#gnome folklore

[hyacinthsfolklore]

An Unlikely Trio

Scarect eyed the goblin warrior, and drew his blade. The other figure returned the gesture, and lunged at Scarect. The two engaged in combat for several minutes, various fluids coating their bodies. They only paused their fatal dance,when they heard a small crash sound out from the forest floor. They turned their heads and saw the limp figure of a young gnome girl. She had fallen from the tree above her, which had sheltered her from view. They both approached her, wordlessly agreeing on a temporary truce. The goblin gently prodded the girl several times, each attempt as fruitless as the last. Scarect gently scooped up the girl, and examined her face. A large scratch ran from her eye to her cheek, blood already clotting up over it. The goblin stood a few strides away from them, ready to attack at any sign of aggression against the girl. Scarect ignored him and started carrying the fragile figure home. The goblin followed close behind, still wary of the ogre. They reached the humble estate, and Scarect led them to the the medicine cabinet. He tended to her wounds and waited for her to wake up. To fill the silence, the goblin started making polite conversation. It was awkward for a while, but soon became relaxed. He learned the goblin’s name was Ares. The conversation went on for a while, about everything and nothing. The girl stirred, and they froze in anticipation. Her eyes fluttered, and she pushed herself upright. She took in her surroundings and started panicking. Both of them rushed to calm her down, and were successful after a couple moments. Ares explained what had happened in a calm voice. He asked her what her name was. She whispered something that sounded like Iris. He smiled and told her it was a very pretty name. That made her beam, and she seemed slightly more relaxed. Scarect asked her why she was in the forest. She said it was because she was visiting her parent’s grave. Guilt washed over the two men. Both of them were more determined than ever to make her feel comfortable. Ares went to grab a blanket, and Scarect started making her soup. She seemed content to watch as they made her as comfortable as possible. A couple days passed in a blur. Iris’s wounds disappeared almost completely. Even though neither of them would admit it, the two men had grown quite used to the other’s company. Their little fight, nothing but a distant memory. A feeling settled over the trio, something that could only be described as home.

[hyacinthsfolklore]

A Cruel Master

Lord Dorian was a cruel master. That was the fact that dominated the lives of the gnomes that worked on his estate. They lived by strict rules. Breaking them meant severe consequences, ones some of them never recovered from. Randa knew these rules and kept to them dutifully. She bowed her head down and kept to herself. She somehow still managed to catch the eye of the lord. He seemed to take a certain joy in tormenting her. Any project she worked on would be deemed a disaster, and she would have to redo it. He covered her body in nail shaped cuts.He had even gotten his children to throw rocks at her when she passed them. He played this game for years, Randa stubbornly refusing to break. She took a deep breath and remembered the words of the elders, whenever an act of harassment occurred. The lord only seemed tempted by her cool demeanor. They continued this dance for years, each one leaving Randa more miserable. It got so bad, Randa could barely make it back to her hut without collapsing from pure agony. Yet steadfast she remained. She would take refuge in the temple dedicated to the elders, begging for guidance. The ancestors remained silent, which distressed poor Randa greatly. She had decided that meant she would have to endure this cruelty. Every day, she told herself she would have to endure just one more day of it. This stopped working, eventually she started thinking of how many days she would go through. One day, she snapped. She demanded he give her a reason he had a right to touch her . Lord Dorian didn’t like that one bit. He grabbed her by the arm, and dragged her outside. He was determined to make an example out of her. Her body was repeatedly slammed against the stone path, and her screams rang out into the woods. The other gnomes gathered around, unable to take their eyes off the horrific scene. This continued for some time, and when Lord Dorian’s rage was quelled Randa just lay there, groaning in pain. A gnome carried her into a healer’s hut. The healer said there was nothing they could do to help her. The gnome took her to the temple, making sure she got a blessing before shifting. They laid her down to rest near a river. They didn’t return until a few days later, fearing the master’s rage. In the place of the battered girl, a graceful willow stood

[hyacinthsfolklore]

Marigolds

There was a young girl named Vesa. Her music filled the plants and people of her the colony woodnote with joy. She played a long reed flute that rang out high and clear. The flowers would reach towards the sun she would sing the praises of. Nothing who heard her music would walk away without a lighter heart. Little children would dance around her as she played. As she grew older her notes grew clearer and so did her beauty. She gained many admirers much to the disapproval of some elders, who thought lazing around with a flute made her full of herself. Even so, no admirer was stronger than a gentle young man named salix.He would sing along to her playing in perfect harmony. His calm and steady voice completing the already enchanting song. As they grew into adults, marriage became a topic of conversation. They both looked away shyly when it was mentioned. Salix had snuck as many moments alone with her as he could. While Vesa was not unaware of his affections, she was never quite sure how to respond. He knew he would need to take a more direct approach. He carefully selected seeds from three different plants to create a hybrid. He named the golden flowers marigolds. With a perfect marriage gift, he started planning something no one in the colony would ever forget. The day had finally arrived, and everything was in place. He was filled with an unusual amount of nervous energy. When Vesa asked about it, he passed it off as nerves about the harvest festival. Their performance could doom the entire celebration. Vesa didn’t believe him for a second but let him go out of kindness. As the sun sank lower across the horizon his anxiety only grew. Finally, the time for the performance had arrived. They first sang of the creation, then other traditional songs. This went on until their throats were sore. Finally he declared he was going to sing a song for someone very special. He began the marriage song and sang it so sweetly even the thorns of a rose bush would have dulled upon hearing it. He then gifted her with a flower crown of marigolds. She of course joyfully accepted and always kept a patch of marigolds wherever she lived. Marigold flower crowns have been given as a sign of love ever since.

[hyacinthsfolklore]

Izara wondered where Elizabeth was. It was unusual for her to be this late. They had met a couple of years ago. There was a girl sitting in the forest, apple in hand. She appeared human, but looks could be deceiving. Izara walked towards her, and the girl tensed. She wasn’t afraid, more weary. She acted as though something like Izara had attacked her. Izara saw a sheath tied to her hip. Izara approached cautiously, trying to avoid the weapon being drawn. She managed to sit down successfully. The most curious thing about her wasn’t her weapon or gaze, it was how the grass reached for her feet. It wrapped around her feet of its own accord. Upon closer inspection she couldn’t be more than 24 years old. Izara instantly felt protective of the young girl. She called to the trees, and they formed a shady roof over them. This surprised the girl, who seemed to think she was the only person with her ability. A whisper came from the trees. “who are you”, they called. Izara answered and returned the question. The trees responded with Elizabeth. The two talked through the language of the trees. As the questions were asked and received, Elizabeth seemed to relax. Her eyes drooped and she fought to stay awake. Izara told her to sleep and covered her in a blanket of cloves. That was her first chance to see just how bad the girl’s condition was. Her hair was matted and intertwined with leaves. Her body was caked in dirt. Izara gently untangled her hair and plaited it. When Elizabeth woke up, she was willing to share more than basic information. She spilled out the story. She had only discovered her powers a few moons ago, and it ruined her life. Something started hunting her. She never saw its face, but felt its claws sink into her skin. They left deep gashes that never healed. The creature tried to kill her several times. Eventually, the attacks got so bad she had to leave home. She had been told about a safe place and was attempting to reach it. Izara invited her to stay for as long as she needed. She agreed reluctantly and moved in. Things were different with a kid around. The house was louder than before. The house now had the energy of a kid living in it. Sometimes, Elizabeth would wake up screaming. It would take over an hour to calm her down. Izara helped her gain a deeper relationship with plants. After a couple months, she felt she had overstayed her welcome and left. Izara was deeply saddened by her daughter’s choice, but did nothing to stop it. The duo still talked as much as they could.They would meet up once a moon to catch up. Those hours were the best of their life. They were filled up with idle chatter, offering a respite to the girl.they met up like this for a couple years. Elizabeth eventually found the safe place, and she was all too happy to tell her mother about it. The girl grew older, and every visit gave her mom another thing to be proud of. One thing Izara noticed, was the girl seemed more hurt every time she visited. Small scratches turned into gushing wounds. She would insist she was fine, but Izara could see the red that coated her body. One day, Izara was stuck waiting for longer than usual. She had just started worrying, when the girl stumbled towards her. Her entire leg was shattered and blood poured out of cavernous wounds. She collapsed as soon as she saw Izara. Izara tended to her wounds and coaxed the truth out of her. She confessed that the monster attacks had continued whenever she went to visit. She apologized for being a burden. Izara assured her that she always had a home with her. The weeks passed, and Elizabeth remembered exactly why she had loved living there. The tension that had built up over the years, was released. There was only one problem, Elizabeth’s leg never healed. She wouldn’t ever be able to make the journey back. Elizabeth had never been close to anyone at her new home, and figured they would live without her. She asked Izara for permission to stay and she readily gave it. They stayed together for the rest of Elizabeth’s life.

[hyacinthsfolklore]

The spy

Don’t get caught. Those were the final words the spies heard before departing on their missions. Acacia knew those words by heart. He repeated them every moment of every day. He knew the consequences of not following that rule. The elders relied on the intel the spies gathered to make battle plans. If they were caught, they could spill every important secret the gnomes kept hidden. To prevent this, the spies had a vial of crushed up belladonna root hanging around their neck. Acacia was lucky enough not to have used it yet. He assumed that fact would change, for he was given orders to spy on the king. He knew it was a suicide mission but had no choice except to accept. He had to watch his every move. Stepping down slightly too hard, or being upwind could doom the mission. His job was made even harder by the guards. They meant having even more eyes to spot him with. He still managed to keep his secrecy up for two weeks. On the fifteenth day he was caught. One of the ogre king’s henchmen had smelled him. The brute grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him down. His finger ripped the thin cord around Acacia’s neck. The vial shattered quietly. Acacia was dragged into a dirty cell. They cell had been previously occupied, as was evidenced by the pile of bones sitting in a corner. He was kept in the cell for three days. They tried to interrogate him, but his lips remained shut. He was terribly beaten during those three days, so horribly he had to lean on one of the guards that led him to his death. Apparently the king didn’t want his death to be quick or painless. The executioner burned patterns in his skin. They were clearly trying to humiliate him in front of the barbaric crowd. When his skin was covered in angry red marks, the king finally let the executioner beat him to death. We gnomes heard the story and decided to wear the marks as a sign of strength. That’s why we burn the sacred patterns into our skin.

[hyacinthsfolklore]

Grave Diggers

Alain flinched as she heard a dry snap. She didn’t dare look down, already knowing all too well what caused the noise. She never would have expected things to go so wrong. Her mother had sent her to visit Aunt Patia’s colony, hoping to teach her about the agricultural system. At first things were going well, everyone in the colony was friendly. Almost too friendly. The smiles didn’t reach their eyes and their gaze was always predatory. She shoved the feelings down. Surely her aunt would never let anyone hurt her. She spent several weeks helping the farmers, rarely getting a chance to rest. Feeding the entire lost cities was hard work, that was for sure. When she did get to rest she would lounge on her aunt’s furniture that was made out of a mysterious white material. One thing that kept nagging at her, was how they kept the soil healthy. Surely, the plants left the soil dry and infertile after so many harvest seasons. When she asked her aunt, her smile dropped and Aunt Patia told her not to worry about things that didn’t concern her. That didn’t help the unease building in her stomach. A storm hit the colony and tore up the fields. Her aunt excused her from working, saying she was unused to working in the mud. Alain found this odd, since her aunt was always eager to put her to work. She insisted that she could take it, but her aunt still resisted. Eventually, Alain wore her down. Before they left Patia made her promise to keep whatever she saw a secret. She agreed, now suspicious about what awaited her. As they walked to the field to the field, Patia seemed to become almost monster like. Her mouth was now filled of fangs. It twisted upwards unnaturally. The hand that was holding hers, now ended in talons. She ignored it and they arrived at the field. The other gnomes mirrored the horrifying appearance. When she looked down at the field, what she saw made her heart skip several beats. White sticks stuck out of the ground, bound together by rotting flesh. Maggots crawled over the limp sacks. Dead bodies. She remembered seeing a human graveyard on the journey to the colony. The truth washed over her. The other gnomes were watching her, waiting for a reaction. She swallowed and got to work replanting the seeds they had salvaged. She tried and failed to ignore what she had uncovered. It was all she could do to keep herself from throwing up. She distracted herself with plotting her escape. She had somehow managed to make it throughout the entire day. The gnomes were allowed to rest during the night, having dealt with the affects of the storm. As soon as Patia fell asleep, Alain started packing her bags. She noiselessly left the hut. She had to creep across the field. Her steps had to be light and leave no print. She had made her way to the edge of the field when she heard a crack. She turned rapidly, barely managing not to flee when faced with the monster. It only vaguely resembled her aunt now. The face was twisted, it almost looked like someone had carved the face of a gnome without ever seeing one. The skin on the beast was an ashy gray. It now stood on four legs. It started to circle her. She was paralyzed by terror. Eventually it lunged, it’s claws sinking into her skin. She was never heard from again, her parent were told she had run away in the night. Anyone who looked closely would see that a new tree bordered the fields.

[hyacinthsfolklore]

Best Friends

Amir woke up dazed. She could only blearily make out something hovering over her. A strong hand grabbed her and she resisted. The hand held firm, and a voice warbled out unfamiliar sounds. Her vision cleared, and she finally identified her company. Amir’s struggling grew more frantic, now fighting against an ogress’s hold instead of just a potential threat. She felt a sharp sting in her leg. Under close inspection, the leg revealed a freshly reopened wound. The ogress grasped her leg, and Amir watched helplessly. The ogress smeared some sort of paste over the wound, and Amir felt the wound close up. The ogress then flashed Amir what she interpreted as a smile. Amir examined her surroundings and found herself in a forest. She felt a stick rubbing against her side. As she grasped it, the ogress tensed. Amir used the stick to draw a monster attacking a small gnome in the loose dirt. The ogress let out a chirpy giggle. The ogress grabbed another stick and drew a picture of the two of them them holding hands. They continued to talk like this, wiping their canvas clean after every drawing. After several hours of their game, the ogress pointed to herself and said Taleia. Amir tried to repeat it but failed miserably. Taleia shook her head and amended it to Tallie. This was much easier for Amir to pronounce. Amir then pointed to herself, saying Amir. Tallie could only manage Ami. They continued on with their game, coming up with silly drawings. The sun sank lower, and they both agreed on their need to return home. The met up the next day and the next and the next. Each day, they made up new games to play. One day they acted out scenes. The next, they would point to things and name them in their language. The other would then try to mimic the word. Laughter constantly sang to the trees when they were together. Eventually, their families took notice of the constant absence. They explained that they had made a new friend, always forgetting to mention the species of their companion. For years, they played together blissfully. As they grew older, they learned more of the other’s language. They could hold short conversations together, but they never abandoned their little dirt scribbles. Amir’s brother followed her into the forest one day and spotted Tallie. He was all too happy to report the ogress to their parents. When Amir returned home, she was met with concerned lectures. Amir attempted to placate her parents with the knowledge of the friendship’s longevity. That had the opposite affect, and they forbid her from visiting her best friend again. That decision caused a screaming match. The next morning Amir visited Tallie as usual, explaining the situation. When Tallie began to despair, Amir explained her proposal. They would run away together, just the two of them. Tallie agreed, and they made a plan to meet at nightfall. Amir rushed home, happier than she had ever been. Her parents tried to interrogate her about her whereabouts, but she ignored them. Sunset had begun and she started packing. Anxiously, she made her way to their meeting spot. Tallie was already there, and they started their journey early. The girls set off into a world of endless possibilities.

[hyacinthsfolklore]

A Tale Of Two Lovers

A young elf girl rushed through the forest, only stopping when a root made her fall to the ground. Tears streamed down her face as she lay there unmoving. A gentle voice soon filled her ears as strong arms picked her up. She tried to fight but gave up and let the arms carry her to a foreign place. She closed her eyes and drifted into unconsciousness as the music worked its magic. When she opened them again, she was in a forest. An old gnome had begun plaiting her hair and weaving flowers through it. The tears dried and the little girl asked why the gnome had taken her. The gnome answered that she wanted to know what troubled the girl. The girl told her that her father had yelled at her. When the gnome asked why, the girl told her that she failed a test. They sat there in content silence as the gnome wove the girl’s hair together. The girl eventually went home but didn’t forget her new friend. Every week or so the girl would return to the gnome, running away from some squabble with her father. The girl only asked the gnome’s name during her fifth visit, before being too occupied with her own problems. The gnome let her know it was Violet. The girl responded by saying hers was zedrin. One week zedrin had returned to the forest particularly distraught. When violet pressed for details zedrin replied she thought she was in love. She explained there was a pretty girl she was friends with, that she sometimes wanted to kiss. What violet said next surprised her. Violet began to weave together a captivating story. There once were two girls. They could be called sisters, for they were so in all but blood. One of the girls, named soma had begun to develop urges. She started wanting to card her fingers through the others hair, and hold the other’s hand. They had done these things often enough, but she began to want it to mean more. The other girl remained unaware of the others affection, acting as she had since they had met. Soma watched in barely concealed agony as male suitors pursued her love. The other girl gently but firmly set them straight. That never stopped more from trying to woo her. Soon soma watched as almost every boy in her colony was rejected. People started questioning who exactly she would marry. The other girl simply laughed at the question as said whoever the right person was. Soma desperately wished that person was her. Soma kept her feelings hidden for several years. One day the other girl asked her if she ever thought about kissing girls. Startled by the blunt question, she said only one. When the other girl asked who, she responded with a quiet you. The other girl’s lips abruptly met hers. Soma stumbled back but leaned into the kiss. Flowers bloomed where the lovers had shared their first but certainly not only kiss. Soma lovingly named the flowers violet after her dearest love.