Mr. Dove and the Pipes of Creation

**davedove** · 3rd February 10, 07:29 AM

Scene 9

I continued walking along the road for about another hour when I noticed buildings ahead. As I approached, it looked as though I was entering a small village of about two dozen homes.

Men and women doing their daily chores watched me closely as I walked past. Ahead I could hear children laughing and yelling.

As I followed the road around a building, I stopped when I saw the group of children. They were all throwing clumps of sod and dirt at a short, stocky man. Their taunts of ‘dirty dwarf’ and other less pleasant names fueled their cruelty.

The small man appeared to be defending himself from the thrown objects, but was taking no further actions to help himself.

I rushed forward to help the man. “Get away from him! Leave him alone!” I yelled at the kids.

As I approached the children ran away, laughing and calling me ‘dwarf lover’.

“Are you okay?” I asked the small man.

“I’ll be fine,” he said with a touch of sadness in his voice. “They didn’t hurt me any. It was only some kids blowing off steam.”

“But why were they doing that?”

“They don’t know any better and are probably just repeating what they’ve heard the adults say about me.”

As I helped dust off the small man, I got a better look at him. He was an adult, but only stood about four feet in height. His proportions were all wrong; he was much stockier than a man would be. His long beard only partially covered a rough, leathery face. His appearance put me in mind of a dwarf from fantasy stories, just like the children had called him. Oddly, something about his appearance seemed familiar.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” I said to him as I extended my hand in greeting. “My name is David.”

He stared at me a moment as if sizing me up, then extended his own hand. “I’m Jockel.”

I shook his hand. “Glad to meet you Jockel. Can I buy you a drink?”

He hesitated a moment before answering. “No, thank you. I have to get back to work.”

With that he turned and walked away.

**davedove** · 16th February 10, 06:06 AM

Scene 10

I noticed a large building ahead of me with a sign depicting a mug of beer. I figured this must be the local tavern, so I walked inside.

As I stepped inside, I could feel the eyes of everyone in the room watching me. This was to be expected, as I was a stranger in a small town. I noticed the attire of all the patrons; it could best be described as peasant garb from the English Renaissance. My own modern attire definitely stood out from the crowd.

“Grab a chair and I’ll be with ye soon,” said the man behind the bar.

I looked around the room. Since this was a small tavern, there were only two tables, each with patrons.

The first table held four men, probably locals from the way they looked. They did there best to not look directly at me, although I could tell I was being watched closely.

The other table had only one occupant, a slightly built man who leaned back in his chair, lightly plucking on a stringed musical instrument. On closer examination, I noticed something very strange about this man; his ears were pointed!

A dwarf outside and an elf in the tavern, I thought to myself. Whatever reality was in place here seemed to be following a fantasy model.

I walked over to the elf, who smiled as I approached. “May I join you?” I asked him.

“Of course,” he said. His voice had a light, musical quality to it. “Pull up a chair and tell me of your journey. It is obvious you are not from these parts. I’ve noticed that men have a hard time with my name, so you may call me Starbuck.”

“And you may call me Dave,” I said to him as I sat down.

He looked at me quizzically. “Dave you said?”

“Yes, Dave, why do you ask?”

“Nothing really, I just thought you might have said Dove.”

A chill shot through me. “And why would that be important?”

“Just that there was a man through here earlier today looking for someone named Dove. He said was supposed to meet the man here in town.”

“Did he say why?”

“No real details, really,” he answered. He looked at me a little warily. “And why would that be important to you?”

Could I trust this elf? I looked at him more closely. His name had caught my attention and as I examined him more closely, I could see why. Despite the slender build and the elven features, this elf looked amazingly like Dee. Could this elf be Dee’s counterpart in this reality?

I decided to take a risk. “Because Dove is my family name,” I told him. “What can you tell me about this man?”

Just then the bartender brought me a mug. “What’s this?” I asked.

“What do you think it is?” he answered with disdain. “It’s beer. You come into my place, you have a beer.”

“Okay, no offense intended.” I picked up the mug and took a drink. The beer was actually quite pleasant, with a rich, malt flavor.

“Frederick,” said Starbuck to the bartender, “What was the name of that other guy who came in here earlier today?”

The bartender stopped and thought for a moment. “I don’t recall exactly, but he said he was a wizard of some sort.”

“Right,” said Starbuck, “a wizard, from some place I have never heard of before. What was it again?”

“I had never heard of it either. It must have been a coastal place, named after a sea. But like you I hadn’t heard of it before, something like the bee’s sea.”

“That’s it!” Starbuck exclaimed. “He said he was the Wizard of Bee Sea.”

**Livingston** · 16th February 10, 08:25 AM

Interesting. This could get very interesting.....and strange.

**davedove** · 16th February 10, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by Livingston

Interesting. This could get very interesting.....and strange.

Oh, just wait.......

**Livingston** · 16th February 10, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by davedove

Oh, just wait.......

Oh no, not again. It sounds like I won't get out of this one without injury.....AGAIN!

**Wompet** · 16th February 10, 12:08 PM

You don't know that for sure - you may get through free of injury.
Now, whether or not you'll be fully human is another matter.
(Current count: 2 demihumans and 1 wizard. Next up: a cynanthrope or monkey-at-arms? A juggernaut or tattooed river spirit? Perhaps a pith-helmeted puck with a prodigious proboscis?)