Ogre Trading Post Travel Fund
Donation protected
Bork the Ogre travels from market to market, trading his collection of wonderous objects, creating longlasting memories for his customers. A child might get a stuffed unicorn for a song. Literally. 
A tutu might be acquired for a rock, or a joke, or a no longer needed toy....Trading with an Ogre takes bravery, yes, but our Bork is a family ogre, and children love him.
Why a fundraiser? Well, getting places takes money! We would like you to help fund his travels so humans everywhere can partake of this wonderful entertainment, the Ogre Trading Post. Someday, we hope that Bork will be hired as the entertainment he is, rather than considered a vendor, since he makes no money doing this, but rather, spends his own! If we can raise $200 by April 9, we can get him and his family to the Faerie Faire in Baltimore, Md!
Here are the events where we would like to send the Ogre Trading Post in 2022:
April 9, 2022 Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Faerie Faire
June 4 & 5, 2022 Parkton, MD Royal Rabbit Fairy Market
September 2022, York PA: Enchanted Fairy Festival
Oct 29, 2022: Fairy Scary Witches & Warlocks Ball
We are so grateful for your support! The Ogrecart needs supplies, and fuel to feed the Beast of Burden that pulls the cart. "Beast of Burden?" you ask? Yes, here is
The Story of Bork, and How the Trading Post Came to Be
The Ogre known as Bork has had an interesting past. His mother was the most beautiful Ogre in all the Mountains. He never knew his father. Perhaps that’s why Bork was such a dandy. He wore three, sometimes four, articles of clothing at one time. He was smaller than most Ogres, and sometimes he would put on a hat and coat and lumber around the human towns, pretending. It became harder as he matured, and his horns grew in. But as a teen, in the twilight, he could get by, he could pass.
He loved to make trades with the human youth.
Being small for an Ogre (they grow normally to 9'), Bork was picked on through most of his youth. The term "Bully" translates to "Ogre in charge" in Ogrespeak. Eventually, after a huge fight with his family, (no details, it wasn't pretty) all of Ogredom learned that Bork was possibly the toughest Ogre living. This came as a shock to his entire village. As a means to prevent more fighting, the Bully sent Bork into the world(s), to explore and "acquire" more goods for the Ogres. It was a good idea to get rid of him, and Bork did love to collect things.
Bork started his journey. His romancing of the Sea-Witch, Kyáni, is a story told another day. Today’s story starts years later, well into their travels, as they went from village to village with their Pükka child, trading and living off the land.
As they traveled, they learned. The elders of most places feared Bork, but many of the children were braver, and more curious. Wary at first of the frightening Ogre, the children became quizzical as they saw no one being eaten outright, and some became friendly after a time. Kyáni had ways to calm the older folks, many of whom seemed likely to fight what they didn't understand. Their child Phoenix, a Pükka, had the ability to discern just what form to take for any group of folks, and delighted everyone with her form and kindly spirit.
During his travels Bork collected things, sometimes broken and sometimes not, all discarded, and piled them into his Ogrecart. He never took his cart into the villages. Sometimes they would meet a traveler and with Kyáni using her calming powers, Bork was able to make trades, which to him, was even more satisfying than collecting. Phoenix wanted to visit the villages, as she was a social child and, as one can imagine of a shape shifter, she fit in everywhere. Bork shied away from rolling into the villages, as his beast of burden frightened the Entomophobics, and the villagers were likely to think he was there to steal people for dinner. Bork wouldn’t. He knows inviting them is always easier. In the first human village Bork tried rolling into with his cart and his family, the villagers became…. agitated. It truly didn't help that the ever popular Phoenix had gotten to the village first and had led a small group of children in “follow the leader” - straight to Bork and his cart.
On one stop just outside a village, Phoenix and Kyáni went in to the village for provisions, and Bork poked around in the midden pile outside. A small child saw Bork and followed him back to his wagon. This curious little boy was in for a fright. No-one had ever seen an Ogrecart pulled by ...well, by anything like this gigantic horned beetle, Bork’s beast of burden.
The squeal that came from the child's throat was a cross between sheer terror (“that's a big bug!”) and absolute delight (“he really is that big!”). The squeal startled the bug, and after much confusion between a boy( trying to act brave, terrified, and delighted at once) AND a 7’ long rhino beetle trying to hide (not very successfully) in a tree, Bork managed to calm things down by smacking his special hammer, Thump, against a tree. This managed to startle the boy into quiet AND to knock the beetle out of the tree and onto its back.
The boy stared, wide-eyed, as the huge insect attempted to lever itself over with his horn, and Bork began the tedious task of picking up his belongings. Things were strewn EVERYWHERE! Bedding, clothing, and household accoutrements were in trees and tossed about. The Ogrecart, thankfully, seemed to be intact.
Drawing by Jack Goembel
The boy, out of habit one supposes, started helping pick up the mess. Bork was slightly amused. Never would an Ogre child have willingly helped pick up a mess EVEN had he created it, and Pükka children definitely won't. Once everything was in a pile, Bork walked to the upside down wagon, eyed it quizzically, and flipped it upright. The slack-jawed look on the boy's face made Bork smirk; he’d forgotten already that the boy was there. Bork started laughing, a full belly laugh, and turned to the boy, who was now cowering,
"You scare Skitter!” Bork admonished the boy, as the Ogre started to load the wagon, ”And you help clean the mess? Why you follow me?"
The boys eyes were open as far as they would go, ”You're the hugest person I've seen BUT, that that,…SKITTER? THAT SKITTER IS HUGER! What IS it?" asked the child.
Just as Bork finished loading the wagon, it creaked loudly and fell back, cocked up to the left, its right rear wheel broken.
"ERMMMMM!" Bork rumbled,”Skitter a cart rhino, or was. No cart.” Brows knit together, Bork asked the child, “Know where Bork can get a wheel?"
Skitter had backed away a bit and was quietly gnawing on a fallen tree, the one he was previously trying to hide in.
"Sure, mister.”
"I'm an Ogre, NOT a mister,” said Bork.
“Sure, Mr. Ogre. I know where one is. Back in the village there’s a man that makes em'. I can show you where it is."
Bork followed the excited, helpful little boy back to the village. The look on the villagers’ faces as they passed varied from intrigue to alarm (and not a couple WOWs) as the odd couple made their way to the wheelwright. "You fix wagon wheels?" Bork asked when they got there.
The man looked up and gave a sharp intake of breath and quickly schooled his face, and stammered, “Y-y-yessir."
"Not sir, Bork! Bring tools to fix wheel,” and walked back out.
The wheelwright, looking absolutely frightened, quickly grabbed tools and followed Bork to the wood line. There sat the wagon, where Skitter had pushed it out, leaning precariously backwards. The man eyed it as an artist would, noting the enormous size of the vardo, and decided he could fix it but, had no way to lift the massive cart.
"I can fix it but, I can't raise it high enough to get the wheel off.”
Bork walked over, grabbed the rear of the wagon and, straining slightly, hoisted the wagon up. The wheelwright glared at the alarming strength, but after a moment, jumped to work. After a few moments, the wheel was fixed and Bork let the wagon gently down.
As he came around the back of the wagon, he realized there was an audience. The entire village had come to gawk at the rare sight. He spied Kyàni milling in the crowd, amused (she'd seen the "grumpy Ogre" act more than once) and the sound of bells (out of place) denoted Phoenix's presence as well. Kyáni had magically put tinkling bells on her elusive daughter to be able to find her. Among the villagers was the boy that had led him to town. Bork pulled on a hook sticking out of the back of his wagon and out came a table. The onlookers were wary. Then he pulled out a large sack and splayed it on the table. It opened to reveal a myriad of objects. Toys, pots, pans, musical instruments and many other objects appeared. He called the boy over. "For helping, pick something, anything on the table." The child, wide-eyed and eager, grabbed a ball "I can have this?"
"Fair trade" said Bork.
The boy, squealing with delight, ran off, a couple friends filing out of the crowd to play. A midsized girl, eyeballing a Kalimba with obvious interest, asked "Mister, can I help so I can get something too?”
"Not mister, Bork. Can you sing or dance, or know jokes or poems? Maybe you have a cow?”
The girl started to sing, a bawdy song, to the dismay of her parents. As they started forward, the Ogre side-eyed them with an "I dare you” look, and the girl got a rousing laugh and ovation from the audience. Bork showed her how to play it and requested a "real kalimba song to accompany that beautiful voice" when he came back through. She agreed and ran off with her new treasure.
At this point many villagers were trying to view what was on this odd Ogre’s table. At the same time, they were crowding to the far side of the hungry-looking Ogrecart’s rhinoceros beetle, Skitter. Bork straightened to his full height and shouted,
“RULES!
1. no pushing or shoving or you have to have a shoving contest with me;
2. Fair trades are final;
3. No money. Little ones can pay with their talents or treasures. Adults must trade with other goods OR odd human tricks. Bork will be the judge of whether the talent is worth the trade.
4. Any theft will be treated with disgrace. It WILL haunt you forever.”
Many trades were made that day, and after the villagers went back to the village and the sun was low in the summer sky, Bork and the family started away, through the meadow at the edge of the woods, smiles on their faces. A hundred cubits on, Skitter balked. He had never done so before. Ran and hid, yes, many times, much to Bork’s dismay and oft-times purest fright, but refused to move? After much prodding by Bork, and the continued refusal of Skitter to move, it dawned on him what had happened. In a circle, all around the cart there were tiny mushrooms. He looked at Kyáni, shaking her head, with a resigned smile on her face. They heard a lilting voice whispering, "That needs color,” followed by a genuine yet alarming "OOOH, SHINY!”
They had wandered into a Faerie circle.
To be continued.....
A tutu might be acquired for a rock, or a joke, or a no longer needed toy....Trading with an Ogre takes bravery, yes, but our Bork is a family ogre, and children love him. Why a fundraiser? Well, getting places takes money! We would like you to help fund his travels so humans everywhere can partake of this wonderful entertainment, the Ogre Trading Post. Someday, we hope that Bork will be hired as the entertainment he is, rather than considered a vendor, since he makes no money doing this, but rather, spends his own! If we can raise $200 by April 9, we can get him and his family to the Faerie Faire in Baltimore, Md!
Here are the events where we would like to send the Ogre Trading Post in 2022:
April 9, 2022 Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Faerie Faire
June 4 & 5, 2022 Parkton, MD Royal Rabbit Fairy Market
September 2022, York PA: Enchanted Fairy Festival
Oct 29, 2022: Fairy Scary Witches & Warlocks Ball
We are so grateful for your support! The Ogrecart needs supplies, and fuel to feed the Beast of Burden that pulls the cart. "Beast of Burden?" you ask? Yes, here is
The Story of Bork, and How the Trading Post Came to Be
The Ogre known as Bork has had an interesting past. His mother was the most beautiful Ogre in all the Mountains. He never knew his father. Perhaps that’s why Bork was such a dandy. He wore three, sometimes four, articles of clothing at one time. He was smaller than most Ogres, and sometimes he would put on a hat and coat and lumber around the human towns, pretending. It became harder as he matured, and his horns grew in. But as a teen, in the twilight, he could get by, he could pass.
He loved to make trades with the human youth.
Being small for an Ogre (they grow normally to 9'), Bork was picked on through most of his youth. The term "Bully" translates to "Ogre in charge" in Ogrespeak. Eventually, after a huge fight with his family, (no details, it wasn't pretty) all of Ogredom learned that Bork was possibly the toughest Ogre living. This came as a shock to his entire village. As a means to prevent more fighting, the Bully sent Bork into the world(s), to explore and "acquire" more goods for the Ogres. It was a good idea to get rid of him, and Bork did love to collect things.
Bork started his journey. His romancing of the Sea-Witch, Kyáni, is a story told another day. Today’s story starts years later, well into their travels, as they went from village to village with their Pükka child, trading and living off the land.
As they traveled, they learned. The elders of most places feared Bork, but many of the children were braver, and more curious. Wary at first of the frightening Ogre, the children became quizzical as they saw no one being eaten outright, and some became friendly after a time. Kyáni had ways to calm the older folks, many of whom seemed likely to fight what they didn't understand. Their child Phoenix, a Pükka, had the ability to discern just what form to take for any group of folks, and delighted everyone with her form and kindly spirit.
During his travels Bork collected things, sometimes broken and sometimes not, all discarded, and piled them into his Ogrecart. He never took his cart into the villages. Sometimes they would meet a traveler and with Kyáni using her calming powers, Bork was able to make trades, which to him, was even more satisfying than collecting. Phoenix wanted to visit the villages, as she was a social child and, as one can imagine of a shape shifter, she fit in everywhere. Bork shied away from rolling into the villages, as his beast of burden frightened the Entomophobics, and the villagers were likely to think he was there to steal people for dinner. Bork wouldn’t. He knows inviting them is always easier. In the first human village Bork tried rolling into with his cart and his family, the villagers became…. agitated. It truly didn't help that the ever popular Phoenix had gotten to the village first and had led a small group of children in “follow the leader” - straight to Bork and his cart.
On one stop just outside a village, Phoenix and Kyáni went in to the village for provisions, and Bork poked around in the midden pile outside. A small child saw Bork and followed him back to his wagon. This curious little boy was in for a fright. No-one had ever seen an Ogrecart pulled by ...well, by anything like this gigantic horned beetle, Bork’s beast of burden.
The squeal that came from the child's throat was a cross between sheer terror (“that's a big bug!”) and absolute delight (“he really is that big!”). The squeal startled the bug, and after much confusion between a boy( trying to act brave, terrified, and delighted at once) AND a 7’ long rhino beetle trying to hide (not very successfully) in a tree, Bork managed to calm things down by smacking his special hammer, Thump, against a tree. This managed to startle the boy into quiet AND to knock the beetle out of the tree and onto its back.
The boy stared, wide-eyed, as the huge insect attempted to lever itself over with his horn, and Bork began the tedious task of picking up his belongings. Things were strewn EVERYWHERE! Bedding, clothing, and household accoutrements were in trees and tossed about. The Ogrecart, thankfully, seemed to be intact.
Drawing by Jack GoembelThe boy, out of habit one supposes, started helping pick up the mess. Bork was slightly amused. Never would an Ogre child have willingly helped pick up a mess EVEN had he created it, and Pükka children definitely won't. Once everything was in a pile, Bork walked to the upside down wagon, eyed it quizzically, and flipped it upright. The slack-jawed look on the boy's face made Bork smirk; he’d forgotten already that the boy was there. Bork started laughing, a full belly laugh, and turned to the boy, who was now cowering,
"You scare Skitter!” Bork admonished the boy, as the Ogre started to load the wagon, ”And you help clean the mess? Why you follow me?"
The boys eyes were open as far as they would go, ”You're the hugest person I've seen BUT, that that,…SKITTER? THAT SKITTER IS HUGER! What IS it?" asked the child.
Just as Bork finished loading the wagon, it creaked loudly and fell back, cocked up to the left, its right rear wheel broken.
"ERMMMMM!" Bork rumbled,”Skitter a cart rhino, or was. No cart.” Brows knit together, Bork asked the child, “Know where Bork can get a wheel?"
Skitter had backed away a bit and was quietly gnawing on a fallen tree, the one he was previously trying to hide in.
"Sure, mister.”
"I'm an Ogre, NOT a mister,” said Bork.
“Sure, Mr. Ogre. I know where one is. Back in the village there’s a man that makes em'. I can show you where it is."
Bork followed the excited, helpful little boy back to the village. The look on the villagers’ faces as they passed varied from intrigue to alarm (and not a couple WOWs) as the odd couple made their way to the wheelwright. "You fix wagon wheels?" Bork asked when they got there.
The man looked up and gave a sharp intake of breath and quickly schooled his face, and stammered, “Y-y-yessir."
"Not sir, Bork! Bring tools to fix wheel,” and walked back out.
The wheelwright, looking absolutely frightened, quickly grabbed tools and followed Bork to the wood line. There sat the wagon, where Skitter had pushed it out, leaning precariously backwards. The man eyed it as an artist would, noting the enormous size of the vardo, and decided he could fix it but, had no way to lift the massive cart.
"I can fix it but, I can't raise it high enough to get the wheel off.”
Bork walked over, grabbed the rear of the wagon and, straining slightly, hoisted the wagon up. The wheelwright glared at the alarming strength, but after a moment, jumped to work. After a few moments, the wheel was fixed and Bork let the wagon gently down.
As he came around the back of the wagon, he realized there was an audience. The entire village had come to gawk at the rare sight. He spied Kyàni milling in the crowd, amused (she'd seen the "grumpy Ogre" act more than once) and the sound of bells (out of place) denoted Phoenix's presence as well. Kyáni had magically put tinkling bells on her elusive daughter to be able to find her. Among the villagers was the boy that had led him to town. Bork pulled on a hook sticking out of the back of his wagon and out came a table. The onlookers were wary. Then he pulled out a large sack and splayed it on the table. It opened to reveal a myriad of objects. Toys, pots, pans, musical instruments and many other objects appeared. He called the boy over. "For helping, pick something, anything on the table." The child, wide-eyed and eager, grabbed a ball "I can have this?"
"Fair trade" said Bork.
The boy, squealing with delight, ran off, a couple friends filing out of the crowd to play. A midsized girl, eyeballing a Kalimba with obvious interest, asked "Mister, can I help so I can get something too?”
"Not mister, Bork. Can you sing or dance, or know jokes or poems? Maybe you have a cow?”
The girl started to sing, a bawdy song, to the dismay of her parents. As they started forward, the Ogre side-eyed them with an "I dare you” look, and the girl got a rousing laugh and ovation from the audience. Bork showed her how to play it and requested a "real kalimba song to accompany that beautiful voice" when he came back through. She agreed and ran off with her new treasure.
At this point many villagers were trying to view what was on this odd Ogre’s table. At the same time, they were crowding to the far side of the hungry-looking Ogrecart’s rhinoceros beetle, Skitter. Bork straightened to his full height and shouted,
“RULES!
1. no pushing or shoving or you have to have a shoving contest with me;
2. Fair trades are final;
3. No money. Little ones can pay with their talents or treasures. Adults must trade with other goods OR odd human tricks. Bork will be the judge of whether the talent is worth the trade.
4. Any theft will be treated with disgrace. It WILL haunt you forever.”
Many trades were made that day, and after the villagers went back to the village and the sun was low in the summer sky, Bork and the family started away, through the meadow at the edge of the woods, smiles on their faces. A hundred cubits on, Skitter balked. He had never done so before. Ran and hid, yes, many times, much to Bork’s dismay and oft-times purest fright, but refused to move? After much prodding by Bork, and the continued refusal of Skitter to move, it dawned on him what had happened. In a circle, all around the cart there were tiny mushrooms. He looked at Kyáni, shaking her head, with a resigned smile on her face. They heard a lilting voice whispering, "That needs color,” followed by a genuine yet alarming "OOOH, SHINY!”
They had wandered into a Faerie circle.
To be continued.....
Organizer
Nina Amaya
Organizer
Baltimore, MD
