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Challenge #04179-K161: Rest and Refuge

Wraithvine, hir cat, Gikka, and the little gnome that was a dragon in disguise came upon a hotel that was a hot spring resort. The very kind family offered a free vacation for all of them. Why? Because the family believed that all travelers should find relaxation on their travels, and it made them happy to help people. -- Anon Guest

It wasn't the first hotel and resort associated with volcanic hot springs. It was, however, one of the few that welcomed guests with no money.

"Hospitality is our pleasure," insisted the house matriarch. "Relax and revitalise. You need it."

Bibrid, especially, needed it. He was intensely nervous in most placed offering healing services. Dreading the moment he might be called in, and thereby trapped, by the need for his gifts. Very few people, after all, ask about who might heal the healers.

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Challenge #04178-K160: For the Love of Gravy

They ran a shipyard where old ships were completely refitted, rebuilt if need be, and sold at a price that allowed people to get their very first ones. The interesting area was where the gravy drives were repaired, cared for, and helped back into service so they could once again travel to the stars. -- Anon Guest

[AN: Gravy drives are very rarely abandoned. The Nae'hyn who care for them will go to extreme lengths to see them to an area of

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Challenge #04177-K159: Tough to Swallow

A person was given powerful painkillers when they got hurt. Later, they were taking calming drugs, regularly, during therapy. Unfortunately, they became addicted to both. The ones that prescribed the medications now had to help the person to be weaned off of them.

(( Note - one of the big reasons there was a major addiction to drugs like oxycontin and other painkillers is due to them being over-prescribed, sadly.)) -- Anon Guest

[AN: No worries, OP, I have witnessed several "miracle drugs"

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Challenge #04176-K158: Safe in a Dangerous Place

Lothaire helped the young former captive adjust to a life of freedom. For a being of darkness, they helped bring light back to hir heart.

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04031-k013-the-most-unlikely-rescue -- Anon Guest

It was a peculiarity that persisted in my head, every time I woke and grew accustomed to this place. I was safe in the lair of a literal monster. Safer than I had ever been in the hands of my master. Four days after my first waking, I

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Challenge #04175-K157: Ferocious Saviour

A severely depressed new rescue manages to slip away from hir therapists. They'd tampered with an airlock, about to harm themselves, but Jay quickly knocked them out, to get them back to their therapists. -- Anon Guest

[AN: If you're feeling like life is not worth it, please get help as I'd much prefer you'd keep existing. The world will not be as good without you]

Being sick was the worst. Mak could feel the costs piling up. The meals. The medicine.

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Challenge #04174-K156: An Object Lesson

A drunk, razzing the elf, tries to steal hir wizard's hat. Only for the hand to be burned by an angry miniature dragon trying to protect its "lair".

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04044-k026-hoard-lair-hat -- Anon Guest

"I tried to warn you," said Wraithvine, who hadn't even put down hir tankard. "A wizard's hat is always protected. You're lucky the booze in your breath didn't light. That's a horrible way to go."

The drunkard was very suddenly sober, nursing a scorch on

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Challenge #04173-K155: What the Boss Makes

You do not want to go there!

"Why not?"

For every day you earn working, they only allow you to keep a few seconds of it, their taxes will take EVERYTHING from you. You make clothing, and you will have it ripped from your hands and you will only be allowed to keep a few threads. They say it's for your own good, but the truth is, if you make a dollar, you will only keep a dime, and THAT is only

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Challenge #04172-K154: A Very Important Side Quest

A city is having its Founder's Day. The day when a party of adventurers, humans, hellkin, and a few other races, came together to found their own town. And now, it was a large, beautiful city. A person, seeing Wraithvine and friends, comes up to them and, politely but earnestly, asks them to be their dance partner in the dance competition to be held that evening. -- Anon Guest

Much can be achieved without hate as a hurdle. Proof of such is

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Challenge #04171-K153: Against All Odds

They were running with several of their friends toward the emergency escape vehicles away from a nasty, previously unknown, hazard on the planet.

Their friend starts to mention on how slim their chances are on escaping unscathed.

"Don't tell me the odds, just keep running, I always beat the odds!" -- Fighting Fit

Inspired desperation is one heck of a drug. When the chips are down, when it's do or die, incredible feats are possible.

So when the swarm burst forth from

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Challenge #04170-K152: Do Not Disturb

A deregger grabbed one of the station cats by the fur dismissively. The cat clawed the he** out of them, and then several other cats pounced, biting and attacking.

Jay merely looked up from his tea with Lilicoon and Sunshine and stated "They did it to themselves." And pretty much ignored the chaos. -- Anon Guest

Of the many unwritten rules of the Alliance, one of the lesser-known classic blunders is: Never abuse a Skitty.

A regular cat, if seized roughly by

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Challenge #04169-K151: Foiled Escape Plans

The weather was warmer than usual, and though the CEO's and their reporters were touting how this was a good thing, and that a warmer, wetter, world was good for the people, others were taking notice. While the CEO's, subtly, not so subtly, began building sea-walls to protect their mansions, the rest of the populace of the world began to defy their masters, and work on ways to curbing emissions. Those CEO's that tried to stop them... got a sharp reminder that

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Challenge #04168-K150: Clever Move

In the Alliance Paintball League, a team of former Vorax managed to finally defeat a human team. The after-party was quite a huge feast. With the humans joking going "We'll get it next year!" It was a lot of fun! -- Anon Guest

It was a good hunt. Not always high energy, but definitely high tension as both sides had stealth and cunning aplenty. In an arena like this, Deathworlder versus Deathworlder, it was anyone's guess who'd get the final shot.

Hark

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Challenge #04167-K149: Every Time

A: Fire rescued someone called for an overdose?

B: He had edibles man.

A: Ok... How many did he have?

B: All of them

A: ... why are they always naked? -- Anon Guest

[AN: Cut down the prompt for brevity. Also content warning for drug mentions and implied nudity and body fluids in the video]

"I said they were therapeutic and that they were for the group session," said Counsellor Ash. "My mistake was trusting that he would restrain himself from ingesting

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Challenge #04166-K148: Unfair Competition

A discord-made prompted from Tergon

A wizard whose long, thin staff has a silvery, ephemeral thread wound around it. In the pockets of his robe are moths, butterflies, glowbugs, collected from across the land. He tells all who will listen that he is the greatest caster alive.

He is in fact a terrible wizard, he's just really into fishing. -- DaniAndShali

[AN: My Discord link is in the menu section of my hub site if you're interested in joining the shenanigans]

Words

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Challenge #04165-K147: Faerie Goodmother

"This spell will make you human."

I refuse.

"But as a Hellkin you're mistreated."

I don't care.

"I don't understand."

You never did. I am who I am.

"But......"

Come, meet my TRUE family. -- Anon Guest

Once upon a time, a Hellkin did a Faerie a favour. He had no knowledge of the act, nor expected a reward. He had simply wandered unknowing into Nanogh, helped a living creature in need, and wandered back out again.

The Faekindred do not forget

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