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Maybe it has gotten boring, due to the lack of action. I'll try to squeeze some more action in soon. :)
 
After a short while, I began to hear the faint sound of singing. Curious, I arose from my bed and opened the door to my room. I now stood in a long hall way, dimly illuminated by a great room at the opposite end. It was from this room, that the singing emanated.

I walked to end of the hall, and gazed into the room. Inside, were many people, some were singing, some also were dancing. One figure sat alone in a darkened corner of the room, it was he who caught my attention, and I approached him.

I recognized him as one of the thieves who had attacked me the day before. He noticed me, and he turned pale. As I got near to him, he promptly stood up and ran out the door. I chased after him.

It was now nearing the end of the day, and only a faint hint of sunlight peeked over the horizon. The trees of the forest cast tall shadows upon the ground, which made it difficult to see. I detected a hint of movement behind a tree, and went towards it to investigate.

As I approached the tree, a gleaming flash of metal penetrated the darkness, and indeed penetrated my stomach as well. The pain was intense, though I shed not one drop of blood, for my wounded heart has not beat since it was punctured the day before.

The hand which gripped the dagger, weakened and let go. A trembling shadow turned to run, but I grabbed it at the shoulder, and threw him against the tree. "Tell me where the other thieves are!" I demanded.

"I... I don't know. We all scattered after the midget killed our leader. It was he which now has your gold." He replied.

"Very well, I will let you live, provided you promise to never again commit an evil deed. But if ever we again meet in hostility, I shall see to it every bone in your body is individually broken. Do you swear it?" I said to the trembling form.

"Upon my life." Replied the thief.

"Good. You are now free to go, but I am keeping your dagger. It shall replace my own, which has been transformed into a flask by the Leprechaun." I laughed, as I pulled the dagger from my abdomen.

My laughter was unreturned, and the thief disappeared into the darkness. Never to be seen again... or so I hope.
 
Anyone still reading this? I've counted three views in 12 hours after my last update, and no replies. This is not very encouraging... :(

But, my next update will follow shortly...
 
A small crowd has gathered at the doorway to the Inn to watch my confrontation with the thief. I cut through them, and entered the Inn. I returned to my room and lay in my bed. Not long after this, I heard a knock on the door. And Toiréasa entered the room.

"I have returned, as promised. You are a very brave man." She told me, perhaps in reference to my confrontation with the thief.

"I am only brave when angered, which isn't often. I am glad you have returned." I replied.

"Thank you. I am sorry that I could not stay to talk earlier, but I am free now." Said Toiréasa.

We talked long into the night, I asked her about what she meant about the monastery earlier. She told me that Monks raised her after her parents died, for she was an orphan. The monks taught her to read, among other things. I told her my story, but left out the part about the Leprechaun, because she may have thought I was crazy...

By now we were both exhausted, and decided to part company for the day. I lay in bed, thinking about many things, not the least of which was my obligation to the Leprechaun. Tommorrow I would leave the Inn, to complete my task. It was with these thoughts in my head, that I drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night, I awoke to find Toiréasa beside me. Her arms were wrapped around me, and she was soundly asleep. I placed my arms around her, and joined her in sleep. But perhaps this was only a dream...
 
Just enjoying my Sunday morning coffee and catching up on all of the AARs.

Don't worry about the limited responses...just keep pressing on knowing that some of us are just a little slow to get around to reading and responding.

I'm quite enjoying the more "domestic" interlude, so don't rush it or cut them out in order to jump into action. Everything in good time... (and some more visits with Toiréasa would be appreciated ;) ).

Re "uniting the tribes"...does that (presumably) inclide Meath? If so, you're going to have a fight on your hands. Good thing you're immortal...and, apparently, immune to weapons. Just what did that leprechaun do to you? :eek: :)
 
Don't worry about people reading your thread! It's just that we're more used to invading/killing/bargaining/looting than loving/talking/resting. Once you'll get started with gutting the English you'll have tons of people writing.


By the way, you asked for Gaelic names... Eochaid is an ancient irish name which means "The Bright One." It was a very common name among irish kings until the 9th century AD (then they had to fight the Viking so they dropped the poetry and wagged war a bit more...) :)
 
Originally posted by MrT
Re "uniting the tribes"...does that (presumably) inclide Meath? If so, you're going to have a fight on your hands. Good thing you're immortal...and, apparently, immune to weapons. Just what did that leprechaun do to you? :eek: :)

For now it only means the western clans. But Meath will be the next priority...

Immunity to weapons is a side-effect of the immortality. While he can't be killed, there is nothing which says he cannot be captured and locked up for all eternity.. which would be as bad as, or worse than death. So he still has to watch out... plus he feels pain when he is hurt. There is no immunity to those things. So while he is immortal, he is not invincible... otherwise the story could be pretty boring. ;)
 
Originally posted by Eochaid
Don't worry about people reading your thread! It's just that we're more used to invading/killing/bargaining/looting than loving/talking/resting. Once you'll get started with gutting the English you'll have tons of people writing.

He is only resting because he has been wounded. I promise that it won't be like this the entire story. In fact, he is just about ready to depart, and have his adventure begin.... in the next update. And I thought some romance would add an extra dimension to the story, I guess not. So I'll just tone that down in the future. ;)


Originally posted by Eochaid
By the way, you asked for Gaelic names... Eochaid is an ancient irish name which means "The Bright One." It was a very common name among irish kings until the 9th century AD (then they had to fight the Viking so they dropped the poetry and wagged war a bit more...) :)

That's a good name. I would even have used it for the charactor, if you had proposed that before I settled on one. Irish civilization will thrive once again, as soon as they regain their country back... (later in the story).
 
I awoke with the streaming sun on my face. The fire in the fireplace, had died down to glowing embers, and I was alone. If ever Toiréasa was with me last night, she was no longer. I sought her out...

I found her in the hallway, she walked towards me and smiled. "I was just on my way to see you." She said.

"I must now leave, and complete my errand. Before I do, though, I would like to offer you something as a gift." I replied

I searched my pockets for something, anything, to give to her. I then found the 7 leaf clover. In the morning light, it was hard to tell, but it seemed to give off a glow of it's own. I handed it to her.

"It is not much, but perhaps it will bring you good luck." I said, as she plucked it from my hand.

The moment she held it, the glow seemed to disappear into her, becoming one with her beauty. It now seemed dull and lifeless. But she thanked me, and promised to keep it with her at all times, in case she needed good luck.

"Now, how about I offer you a gift of my own?" She said, as she tenderly kissed me on the cheek.

It was at this moment that I noticed my heart had healed once again, and it brought blood to my face, giving it a red blush. I promised her that I would return to her someday, and we gave our farewells.

I then exited the Inn of the Green Clover. I looked at the path that led to my home, and the path that led to Ulster in the opposite direction.
And with the sun to the right of me, I set forth along the path, the path to Ulster...
 
Originally posted by Captain Krunch
I then exited the Inn of the Green Clover. I looked at the path that led to my home, and the path that led to Ulster in the opposite direction.
And with the sun to the right of me, I set forth along the path, the path to Ulster...
This made me think about The Road Less Travelled...a haunting work, but you'll have to save that until you've subdued the tribes and built a few ships. ;)

So we're off to Ulster, and things, I imagine, are going to get very bloody.
 
So if i got it right, your hero was born in the South of Eire! So he must be from Cork! Great town with both Guiness and Murphy's breweries. Your hero must be a boozehound, with a big belly and a red nose. No wonder he sees Leprechauns everywhere!!

Your first chapter was excellent. Keep it on

Find the english and "Let's get it on!"
 
Sorry, guys. I've been sorta busy these last few days. I will try to squeeze in an update sometime today. :)
 
Chapter 2: Uniting The Clans

After making excellent progress along the path north, I found myself outside of the forest, in a great open field. I welcomed the warming rays of the sun, which no fell upon me unobscured by trees. The warmth helped my wounds, which had now almost completely healed. However, my peace was soon interrupted by the sound of singing, interspersed with the sound of sobbing:

"My home is now so far away
In exile, I am doomed to stay
I sing this song, and drink all day
Until my life has slipped away..."

In the field there was a great large apple tree, and under this tree sat an old man. It was he who was singing and sobbing. I walked towards him. When he noticed me drawing near to him, he stood up and brused the dirt from his rags. He reached for a large axe which he kept nearby....

"These are my apples!" He said, as he rested his axe on his shoulder.

I pulled out the dagger I took from the Thief. In the brilliance of the sun, I could make out a strange symbol of woven metal at the end of the handle. I gripped it tightly, in preparation for conflict.

"I pick my teeth with knives bigger than that toothpick!" Laughed the old man.

"I am on my way to Ulster, and I have no quarrel with you, old man." I said.

"Really? I am from Ulster, and can show you the way." Said the old man, in a toothless grin.
 
Can the old man be trusted? Does he really know the way? Will he lead our hero to Ulster, or to certain doom?

Stay tuned to find out, in the next episode of "Luck Of The AARish". ;)
 
*sigh*

Violent times indeed. Does no one say "Hail and well met, travellor" any more?

*sigh*

:D

I think he is probably to be treated with considerable caution...any man who sings a song like that could probably do just about anything...given the right motivation.
 
I've reached a point where I will have to know the names of the Irish clans. Does anyone know? I especially need to know the name of the clan that occupies Ulster. If not, then I'll just try to work around this... :confused:
 
How about...

Try these... (sorry for just posting the URLs but I think you'll find them pretty useful)

http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/scotsirish/

http://pages.prodigy.com/GPGJ41A/clans.htm

http://www.rootsweb.com/~fianna/surname/nam02.html

http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/History/Genealogy/Lineages_and_Surnames/Irish_Clans/

http://www.irishclans.com/

There are literally thousands of sites. All of the above came from page one of a Google search. If you need more, go to www.google.com and in the search box just type:

irish clan names

Have fun. :)
 
Thanks MrT. I could probably piece it all together if I wanted to do alot of serious research, but it's just not worth the trouble for me. I'll just use some of those clan names, and not worry about it if I get it all wrong... ;)
 
"You may travel with me, old man. But if you betray me, I will kill you." I said to the grinning old man.

"Fair enough." Replied the old man, as he gathered up a large quantity of apples in a sack. I reached down to pick up one. The old man promptly slapped my hand.

"As I said before, these are my apples." Said the old man.

We journeyed onward until we came to a stream, covered by a makeshift bridge of large branches. The crossing looked to be perilous. But as the day was nearly over, I decided to make camp for the evening, and cross the stream tommorrow. The old man sat on a large rock and pulled out a small flask, which he drank from.

"What is your name?" I asked, in order to break the uneasy silence which had persisted for so long.

"My friends... my friends call me 'Big Mac'. Or at least they would, assuming I had any friends... My enemies call me 'Little Mac'. take your pick, but choose wisely, as I won't help an enemy." Said the old man.

"Uh, the first one..." I replied.

"You have choosen wisely, good. I shall lead you back to Ulster, and even take you along a secret shortcut..." Said the old man as he pulled a smooth stone out of his sack.

The old man then removed several apples from the bag, and placed him on a large stone. He then smashed them with the smaller one in his hand.

"This is how I have to eat, since I lost my teeth." Said the old man, as he motioned towards a small bag wrapped around his neck.

"What is in the bag?" I asked, out of curiousity.

"It is mine! It is all mine" The old man exclaimed, as he hurled the small stone at me.

The stone missed my head... barely. The old man apologized, and calmed down. He opened the bag, and then dumped the contents out in his hand. Now in his hand, was many small white objects.

"These are my teeth! And one is missing." The old man said, sobbing.

By now I felt extremely uncomfortable, I did not know what to say, and only said that I was sorry for his loss. He thanked me for the sympathy, and I laid down to sleep. But I found it to be difficult in the presence of this crazy man.

Throughout the night, the flames of the campfire sputtered in the darkness. The old man mumbled throughout the night, though I could not make out much of what he said... and tried to tune him out. No one else was around, and it seemed as if he was conversing with the flickering shadows...