🖋 The Thorned Quill
From the Ink & Thorn Studio somewhere in Grimmveil
Ozma of Oz - Retelling
↪ A Grimmveil Fairytale
Written by L. Frank Baum and first published in 1907, Ozma of Oz is the third book in the Oz series and the moment the world truly widens. This is where Oz stops being a single road and becomes a realm. This is also where Dorothy stops being a lost child and starts becoming something rarer.
A guest.
Let’s begin where Baum does. With the sea.
Dorothy was traveling by ship with her Uncle Henry when a violent storm rose without warning. The sea did not ask permission. A wave swept Dorothy overboard, carrying her away from the ship and into darkness.
She did not drown.
She washed ashore.
Dorothy woke on a strange coast and quickly realized she was not alone. Beside her lay a yellow hen who spoke calmly and introduced herself as Billina. Dorothy accepted this without screaming, which tells you everything you need to know about how much Oz had already changed her.
They soon discovered they had landed in the Land of Ev, a neighboring kingdom ruled by a cruel Nome King named Roquat. Ev was silent. Too silent.
The reason became horrifyingly clear.
The royal family of Ev had been imprisoned. Transformed. Locked away as ornaments by the Nome King, who delighted in turning people into decorative objects. Because power with boredom is always dangerous.
Dorothy and Billina were soon joined by a strange mechanical man named Tik-Tok, who ran on clockwork and needed winding to speak or move. Tik-Tok was loyal, honest, and incapable of lying. Frankly, a menace to villains everywhere.
They also met Princess Langwidere, ruler of Ev, who owned thirty interchangeable heads and absolutely zero sense of responsibility. She was more interested in her appearance than her people. This never ends well.
The group set out to rescue the royal family, which meant confronting the Nome King in his underground kingdom. The Nome King challenged Dorothy to a deadly game.
She was allowed to guess which ornaments were enchanted people. Guess wrong, and she would be transformed forever.
This is where things quietly turn.
Billina, underestimated because she was a chicken, discovered the Nome King’s weakness. Eggs. Specifically, eggs terrified him. Power undone by breakfast.
Using this knowledge, Dorothy outwitted the Nome King. The enchantments were reversed. The royal family of Ev was restored. The Nome King was humiliated. Which, frankly, is sometimes better than defeat.
With Ev saved, Dorothy was escorted back to Oz.
Not stranded.
Invited.
She was welcomed by Ozma, the rightful ruler of Oz, who greeted her not as a savior or a weapon, but as a friend. Dorothy stayed in Oz for a time, exploring its wonders freely. No quest. No obligation. Just belonging.
Eventually, Dorothy returned home again, because Kansas still mattered.
But Oz was no longer accidental.
It was waiting.
Side Notes from the Thorned Quill
- Dorothy survives through observation, not dominance.
- Billina proves intelligence is often ignored until it is inconvenient.
- Ozma represents stable rule, something Oz desperately needed.
- Oz is not a dream world. It is a neighboring reality with rules and consequences.
