Instant Story

Challenge #04844-M095: All Welcome Inn

They opened an Inn with a restaurant less than a half-mile from the opening to tunnels that lead to underdark cities. The rules were simple. Don't be an arse, everyone was welcome, and if you were too poor to afford food and shelter, no problem, you'll still be fed. The staff consisted of both sunsiders and people from the underdark working together, with the shift changing as the sun set and rose so that the place was always open for those in need. -- Anon Guest

[AN: It's 'Everdark', which is legally distinct from Underdark (a wholly owned subsidiary of WotC) ]

You could call it a Halfway House, being that it was halfway between two worlds - the upper and lower. Perched at the cavern entrance to one of the main trade roads to the Everdark, it's literally half in shadow. Half of the Inn's gardens were in the shelter of the caverns. So too was half the livestock. It's one of the few Inns in the area with a Weapons Check at the doors. Which also have Wards of Peace inlaid in the lintels.

Mostly because half the clientele are natural enemies of the other half.

Those who ran the place were extremely careful with their precautions. They had to be. As far as they knew, the All Welcome Inn was the only one that welcomed those from below as well as those from above. Deepfolk and sunsiders alike staffed the place. They were misfits, all of them. Nowhere else took them in, so they stayed there.

Support me on Patreon / Buy me a Ko-fi

Prompts remaining: 14 Submit a Prompt!
Ask a question

Challenge #04843-M094: Healer's Helper

Healing halls across the land hear of a miracle wine that allows healers to see broken bones and other internal injuries so they can treat them. While some lands, mainly those of greedy rulers who think such wonders should ONLY be for the nobility, forbid their healing halls to have it, most refuse such orders and beg Wraithvine to help them set up deliveries. This will greatly aid them in their work. Just like the invention of the vermin-repelling bands did.

https:

Challenge #04842-M093: Multi-Level Marketing

They were a "sunsider", but they went to the Everdark quite frequently for trade. They were viewed and treated as unwelcome for quite a while, until it became clear they held no prejudice against any cognizant species. They always traded fair, and had no qualms of paying even a higher rate charged due to them being a sunsider. After all, most of these individuals were treated poorly up top, they couldn't blame them for acting such toward those that came from the

Challenge #04841-M092: Breakout Event

"Are there any who are not human among the Pax Humanis members?"

They're rare, but there are. Let me tell you about the best hunter I ever met. A havenworlder whose first target had pushed too them far. -- Anon Guest

He had been selected for his bright plumage, and kept in conditions meant to maintain his health. Little else but that. He learned to be clever by playing dumb, just to get his captors to relax and get careless.

It took

Challenge #04840-M091: Fey Touched

They sat to think and dream. But dreaming too close to a faerie circle can be dangerous. Fortunately, these beings were kind, and they got the person safe before they went too far into the maze. -- Anon Guest

It can be a terrible thing to have the soul of an artist. Especially if, like Haness, you were born into a woodcutting and herb-gathering family. Ze found hirself hoping for something more than ze had, but not knowing what it was or

Challenge #04839-M090: Waif and Stray

A human, an older teen, screamed in terror when the mix of avian and reptilian havenworlders found them. They were thin, alone on that barren rock, injured, and shaking. They very gently helped the youth learn they were safe, no longer alone, and deserved kindness. -- Anon Guest

Hal knew that they were lucky to survive. They were also rather lucky that they had had an obsession with surviving seemingly impossible accidents. How to survive on a desert island. How to survive

Challenge #04838-M089: Mostly Harmless, You Say

They ran in and dragged the woman with the brightly striped belt from a building fast before the fire burst out of control. She saved them from falling to their death when a support strut failed causing the scaffolding to collapse. It was the start of an interesting friendship -- Anon Guest

The thing about responding to disasters is: Nobody thinks. They just act.

Whether it's fleeing the scene of threat, or acting counter to it. The threat spurs motion and the

Challenge #04837-M088: We Have What Now?

A wealthy family, though decent enough rulers. A lonely child whose parents were so busy they had little time for hir. The child started making little clothes, tiny furniture, and putting together a dollhouse, a mini mansion. When asked why, the child simply said, my friends want to visit more so I won't be lonely. -- Anon Guest

Ardinae had a nurse, a tutor, a bodyguard, and a host of dressers, chefs, and stylists to make sure they were the very picture

Challenge #04836-M087: Taking the Time

The king offered a boon, it was, respectfully, turned down. A gift, then, was offered of a new checker board, hir's was getting old and some pieces had gone missing. This was accepted, but only if he'd be willing to sit and play a game or two.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04791-m042-unfamiliar-to-some -- Anon Guest

What fascinated Verin about her request was that the Thrice-Sworn King did not go out and purchase a new board from a shop. He gathered materials

Challenge #04835-M086: Keep Them Hungry

They tried to control their population by keeping them weak and hungry. Then came the crash that spread all sorts of dust, powder, and tiny little floaty seeds all over the place. The soil was suddenly extremely rich, instead of polluted, the parasites and fungi that were harmful to people died out quickly, and a surprisingly large variety of small, seemingly ordinary, plants, began to spread swiftly. -- Anon Guest

The people on the northern islands actually saw the invader shot down.

Challenge #04834-M085: Making Light of the Matter

"Wraithvine, Wraithvine, where art thou?"

"I'm over here, playing the clown!"

"Wraithvine, Wraithvine, why be a fool?"

"Because laughter is another healing tool!"

A children's skipping game of how Wraithvine saved a nation, by teaching the leaders of the warring factions how to have fun together and laugh. -- Anon Guest

Evidently, Bucky had been to the library. Asking questions and finding out things. Kro could throttle the librarian's prentice/acolyte[1] for teaching him how to read.

"I learned fun stuff,

Challenge #04833-M084: A Lesson to Last

Kormwind, Dex to his friends, is being followed around by two youngsters, a human child and hir hellkin twin. When asked why they follow, the children ask to be taught to cook, taught to make things, taught to grow things, so they won't go hungry again. And the other children in the home won't go hungry anymore, either. -- Anon Guest

[AN: This has to happen while he was off being an Adventurer and not a Prince]

Dex had been viewing his

Challenge #04832-M083: Last Will

The family fought bitterly over the box. It was beautiful, looking as though it were covered in gold and gems. They felt for certain whomever inherited it would find wealth within. The youngest two siblings asked only for the small wooden box that had been left out in the rain by the woodshed. The youngest two would never go hungry again. -- Fighting Fit

The jocular saying goes, "Where there's a will, there's an angry relative." It could not be more true

Challenge #04831-M082: The Ultimate Choice

There are four crowns here. Gold and gem gives glory. Silver gives power and wealth. Red wrapped with gems, gold, and silver gives fame and influence. The little wooden crown, plain and unadorned, gives the power of kindness and the ability to heal, though you may never know fame or wealth. Be warned, three are paths to sorrow, one is a path to peace, choose wisely. -- Anon Guest

Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, the hero had fought their way to

Challenge #04830-M081: Relative Barbarianism

DRIL: "issuing correction on a previous post of mine, regarding the terror group ISIL. you do not, under any circumstances, "gotta hand it to them" -- Deathshead419

[AN: Obviously not using those organisations for the purposes of FICTION because you just don't mess with that]

You'd think the Elves had learned from the first time they sparked hostility from nomadic people. They're slow to take in lessons from life, as they are slow to do many things. A cultural obsession with perfection

Menu

Flash fiction fresh from my fingers to your mind!

Challenge #04844-M095: All Welcome Inn

Challenge #04843-M094: Healer's Helper

Challenge #04842-M093: Multi-Level Marketing

Challenge #04841-M092: Breakout Event

Challenge #04840-M091: Fey Touched

Challenge #04839-M090: Waif and Stray

Challenge #04838-M089: Mostly Harmless, You Say

Challenge #04837-M088: We Have What Now?

Challenge #04836-M087: Taking the Time

Challenge #04835-M086: Keep Them Hungry

Challenge #04834-M085: Making Light of the Matter

Challenge #04833-M084: A Lesson to Last

Challenge #04832-M083: Last Will

Challenge #04831-M082: The Ultimate Choice

Challenge #04830-M081: Relative Barbarianism