The Toymaker

Toymaker this, tinkerer that. Reading the kiddos that story was the greatest gaff of my life, and I don't think I'll ever know peace from it hence. Joanie asked for another copy of the book, and Henry wants a big set of goggles. At least they're having fun playing make believe, and knowing them they'll move on to some new story within the month.

An excerpt from the journal of a Fharyne woman, dated August 295 6c.

Summary

The tale of the Toymaker has ever been popular with Morovan children, and it's one of the few that dates back to before the Old Empire. It describes the mythical figure of the Toymaker, an individual who was the only person in town who knew how to make toys that children enjoyed. However, the Toymaker could only ever make one kind of toy, and though the children never seemed to tire of it, the Toymaker themselves eventually grew weary of crafting the same thing every single day. Eventually, they left their town and embarked upon a great adventure to find something that they called "inspiration". This was a concept unknown to their town, and they were treated with suspicion and apprehension at this idea. However, the Toymaker was not to be dissuaded, and so they embarked on a fantastic journey. They made new friends, ventured to faraway lands, and outsmarted adversaries. They collected new materials: colorful bolts of fabrics, rich dark wood, golden threads.

Months later, they returned to the village and immediately set upon their workshop, intent on making a new toy which the village had never seen before. After all, along their journey they saw many instances of creativity and imagination, and were intent on sharing it with the children. The Toymaker toiled for many long hours to make their new toy, but in the end it looked exactly like every other toy they had ever made. In their sorrow they cast the creation into the workshop's furnace. Then, out of the plumes of smoke, came a spirit: a lagan, bearing a message for the Toymaker. Creativity, said the lagan, is not something that will come from patterned fabrics and gilded buttons. Imagination and originality are things that every person has within them, and they simply must have the willpower to break free from expectations and make their visions into reality.

From that day froward, the Toymaker created incredible unique toys, to the joy of the village's children. The children, in turn, learned how to find their own creativity, and a village that was once dull became vibrant and lively thanks to all the new creations its people made.