Week 6 Storytelling Post

Madoc stooped low in the cave, peering at the glint of metal that lay in the darkness. It was a ring. Curious. And even more curious still, there seemed to be a voice emanating from that ring!

"Do not pick up this ring. If you don this ring without first answering my question, you will not survive."

Squinting, Madoc leaned in closer to inspect the ring. Surely there was no way this could be true! A ring could not speak! And if it could, this was no ordinary ring. But in his situation, being lost in a cave, the only light source emanating from this very ring, he had little choice. He picked up the ring and slipped it on, hoping that it's light would lead him from the cave.

But the ring had spoken true because as soon as the ring settled on his finger, he dropped dead, the ring flying from his finger to rest beside him. 

****

Sometime later, Madoc's brother, Men, arrived in the cave, as he was also lost. He saw the ring glowing in the darkness and, following the same train of thought as his brother, stooped to pick up the ring, hoping it would lead him to his brothers and out of the cave. His hand reached out, but before he could touch the ring, the same voice resonated through the cave.

"Do not pick up this ring. If you don this ring without first answering my question, you will not survive."

At the sound of the voice, Men retracted his hand in surprise, but upon hearing the voice's warning, he scoffed. Rings could not speak. This was obviously a trick or perhaps someone did not want him to escape this cave, for he had many enemies. He reached out again, his hand enclosing itself around the ring. He placed the ring on his finger, and just as it settled, he caught sight of his brother and knew this was no trick. He died immediately, ring falling back into it's original position in the middle of the cave.

****

Finally, Raryn arrived in the chamber in which he had heard his brothers' cries. He saw the ring in the middle of the cavern and stooped to inspect it, just as his brothers had done. He heard the same, ominous voice repeat the same message. 

"Do not pick up this ring. If you don this ring without first answering my question, you will not survive."

Unlike his brothers, he was wary. Squinting into the darkness, he noticed the bodies of his two brothers. 

"Who is it that demands answers," he called into the darkness. "I will provide what answers I can, but I must know who asks this of me and who claimed my brothers' lives." 

Where once there was only a ring, there now stood a wizened old man. He stood tall and proud, strong despite his obvious age. "I am Dharma. Answer my question and I shall give you whatever you wish."

Raryn inspected the figure, trying to decipher his purpose, but he could not find one. "Okay, I accept your offer, Dharma. What is it that you would ask me?"

"What strengthens with age and gives man power over another?' the figure asked.

Raryn thought for a moment and, considering what he knew of Dharma, only one word came to mind. "Wisdom," he replied.

The figure smiled and spread his arms wide and the cavern was illuminated. "That is correct, what would you ask of me?"

"I would ask that my brothers were give life again and," Raryn thought of their enemies and of their banishment before finishing, "And I would ask that we be unrecognizable to those who look upon us."

Dharma nodded, "It is done."

As Raryn watched, his brothers gasped in a breath simultaneously and began struggling to their feet. He turned back to Dharma, but he was gone. 

Ring photo taken by bandita found on Flickr

Author's Notes

I was having a hard time with this storytelling post because the creative juices just weren't flowing, but then I read back over my notes from the readings this week and saw the story of the riddles and immediately thought of the Hobbit. I kind of crossed the two worlds together and put the characters from the Mahabharata into the setting of Middle Earth and changed the pond to a ring that would help them escape the cave. Madoc is meant to be Arjuna, Men is meant to be Bhima, and Raryn is Yudhishthira. I put their names in this Middle-Earth name generator thing so I could come up with creative names to fit the setting. I did not change Dharma's name because I thought it was too important for the story and I wanted to keep the god connotation that accompanies his name. I also had a hard time coming up with a riddle, so I just decided on a very simple question who's answer in this context is wisdom, which seemed fitting.