This story is a sequel to Treasures
In the wild land of Corva, an ancient cairn lies open, with great and unknown treasures undoubtedly lying within. It will take Equestria's most intrepid adventurer-archaeologists to venture forth and join the corvids on the delve within.
'Intrepid' ought to be Daring Do's middle name.
So what if she's eleven, and Corva's on the other side of the world? Any would-be author needs to go on great journeys and explore perilous places. Besides, there's no way this could be as dangerous as her last adventure.
Cover art commissioned from lilfunkman. Proofread by Cursori, Infernus Noctis, and MrNumbers.
Chapters (4)
I do wonder what she thought of Rainbow Dash after the less-than-ideal first impression.
Dare I even ask what Twilight and company got up to?
Nothing to do with the hominids, I'm sure. Just ignore those lovingly gilded identity matrices along the walls...
I imagine she has it down to a form letter. "Please forgive (name) for defiling your culture/annihilating historical landmarks/overloading priceless artifacts (circle whichever apply/ies)"
"Only the best habits."
No, that's why she takes on personal students.
With a punchline like that, I would've expected Gothic to have a brother named Modern Sensibility.
Subtle little jab to the heart there.
Which, you know, may be the case here. Daring's bound to stumble on something that doesn't have to be immediately classified eventually.
No, now she'll unveil a whole bevy of exciting new forms of silly stuff.
Eagerly looking forward to more young Daring. I'm sure this will be one to remember. I just hope it won't be entirely for the wrong reasons.
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Monarchy and the closest-possible access to the ear of said monarch seems fitting, and lo and behold. Though perhaps there were a few off-screen conversations to the effect of "And you're sure our system of peerage doesn't go any higher than Grand Marquess?"
"In our defence, it was world-saving/educational/hilarious."
Got to get in these wee pokes to the heartstrings. It can't all be non-stop hilarity. I'm not sure why, precisely, but it can't for reasons.
Hope more of young Daring delights! I'm sure it'll all be civilised and memorable for all the right reasons, if we're lucky.
The more we learn about Corvid physiology the less sense their proclivity for firearms seems to make.
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Anyone in this setting who make a study of physiology, or wider biology, or for that matter, any scientific field at all, tends to find themselves driven to drink. It's one of these inexplicable things.
The corvids have ways and means of using their boom-sticks. Said ways and means rest entirely on my own shoogly knowledge of physiology.
Now that is the kind of quality punning one can only get from proper horse words. Bravo, good sir!
Lots of heart-warming (and occasional -rending) bits here. Looking forward to the inevitable fireworks.
Which, come to think of it, may well be a corvish invention.
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Glad to mix in dreadful punning alongside the heart-warming and heart-rending! I poached the structure of that particular one straight from a Wodehouse book (and he in turn possibly poached it from elsewhere, which makes it okay, honest), but horse names gave it that little extra horrible potential.
Ah, this will be interesting. I've wanted to see more of Corva for a while now, and this promises to be an entertaining trip.
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Hope it entertains! I've always been keen for an excuse to show off more of Corva, and this should do the trick.
Great to see more adorable Daring, but I'm really looking forward to this new side of the Corva.
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Happy to inflict more of Corva and wee Daring on the world. The former's always fun to shed a wee bit more light on, and the latter should do a decent job of blundering across the former.
And got to this at last, and quite unsurprisingly enjoying it! :)
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Glad you're liking it! More should manifest before too long.
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Thanks for writing. :)
Out of curiosity, is anypony going to ask about the bard's name?
"I'd hae thought ye'd ken that already, having twice as many o' yer ain. What's a gamfer? Fer walking."
Aww, she's not as small as she used to be; our Daring Do's growing up.
Hmm. A souvenir from one of those Saddle Arabian expeditions where less adventurer-archaeologist came back?
Ah yes, the eleven year old looking back at the childishness of their eight and a half year old self and marvelling at how much more mature they are now.
I really like that you used the same phrasing in both stories' blurbs. Really highlights how she's still thinking much the same as she was back in Treasures.
There's something about your writing that just throws off sparks in my mind.
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Absolutely. Less of the adventurer-archaeologist, even.
She's a wise old veteran now. Not a single reckless decision forthcoming. Honest.
Glad to have you reading this too, and also glad to help throw off sparks! Feel free to share said sparks whenever they arise.
I just recently finished Treasures, and quickly picked up this sequel. These stories have been a delight to read. I love how you have most (if not all) of your stories interconnect that make for a cohesive world and its myriad histories/lore/mythos. I look forward to seeing what hijinks young miss Do gets into next.
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Glad you liked Treasures - I'd be keen to ken how it struck your fancy - and glad to have you aboard for this one too!
This one should be especially fun to write, since it'll give me a chance to flesh out another part of the overall, interconnected setting that I've not yet delved too deeply into. Wee Daring and her escapades should make for a decent pair of eyes to see it from.
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It's difficult to put into words, as I am first off a fairly easy to please reader so I am not exactly an expert on stylistic critique or anything. I have read a rather large amount of fanfictions in the 3-ish years since I discovered this fandom, plenty of adventures, plenty of youthful hijinks, and much more besides. I think it's the mix of youthful belligerence and impetuousness that is young miss Do, alongside how your story is neither a firmly straight up adventure, a warm fuzzy heartwarming story, nor a personal tragedy, but rather a potent cocktail of all of these things and more. I particularly enjoyed the bits and pieces of world building done with pre-existing characters like that bit about Miss Cheerilee being related to Mayor Mare. I also like how you leave Antlertis as a legend, it's clear something happened but just as with real life archaeology we'll never know for sure what, the stories of our forefathers forefathers is lost to time. We'll never know the names or fortunes of the farmers who tilled the land so that the kings and emperors who we do know of were able to do the deeds that they did.
Still a small curious and selfish part of me wants to know the who's and the how's and the why's of the deep past.
Perhaps one day, their Royal Majesties Princesses Celestia and Luna will deign to write down the precise histories of Equestria and beyond if nothing more than to ensure that the mistakes of the ancient past are not forgotten nor repeated. The immense danger of unbridled curiosity, hubris, etc.
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Much obliged for your words! I was keen to write an adventure with a bit of emotional heft to it, and that bonny description of the cocktail makes it sound like that was a success. Wee Daring made a fun protagonist to write for - that youthful impetuousness you mentioned makes a great match for adventure stories.
I wrote a world-building blog about Antlertis at one point, which goes into a wee bit more detail about who the Antlerteans were and what happened to them, if you're keen to see some of the mystery unveiled. If you prefer your mysteries with a touch of veil, it's easily skippable.
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I actually read that blog post, but it would be fun to have a story that gave us a more up close and personal view of what mysteries the veil of time has concealed. The Princesses while maybe not gods persay have lived long and storied lives, a very good first-hoof resource as it were. I might suggest Discord as well if it wasn't for the fear that he might take the suggestion of a front row seat to history a mite too literally.
I'm liking this story already and I'm eager to see what mysteries lie in the ancient cairn. I wouldn't be surprised if there are still some intact guards inside it.
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Glad you're already liking it! The cairn's certainly going to have a few age-old mysteries in it, some of which may have opinions on the matter of their unearthing.
Sweet, more Palaverse! Better yet, we're going to Corva! It's really too bad that the Corvan expat clans who live in Equestria are in Seaddle and Vanhoofer way out on the west coast. It'd be nice if an Equestrian corvid or two could come along to act as translators for the times when Corvan blethering's just a little too thick for Gallivant and Daring to understand. I'm also curious to see how a Blue/Steller's jay would be treated by Corvans who didn't "experiment" with adding thunderbird traits to their gene pool.
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Glad to have you aboard for this foray into Corva! It should be relevant-ish to your interests.
No promises that corvid expats will make much of an appearance, alas, but there'll be a jay or two to enliven proceedings. I've tried to tone down the corvid dialect a smidge to make it decipherable for Daring/Gallivant/
readers. I'll inevitably be a dreadful judge of what's decipherable.Is this a new series? I absolutely love your world and I can't wait for more from it
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Part of a series! A sequel to Treasures. Glad you like the world, and I'll have more of it published soon.
That window had always been cracked. That was Daring's story and she was sticking to it.
That's certainly one way to describe them.
Reminds me of one of my sister's tattoos, two runes of protection. No matter how many times she's broken, sprained, or dislocated something, that particular stretch of skin has come out just fine. (And our mother didn't even make her get rid of it, and if that's not proof of magic existing in our world, I don't know what is!)
Some years later, Princess Luna refused to comment on the significance of Nightmare Moon's presence in dreams over the centuries.
Lovely touch. Being in the same country is by no means a guarantee of being the same culture. But only those close enough to appreciate the distinction is going to know the specific differences.
Goodness. Sailing must be an especially frightful task for the larger species. Though at least elephants have some ability to swim. Rhinos... Yeah, I don't see that ending well.
Ah. A different sort of ancient myth, that one.
Satisfying sapient values through science and donkeys.
Ah, the litany of the earth pony aloft.
Well, depending on how you interpret her collaboration with Caballeron...
One of Literal Minded's?
That warning sign is magnificent on several levels.
Ah. I should've figured a bard would encourage Daring's narrative tendencies.
As damning a condemnation as there ever was.
I don't suppose there are any sapient pear trees in Asincittà?
A fantastic travelogue seen through young eyes. Daring's horizons are definitely getting expanded... and not always in friendly directions. It's a sad truth of the world, and this is one of the kinder ways to be introduced to it. In any case, eagerly looking forward to seeing what awaits them in and around the cairn.
I like this chapter . The descriptions were enjoyable and I liked the description of the donkey airport and how creatures are still wary of the corvids.
On a different note I was wondering if Ahuizotl is an Antlertian creation like Discord and Tirek.
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The trick to being a successful tattooist is to keep what the tattoos exactly protect very much in the small print.
Quite a few regional and cultural differences throughout Corva. It's only been a vaguely-unified country under one ruler a single-digit number of times in all its history for good reason.
"And they wonder why I keep at leg's-length from the fanfiction side of things," Daring Do muttered to herself in a dingy bar. "Barkeep? Keep the whisky flowing. There's a thought that needs blotted into non-existence."
Plenty of variably-fun cultural entanglements and cairn shenanigans forthcoming. Some of that unfriendliness might recede. Some of it might find new and unfortunate avenues. We'll see.
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Glad you liked it! Giving a wee bit more insight on the wider world via the aeroport was fun to write about. It's nice to give the ground view of the setting whenever the chance arises, rather than just the bewildered takes of its high heid yins.
That's the notion I'm rolling with. The Tenochtitlan Basin was as fair game for Antlertean colonisation as anywhere, after all, and some Mage-Lord must have have a lot of treasures they were keen to keep protected.
Another splendid chapter of our wee adventurer's new story, with some lovely cultural, personal, and other suchlike details scattered about. :)
Silly Daring. The corvish friends are sure to be among the most exciting things about this adventure!
On which Fleur takes her solo cruises when she needs to get away from it all for a while.
It only occurred to me just now, all these years later, that you missed the opportunity to name it Pachystan.
And apparently rhinos are known for their golems. Neat!
Asincíta is a visual treat all-around. Lots of great images like this one.
I am sensing an homage to the Culture. Also, all these names are lovely.
The sign for the bow deck was choice. Unspecified idiocy, indeed.
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Glad you like it! Sprinkling in all these wee details was a joy.
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...
...oh, god damn me.
Seeding the aeroport scene with wee details like that one was great fun. I've often just written about the setting's rulers reacting to events, and an excuse to depict what a slice of everyday life might just look like was deid welcome.
Glad you approve, and that you got it! Donkey name-givers would generally get along with the Culture like a house on fire, but that name in particular was an overt shout-out.
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Nice to hear it was such a joy on your end too. :)
Oh, there are definite shades of the Culture here.
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Definitely. I stole his notes for the donkey approach to ship-naming a while back. An outright gravitas reference seemed only fitting.
That was a lot of travel. Please take it as a compliment that, as someone who doesn't particularly enjoy airports, this kinda stressed me out
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Folk who take their porridge sweet confuse and unnerve me. Gamfer's setting a great moral example right there.
Compliment accepted! It's nice (or some other word, maybe) to be able to convey that hurry-up-and-wait-amidst-teeming-crowds aspect of the airport experience. At least the destination should make it all worth it.
And so our antagonist is introduced. Any bets on how he’ll meet his defeat?
I have 5 bits on getting his face melted off Ark of the Covenant style.
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It's not a proper adventure story until at least one antagonist's met an unnecessarily nightmarish end.
Don't worry, this'll be a proper adventure. No promises on whether the antagonist's yet shown their (meltable) face or not, though.
This is another good chapter and I think that clan Scarrach will be trying to cause or perhaps steal something form the cairn. I also like Daring's observations about her surroundings.
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Glad you like it! Clan Scarrach and Cranreuch definitely have designs on the Howe. Let's see how they pan out.
I adore these corbies! The curious busybodies.
No locks, huh? Are they just a high-trust society, or is their concept of ownership and property different from ours?
And somecrow is a bit sensitive about their possibly gimpy wing...
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For wee and insular clans like Glimrovoe, definitely high-trust (with accompanying high-familiarity and high-gossip), with a plentiful dash of communal ownership. The bard probably won't own anything you don't save for the tools of his trade, and whatever's earned or reaped will go towards sustaining yourself and your neighbours. For larger clans, things can differ.
Skyare'll have a bit more to say for himself and that subject in chapters to come.
Oh dear. I recognize that name from your worldbuilding posts...
Looking forward to seeing where this is going!
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Oh yes. The Eighth wasn't always the Eighth. She had her younger, less experienced days, and here they are. Glad you're looking forward to the rest!
"“Called herself Cranreuch.”"
[has a hunch and/or spark of memory and checks]
...Yeeep. Well, Daring, if you make a good impression, you might be well-placed for work in Corva a ways down the line, should such arise...
"she released she couldn’t make out any trees"
"she realised she couldn’t make out any trees"?
"Tirla sent a cold look in the direction of the generous advice-bestower and he and all of his compatriots hushed"
How were they able to see the look with the doors closed?
"and Daring glanced suspiciously in their direction. When she couldn’t find the culprits"
...Were the doors, in fact, meant to be left open, rather than explicitly closed? Or am I missing something?
Another chapter with multiple facets of loveliness. :)
Thanks for writing!
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Yeah, after seeing their interactions, I think Daring and Cranreuch hitting it off, is, uh... not terribly likely.
(Though I suppose a twist is possible.)
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Corrections made and front door retconned to be open. Much obliged for noticing these.
And yep, that's the Cranreuch. Early days for her yet. Job offers for Daring down the line might be a bit thin on the ground, I'll say that much.
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Thanks. :)
Not too surprising, but I'm interested to see the particular way it turns out here. :)
Daring would not discover the concept of "poker wings" for several more years.
The last words of many corvids, I'm sure.
I'm sure that won't come up again.
As far as three-word phrases to dread go, "kraken mating season" seems very high on the list.
Some absolutely gorgeous scene-setting as they come into Glimrovoe.
Celestia would approve.
Oh dear. That last bit may be up to a dangerous amount of interpretation.
Gallivant recognizes a dramatic rival when he sees one.
Quite the introduction to the locals. I get the feeling they'll be asking about the big cuddie's curious lack of wings plenty of times in the future. Looking forward to the delving, and any complications that may arise in the process.
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"I'm just saying, whit's grasping the bow arc and whit's grasping the string? The pointy ones, the unicorns, I can understand how they're doing it but whit's the deal wi' pegasi and earth ponies? There's physiological and anatomical issues here. There's issues o' basic physics."
"Aye, 'cause us wielding gonnes wi' oor claws leaves us so well-placed to cast the first stane on that front."
"Dinnae digress. Maybe they have special grips wi' sockets they screw ontae their hooves?"
"Ye ken, the time ye spend dribbling on is time ye could alternatively spend shooting at them wiGLARK"
"Here, stop bleeding for a sec and make yourself a target again. I almost caught sight of how they did that."
Much obliged! I credit the landscapes of Orkney and the Western Isles. I'm welding together bits from their geography for Glimrovoe, and then trying my best to do them justice in print.
Say what you will about the discussions had near the end of the chapter, they're not wrong about there being an eventual Eighth in Scarrach.
Seasoned adventurer-archaeologists just cultivate this sense. Whenever Gallivant sees a chandelier in a raucous tavern, he itches to start swinging from it as well.