Alfarell

Challenge #04881-M132: First Steps to Peace

Nine Princes and Princesses from across the realms receive a mysterious letter, that they must attend an important gathering of unspecified content; one to be held in a peaceful land which has no quarrel with any of the nobles. Indeed, the ruler there declares no knowledge of the invitations nor that he had ever heard of the sprawling palace where the nine gather with their servants and favorites. What unfolds next surprises everyone involved… -- Deathshead419

Eighteen letters. Each on high-class paper, by the same unknown hand. Each edged in gold and marked with a unique, if small, gemstone. There were no implied matches. Not even in the advance warning to the Duke Phurlydow, so he could make ready to host them all.

He had a magnificent garden, and the weather was pleasant, so he had prepared a garden party and ready the biggest ballroom, just in case.

Phurlydow apologised frequently for the lack of appropriate accommodations. The young heirs to kingdoms were just as confused as he was, and forgave his lack if it meant solving the mystery. Therefore, there were nineteen detectives attempting to crack the case.

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Challenge #04876-M127: Invasive Plant Control

It took Vholno some time to understand that his father was once regarded as a blushing maid who found his true self through the care of the dryads. Though wind pollination makes humoresque paternity all but impossible to determine, still, Vholno is desperate to learn the one who’s pollen took root in Gyethamp the Bard all those years before.

Sequel to https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04709-l325-difficult-history -- Deathshead419

There was a lot to take in. A lot to understand. A

Challenge #04875-M126: Wrath of the Dark

Deep below the vale of ancients, in ruins so deep and layered as to become a cave-like labyrinth, is an effigy of a goddess. A small posse of dare seekers ignore the fell myths whispered of the buried divine, though they may come to wish they had heeded the warnings... -- Deathshead419

The world was built by Dragons, then built upon by various civilisations. Some cities, like Arbordeep, have been built up on previous iterations of Arbordeep as various cataclysms, floods, and

Challenge #04873-M124: Fishing For Converts

A new faith in a single God has captured a polity, raising or replacing the old temples and extinguishing the old gods. All except one, a "Tree Mother" whose grove Deep in the wilderness has been out of reach, for all who have tried to burn her put have returned shaken, wounded, or not at all.

Yet one priest is insistent, and takes the task of eradicating this last bastion of paganism to heart. -- Deathshead419

The story is told of a

Challenge #04872-M123: Best Defence

Yu-Cian was conscripted for his year of service in the city watch some months ago. Since then he has been mocked mercilessly by the veteran who signed on for life, has had his wages stolen by his sergeant, and was even spat upon by merchants leaving the city who assumed he was there for a shakedown.

So imagine his surprise when one of the horsemen of the plains arrived one night and had a civil conversation with him after all this time.

Challenge #04870-M121: The Right Fulcrum

"You can have money or you can have Justice." - Which do you choose? -- Prompey

[AN: Very sorely tempted to do so many Leverage riffs]

The right to reign is often accepted to mean: anyone who reigns has all the rights. And when anyone is both rich and powerful, they can take what they want and make consequences happen to others. Naturally, the people on the wrong end of that exchange tend to get irritated by that attitude.

So rebellions rise

Challenge #04868-M119: Tested Not in Vein

Legend holds of a harsh God, who’s marked have the blood drained from their bodies until expiring, this life force fueling the God’s power. The God has no use for the souls of those who are not devotees. So what happens when Elizabeth is dragged into the body of a ghoulish divine and accidentally invokes the right rite to bind her soul to her blood and become a simple blood cell inside the sepulcher halls of Godly flesh? -- Deathshead419

Challenge #04866-M117: Dredging Up Blessings

Eons ago, a temple with ten divine statues sank into the sea and then were pulled into the mantle of the planet itself. Now they have come to life, trapped below the crust of the world. Only Nalani and Vykoria can plunge down a lava plume and guide these divines into the light, though a path no human has ever walked will be treacherous and full of dangers unknown to mankind.

Sequel to: https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04849-m100-stolen-mercy -- Deathshead419

Vykoria

Challenge #04863 -M114: Love of Perfection

A skilled Sculptor has created a beauteous statue of a woman. It is so beauteous that the sculptor has fallen in love with her. And so the Sculptor implores the Gods to bring her to life so that she might become the Sculptor’s wife. Boons from the Gods always come with a price, especially ones reflecting love. And it may be that the Beauteous woman will wish to sculpt the Sculptor into her vision of an ideally aesthetic form… -- Deathshead419

Challenge #04862-M113: Fearsome Hero Hunvug

In a Tavern on the outskirts of Pildile, four men gather around a table for drinking, dicing, and a night away from the troubles of the world. Only, all four saw a hero’s exploits first hand, yet, none of them have the same story of what really unfolded… -- Deathshead419

Three beers in, Vaelin muttered, "Bloody heroes..." He took another swig before taking his turn at the dice.

"Aye," rumbled Goran. "Breaking in where they don't barge in, sticking their noses

Challenge #04861-M112: The Path to Fates

Deep in the vales of the Winderwrung Crags, legends speak of a beautiful figure whose serenade echoes across the range. Some say this singer leads climbers to their doom, others speak of surviving blizzards by that heavenly voice. One has at last set out to see if the legends hold any truth or are only traveler’s tales… -- Deathshead419

The valley is plentiful, and those who live there know well why every building stands on stilts or pillars. Even the horses

Challenge #04860-M111: A Little Mercy

At the end of the siege of Kaldorn, when the walls fell, young Jrodha Nosin sought shelter from the invading armies. Jrodha found it in the temple of one of the city’s most prominent gods. Yet while the rage of the invaders faded with Jrodha safely behind the barricade, safety always comes at a price… -- Deathshead419

When the world ended, a child ran for the shelter of Boreas' temple. Her name, when she entered the stone structure, was Jrodha Nosin.

Challenge #04859-M110: The Haunting of Stelgi Manor

Countess Vermyr Stelgi has inherited a substantial tract of land after the death of a distant cousin who had no other heirs. She moves quickly to spruce up the palace, hoping to make it into a summer home owing to the northerly quiet. That involves properly disposing of the departed cousin’s eclectic (some might say ghastly) collection, though some things in that palace might not appreciate being removed… -- Deathshead419

Like most buildings that had been in a family for generations,

Challenge #04857-M108: Domesticity

Leave that for somebody else to do. They came, they saw and they left it. -- Prompty.

Some warlords operate on Veni, vedi, vici. The Harukh'ai approached the Elven settlements with, Veni, vidi, ruinam reliqui in mind. At least, they did when the Ormani got around to writing epic poems and studies around it. Several centuries after the the conflicts settled down into hardy perennial territory disputes.

The Harukh'ai had a reason. Taslanae had to wonder why Yinmanou approached the kitchen with

Challenge #04856-M107: Second Chance for Stuff

Tip Shops. Everything from from over-ordered new clothing, 2nd hand furniture, building material and odds and ends. "One person's rubbish is another's treasure." -- Prompty.

Places like this had a Smell. Somewhere between dust, old makeup, and the Stygian depths of an Escherian book emporium. Regardless of whether the items for sale were new or recovered in one way or another, they all had the scent of too much time.

Maebe thought of it as the smell of second-hand dust. It made

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A 367-post collection

Challenge #04881-M132: First Steps to Peace

Challenge #04876-M127: Invasive Plant Control

Challenge #04875-M126: Wrath of the Dark

Challenge #04873-M124: Fishing For Converts

Challenge #04872-M123: Best Defence

Challenge #04870-M121: The Right Fulcrum

Challenge #04868-M119: Tested Not in Vein

Challenge #04866-M117: Dredging Up Blessings

Challenge #04863 -M114: Love of Perfection

Challenge #04862-M113: Fearsome Hero Hunvug

Challenge #04861-M112: The Path to Fates

Challenge #04860-M111: A Little Mercy

Challenge #04859-M110: The Haunting of Stelgi Manor

Challenge #04857-M108: Domesticity

Challenge #04856-M107: Second Chance for Stuff