Peapod - Synopsis
STORY OUTLINE
PEAPOD GREENEARS is a tiny, skinny seventeen year old green-skinned fellow with a flattish, oval shaped head, cropped light-green hair, bright black almond shaped eyes and a button nose. His limbs are long, he an expert rider of awkward shaped insects and a nimble climber of slender plants. A permanently cheeky expression seems to have been etched into his face.
His adventures with Bozadir took him to Vespula, a vast wasp nest and the capital city of Norg. Peapod had coloured his face red as a disguise and during the battle that raged in the Great Hall while Bozadir fought to rescue Egrelda…
Peapod saw a young Green girl cowering in the corner, trembling like a leaf in the wind. He rushed to her. She flinched and screamed.
He realised he must look like a Red and threw back his hood. ‘I’m Peapod,’ he said.
She grinned. ‘Peapod Greenears?’
No, just plain Peapod.’
‘I’m Sundew.’
They forgot the carnage around them and starred deeply into each other’s eyes. It was love at first sight.
Peapod grabbed Sundew’s hand and pulled her along behind him, dodging the fighting warriors. A Limorian rider suddenly hovered alongside and beckoned them to climb aboard his dragon.
After his heroic exploits with Bozadir he has been rewarded with the chance to realise his ambition to become a warrior. But training has been tougher than he thought under the harsh regime of Cowdar the Grey. Apart from that, he has not grown an inch or put on an ounce of muscle since his return. Nor can he muster any of the aggression essential for such a brutal profession. On the plus side, he has married his beloved Sundew but she hates his chosen career and his continual battering sessions from Cowdar earns him no sympathy whatsoever.
STORY OUTLINE
Winter grips the medieval countryside and Peapod Greenears nears the end of his gruelling warrior-training period, but things are going badly. COWDAR THE GREY, his brutal instructor, despairs of him and knows he will never make the grade. But to find out how badly things are faring we must venture into the underground caverns of Dwale’s winter palace.
Young Peapod Greenears had unwittingly accompanied Lord Bozadir on his Great Quest to Norg and was astonished to have been hailed a famous hero upon his return to Dwale. Though to see him now, flying backwards though the air, arms and legs flailing like the limbs of a drunken spider, you would have been forgiven for mistaking him for someone of lower eminence and considerably less heroism.
‘Oomph!’ He hit the ground with a thud and the wind was forced out of his skinny chest. He rolled onto his side. A sharp pain shot through his shield-arm. ‘Ah!’ The yelp echoed around the inside of his great-helm and set his ears ringing.
Peapod had lost count of how many times he and his smelly war-beetle had parted company since dawn and he was getting pretty fed up with it. He was also becoming more and more infuriated with himself for his failings. He knew a good many curses and wanted to vent his frustration but lacked the breath to do so. He could do no more than lay where he had fallen, spread-eagled and gulping for air like a landed stickleback.
It was not long before the pungent stench of war-beetle wafted into his helm and announced the arrival of his tormentor. Peapod twisted his pounding head and peered through the narrow eye slit. He saw a huge, hooked beetle's claw pawing the ground beside him. He raised his eyes. Above its spiky knee joint hung the shimmering fringe of a yellow caparison. Further up he saw a blue worm-skin boot tapping impatiently in a stirrup. Then he heard the familiar rebuke and his heart sank.
‘I despair of you, boy, I really do.’
Cowdar’s words also reflect the strong views of Peapod’s wife, SUNDEW. She hates the whole warrior business and eventually, after bullying, threats and gentle persuasion he promises to give up his ambition before Cowdar smashes him to a pulp. He reluctantly takes up inventing things instead, something he is gifted with.
Meanwhile, many miles east of Dwale, across Great River in the land of HAGRATH, the spider GRAZOG sleeps in a cave near his hairy queen, ARANEA, together with a gang of mercenary spiders known as the RACKNIDS. He dreams of spring, full webs and succulent victims, not excluding the folk of that land.
And things are happening to the south of Dwale as well, in the land of Morch-Dewn. BURDOCK, the pompous Commissioner of Dandelion Forests arrives at the capital city of Laphelle to deliver catastrophic news to the Council. The precious dandelion forests, upon which the folk of Morch-Dewn rely for their wealth and livelihoods, are under threat of destruction and Burdock does not know what to do about it. The council do not have an answer either, but Chief Councillor HAWKBIT tells Burdock that a fellow on Dwale by the name of Peapod Greenears may well possess something unique, the only thing that could possibly save the forests.
Burdock sets off to find Peapod, escorted by a company of warriors led by NORI EFFELSON and FINN HALBARD. A mutual hatred quickly develops. GRIFF GARDOR meets them at Green Towers and says that a sea voyage on to Dwale is impossible. Fortunately, GORION LEAFSHIELD, one of Bozadir’s flamboyant warrior companions, is also itching to return. Gorion possesses a bow that can fire arrows to any destination he names. He sends a message requesting dragonfly mounts.
Bozadir is quietly relieved when Peapod requests his release from warrior training but reminds him that he will still be expected to continue his squire duties, which cheers Peapod somewhat. Coincidentally, Peapod and Sundew receive a message from Bozadir that same day requesting their attendance during a banquet that evening to welcome the Forest Commissioner Burdock of Morch-Dewn.
During the banquet Burdock tells Bozadir about an invasion of Thrips that threatens to destroy the dandelion forests if they are not got rid of quickly.
Thrips?’ said Bozadir. ‘I am not familiar with that name.’
‘Thunder-bugs, thunder-flies, call them what you will,’ said Burdock.
‘Ah.’ Bozadir knew what parasitic thunder-bugs were.
‘We must get rid of them before spring, Lord,’ Burdock continued.
Burdock is shocked to learn that the simple squire’s name is Peapod Greenears, allegedly the great hero of Dwale he is seeking. Peapod is equally mortified when Burdock connects him with the Thrips invasion and almost passes out.
Bozadir and Egrelda, together with Peapod and Sundew go to an ante-chamber where Burdock proposes various ways of getting rid of the Thrips. He finally suggests that someone could ask them to leave and accuses Peapod of being able to talk to insects! Ridiculous, they protest! But Burdock is relentless.
He took a deep, shuddering breath. ‘Sundew gave me a necklace, Mister Bozadir,’ he confessed. ‘If I wear it I can understand what insects are saying and they can understand me, but I’ve not worn it for ages. I don’t even know where it is.’
Burdock bent over Peapod threateningly, clasping and unclasping his huge fists. ‘Well, you had better scuttle off and find it, little fellow!’ he bellowed. ‘You’ll not persuade the Thrips to leave my forests otherwise!’
LORD THORNSHIELD OF ROLURE, Hagrath’s capital city, leads an attack to clear Grazog and the Racknids out of their cave. The attack has been ordered by HIGH LORD RAGSEED but goes disastrously wrong. Grazog wins the day but his cave is badly burned and he has lost many Racknids. He swears to take revenge on the citizens of Rolure and sends GRIZELGRIP, his trusty captain, off in search of new cave, close enough to the city to launch a spring attack. He also hired a band of wolf spiders under the command of LYCOS to help in the spring offensive against Rolure.
Bozadir agrees that the Thrips invasion must be dealt with as a matter of great urgency and that Peapod is the only one who stands a chance of success. Sundew refuses to let him go without her. Bozadir selects the mission party, led by Burdock, together with the warriors Nori Effelson and Finn Halbard. Peapod’s best friend BISTORT DEADNETTLE, an insect boffin, will go along as an advisor. TANTRID AROFELL, an enigmatic, ruthless warrior will be the protector of the young Dwalians. The party set sail for Laphelle, the main city of Morch-Dewn, in THE LACEWING, captained by GURBAN BARR.
The Lady Egronia of Laphelle is sixteen, gorgeous, scatterbrained and impulsive. She shares a suite of rooms with DAISY, her long-suffering maid and BUBBLES, her pet green aphid. Her latest paramour is, GERIC ODWIN, a handsome young warrior. The Thrips invasion has been kept a secret to avoid panic and Geric believes he about to leave on a routine patrol of the dandelion forests.
The Lacewing runs into a snowstorm during the second day of its voyage to Laphelle and is blown way off course. It is stranded on rocks and attacked by a coastal Warlord. Peapod, Burdock, Nori Effelson and Gurban Barr are taken hostage, all the others are feared dead. Peapod is sick with anguish by the loss of Sundew. LORD THORNSHIELD arrives at the Warlord’s stronghold and takes the hostages to Rolure on the orders of RAGSEED, the High Lord of Hagrath. Thornshield advises Peapod to say he is a prince when his ransom is set, which he does. Gurban Barr says he is merely a sailor and is dragged off to the LITHO pit. (Litho are centipedes)
Unknown to Peapod, Sundew, Tantrid Arofell and Bistort Deadnettle escaped the massacre and are drifting on a makeshift raft. When they recover from their ordeal they land and make their way back up the coast to where The Lacewing still burns and search for Peapod, who Tantrid believes is still alive. A captured beetle carries them with all haste.
Burdock has already arranged payment of his own ransom and gloats over Peapod’s predicament. He desperately needs the acclaim of being the saviour of the forests and to tries to take Peapod’s necklace by force, little knowing that Sundew has it anyway. He batters Nori senseless in the process.
Sundew, Bistort Deadnettle and Tantrid Arofell eventually reach the city of Rolure. Sundew’s sixth sense convinces her that Peapod is somewhere inside. They follow a long, ever deepening gully that ends with a huge circular grille in the city wall. Sundew opens the lock with a hairpin. There is a stench of Litho and Bistort warns against entering. The putrid tunnel leads to a large circular chamber. Bistort inadvertently attracts the attention of a huge Litho and they are attacked. Bistort shoots it with Gorion’s bow and Tantrid finishes it off. They emerge in the Litho pit where Gurban Bar is about to be sacrificed to the Litho culture. Peapod and the hostages are forced to be spectators.
TARRAGON, a blue-skinned warrior known to Peapod from Bozadir’s quest, appears to be insane and does not recognise him. Ragseed offers Tarragon his freedom if he kills Tantrid Arofell. It is a close fight which Tantrid wins. He spares Tarragon after Sundew’s pleading.
At that moment Lycos and his wolf spiders swarm into the city. Peapod and the mission party make their escape but run straight into Grazog when they reach the gully outside.
Geric Odwin can think of nothing but his reunion with Egronia. The patrol reaches Fort Saxum but it is eerily deserted. Further south they come across a grisly scene of scattered bones picked clean of all flesh. There is no doubt they have found Fort Saxum’s garrison. The patrol is for turning back but the captain only agrees to send two warriors to Laphelle and report their macabre discovery to Hawkbit. He selects the two youngest warriors, one of whom is Geric. But Geric refuses and Beaute Hornbow and Garth Cornspike go instead
Meanwhile, back outside Rolure,
When Grazog saw the pretty Green girly thing dashing out of the tunnel towards him he licked his lips in anticipation of a quick snack. But when the skinny little fellow hurtled after her, almost collided with him and gave an ear-splitting yelp he was taken completely by surprise, raised his forelegs defensively and drew back a step or eight.
He had become accustomed to tiny folk shrieking and bolting in the opposite direction as fast as their legs could carry them. It was somewhat disconcerting when they took it upon themselves to charge straight at him. He had never experienced such a thing and did not know what he was expected to do. All he could think of was to hiss, which he did, as loudly as he could. The pair of Greenies trembled and looked suitably terrified.
Sundew still has the necklace and Peapod tries to communicate with Grazog. It eventually works but scares Grazog off until his curiosity gets the better of him again. Peapod thinks it is a good time to depart. Grazog is wary of Tantrid Arofell and agrees. What could have been a deadly confrontation turns into a wary standoff.
The party is revolted to see hundreds of bundles wriggling in the webs. Peapod is horrified to learn that they contain the folk of Rolure and Grazog intends to eat them all. Then a pitiful voice begs Peapod for help. It is Thornshied. Peapod talks Grazog into sparing the Rolurians in return for a feast of Litho, the acclaim of saying that he was the one that killed them. Grazog agrees. Then Peapod convinces Grazog that there is a better feast to be had in Morch-Dewn – thousand upon thousands of Thrips. He tells Grazog that he will show him where they are if the Racknids give them a lift. Grazog agrees once again and the mission party sets off.
Lady Egronia learns about the Thrips invasion from Hawkbit. Fearful for Geric’s safety she slips out of Rolure that night and sets off to find him. Geric’s patrol has already been attacked by Thrips and he is the sole survivor.
Egronia is beginning to regret her impulsive decision to rush headlong in search of Geric. She meets the returning patrol warriors. They give her news of Geric and reluctantly tell her how to get to Fort Saxum and where to find the bones of its garrison. She eventually approaches the fort. It looks eerie and she is loath to enter. A dark, whirring cloud speeds towards her. She panics, urges the beetle through the gate. A tremendous blow knocks her to the ground and she remembers no more.
Peapod and his party eat with Hawkbit in Laphelle’s Great Hall and it becomes obvious that none gathered are aware of the catastrophic Thrips invasion. Burdock’s Chancellor, STONECROP, turns up and is amazed to see that his master has returned so quickly after handing over the ransom stones to a courier from Rolure. There was no need! Burdock cries before fainting from the shock. He is bankrupt and his world is crumbling around his ears. Hawkbit decides to let Peapod lead the mission into the forests.
Later that night Burdock is wide awake and plotting a diabolical revenge. He eventually sorts it out in his mind and a self-satisfied smile twists his fat lips. He leaves his chamber. A part of his plan offers itself immediately. Nori Effelson is leaning over the hall balcony smoking his herb pipe. The rushing river drowned his cries. Other vengeful deeds follow before Burdock leaves Laphelle with Stonecrop and Peapod’s necklace.
Lady Egronia comes round in Fort Saxum and cannot believe that Geric is with her. She is delighted when he produces Bubbles. She cuddles the aphid for comfort, making Geric jealous. All seems quiet outside and Geric visits the storehouse for provisions. Later that night the Thrips return.
When Beaute Hornbow and Garth Cornspike return to Laphelle they spread the catastrophic news about the Thrips invasion and an angry mob storms the Council Chamber demanding answers. The Council is in heated debate about what to do next. Councillor GROKEL bides his time before taking control, accusing Peapod and his party of treachery. The Councillors are out to save their own skins and insist that the Dwalians are arrested.
Peapod is oath bound to carry on with the mission, with or without his necklace, though success seems remote now that it has been stolen. Bistort offers a solution to the problem about communicating with Grazog, which works. They set off again with a new acquaintance, BILBERRY as a guide.
NOPTERA, the Lord of the Thrips, sits in the flower head of a dandelion tree and surveys his vast empire. FINBREY, his consort, is an ugly specimen never likely to win a beauty competition, but she is heavy with eggs and that is what her valuable existence is all about. Nothing must stand in the way of producing the next generations of Thrips and the lush dandelion forests are perfect for the job.
A sudden downpour of rain has ruined Peapod’s provisions and Bill advises a detour to Fort Saxum to replenish their dwindling supplies. The Thrips sense the approaching Racknids and make a hasty retreat. The party enter the deserted fort. When they investigate the gatehouse the door slams and is locked from the outside. Burdock yells that they can all rot in hell! Then they hear a scream, followed by a familiar slurping noise.
Bubbles the aphid scuttles from behind the pile of supplies in the corner of the gatehouse floor. Peapod discovers Lady Egronia and Geric Odwin bound and gagged.
Peapod’s mission is in ruins and Morch-Dewn was doomed. Escape from the strong gatehouse was impossible, despite Tantrid’s frantic attempts to hack down the door. Even if they did get out he had lost his magical necklace and communication with the Thrips would be impossible, though by Geric’s account of their ferocity it did not seem likely that he would be able to get close enough to talk anyway.
Had he been free to stand on the battlements of the stronghold he would have seen the huge black mass of Thrips in the distance, boring disease into the precious dandelions with their ovipositors, slowly killing the forests and laying thousands of eggs.
So near and yet so far! After all the trials and tribulations of the journey all seemed lost – or was it? He prided himself on being an inventor and the time had come to use his brain.