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Post by moralhazard on Mar 3, 2019 17:20:19 GMT
Thea giggled, smiling at Enchee. She shifted, adjusting the boxes of cookies, settling into a more comfortable kneeling position. The hum of traffic behind them didn’t bother her; Enchee was off the road well enough that Thea wasn’t too worried about being kicked or tripped over by someone passing by.
“Well,” Thea began, clearing her throat. “Most djinni live in the elemental planes, and Calim was no exception. As a young djinni, Calim loved to play amongst the clouds, summoning breezes to do his bidding. Although all djinni can control the breeze, Calim was especially gifted. He loved to send the breezes dancing about, to shape them into towering thunderstorms,” Thea gestured with her free hand, “and to use them like paintbrushes, creating illusions that fooled all those around him.”
“But,” Thea opened her eyes wide, raising her eyebrows. “Calim was also a very prideful djinni, and he bragged about his abilities everywhere he went. He told everyone that he was the most skilled djinni with the wind that ever had or would live, and, when he grew up, that he would be the most powerful djinni in all the realms.”
“Now, there was an old wizard who lived in another world,” Thea lowered her voice, ever so slightly, injecting a bit more seriousness into it. “He was a very powerful wizard; he could cast spells of all types, and he had control over water, fire, and earth. He lived in an enormous tower, a thousand feet tall, with dungeons that went deep, deep into the earth. He was so powerful that he had captured many slaves, halflings and humans, and even genies. Over his lifetime, the wizard had captured many dao, earth genies who love jewelry and precious stones above all else, and are greedy and vein. He had captured many efreeti, masters of flame, haughty and ruthless, who hated him for enslaving them. He had even captured a marid, masters of the sea waves, who have voices like the breaking of the tide.”
Thea paused. “One day, the wizard’s marid came to him,” she said, softly, eyes widening. “‘Master,’ the marid said, ‘I have heard whispers of a young djinni named Calim. It is said that he is most skilled in the manipulation of winds, but that he is also most prideful and foolish.’”
“The wizard was most pleased by this news, for he had long wanted to capture an djinni, masters of the air, but all had eluded his grasp. He thought and thought and thought, and – finally! – he had an idea. The wizard set his halflings and human slaves to work, and made them work to construct three chambers, each greater than the last. Then he sent out a whisper on the wind, a challenge to any brave and clever enough to attempt it, a challenge to any who could manipulate the wind.”
“Well!” Thea sat back a little. “It wasn’t long before whispers of this challenge reached the ears of Calim. Now, Calim was brave and young and strong, and he could imagine no challenge to great for him to overcome. He made the journey to the wizard’s realm, and appeared before him in a clap of thunder!” Thea made a little boom noise, spreading her hand wide.
“‘Wizard!’ Calim cried. ‘I have heard your challenge and come to meet it, for there is no task requiring the wind which I, Calim the djinni, cannot hope to overcome.’ The wizard banged his staff on the ground – he had a great and mighty staff – and glared at the djinni from his throne. ‘Foolish djinni!’ The wizard roared. ‘There is no djinni alive who can match my challenge. Many have tried and failed – you will be no different.’”
Thea widened her eyes again. “These words made Calim so determined to take the wizard’s challenge. Even though he could see that the wizard had many slaves, even dao and efreeti and the marid, he did not back down. The wizard led him to the arena, and conjured a massive boulder, so heavy it cracked open the ground beneath it and sank into the hole, filling it perfectly.”
“‘The challenge is in three parts,’ the wizard told Calim. ‘You must manage three tasks of my making, each more difficult than the last. The first task is to take this boulder, the greatest and heaviest boulder that ever existed, and to move it across the room.’ Well! Calim laughed. This was a joke of a task, and he knew he could do such a thing easily. He could not simply lift the boulder, for it was wedged deeply and tightly into the hole where it sat, so tightly that not even the slightest bit of wind could pass along its sides. But he summoned the winds, and he whipped them into a thunderstorm, towering and heavy, and sent a bolt of lightning at the rock – and shattered it into a thousand pieces!” Thea’s eyes opened wide. “Then with his winds he scooped up every piece, and carried them effortlessly across the room, and deposited them where the wizard had pointed.”
“The wizard scowled, and smashed the end of his staff against the ground,” Thea scowled, imitating the wizard. “‘No matter!’ The wizard cried. ‘There are two challenges yet to overcome, and you will fail them like the rest!’” He took Calim to the next room, which glowed with fire. ‘Now,’ the wizard crowed, ‘you must put out this flame!’ For this was a task beyond the nature of most djinni, as air fans flames, and does not douse them.”
“But Calim was no ordinary djinni! He sat and he stared at the flames, and he called his winds to him, and whispered to them, shaping them in his hands. And when he sent them out, they made thick, heavy clouds, and the winds whispered to the air, and called forth the water from it – and they made rain.” Thea’s eyes widened against. “And the rain poured from the clouds and doused the flames.”
“And the wizard howled! He jumped up and down, he smashed his staff on the ground, and he led Calim to the third room.” Thea’s eyes widened again. “This room was full of a huge pool of water. The wizard stood, smugly, at the top, and he pointed to the pool, and he said to Calim, ‘This is the deepest pool of water ever made! At the bottom is a single speck of sand. Bring it to me, if you dare!’ And Calim plunged into the water to retrieve the sand.”
“But!” Thea’s eyes were wide. “The moment Calim touched the water it began to swirl around him, trapping him in a whirlpool. And Calim saw the marid standing behind the wizard, smiling, and he knew he had been tricked – but he could not escape. The whirlpool sucked Calim down and down and down, and deposited him into a tiny glass bottle, which sealed itself with a spell.” Thea sat back. “And that is the story of how the wizard caught Calim the djinni.”
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Post by enchilada on Mar 5, 2019 12:12:46 GMT
Enchee gasped along with the story, nodding and seeming extremely enthralled by it. “So - is that good or bad?” Calim was made out to be a bad person, but the wizard didn’t sound very nice either. Keeping all those powerful beings locked up, having slaves, all that stuff sounded horrible. She wouldn’t want to meet either of them. Probably. Maybe one of them was actually nice and it was all made up for the story.
Speaking of stories, she was hit by an overwhelming wave of nostalgia, a weird feeling for someone so young, but the storytelling made her feel... safe? It reminded her so much of the life before, the life before the one she was leading now. And while there were more similarities now to her first kind of existence, it just wasn’t quite the same. There was a certain loss of softness and warmth around the edges, a form of jagged misunderstanding that eluded her keen eye. No amount of carefully combed out hair and falsified home comforts ever replaced the feeling she couldn’t quite name.
She had plenty more questions, but she would wait a second to bombard Thea just yet. But it was clear that she was compiling a list to ask.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 5, 2019 13:59:42 GMT
Thea grinned at Enchee when the little goblin asked if the story was good or bad. “You know - I’m not sure either! Calim doesn’t sound very nice, does he? But I don’t think anyone deserves to be enslaved, even if they’re a prideful jerk. What do you think?” Thea stopped just short of giving her own full answer, not wanting to bias Enchee too much.
Thea had loved stories about Calim as a child. She had been a genasi, raised by the human side of her family. Maude, her nurse, had told her stories. Thea didn’t remember when the stories about Calim the djinni had started, but they had been her favorites. She had often requested them even when Maude had offered something new, the familiar struggles of the haughty djinni somehow comforting, like a link to some poorly understood part of herself. Thea knew them by heart from hearing each one over and over and over.
Were they true? In retrospect, Thea had no idea where Maude had gotten them. There had been a djinni named Calim, founder of Calimport; some of his later stories, Thea had at least heard from sources other than Maude. But the capture of Calim by the wizard and his struggles to escape? Thea has never heard those stories elsewhere. They had been special to her and Maude, kept between them and never shared with even the other children in the keep.
And, now, of course, shared with Enchee. It hadn’t felt like a big moment, in truth; Thea had just been happy to be able to think of a story quickly.
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Post by enchilada on Mar 7, 2019 15:00:56 GMT
“I think....” She took a moment of almost caricaturised thinking, then looked up at Thea and nodded. “They’re both bad. So maybe it’s just a story? It’s not good or bad.” Grey areas were a relatively new concept, at least when applied to things that she had more of a loose grasp on.
She understood that stealing from poor people was bad because they needed their things, but she thought stealing from rich people was fine because they won’t miss out really. Similarly, because Calim was so arrogant, it was fine. Maybe. Probably.
Stories about little goblin heroes always felt like... Lies. At least after what people who weren’t her parents told her. That all goblins were evil and they took things and killed innocent people for no reason other than the expansion of their filthy, dark existences. They didn’t get to ride on stunning white stallions and save princesses. They didn’t get to live heroic lives. There were never grand tales of any kinds of goblins. They were henchmen. Or they had no large plans filled with ambition, even as villains.
She was glad it was a sincere story, even if it wasn’t true, at least it wasn’t blatantly impossible.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 7, 2019 15:29:10 GMT
“That’s a good point,” Thea grinned at Enchee. “Stories aren’t always good or bad - just like people. I think the wizard feels very happy at the end of that story, and Calim very sad.” Thea paused. “But I do feel sorry for Calim. I wouldn’t want to be enslaved.”
It was funny, Thea thought, how stories could end up mirroring life. She saw a certain parallel to herself in Calim. It was easy to go into a situation with the belief that one understood what was happening, only to realize it wasn’t what you expected. And unlike Calim, it had taken Thea a long time to realize she wasn’t truly free.
“Calim’s story doesn’t end there, you know,” Thea grinned at Enchee. “There are a lot more tales about him.” She left the hook dangling there, not wanting to force anything onto the goblin. Besides, they had been sitting for a while; Thea wasn’t exactly sure how Enchee spent her time, and evidently her parents were dead but - Thea hoped someone was looking out for her.
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Post by enchilada on Mar 7, 2019 15:53:59 GMT
“Yeah! That sounds bad.” She nodded along, wisely. Or with an affected air of wisdom.
Upon hearing that there would be further tales, she lit up, gasped and put her boxes down. She tugged on Thea’s arm gently, giggling and bouncing, sort of. “Pleaassse tell me! Please!! What happened after that?!” Enchee could sit and listen to stories for an eternity. And Thea being so nice to her was calming and reassuring, she wasn’t angry with her, clearly.
“Did he get out? What did he do? Did he ever try to escape?”
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 7, 2019 17:28:12 GMT
Thea laughed, grinning at Enchee’s enthusiasm, a little worried by how comfortable the goblin was at just staying in the street but - not precisely surprised either. She was pleased at the physical comfort, pleased that Enchee had lost something of the tense, miserable look she had had upon first seeing Thea, or the pinched look of pain at the thought of her parents.
“Did he get out?” Thea raised her eyebrows. “Well, that is a very good question, and quite a story.” She settled in as well, giving up and setting her boxes down next to Enchee’s, shifting to a more comfortable crouch.
“Now, when Calim the djinni was first caught by the wizard, he was kept in a bottle for a year and a day. At first Calim was angry! He raged and he raged, and he tried to summon the winds of a great storm to blow the bottle apart. But no matter how loudly he called, the winds would not come. Then Calim was sad. He wept and he wept, but his tears were only tears, and he could cast no magic from them.”
“And finally?” Thea raised an eyebrow. “Calim grew bored, and lonely. Never had he been alone for so long, without even his winds to comfort him. He had only his tiniest breeze, one that had swirled around him as he was trapped, and which stayed in the bottle with him.”
“Then, when Calim felt he could bear it no longer, he felt the magic of a spell curling around him and lifting him forth. When Calim emerged from the bottle, he saw the wizard sitting on a throne of winds, smiling at the djinni. For, you see, when a wizard traps a genie, he takes for himself the powers of that genie.”
“Calim hated to see his winds in thrall to another. He let out a terrible yell, and reached with all his might for the wind - but the wizard’s throne did not even move. The wizard laughed at him. ‘Poor djinni!’ The wizard said. ‘These winds are mine now, and no more will they head your command. Behold all the others who also serve me, and know you are trapped!’”
“And Calim looked about him, and he saw that he was but one of many of the wizard’s slaves. There were halflings and humans, but Calim knew himself above them, and so he did not fear for himself from their imprisonment. And he saw the dao, genies of the earth, greedy and vain, and knew that he cared less for the temptation of gems, and so he did not fear for himself. And even when he saw the efreeti, haughty and ruthless, Calim thought to himself that it was their seething hatred that blinded them to any path for escape, and he did not fear.” Thea paused, then lowered her voice. “But. Then, behind the wizard, Calim saw the marid, she who had been there at his enslavement. And while Calim knew the djinni were the mightiest of the genies, the marid were mighty too. And so he felt fear worm its way into his mind.”
“And the wizard saw and he laughed, and he clanged his staff against the throne. ‘Djinni!’ He ordered, ‘place me back against the dias.’ And Calim felt the command lock over him like shackles. Though he wanted nothing more than to send the wizard flying through the air, he obeyed, and lowered the wizard gently back to the ground, for he could not do otherwise.”
Thea paused. “And so it came to pass that for a hundred years, Calim the djinni was enslaved to the wizard. And during that time, he came to know the halfings, and he came to see himself in their curious nature. And he came to know the humans, and he came to see himself in their ingenuity. And he recalled that he was kin to the dao and efreeti, and that their suffering was his own. But the marid?” Thea raised her eyebrows. “Although Calim often saw her watching him, and often found himself watching her, never once in that hundred years did they speak.”
“Now the wizard had wanted a djinni not only for the challenge, but so that he could master all four elements, and so extend his dominion over the other sorcerers of their world. And so during that hundred years he called on Calim many times, for he needed his winds, and they were weakened when Calim was inside the bottle. And Calim found that while he could control the winds at the wizard’s behest, they were not truly his and they knew it. And for all his cunning and all his craftiness, there were things he could not coax them to do, even at the wizard’s order. For winds, like people, respond best to freedom.”
Thea grinned. “And so it came to pass one day that the wizard needed Calim to whip up a rainstorm from the winds, but Calim could not. And the wizard roared with fury and ordered Calim to obey, for he had seen Calim summon a rainstorm before, but Calim could not. And the wizard punished Calim and ordered him to obey, but Calim could not. And the wizard swore at Calim, and told him he would be locked away again, another year and a day, to learn his place.”
“And so Calim was trapped in the bottle again.” Thea’s eyes were deliberately wide. “But this time Calim did not waste his time with anger or sadness, or even loneliness, though once again his only companion was the little breeze that had escaped the wizard’s trap. This time, Calim waited and he planned, and he coaxed his little breeze bigger and bigger, patiently, rewarding it with a breath of air each day.”
“And when the year passed the wizard summoned Calim forth and growled at him, full of anger. ‘Now obey me!’ The wizard roared. ‘Or else I will seal you in the bottle for all of eternity!’ And Calim bowed his head. ‘Oh master,’ he said. ‘I have most humbly learned my lesson. I beg your forgiveness.’ And the wizard scowled but nodded, and ordered Calim again to whip up a rainstorm.”
Thea cleared her throat. “Now Calim still could not summon a rainstorm, but during his time with only the little breeze for company, he had learned more and more about illusions, and he had taught himself to shape the winds better than ever before. And so Calim whipped up the illusion of a rainstorm for the wizard. But he was afraid, for always in the shadows lurked the marid, and with her water magic she would surely know it was not a true storm. And he watched, and he waited - and she said nothing. And as the wizard crowed his pleasure and admired the storm, Calim sent his little breeze whistling forward and stole the wizard’s staff, and dashed it to the floor, shattering it into a thousand pieces!”
Thea smiled. “Now a wizard is mighty still without his staff, but this one had bound his enslavements into it - and so when the staff was shattered Calim was free, and so were the dao and efreeti, and so were the humans and halflings. And so even too was the marid. The dao and efreeti roared and fell on the wizard who battled them back! And the humans and halfings too rushed forward, for they too hated the wizard and longed to be free. But the wizard had many spells at his fingertips and he began to overcome them all.”
“And though Calim wanted to join in the battle, instead he gathered his winds back to him and gripped them close, and he whispered to them. And, joyous at their reunion, the winds swirled and danced and spun, faster and faster and faster and faster, until they ripped open a hole in the world.” Thea widened her eyes.
“And Calim used another wind to make his voice echo through the air, and he called out ‘Friends!’ For through the century he had come to call them friends, ‘Friends! You may battle the wizard or else you may come with me and take your freedom!’”
“And the wizard howled his fury and hurled a spell towards the hole in the world - but then the marid grabbed him from behind, her waters sucking him down into a whirlpool. ‘Run!’ She cried to Calim. ‘Run and be free!’”
“And Calim fled through the hole in the world, and behind him followed the halfings and the humans and the dao and the efreeti. And once the last was through Calim sealed the hole behind him, and the last thing he saw was the marid battling the wizard.” Thea smiled. “And that is the story of how Calim escaped the wizard and came to our world.”
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Post by enchilada on Mar 9, 2019 11:26:49 GMT
“So... He learned to be a better person while he was trapped by the wizard? That’s good! But it’s a shame he had to be trapped to learn that...” Enchee was absolutely hooked on Thea’s every word, her young imagination conjuring up pictures much stronger than any illusion. She was yet to really dissect it for any moral or deeper meaning, that’s the kind of thing that gets spelled out at the end, when the book gets closed - okay, so why was the evil dragon bad? How did the hero save the day? Or, rather, why? And most importantly, how can you apply that to whatever silly playground situation you might face, then?
“My mom used to talk about an old goblin god who kept the peace between the different tribes and made everyone peaceful and happy and nice to each other, but I think he died or something, she says his name doesn’t mean anything anymore. But she said the tribes were dangerous because of adventurers who went into them and killed all the goblins and took all their things! And that other tribes of orcs and other big scary things would trap goblins too, but not like Calim, in cages and things. Do you know about adventurers?” Adventurer was treated like a dirty word in her mouth, but a scary one. Like a boogeyman. Some people may even hold drow in the same regard, scary people running around in the background, irrationally fighting and killing, and stealing little babies in the night, along with all your gold. Enchee really, really hated even the thought of meeting an adventurer in Waterdeep. If she did, she’d run away! She’d go cower somewhere, in some warehouse, or crawl into a space in a wall.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 9, 2019 15:46:14 GMT
“Sometimes, when we find ourselves in a bad situation, there still might be good that we can take out of it,” Thea agreed. “I don’t think it felt that way to Calim at the time, but – when we see his life from afar, we realize that being held captive by the wizard, even though it was bad, helped him to learn compassion and understanding.” Thea paused, reflecting on the later stories, and grinned. “At least – compassion and understanding for humans, halfings, dao and efreeti,” she amended, smiling at Enchee.
It seemed like the story had made Enchee think of a story from her parents, of an old goblin god who had… died? Thea’s eyes widened a little at the depiction of `adventurers,’ killing goblins and stealing their things. Orcs, she could well understand being afraid of. But… adventurers? Like… people who went on journeys and quests? Surely no one on some kind of quest would do such a thing without provocation, not unless… Thea realized the massive stupidity of the thought the moment she had it. Of course there would be some who would plunder for profit, not just defense. If the goblins had gold, there were bad people out there who would try to take it from them. Worse, if someone thought the goblins had gold… that might be provocation enough.
“I don’t think so,” Thea said, seriously, wanting to draw Enchee out a little more on this. “What are these adventurers like? How do you avoid them?”
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Post by enchilada on Mar 10, 2019 20:03:07 GMT
“Well, in Waterdeep they can’t touch me, there’s no reason, see, I’m jus’ a li’l goblin girl who ain’t doin’ anyone no harm! But-but if you leave- if you leave they think it’s all fair game! How many posters about goblin hideouts do I see! Offering gold for innocent slaughter! And- and they ain’t doin’ nothin’! Even if they are, the second you leave the city walls you lose all your rights to a fair trial!” Enchee rambled frantically, tears welling up in her eyes. She literally began to shake in her little boots as her lips quivered, big, drowning tears cascading down her face like a waterfall as her pupils narrowed right down to tiny black slits that started to dart around like she was looking for someone to come over and take a stab.
As she spoke she grabbed her hair just above her ears, yanking hard but not hard enough to break it or pull it out. Her movements did cause her bangs to become displaced, showing off further scarring above her brow, almost in the middle of her forehead. A large eye engraved shakily and hastily, maybe even a year old scar against her green skin. Her face was unusually torn up and her hears oddly dog-eared for someone her age, even someone who’d been living wherever there was a scrap of shelter from the elements.
“Sometimes you don’t even have to leave! Sometimes they don’t even care where they are. As long as the guards aren’t in the same place! I’m just a- I’m. Just Enchee.”
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 10, 2019 20:16:00 GMT
Enchee started to shake – and then she started to sob.
Thea’s eyes went wide, both at the tears and the sight of the scarring on her face. She didn’t know much about how goblins should look as they aged, nor whether Enchee’s dog-eared ears were normal, but she knew enough to tell the little girl had had a hard life. Thea had had her fair share of bullies as a little girl, but she’d lived a comfortable and easy life in a luxurious keep, and never had to worry about any hardship. Even at sea, she’d been on her mother’s ship, and her mother had kept her safe. Up until the shipwreck, Thea had rarely known true fear – not the deep, all-pervading kind that she could now so easily recognize in Enchee.
“Oh, Enchee…” Thea swallowed, her heart breaking a little. She struggled, not wanting to do anything the little girl would be uncomfortable with, but also unable to resist the desire to try some physical comfort.
Slowly, slowly, hoping it wouldn’t go wrong, Thea would reach out, first setting a hand on Enchee’s arm. If Enchee seemed receptive to that, she would wrap her arms around the little goblin in a gentle hug, shifting so Enchee would be able to sob into her shoulder, if she so desired.
"It's not fair," Thea agreed, softly. "I'm so sorry."
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Post by enchilada on Mar 10, 2019 20:51:56 GMT
Enchee immediately climbed into Thea’s arms, clinging on tightly with her own. The soft, squishy touch was more than welcome; although she loved Crucible, he was still metallic, and it created something of a barrier to true comfort, sometimes. Thea was, well, like a breath of fresh air, that and the fact that she was so much bigger than her made her feel... safe. Like Thea could protect her in her arms like this and nothing bad could happen.
When she was extremely small, Enchee would demand to be carried in her mother’s arms all day, every day. Eventually, of course, she got bigger, and she drifted further towards the man she got her bright red hair from. He had the same red, but not the same orange and yellow, and it was far more like the darkest of Enchee’s dark roots, her dad’s hair, and he said it meant something... it was...
Enchee had far more potential, a greater spark than he. She realised now that her father used his powers directly for his own gain, directly to steal and sneak around uncaught. A part of her felt there had to be something greater, that she wanted to prove to the stupid mean adventurers that she was far more than something to gain experience with the sword or the spell with, a quick loot for a couple of copper - in fact, Enchee should be able to do something for herself.
Then again, she was sobbing her heart out on a near stranger in the middle of the street. Not exactly the most brilliant of beginnings.
Besides, what was she to do? What in all the planes could a little stray goblin who felt more comfortable in the shadows, so, a little stray goblin, ever do for anyone?
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 10, 2019 21:08:25 GMT
Thea exhaled a little in relief when Enchee climbed promptly into her arms, holding the little goblin loosely against herself, then a little more tightly when Enchee snuggled closer. One hand traced long, slow lines up and down Enchee’s back, and her eyes fluttered closed for a moment.
Thea didn’t quite know what to say. She couldn’t lie to Enchee, tell her that everything would be okay, that no one would want to hurt goblins anymore soon, that her parents would somehow come back and everything would be fine. What had helped her, after the shipwreck? What could anyone have said to make things right, between the death of those she’d lived with and loved – her mother – and the terrifying new powers that had threatened to swallow her whole? Words didn’t make that right, only love and time. She couldn’t really claim to give Enchee either, but she could at least try for some comfort.
“There are things that leave us all helpless,” Thea whispered, softly. “Even big, powerful djinni like Calim feel helpless, sometimes, when there’s an even stronger wizard about.” She was quiet, still stroking Enchee’s back. “I’ve felt helpless more times than I can count,” Thea admitted. “Now, Enchee, I haven’t known you very long, but somehow I have a feeling you won’t feel so helpless forever.” It was true – the little goblin had guts, as evidenced by her theft attempt, and smarts, as evidenced by her quick uptake of Citrine’s plan to cover for the theft. For a little goblin girl? It really wasn’t bad.
“Like Calim, when the wizard had stolen all his winds,” Thea smiled. “Sometimes it’s not about being more powerful, it’s about being quicker and cleverer. And I have a feeling you’re very quick, and very clever, aren’t you?” Thea kept stroking, not exactly expecting a response, but leaving a little space for Enchee to time in if she felt so inclined.
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Post by enchilada on Mar 10, 2019 21:31:11 GMT
Enchee started breathing irregularly, doing her best to stop the real crying before it got too late to hold it in. She couldn’t just be this weak - it couldn’t- she wouldn’t show this kind of behaviour. She may have felt safe in Thea’s arms, but there was no way she’d stay there forever. And as she’d learned herself, through plain and simple survival, any sign of weakness was to be exploited, and she felt pretty damn week right now.
“Maybe- m-maybe. Not like the other kids, though, Crucible doesn’t really know a lot of that though. I can’t even- I can barely write.” She sobbed through the confession, riding the tides of crying until they subsided, she sounded frustrated with both her inability and her continual crying. “I’m- I’m seven already!”
She didn’t pay much mind to the fact she’d never explained Crucible, in fact, she didn’t even think about that at all. Crucible was as ‘Enchee’ as Queso, it was just how she was, how she lived. Literally how she lived - without him she’d be living entirely differently. She loved and respected him a lot, and while he wasn’t looking, she was actually doing a little bit of reading, and just a little bit, her head started swimming after too many words. As did the words, on all his god stuff. It was... interesting. It wasn’t as exciting as some stuff, though, but it wasn’t really meant to be exciting. Probably. Maybe she didn’t get it.
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Post by moralhazard on Mar 10, 2019 21:46:11 GMT
“Reading isn’t the same as being clever,” Thea scoffed, still holding Enchee close, rocking back and forth a little to create a soothing motion, hand still stroking up and down the little goblin’s back. “Someone I – a big strong man I know, very tall and tough, didn’t know how to read until he was eighteen,” Thea bit her lip, hating to use Dom as an example for Enchee, but not sure what other example to give.
In retrospect, she’d been an idiot, and Dom had absolutely 'confessed' his inability to win sympathy points from her. A risky move, but, then, he was good at those. When Thea thought of the warm glow she’d had while teaching him to read, the way she’d looked forward to their sessions, she felt like the world’s biggest fool. Even now, she still wasn’t entirely sure how true any of it was.
But, then, much like the Calim story, did it really matter?
“That’s much older than seven,” Thea said, practically, keeping her tone light and cheerful. “And because he was so old, way older than you, he got used to hiding it. He had a very, very good memory. I bet you do too." A gamble, but Thea remembered being a scared and observant little girl.
"It was very hard for him to admit he didn’t know how,” maybe, Thea thought, with a tinge of bitterness, “and very hard for him to learn. But one day, he was very brave – just like you – and he told me that he didn’t know how, and so I did my best to help him. Now, he’s an excellent reader, even better than me. If you want, I could try to help you too.”
Could Thea fix all the world’s problems, make goblins safe, keep Enchee safe, and stop all crime in Waterdeep?
No.
Could she teach one little goblin to read?
Well – probably. Thea hoped so.
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