A Titan’s Dream
A D’veen Story for Madness & (May)hem Day 11
My dearest diary,
I do apologize, genuinely. I know that your curse means you are forever trapped in these pages with only my musings as your one source of entertainment.
It has been quite some time since I’ve written here, so I imagine you must be terribly bored.
Although, I’ve never heard of a magic that can trap a soul in pages. I often wonder if that merchant lied to me about the properties of this journal.
He did weave a convincing tale, though, and as a fellow storyteller, I have to give him credit for that!
I know of technology that does such a thing, trap souls I mean, but it is not made of paper. I call it the Chronosphere. It’s made of metal, but not any kind you’d find on D’veen.
Sarai has one atop her people’s staff. You know, the Chronoscepter. I had mine first, so if anything they copied MY name!
Of course nobody knows I have one, and certainly not the elves, so it seems we came to the same conclusion regarding the use of “Chrono” in the name. Funny how things work out like that.
Ah, now look at me! I’m rambling like a madman. It seems my own stories are far less structured than the ones I tell.
It makes sense, though, my mind is maelstrom, and the stories I have are the only moments of peace in a sea of noise.
Oh, you’re probably wondering why I’m writing here after so long. Talk about burying the lede!
My goodness, all it takes is a diary to completely rob me of all my narrative experience and expertise.
And look at me! I’m rambling again! Okay, I’m writing here because I had a dream.
I know that’s normal for people and other creatures of D’veen, but Titans like myself don’t have dreams. I’m an Aluthian Titan, by the way.
You knew that, right? Of course you did, you’ve heard all my tales by virtue of being in the same room where they’re often told.
Not many people know that about me. I drop hints in my stories all the time, but the point is that I had a dream and that’s not normal for me!
I saw Titanum forest, and I heard the voice of the Rot, but it wasn’t saying anything coherent. I’m not sure what it means, it all happened so fast.
The Rot is contained in Avondale Forest, though, and has been for some time.
So why did I see Titanum? It doesn’t make sense. Unless of course it sent a seed somehow. Maybe inside of someone who wandered too close to Avondale?
WAIT, THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE TRUE.
Am I really having prophetic dreams? Ugh, that is so cliche’. It’s fine. I knew something like this would happen eventually.
D’veen seems stable on the surface, but threats to the realm are everywhere if you know where to look.
The Rot is just one of many things that could easily spell the end of the realm. That’s why I’ve been working on bringing together my little Order of the Pawn.
I had the idea some time ago. A group of hand-picked fighters, tasked with guarding the realm!
It’s what we would have done. My brothers and sisters and I. We poured all of ourselves into the creation of D’veen.
We shed blood, sweat, and tears into this realm. We would have guarded it with our very lives if we knew it was being threatened.
Of course, we all know how that story ends. I told them not to go, I told them that we didn’t need another realm when we had this one right here, and they went away.
They blew themselves up and shattered the moon in the sky, and just like that, I was alone.
So yeah, I got the idea for the order pretty early on, but I just didn’t know where to start. Who among the denizens of D’veen could possibly measure up to my expectations?
So, I decided to become a Bard. I would travel the land and my currency would be stories.
Through my work, I would learn tales of those who had done great deeds. Great enough to earn them a place in history.
And, through the tales, I would discover their modern equivalents. Warriors, scholars, and legends worthy to guard the realm.
In this way, I would have a brand new purpose, and I wouldn’t have to hunt them down, either.
Their stories would come to me.
And so here we are! The Rot is most certainly playing at something. I’m starting to think that the World Tree may have tapped me on the shoulder in my sleep to warn me. That would explain why I suddenly had a dream.
It’s just as well! I was planning to head that way soon anyway to recruit another member of the Order. An elf, in fact!
Yes, that’s right, there are not one, but TWO elves left in D’veen. My goodness, I’m just spoiling all the details for you, aren’t I?
You know, one of these days I’m going to actually figure out if there’s a soul trapped in here, reading all of my diary entries.
Maybe then I can figure out a way to let you talk back. Wouldn’t that be fun? We can leave notes for each other!
Okay, that’s definitely happening when all this Rot business settles down. In the meantime, I’ve got an elf to recruit! The Order of the Pawn is finally coming together, I’m so excited!
Talk soon. Hopefully.
Sincerely,
Finton Merrybrook
P.S: Please don’t tell anyone about my little secret. You know, me being a Titan and all? I don’t care if you know, but I’m not exactly ready for the world to find out. Okay, thanks!
A New D’veen Series is Coming…
Stay tuned for more news on the upcoming series (including several preludes stories) in the coming weeks!
Thank You For Reading! Here’s Your Musical Pairing
Finton would appreciate it if you listened to this track. It’s one of his favorites.
Finton is my spirit animal! Now, the question for the world (or at least a few Substackers) to ponder is this: Is it your version of Finton or my version that has captured my affection? Or maybe, just maybe, they're one and the same. Hmmm? After all, Finton does seem to harbor his fair share of secrets. ;)
Oh my goodness!! This was so good!!
I can't believe I went to sleep instead of checking it out lol
This has EVERYTHING. New secrets came to light, my little forest makes an appearance, a Hercules song?!
I love this so much!