Traal Anno 2
So-o-o… I think this is my last bit of anapestic tetrameter for the series, a rhythm used (with minor variations) in “The Night After Axemas” and “How Bandit Stole Axemas,” in mimicry of The Night Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the latter of which also mimicked the former.
Nothing says more about Harky’s skill as a politician than the fact that he just…happens to have some Solates ore that will please the dwarves; presumably, he’d gathered it long, long before this and was just waiting for the best moment to present it.
Like Axemas, Traal follows the round-robin scheme of giving and receiving. That’s hardly necessary to the season, but it does make this celebration look a little less like a simple barter.
“Even goblins, a tribe better known for their thrift.” Heh, as I was reading, I was expecting that last word to be GRIFT.
“Handfuls of gold” sounded exceptionally generous, until I remembered how little that bought in a video game universe.
And at the same time, this makes the ‘Avians’ gifts of straw’ turn from mere dried grass into provision of a required and possibly slow-respawning crafting material