"Lady Blue"

by Bubbinster

Long ago, in a place known as the Black Mountains, there lived a wizard of reknown, a great elven mage whom the locals all referred to as Lady Blue, she fancied blue robes. Lady Blue lived in a stone cottage off the beaten path in a meadow on the outskirts of the Narwood forest. The Narwood was a huge forest, old and filled with towering oak trees that shut out sunlight from the forest floor, creating a perpetual state of twilight within its depths. Of course, here and there meadows could be found, filled with soft grasses and sylvan flowers. It was in such a meadow that the cottage of Lady Blue stood.

Now, the home of Lady Blue was not easy to find. There were no roads or paths. Most folks would tell you Lady Blue preferred this, as she was not the type to find enjoyment with uninvited wandering passerbys. If a person had a desire to speak to Lady Blue, they usually had a big task ahead of them just trying to find the meadow in which her cottage lay, not to mention the threat of the denizens of the Narwood, who seemed to delight in waylaying those who dared to venture into the forest. Yes, it is safe to say Lady Blue had very few uninvited visitors.

Occasionally, however, Lady Blue would make appearances in the civilized areas of the Black Mountains. The Hamfast Byway, a traders road, skirted the Narwood for a bit, and folks travelling along the stretch of Byway near the Narwood often reported chatting with an elven lady clad entirely in blue. According to the reports, this Lady Blue would be seen sitting alongside the Byway on a stump or boulder, holding a golden scepter topped with a crystal shard in her hands, as if she were waiting for those specific travellers to come along. The travellers reported friendly conversations with the lady in blue. Mostly she would ask for news of the lands, and engage in other amiable conversation.

The one thing she spoke of with the most enthusiasm, according to all the reports, was music. Lady Blue would always inquire if there were a bard amongst the travellers, and, if there were no minstrels, she would ask the travellers if they would like to trade songs. Several travellers reported the blue lady would sing to them, in a sweet, sweet voice, though none could recall the lyrics of the songs she would sing, no matter how hard they tried. Although many folks spoke of asking Lady Blue to join them in their travels, the lady would always politely refuse, bidding the travellers farewell and good journey as she lifted up her scepter and vanish into the forest.

Those who lived near the lady of blue knew there was much more to the elven woman than just chatting and singing with travellers. They spoke of her as a great sorcerer whose magic could be gentle, as when she charmed a poor farmers plow to till by itself when his plowhorse died unexpectedly, or fierce, as when she appeared in the midst of a goblin raiding party that wandered out of the Narwood, casting bolts of lightning from her golden scepter, charring goblins left and right until they fled screaming back into the depths of the forest. Yes, Lady Blue was a powerful magician indeed.

Now, for many generations tales of the Lady Blue circulated amongst the folks of the Black Mountains. Well, you know how stories can sometimes be exaggerated over time and between tellings, and the tales of Lady Blue were no different. Soon the yarns of the lady in blue grew to include, among other things, fabulous riches squirreled away in the meadow cottage. As you may guess, as soon as wonderous wealth became attached to the legends of Lady Blue, the ears of unscrupulous thieves, brigands, and robbers of the realm soon began paying close attention to this Lady Blue and her rumored loot. It was only a matter of time before those dwellers of the Black Mountain underworld would allow their greed to overcome them.

One dark night, a group of vile cutthroats and thugs assembled upon the edge of the Narwood. These were hardened criminals, not a kind soul amongst them. They dressed in black, and bore wicked weapons. There was murder in their eyes, and larceny in their hearts. In the dead of night, they crept into the forest.

Normal folks wouldn't dare set foot into the Narwood, even in broad daylight, much less in the dead of a moonless night. These rogues, however, were used to the darkness, for, as a norm, they conducted their business after the sun went down. Creeping about in the pitch black forest was quite comfortable for this bunch.

Normal folks would have had no hope of finding the cottage of the Lady Blue. But this gang of ruffians was well versed in finding hidden things. It was their livelihood to uncover hidden stashes and secret caches. These hoodlums were expert treasure hunters, and they were ruthless when pursuing their quarry.

Now, at about the same time the group of louts gathered on the edge of the Narwood, it was closing time at the local taverns. Barkeeps all over the land began the ritual of throwing out the last few drunks and locking up the doors for the night. One particular tavern, known simply as Alphonso's, was undergoing the same closing ritual. Alphonso's was located on the edge of the Narwood; in fact, timbers from the forest had been used to construct the tavern. The tavern catered to those who made their livings off the forest, such as mushroom farmers and firewood gatherers. The proprietor and namesake of this tavern was having a difficult time removing his last patron, an unruly dwarf who was quite tipsy and seemed bent on remaining within the establishment's confines. A heated verbal exchange occurred, with the end result being one drunken dwarf neatly deposited outside the tavern doors, which locked firmly in place behind him.

The dwarf gave the closed tavern one long last hopeful glance, as if he expected the doors to somehow spring open and the barkeep to come welcome him back in. Once it became apparent this was definitely not going to happen, the dwarf set out walking, a stagger in his walk and a slurred song crossing his lips. Well, there was a normal path to and from the tavern, but this dwarf, filled with Alphonso's best ale, wandered off into the Narwood, lurching drunkenly between the tree trunks, and softly singing verses too jumbled to discern. It was a long time before the dwarf sobered up enough to realize just how hopelessly lost he was. A groan of despair escaped from the dwarf's mouth as he glanced around and realized his predicament. Figuring he might as well keep walking, he took up a much less lurching gait, and soon his spirits brightened as he caught a glimpse of a clearing ahead. Perhaps he had happened upon a nice little forest tavern, he thought, and with any luck, this one would still be open!

At the same time the dwarf had visions of forest tavern ale kegs dancing in his head, the group of villains had neared the end of their hunt. Creeping silently through the dark, the ruffians had searched high and low for signs of Lady Blue, traversing the forest with hardly a sound, adept as they were at sneaking in the night. Many clearings and meadows they had discovered, but none held the fabled cottage. Greed overshadowed their frustrations, however, and the gang of thieves only stepped up their efforts, for they were not to be denied. At long last, they came upon the clearing, and all halted as they spotted the stone cottage within!

With a flurry of hand signals, the thieves unsheathed their blades and spread out their ranks.
Surprise would be their ally tonight; they all knew how easy their victims were to overcome when taken in their beds. They paused for just a moment, ready to advance, when suddenly, breaking the silence of the pitch black night, a loud knocking sound was heard coming from the cottage, followed instantly with a slurred dwarven voice yelling, 'Hullo dere in de Tavern, open up, ye got yerself a customer!' Before the thieves could react to this sudden noise, the cottage door was flung open, and Lady Blue herself stood in the doorway, woken from her sleep!

Surprise now turned on the thieves, for the wizard spotted the thieves lurking at the edge of the clearing. She turned to the dwarf, gazed at him for but a moment, then smiled and whispered something in his ear. The dwarf grinned and began chanting a song, drawing his own trusty blade to stand with the Sorceress. The thieves realized they had lost their chance for subtlety, but their numbers made them confident, and without a sound they rushed to the cottage, weapons brandished and ready to cut down the wizard and the dwarf who stood in the way of the wonderous treasure.

A great battle ensued. Many brigands died that night. Many more fled off into the forest, never to return. That was the last night anyone ever saw Lady Blue, and rumor has it her cottage also disappeared. At least no one has ever found it since, though many treasure hunters have sought it out, only to return frustrated or never to return at all.

Whatever happened to the dwarf, whose drunken bumbling managed to alert the lady in blue before she was set upon by the brigands? No one is really sure. There were tales of him stumbling into a few local taverns, offering to tell the story of that fateful night for the price of a few ales. But no one could ever remember his name, and the story fluctuated wildly depending on who heard it.

In fact, the story died out considerably as time went by. Soon all forgot about the blue robed mage and her golden scepter. It is interesting to note, however, that a crystal tipped golden scepter has turned up in a realm far from the Black Mountains. It seems the leader of a troupe of performers holds this scepter, but whether it is the same scepter, you had better ask those performers of this Tavern Troupe. Perhaps they would know more.