Drop In a short, comical prompt, and if you’re feeling particually motivated Then you’re more Than welcome to write a short story/entry :)
It had been a perfectly typical morning in Varakun for Alak. He'd woken up, gone to the market to get the day's food as usual, and then headed to work. Today he was helping Brandth the Blacksmith rebuild a section of the old forge.
He'd been on his way down the main street in the small farming town, when a shadow fell over his section of road. There was a scream, and Alak looked up to see the unmistakable form of Olybriccazchus the Iron-skinned descending towards him. The laborer barely had time to throw up his hands before the dragon's massive talons wrapped all the way around his body. Alak saw every moment of his life flash before his eyes, as he waited for the inevitable killing pain as the dragon crushed him in its grip.
It never came.
Instead, he found himself lifted into the sky, and his fear of death turned to fear of being dropped. They got to a certain height, and Alak's brain stopped trying to process his various fears. He passed out and knew no more.
…..
Olly sighed to himself as the human passed out in his grip. He'd been hoping not to terrify the poor thing, but humans were so fragile, it seemed he could barely let them see him before someone was swooning in fear.
He flapped his massive wings and headed towards home, the peak of craggy Mount Vespasitas, the Mountain of Storms. Very few had ever seen the summit, other than Olly, because of the dark ring of clouds that constantly wreathed the peak. The cave where Olly lived was the only shield from the fire and lightning and wind that the perpetual storm brought with it.
It was this cave where Olly was headed now. He flew through the storm and landed on the ledge, doing an awkward hop-skip on three feet so he could keep ahold of the poor unconscious human. Inside the cave mouth was an antechamber full of one thing: bones. It was meant to deter anyone who managed to make it up here from going any further, but it was also just where Olly tossed any bones he didn't crack open to suck the marrow out of.
It was also the reason he'd gone into town today. The dragon sighed as he walked through the path he'd had to clear through the bones, which were piled high enough to come up to his chest.
The next room was a little bigger, and more homey. Fewer bones. A big open space, where a dragon could stretch out. Furs and pelts and hides of all kinds lined the floor, creating a soft padding for Olly's scaly skin as he plopped down on his stomach. The dark of the cave was dispelled by the soft glow of the fire blazing under his skin. His red scales glowed a dim orange with the heat, and gave him all the light he needed to see.
The human woke up after a few minutes.
…..
Alak woke up in the dark. He was lying on his back on something soft, but smelly. In fact, the entire place where he was smelled of smoke and death. A distinct combination that brought his situation back to mind. The dragon!
He sat straight up, and was suddenly aware of some lighting in the chamber. Orange lights, covering the wall in front of him, that seemed to glow like they were bioluminescent or something. They were also moving, and that's when Alak realized what he was looking at. Manwe above, it's huge!
The laborer swallowed hard as he felt the heat coming off of what he now realized was the dragon's side. He was close enough to reach out and touch it, and some hypnotic force made him do it, slowly reaching his hand forward to touch the glowing ornage-red scales.
"Ah good, you're awake."
Alak didn't realize he was screaming, until it had been a couple seconds. He stopped, clamping his mouth shut and covering it with both hands. The dragon had startled him by speaking, and Alak wasn't sure what scared him more: the voice that sounded like rocks grinding together mixed with thunder and bestial roaring, or the amber eye with the slitted pupil as big as his head that was now fixed on him, not three feet away.
"No, no, don't stop yourself. Let it out. You can scream." The dragon sounded annoyed, maybe even a bit long-suffering, but Alak took his advice and uncovered his mouth, allowing his screams to come out for just under 30 more seconds.
He finally ran out of breath and just sat there, panting, and the dragon opened the huge eye it had closed in irritation.
"Now that that's out of the way, can we talk? I need your help."
Alak froze, staring at the massive creature in front of him. Olybriccazchus the Iron-skinned was a massive red and black fire drake. Easily 50 feet long, tail to nose, with wings wide enough to lift his several-ton body into the air with ease. Teeth as long as Alak's arms, razor-sharp talons that could shred armor with a flick, long curved horns on his head and spikes on his tail. The ability to breathe fire which was so hot it melted metal and caused the very air to burn.
Nothing about him looked like he needed Alak's help. Which made the laborer even more curious.
"…. How?" He was only able to squeak outone word, his body still shaking in fear too much to say more. The dragon shifted, as if settling in for a long story, and sighed, a noise like rushing wind that blew smoke in long trails out in front of him.
"I'm tired of killing. I'd like to try something else for a change. I've heard you humans have this concept, something called 'going vegan'. I want to give it a try."
Alak's jaw hit the ground as the dragon, The Scourge of Varakun, The Flaming Death himself, asked about veganism. He just stared at the giant death-dealing machine for a moment, unsure if this was some trick, before deciding that if it was, he was dead in the dragon's lair already.
"I think I can help with that…"
earth AU:
1 Year Later
Mayor Alak trudged up the street from his house to the town hall, where his office was. Today promised to be a stressful day, and part of him wasn't looking forward to it.
Breakfast was waiting for him in the conference room, as were several of his local leaders of industry. They all looked serious, and he could tell they'd all come to some kind of agreement about what they were going to speak with him about this morning.
He had a feeling he knew, but he said nothing other than greetings as he walked in and sat down to his eggs and toast.
After a few minutes of silence, void of the usual pleasantries and small talk, Alak finished his plate, pushed it back, and leaned back in his chair. "Well, gentlemen. You seem to have something on your minds this morning. Please feel free to say what's bothering you."
There was a moment where they all just looked at each other, before a gentleman in a silk tunic, denoting his position as Chairman of the Merchants' Guild, spoke up. "Well… Mayor, we've been talking. All of our industries have suffered recently, and we've narrowed it to one common factor causing the issues. We wanted to talk to you to see if there's anything that can be done, but we're aware it's a sensitive issue."
Alak had a sinking feeling that he knew what the problem was, but he asked the question anyway. "And what is this common factor, Chairman?"
The Chairman hesitated, but a man in leather armor with a star pinned to his breastplate spoke up. "It's Olly, Mayor."
Alak groaned and leaned forward, resting his face on his hands for a moment, before sitting up. "I figured. I think I know, but… each of you, explain to me how he has caused suffering in your industries."
Varakun's Game Warden spoke up. "Well, before he went vegan, Olly was keeping the local predator population down. In the last year, however, we've had more deaths to livestock and people from bears, cougars, and wolves, than we've had in a very long time. Hunting parties have had to be organized, and our people are farmers, not hunters. But even if the hunts were successful, we can't keep up with the rising predator population. Turns out removing the top of the food chain is a bad idea."
"And the effect of the predators on our livestock is worse than when Olly would eat them. A few sheep or cattle from each farm once or twice a week is very different from a couple every night." The Head of the Farmer's Union, known as the Yeoman, picked up where the Game Warden left off. "One huge sentient predator was bad enough, but we would gladly take that over hundreds of big, unthinking beasts tearing our farms apart. He also never caused structural damage unless challenged, but our fences and pens are torn down regularly now."
He went on. "On top of that, the hit to our agriculture has been gigantic. We supply him with huge portions of our vegetables and plant food, which has caused our industry to crash. We've had to import foodstuffs from other places. We initially thought it would be ok, because we could sell more meat now that Olly wasn't eating it, but we haven't been able to do that because of the predator problem. So we're losing money."
The Chairman jumped in. "And our economic standing has gone down quite a bit, meaning our ability to procure other goods has shrunk. Without our booming farm business, many of the merchants don't have the capitol to expand their businesses to cover the losses. We also-" he paused, unsure of himself, but went on with a nudge from the Yeoman. "We also have realized that the presence of a vicious dragon near our town was actually protecting our business. Nobody wanted to set up shop and try to cut our profits. But now that Olly has been 'gentled', as they say, we've got competitors rolling in, and that's bad for the families depending on our business for their daily bread."
The Sheriff, the man in leather armor with the star, finished for the group. "And competing businesses aren't the only ones rolling in. Varakun is remote enough, near the Mountain of Storms, that we've always had a little bit of a problem of criminals trying to hide out here. But it wasn't a problem, because most criminals are cowards who aren't big on living near the lair of a dragon. But now, we're being overrun. My 4 deputies and I cannot keep up with the level of crime our little town is generating. I've had to deputize more men in the last year, but they're all farmers, and fathers as well. The town is becoming more unsafe."
He shook his head. "On top of that, as Olly has gotten gentler and more friendly, people have flocked to see him. We've become something of a tourist attraction, which of course means lots of people coming through. The crime rate would be up anyway from that, but the addition of criminals to the mix means that hardly a day goes by without some visitor turning up in my office complaining of robbery, being conned, or being assaulted, and with the high numbers of people coming and going, theres often nothing we can do. It's uniquely frustrating, Mayor, and I don't mind telling you I kinda wish Olly would go back to killing things."
Alak listened carefully, and slowly nodded at the end. "it certainly seems like it would fix a lot of things. But we were all in favor of it before."
"Because getting the local dragon to go vegan seemed like a great solution. Who could know it would lead to all of this?" The Game Warden gestured around them. "Our farms are failing, our businesses are closing their doors, our town is full of criminals and our forests are deadly to all the visitors coming through, all of whom leave here with terrible stories to tell the rest of the kingdom."
The Yeoman was a bit more quiet. "Olly wanted not to be hated… it's our fault he felt that way, because now we see how much he was really doing for us. He didn't deserve our anger."
Alak nodded again, and leaned forward. "So. How do we fix it?"
They brainstormed all day, tossed around ideas, and by the time the sun was sinking in the west, they had a plan. Mayor Alak left townhall with just one question in his mind.
Would Olly agree to it?
Certainly! Here's a short and comical prompt for you:
"A time-traveling barista must serve coffee to famous historical figures who are notoriously picky about their brews. Write about their caffeinated escapades!"
Feel free to use this prompt as inspiration for a fun and imaginative short story or creative entry. Enjoy your writing adventure!
a terrible curse: they cant die until they have counted all the grains of sand in the world.
(think about it; all the places sand is other than the ocean and desert. )
- greek mythology if zeus wasn't the absolute worst
Two paragraphs. That's it.
- greek mythology if zeus wasn't the absolute worst
Two paragraphs. That's it.
bahahahahahaha
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Screaming in a library
(Meow)
Screaming in a library
(Meow)
as in that's the prompt? if so, then i call that one
Screaming in a library
(Meow)
as in that's the prompt? if so, then i call that one
Yea. Just screaming in a library.
Is this chat dead? Yes. Am I still going to add a prompt? Also yes.
A exasperated fae creature trying to figure out the name of a human, who just so happens to be mute
(fae: so what's your name?)
(human signing: well i can't say it)
(fae: well how 'bout a game of charades?)
(human signing: yes, let's play it!)
(BEETLEJUICEEEEE)
(beetlejiuce…)
(betljuc)
we just had to, didnt we
(…… bclju)
(I WOVE BEETLEJUICE!!!! I HAVE 5 DIFFRENT BEEJ'S THAT WATCH ME SLEEP!)
ayo thats
thats
I would not feel safe
(I still need to actually watch the movie lmao)
bruh
yea i have 2 posters direcrectly over my bed, 2 different beej plushies, and a painting of beej
Blju