Mingo's White Raven Inn

(White Raven Inn)--"Why do you do that?" asked Bov
--"Huh Wha?" Mingo replied.
--"Of late you seem to add extraneous comments pointing out subtle humorous bits of the story."
--"Ah, Bov, subtlety is lost on the reader....unless it is blatantly obvious."
--"I don't understand," Lilith said shaking her head as she listened to this adult conversation.

 

(White Raven Inn)--"Ah!," Mingo said with a smile breaking his bewhiskered face, "...an old lurker returns! Welcome Alleine Dragonfyre."
--Emiko came over to Mingo carrying a small first aid kit, kicked the smile away and put a bandage on Mingo's jaw. "That's gonna hurt when ye remove it," Mingo said.
--Emiko said something in her language about "backing up" or something like that...

 

"I'm pretty certain the lady Dragonfyre will not appreciate being referred to as old..." I muse in to my tumbler "...luckily t'is not my head on the line this time though!"

 

(White Raven Inn)--"Baka," Emiko repeated as she packed up her first aid kit, shaking her head at Mingo, who again misunderstood what she said. Her eyes briefly changed to dragonkin pupils, vertical like a cat (or a snake). "Um, thanks, Emiko," Mingo stuttered, temporarily entranced. Emiko went behind the small bar to put the first aid kit away.
--"Bov my good friend," Mingo said. "This thread is about 9 years old, having begun with 'Tale of the Red Hat Gnomes' of which you were one of the first contributors. I'm sure Lady Dragonfyre took no personal offense, but she is welcome to contribute to the ongoing dribble that is this tale."

 

(White Raven Inn)--Lilith, being equivalent to a girl approaching her early teen years was not only clinically insane as befits her sex, but also was beginning to suffer the waves of hormonal insanity common to females. She now exploded. "Will you LISTEN to me!!!??? Mermaids do NOT have boys, only girls, and they are CLONES. There are no Giant Green Mermaids and certainly none that are the mates of Triton!!!!"
--"The ClownFish roars," Frida grimaced.
--"Shush, Frida," Gerta the adult in the room admonished. "Lilith dear, Mingo TheBard has been in many iterations of the Metaverse, not just the one you know. Things that are there are not ....here......"
--Lilith would not be assuaged and continued her rant. The men near her slowly backed away lest she actually explode in some manner. "I am a TRUE mermaid and I KNOW and I won't be belittled by a half-breed that can't even swim!" This last tirade was accompanied by a glare in Frida's direction.
--"...I can swim..."Frida began sullenly. "I just have to kick...."
--Emiko and Tomoko quietly took positions in front of Frida, as they were in fact Frida's bodyguards assigned by her mother. Lilith observed their seemingly unobtrusive positioning and seemed to regain a bit of sanity, although the body guards still retained their meek demeanor of Oriental ladies; hands folded in their kimono sleeves, slight smiles on their faces.
--Mingo was unsure of the powers of Lilith, yet he managed to gather the courage to walk to her and give her a grandfatherly hug. "Ah Lilith," he said soothingly. "It is disturbing to hear of things beyond our ken, yet perhaps we can just put it down to imagination?"

 

(White Raven Inn)--"Mingo imagines many things," agreed TimeLord. "But some things, like me, are not imaginary."
--"I am not imaginary!" piped in Frida. "I am just as real as Maxx Headroom!"
--Gerta/Chiada San agreed: "I have no connection with Old Aerth, as Mingo and TimeLord and Bov do, yet I am real in the world of Apsara, although I was adopted."
--"Real, unreal," Mingo muttered. "Perhaps I will adopt a cat, and name it Shroedinger."

 

(White Raven Inn)--FireAngel yawned. "At the risk of interrupting, I do have some desire to hear about the Pie Rats of the Dire Straits....."
--So Mingo continued his monotonous litany reminiscent of a slide show of travels long ago.
(Aboard PossumRose)--Lyra took the helm and eased the electric drive motor ahead slow. The sails were fully reefed owing to the recent slight squall. Tiny swam ahead of the boat and reached up to grab the bowsprit, appearing to be a figurehead. As the water passage narrowed to about five times the length of PossumRose she was recognized and hailed. "Heh Heh! You lazy mermaid! Hitching a ride?" called a squeaky cartoonish voice.
--"Hail Mortimer!" Tiny called back. Come and meet my friends, I believe they have something for you."
--Mortimer swung over via an overhead rope and landed with a thud on the deck of PossumRose. He didn't look like a rat, actually. Standing upright about 3 ft 6 in tall he did exhibit a long rodent style tail protruding from his red shorts which were held up by straps extending over his shoulders and down to ridiculously large yellow buttons in front. His muzzle protruded rodent-like and was topped by an improbably large round black nose. Most notable however, were his large black ears, round and almost the diameter of his head.
--"Stand or Deliver!" he shouted, waving aloft a pirate's cutlass, or perhaps more accurately a Pie Rat's cutlass.
--"Are you the leader of the club?" Mingo asked through the open forward window of the cabin. "I knew a song about that once...."

 

I sigh... "That was a mouse, Mingo! Mortimer is a RAT!... ... ... Feckin Ijit!" I shake my head as I look at the bottom of my now empty tumbler...

 

(Aboard PossumRose)--Mingo took the helm as Lyra went below to fetch the freshly baked blueberry pie. Mortimer waddled into the cabin with his odd over-sized shoes and climbed up onto the bench of the u shaped dinette behind the pilot's station. He folded his hands, oddly encased in poofy white gloves upon the table and inhaled the sweet aroma of pie with a euphoric look on his rodent-like face.
--"Say, Mr. Pie Rat," Princess BlueBell began hesitantly looking up from where she stood on the deck. "Are you SURE you are a rat?"
--In his squeaky voice Mortimer answered, "Oh yes little gnome. To avoid any copyright infringement I cannot be called a 'mouse' and besides, who would fear the Pie Mice of the Dire Strait?"
--Bov did a face-palm and said something in that odd language he sometimes uses.

 

"In ainm Dé!..." I raise my tumbler "Another Uisqe Beatha, NO ice!"

"... You know what? Make it a double!"

 

(White Raven Inn)--Lilith was not mollified, much to the relief of Molli. She sat glumly with arms crossed glaring first at Mingo then at Frida. Everyone was now sitting around the cheerful fireplace, which did its best to create a warm atmosphere. "Pie Mice...." Lilith muttered under her breath. "Ha!"
--FireAngel, she of the emphatic insistence on staying within the physics and known world of Novia (aka immersion), had accepted that this tale was so far off the beaten track as to be considered pure fiction. Every now and then she added a split log onto the fire, which she seemed to have adopted.
--Gerta, erstwhile manager of the Inn, busied herself in the great room of Mingo's White Raven Inn but still paid attention to the story as first Mingo then the unseen narrator continued to spout drivel and disguised nonsense. Her "maids" Emiko and Tomoko hovered near Frida, keeping a wary eye on the angry young mermaid Lilith.
(Aboard PossumRose)--"Pie!" Lyra called cheerfully as she climbed the few steps up from the galley, an aromatic blueberry pie in her hands. "Mmmmmm!" Mortimer Mouse....er Rat...commented licking his lips, or where his lips would have been. "You are most kind. My family thanks you. I feel obliged however, to taste a test slice."
--"Here ya go," Lyra said cuting a piece with a specially shaped pie serving utensil and placing it on a small plate along with a fork. As Mortimer dug in, deftly handling the fork despite his sausage sized fingers in those balloon like white gloves, Mingo (at the helm) called out. "There is a wharf up ahead. Should I pull alongside?"
--"NO!" Mortimer exclaimed. "Steer clear, lest the Wharf Rats jump on board. They are small but annoying. Around the next promontory you will see our dock. Look for someone like me, but in a polka dot dress with a bow in her...on her head."
--"Minnie?" Lyra asked.
--"No, just the one."

 

(White Raven Inn)--Frida was deep in Thought. Eventually she found a hidden staircase and climbed out, back into the warm main room of the Inn. She looked about the room as the writer made a feeble attempt to set the scene and refresh the reader's memory.
--Emiko and Tomoko stayed in guard position slightly in front and to either side of Frida, kneeling Oriental-style on large thin cushions. Her Aunt Gerta puttered about the room, replacing flowers in vases, dusting the coloured footlights of the small stage, and arranging the massive amounts of jugs of whiskey and jars of red worms that seemed to multiply like a breeding pair of Tupperware. Mingo TheBard sat in his chair smoking and blowing a variety of shapes, not just rings, as he perused the next twist of the tale......it might be painful. FireAngel poked the fire from time to time.
--Bov and TimeLord, the principal patrons in the audience seemed to be sharing a whispered joke about walking into a bar. Frida's nemesis and cousin, Lilith, younger but still powerful in her own right, sat next to Mingo across the semi-circular arrangement of chairs before the fireplace. A few Lurkers took seats here and there, hopefully they will return them. Lily Byrd sat on the stage strumming the large harp on which she played a slow, pretty lullaby-style tune.
--Just then Jason and Crescent Morin entered, quickly closing the door against the cold winter wind. "We have an announcement!" Jason proclaimed proudly.

 

"Well then..." I muse in my refilled tumbler "... perhaps this'll bring a small change of pace... But I am probably being to optimistic!"

 

(White Raven Inn)--Lilith, who had been working for Crescent at Cafe Istanbul, jumped up and went over to Crescent, grasping her hands and sharing in the happiness. "We're going to have a baby!" Crescent announced to an outpouring of congratulatory adulations.
--Jason bent over and peered intently into Lilith's eyes. "Would you look after the Cafe for us? There are no actual babies in Novia so we will have to return to Old Aerth."
--"Oh!" Lilith exclaimed slightly sad. "I wish I could go with you!"
--Mingo puffed on his pipe and bit his tongue.....thinking about Old Aerth's plusses and minusses, he calculated a massive negative sum for his own experiences there. No need to go bursting young folks bubbles by speaking aloud.

 

I wake up, startled, look around, and realize I fell asleep in one of the very comfortable chaises near the hearth while waiting for that old fartMingo to gather his thoughts...
"Ah well..." I mutter, glancing at my empty tumbler "...I'm confortable here!" and close my eyes again.

 

(White Raven Inn)--Lilith crossed from Cafe Istanbul over to Mingo's White Raven Inn, carrying a basket which contained a toasted cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup in a securely covered container. "Hello Aunt Gerta......Frida." Lilith called, cheerfully at first, then with a resigned glare.

--"What iz in the bazket, Clownfish?" Frida inquired. "Rotten fish?"
--Ignoring her cousin, Lilith asked her aunt Gerta (aka Chiada-San) "How is Master Mingo today? I brought a little food for him."
--"He rouses up every now and then, drinks some water, goes to the toilet, but then goes back to bed," Gerta reported. "Perhaps you can get him to eat something."
--"Mingo only needz food for buffz," Frida said. "Hiz exiztence on Old Aerth keepz him prizoner there of late."
--"Nevertheless," Lilith grimaced with a glare at her cousin. "I will make the offer."
--"Perhaps," Gerta mused, "Perhaps he will return to us."

 

(White Raven Inn)--Climbing the steps to the 2nd floor, Lilith cautiously pushed open the door to Mingo's room. The old man rested almost sitting up against the pillows in his bed. His hands lay atop the thin blanket and he seemed to be at ease. His eyes opened. "Ah, Lilith....." he said, smiling faintly.
--"I brought you some food, " Lilith said as she pulled the toasted cheese sandwich and the covered container of tomato soup from the basket, setting them on the small table beside Mingo's bed. "Although I cannot understand how you land dwellers eat such stuff."
--Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Mingo sat up and reached for the toasted cheese sandwich. "I am surprised you could learn to cook so well, seeing as how your digestive system is still that of a mermaid, even though you have legs on land."
--"Jason had a good cookbook, and even a book of advice about what food to prepare in different circumstances. What I brought you is recommended for people who aren't feeling well."
--"Thank you," Mingo said, uncovering the soup and sipping from the container. "You are remarkably kind for a blood thirsty mermaid."
--"Mother made me spend half my time on land," Lilith said, pulling the ladder back chair over close to Mingo's bed. "I have tried land food, but it does not agree with me, especially the burnt stuff. Actually I don't like blood, I'm not a vampire or a Naga."
--"I don't know what a Naga is," Mingo admitted.
--"Oh, Naga are sometimes called 'shark tails'.....they look similar to mermaids but they are more like...fish...sharks actually.. and have no real culture. Many of the bad stories about mermaids are actually about Naga."
--"I think I never want to go swimming again." Mingo said, sipping the last of the soup and lying back against the pile of pillows.
--"Mr. Mingo," Lilith asked with some hesitation. "What would happen to us.....if you never came back?"

 

Downstairs I noted Lilith going up and not coming back, deducing that she apparently has been able to rouse some life into the old fart again... "You know Gerta..." I muse philosophically "... Because we've shared our tales and tails, we now live in the thoughts and fantasy of many people... Doesn't that mean we'll live on for as long as people read about us?"

Gerta looks at me like a deer caught in headlights, but doesn't reply, and I fall silent again, missing the days that we'd run in to new people to talk to on a daily basis...

 

(White Raven Inn)--Frida played the large harp on the little stage, mostly just for her own enjoyment. Bov and TimeLord sat in the comfortable armchairs enjoying the music. What at first glance appeared to be fingernails with black polish were actually short claws, thick and narrow, which Frida filed to make better picks for the strings of the harp.
--"Lilith!" Bov called as Lilith came downstairs carrying her basket. "How fares the old Bard?"
--"Yes," chimed TimeLord, "Did he respond to you?"
--Walking over toward the fireplace, and ignoring her cousin Frida, Lilith seated herself on the heart shaped stool and nodded sadly. "He actually ate the food I brought, but did not speak very much."
--"Good work!" Bov grinned. "That's the most he has said in half a year...."

 

I see the doubt on her face and reach out and gently squeeze Lilith's hand... "You really did well, sweetie!"
Lilith looks at me in amazement, looks at her hand and back at me. I chuckle... "I may be old, but that has given me an ability to judge character pretty well... You're a good person!"

Lilith perks up a bit. "Thank you master Bodhbh. Mother says she once knew a Bodhbh who was a kind and open minded king of the fae"
I smile "Tell your mom 'Go raibh míle maith agat arís as cabhrú le mo chlann clainne' from me"
We spend a few minutes until Lilith gets the pronunciation right, and she promises to do her best to relay the message and to let me know her mother's response...