Scotties Toy Box

I am fortunate to have found the home of these wonderful tales.  I enjoy the characters and the style.  The people seem alive and the situations in the town seems real, with delicious twists.   Please dive in, enjoy, and should you wish to read more, Tallis does indeed have a blog which may be found at https://tallissteelyard.wordpress.com/   .   Hugs

The lamentable fate of Antorious Glone.

Some people are not the authors of their own misfortune, no matter what

gossips might infer. For a sad example of how one can fall, in spite of

their best efforts, I am indebted to Susan who reminded me of the poignant

tale of Antorious Glone.

Born of a good family, he received a reasonable education. Indeed in his

late teens he could have had his pick of any number of usurer’s offices; or

he would have been welcomed as a well bred asset in any lawyer’s

partnership.

Unfortunately he was an inherently decent person, and felt that this wasn’t

the life for him. His real craving was to be an actor. Obviously his family

put their foot down. Glones might marry chorus girls but they didn’t tread

the boards themselves. Not only that but his grandmother (who had been a

chorus girl,) was perceptive enough to realise that Antorious was not cut

out for the theatrical life. He rarely harboured a grudge and drank far too

little.

He might possibly have assuaged his urge to act with amateur dramatics. Here

again he was disqualified, predominantly by the fact that he was unmarried.

Apparently the majority of Port Naain’s amateur dramatic groups exist mainly

to provide their members opportunities for adultery. Who would have thought

it? It was therefore with a sinking heart that he contemplated his future.

It was purely by chance that he hit upon a possible profession. A young lady

of his acquaintance, having no beau of her own, and yet needing some male

companion to flaunt to an assembly of her peers, asked Antorious if he would

mind stepping up to the mark and assisting her in this matter. It was during

the evening that the answer came to him, and with the assistance of his

grateful female companion, he allowed word to spread that AG Associates

would provide a gentleman for escort purposes for an entirely reasonable

fee.

His business flourished. One elderly client would show him off as her

grandson, returned briefly to see her. Another lady needed a brother to

provide respectability and a chaperone when she attended the sick bed of her

lover. On one occasion he was paid to pester a young lady so that she could

beseech a specific young man to come to her aid.

With a wide variety of props, not merely clothes, but spectacles, false

moustaches and even temporarily applied sideburns of ridiculous bushiness,

Antorious could fill any role.

His business, already busy, really bloomed when they opened a trolley-way

extension. The trolley-way as such ran across Port Naain. A horse team would

pull a dray along a timber track, and such passengers as wished to travel

could do so in modest discomfort. Extending the trolley-way north took it

into countryside.

As usual there was the usual hysterical nonsense about advancing

technologies. Some wild-eyed loon from Klune appeared, ranting about boilers

and exploding steam. He was listened to with courtesy but managed to slip

away before he could be confined to the Lunatic Asylum. There was the usual

trickle of mages who promised to tow the trolley using captive demons or

golems. Bitter experience has taught the Council of Sinecurists that you can

take whatever sum these people quote, triple it, and that will probably

cover the damage they manage to inflict upon the city before you take the

project off them and just do it like we always do.

Still a longer journey and a more refined clientele demanded that

concessions be made to the comfort of the passengers. Thus the coach was

given a roof, seats and even windows that could be opened to allow both the

passage of air, and to allow those in need to expectorate through the gap.

The system worked well enough after a fashion, and in his various guises,

Antorious was a frequent traveller. Ladies wishing for an escort turned

immediately to him.

One client provided a new challenge. Apparently with the new mode of travel

came a new problem. Unaccompanied ladies were frequently engaged in

conversation by gentlemen. Now sometimes this was not a problem, if the

gentleman was courteous, interesting, good company and even prosperous, the

lady was willing to be distracted from her book. But not all men met these

high standards, and were generally considered a nuisance.

What made Antorious’s new commission such a challenge was the young lady in

question had travelled on the trolley-way a number of times, entirely

unaccompanied, and had not yet been approached in this manner. Indeed her

peers had noted this and had made cutting comments, insinuating that she was

so unattractive that nobody could be bothered making advances to her. So

Antorious was hired to make a nuisance of himself.

He set to work with a will, and the young lady appeared quite gratified by

his efforts, keeping her face grim and holding herself as the very model of

maidenly decorum.

Unfortunately among the other passengers on the train were a group of young

women (some might have called them girls) who watched Antorious’s

performance with considerable distaste. Then one of them, the younger sister

of a lady with whom Antorious was ‘walking out’ recognised him. Angry at

what she saw as his betrayal she led her comrades in the assault, as a

result of which Antorious, battered and bruised, was ejected via the window.

This, and the various ramifications and repercussions, broke him. He fled

south, joined the following of one of the local warlords and died in the

storming of Broken Keep.

His sole memorial is a small plaque on the trolley, which says simply,

‘Gentlemen are advised not to travel unaccompanied.’

*****

Should you wish to read more, Tallis does indeed have a blog which may be

found at

https://tallissteelyard.wordpress.com/

Also a collection of his various tales is even available for the discerning

to purchase in an ebook. It is available at

https://www.amazon.com/Tallis-Steelyard-shower-other-stories-ebook/dp/B01MRQFSGF/