the boy that never know fear

Storyteller 2013/10/27(Sun)00:16 No. 545550 ID: 53c44b
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The boy is a good place to start... Hmmm… what is he up to? Ah, yes…
Once upon a time, there was a young boy who, while not particularly quick-witted, was brave beyond compare. In fact, the boy never quite managed to grasp the concept of fear at all - in spite of his best effort to learn why certain things made other people reel in fright, he simply could never understand what it meant to be scared.

One day, as the boy was making his way to the castle of the Southeast Queen to respond to a letter summoning him, he came across a foul creature obstructing his usual shortcut through the mountains.

“Hey there, what’s your business up here?”
>“Bridge Troll. Pay Toll.”
“A toll? You sure?” The boy asked. “I don’t remember there bein’ a toll last time I took this route.”
>“Bridge Troll. Pay. Toll.”
“‘I only got a cople’a copper, sir. Wasn’t expectin’ there to be a toll or a troll ‘round this log. Frankly, I think you should’a put up a sign somewhere so I could’a known before I hiked all the way up here.”
>“Bridge. Troll. Pay. Toll.”
“In fact, do you even got a permit to be chargin’ a toll ‘round these parts?”
>"BRIDGE. TROLL. PAY. TOLL.”

Realizing he and the troll had reached an impasse, the boy thought long and hard on what to do - the walk to this point has been tiresome, and it would be something of a bother to turn back now.

well he ain't saying a price, maybe a copper is enough? throw one to the troll.

>>545550
Offer up your money to him without moving across the "bridge". Make him come to you. Then kick the log so he loses his balance and falls.

If he refuses to come to you then screw it, just go over there and give him the coppers so you can pass.

>>545550
One question what is the toll anyway?

offer the troll money but try and get him to come to you, just say something like you'd throw it over but aren't to sure if you could do so without accidentally throwing down the canyon. when the troll comes over to grab the money twist the log so he falls off but the log itself stays in the same place. then once that's dealt with walk across.

Grab a pine cone off the ground and tell the troll that you will pay the toll with this magical pine cone that fucking turns to gold during the night or keeps tigers away or something.

You gotta pay the troll toll
Ask what the toll is.

...how much is the toll, anyways? You haven't said.

(Maybe it's something you can afford to pay).

>>545550
Ask Mr. Troll how much for the toll.

>>545550
What Toll Pay Troll?

>>545560
sure sounds like a plan.

Storyteller 2013/10/27(Sun)15:17 No. 545601 ID: 53c44b
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The boy decided that he would see what the Troll’s toll was before he caused any undue trouble.

He reached into his bag and pulled out a handful of copper coins. Had he come upon the troll just a few hours ago this whole ordeal wouldn’t have been a much of a concern,, for he had initially left on his journey with a bucket full of gold from his hometown to give the Southeast Queen as a gift. Unfortunately, the mule carrying the bucket went over the edge of a waterfall earlier in the day - the boy had a tendency to come in and out of wealth in such ways.

“Well if you’re the toll troll,” The boy asked as he counted the coins in his hand. “What exactly is this toll?”
>”You said have coins?” the voice on the other end of the log bridge boomed.
“Yep!” The boy nodded. The copper pieces in his hand totaled ten in all. “I’ve got about-”

Storyteller 2013/10/27(Sun)15:25 No. 545605 ID: 53c44b
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>”Toll is all coins.” said the troll.
“Why, that hardly seems fair.” The boy was confused by the Troll’s most unreasonable demands. How was he to buy lunch once he reached the queen's village if he surrendered all his coins at this bridge?
>In response the troll simply grunted once more, ”Bridge troll. Pay toll.”

The boy was quite certain now that this troll didn’t have a permit.

"well then come over and get them, if i throw them across they could fall"

then when it stands on the log spin it.

Hmm. Wait, if you already lost the gift you're supposed to deliver, what is the point of this journey? Do you expect or plan to find another gift on the way?

But really, if you plan to continue on, you might as well pay. It's not as if you have another way to pass the troll. And it's not as if you're afraid of what might happen traveling without money.

>>545605
Refuse to pay the toll without seeing his permit.

Yes, entice the troll onto the bridge then dump him.

Wtf kid? Go back down to that waterfall, climb down, and find that gift. What's wrong with you? You don't just lose a royal present and forget about it.

He only knows you have as much money as is in your hand. If he's satisifed with that, let him take it. He doesn't need to know exactly how much is in your purse, after all.

If he won't take it, spin the log.

If the gift is necessary we really should go treasure diving back where we lost the mule, it's probably the most likely place to get treasure since we already know there is one there. If so there's no point in crossing this bridge here and now anyway since we'd have to cross it right back to go back wouldn't we?

Chest of gold you say? Royal gift you say? Lost you say? Maybe you need to unlose it lickety split. The queen is likely expecting it and your hometown definitely wouldn't appreciate you losing it. There will probably be consequences for them. If you don't care about all that then just go find it and grab as much as you can carry then run off to the nearest town to spend your new fortune.

Realize that at the end of the day coins are just pieces of metal and relinquishing them is the first step on the path to true happiness and enlightenment.

So throw your coins down the chasm lest they bring suffering to anyone in the form of greed or wanting.

Storyteller 2013/10/28(Mon)09:47 No. 545642 ID: 53c44b
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The boy spent a moment devising a most daring plot to bypass the troll. Once he was certain that he had all the details worked out in his head, he called out to the troll on the other side of the chasm to tempt him across the bridge.

“Well, I reckon I best not be throwin’ my coins ‘cross that gap there! Here sir, come and get them.”

But as soon as the troll had begun to cross, the boy grabbed the log with his hook and his hand and flipped it with all his might. With a startled yell, the troll stumbled and began to lose his balance.

Storyteller 2013/10/28(Mon)09:51 No. 545646 ID: 53c44b
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The cumbersome creature lost its footing and toppled from the log. As it toppled, it frantically swung its arms upwards and dug its hands into whatever wood it could grab onto. As the troll tried to pull itself up, the immense weight on the side of the log caused it to roll even further.

The boy realized the bridge was soon going to roll off the edge of the cliff completely. With a burst of energy, he dashed across the spinning log as quickly as he could.

Storyteller 2013/10/28(Mon)09:52 No. 545647 ID: 53c44b
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Once he had reached the other side, he turned his head just in time to see the troll and the makeshift bridge topple into the forest below. The troll let out a long, angry roar that lasted several seconds before suddenly being cut off by the sounds of snapping branches and twigs.

“Whooho! What a rush!”

With trolls being as notoriously durable as they were, it was unlikely the fall had permanently dispatched the beast, but it was certainly out of the way now. Hopefully, it had learned its lesson in the process.

Either way, It wasn't like there was a bridge on this particular path anymore for the troll to harass travelers by. Fortunately for the boy, he was certain that he had the tools in his backpack to help with crossing the gap if he needed to take this shortcut again in the near future.

Storyteller 2013/10/28(Mon)10:03 No. 545650 ID: 53c44b
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>>545615
Seeing the troll and the bridge fall off a cliff turned the boy’s thoughts back to the mule and the bucket of gold he had left his town with, which had similarly been swept off a cliff by a waterfall that same morning.

He wasn’t too concerned about the gold. He had more gold than he ever knew what to do with back home, and bringing riches to the Southeast Queen had not been the goal of his quest. The letter he had received earlier in the week was just a request for his presence at her castle. The gold was a simple formality - after all, the boy WAS considered royalty through his marriage to Dawn, the youngest daughter of the East Queen. Presenting gifts during visits was just something he figured royals were supposed to do.

In addition, seeing as the Southeast Queen was the sixth wife of the king, she was in the most technical sense one of the boy’s mothers-in-law. He was pretty sure you’re expected to give gifts to those too.

The boy had initially considered retrieving the gold when it fell, since the notion of underwater treasure hunting sounded exciting. However, as he began to think about it more, the boy realized that gold was a rather mundane gift to give to a queen. (after that whole ‘Rumplestiltskin’ ordeal, the Southeast Queen in particular likely had more than her share of the stuff.) Instead, he had resolved to find something more interesting to give her on his way to the castle. He just hadn’t made up his mind yet on what he should be looking for...

>>545650
Ahh, a boy is married now is he? Would he reflect on more on his past, his bride, perhaps how he came to make wife this Dawn, and the likely related tale of his missing eye and hand?

How about a musical instrument for a gift? A beautiful melody brings a smile on peoples faces and good instruments are pretty hard to make. Even better if you can get your hands on a magical one that plays itself!

well if you have no idea what to give her I'm sure you'll figure something out in your travels. How far away are you from you destination anyways?

We could track down where that troll fell down the ravine and finish the job. Ties up loose ends and gives you bunch of raw materials to work with to make a gift. Troll scrimshaw anyone?

That troll had decent sized tusks but they were not that big.

I like the idea of giving her troll-tusks as a present, because it's evidence of doing the king a favour by stopping an unlicensed troll. On the other hand, I don't know if she would like those or have anything she would want to do with them.

Hey wait, is she married to *that* king? If so, is there any part of a troll that's an effective aphrodisiac? In that case that would be a pretty useful gift.

Storyteller 2013/10/29(Tue)23:52 No. 545921 ID: 53c44b
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As he looked around for something to present to the Southeast Queen, the boy found himself reminiscing on his past journeys…

---
Once upon a time, there was a father who lived with his two sons in a small farming village. The older son was a wise and sensible boy who the father could always trust to manage things, but the younger boy was foolish and unable to do almost anything he was told. He never did his jobs properly, and sometimes he would disappear for days on end to explore the world outside his village and investigate places his father distinctly warned him not to go. On more than one occasion this brought grievous harm to the boy, but it failed to deter his reckless behavior.

Because of this, whenever there was a task to be done the deed would always fall upon the older child. However, when the father needed something done late at night the older son would whine and complain, begging “Please, do not make me go out in the dark! The noises I hear in the night make me shudder!” This would always confuse the younger son, as one of the many things that eluded him was the concept of fear.

One day the father came to the younger son and said to him, “You are ambitious, but you are also a fool - you need to learn SOME trade if you wish to succeed in this world!”

The boy told his father that he wished to learn how to shudder, as it was among the many things his brother knew that he did not. The older brother laughed when he heard this request, and thought to himself, “What a dimwit - he will never amount to anything!”

Storyteller 2013/10/29(Tue)23:54 No. 545923 ID: 53c44b
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The father eventually gave in to his younger son’s request to learn how to shudder. He said, “You will not earn your bread by shuddering, but maybe by learning to shudder you could learn fear as well. With luck, then you’d be cautious enough to learn a proper trade.”

But try as he might, the father could not find a way to strike fear into his son. The people in the town began to say “throw that boy out, he is a danger to your farm and to himself! He will bring you nothing but stress!” Disgraced and ashamed, he finally found himself unable to put up with his son’s ineptitude. He said to the boy, “I’ve done all I can for you, but I can not tolerate the trouble you cause me any more. Get out of my sight. Go far away from here and tell no one that I am your father.”

“As you wish,” the boy replied, not wishing to be an inconvenience to his family. He set out the next day, unafraid of life on his own, but still wishing he could learn to shudder.

After days of wandering on his own, he began to hear rumors of a castle in the countryside where a wealthy Baroness had passed away. Since the Baroness had no heirs, her wealth by law belonged to king Pole. However, the king’s efforts to collect this gold had been disrupted by the revelation that the Baroness continued to haunt her castle from beyond the grave. King Pole decreed that whoever could retrieve the Baroness’ treasures from the castle and bring them to him would win the hand of his fourth wife's youngest daughter in marriage. Many had tried, but none had succeeded.

“Ah,” said the boy, “Maybe I could learn to shudder there!” And without a second thought he went to the castle.

Storyteller 2013/10/29(Tue)23:57 No. 545924 ID: 53c44b
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He spent three straight nights searching the haunted castle for the late Baroness’ treasure and hoping one of the terrible spirits within would teach him to shudder. The ghosts made their best attempts to scare him away from his task, but nothing they did seemed to discourage the boy.

As the spirits turned their efforts from scaring the boy away to taking his life, he remained resilient. The whole thing proved a great thrill to the boy, but to his disappointment never caused him to shudder like he was hoping.

FInally, after climbing to the haunted castle’s highest heights, the boy found the treasure and made his escape. He brought the gold to a palace nearby where King Pole had been waiting in anticipation for some brave soul to retrieve the Baroness’ gold.

When the king saw what the boy had done, he shouted “What a courageous young man! You have done what no other could do, and so you may marry my beautiful daughter Dawn.”

While all the boy REALLY wanted was to learn how to shudder, he humbly accepted the king’s reward.

Storyteller 2013/10/30(Wed)00:09 No. 545927 ID: 53c44b
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The next day he and Dawn were married in an extravagant wedding ceremony. The boy was given a castle and granted the title of mayor over a small town in the East Queen’s lands, but the duties of ruling soon proved just as confusing to him as working a farm had in the past. He spent day after day pacing about in his castle for hours each day, lamenting his incompetence and saying to himself, “if only I could shudder! If only I could shudder!”

Dawn soon grew quite tired of this routine, and resolved to teach her husband to shudder so he would cease his incessant blabbering. One night while the boy slept, Dawn gathered a bucket full of cold water and minnows from the pond. Then she crept into his room and emptied the contents of the bucket onto his face.

When she did this the boy shot up in his bed shaking, and cried, “What is this? Oh - I am shuddering at last! And yet, I still don’t know true fear!”

Storyteller 2013/10/30(Wed)00:10 No. 545928 ID: 53c44b
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Fortunately for the boy, tales of his courage in the late Baroness’ castle quickly spread. While he was not fit for governing any more than he was farming, the boy’s reputation as a fearless thrillseeker with an indomitable will made many people across the land seek his aid for dangerous affairs. For over a year, the boy had left city management to Dawn while chasing adventure across the country.

Which brought his thoughts back to his latest venture, and the gift he was looking to present to the queen. He had about one more night’s travel before he reached his destination, and it would be poor manners to show up without some sort of gift.

>>545897
>>545709

“Wait, I reckon…”

Suddenly, the boy was struck by inspiration! He realized that it might be worthwhile to make his way to the bottom of the gorge and finish off the troll. Perhaps he could present its tusks as a sign of his local heroism in the area, or maybe he could get a bit more creative with its parts… however, he knew that if he wished to pursue the troll he’d need to make up his mind now, as it wouldn’t be long until the beast bounced back from its injuries and disappeared to who knew where. Otherwise, he’d need to find something else on his way to the castle.

do you have a weapon? while you do not fear it, cutting parts off of something without a blade could take a very long time and you have an appointment to keep. if so then i agree to take on the troll.

>>545931
He has a hook.

That's a effective weapon in -some- situations. But seemingly... he has no sword or bow to his name.

Also I love old faerie tales.

Okay, I like your wife. A no-nonsense approach to fixing your shuddering problem, and stepping in to run the place when it turns out you weren't any good at it.

>hunt the troll
Well, don't we need a weapon for that? I'm not sure your hook is up to the task. How are you to cut or break the tusk free? (Unless the troll broke his teeth in the fall, then collecting them would be simple).

You may not know fear, but there are practical considerations.

Storyteller 2013/10/30(Wed)18:15 No. 546025 ID: 53c44b
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>>545957
The boy stopped to consider his options for facing the troll. While he did not possess proper troll hunting equipment, or any dedicated weapon for that matter, he did keep a small collection of useful attachments for his left hand in his backpack which included a hammer, a hand-axe, and a grappling hook. (The latter of which he planned to use for the purposes of getting back over the now bridge-less gap on the way back home)

He often referred to these items as "handy tools," much to the chagrin of anyone within earshot.

When push came to shove the boy sometimes used the axe tool as an improvised weapon of sorts. It, along with clever application of his other tools, could probably do the trick...

yes i believe the axe, with maybe some assistance from the hammer, should be plenty to pry out the tusks.

>>546056
Nah, listen, here's what'd be more efficient.

Troll's at the bottom of the ravine, right? Long way to go around. Don't want to be late for the Queen's summons.

Snag the troll's tusk on the grappling hook and play long-distance dentist!

Storyteller 2013/10/30(Wed)21:17 No. 546067 ID: 53c44b
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Upon mentally confirming that his tools were adequate for performing impromptu dental work, the boy decided it was time to track down the fallen troll.

He looked over the ledge into the chasm to see where the beast had fallen, but at his height the troll’s location was obscured by the thick forest. Not wishing to waste time finding a path down into the gorge, he quickly swapped out his hook for his grappling gear and lowered himself a bit over the side of the cliff to get a closer look.

Storyteller 2013/10/30(Wed)21:24 No. 546070 ID: 53c44b
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Once he had lowered himself a short distance, he caught sight of his target - the troll had apparently become stuck in a tree during its fall, and having finally woken up and untangled itself from the tree’s branches was beginning to climb down.

The troll was visibly dazed and taking care so that it wouldn't lose its footing and fall the rest of the way down. The boy realized that from his position, he had an ample opportunity to quickly rappel down and beat the the troll to the bottom. And as the troll had not noticed him, he had an equally ample opportunity to wait for the troll to finish its descent and get the drop on it then. Either method of beginning his assault was bold, but that had never stopped him before.

Or... could we attack from above? If the troll is trying to climb the tree slowly so it doesn't fall, we could, well, make it fall.

>>546072
Yeah, that.

Judging by the angle, I don't think it's possible to attack from above.

I say get the jump on it after it's on the ground. Unless you think you can get down fast enough that you could chop the tree down before he gets off it?

>>546070
Wait for it to finish its descent. Very few people look up, so an attack from above will catch it by surprise.