Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1993 16:16:10 EDT From: Message-ID: <93221.161610BANNON@MAINE.MAINE.EDU> Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: Re: [Welcome] Coriander's Story References: <93221.093221ASG102@psuvm.psu.edu> There was a lull in the tale-telling that lasted more than a moment so Coriander decided it was time to get her story over and done with. She preferred listening to speaking, but she was willing to contribute her small tale. "Well," she started out, "I, uh, I was raised by pigs and an Earth Serpent in the woods." She could feel her face turning red as peoples' attention turned toward her. She swallowed and forced herself to continue. "My Mother was a slave of this horrible nobleman with land in the South who was gambling his property and his family's future into oblivion. The Earth Serpent wanted to understand why people were so obsessed with the aqquisition of gold and gemstones. He did some magic meditation and figured out how he could merge with a human to learn their ways. He went to this cruel, stupid nobleman and offered to give him enough gold to replenish all his treasure stores. He had manifested as the gold Serpent because he knew how that impressed humans. The nobleman was impressed alright, he pretty much fell to his knees. He was desparately in debt and it seemed an avatar of wealth had offered to fulfill his wildest dreams. Of course, when the Serpent told him that what he required in exchange was his infant son, he moaned and cried and begged him to ask for anything else. The Serpent wanted only the child. There was a slave woman in a field gleaning grain with an infant on her back. The nobleman had his guards escort the woman to him. He offered the serpent her child. She screamed her protest and tried to run away. The guards seized her. She managed to hurt one but the other busted her in the face with the hilt of a sword. She swooned. The nobleman took the baby from her and offered it to the Serpent. The woman awoke enough to fall to her knees and plead and cry. The Nobleman said, "Kill her." The Serpent raised itself up high and spread a golden hood that radiated out from the back of its neck like the sun. Everyone stood still. "I will take the child," it said. The woman fell to the ground sobbing. The Serpent said, "Woman." She raised her head. It asked, "What is your name?" Her name, she said, was Ginger. "What is the child's name?", the serpent asked. Well, that was me. Coriander. The Serpent promised to raise and protect the babe and suggested to the woman that it would be a better life than life as a slave. She mournfully agreed. Anyway, I was raised on pigs' milk and I played with piglets as I grew and I have NEVER been able to eat pork. When I turned seventeen the Earth Serpent asked me if I would be willing to join our essences. I trusted the Serpent, so I figured, why not? I gained some of its powers and now it can walk among humans and learn. So far so good. I tried to find the woman Ginger, my Mother, last year. The nobleman's estate was in ruins. He had run it into the ground. Most of his guards had deserted because they hadn't been paid in so long. Theives attacked and took all that was left, killed the nobleman and burned the place to cinders. My Mother was dragged off and probably sold again in some slave market for a few coins. I haven't figured out what to do next. Coriander put her chin in her hands and looked glum.