was a time of frantic activity. And I am so thankful for our time on the elvish ship, so long ago. For the lessons learned then were put to good use here. 

The fabric additions that Tinadell had woven onto the line were now unfurled like sails and spread in a fan like manner across the gap. The blowing wind even helped us. 

And utilizing the model put together by Merlin and Noralei, the Master Weaver directed us in securing it all around its perimeter. 

When we had effectually sealed off the rift, the rush of air out of the Land of Plenty ceased. And as a final touch Merlin took out a phial within which was a greenish liquid. He gave it to me with instructions to anoint the completed screen. 

I flew up on my own, picked a spot in the center and poured out the entire contents of the phial. Amazingly it covered the whole – adding the sheen of a rainbow across the face of it. This was a thrill in particular for Gibley (so we learned) for they were a representation of his clan’s design and colors. 

After admiring our handiwork our party drifted back to the nearby cavern where we discussed our next steps. And I wrote out a note on the scroll to the High Fairy. 

The Fairy Diary Day 551 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Merlin had us alternate between flying in formation and then touching down on the ground for closer examinations. Thankfully Cluyjil got over his distrust of walking in the snow or on ice. In fact, all three dragons were quite taken with the new possibilities for play in these new elements. And probably none more so than when Dunfallon was in charge. 

Gibley answered the wizard’s questions about the terrain he has been exploring with the other goblins, and together they have settled on a narrow valley that was hemmed in by walls on both sides. Since the goblins did not notice any signs of game thereabouts they passed it by. The wizard thinks it was most likely his path into the Land of Plenty. 

We just have to find it. 

However, we are not splitting up to do so. We all think it safest to keep in close proximity. 

Shortly after Noralei remarked out loud that she missed Navril’s singing. Dunfallon took that as a challenge and broke out in the elf’s favorite pixie ditty. We all joined in. I even heard Merlin humming along. 

Our singing appeared to energize the dragons and we were able to check out a dozen valleys before putting up Gibley’s enclosure for a rest. 

The Fairy Diary Day 544 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

I would say that the pleasing light of yesterday was downright cheery this morning, if the term morning had any meaning in a land that no longer grows dark. In that detail it contrasts with what we experienced here when it was the Land of Darkness- but it is not quite the Land of Plenty – other than plenty of rocks. 

Perhaps it is still becoming. 

We are also puzzled by the absence of any animal life. Or as Dunfallon expressed it, “What exactly do the goblins hunt here?”

As we mulled over this conundrum the best we could propose was that our goblin friends were either in pursuit of their game, or like us still ranging about looking for it. 

Or the thought in the back of my consciousness- the wildlife has yet to return to this place. 

That thought was later dispelled after coming across more goblin hunting camps later in the day. In the last two we found animal bones near the dead campfires. 

The Fairy Diary Day 543 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Noralei had some difficulty with Rayjil convincing her to leave her new found playmates behind. Thankfully Dunfallon enticed her away from the stable by whispering something in her ear. 

I jotted a quick note on the scroll to the High Fairy to alert him to our movements. 

The three of us were soon mounted and Rayjil took flight, pursuing the westering moon. I knew we were on the right track when the rainbow circling that orb reached out to us and drew us in. 

The Land of Darkness was no longer. Instead of the vast well sinking down to its depths there was an irregular shaped mountain filling the same space. A pleasing light filled the air about us. Dunfallon wondered out loud if this was the Land of Plenty once again. 

We touched down on the nearest side of the mountain. Everything was barren roundabout – hardly a paradise. And everything was cold to the touch. 

We scanned our surroundings for any sign of Glossom and Gibley. But nothing. 

We sent Noralei aloft on Rayjil to do a wider search. Dunfallon and I remained on the mountain to explore all the nearby caves and crevices. 

In one such cave we found what we believe to be a goblin hunting camp. Noralei circled back at that instant to report a similar finding further down. Since she judged the one she had found of more recent use, she packed us up and we descended to it. 

There we took our ease after a busy day. And tried to rest despite the constant light bathing the land. 

The Fairy Diary Day 528 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

In the end circumstances forced our decision. 

I had come to the conclusion that my team and I would return – without Tinadell. I had written the High Fairy and put in our request for them to strike the bell as soon as they received it. This I told Tinadell, and promised that I would do everything within my power to bring him over later. 

We assembled and mounted our dragons and took flight. 

However, the very ground rose up to meet us, wracked by a great turbulence. I sensed the Land of Darkness was reverting to the Land of Plenty. I made a snap decision and ordered Gibley to turn Cluyjil around, and together we rescued Tinadell from the mounting cataclysm. 

The instant we rejoined the others, we heard the reverberation of the Crack of Doom. And almost before I knew it we were back at the repository – with much to explain. 

The Fairy Diary Day 527 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

The High Fairy’s reply, at first sight, burst into flames before the words settled into their normal shape that was readable. His excellency knew very well the name of Tinadell. And though long ago, his perfidy is still fresh in his mind – for he had been a witness to his actions and present at his banishment. And though we claim he has changed he thinks that highly unlikely. 

Hearing this, Tinadell hung his head, rose from the table and departed. 

I gathered my team around the table and asked each one for their thoughts on this situation. Herblas and Gibley were the only ones to have reservations about our new acquaintance. The dwarf  could not give details for his aversion – for it was only a feeling. Gibley, however, had knowledge, at least from the goblin perspective, about what it had meant to their clan to be kept from the Land of Plenty, and freely admits that it colors everything. 

At the last, I excused myself and went out to talk to Tinadell. 

The Fairy Diary Day 526 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Naturally our discussions moved directly to our return to our world. I wanted to write to the High Fairy to request that they summon us back, and asked Tinadell if he wanted to come with us. 

He fell silent for the longest time. Then, stated that he would not hold us here and to please see to our own return. Dunfallon and Noralei spoke as one, asking him did he not want to return? 

He assured us that indeed he did want to – but added that he did not think he would be allowed. For long, long ago he had been banished by the Faerie Queen for trying to usurp her place at the time of her ascension to the throne. 

He wandered from place to place until that fateful day that he fell in with some goblin dragon handlers. They had needed a small fellow to help them search for a green crystal that had fallen into a crevice here when it was called the Land of Plenty. And there within he encountered that entity that fed on his unhappiness and changed this land overnight. And he had been in its thrall until we delivered him. 

I took out the scroll and then and there wrote the High Fairy. I gave him the news about the success of our mission – our encounter with Tinadell – and pled for permission to bring him back with us. 

The Fairy Diary Day 493 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

My head is in a whirl about all the things discussed in our meeting. The weight of the task ahead of us is almost suffocating. It makes me grateful that I will not be going alone. 

Much of the time in the meeting was taken up by Glossom in which he explained the relationship the goblins had with the Land of Plenty before it became the Land of Darkness. The goblins with their dragons used to spend whole seasons upon its towering mountains, hunting wild game and living off the land’s bounty. Then the change came. And the mountains became pits growing ever deeper and at the last becoming one vast well. 

During the transition they had encounters with an entity – one that kept to the shadows and only attacked from ambush. 

At that point Glossom turned to Gibley and told him and us that Gorbin, Gibley’s father took it upon himself to hunt down their tormentor. And Glossom was witness to their encounter in which his brother and his dragon were consumed in a dark conflagration out of whose ashes rose a large black bird. 

“And that is why we (he said this more to Gilbley than to us) have never been back.”

Dunfallon immediately went to Gibley’s side as the tears filled his blinking eyes. 

Out of the heaviness Merlin wisely adjourned our meeting and called for us to reconvene this evening. 

The Fairy Diary Day 481 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Our long wait for the return of Merlin came to an end this afternoon. He found us hard at work on our preparations – which we soon abandoned to throng him with our questions. 

I do believe our clamor brought a smile to his lips and he held up a hand and motioned us into the more intimate space of the chamber set apart for his use when at the repository. 

Before taking a seat he shook off the dust of his travels from his flowing robes. And then he answered all our questions, adding here and there the answers to some of his own. 

Thus I summarize-

Yes, he had successfully met with Gibley’s folks, the goblin dragon handlers. And though they had been reluctant at first to share, the wizard convinced them to change their minds – after a few demonstrations. Gibley’s uncle was particularly helpful – about what used to be on the other side. 

Everything had changed around the time the dark elves were on the rise – from then onwards the Land of Plenty had become the Land of Darkness. And they visited at their peril. 

No, though they have seen the Dark One – they do not know who or what he is. Only broken rumors that he once was a fairy. 

That bit of news drew gasps from all of us. 

As to the question that I asked – Merlin would only say that we needed to make a trip to talk to the dwarves about Artoxon and Bifitz. And another related concern which he would not name.