S' TOO ARTSMITH AND THE LEGEND OF THE THREE TOWERS OF THE DAVAWAY

Long, long ago in a far off time and place, the elfin adventurer S' too Artsmith was charged by the everlasting Queen J A'quey to search for and find the mystery behind the three towers of the Davaway. The Davaway were an ancient, long gone tribe of way makers. They laid out mysterious tracks in the countryside which were much favoured by those who had gone before, such as dinosaurs and dragon riders.

This was to be no easy task for the elf, but he was great in heart and magic and the dangers of the way held no fears for him.

First, he had to find the mysterious track of the Davaway and then enter the magical portal to thence find the three towers. After a long and complicated journey involving many different steeds through forest and moor, he came to the portal.

He watched, unnoticed, from the shadows as a vicious gang of orcs entered the portal before him. No doubt they had heard of his quest and sought to prevent him with all their powers.

He would have to use all of his magical powers and the skills of his race to ensure they were not successful. Queen J A'quey would not allow failure.

 In any event, failure was not a concept that S' too understood.

After entering the portal, he skirted along the edges of the woodland out of the sight and smell of the orcs. 

Using his magic he walked on ancient waterways that whispered to him of the dark deeds of the orcs. The water protected him from their keen eyesight and sense of smell. It was said that they could smell a meal from many miles away and that their favourite meal was raw elf!

He used secret signs that only he could see and understand.

However, it soon became clear to S' too that the ugly female orcs could not stop talking. He needed to get closer to find out what they had gleaned of his quest. The more he knew, the better he would be able to foil them. 

He had no choice. He would have to cloak himself in a spell of invisibility and get close to them. The dangers were great, but he must succeed in his quest.

With his cloak of invisibility he could get close to the orcs and, with a bit of luck and magic, they would not know that he was there.

Following the trail of havoc left by the blundering orcs, he came across a Robin. He knew that some Robins had the power to understand orc speech, which was difficult as they talked a lot and very fast. Much of what they said was gibberish and of no meaning. The little bird came to him and in the warmth of his hands it told him of the orcs conversation. They knew of his quest and they too were seeking to answer the riddle of the three towers of the Davaway. They suspected that he was near, but they had not yet been able to find him. Orcs were legendary for their inability to find anything in the countryside. They were more at home in cafes and taverns where they could indulge their legendary appetites.

Once he had communed with the Robin, he set it down and rewarded it with what meagre rations he could spare

Then, using his invisibility he caught up with the orcs and walked beside them and still they could not see him, for his magic was great. However, his magic was not great enough to disguise the smell of the orcs, which was foul to his delicate elfish nose.

S' too knew that there was a chance that one of the orcs might be a teacher and so might be more likely to discern his trace if he was not careful. He must arm himself against that eventuality. Passing a frozen waterfall he spied a long and sharp icicle. 

With his magic he could transform the frozen water to the hardest elfish steel.

In no time he felt the comfort of the shiny steel in his hand and he knew that the orcs would have to be very clever to defeat him - and he knew that most orcs could not be described as clever.

The orcs were not the only peril in his way. He had to pass the tall white sentinel giant. The giant would not interfere with the orcs, but they were known by some to be destroyers of the countryside and to hate the ways of magical folk like elves. They could create great power and bring lightning down on those they did not like. S' too did not know if they could see through his invisibility, but he had to trust in his cloak and it did not fail him.

Soon he was past the sentinel giant and all seemed to be going well. But one of the orcs, easily recognised by his domineering manner as a teacher orc, sensed his presence. He had been discovered. The orc, whose name he knew was Da Vee could not see him, but some third sense (orcs don't have much sense) told him that S' too was among them. 

S' too dived for cover off the track.

He armed himself with a ball of white lightning and sneaked around behind the orcs.

But, the teacher orc was cleverer than he could believe and turned his white lightning back on himself.

S' too grappled with the orc who was bigger and stronger than he, but he had magic on his side and escaped.

The orcs could not find him as his woodland skills allowed him to merge seamlessly with the vegetation around him.

The orcs gave up the hunt and from behind S' too launched a  ball of white lightning at them, striking his target, but the orc was strong and did not falter.

However, the orcs were distracted in their hunt for him when they were confronted by a herd of cows with an attendant bull. Orcs loved to eat the gentle creatures, but they had a morbid fear of them if they did not come on a plate with a nice peppercorn sauce.

The orcs were petrified, turning to statues while the cows would not let them pass. The cows knew the elf was there and they would always seek to help elfish people thwart the wishes of the orcs.

Whilst the orcs were too frightened to progress, S' too could not pass them. They were too big and wide. S' too silently sent his thoughts to the leader of the cows and they moved aside so that he could continue his quest. However, in his rush to get past the orcs, the teacher orc sensed his presence again and began to chase him.

He had to escape, but the teacher orc was fitter than most and was gaining on him. Then he knew what he must do. Using his magic he flew over the iron gate. He knew the orcs could not follow him, at least for a while. They were too old and stiff and could not cross iron. Even the teacher orc could not do that.

S' too used more magic to reinforce his cloak of invisibility and when the orcs eventually got past the iron he joined them and still they could not see him. Even the teacher orc could not sense him. A little further along the orcs became confused and stared into the land beyond the path. There was a creature there that they could not understand. They did not know what it was. S' too did though. 

It was a rabbit, but not just any rabbit. This one could send thoughts silently to S' too. It recognised him as a good being among the bad. It told him that his quest was coming to a close, but that many dangers still lay ahead.

After passing under the frozen waterfall of Moravia, the orcs decided it was time for them to eat. 

They had not managed to catch any small animals and so were forced to eat their travelling rations. These were many and varied, but to S' too they were all foul and smelly. He slowly ate what remained of his rations after he had fed the Robin.

The orcs were not sophisticated and sat in the snow to eat.

Sometimes they squabbled over food and would not share.

After they had finished, they all gathered and offered up thanks to some unknown power.

Then they gathered their equipment and made ready to leave.

On the way again, they had to cross the aluminium bridge. S' too had hoped it would be made of iron and that the orcs would have been unable to cross easily, but it was not to be.

One giant, but not so ugly orc, decided that he needed a rest after all the food that he had eaten.

Not long after the bridge crossing they came across the stone legs of a giant who, legend had it, had become stuck in the swamp and had bitten off his own legs to escape.

An even more wondrous site met S' too's eyes when he spied the hand of another giant who was thought to have become so entranced by the view from his seat that it was only when he cut off his hand was he released to go out into the wide world.

This was the magical view that so ensnared the giant.

After that, they came to the hut of a troll. Luckily it had gone, because trolls can see through magic invisibility cloaks and would have betrayed S' too to the orcs.

But luck and magic were on the side of S'too. The orcs blundered past and did not see the Ent who had  come from another story altogether. S' too spoke with the Ent about his quest as they were known  to sympathise with the elfish peoples.

, 

He must look for a great place of worship of the halflings.....

......close by to the ruin of a great and ancient castle on the hill.

There he would find a great black steed who would guide him to his final destination - the three towers.

And so it was. Soon S' too had left the orcs behind and found the Three Towers of the Davaway.

Using his magic and listening to the black steed, S' too was able to decipher the magic of the Three Towers. 

The secret that he must take back to Queen J A'quey was that the Davaway had come upon the secret of the Water of Life!

All he had to do was evade the orcs again and return to the Queen with the secret.
 But that's another story.

Although this blog has been a little bit different from other blogs, I cannot let this pass without a nod to tradition and include a photo of the latest grandchild to be born to the Dinosaurs. Here is Robbie Cameron, the first grandchild of Sharon and me, and I can tell you we are very delighted and proud. Well done to Katie and Iain.

CHRISTMAS AT KINKELL

For our 2012 Christmas walk we went for a short stroll along the banks of the Blackwater at Little Garve. The river was a bit wrongly named as it was actually pretty brown and quite spectacular in places.

As you can see it was a little wet at the start. Sandra wasn't actually listening to what Pam was saying, she just wanted to get a bit of shelter.

Just before we started walking, I managed to get this shot of a salmon leaping in the river. It was just luck that it popped up as we were passing the information board.

Soon we were on the way through the trees.....

......passing the raging torrent.

There had been a bit of snow earlier in the week and here is a little virginal patch. Its not often you can say something like that with three witches about.

Before long we stopped to have some punch that Susan and Robin had brought along to fortify us with.

The river was, by now, working itself into a froth.

Before too long we arrived at Silver Bridge.

Where we all crowded under the road bridge for a bit of shelter. Some of the party seemed to be too busy watching the river rather than the camera. 

Then they all abandoned me to go and stand on the top of the Silver Bridge. Luckily it had been reinforced by tie-bars to carry the weight.

By now it was so wet that Jimmy was wearing a tent.

Then the sun came out to allow a photo back through the bridge to the water.

And so, we started back down the other side of the river.

It still looked much the same, though.

Finally we got back to Little Garve and crossed another bridge, which was pretty icy.

The sun had come out and sparkled on the water.

After we got into the cars and went to the Kinkell House Hotel for our Christmas lunch. As you can see Pam and Robin were not happy with the presents they got in their crackers.

Pam and Charlie wouldn't wear their hats in case it messed up their hair.

After the meal was over, Jacque tried to lead us all in some communal carol singing - all the other guests left then.

That brought us to the end of another great year's walking. 

Thanks to Susan and Robin for organising the walk and the lunch - and for the drinks and games at their house afterwards.

Bring on 2013.