Why There Are No More Tonberries

[quantumsaint]

Why There Are No More Tonberries

During the fourth umbral era of Eorzea, deep within the woods that the five races had long ago named the Black Shroud, there lived a family of little green beastmen called tonberries. They were short in stature, smaller than the smallest of Lalafells, with inquisitive yellow eyes that saw everything, yet somehow lacked pupils. What they lacked in size, however, they more than far made up for in ferocity. Extruding from the bottom of every tonberries' tattered brown robes were tails not unlike that of a porpoise. No one knew if the tonberries came from the sea, like the sahagin, or what their origin was. Some soothsayers say they were the first race, cursed and twisted by the Twelve for their arrogance and avarice.

For ages, the tonberries had mostly kept to themselves in tribal families, choosing to live within the caverns that were interwoven amongst the ancient trees. Perhaps it was being unaccustomed to natural light, but whenever the tonberries ventured to the surface, they brought with them a lantern so they could illuminate their paths. Many an adventurer had come across a tonberry, chasing after the light of the lantern, thinking it a will 'o the wisp., only to find the end of the cruel culinary knife that every tonberry chef wielded. From the many boughs of the Black shroud the tonberries would gather all sorts of fruits, nuts and vegetables for a myriad of delicacies which they would take back to their dens to prepare.

Then came the fifth umbral era, and all of the peace that the tonberries had known dissipated.
The other creatures of the woods despised the tonberries for their enormous feasts, they claimed the tonberries were taking too much, depleting the Black Shroud too quickly. Had the tonberries learned nothing from the punishment of the Twelve? the Sylphs asked. It was on their order that they and some of the other denizens of the forest began to raid the lairs of the tonberries to gain back the food that the Sylphs had claimed they stolen. The tonberries contested that they had a right to it just as much as they Sylphs or anyone else. It was also at this time that the amount of adventurers increased as a result of enlistment in the Grand Companies increasing. This meant more and more tonberries were coming in contact with the five races, with whom they were not able to communicate.
It was a rite of passage for every tonberry to go and live to train under another chef. The logic behind that being that a tonberry would have learned their family recipes their entire lives, so diversity was instilled to create a more cultured cook.

One day one such tonberry left his family's cavern and set out across the Shroud to learn from one of the most prestigious chefs in the woods. Before he made it past Treespeak, he was set upon by a group of adventurers. First, an arrow erupted from the brush, striking his lantern and extinguishing it. The tonberry tried to plead for mercy but neither the Elezen archer, nor her companions, a Mi'quote conjurer and a Lalafell thaumaturge, would grant him any.

After the Elezen's arrow, the tonberry noticed the conjuerr chanting stranger words. His family had wanred him about the dangers of magic, so he knew what sort of trickery she was up to. He closed the distance between them and slashed out with his chef's knife, and was a bit repulsed and joyful to see the sight of blood on the Mi'quote.

What happened next destroyed that elation. The thaumaturge Lalafell had pulled out a knife of his own, and drew his blade across his palm, causing it to bleed. He waved his hand in the air in the direction of the Mi'quote, and the tonberry nearly fainted when he saw her wounds disappear before his eyes.

Not that he had much time left after that. The Mi'quote had finished the words on her lips, and the tonberry felt a coldness take him he had never before experienced.
When his family learned of his death, they were so infuriated they convinced the tonberry king to sanction an act of war against Gridania, the first in centuries for the tonberries.

Before they made it to Gridania, however, there was an army waiting for them already and they were driven into the Tam Tara Deepcrofts where every last one of them was executed.

Or so they say. Some say that some of the tonberries escaped deeper beneath the ground than anyone cared to pursue, and are down there deep below the Tam Tara Deepcrofts, stewing in their hate. And some say that on some nights in the Shroud when you can see a flickering light in the distance, it's not a will 'o the wisp, but instead the tonberries coming to get revenge against the surface creatures that drove them from their ancestral homes.

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/rc/diary/entry?e=201472

Wrote this up last night, tell me what you think. Post might get deleted (not sure on their stance on stuff like this) so there's the blog entry above. CONSTRUCTIVE criticism appreciated.

[Alhanelem]

Why There Are No More Tonberries? Because You Typed Every Word In The Topic Title In Caps.

In all seirousness, I don't really think the tonberries are "gone", and they'll be back.

(You should really just post blogs on your blog and not here.)

[quantumsaint]

Why There Are No More Tonberries? Because You Typed Every Word In The Topic Title In Caps.

In all seirousness, I don't really think the tonberries are "gone", and they'll be back.

(You should really just post blogs on your blog and not here.)

It's the title of a story, but I guess that's as far as you got. And I thought some people might like to read it, instead of Identical Complaint #554633763. Thanks for posting, though.

[Rentahamster]

Quina ate all the Tonberries.

[Seirra_Lanzce]

noooooo
dont do this story!! xD

[Chezen]

Nice. I have a couple of comments.

First, I think of Tonberries as having just an edge of creepiness, and I don't think I quite get that edge from your story. It needs a little more spice, but not so much it's overkill. This lines pretty good.

Many an adventurer had come across a tonberry, chasing after the light of the lantern, thinking it a will 'o the wisp., only to find the end of the cruel culinary knife that every tonberry chef wielded.

Also, I don't personally think Tonberries would contest anything. They would kind of be more like, "I ignore you (while gathering food), you approach me, you meet my knife."

Still, it's pretty good.

[Punxsutawney]

They are hiding in a secret cave with the airships and chocobos!

[ChronicalSin]

They'll prolly show up as quest related characters later on, and maybe as NM's. I dont think tonberries should be a common enemy. They're too cool :')

[quantumsaint]

They'll prolly show up as quest related characters later on, and maybe as NM's. I dont think tonberries should be a common enemy. They're too cool :')

I did think the Tonberry fights were the coolest part about FFXIII.

[Cyan]

Eh. I bought it. And the I went to the lodestone and realized that this wasn't actually a new teaser for the dungeons.
In other words, I thought it was pretty good, but I hate you for it :P

I agree though, it doesn't feel..."creepy" enough.