Jaynie and the Downvote Dragon (Steemitbloggers Contest)

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a woman named Jaynie. She was the mayor of a small town called Teemitogger. The town was at the edge of a vast forest of trees, and most everyone in the town worked as a logger. Some would go out each day and take pictures of the trees, others would chop down the trees, and others still would make all sorts of interesting and beautiful things out of the trees. Over the years, word of the wonderful creations from this little village spread far and wide, and Jaynie was very proud of her loggers.

But all was not well in the town of Teemitogger. A terrible dragon was menacing the villagers, swooping by each day and snatching wonderful creations right out of the hands of the loggers. With morale dropping fast, Jaynie decided that something must be done. She called a town meeting to discuss the situation.

Her chief of police Raymond was the first to speak after Jaynie called the meeting to order.

“I propose that all able-bodied men and women of the town of Teemitogger band together into a squad and go attack the dragon! We will call it Squad Band Teemitogger!”

“What about Steemitbloggers, for short?” suggested newcomer to the village Janton.

“Excellent idea!” Raymond spoke.

“I have been working on a different plan,” the inventor Zord remarked. “I have been working on a new and powerful creation. It is a giant insect farm. I could make several of these, and the swarming scenery that appeared would confuse the dragon and maybe it would leave us alone!”

“Giant insect farms? I like it! Let’s call them GIFs for short,” the town’s resident novelist Byn suggested.

“Let’s be practical,” interjected the town’s judge Traci. “We’re trying to kill a dragon here, not rescue a princess from a castle. I like the posse suggestion that Raymond spoke of. GIFs seems like too much of a gimmick to me.”

“What if we outsource this quest to an outsider,” suggested the farmer Golden Dawn. “Maybe we could find some kind of monster that would fight the dragon in exchange for payment.”

“Monsters generally don’t accept payments for their services,” Zord replied.

“A cookiemonster does,” muttered Byn under her breath.

“What was that?” asked Jaynie. “Nevermind, let’s hear some more ideas, people!”

“Ooo ooo. I have an idea!” exclaimed Zen Art, the town’s spiritual counselor. “What if we go to the land of the Admins and ask them for a powerful weapon to slay the dragon? They have all kinds of magickey stuff over there!”

A hush fell over the room. To go to the land of the Admins was a long and dangerous journey, and there was no guarantee they would even receive an audience. A brave voice cut the silence a few moments later.

“I will go to Admin City,” came the resolute statement. Everyone turned to see who had volunteered for the quest. It was the man known only by his origin – the man from Denmark.

“Are you certain this is what you want, Denmark guy?” asked Jaynie.

“Yes. But I would prefer not to go alone,” answered the slightly accented sage.

“I have been your loyal follower since I moved here just a few short weeks ago,” piped Dollars A. Sense. “It would be an honor to join you on your quest.”

“Very well, but beware. You may not have enough power yet. Someone may need to delegate to you.”

“I will lend him some of my power,” offered Mila Oz, the richest merchant in town.

“I would like to go as well,” echoed Bengy, “if only to keep you company with my music along the way.”

More hands started to raise across the room. Soon it was clear that there was no shortage of help for this task.

“Thank you all,” replied Jaynie. “I will pick out some of the very best tools and armor that this town has made and will send you on your way with them” she said to the adventuring party.

The next day, the adventurers gathered at the village square. They said their goodbyes and set out for Admin City.

The first day passed without incident. They had reached the edge of a clearing along the side of the road. “Let’s stay here for the night,” Roger, the most well-traveled of the bunch, called out to the group.

While the party was sleeping, a goblin crept into the camp. It slowly wormed its way towards the fire where all the supplies were secured. It started to steal some of the treasures the group had brought on the quest in order to bring them back to his lair. Just then, a tiny creature radiating a soft glow appeared out of one of the bags. It was a fairy! “Help!” the fairy squealed.

Fiona was the first to bolt awake. “Favortia!” she called to the fairy, who happened to be her loyal traveling companion who never left her side.

The commotion startled the goblin, who quickly scampered away. The rest of the night was uneventful, and the group awoke the next morning to continue their journey.

However, the goblin had gone and told the dragon what had happened. The dragon was quick to deduce the goal of the group of traveling villagers. It decided to ambush the group before they could make it to Admin City. It flew over the forest ahead of the party and laid in wait on the other side of a hill. When the group of adventurers crested the top, they were staring into the face of the evil dragon.

“Curse you, dragon!” thundered the man from Denmark. “Although I swore to be a pacifist, my friends will slay you in this very spot if you do not stop stealing from us!”

“Allow me,” said the sorceress Traci, raising her wand towards the dragon. “This dragon is foolish. So far from its lair, its magic won’t protect it from our combined power.” She uttered a spell and then there was a giant cloud of smoke.

When the dust settled, the group could see only a short, pathetic looking creature hunched in the dirt. It looked around pleadingly with a very confused expression on its face.

“So now the world sees you as you truly are,” Raymond spoke. “A simple troll.”

The party cheered and hugged each other. They made the trip back to Teemitblogger that same day and were in the town hall celebrating together before midnight.

“How did you manage to defeat the dragon without the help of the great Admins?” asked Jaynie.

“It was easy,” offered someone from the team. “There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals.”

“Oh, right,” chuckled Jaynie. “I think I read that somewhere once.”

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