Gifts to Please an Oracle (part 1)

((This is likely to be a solo. If you want to join, DM me on my Chelley account or Discord and we’ll talk. This is part 1 of a series that is deeply personal for Romis, so I’m going to be extremely particular about who/if I let anyone join.))


Romis sat cross-legged on the floor in a room lit only by a few thick candles in the far corners. The low ceiling coupled with the close, darkly draped walls made the space feel cramped. He waited, somewhat impatient, while the old woman before him crooned softly to herself. Her boney, ring-clad fingers smoothed over her large crystal ball over and over again. She was dressed in a variety of bright colors and wore numerous gold bracelets on both wrists and large hoops in her ears. Ordinarily, Romis did not give much credit to so-called fortune tellers, but he had grown desperate. He was just about to get up and leave, when she seemed to “wake-up” from her trance.

“Your journey is long, young dragon.”

Romis’ shoulders hitched at those words. He had not told her his true race. Although he had a small version of dragon’s wings, he passed them off as a unique cloak. Aside from his gold-colored eyes, the wings were the only indication of being nonhuman.

“How did you…”

The woman’s chuckle cut him off, “Rhoda knows all, young one. No more interruptions! Listen well! Madame Rhoda is not in the habit of repeating herself.”

She cleared her throat and began once more.

“Your journey is long. The knowledge you seek is known to one. Three gifts you must bring: Water, Earth, and Air. Far to the north you must travel. I see a long, narrow canyon….a bejeweled cave…”

“Where? I need more than that!” he cried out as her crackly voice faded into silence.

“I can see no more.”

Irritated, Romis got to his feet and dropped a few coins on the table. He left, leaving the heavy curtains that served as a door swirling in his wake without another word.

“The Gifts must be living…” the old woman called out, then sighed. “Foolish boy. He does not truly know what he seeks.” Shaking her head Rhoda collected the coins and put them in the pouch at her waist.




Romis blinked in the brightness of the midday sun. After having been in the dark of Rhoda’s tent for so long, the bright light stabbed painfully at his eyes. He strode down the dirt trail that threaded its way through the forest fuming to himself.

[i]Utter nonsense, what kind of gifts are those? Air, water and earth… ridiculous![i]

“So how’d it go?”

The soft, feminine voice brought his attention to the young woman that had scurried to catch up to him. Her leather boots made barely any noise as she nearly skipped to keep up with her tall friend.

“Waste of good coin. All she gave me was some mumbo jumbo about taking gifts to some mystery person in the far north.”

“Well that sounds like a fun adventure. Where do we start?”

“We don’t, Stella. It’s just a bunch of nonsense,” he practically growled.

“That’s a silly reason,” she chided, now munching on an apple she pulled from her satchel. When that prompted no response she continued. “Look, I know what you think of fortune tellers. And I know you think it’s silly, but Madame Rhoda has never been wrong and I do mean never. Besides, you’ve tried everything else that either of us can think of.”

Stella darted in front of him and stopped, forcing him to halt and look down at her. Her green eyes softened as she met his golden gaze and her shoulder-length hair shimmered from lavender to dark blue, “This might be your only chance, Romis. Why not give it a try? After all, you’ve tried everything else.”

He sighed. She had a point. They had been searching for three years now for an answer to why he couldn’t transform. Every lead they’d tried had turned out to either be nonexistent or didn’t work. He looked deep into her eyes and gave in.

“All right, we’ll give it a shot. Where do you think we should start? Gift of water, air, or earth?”

Stella moved back to walk at his side. “Hmmm, let’s start with water. Maybe this person is a collector and wants pretty things. So maybe a really pretty fish or a special gem like a pearl or something.”

Romis thought about that for a moment. “Perhaps, but I’m still not sure where to even start. Oh, and she said they were living gifts. At least I think so, she called it out as I was leaving.”

“That’s part of the fun, Romis. If we’re starting with water, let’s start by going to the coast. We can discuss exactly where on the coast over a meal.”

The dragon smiled at his friend and followed her to Underwood’s main tavern. He still didn’t know exactly how this was going to work out, but at least Stella would be happy in the process.