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lonslibrary · 3 years

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whatever your heart desires (in which each crow couple come across the mirror of erised during their time at hogwarts)

1. kanej

“what do you see?”

kaz smiling wryly, realizing inej had been so focused on her reflection that he had surprised her.

inej asking him if he knows how the mirror works

“what do you see?” he repeats.

“mama. papa.” inej replies. “i am back with them, and i’m standing on grass.” she closes her eyes. “i can almost smell the green.”

kaz knows exactly how the mirror of erised works and how personal someone’s desires are.

he had only asked because of curiosity.

no—hope.

hope, a tiny sliver of it that took up a corner of his head and heart.

he knew how wants are dangerous, how they render someone vulnerable, weak.

he would know.

“i thought so.” he decides to lie. “i see..my brother, too. i think it’s a family mirror.”

inej frowns. “but now i see you with me, as we are now.”

kaz freezes.

wonders if the mirror is broken.

asks himself if he deserves even this, when he does not deserve anything as close to as good as this girl in front of him.

years later, inej will find out what kind of mirror the erised is, and will laugh at kaz’s initial answer.

“family mirror,” she’ll mock with a smile.

but now, in the present, kaz cannot bear to tell her that he desires her the way she does him, cannot let himself ruin the one thing that matters most. he cannot bring himself to say the words, “i want, too. for you to stay beside me, as you are now, forever.”

all he can do is move a little closer.

let their shoulders brush.

tell her, “i guess i was wrong.”

inej cocking her head because kaz doesn’t say sentences like that.

“because now i see you, too.”

2. helnik

matthias and nina stumble across the mirror of erised in the shrieking shack one day during a trip to hogsmeade.

nina recognizes it immediately. she sees herself, with matthias. her friends join them, inej and jesper waving, wylan grinning by their side. even kaz. zoya, a proud look on her face, genya giving her a knowing wink.

all the people she cared about. alive. safe. happy.

eyes sparkling, she turns to ask matthias what he sees but the look on his face makes her swallow her words.

matthias was dreaming.

dreaming of her.

he saw himself, with nina.

but his dream—this time in fjerda, with his old friend trassel sitting by his side.

clean shaven, wearing a durmstrang uniform in which he had learned dark magic, trained once to join the dark side.

nina could half guess what matthias saw from the way his eyes went both sad and resentful at the same time.

like he was nostalgic of a bad memory.

and matthias knew she knew.

there were times matthias’ heart was at war, knowing hogwarts was not exactly where he belonged.

he would not go back to where he came from, believed with his whole heart it was wrong, but fjerda was still a place he had called home, where he had left his entire life behind. friends, family.

all the people he had cared about. together. proud. unchanging.

but nina—nina did not belong there, and he would die before he let her go through a fraction of what he had. he would no longer fight back against pure magic, what wizards were truly meant to do.

matthias squared his shoulders.

stared at his reflection head on. willed it to change.

he had known before, but it was even clearer now.

where nina didn’t belong, neither did he.

nina was his new home.

3. wesper

jesper had finally convinced wylan to skip potions with him and was stealing kisses in the hallways when they heard footsteps.

“shit, shit!” jesper pulled away from a paling wylan, grabbing him and running in the opposite direction of professor mcgonagall’s voice. they ran down a long hallway before jesper pulled him into the first room he saw.

wylan, breathless from both kisses and running

“i should never—” he gasped for air.

“—have listened to you... damn your long legs.”

“saints,” jesper murmured from beside him, not out of breath one bit. “we’re in the room of requirement.”

wylan spins, looking around the room they had stumbled into.

jesper, speechless for once as he looked into the mirror of erised.

he stood in his robes, but beside him was his mother, her face and age the same as the day she died. on his other side stood his father, wearing the proudest expression jesper had ever seen.

a lump in his throat appearing at both the age difference between his smiling parents and at the sudden, invasive thoughts.

had his father ever been that proud of him before?

what had he even ever done that would make him that proud?

what would his mother think of him now?

jesper always liked to think she watched him from above, but sometimes it was easy to forget. to give into temptation.

“jes?”

wylan’s confusion at jesper’s serious face making jesper confused.

“what do you see, wy?”

wylan blinks.

stares into the mirror.

“what do you mean, what do i see? it’s just a mirror.”

and suddenly, the lump dissipates and jesper’s heart is just full, full, full.

full of the boy in front of him who wants nothing more than what he has now, which is to be with jesper in a place he calls home.

jesper squeezes wylan’s hand,

tells him, “you’re right, i was just kidding.”

looks back at his reflection, sees wylan with him now, his parents still staring back, proud.

he makes a silent promise to do better, be better.

he just had one more person he wanted to make proud now.

tried writing these in regular fic format and just couldn’t do it. it was wordy, taking forever, and i didn’t love it. idk how satisfied i am with this but it took me a while so pls enjoy :) one of the things i dont think gets talked about enough is matthias’s character development and how complex of an internal conflict he has throughout the duology. helnik is one of the couples i’m lesser invested in out of the 3 but leigh bardugo put so much thought into him and his relationship with nina which i love.

comment ur thoughts and anything you’d like to see next! requests are open, always <3

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one-piece-dumpster-fire · 5 years

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So it's me mihawk anon, so im interested in how someone who's so strong and confident like Mihawk would act if he fall for a blind dandere female character,who's younger than him (20 years cuz mihawk is 50 something i guess not sure tho) how he treats her, shows his affection, helps her, and how he acts when it comes to bedroom(NSFW), this idea is fascinating since he's called "the hawk eye", something to be sensual & beautiful, i will leave the other parts for ur writing skills, thank you hun ♡

of course honey, I hope you like it :)(man I haven’t written for Hawkpapa in ages, hopefully I still get it right lol)

Mihawk with a blind!Dandere!s/oheadcanon

Mihawk is so gentle and careful withgetting to know you- he’s always quietly watching over and protectingyou, but without ever actually giving his identity away

and he isn’t directly approaching you untilhis curiosity gets the best of him, yet he also can’thelp but wonder if you’d be scared or intimidated by his appearance alone

to Mihawk, your disability is notsomething that makes him think less of you- instead, he is quite intrigued by how youmanage your life and never give up, despite not being able to see anything

when you two are going out he’ll alwayshave his arm intervened with yours- not just to give you some supportand guidance, but also to have you directly feel his touch

and you bet that he is always by your send when you want to goshopping; or, in the rare cases where he has to take care ofsome business, at least send Perona to come along with you

Mihak is never gonna allow you to feel inferior or bothersome because of your lack ofsight, and will always treat you like an equal

being with you really inspires and lits a fire in this man at the same time- you’re his oasis oftranquility as well as the source of his burning passion

there are so many ways for him to showhis affection for you, even if you can’t see them- he’ll for examplegive you a special flower boquet with wonderful smells for you to enjoy, and just overall focus on satisfying all of your other senses instead

he only let’s you eat the most highclassmeals, prepared with high-quality ingredients to have you enjoy a taste as exceptional as possible

and he is also being uncommonly affectionate, because Mihawk wants you to be able to enjoy and feel every littlebit of his love- whether he is expressing it by kissing you, holdingyour hand and stroking your knuckles or even brushing your hair- all of his touches are filled with his fondness for you

Warning for DIRT under the cut!

there isn’t a single time where he isn’t overwhelming you with the intensity of histouches

before getting intimate, Mihawk always makes sure to shower in order to smell pleasantly and clean for you

and there is no inch of your body that he isn’t going to explore- because he loves every bit of you and you should know that

in return, he also doesn’t mind if youwould want to do the same to him- after all, you’re still able to use all of your other senses for pleasuring him…

he always makes sure to tell you what he’s doing orasks you where you’d like to be touched to be able to fully please you

Mihawk is always very gentle and careful, but can also get a bit rough and playful if he’s in the mood

and he prefers to be in control, unless you’re feeling bold and decide to command him around (he’ll play along to some extent)

he isn’t loud, but definitely makes sure to let youknow just how much he is enjoying it

and Mihawk loves to gently whisper things into your ear that will tell you how much he loves you and being with you right now

#one piece #dracule mihawk #mihawk #dirt #op headcanon #one piece headcanon

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wanna-one-imagine · 7 years

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Wanna-One Kang Daniel Prince!AU (Part 1)

For anon; I don’t really know much about royalty things so bear with me lmao. You can find part 2 here and part 3 here. Enjoy! (You + Kang Daniel)

A/N: Edit above is not mine, all credit to the fan who survived long enough to finish making this! (sorry I don’t know who made it, if anyone does let me know and I’ll give credit)

Okay so let’s make up a fictional country

And in this fictional country, there is a royalty system; and the prince is guess who Kang Daniel

Doesn’t have many actual responsibilities as of now because mostly the King and his assistants take care of everything

Daniel’s job is basically to not fuck up in public and to uMMM u know carry on the dynasty 👀

He’s still in college but doesn’t really talk to anyone other than his close friends that he’s known since middle school

(like a F4 thing from Boys Over Flowers LOL)

His parents (the King and Queen in case that wasn’t clear rip) actually told him to not really talk to other people because they were afraid Daniel would be taken advantage of

But never fear Daniel has his good ol comrades: Ong and Jaehwan

Those two also had some kind of connections to people in positions of high power, whether that be through business, music, etc.

Despite how powerful they are, they surprisingly aren’t all that bad of people; all of them are pretty nice even if they slack off sometimes on their schoolwork lol

But people generally think of them as unapproachable (which they kind of are, because they’ve known each other since forever and trust one another wholeheartedly)

Anyway Daniel bodyguards and people who escort him to school, but that got awkward so he insisted on being by himself at least while on the school campus

Girls (and guys) flocked around them

How convenient, a bunch of handsome people all hanging out together. Makes for some good pictures

You kind of... distantly knew Daniel, but obviously not well

One of Daniel’s older friends who wasn’t in college, Jisung, was your cousin

Daniel and Jisung’s parents were friends, but the two connected very well lol

Jisung and Daniel were practically like family despite their age difference, so you used to hang out with Jisung at the Kang’s palace when you were young b/c Jisung was in charge of babysitting you a lot lol

You three would do Cute Things™️ like play board games and play tag and draw pictures and giggle

The King and Queen always liked treating you all to foods and buying you games; they even installed a swimming pool in the palace so that you three could learn to swim together there

But ever since Jisung started going to middle school, the time was greatly reduced for the three of you to hang out

(I’m thinking ages around... Jisung being 12, Daniel 6, you 5 or something. up to you lmao it doesnt matter)

So you pretty much had no contact with Daniel for many years

But now, you were both in the same school

Of course this probably wouldn’t change much because obviously you hadn’t known or talked to him for many years

You were shocked at how... well he grew up

He was really tall now, and really handsome,,, and also really off limits lol

You saw him again for the first time in your math class, you were a couple classes ahead so the both of you were in the same class even though you were younger

You had seen him on tv and in photoshoots but you had no idea how much better he looked in real life, which was really something considering he looked perfect in pictures as well

He didn’t seem to recognize you though, which made perfect sense since you guys hadn’t met in years

Maybe he’d remember my name?

But when the teacher called for attendance in the math class that day, Daniel showed no reaction when you got called

You had to admit you were disappointed, but it wasn’t a big deal

You thought you wouldn’t be like all the other girls, fawning over Daniel, because you knew what a n00b he used to be, but here you getting all embarrassed over how attractive he was lol

For the rest of the semester, you just kinda stared at Daniel from afar, never approaching him or giving him gifts or anything because you thought it would be weird for you to do that

He was always just giggling and fooling around in class

He was one of those students who wasn’t that amazing at school but was charming and happy, making the teachers and other students love them anyway

Would always participate in class with wrong answers, and bicker with the teacher jokingly

Only a certain type of person could do that LOL and it wasn’t just because he was the Prince, he was genuinely a fun guy

When the winter holidays rolled around, though, things changed

You read on the news that the palace was looking for a potential spouse for Daniel, so they could ensure the continuation of their dynasty

And just a day later, you got a call from Jisung, asking if you could come over to his place

He told you that the royal family was having a New Year’s ball, and asked if you wanted to go instead of him because he already had plans

You had nothing better to do, so you said it was fine lets not kid yourself you wanted to see someone

Jisung, being the lovely cousin he was, had already ordered a dress for you :’)))

Jisung the OG Fairy Godmother

For the next couple of days, you were just a ball of nerves; you had never been to one of these parties before

Jisung went every year, but you never went because typically people under 13 couldn’t go (unless you were royalty)

You pretty much hid in bed and googled how to act at parties until December 31st rolled around

You did your own makeup and hair, which was... difficult but you ended up satisfied

You didn’t look extravagant, but you were pretty

You arrived at the palace, and pretty much just stood there awkwardly because you had no friends and no escort at the party

But food is always a reliable friend so you headed over to that area

And you found... a whole tray of different kinds of cheese. You instinctively squealed at all the cute little cubes

You stacked up enough food to fill you with happiness and sat at a table by yourself, in the corner, slightly in a blind spot from the rest of the party

A perfect hiding spot !

As you looked around, you started feeling kinda weird

Everyone at the party was so FANXY (dean if ur reading this i love u)

You were also wearing a quite expensive dress but everyone there oozed this aura of class and sophistication

ANd here you were building a jenga tower out of carrot sticks

Oh well. You didn’t know what you had to gain out of being at the party; you came out of curiosity to see the palace again and Daniel, but you hadn’t even seen the latter yet

All that happened so far was the pain of your feet in the high heels you were wearing

You leaned down in your chair, taking your heels off and massaging your feet, the tablecloth sort of covering your head

You were just rubbing away the pain when you heard two familiar voices

“All of the women here are just... not what I was hoping for,” a woman said

“Yes, it would be nice if we got to see if they were actually good people instead of just them trying to say what will impress us,” a man replied

“Daniel doesn’t deserve someone who just wants to take advantage of the throne. The princess should be someone with a good heart, not someone with good makeup artists”

Without thinking, you exclaimed “Oh yeah, that’s such a good perspective, I totally agree with that,” head still under the table

You heard gasps behind you, the people were shocked

Hmm, maybe I can talk to these people so I won’t be alone anymore

You tried to get up, banging your head in the process, and said “Oh, I’m sorry about that, nice to meet you, I’m (Y/N)”

And thEN you looked up... to find staring at you the King and Queen

sdklfjksldjfKLJSDKEILFDKSJKlsd WTF NO

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry for interrupting you, uhhh thank you for serving us so well hah” you mumbled out, starting to run away

And then you realized you hadn’t put your shoes on yet, stopping in your place

The King and Queen were still standing there, staring at you

You walked back to your shoes, and started to put them on

“Leaving my shoes behind? I guess I think I’m like Cinderella or something”, you tried to joke, making an awkward smile

You started to cringe, about to run again, but then you heard laughs

The King and Queen were totally cracking the fuck up at your bad joke

Was it really that funny? uh okay i guess whatever works???

“What’s your name again?” the Queen asked through her laughter

“Uh it’s (Y/N), are you guys hiring for a royal jester position or something”

They started their laughing fit all over again, before the King suddenly stopped

“(Y/N)? Isn’t that the name of the little girl who always used to come over and play with Jisung?”

“Uh yep that’s me all right, Jisung gave me his invitation this year to come on behalf of him, he was busy”

The King and Queen gasped and then both hugged you, just like they had in old times

“You have grown up so well! Do you still enjoy cheese? I remember the chefs always had to restock every time you and Jisung came over,” the Queen said

“Uh. Yeah I still like cheese I guess, haha..”

“Oh my goodness! Have you met Daniel yet? I’m sure he’d be so excited to see his old childhood friend! Let’s go meet him now, (Y/N)”

oh god no nog no no nson on o no no no . n on no awkward nono no no

“Oh gosh no that is totally all right I’m doing just fi–”

“What do you mean, you’re sitting by yourself like a loser, you probably know nobody here” the king laughed out

... bruh

The royal parents escorted you to see Daniel, earning looks from the rest of the people at the party, as you internally freaked the fuck out

oh my gosh he has been in my math class the entire year he would think it is so weird that i’m approaching him now oh god and his parents are here too they’re making such a big deal about this–

“Okay (Y/N) just wait here, we’ll find Dan and bring him in, just wait”, the Queen said, plopping you down on a fancy couch in one of the other rooms of the palace

The Queen and King walked out, giggling to themselves as they searched for Daniel

“I think she’d be a really good choice for Daniel, she was such a fresh breath of air!”

“Yes, and they’re both friends! How adorable,”

Time passed by in slow motion as you sat in the room by yourself

You got up and started pacing around to attempt to calm your nerves

You hadn’t even seen Daniel the whole time you were here, and now you were going to be alone together? He would find out that you were in his math class the whole time and then that would be super weird

You picked up random objects in the room and looked at them, as the butterflies in your stomach stirred up some tsunamis

You were in the middle of looking at all the books on the shelf, when you heard footsteps walk into the room

You whirled around, and found yourself making direct eye contact with Daniel, in a black and white checked suit (the same one as in the picture hehe)

“Uh, hello?” Daniel’s deep voice called out to you

“...Hi,” you meekly responded, tucking some hair behind your ear

Jeez (Y/N) why are you so nervous...

“Do you want to sit?” Daniel motioned to the couch, walking over to it himself

This was the most serious you have ever seen him, and you were shocked by it

“Uh yeah, so I guess your parents told you but apparently we used to be childhood friends, I’m (Y/N), Jisung’s little cousin, we used to play togeth–” you started to explain, before Daniel interrupted you

“I know who you are.”

You finally met his eyes, taken aback by his strong gaze

Is he mad? Wha–

“Why didn’t you say hello earlier? In math class?” he continued

Well this managed to turn more awkward.

“Oh...” you started, fiddling your fingers, “I thought you didn’t remember me, so I thought it’d be weird to talk to you again,”

You glanced up at him, only to find his eyes curved into cute little crescents, his deep laugh finally escaping his mouth

“Jesus, I can’t believe we both thought the same thing. I thought you didn’t remember me. I was hurt, (Y/N)!” He exclaimed, playfully shoving you

You sat there in shock, as Daniel started rattling off stories of what you two used to do, ruffling your hair (messing up your hard work, although he barely noticed that)

“You remember me?” You quietly asked, letting your thoughts loose

“(Y/N), Jisung talks about you all the time, even if I wanted to forget I wouldn’t be able to, you crazy cat”

You looked up at him and couldn’t help but blush

He was so pure and happy, and it made you feel wonderful

The two of you just sat there in the room for another 30 minutes, chatting about old times and how you’d been for the past... many years

You hadn’t talked in years, but for some reason the both of you just connected well, genuinely interested in what the other had been up to

Too soon, it was time for Daniel to go back to the party and do some wishes for the New Year

“I’m so glad we met again, I was honestly so lonely at the party because I don’t know anyone, even your dad called me a loser”

“I’m actually pretty lonely at these parties too; Seongwoo and Jaehwan usually have their own commitments to be at today, I’m glad you’re here, (Y/N)”

You smiled at him, the both of you kind of inching towards another for a maybe hug, but you guys just did some awkward movements and ended up in a weird handshake

Daniel scratched his face, embarrassed, and said he would see you later, running off back to the party

You sat back on the couch, laying down sprawled everywhere, letting what had happened in the past couple of hours sink in

Did that really just happen?

You excitedly thought of all the things the both of you had to talk about, feeling fulfilled that the mystery between you two had been sorted out

You were so happy that your childhood friend that you cherished so much was not lost forever!

If you didn’t have a crush on Daniel before, you definitely did now.

Part 2, Part 3

A/N: So I was planning for this to be done in one shot, but it turned out more intense than I had anticipated LOL

Hopefully this will be wrapped up in the next part; I really enjoyed this concept!

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jotawakening-blog · 7 years

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3 Septober, 5A 169: Down, Down to Goblin-Town...

To start with, a few words about the arrangement of Dorgesh-Kaan. The city is built in tiers around a large, ovaloid central cavern that serves as a marketplace. As size goes, it is impressive: its population must be double that of Lumbridge, and perhaps the equal to that of Falador. Though there are no natural light sources, the place is wired up with coils of copper connecting orbs that are induced by some magic to emit a steady glow. (These are dimmed at a time of day that roughly corresponds to night on the surface.) As for the inhabitants, they are almost without exception friendly and rather more cultured than the average commoner of Lumbridge, and while their first encounter with a real live human tends to be jarring, curiosity usually wins out over any anxieties HAM or simple fear of the unknown might have given them.

After a breakfast of giant frog legs (a dish oddly similar to the gnome specialty, albeit missing the spices) I make up my mind to have a walk around the market square and talk with some of the locals. The first ones I run into are two councillors, Ur-Taal and Ur-Zek, who are deep in conversation about Ur-Tag’s ambitions not only to keep the gates of the city open to humans, but also to seek closer relations with the dwarves. Ur-Taal seems to think it’s a rather good idea, yet Ur-Zek has reservations about such radical openness: humans will be difficult enough to deal with, he argues, and adding dwarves to the mix won’t help. Also, dwarves built and delivered the machine that almost drowned the city so very recently! So never mind that they’re not technically surface dwellers, he says, there’s a dangerous precedent being set. I don’t butt in, but it’s clear to me that Ur-Tag will have a fight on his hands to ram through more radical changes to the cave goblin way of life before the shockwaves from the current ones die down.

Just off the market square, dug into the cave wall, is the small, cozy abode of a Dorgeshuun named Oldak, who seems to be a dedicated inventor. So much so, in fact, that two figures I know quite well are there visiting him when I come in! The first is, of course, Zanik, who’s back from another trip to Lumbridge. This time, she brought back some runestones, which it turns out the cave goblins are unfamiliar with. Oldak, having studied them for a bit, has discerned their basic properties and is wondering aloud how rune essence came into existence: what great force could have imbued the essence with its power? That’s a question neither I nor the other visitor has the answer to, sadly. The other visitor is a human, one of the first handful to come through the gates of the city, a human I know well: Ariane! She greets me, and tells me she was in the area when she heard the Council of Dorgesh-Kaan was opening the gates and that she came at once upon hearing the news. We share a few remarks, just between the two of us, about my efforts to complete the Tower of Life and the ethical implications of using its powers to create new life, at which point she leaves for the market, leaving me and Zanik to our chat with Oldak.

Oldak turns out to be a kindly fellow, though rather too keen to lapse into technical detail using terms that are completely unfamiliar to me as a human. He tells me of his initial experiments with the runes Zanik had brought him, and what I gather is that he’s had most luck with the law runes. He did something what most human mages would have thought crazy, mere waste of runes or invitation to magical disaster, and ground the runes into powder. When he threw the dust on the ground, he found he would teleport to random places in the city! With some more experimentation, he was able to perfect the process and eliminate the element of randomness, and now he’s willing to make teleportation orbs for adventurers who provide him with two law runes and some molten glass. Sadly, I’ve got no glass stored up, but I thank Oldak and make a note to come back when I have some.

The next building over, on the level of the market, is the bank, which by the terms of the accord signed yesterday has joined the Bank of Gielinor network. They’re still ironing a few kinks out, but it’s amazing that I can withdraw and deposit stuff in the cave goblin capital as easily as I can in Lumbridge! And however strange it is to think, without my intervention it might not have been possible at all!

In the main square, I speak with some of the locals. Most of the regular folk are either ambivalently curious or appreciative of my deeds, but among the martial types I sense an undercurrent of resentment. Some of the rank-and-file members of the guard seem to blame the opening of the city gates, though the influx of humans has barely even begun, to an increase in crime in the city. Meanwhile, their leader, the captain of the guard, notes warily that the Council has been pressuring him to break a longstanding Dorgeshuun taboo and transform the city police force into a standing army, in response to the threat from the surface. Oh dear— I hope the Dorgeshuun can preserve what makes them great in these turbulent times, but I get the unpleasant feeling there may be more upheavals ahead.

Around the centre of the main square, I run into another council member, Ur-Vass. He seems to be of the pro-openness faction, or at least has nothing to say to me but thanks for my efforts alongside Zanik. Maybe he’s just being polite, though. Anyway, he rushes off and I head to the market, which seems to be the most bustling part of this happening city. Despite all the mining that the Dorgeshuun have set up outside the city gates, the main item on sale here appears to be food: my first encounter with cave goblin cuisine! It is, as one would expect, very reliant on the ingredients that are abundant in the Lumbridge caves, but quite diverse for all that! For instance, there are frog legs, bat kebabs, frog burgers between slices of mushroom, cave slime soup, frogspawn gumbo and wall beast fingers on sale, all in the first few stalls I visit! I buy a sampling of each, for a fine dinner later on.

Besides these foods, the market also offers some local handicrafts, including frog-leather armour not too unlike the kind I had made for me a while back, and lamps. By talking with the lamp merchant, I learn a bit about the lighting system that keeps Dorgesh-Kaan illuminated. The principles on which it operates escape me, but magic is involved, and the lighting orbs are made of glass with a copper filament inside. The technology is not perfectly reliable, though, and occasionally the orbs burn out and need to be replaced. I’m told there’s a wire-making machine somewhere in the city that’s used to make the filament.

Most interesting, though, are the goblins who throng me, asking me to sell them surface foods. I don’t have much on me right now, but I bring out a cabbage and one of my gnome battas and show it to the goblin gourmets. Before I can make a sale, though, the manager of the marketplace refuses to let me trade unless I gain Council authorisation! This, fortunately, turns out to be a mere formality, and Ur-Vass, who happens to be passing by, quickly sets things right. Unfortunately, the prices the goblins offer aren’t very good, but I sell the goods at a discount anyway. It’s only fair, if I get to sample their food, that they should get to sample mine.

After I finish trading, I leave the market, and on my way out run into Zanik again. She’s just come back from the mines, where a really, really big frog was causing trouble until she chased it off. An adventurer’s work never ends, even when one is a cave goblin! Well, she goes off on her business and I continue on, past a delegation of human merchants come to satisfy the goblins’ craving for surface food. They’re an equal mix of Misthalians and Kharidians, and they’re all quite protective of their turf and not very friendly, so after studying them for a short while, I move on.

There are a few side passages into small residential areas, which are mostly empty at this time of day, the residents being mainly out in the common areas and taking care of their business. In one of the dwellings, though, I run into a member of the Council, a female goblin by the name of Ur-Meg. She confesses to me that she is worried about the decision the Council just took. While she’s happy to have us humans visiting the city, she cannot help but worry that the new openness will bring other, unwanted visitors. In a whisper, she tells me who these are: the G-O-D-S… It’s a legitimate worry, as I learned from Zanik not long ago, but fortunately, I have good news for Ur-Meg: the God Wars have been over for over two millennia now, and the gods no longer interfere in mortals’ affairs, at least not overtly. That seems to set Ur-Meg at ease, and she tells me she hopes I’m right about that.

I leave and continue down a side hallway, which terminates at a modestly sized shop that’s filled from floor to ceiling with bones of all shapes and sizes! It’s the sort of place you’d never find on the surface, but that would make a certain elderly guy I know squeal for joy if he knew it existed. The place is owned by a goblin named Barlak, and he’s got a business proposition for me. Specifically, he’s clean out of exceptionally large bones, the kind that make great structural supports, and he’s willing to pay me a decent sum of money if I bring him some, as well as teach me some goblin construction techniques to sweeten the deal even more. In addition, he’s looking for large shells, which can be crafted into useful stuff, and will pay extra for them, as well as give crafting advice, if they’re of sufficient quality. I don’t have any really nice shells or bones to trade right now, but I’ll definitely keep this place in mind!

Since I’ve seen most of what there is to see at ground level, I double back through the market and plaza and head up the grand staircase at the far end of the cavern onto the upper tier. Just at the head of the stairs, I find the large, stately building of the Dorgeshuun Council, and head inside. Nothing is going on inside at the moment, but the opulence of the decor and the large meeting table leave no doubt about its purpose. The only person there at present is the Council scribe, who is using the downtime in his duties to work on what he claims will be the definitive history of Dorgesh-Kaan. In connection with that, he asks me a few questions against the HAM cult, and takes my answers down stoically, even as I’m telling him how the organisation considers him and his countrymen monsters.

In return, he tells me a bit about his work in service of the Council (a body, it turns out, of seven members) and relates to me his research on the city’s history. At first, he relays the information I’d already found out, about how the Dorgeshuun were one of the goblin tribes caught up in the God Wars. He gives me a bit more detail on how the tribe came to live underground, though: apparently, a Dorgeshuun general named Bloodfist was handed orders from the Big High War God that would have meant the destruction of the tribe. Refusing to comply, he marched his army to a fissure in the ground and stood at its mouth, shouting defiance against the gods. The Big High War God, angered, smote the ground around him, killing the general, but also closing the fissure. His lieutenant, Strongaxe, led the tribe into the caves until they found this cavern and founded a settlement in it.

In the early years of the settlement, the scribe continues, the Dorgeshuun were ruled by generals, much like on the surface. A new general would succeed the old when he defeated the old in single combat. The generals were advised by a council of elders, but as generations passed and it became clear that the Dorgeshuun were no longer an army, many of the tribe came to believe that the Council, not the generals, should have supreme authority. The people voted to become a republic, but General Bonehelm refused to give up his hard-won power, and a civil war began. The sides were about evenly matched: while the republicans commanded the support of most of the population, the military had all the best warriors and weapons, including magical equipment brought down from the surface. In the initial fighting, Bonehelm was driven out of the city itself, but established a base nearby. Once his forces had regrouped, the general launched a bloody attack on the city using troops mounted on giant frogs, but was once again repulsed. The war would have continued, except that General Bonehelm, in mining out his base, had compromised the structural integrity of the cavern he’d made it in, and the roof collapsed on his withdrawing army, killing the great majority of them. The Council, secure in its power, took over the governance of the city, and there has been peace among the Dorgeshuun ever since. Hm— there must be something special about the Dorgeshuun, for them not to have had a major war in all this time since then!

I ask the scribe about recent history. He recounts the events I was caught up wth, starting with the accidental tunnelling into Lumbridge Castle in the 29th Century since the goblin city’s founding. His account is mostly accurate, though with a few odd details: he confuses humans with ogres and calls Duke Horacio ‘General’. Still, he fills me in on a few details I didn’t know from the cave goblin perspective: that the decision to open the gates stirred a lot of controversy among the people while it was deliberated, and that it came down to a very narrow 4 - 3 split on the Council. But, in the end, what’s done is done, and history, for better or worse, marches on.

I thank the scribe for his most insightful account and continue my tour by having a walk around the upper tier, which turns out to be a quiet residential area, where the more well-heeled cave goblins seem to live. The only place there that’s significantly busy is a goblin nursery, where the children of the Dorgeshuun are raised collectively. I say hello to the kids; they’re pleasant enough, but pretty shy about strangers, especially a stranger from the surface. I play with them a bit, then move on, back toward the Council hall. There, to my surprise, I run into Zanik again, right by what turns out to be her house! She invites me in, and we talk for a while about what Juna told her, that she is destined to lead all goblins into a new age. ‘All goblins’, Zanik says. ‘Not just the Dorgeshuun.’ She’s puzzled about what it all means, but when she spoke to Juna about it, she just told her that when the time is right, everything will become clear to her. Which, of course, is no help to her right now. I confess myself uncertain as well of the meaning behind Juna’s words, but tell her that should anything happen, I will be on hand to lend her and the Dorgeshuun all the support I can. Zanik thanks me and excuses herself, then takes one of Oldak’s teleportation orbs and vanishes off somewhere, no doubt on her next adventure.

There’s one part of the city I haven’t yet explored, and that’s the industrial area to the south of the marketplace. Though I’m getting tired, I head down there at least to have an initial stroll around. Unlike the other parts of the city, this one is noisy and sooty, even with the excellent ventilation facilities the Dorgeshuun have put in over the centuries. Prominent against one of the walls is the contraption used to spin metal bars into wire. It’s spinning fast and looks quite dangerous: one misstep and it’s likely to rip your fingers clean off. Beside it is the city’s forge, staffed by a goblin whose sole authority it is to keep all the metal items in the city in good repair, and the responsibility of his position is telling on him. I reassure him that it looks to me like everything is working quite properly, then leave the forge and continue my tour of the area. Heading over to the other side of the district, I find a sand-pit that ought to give me everything I need to make molten glass, the essential raw material for Oldak’s teleport orbs! Nearby, finally, are the communal kitchens (it’s probably a ventilation thing, not only a manifestation of the collectivist bent to cave goblin culture), where the food sold on the market is prepared. The smells coming from there make me quite hungry, and I’ve covered basically all of the city today, so I backtrack to the market area for another meal and return to my quarters as the lights are being dimmed to rest for the night.

#runescape #journal #roleplay #dorgeshuun #city

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