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Stories

Below, a collection of poems, parables, and short stories based on the people Sage meets in his travels. So much as hint that you are willing to listen, and he will drop everything that he is doing to recount them.
_{Last updated: April 28th, 2025}

"The Jack"
In the prairie, by the pools, there were critters aplenty! There were foxes and deer, badgers and boars, slippery stoats, and wise old turtles. And, of course, there was the rabbit; everyone knew him. He was energetic, always jumping around, and they called him ‘the Jack’.The Jack has a certain look about him. Fast and strong, charming, and always getting into trouble. These were his knacks, and every chance he got, he’d try to use them for others’ sake. He did all sorts of good things:He helped a lost bird find her mother,He fought a scary wolf,And he was always kind to his friends, even though he only had a few.One day, when Jack was walking to the pools, he heard two geese gossipping: “There goes that Jack. He’s such a show-off, they say!” He was hurt. He felt his chest get warm, and his face, and his eyes. He wanted to turn to them and say, “Hey, I’m only helping people!” In the end, he couldn’t. So he just left.The Jack came down, as if falling from a great height of joy. He was so blue, that he turned right around and trudged right back home. As he was going, he saw his oldest neighbor, the tortoise. The tortoise saw him trudging and asked: “Something got you down, Jack?”“I spend all my time trying to help, but some people don’t seem to like me! I just want to be everyone’s friend. How can I get them to change their minds?”The tortoise took a long time to breathe in, and breathe out. His squinty eyes looked at the Jack. He smiled a big, old-man smile. “Maybe you can’t. But maybe you can. Have you tried talking with them, asking them how they feel, and telling them how you feel?”Jack hadn’t tried that. Back then, he couldn’t say a thing. And if he could have, he wouldn’t have wanted to ask what they were feeling, let alone say how he was feeling. That sounded embarrassing. Besides, they were wrong about him! And they were being rude!“Why should I have to be the one to talk about my feelings? Shouldn’t they ask before they start saying things about me?”“Yes, they should,” the tortoise agreed. “But since they have not, it will have to be you. They only think wrongly of you because they do not know you. Tell them why you do what you do, and keep on doing it, and they will come around.”The jack didn’t know why the tortoise sounded so sure, but he did want to stop feeling embarrassed. He agreed, and went to speak to the geese.“Oh my!” said one. “I had it all wrong, I feel terrible!”“Oh no!” said the other. “I meant no harm by it, I’m sorry I upset you.”The geese led the way to the pools, and helped introduce Jack to all the other animals in the prairie. They all treated him kindly, and celebrated all the good deeds he did. And before long, everyone was his friend. The pain in his chest went away, and they all lived happily ever after.

"The Coffin March"
Lost to his demons,
With his coffin on his back;
Will any mourn his loss?

"Virtue's Last Reward, Song I"
Once upon a time, there was a girl. She lived where everyone lived, high above the wild floor, where countless stout pillars like beautiful prison bars gave way to a mesh of leaves and criss-crossed limbs that shielded most of the sky from view, and a maze of bridges strung between every person who mattered. This was her world, and she in it was its most promising, most devout scion. For when she was born, the forest itself had sent a messenger to tuck a mark of wisdom beneath her cradle.With the blessing of wisdom, her feet seemed always to find what the Forest intended. No path ended before she found some treasure or prized quarry or place of beauty. One day, her feet led her to a spring hidden deep along the untravelled paths. On its far edge, a visible font, bringing up cold, pure water from the deepest, loneliest reaches below the earth. But before her, a crystalline mirror that glowed with magic and power. And to her surprise, a fish swam there too: massive, and with calm eyes that made it look like an old man.“Drink,” a voice suggests. “And let your blessing be redoubled. Learn what we will teach you, and become what you were born to be.”The girl gathered water in the palms of her hands and peered into it. In her hand, there was no reflection. It wetted her skin and caused it to shimmer with light, and she thought she could feel her hand tingling. Excited by the promise of some greater virtue, and aware of fate’s heavy hand, she drank.In her mind, she saw the wisdom of ages. Destruction, decay, restoration, growth. Destruction, decay, restoration, growth. Again and again and again and again. In every cycle she witnessed, good people with stalwart hearts lived, loved, and came at last to ruin. In every cycle she witnessed, she saw the forest come back almost as it had been, but greater and stronger than before. Each time she thought surely now it shall be unbreakable. And then it would be broken again, only to rise slowly again.When she came to, the forest was not the same. She looked up, and saw the faultless row of trees near and distant, decades or centuries older than herself, and saw doomed creatures in them, balanced on a knife’s edge between existence and ruin. She looked down, and saw the earth she stood upon. She scooped up a handful of the loamy, rich soil and held the dust of a thousand years. Discarded vessels weathered by the turning of the world and the wheel of fortune.

"Love's Like Music"
Love’s like music,
Which is why you work so hard to feel it.
Every day, supporting those who have wrapped their lives around you
And every night, scraping the walls of your soul for a drop of something new and beautiful.Love’s like home,
Which is why you long to return to it.
When you’re in it, you can let your shoulders sink and breathe easy,
And once you’re out of it, you can see the marks it left on you, to be filled in with gold.Love’s like anything,
You want it more when you don’t have it.
Once you’ve got it, the search is over. Time to look back to the things you neglected
Once you’ve lost it, too much time for everything else, and a need that cannot wait ‘til tomorrow.One day, you’re gonna get it.
Then, you can have it all.

"The Flightless Falcon"
Once, the icy heights were yours.
You were their master, their unrivaled queen.
The sun’s splendor was the only warmth you needed.
But wounds and weariness forced you to land far from its glow.
Struck from the heavens, bound to the dull warmth of the earth.Your scars ache when you hobble over meadows.
Fearing one such as you soaring above, seeking sport.
Pain spreads from your wing, to your head, to your heart.
And there, it has no hope of healing.The sky becomes your cherished anguish.
The earth, your grave, and you: just waiting.Boldened by your hobbled wing
A chorus of songbirds land beside you.
Apparitions of their mockery and pity blind you,
And your bitterness grows like a cancer in your chest.In time, you cannot deny their friendship.
Their songs stick in your mind, even if they do not rise in your throat.
Now regret adds its weight to your wings,
And the nostalgia of flight turns sour
You deceive yourself, making peace that you shall never fly again.It is love that denies you now.“If you wait for your burdens to lift, you will never return to the sky,
And these lessons of pain will be the last you learn,” sings a sparrow one day.
“Let turmoil be your teacher, and in flight let the wind be your salve.
Let it be yours again, renewed with your hard-won wisdom,
And with it, peace, and warmth, and joyous purpose again."Unconvinced, you spread your wings.
Painlessly, they move, and instinct gives them purchase on the wind
On the highest winds you ride, while new joy flushes out old sorrows
You look down on the world and see the songbirds in the meadow
Not vulnerable, not pitious, not naive, but beloved and august.Come to know them fully,
And you will be as well.

Coming Soon: "Bitterhome"

Coming Soon: "Lonesome, Long Way Home"

Coming Soon: "Unto the Hereafter"

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RP Details

Name: Sage SelbuwesfvServer: Mateus, CrystalPreferred Roles: Friend, Helper, Adventuring Party Member, Spiritual Healer, Mentor, PhilosopherStyle: Short phrases and 1-paragraph conversational posts with imagery and insight interwoven. Won't shy away from dark subject matter, but not likely to participate in it.Availability: Always! If I am online, I am ready and raring to roleplay. Please feel absolutely free to /tell me if you're looking for someone to RP with and I will be there for it. Walk-Ups Very, Very Welcome any time I've got my RP tag on.

Sage's "Stats"

I prefer to let Sage's character design come across solely through RP, but... if you know, you know:

RP Hooks

- To those with heightened aethersense or spiritual awareness, Sage radiates a strongly Light-aspected Wind Aether. Some who stand near him may notice a vague whiff of something fresh and green riding a gentle breeze, though the sensation fades before it can be clearly perceived.- Sage has walked the glades of The Black Shroud for decades at least, so Gridanians or visitors to Gridania may have seen him or heard rumors of this aimless pilgrim before.- Those with spiritual afflictions or otherwise darkened hearts may feel tangibly threatened in his vicinity, despite his utter lack of evident power or armament.- Members of the Conjurer's Guild might know Sage as a Hearer who has since departed the order to pursue heterodox - if accepted - methods of practice.- Adventurers who began their careers in Gridania and sought the help of The Smiths may have met Sage, as he occasionally volunteers to train fledgling healers or support green parties on their maiden outings.- The man's sweet smile is an almost constant feature. Even complete strangers need never wonder if he would welcome a conversation.

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