The Uncommon Tales
Tales of the Jade King: Scroll One
Introduction
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Katharine's opening remarks…
Greetings, readership! Welcome to the first edition of Tales of the Jade King, the third installment in the Uncommon Tales series, and the first story that I—Katharine—have ever co-authored with another person here at FF.net. Yes, that's right, the magnificent TreeHugger is collaborating with me on this one! Woohoo! *Happy dances* Just in case anyone out there had any doubts, Tree is an absolutely outstanding lady, and I have been tremendously blessed to have gotten to know her during the course of this Tale's conception and crafting. Go you, melaglar nin! ^_^
A few notes at the outset…
First of all, this Tale is completely unrelated to the first two, so it isn't necessary to read the previous Tales in order to understand and appreciate this one. Second, this story takes place in the LOTR universe I formed for my other work in progress, The Weeping Wraith; that is, Legolas' family (except Thranduil, of course) is entirely of my making. As noted in the summary, however, Lady TreeHugger is co-writing this venture, and she is allowing me to borrow Tanglinna and the Tricksy Trio, so they will be woven into the TWW universe for the time being. ^_^
Also, the timeline for this Tale is somewhat unusual. I've been using the FOTR movie's age for Legolas, which placed him at 2,931 years old. That would put his birth at TA 87, according to the Tale of Years in Appendix B of the LOTR trilogy. Tales of the Jade King: Scroll One takes place in TA 113, which makes Legolas about 26 years old…the equivalent of about nine human years. Everyone may want to crack out the appropriate Appendix and check out what was going on at that time, because the world was quite a bit different then…
A few bits of forewarning: the partnership of TreeHugger and myself is likely to produce somewhat bipolar results. For instance, this edition of Tales of the Jade King is slated to contain alternating bouts of hysterical funniness and rending angst, as well as a good dose of unbelievable cuteness (á la Tree) and gut-ripping suspense (á la Katharine). Be aware that this Tale will include spells of battle violence, mild gore, and some fairly ugly torture; the rating might ascend from PG to PG-13 later on, depending on how nasty things get. Oy, and there will also be a Very Bad Man™. Flame him if you wish; Tree and I own him, and we will be happy to roast him over a cheery flame or two. *Sings* "Bad Man roasting over an open fire…readers laughing at his woes…" Ahem, sorry, got a little caught up there. Me being so Christmasy and all. ^_~
Oh, and both Tree and I very much enjoy reviews. They make us happy campers. ^_^ Feel free to address either one of us via the review board or via email; we will be responding individually to reader comments at the end of each chapter.
Finally, the standard disclaimer… neither one of us owns anything in Master Tolkien's universe, we're not making any money off of this work, and we promise to put all the toys back in the toybox when we're through making them miserable—uh, I mean, when we're done playing with them. Lawsuit notices, subpoenas, nasty emails, and other such rubbish will be given to Thundril the mini-Balrog for his kindling collection.
I think that's about all I can think of for now! Enjoy!
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TreeHugger's opening remarks…
Well, it looks like Kate covered just about everything and didn't leave me anything to talk about! She probably didn't want me to get a rampant case of Brethilitis. . . looks like she caught it instead. O_^ She is quite right about the bipolar relationship we have. She seems to glory in the pain, angst, blood, screams in the night. I like those too, I just do not want to be the one to write them! Well, yes, Bronadui, Brethil's Ada, was slated for slaughter before he jumped universes. Lucky me! I still didn't have to write it! Cute mischievous children are much more my style. Though with all the death, torture, and mayhem Kate has planned, *Tree groans and grasps her temples* the children are not going to be happy either. O.O, That little comma is a teardrop for the poor little Elflings (especially Legolas and Brethil), not a comma.
What more can I say? She has covered her *unusual* time frame, and the collaboration. She has covered the disclaimer and the mini-Balrog. She has even covered the Very Bad Man. I am betting it WILL be PG13 before *she* is done with it, if the Very Bad Man (VBM) has anything to say about it. . . and he does have a lot to say! Let me be the first to say it : "Poor Thranduil!"
We both sincerely hope that you like this tale. Now showing for your reading enjoyment – Tales of the Jade King: Scroll One.
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