Completed [Valkalah Library] The Littlest Ice Reaver

[Adi Skyglow]

20th of Spring, 514 AV
17th Bell, 45th Chime
NoteJob thread as a storyteller.

It had taken a surprisingly long time to work out an arrangement with the library to do a storytelling session here, but when Adi found herself in a pile of pillows, she knew she'd made the right choice. Today she'd be entertaining children in Riverfall with an original story. Her story was something she was proud of even though she'd only came up with it a few days ago. Since then, she'd bought a book, a quill, and ink in order to write it down as it came to her to preserve the story so she didn't forget it. Currently, she held the leather-bound book tightly to her chest. The first page was blank-she intended to decorate it some time-but the second was where the story started in Adi's slightly messy handwriting. She took a moment to review the pages containing the story as children began to trickle into the library and the reading pit where she was seated. Most were Akalak males, with colorful skin that was drastically different from Adi's own, and there were a few female Konti, blonde and adorable.

When she felt confident enough in the story she had, Adi set the book aside and made herself comfortable in the library. Time to get to work.

She gave the children a few more minutes to file in, the comfortable children's reading room welcoming and colorful. Adi herself sat against the wall on one side, legs crossed under her and leather journal on the floor next to her. The Vanthan storyteller made sure to smile at each child as they entered the room, some boisterously, some shyly. One young girl, a human child with bright green eyes, sat down right next to her and smiled broadly at the Vantha. "Can I pay wif your hair?" she asked, and Adi, smiling with purple eyes, pulled her hair out of its braid and loosened it into waves going over her shoulder. The girl looked absolutely enchanted whenever she saw an occasional glint of purple in her hair, and she took great pride in combing Adi's black locks out with her small fingers.

"What's your name?" asked Adi in a soft voice to the young girl next to her. The girl looked down at her feet sadly before replying in an equally quiet tone. "Momma used to teh me my name was whatever peopuh cawed me the most, so that makes my name wittuh brat. Momma is gone now, but she used to caw me Ewuh." A pang of sympathy flooded through Adi's mind at the young girl's story, and Adi resolved to make her happy tonight. Though she didn't have the means to give Ella a home and a good meal-she barely had the mizas to take care of herself-she could tell her a story that she could keep with her for a while.

When Adi decided that the room was about as full as it was going to get, she cleared her throat and looked around the reading room before raising her voice. "Hey, everyone. My name is Adi, and I'm going to tell you a story about a little boy who never gave up on his dream. The boy lived a long time ago, in a very far away place. A snowy place. He and I have something in common, you know-we were both born and raised in Avanthal. It's a very cold city, and all the buildings are made of-"here she paused for impact"-ice!"

[Adi Skyglow]

The pause, Adi noticed, was a good choice. Even though it was brief, it held the children around her in a few ticks of suspense, and helped her deliver the next word with a bigger impact than it would have had if she hadn't paused. Ella, still next to her, looked delighted to hear the buildings were made of ice. Adi guessed that buildings made of ice weren't something she-or any of the citizens of Riverfall-saw on a daily basis, if ever.

So she grinned and continued with her story.

"Now, in Avanthal, a special race of people make their houses. These people are called Vantha, and I'm one. Vantha worship Morwen primarily, the goddess of ice and snow. Morwen sees the Vantha as her children, and she loves us all. As proof of her love for us, Morwen blesses each Vantha with a special mark that lets us channel some of her ability to control the cold to a degree. Those that Morwen marks are called Ice Reavers, and though all Vantha are Ice Reavers, not all Ice Reavers are Vantha."

Here, a small boy interrupted her. He was an Akalak, blue skin tinted green, and he had been paying relatively close attention to Adi's story so far. "D'you have a mark, too, Adi? Can we see it?" he asked. The Vantha responded with a smile. "I do have a mark from Morwen. It's on the back of my neck. If you behave well and be respectful while I'm telling you the story, then I'll show you when I'm done. Does that sound okay?" The boy nodded eagerly and rested his chin on his hands, eyes wide open. He seemed determined not to talk for the duration of Adi's tale.

With another smile, Adi launched back into her description leading up to the story itself.

"Now, Morwen blessed all her people with an affinity for ice, and some of her children took their gifts a step farther. Some of them decided to make beautiful works of art out of the ice that their goddess gave them. The story that I'm going to tell you is about one of these ice artists."

Here, Adi paused for a breath and a peek at her leather-bound journal and the scrawls contained within it to refresh herself with the material. She closed her book with a flourish, though Adi set it carefully on the floor to avoid damaging the expensive book. "Though his name has been lost to time, his story has not. This is the story of the littlest ice reaver."

"The littlest ice reaver was born early on the coldest day of winter. When he arrived, he was tiny. No one, not even his mother, thought he would make it through the night. But the littlest ice reaver proved there and then that he was a fighter, and he surprised everyone by living not only through the night, but through the rest of the winter and several winters after it. As he grew up, the littlest ice reaver was always asking questions about his history and the history of the Vantha who came before him. When the littlest ice reaver found out he had a magical mark given to him by Morwen, the goddess of winter herself, he was ecstatic! He resolved from that point on to pay Morwen back with beautiful art in her honor."

[Adi Skyglow]

When Adi stopped to take a breath after telling the children about the boy's commitment to Morwen, she was interrupted by a blue hand from the same young boy who had questioned her earlier. She looked up at him with a chuckle and asked him what his question was this time. It pleased her that he seemed so interested in what she had to say to them. Adi hadn't been expecting young children to be this fun to tell stories to and interact with, so the level of participation she was getting was absolutely a pleasant surprise to the young Vantha woman.

"Did the ice reaver have a name?" he asked. Here came the hard part of dealing with children, she realized. No matter how much it seemed like they were paying attention, they didn't always grasp the finer details told to them. Patiently, Adi responded. "He did, long ago, but his name was lost with the passing of time. I'm sorry I can't tell you what his name is-believe me, I'm just as curious as you are." When she was done answering the boy's question, she resumed telling her story to the group of children, though she looked first over at Ella to make sure she was still interested. She was, and caught Adi's eye with a smile.

"As the littlest ice reaver grew up, his mother and father taught him the art of carving ice. Ice carving is a tricky skill to learn-only half of all Vantha have even a rudimentary knowledge of how to work with it, and I'm not one of them. The boy practiced his carving every single day for years and years until finally the day came where he was old enough to compete in the annual competition where Vantha carvers from all over Avanthal send in their best works to be considered by Morwen herself. He was determined to win, but no one, not even his parents, thought he could do it."

Here, Adi slowed the pace of her story and lowered the tone of her voice.

"When the littlest ice reaver learned that his parents didn't believe in him, it crushed him. Remember, he was still young when this happened. So he poured himself even more into his work, spending half of every day carving away at ice, working on his greatest creation. The sculpture he was going to make would be worth dying for."

"What does crushed mean?" interrupted a young female voice from far back in the reading room. Adi shook her head briefly and looked up at the girl with a smile. "Crushed means squished or broken," she replied, clapping her hands together to demonstrate.

"With every day, the littlest ice reaver's statue grew closer and closer to being completed, but he spent less and less time with his family as a result. His work was beginning to occupy every bit of his life. As time passed, his mother suddenly fell very ill, but the littlest ice reaver couldn't be dragged from the side of his statue. He barely noticed the changing from day to night back to day anymore, and not even the loudest cries could drag him away from his beloved project. Then, finally, the day of the contest came, and the littlest ice reaver was finally done with his sculpture. Sadly, his mother was too sick to get up and see what was the biggest day of the littlest ice reaver's life so far. So the littlest ice reaver went to Morwen's palace alone with his sculpture, determined to win the contest."

Adi's next interruption was a soft sniffle from her side-Ella was crying. The young Skyglow felt bad about the tears she'd caused in the little girl, but she carried on with her story.

"When the littlest ice reaver arrived at Morwen's ice castle, he was the last one there for the contest-and judging was just about to start. Quickly, he got his sculpture set up for judging, and he waited. The littlest ice reaver had to wait a very long time before it was his turn-he had to go last, since he'd arrived last. He spent bells on his feet, and even then had to wait some more for the results to come in."

The Vantha woman paused again, this time changing to a more enthusiastic tone.

"To the surprise of the littlest ice reaver, Morwen herself appeared! She began to walk directly towards the littlest ice reaver, and stopped when she was right in front of him. Then she bent down and met his eyes."

"What did he carve? What color were Morwen's eyes? Did he win?" The flood of questions came all at once from three different children, and Adi took the opportunity to pause. "I'm almost done with the story. As soon as I finish, you can ask all the questions of me you want."

"Morwen, to the delight of the littlest ice reaver, told him that she was amazed by his sculpture, and that he'd won!"

Adi was interrupted then by cheering, and she waited until the children were all done before she continued.

"With the news, the littlest ice reaver's heart was overwhelmed with joy and happiness. It was so overwhelmed, in fact, that his heart stopped right there. But Morwen was there to catch the littlest ice reaver, and she did. Her touch turned the littlest ice reaver into a beautiful statue of a little boy, preserving him forever as the thing he'd loved most. To this day, it's said that Morwen keeps the littlest ice reaver and the statue that won the contest in a very special place in her castle."

With that, Adi finished the story and took a deep breath.

"The end."

[Gossamer]

XP AWARD!
Thanks for threading in Riverfall.

Character: Adi Skyglow
Experience: Socialization +2, Storytelling +3, Planning +1, Teaching +1
Lore: Storytelling: Utilizing the Valkalah Library as a Venue, Storytelling: Dealing with Interruptions Kindly and Fairly,


Additional Note: Please note, job threads need to be over 2,500 words. This thread is 2,099 so shoot for a bit more next time though we’ll go easy on you atm. I’m bummed you never told the boy what the little ice reaver carved. If you would have stretched the story out I could have given you a couple more points in Storytelling. And had you You went into teacher mode with the kids so I gave you a teaching XP for doing the explanations like explaining the definition of or a word to a curious child.