Unlikely Friends

Sheets of rain blowing sideways soaked wolf and human alike. Ama told her mother that the wolves would not go into the cave. Bad smell...too tight…

The cave mouth was almost thirty feet across with a narrower, maybe 10 foot wide opening a little bit in. It was only ten feet high and so created the illusion of being a much smaller opening while still being quite large. Well, for a human anyway. It was dark enough from the

Good thing this is 4000 years later! How long does a fachan live, anyway?

storm that the entranceway was lit by a flickering light hinting strongly of a warm fire. Given the circumstances, it was a very inviting flicker indeed!

Kymeth beckoned the troop to move with her to the entryway where they crouched and listened. The wolves would have none of it and stayed soaking in the rain. “Mam, Kat! Bring the Littles and come inside. I put on some tea for us. Angus needs your help!”

Angus? Tea? What possible spell did that thing put on her?

Mam and Kat advanced into the cave with shillelaghs at the ready. Walking through the entryway, they were immediately struck by…the coziness? A warm fire roared to one side of the cavern which was mostly filled with a very large table around which sat several very large chairs. The fire was clearly a cooking fire with a grate and vent. There was a very large pot with some sort of bubbling stew that smelled wonderful! The giant sat at the table as Rae

NO! THIS IS NOT THAT STORY!!

poured steaming water from a ridiculously large tea kettle that she was barely able to manage.

The giant looked badly burned and the gaping wound on his head looked swollen and oozed. He fixed his red eye on the two women moving into the room and stood up from his chair. “Ahm Angus, welcome to mah home. Ah know we had a wee bit of a scrape today. Ahm ever so sorry for interupptin’ yer journey. Perhaps ye’d care for a spot of tea and some root stew? Ah’d have a bit more substantive meal for ye but…well…the hoontin didna go as well as Ah’d hoped… Yer wee daughter here said that ye’d be able to help mah burns? Ah’d be ever so grateful if ye’d do that for me.”

Angus slumped back into his chair. Rae set out small teacups, serving bowl sized at least, for everyone filled with the stew from the fire. She had to climb up and down a ladder to reach the top of the cauldron and she just dipped the cups in with two hands to scoop the stew. She handed the cups down to Mae and Ama who set them on the table. Jon and Ama held up one of the giant’s bowls at the last and Rae filled it from the ladder. They took the bowl and set it before the giant who looked at them through a heavy lid. His stomach growled loudly.

Kymeth asked Angus to lay down so they could tend to his wounds. He practically fell out of the chair and onto the floor. She approached him and moved her open hands over him, tracing shapes in the air and humming a quiet melody. Kat and the others joined in with song and in short order Angus was right as rain.

“So, it’s frightful weather out there, not fit for man nor beast. Yer welcome to stay as long as ye’d like. I only ask that the wolves not be brought into mah den here. And I would ask that ye’ not go past the den to the deeper parts of the cave. It’s fer yer safety.”  Angus sat back in his chair and slurped down the bowl of stew in one long draught. A large belch that rattled the pantries, and…”Ach! That was so good, if ah do say so mahself! So good ah’ve forgotten all mah manners! So sorry! Only thing that would make that better would be a nice plate of crackers!”

Angus stood up and went to the pantry cabinet that stood on the wall opposite the fire. The wooden door of it was a solid twenty feet high and when he swung it open, all manner of ceramic containers were on the shelves. He took down a tin the size of a doghouse and set it on the table. “Here ye’ go, mah wee guests! Take some with ye’ fer the journey as well! Ah, perhaps ye’d call yer dahgs out the storm? The mouth is at least a bit protected.”

Ama went out into the cave mouth and stood just outside the entryway. She could see all six wolves shivering in the raging storm. She had brought six large blankets from Angus’ pantry and Jon carried an armload of jerky. Ama was able to convince Blaidd Brawd to come out of the storm and commenced to dry him off. The jerky was already gone by the time the second wolf came up. Jon was scurrying armloads of jerky as each wolf in turn presented itself.

Original Artwork by Kat!
As the evening wore on, the storm never seemed to lessen in intensity. After a few board games with Rae, and many jigs and reels from the family, Angus said he was tired and was going to retire to his chambers. The family made beds for themselves out of cloths they found in the pantry and hung their traveling clothes by the fire to dry. Jon hid himself carefully behind a side table and kept his eyes open, watching the whole night. The rest of the crew fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.

Except for Rae. When she was sure everyone else was asleep, she ever so quietly headed for the back of the cave…to exactly where Angus said not to go. There was a twenty foot passageway that began to open into another larger chamber. Rae hid in the shadows being cast by flickering firelight and stood very still. She heard Angus snoring soundly and the sound of running water. She saw what she thought was a large pool and she started to move forward when she heard a large, rasping sound coming from up in the shadows above her a bit further into the cave. She froze. “Eh, go ta sleep, ya’ scaly bahstard! Ahm so blasted hungry Ah could almost eat you” She heard the rasping sound again and immediately she headed back to her bed. Angus seemed to snore almost instantly and then more loudly after a short bit. Rae laid awake the rest of the night, staring into the fire. Listening.

Ngl, this was REALLY similar to what I'd drawn on the hex map.

Comments

  1. Love the original artwork. Need more!

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  2. There are a couple of pieces pending. As I am writing this, some of these Angus encounters would look beautiful as a Caravaggio or Vermeer.

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  3. God bless Caravaggio!😍 However, this would be a very striking Goya painting that would fit right in with his collection of black paintings.

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  4. https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/dp/original/MM7004.jpg

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg/543px-The_Giant_by_Goya.jpg

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  5. The original artwork is magnificent as is the image of the cave! Leave it to Rae to sneak off on some adventure!

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    Replies
    1. So, that had been one of the most hillarious and unpredictable part of the game...What was Rae going to do next?

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