3
Dec
I was there when the elves left their trees, and dug mines in the earth. I was there when the dwarves built ships, and sailed away upon the breath of the air. I was there when orcs and goblins laid down their weapons, and built bright kingdoms of crystal and glass.
It was an odd feeling, to see the world I had known and loved turned upside down. No longer was there the steady conflict of good against evil, of raving hordes against a small core of the good and the brave. Instead the world became grey, and dull, for evil became the petty theft of faceless bureaucracy, and good became thin, and lost beneath a see of more immediate concerns.
Without the definition that had once given this world beauty, without the sharp contrast that had given it shape, life began to sag, for the purpose that had given meaning to this world had gone away.
It was a strange life, and cultures began to fade, lost amidst a general melding of the species into one poorly made whole. In time, politics became the fad of the day, with goblin running against elf again troll against human, each proposing a myriad of complex offerings too convoluted for any to understand.
A general malaise spread across the land, and the peoples of this fair earth felt dull and poor, for their lives had no meaning but a daily trudge, and the earth faded to match their temper, vibrant colours lost amidst a sea of brown and black.
Then all the races of the world met in a great parliament, and they argued long and loud, for some had come to see their current state as an improvement upon those bygone days, while others longed for the heroic age of yore. Hands were raised, in a vote, and when they had been counted, the people had spoken.
And so I saw an orc kiss his elvish wife goodbye, telling her that he loved her. The next time they met, she would fire at him with bow and arrow, and he would charge her kind with axe and shield, and they would both be happy.
Comments
Leave a Reply
mazzz in Leeds on 12.03.2010
Life without conflict is a bit dull, eh? Much like writing 🙂
jim bronyaur on 12.03.2010
I enjoyed the style of this… I could imagine you actually speaking it. Well done. Good ‘ol conflict, eh? 🙂
Steve Green on 12.04.2010
A brilliant piece of writing James, and I do agree, if it weren’t for the contrasts and opposites in the world, we would probably all fade away in a meld of boredom and mediocrity.
Tony Noland on 12.04.2010
“We are only happy when we are miserable”? I thought that applied only to humans.
Seleste deLaney on 12.04.2010
Perhaps there is beauty in a world coated in blood, but I feel deep sorrow for the Orc and his wife because whether they saw it or not, there was beauty there too.
Icy Sedgwick on 12.04.2010
Very interesting concept. I think you do need a bit of conflict in order to avoid complacency.
The Four Part Land on 12.04.2010
@Mazz Things just have to be in their proper place. Then they fight better.
@Jim I try and imagine a lot of the writing being spoken out loud, although I find that sometimes things that work on the page don’t quite work in spoken form.
@Steve Glad to see you dropping by again. I think contrast makes everything shine all the brighter, although it would be nice if contrast wasn’t so much of conflict.
@Tony Applies to anything with enough brains to think, sadly. I would say.
@Seleste Quite true. But I’m always a bit of a pessimist in those areas.Well, more than a bit.
@Icy Certainly need something to keep life a little more exciting. Although that is also a chinese curse.
Eric J. Krause on 12.04.2010
Good story! Conflict like this very well could be more satisfying than bureaucracy. Especially for Orcs, trolls, elves, dwarves, and the like.
John Wiswell on 12.05.2010
I used to play with this sort of anti-Tolkien material. It’s very fun, isn’t it? I made goblins and dwarves pal around. An orc kissing his elf wife goodbye is a top idea and mental image!
Aidan Fritz on 12.05.2010
I like the voice of the narrator in this piece. Except for the final paragraph, I got a sense of old world fairy tales that slowly changed and drifted and races became just slightly different cultures of people that morphed to our current politics. I doubt this is what was intended, but it was an interesting view of it and I like the way you touched on this.
Brainhazewp on 12.05.2010
Great work. Conflict is always a great read and you’ve done a great job here
The Four Part Land on 12.06.2010
@Eric In a fantasy world, I had to think that things in their proper places and all the fighting and dying would just seem *right*, and that anything else was wrong. Even love would be going against their nature.
@John At some point, I want to write the story of how Dwelfs came into being. I think it would be a hilarious idea.
@Aidan There was definitely something of our current time in it, at least in what the world was becoming. Despite breaking rather a few marriages, I think most of them saw it for the better.
@Brain Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it.