Mingo's White Raven Inn

Discussion in 'The Library' started by Mingo, Sep 1, 2020.

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  1. Mingo

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    (White Raven Inn)--Lilith seemed to appreciate the wisdom of Bov's words. She looked at him and then at TimeLord, "Let me ask you something," she said haltingly.
    --"Of course," TimeLord nodded along with Bov.
    --"You two are like Master Mingo, that is, you have an existence on a place called 'Old Aerth' which I do not have."
    --"Yes, yes...." Bov said.
    --"So," Lilith continued. "Am I real?"
    --The two men contemplated a bit. Then Bov answered, "To paraphrase the Wise Magician Humphrey, only those who are real are concerned about it."
     
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  2. Time Lord

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    (TL~ From a chair in the White Raven Inn)--Once there was a Time Lord Bard named Mingo who dreamed he was a butterfly named Mango, he was happy as a butterfly named Mango traveling effortlesly wherever he wished from one beautiful flower to the next, then, suddenly he awoke to find himself Mingo the Time Lord Bard once more, yet he could not tell whether or not he was then a Mango dreaming he was a Mingo or a Mingo who dreamed he had been a flying Mango dreaming it were a Mingo!
    :) ~This is called, the transformations of beings~ :)
     
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  3. Bodhbh Dearg

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    I observe Lilith and see her struggling with Time Lord's reply.
    "What he means, dear girl, is the following: Do you exist in my fantasy, or do Mingo, Time Lord and I exist in yours? Are you the one thinking up Old Earth, or am I imagining you?"
    Lilith nods understanding, so I continue "Or are all of us yet another person's imagination, making us ask these questions? Or are we all sharing in a joined unconscious fantasy world? Who can say what is reality and what the fantasy?"
    "I don't know the answer to that" Lilith responds.
    "And neither do I, so I live both my lives to the fullest, hoping one of them is real, but if neither is real, I will at least have made the most of it while I could!" I smile at her encouragingly, and Lilith smiles back at us. "I see what you mean now..."
     
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  4. Mingo

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    (White Raven Inn)--Unnoticed by all, the music had stopped. Frida sat glaring at the three conversationalists as she had turned about on the stool for the large harp on the stage. "All three of you are wrong," she said suddenly. Obviously Frida had overheard the conversation.
    --"Huh wha?" TimeLord said in imitation of Mingo's trademark retort.
    --Lilith winced at the force of Frida's glare, but she swiveled back to observe her cousin. Emiko and Tomoko quietly took kneeling positions between the two cousins, judging Frida to be the more dangerous, and unpredictable of the two.
    --"Elucidate, if you please," Bov invited in a soothing tone.
    --"My father Krisskar alwayz zaid, 'The Strength of Battle is not in the Sword, but in the Song' ." Frida began. Conzider the muzik I play here, it iz real, no matter where in the Metaverze you hear it. Iz that not zo?"
    --TimeLord nodded, "Yea, verily. I have heard these tunes on Old Aerth as well as here in Novia."
    --"My name iz Frida, not Verily," Frida huffed, "but to continue....ponder thiz queztion: If the muzik iz not heard, iz it real?"
     
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  5. Bodhbh Dearg

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    "But is the music real, if it only exists in the fantasy of a lone person, thinking all of us up as parts of a story?" I ask Frida... "Where I come from, we have a saying, the pen is mightier than the sword... That too can be interpreted in different ways... Can the storyteller shape the story we're in, or does the story have it's own reality, sometimes wrenching control from the storyteller to go it's own meandering way for a while?"
    I smile at Frida
    "Does the fact you perceive yourself and your music as real mean it is real, or only that someone has envisioned you perceiving it that way?" I fold my hands and bend forward in my chair, a fire now burning behind my eyes... "I claim not to know the answer to those questions, I am humble enough to realize I will never know for sure, but I know that I will live my lives to the best I can, trying to be happy both here and on Earth, and leave as many in peace to live their lives as I can..."
    I watch Frida, waiting for her reply...
     
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  6. Mingo

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    (White Raven Inn)--"Do I perceive myzelf and my muzik az real?" Frida paraphrased the question Bov asked. "Conzider the reality of the Sword, and the reality of the Song," it was obvious she tried to pronounce the letter 's' without sounding like a bull alligator hissing but failed.
    --Continuing, Frida said, "The Sword ruztez. and fadez away. The Song endurez, until generationz later, all that is real... iz the Song. The queztion of the reality of the Sword cannot at that time be anzwered, yet the reality of the Song iz unqueztioned."
    --"Thoze of uz, the progeny of Maxx Headroom, who have no Old Aerth exiztence....maybe we are not 'real' as your Old Aerth perzonaz, yet our Story will live on....the Sword or the Song, which iz real...?" Frida stood and walked to the edge of the stage.
     
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  7. Bodhbh Dearg

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    "Both are, or neither... The song outliving the sword doesn't make the sword less real. And sometimes a sword may inspire a song or tale that will endure as long or longer than other songs..." I answer, still in a soothing tone, the inner fire not lessened. When you lived as long as (I think) I have, discussions like this can light a fire in one's soul.
    "And though the existence of the song cannot be questioned, it's content can... And is the song they sing in a few generations the same song, or has it changed so much over time, it can no longer be called the same song? Similarly, can a sword, reforged from it's parts, be considered the same sword? How much should be replaced before it's not the same anymore. sword or song?"
    I smile at Frida again...
    "I'm not even sure which of my persona's is real, or even whether either of them is, so I will not venture to feign being more real than you are, my dear!"
     
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  8. Mingo

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    (White Raven Inn)--"I will try again to make my point," Frida said, hopping down to the side of the stage of the White Raven Inn and taking a large tome from the bookshelf.
    --"Does it have a red hat I wonder?" FireAngel pondered.
    --Walking back to the small group Frida proferred the book saying, "Here, in 'La Morte d'Arthur' is the ztory of the Zword in the Stone. Thiz book, you will agree, iz real. Arthur, and the Zword, however are lozt in ancient timez, and many doubt their reality."
    --Pulling one of the simple chairs in front of the stage around Frida sat and continued. "Doubting Reality doez not dizprove Reality. I, Frida, have no connection to Old Aerth, yet I along with the Raiders of Valor exizted in Britannia az Frida long ago. Alzo, az Frida, I quezted and journeyed with the Raiders of Valor in Azeroth. My exiztence in the Metaverze iz documented. MY Reality exiztz, even here."
    --"What part, I wonder has Mingo TheBard played, and yet to play," Bov said. "Is Mingo required for the Reality of the White Raven Inn, and its denizens, to exist?"
    --"I don't know about denizens," Lilith piped up. "But he was interested in Naga."
     
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  9. Bodhbh Dearg

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    "And to your point Frida, at this time your existence is documented, but at some time that documentation may get lost, and then you and I may become legends that are doubted by many as well..." I shrug
    "And yet that doesn't mean you and I are more or less real than Arthur and Excalibur... But how real are that book, and the story? If we only exist in someone's imagination, then doesn't the book only exist there as well? So I'm sorry, but this neither proves nor disproves anything said before by either one of us here..."
    I look at my empty tumbler
    "This is no discussion to have on a sober mind and an empty glass! Beimid ag ól!"
     
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  10. Mingo

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    (White Raven Inn)--"You exist dear child," a voice came from the foot of the stairs. "As do we all."
    --"Master Mingo!" Lilith cried and ran childlike to embrace the old Bard. "....you might consider a bath," she mumbled after the embrace.
    --"Welcome back old fart," Frida said with a tooth baring grin.
    --"Please.....don't do that!" Mingo pleaded. "Now Lilith, what were you sayiing about Naga giving Mermaids a bad reputation?"
     
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    "Buíochas le Dia, tá sé in am!" I mutter, a grin on my face betraying my relief that the old fart finally revived.
    "Now don't leave like that again, will ya? I got bored here, and there's little to do out there!" as I wave my hand non-committally in the direction of the door...
     
  12. Mingo

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    (White Raven Inn)--"Alas my good Bov," Mingo said with a wan smile, "There was some problem with the Unity of Old Aerth, which finally the dev gods seemed to have rectified."
    --"Yeah," Bov said, "Dev Gods are good at rectifying. They're always behind us...I know, I've felt them there many times..."
    --"Huh What?" Lilith the youngster said, thankfully not comprehending the allusion.
    --Mingo shuffled to his chair by the fire. "Gerta dear," he implored the Inn Manager, "Would you be so kind as to find my pipe and tobacco."
    --"Iz an oddity," Frida said. "For zome reazon I find the aroma of pipe tobacco quite pleazing."
    --"Tis an evil habit, the pipe weed," warned TimeLord.
    --"Personally I would prefer you smoke outside," FireAngel commented, "but it IS your Inn, and you choose good quality tobacco."
    --Gerta, aka Cheada-chan, brought Mingo his pipe and tobacco. Leaning over she placed a kiss on his forehead. "Welcome back," she said with a fetching smile.
    --"Lilith," Mingo said between puffs of his pipe. "Your toasted cheese sandwich and tomato soup seems to have done the trick. Now, what were you saying about Naga?"
     
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    (White Raven Inn)--Lilith seated herself daintily on the heart-shaped stool directly across from the fireplace. Even Frida decided to join the semi circle as well as Gerta. Emiko and Tomoko hovered within hearing distance. "Naga have some similarities to Mermaids...." she began.
    --"They're dumb?" Frida interjected rudely, earning a warning raised eyebrow from her aunt Gerta.
    --"Naga swim with tails, but their tails are vertical, like sharks," Lilith continued non-plussed, as about her fell odd mathematical symbols resembling crosses. "Mermaid tails are horizontal, like dolphins. I like dolphins, they have a good sense of humor."
    --Frida started to say something but held up after a warning glance from Gerta.
    --"Actually," Mingo said puffing his pipe, "I've never heard of Naga."
    --"You will now old friend," TimLord said, settling back in his chair.
    --"Indeed," nodded Bov.
    --"I have given up on immersion," FireAngel sighed. "Pray tell on sweet child."
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2022
  14. Mingo

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    (White Raven Inn)--"Ahhh thank you Lilith," Mingo said no longer having to squint to read the magically appearing words.
    --"You're welcome I'm sure," Lilith said puzzled. "Anywho, legend has it that a Sorceress was swimming in the sea one moonlit night when a large shark rose up from the depths and half swallowed her. Her legs were bitten nearly off and the shark thrashed about, but the Sorceress caused a great enchantment, which by design or error, caused the upper half of her body to fuse to the body of the shark.
    --"Eventually only the tail part of the shark remained and she was the first of the Naga."
    --"What was her name pray tell?" asked TimeLord
    --"Her name was Hillary. The instincts and personality of the shark very nearly control the Naga. Although it is said Hillary already had a shark-like personality."
    --"But that only makez one Naga," Frida protested, "Aren't there more?"
    --"Yes!" Lilith seemed happy that her cousin wasn't insulting her. "Both the Sorceress and the Shark were pregnant. From the birth of that first brood all Naga have reproduced asexually via parthenogenesis!"
    --"Hmm" pondered FireAngel, "Should that have been bleeped? I'm not sure....."
     
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