(It's pronounced "Freed")
“Half-orc, half-man, half-ling… Who are they kidding, y’know? Why are they so sure that we want to be any part man? Or like a whole man is something better than the rest of us, right? I’m not half-orc, or half-man. I’m all Fried! Y’know what I’m sayin’ little brother?”
Nob’s mind started to wander. When Fried got on one of his rants, it could last half the afternoon. But he had learned to nod agreeably and appear attentive while working out other plans in his head when this happened. He still felt indebted to the half-orc -- er, all-Fried. He had Fried to thank for all of what he knew about mushroom farming. And he still had more to learn. And observe.
“...only one of many worlds, and the man is just a tiny bit of dust floating in the…”
For someone who claimed not to care what “the man” thought of him, he spent an awful lot of time talking about him. Or them. Or whatever. Nob wondered why Fried had never talked much about “the orc” keeping him down. Fried’s village in the mountains was a haven for those of mixed blood. Like him, most of his comrades were shunned by human, goblin, and orc alike. But even then, they were still dependent on the human communities who also lived in the mountains and valleys, many of whom were as much outcasts from the lowlanders and city dwellers as were the half-orcs. They traded together. And raided together. And there was an informal mutual defence agreement between the mountain communities against all outsiders -- human, orc, or otherwise.
“...and you can’t let someone else’s reality keep you down, because your own mind and senses are…”
Not that many years ago he met Fried when he had passed through Nob’s village in the Little Country. Freed was still going by the name Friedrich Lümphausen, trying to pass as a human merchant. A very ugly human. Nob wasn’t fooled. Really, nobody was. But he had a lot of sympathy for Fried’s position. After all, he struggled with his own position as a business-hobbit in a land dominated by humans, dwarfs, orcs, and elves. The two became friends -- of sorts, and worked out a few small trade deals. But increasingly what interested Nob was Fried’s growing knowledge of, and experimentation with, mind affecting plants and fungi.
“...and that’s when I shrank to the size of a cricket and swam right through the tree bark and saw the three-eyed toads…”
True, Nob worried about the all-Fried. But better his body and mind be spent on risky experimentation than Nob’s own. That had given Nob enough insight to sort out a test garden the past three years, and he felt very close to having some product ready for the Marienburg market.
As for his friend…
“...but I had no idea that toads could fly, little brother…”
...it wasn’t just his body and mind. Strange things had been happening to and around Fried lately. Unnatural things.
“Hey… little buddy… Can you throw me a rope and pull me down? I’m starting to lose my grip on this tree branch and don’t want to float away again. Last time I had to walk like three days to get back from where I landed.”
Very strange things, indeed.
Nob wondered if there was a way to capitalize on that.
OMFG Rules
Coming soon.
Your Favorite Wargame Stats
Coming soon.
What could these be??
“Half-orc, half-man, half-ling… Who are they kidding, y’know? Why are they so sure that we want to be any part man? Or like a whole man is something better than the rest of us, right? I’m not half-orc, or half-man. I’m all Fried! Y’know what I’m sayin’ little brother?”
Nob’s mind started to wander. When Fried got on one of his rants, it could last half the afternoon. But he had learned to nod agreeably and appear attentive while working out other plans in his head when this happened. He still felt indebted to the half-orc -- er, all-Fried. He had Fried to thank for all of what he knew about mushroom farming. And he still had more to learn. And observe.
“...only one of many worlds, and the man is just a tiny bit of dust floating in the…”
For someone who claimed not to care what “the man” thought of him, he spent an awful lot of time talking about him. Or them. Or whatever. Nob wondered why Fried had never talked much about “the orc” keeping him down. Fried’s village in the mountains was a haven for those of mixed blood. Like him, most of his comrades were shunned by human, goblin, and orc alike. But even then, they were still dependent on the human communities who also lived in the mountains and valleys, many of whom were as much outcasts from the lowlanders and city dwellers as were the half-orcs. They traded together. And raided together. And there was an informal mutual defence agreement between the mountain communities against all outsiders -- human, orc, or otherwise.
“...and you can’t let someone else’s reality keep you down, because your own mind and senses are…”
Not that many years ago he met Fried when he had passed through Nob’s village in the Little Country. Freed was still going by the name Friedrich Lümphausen, trying to pass as a human merchant. A very ugly human. Nob wasn’t fooled. Really, nobody was. But he had a lot of sympathy for Fried’s position. After all, he struggled with his own position as a business-hobbit in a land dominated by humans, dwarfs, orcs, and elves. The two became friends -- of sorts, and worked out a few small trade deals. But increasingly what interested Nob was Fried’s growing knowledge of, and experimentation with, mind affecting plants and fungi.
“...and that’s when I shrank to the size of a cricket and swam right through the tree bark and saw the three-eyed toads…”
True, Nob worried about the all-Fried. But better his body and mind be spent on risky experimentation than Nob’s own. That had given Nob enough insight to sort out a test garden the past three years, and he felt very close to having some product ready for the Marienburg market.
As for his friend…
“...but I had no idea that toads could fly, little brother…”
...it wasn’t just his body and mind. Strange things had been happening to and around Fried lately. Unnatural things.
“Hey… little buddy… Can you throw me a rope and pull me down? I’m starting to lose my grip on this tree branch and don’t want to float away again. Last time I had to walk like three days to get back from where I landed.”
Very strange things, indeed.
Nob wondered if there was a way to capitalize on that.
OMFG Rules
Coming soon.
Your Favorite Wargame Stats
Coming soon.
What could these be??
Coming soon...
Your Favorite Wargame Stats
Coming soon.
Your Favorite Wargame Stats
Coming soon.
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