Amber

[scionoflegend]

HARK, fellow denizens of the tree!

[The amber shows a quick view of the quest mirror; it's not close enough to make out the words on it, but there are definitely words there. The image then whips around to Owain's grinning face.]

Behold, the Mirror Shard of Secret Mystery awakens! The hour of our redemption is at hand, and upon my mighty blade, I swear we shall not be thwarted a second time! See, luckily for everyone, I've totally got that last line covered.

[He holds up a rough piece of tree-made paper. The words WEAPON NAMES adorn the top, and scrawled below them, taking up every available bit of space, is a barely-legible list of names. Some have exclamation points. Some have several exclamation points. One has crude flames drawn around it, and another appears to have lightning bolts shooting out of it.]

"Those that serve have earned the right of a name." So sayeth the Mirror! ...Okay, so I dunno who "those that serve" are, but if we just name everything we're bound to get them named too, right? [He pulls his list back and looks it over.] Now, most of these names are for weapons, true, but a lot of them'll work for other things. Flamenugget would be good for a firefly... ooh, and Storm Tempest would be great for one of the baby birds. And there are plenty more where these came from! [He taps his head.]

So GO FORTH, heroes of fairy-dom, and name all you lay eyes upon! And if you need ideas, I'm your man! [With that, he looks as though he's going to set the amber down... then abruptly catches himself as he remembers something else.] --Oh, and if anyone wants to contribute to the Master List of Epic Names... [He flips his list around. The other side is also full, except for a bit of space along one edge.] ...I could probably fit two or three more on here.

[He salutes with the hand that is still holding the paper.] Owain, AWAY!

Comments

[princeandscholar]

[… This is what Owain has been using his paper for?

THIS?!

Deep breath, Orcelito. He calms himself before he picks up the amber.]

Owain. [No ‘sir’ today.] I don’t think those names are appropriate. [What would the mother bird think, after all?] We should find more suitable names for the animals and insects. [What is a suitable name for an insect? Who even names insects?]

[scionoflegend]

[Hey, these are very important hero notes.]

You... don't think my names are suitable? [He looks a little hurt by that, and scrutinizes his list.] ...Okay, maybe they're not all my best work, but I thought there was some top-tier stuff in here. Do they lack the spark of passion? Are they not epic enough? What if I changed it to Tornado Storm Tempest?

[princeandscholar]

[Oh, that's not what he meant at all....]

I think simpler names would be best. [He needs to give a reason...] Because there are many animals and insects to name! They need to be easy for everyone to remember.

[scionoflegend]

Hmm... [He cups his chin in his hand.] Okay, I guess I can see where you're coming from. Not everyone is as good with names as I am. So something simple and epic... I thought Flamenugget was pretty simple, but let's see what else I've got here.

[He looks over his list. And frowns. Then flips it over to the other side, looks it over, and flips back, frowning even more.]

...All right, so "simple" isn't really my aesthetic. Think you could give me an example of what you're going for?

[princeandscholar]

Ah... let's try naming in sets. For example, um, the name you had for the baby birds... what if we used it to name all of them? Tornado, Storm, and Tempest. Each is easy to remember. And all are storm names, so they match, which indicates they are siblings.

[scionoflegend]

You'd break up such an awesome name?! I mean, I like the whole matching set thing, but... but how are they supposed to inspire awe and terror in their enemies?!

[A SUDDEN THOUGHT makes his eyes go wide.] Ooh! Unless they joined forces for an ultimate combo attack! Individually, they appear unassuming, but when their powers combine... KA-SHWING! Automatic critical strike! Like the Triangle Attack of the legendary Pegasus Sisters!

[Look at that, Orcelito, your idea may have merit after all. Owain is actually getting rather excited about this.]

So instead of one firefly named Flamenugget, we'd have two, Flame and Nugget. Then... [He taps his chin and looks back at his list again.] ...Man, if we do it that way, I've got HUNDREDS of names here!

[princeandscholar]

... [That moment when your calculated plan succeeds in a way you did not anticipate.]

Yes. That's exactly right! [He doesn't understand everything Owain said, but mission accomplished!]

[scionoflegend]

All right! So Tornado, Storm, and Tempest for the baby birds... I should probably start an Animal Names list or we're never gonna keep track of everything, huh? I'm pretty sure I've still got some more paper...

[princeandscholar]

[He's not going to offer more paper right now, but you could probably get some from Kit.]

It sounds like you're well on your way to solving this riddle. Please let us know if - [Something slams into the amber and knocks it out of his hands (you see a shadowy flutter of wings just before the feed cuts out).

A moment later, Orcelito reactivates the amber. He sighs; there's a firefly clinging to his shoulder.] Let us know if anything unusual occurs. I'll be monitoring the mirror for changes.