The Neverending Poetry Story [for all]

[Galadrihell]

(OOC: Like the usual ongoing story game - someone starts the story and someone else carries it on: the only proviso is it must be in the form of poetry! It could be a two line rhyming couplet, a haiku, a limerick, blank verse or free verse and as silly or dramatic as you like. Just mark OOC as OOC so we know it’s not part of the poem. I’ll start...)

Once there was an elven-maid;
All her life, at home she’d stayed.
But she yearned for fame and glory
And so, thus begins our story...

[Thalionwen Hunigfolm]

She set out from home one day
But tripped o'er her feet along the way
And, landing in a muddy bog,
Stuck fast beside a startled frog

[Marceline]

She cried aloud with muddy face.
The frog said, “Get thee out of my place!”
The maid stood up and shook her fist.
“Hey buddy, now you’re on my list!”

[Burnt Toast]

But lo, the frog was evil incarnate,
And for her insult demanded a garnet;
She must satisfy his price-
Or risk the world running out of rice

[Nia]

[OOC: oh no I was too late - my first almost simul! - back to the drawing board!]

Now high and low the maid did search,
And found one on a magpie's perch,
"What luck! What fortune!" the maid did cry,
But no! What is that?! Coming down from the sky?

[Galadrihell]

A flock of birds! The magpie’s friends!
With allies he his prize defends!
They zoom upon her, beak and claw;
But up she stands and shouts “No more!”

[Marceline]

"I'll take this gem and flee from here!"
She turned and ran with an evil sneer.
The frog then cried, "Stop her now!"
Behold! Forth came his security cow.

[Yávië]

Stamping hooves and lowered horn
It watched the maid, eyes rolled with scorn.
"Not diamond, not gold, a garnet thief at large?
You wake me for this?" and thus, the charge!

[Galadrihell]

OOC @Tarawen I just snorted juice out of my nose at the security cow

[Nia]

Now rudely awoken from slumber,
The bull stormed to reclaim the plunder,
But the maid was too sly,
In the blink of an eye,
Disappeared with a loud clap of thunder

[Burnt Toast]

The maid was surprised at the thunder clap,
For she did not know magic; a mere mishap!
She needed to discover where she was, now-
But she was distracted-- for there was the cow!

[Galadrihell]

The cow was alarmed. “This must be a mistake!
I meant to teleport you right into the lake!
You must be enchanted somehow to avoid splashes.
Pray tell me how whilst I evilly twiddle my moustaches”

[Dwim]

In answer to this mystery, our elf did respond,
"When I was a child, I was thrown in a pond.
And then in my sorrow did I make the vow,
never to be embarrassed again by a cow."

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

To answer back to the elf, the cow now did say
"My my, I am sorry my ancestor did treat you this way
But the past is the past, and now you are here
Pray my maiden, what is is that you fear?"

[Marceline]

A sigh, a tear. "That, good sir, which makes me tremble
is to lack any friends with whom to assemble."
Her chin juts out; she gives the cow an icy stare.
"You'll not stop me from leaving this place, I don't care!"

OOC (edited in): oh also @Sil i'm sorry / you're welcome re: the juice

[Galadrihell]

The security cow was so moved by this tale
That he snorted and stamped and he swished round his tail.
“Employment is good, but - well, friendship’s the best!
I’ve decided that I must now join in your quest!”

[Dwim]

And so it was that they left that space,
A new journey now was taking its place.
"Goodbye to magpies and frogs of the past,
Onward we march to glory at last."

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Said the elleth, If we are to journey out of this mire
Pray tell me by dear sir, who is your sire?
For to be a cow as grand and wise as you
You cannot have simply come out of the blue"

[Burnt Toast]

The cow looked now at her with a gaze wise and tired,
He said, "Well, your turn of phrase leaves something to be desired."
My father... that's a topic on which I'd rather not talk--
He sighed. "You would know him as Babe, the blue ox."

[Marceline]

The maid gave a start; this news was a shock.
"Good sir, you clearly have come from good stock!
I've heard of your dad; he was quite the guy!
Mayhaps we can become friends by and by."

[Galadrihell]

As the maid and the bull crossed the top of the ridge,
They beheld a great river, spanned by a stone bridge.
But guarding their path were three enormous trolls!
"I hope," said the cow, "you have cash for their tolls?"

[Nia]

"Cash for their tolls?" asked the poor lass, aghast.
For she had not a coin, but great scars from the past.
These trolls were no strangers, she knew them well as any,
And the last time too, she'd not had a penny.

[Burnt Toast]

The son of Babe, he gave a snort,
He said, "Well, I'm of great import."
"I hate to use the name of my dad,"
"But if I don't, this could go bad."

[Dwim]

Towards the toll-bridge rode elf on cow,
They cried, "Son of Babe is smarter than thou!"
For to cross that bridge there was a charge,
But the trolls had forgotten about the barge.

[Marceline]

The maid leapt up from off the cow's back,
And landed on the barge with quite a loud smack!
She called out to him, "Join me, my friend!
And we'll see this journey to its very end!"

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

The cow looked down at the maiden fair
And wondered if he did or did not dare,
At last the cow reached out a hoof
And jumped, to land with a painful "Oof."

[The Elf Imperishable]

Elven-maid lost confidence
and all the earth shook fro and whence
the cupboards upon old Ilmare lay bare
did the Elven-maid regain her footing.

[Oak]

Oh it is my great mistake
to make the ground shake
said the great blue Ox
But perhaps I shan't talk..

[The Elf Imperishable]

For the big blue ox went bursting forth
his tails alight like a cracklin' fort.
It charged at the maiden without abandon,
a pounce to the ounce, and so she landed

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

"Why art thou attacking me?"
Cried the maiden, "Can you not see
That you, my dear cow, are my friend
And and please, don't make me end."

[Marceline]

The security cow would have blushed, if he could.
"I'm sorry my friend, I'm not used to being good."
He hung his great head in sadness and shame.
"Please forgive my behavior and cast off all blame."

[Yávië]

Then came a crack! and an ominous rumble
White water they'd hit, jagged rocks all a tumble
Jarring both off their feet, the craft lurched askew
The maid clung to a line, Babe slid off with a "MOO!"

[The Elf Imperishable]

A winter has cometh to the bovine of blue
strewn across the Fords of Isen a rainbow hue
the cow jumped over and hrumphed
while the maid fell into the Fords and was stumped

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

Kicking her legs with a fury completely unheard
The elfmaid then shouted aloud one simple word
"Help!" she cried out, head out of water hoping the cow
Was nearby to rescue her, though she didn't know how.

[The Elf Imperishable]

A giant salmon suddenly appeared armored
with mail adorned in combat never seen.
Its tail whipped across the elf's face
and the maiden's eyesight was no longer keen!

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

"Ouch!" cried the maiden, her hand to her face
"Why must the fish's tail feel like a mace?"
But when she placed her hand up by her eye
The elf maid began to sink down by and by.

[The Elf Imperishable]

She sank until a net enclosed around her visage
for Saruman, the mudlarker, reached forth and pulled
both elf and salmon to be placed in
the flotsam and jetsam of Isengard's storage

[Galadrihell]

“What a curious captive I’ve caught in the river!
But what kind of fate should I, Saruman, give her?
She may be of use in my next cunning plot:
As bait or as victim? An ally - or not?”

[Dwim]

The answer yet remained to be seen,
But for now the Wizard would treat her mean.
The maid was asleep having fainted with grace,
So he slapped the salmon right across her face.

[Marceline]

"Help, someone help!" cried the maiden most fair.
She hoped for a savior, by land or by air.
The cow turned his head when he heard her great cry
"My friend, I'll save thee from this dumb wizard guy!"

[Yávië]

But at Babe's sharpened horns Saruman gave a withering laugh
and turned bovine to apple with a wave of his staff!
To the maiden he tossed it with a wink and a sneer
"Enjoy! It's the only food you'll get around here."

[Marceline]

The maiden reached up to slap Saruman's face
"You foul, evil wizard! I'll put you in your place."
The maid grabbed a knife she had hidden inside
the folds of her gown. "VENGEANCE!" she cried.

[Galadrihell]

But the wizard just cackled and waved his great staff.
“Your knife is no use,” he declared with a laugh.
He vanished from sight and left her in her net,
Strung up from the ceiling as Saruman’s pet.

[Burnt Toast]

For the maiden, hope lost, she not a little forlorn-
Strung up from the ceiling; her dress was all torn
But hope bloomed again in the form of a sound-
The apple, it MOO'd, and it fell to the ground...

[Marceline]

"What's this? You're still there?" she spoke to the fruit.
"Is it true that your cow spirit did not transmute?"
Her hope grew as the apple-cow rolled on its way
To point her toward something that would save the day.

[Galadrihell]

The Apple rolled on. It bumped into a Ring.
A discard of Saruman’s - experimental thing;
But a brush with the fruit was enough to awake
The spirit within: he’s the Genie Of Cake!

[Nia]

A paintbox of colour and dazzling light,
The Cake Genie emerged, cerulean bright.
"I'll save the day. You've a choice of three:
Eccles, Bundt, Genoise; which will it be?"

[Marceline]

"Genoise does sound good," the elf-maid did muse.
"But will that just get me a cake that goes 'moo'?
I need my dear friend the security cow
to escape from this foul wizard's prison right now!"

[Burnt Toast]

"Hmm," mused the genie, emitting bright light-
"I'm not certain what I can do for your plight,"
"But genoise it is-- at least you'll have cake,"
"And decisions on a full stomach are easier to make."

[Marceline]

With a poof! A spongy small cake appeared there
In front of the maid where before there was air.
She grabbed some in her hand and took a large bite
"Alright fine, Cake Genie, I guess you were right."