July

Issue 34

    Quests are launched for a variety of reasons, some noble, others petty.

    Sir Orryfess of Brightmaw agreed to vanquish the great dragon Maladent because of the teeth of a princess.  

    It all started the day of the great tourney, which came the day after the great dinner and the day before the great boar hunt.  Everything was great when a princess came to visit, especially when it was the king's niece.

    The report of a rampaging dragon had come early that morning, gasped by a messenger who seemed more dust and grime than flesh.  And, of course, being the day of the great tourney, the shabby fellow had been sent for a bath and a nap.  The kingdom ran on priorities, after all.

    Sir Orryfess had been almost halfway down the lists, riding with easy confidence, before his foe's mount had began to move. Then his charger's girth strap had broken and the saddle shifted, dumping him right in front of the visiting princess. He had suffered no hurt except his pride, but thinking later on what was to come next, he wished he had been knocked unconscious. The princess had opened her mouth to guffaw–affording him a glimpse of her twisted, yellow-brown teeth–and sprayed him with spittle and bits of onion, beef and bread, mayhap even a bit of rotted tooth.