[Aldersnap]

fable name: Viro
music: Ghost duet by Louie Zong
about them: They live in a forest cave and don't talk to many others, but they seem to enjoy making charcoal paintings. Other activities they've been observed doing is drawing owls and other forest creatures, as well as wood carving.

[apricott]

fable name: Hauru
music: merry go round of life by joe hisaishi
about them: working on it!

[feverrr]

fable name: somnus
music: wren's lullaby
about them: wip

[PleaserOfCrowds]

fable name: “Khaos” Paloma
music:
about them:

[ylesia]

fable name: Haiku (a Japanese short poem)
music: Cavalleria rusticana, intermezzo - Mascagni
about them:

Tense was the mid-summer night;
high-pitch was the chirping of cicadas
after the brutal sun betrayed us.
Thus we turned off the light
waiting for something to happen,
waiting for something to blacken.

The piece of paper was lying flat on the stone when a gust of wind lifted it and the poem began to fly. Haiku suddenly stood up and began to chase after the piece of paper. Yet every time he seemed to get close enough an evil blast of wind blew it away. Finally, it was stopped by a branch. Haiku reached for the paper, but instead of taking it he stayed and observed it.

Maybe I should let it fly free... like her

Haiku took the paper and then let it go again. The words flew away, gently, moved by the wind. He returned to his camp where he left his very few belongings: a stack of papers, many of them filled with small letters written in cuneiform calligraphy, a backpack full of berries and other goodies and a white scarf. He went straight to the scarf and grabbed it. He brought it to his snout to search once again for that smell, now almost gone.

She was the only one that refused to see him as a weirdo, an aberration of nature. She was the one that believed in him and encouraged him to be his true self. That's how he went from being 'Haiku the monster' to ' Haiku the poet', 'Haiku the bard', 'Haiku who sings the words'.

Two weeks earlier...

It was a morning no different from the others when Haiku waked up, searching for Iacuna in the tent next to him. She was not there, but this was no surprise: she used to wake up early and go looking for medicinal plants in the forest. Haiku headed to prepare breakfast: he wanted to surprise her with their favourite morning dish, honey-covered blackberries and pancakes. Time passed and the pancakes grew cold, but no sign of Iacuna. Haiku began to worry and headed into the forest. He searched far and wide for her, shouting her name but only the echo answered, in a derisive tone, as if mocking him and his ever-increasing anxiety. He found only a white scarf hanging from a branch. It was Iacuna's. He had given it to her a few months earlier and knew for sure that she would never part with it.

He returned to the village and warned everyone of Iacuna's disappearance. They began to search for her throughout the forest, but no trace of her. They continued all day until it was too dark to continue. But Haiku could not give himself peace and kept searching and searching...until, exhausted, he collapsed to the ground and began to cry.

The next morning he said goodbye to everyone and left. He knew she was out there somewhere and he would not rest until he found her.

He spent days in the forest without finding any clues until he saw something clear in front of him in the grass. It was a piece of paper. He picked it up: Tense was the mid-summer night... He didn't need to read anymore. Iacuna had written it; it had been her contribution for the midsummer party. He remembered very well the days before, when she had asked him for help finding the rhymes...the end result had not been the best, but she was overjoyed and proud of that poem of hers and had recited it in front of everyone with a joy no one had ever seen in her eyes. In Haiku a flame of hope was rekindled. Iacuna was fine; she either had walked away voluntarily or was lost in the forest. But why would she disappear without a word? And how could she be lost? No one knew the forest better than her...

Now...

Haiku was crying into the white scarf, his sobs joining the sounds of the forest. He did not notice the strange noise behind him, the clattering of hooves on the ground... hesitant, uncertain steps.

- Haiku? Is it you?

That voice... he recognised that voice. Was he dreaming? He turned around and had to wipe his eyes twice from tears to be sure that what he was seeing was real. There she was, with a shy smile on her face, her gaze turned downward.

- I think I owe you some explanation...

In this story I hope to have given an idea of the world in which Haiku lives along with the other fables, a magical forest, his past, his passion for poetry, his wonderful friendship with Iacuna and maybe a little bit of his personality.

[BASS]

oh my gosh this one is so beautiful 😭 mark!

[Ucanthandleme]

Fable name: Helios
Music: Dark Mysterious Music - Entering The Light: Secession Studios
About them:

Let us burn the world hand in hand.

Perhaps it was his abhorrent form or maybe it was the wise elders words but the ring of the bell sung of his descent into the darkness. Sometimes he would wallow in his life but it seems there was not much to be nostalgic about. From his birth to his death only the bird sang for him, only the oak trees provided him with shelter and only the weeping willow would comfort him in his cries. As a child he reached out; his distorted hand held out from between the bars of silver red eyes gleaming in the perpetual darkness of the cavern he called home. He saw them, the looks, the disgust, the unforgettable fear as other children looked at him. He didn't understand, he had never seen his own reflection…he wished he had never seen his reflection.

Twisted, not quite one or the other, an amalgamation of two worlds that shouldn't have met. Head held down and features blurred, yet the muddy puddle still gave him a reflection, one that did not match theirs. Their face was not my face, their eyes were not my eyes, their home was not my home, and my life was all theirs. The elder spoke of terror, his unfortunate birth and a so-called lingering curse. The bell tolled again as his body was dragged across the plaza, dust bellowed up, his knees became tattered and mud stained his face. They held him not so close as if afraid of smearing themself with his filth. Then he was let go, the bell rang out and his eyes were laced with gold, a burning gold of flames.

The village was burning, yet his chains were cold. He watched, at first in horror and then in a strange sense of awe. The fire bellowed as did the chiming voices of the people, they screamed, they reached out, their eyes now tainted the red of his own. He watched, his distorted hand reaching out, his broken body screaming, yet his eyes shined with a reverent light. Then he felt the warmth, the glow, a single clasp of a hand in his own. His eyes burned with tears and lips with a melodious cry as the warm flame enveloped him whole.

☆------------------------☆

The child watched in wonder at the brilliant fire dance. Blazing balls tangled around the man, his ruby eyes warm and kind. The fire fluttered to and fro, much did the man, his feet sliding, patterning, whisking side to side in an almost snake-like fashion. The fire dancer, when a flame burned so hot it would burn blue, they said that's why the man could control the flames, his glorious colour. The child longed to dance with the fire too, as did the other children visiting the darklands. The people here were unique, controlling the elements in their palm, it's said there were spirits, attracted to the most desperate people.

He watched, once again, the flickering light in the child's eyes, the smiles, the laughter, the joy. He too felt joy, joy in the fire, joy in his life, joy in their joy. Their clear gazes, burning with a light not directed at himself, no disgust and abhorrence at his visage, here in the darklands he was normal. The beasts of the world with their world of their own.

☆------------------------☆

Information
☆A forsaken child blessed by the fire spirit
☆Has a lack of social skills due to most of their childhood to young adult life spent confined and alone
☆Lives in the safety of the darklands, a place where many blessed by the spirits and those who are of both worlds live and thrive
☆Works as a fire dancer at a local circus
☆Dislike: Darkness, small spaces, water, being dirty
☆Like: His fire spirit Smog, fire, marshmallows, gold jewelry
☆Will dance to the stars and sing to the moon

[SilkenDragon]

fable name
Chimera

music
Leisure in Painting - Genshin Impact

about them

An immortal woke in the wildest grove, at first unknowing of the world, and comforted by her simple food and home. One day, she stepped out from the trees, enchanted by the light of civilization. With fire in her blood and wonder in her bones, she followed those fleeting embers as they stoked themselves into the bright of day, the dawn of her childhood but a fading age.

She thought she had forever to walk through those sunlit waves, and so she hardly noticed the sinking sun until dusk suddenly came. With the loss of that once endless day, she turned homeward, feeling weary and wanting familiarity. But time had passed and the world had changed - that cradle of hers had long since decayed.

A long lived fable who uses different names and titles depending on the topic, and is both sorrowful and delighted when one she hasn’t heard in a while comes back up. Generally just goes by whatever others decide to call her - usually “orchard lady” due to her present hobby of maintaining a peach orchard, but she has a variety of nicknames when traveling on the road.

Though she has a somber, detached attitude towards most things, she is immensely curious about the different lives others lead and experiences joy through discovering their own. She travels in search of novel experiences and loves coming across puzzles and mysteries, though she can turn nosy and pushy when she finds something interesting to pick apart.

Chase the scent of smoke and ash, feel the earth shake and groan. Plant a seed that will bloom after a hundred years, taste the thousand petals that grow. Seek to find every flower in the world, even though you know you never could. Worry not that you’ve wasted your life, for you still have an eternity to go.

Listen to the sound of windchimes, watch the clouds drift overhead. No matter how the stories end, you can always return here to rest. Should even this place be lost, well, you can find it again. Sunlight has washed all your youthful dreams away, but perhaps you can still join them for a moment in the shade.

[Woodchip]

fable name: Ethos
music: Days in the Sun
about them:
Today, I encountered the name of a curious figure, one called Ethos. I've been asking others about them, but I can't seem to get a clear understanding of who they truly are. Below are a few accounts from the various Fables I’ve spoken to.

Ethos? You know, I can’t say I know much about him. I encountered him in my travels not too long ago. He seemed kind of cold, distant. When I looked into his eyes, he didn’t seem… quite there. It was like he was looking at something beyond us, but there was nothing but grass and trees as far as I could see. What do you think Nirah?

I got bad vibesss from him…

I know them. Visits me from time to time. Annoying. Loud. Obnoxious. Doesn’t know what personal space is. Yesterday, they opened my door and knocked over my tea set! Didn’t apologize or anything. I hope we never meet again.

I don’t remember our meeting too well… It was so long ago, I got… lost. He found me by chance. I was afraid to ask for help at first, but he was very warm, kind and understanding. I was lucky to meet him. He even stayed behind to make sure I was doing okay, if he comes back, I need to remember to get him a gift.

Oh she lives near me, though I keep my distance from her. I never liked her. I overheard her speaking to someone the other day. It started as an argument, and escalated. Neither of them backed down, I think it was something about the way Ethos spoke to them? I don’t quite remember. I had to leave when Ethos spotted me. She looked me in the eyes and gave me this… sinister smile. I mean I don’t have any other way to describe it! It was just so creepy.

How interesting, every time I ask it seems like a different person. Is it possible that perhaps they are different people?

As the day winds down, and the evening encompases the world, I took a stroll by a pond. The water is alive with fish of many colors, darting through its crystal-clear depths. There, I encounter a fable whose parts seem oddly mismatched. They are quiet, they remain focused on the fish, seemingly lost in thought. I approach, careful not to startle the fable. Their ears twitch, acknowledging my presence. The fable doesn’t seem eager to speak,, so I took a seat near them. We observed the pool together for a while, until I could no longer stay. Then, with a quiet farewell, I leave.

In the time we shared, I sensed a deep sadness within them. It was then I knew, perhaps they were simply misunderstood.

[bezel]

forgive my late judging - the entries combined were over 8,000 words 🤯

these were great quality and very unique ideas! i ended up reading a few aloud to a friend with the music playing to help me decide. thanks everyone very much for your effort, i hope to open some ticket customs soon as well. here are the awards:

🎟️ 1 ticket each: Nanorat, leopia, SilkenDragon, Woodchip, Alkene
🎟️🎟️ 2 tickets each: Ucanthandleme, BelieverInChrist, ylesia

Runner ups: Butter Dragon, ☼ morgana, molotov
I haven't done these before but I’d really like for your characters to become real! I’ll be making runner-ups based on your entries; they will be similar in design but won’t have the exact same traits as this, so PM me if there is anything specific you want to keep/omit or a certain color palette you want. Will be posted within the next week or two

and finally the winner: Melonbread
a great read! i really liked the distinct sections, each well-written and interesting, with the music tying it all together.
my favorite part is absolutely the meals, each small interaction breathes life into your world and Bellamy.