v50 Steam/Premium information for editors
  • v50 information can now be added to pages in the main namespace. v0.47 information can still be found in the DF2014 namespace. See here for more details on the new versioning policy.
  • Use this page to report any issues related to the migration.
This notice may be cached—the current version can be found here.

Difference between revisions of "ASCII art reward/T-Z"

From Dwarf Fortress Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Fixed spacing)
 
(12 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)
Line 9: Line 9:
  
 
[[Category:Humor and stories]]
 
[[Category:Humor and stories]]
 +
{{unversioned}}
 +
 +
==[[User:Teriderol|Teriderol]]==
 +
===(30 October 2015)===
 +
<pre>++!&!++@@@@|</pre>
 +
 +
The battle was bloody and short.  Kogan's dwarven cavalry had come under attack by a group of goblins riding on vicious beak-dogs.  Kogan and his dwarves slew many of them, but they were hopelessly outnumbered.  Kogan himself was tackled off the back of his mule by a leaping goblin commando.  The villain held a dagger to Kogan's throat and the dwarven leader dropped his weapon.
 +
 +
“Where are you taking us?” asked Kogan.
 +
 +
“Shut up, dwarf scum,” said the goblin.
 +
 +
The dark tower was decorated with all sorts of works of art stolen from around the world.  The villainous demon has taste, Kogan had to admit.  Too few of his mule riders had survived.  Still, they might be able to assassinate the evil leader given half the chance.
 +
 +
“Ah,” said a sinister voice, “the guests have arrived.”
 +
 +
Kogan and the remaining dwarves were shackled to a set of stone thrones and forced to watch as the demon danced its way into the room, shaking its limbs and many tails.  Kogan was thoroughly revolted by the display as the demon came near.  He had nearly worked his hand free of the shackles as the demon climbed on top of him.
 +
 +
“Are you ready to die?” asked the demon.
 +
 +
“You first,” growled Kogan.
  
 
==[[User:Termitehead|Termitehead]]==
 
==[[User:Termitehead|Termitehead]]==
Line 16: Line 37:
  
 
On his way back to the castle the warrior swung the sword around his head, singing cheerfully as he skipped along.  A small quick hand darted from the branches above and snatched the sword from his grasp.  The warrior yelled and searched the trees above for a glimpse of the thief.  A pair of yellow eyes stared back at him.  A kobold!  
 
On his way back to the castle the warrior swung the sword around his head, singing cheerfully as he skipped along.  A small quick hand darted from the branches above and snatched the sword from his grasp.  The warrior yelled and searched the trees above for a glimpse of the thief.  A pair of yellow eyes stared back at him.  A kobold!  
 +
 +
==[[User:TharinDuckskinner|TharinDuckskinner]]==
 +
===(12 September 2014)===
 +
<pre>##@B######BgBgBg</pre>
 +
 +
The trunks of giant redwood trees rushed by as the bird riders dove in
 +
and out of cover.  Above the forest canopy, giant bats circled in the
 +
night's sky, whilst down below the goblin army of Darkmaster the Evil
 +
marched on, stopping every once in a while to take cover when the
 +
dwarven bird riders launched their javelins.  It was clearly a suicide
 +
mission, but the bird riders were sworn to protect the dwarf fortress
 +
by any means, even if it involved riding the elves' preferred steed.
 +
 +
“I'm sorry master Aliz,” said Kogan, “your nuthatch refuses to perform today.”
 +
 +
“What is this nonsense?” cried Aliz.  “Since when do dumb animals
 +
dictate how they should behave?  I shall have the thing plucked!”
 +
 +
“Here, Sir Knight,” said Kogan.  “Take my bushtit.  He is
 +
battle-tested and ready.”
 +
 +
Mounting the giant brown bird, Aliz launched into the sky.  He checked
 +
and double-checked his javelin holster to see how quickly he could
 +
draw the deadly missiles. It was a new moon that night, but it hardly
 +
mattered.  Darkmaster's bat riders used echo-location to pick out
 +
their targets.  The stars seemed shallow in the sky that night.  Maybe
 +
Aliz would die soon, but if he did he would die a hero
 +
 +
==[[User:Tharwen|Tharwen]]==
 +
===(17 October 2011)===
 +
<pre>g,.-,.\@@,.</pre>
 +
 +
"He's not worth it, Gatal," said the dwarf woman.
 +
 +
Gatal lowered his crossbow.  The goblin looked pathetic and beat-up.
 +
All his fellow thugs were dead.  Still, there was no reforming their
 +
kind.  The best thanks he could hope for was a dagger between the
 +
ribs.  He raised the sights of the crossbow to his eyes.
 +
 +
"No!" cried the goblin.
 +
 +
The bolt barely missed the goblin's ear.  He scrambled up and ran into
 +
the woods.  The dwarf woman took her hand off Gatal's crossbow.
 +
 +
"I told you he wasn't worth it," she said.
 +
 +
"And how do you know such things?" grumbled Gatal.
 +
 +
The dwarf woman snapped her fingers and it began to rain.
 +
 +
==[[User:Timtek|Timtek]]==
 +
===(17 March 2012)===
 +
 +
<pre>~\U/~e~~</pre>
 +
 +
Those were the good times, only yesterday. Any child born this day
 +
would begin their life in an age of darkness. The dwarf fortresses
 +
were all shut, blocking out the evil that now flooded every city and
 +
hamlet. Sunlight itself was a thing of the past, for now black clouds
 +
crowded out the sky, raining blood on the helpless beings below.
 +
 +
"If only my child were like a seed, blessed Lenge," cried the
 +
desperate mother, "to plant in the ground, in order to spring up in a
 +
better day."
 +
 +
The baby grew silent. Tears pouring from her face, the girl carried
 +
her baby outside and set it beside a large stone. There she dug a pit
 +
and placed the child inside. With a quick prayer to Lenge, she began
 +
to fill in the earth.
 +
 +
Many years later, an elf girl found the old house deserted. Nothing
 +
stood but rubble and an odd stone in the ruined garden. The elf tried
 +
to read the odd script on the smooth rock.
 +
 +
"Here lies my son, Arkur," said the elf girl. "May Lenge protect him."
 +
 +
The earth began to shake and a giant leaf sprouted from the ground.
 +
It unfolded and revealed a young man, naked inside. The girl
 +
approached. As if bound by a spell, she touched his cheek. His eyes
 +
opened and he rose.
 +
 +
"There might still be time," he said.
  
 
==[[The Toad Preservation Society]]==
 
==[[The Toad Preservation Society]]==
Line 280: Line 383:
  
 
The child levitated higher, close to the ceiling, and looked down upon the quivering monsters.  "With my power, I shall build the greatest mini-forge the world has ever known!"  The dwarf was enveloped by the purple light and passed through the ceiling.
 
The child levitated higher, close to the ceiling, and looked down upon the quivering monsters.  "With my power, I shall build the greatest mini-forge the world has ever known!"  The dwarf was enveloped by the purple light and passed through the ceiling.
 +
 +
==[[User:ToonyMan|ToonyMan]]==
 +
===(16 January 2009)===
 +
<pre>DDDDDDM,..@EU@@EU@UE,.</pre>
 +
 +
Sword and axe clashed again and again as the fighters struggled to
 +
best each other in mortal combat.  Arrows rained down on the field of
 +
battle as man, elf and dwarf fought at once to win the day.  Randar
 +
took up the sword for the dwarves.  With his mightiness he tried to
 +
kill Giltra of the elves, but the champion was too fast.  The battle
 +
seemed endless.  Roars of terror and pain were everywhere.  Just then
 +
a squadron of dragons appeared, lead by Madnar the Evil.  Could there
 +
be any hope?
 +
 +
===(14 January 2010)===
 +
<pre>DDDDM,.,.s/\@.,.E@E@E@E</pre>
 +
 +
The combatants turned to face the dragons as they landed.  Madnar dismounted his towering red monster, followed by a short stranger, his eyes dark and shining.  Randar stroked his beard as he observed the young warrior.  He carried a sword of strange design.  Giltra would not wait.  She notched an arrow and fired before anyone could blink.  The young swordsman knocked it out of the sky before it could reach Madnar's chest.
 +
 +
"Fools," chuckled the villain, "allow me to introduce Lord Strider.  His powers are unmatched in this world.  Now you see there can be no hope."
 +
 +
Randar set his heels and charged, sword raised.  Lord Strider struck a martial pose and set out to meet his dwarven adversary.  As they met, the sound of steel ripping steel echoed across the battlefield.  As the dust cleared, the dwarf found himself gloating in victory.  Strider lay broken and sullied, his weapon shorn in two.  Madnar was horrified.  Had his reign of evil come to an end?
 +
 +
===(18 February 2011)===
 +
<pre>.,.M\@,.sssssEssss</pre>
 +
 +
The boy's body churned and twisted, though cut in two.  The dwarves watched, horrified as the two halves stood, bloody gore bubbling over their severed ends.  Madnar cackled with glee.  Sensing the danger, Giltra shouted, "Randar, quickly, or there will be two of them."  The evil king watched, amused, as the heroes rushed to do battle with the demon.
 +
 +
With passion, the dwarf and elf did damage to the multiplying demon.  No matter how hard they fought, the army of demons kept growing, chop after bloody chop.  That was when Randar saw Madnar giggling in his dragon-saddle.  Without warning, the dwarf moved.
 +
 +
With one swing of his axe, the dwarf hero struck off the head of the dragon.  He pushed off of the dragon's neck with his boot, and in a second was in the saddle with the cowering Madnar.  The dwarf pulled a knife from his boot and put it to the evil king's throat.  The army of bloody demons turned away from the elf and looked to their new master.
 +
 +
"Release the elf," commanded Randar.
 +
 +
"I," stuttered the king, "I lack the power."
 +
 +
The dwarf saw the villain fiddling with a talisman around his neck.  Randar took it from him, a blue jewel, the color as deep as the sea.  With one mighty kick, Randar sent the king tumbling onto the battle field.  Seeing what was to come, the elf backed away.  Randar held the jewel high.
 +
 +
"Demon from the Underworld," cried the dwarf, "devour that trembling sack of filth!"
  
 
==[[User:Trukkle|Trukkle]]==
 
==[[User:Trukkle|Trukkle]]==
Line 293: Line 435:
  
 
Doran looked down at his lunch.  "I...  I guess I'll finish the rest myself."
 
Doran looked down at his lunch.  "I...  I guess I'll finish the rest myself."
 +
 +
 +
==Twitch Eaglehart==
 +
===(14 January 2011)===
 +
 +
<pre>,.nn,.n.,UM.,n.,.,nn,</pre>
 +
 +
In the pitch black of night the giant worms slithered through the town, gobbling up all who ventured out after dark. Thus it had been for a generation, ever since the stranger came to Rostfen. Losmo was his name. He wasn't much to look at, skinny, like most of the worthless drifters that came around there. He had a strange way around the women. No one liked him very much. Yet it was he who would change the town forever.
 +
"Don't stay out after dark," said the shopkeeper, "the bogeyman will get you."
 +
 +
"What?" said Losmo. "I'll do what I please."
 +
 +
Chewing on dried plump helmet, Losmo pondered his next move. He needed work.
 +
 +
"You need any of that clogh brought to market?" asked Losmo.
 +
 +
"Yes," said the shopkleeper, "but the sun is almost down."
 +
 +
"I'll get it there by morning," said Losmo, "and I'll only take half of what your regular carrier would."
 +
 +
The deal settled, the cloth was loaded onto a mule and Losmo was off, lantern in hand. The woods outside the town were chill and foggy. Night birds hooted and called. Losmo whistled a merry tune. The smile fell from his lips when a face appeared in the light before him.
 +
 +
"Losmo," said the creature, "you know better than to walk the roads at night."
 +
 +
Losmo threw back his cloak and drew a silver short sword.
 +
 +
"Impressive," said the monster, "for a squire's toy. Now drop the blade. You know what happened last time."
 +
 +
Sword in one hand, lantern in the other, Losmo lunged at his foe. Two more bogeymen appeared from either side. They were about the size of small dogs, black, and wore a mishmash of animal parts. The night was filled with an incessant cackling as the bogeymen fought. One after another, Losmo brought them down, each disappearing into a puff of black smoke. The laughter died away, but Losmo knew that the night was still watching.
 +
 +
===(6 December 2011)===
 +
 +
<pre>N,,U|++u|</pre>
 +
 +
The elders of Rostfen gathered around the empty cart. Shopkeeper Martin was furious. He knew the stranger had tempted the Night, but did the darkness need to take his shipment as well? The elders reaffirmed the law and Martin was admonished. Burning with anger, he returned to Weaver House. There his eldest son Sam was waiting for him.
 +
 +
"Where did that man go?" asked the boy.
 +
 +
"Away," growled Martin. "That is the last we will speak of it."
 +
 +
That night the air was colder than anyone could remember on a summer's evening. Martin stepped outside the shop to douse the lantern when someone stepped out into the light. It was Losmo. He looked more pale and starved than before if it was possible. Martin turned on him.
 +
 +
"Where is my cloth, thief?" asked Martin.
 +
 +
"Bogeymen have it," said Losmo.
 +
 +
"Bogeymen or no," said Martin, "you will get it for me."
 +
 +
"You want the cloth back at all costs?" said Losmo.
 +
 +
"Yes," said the shopkeeper.
 +
 +
"And you will provide me with whatever I need to retrieve it?" said Losmo.
 +
 +
"Yes, curse you!" shouted Martin.
 +
 +
Losmo seemed to grow and darken like a black shadow.
 +
 +
"Very well," said the phantom. "What is the sure way to defeat the bogeyman?"
 +
 +
"To travel with a companion," said Martin. In sudden understanding, he reached for his walking stick.
 +
 +
"Not you," said Losmo. "Him."
 +
 +
The specter pointed its long white arm past the shopkeeper to the trembling boy standing in the doorway. "No! Not Sam!" begged Martin. But it was too late. He had already spoken his oath. He tried to block the doorway but Losmo brushed him away as he would an errant branch. He took the boy in his cold iron grip and dragged him out into the street.
 +
 +
The next morning the elders gathered around the cart, now filled with cloth, neatly folded. Martin could not look at it. He vowed to slay Losmo and return with his son. The others just looked at him. It was dangerous to mess with the night, let alone tempt it thrice.
 +
 +
 +
==uggi==
 +
===(18 September 2013)===
 +
 +
<pre>@/g&lt;</pre>
 +
 +
Life in the shadow of evil.  The villagers of the Slusian Plain were
 +
never safe, not when Darquan and his goblins were on the loose.  Even
 +
the dwarves in their mighty fortress feared him.  But it is said that
 +
even those who stand the tallest shall lay as low as the rest of us in
 +
the end.
 +
 +
Outside the village of Otla was one such bully.  His name was Dulcus,
 +
and he was Darquan's general in charge of the Slusian invasion.  He
 +
was resting in his camp outside of town when the word came that one of
 +
the sentries had gone missing.  He called for his armor and stepped
 +
outside.
 +
 +
One of the main failings of goblinkind was their lack of peripheral
 +
vision.  The minute he emerged from the tent, Dulcus swung his head to
 +
the right.  Had he first looked to the left, he would have lived a lot
 +
longer.  As it was, the great dwarf adventurer Aliz, was waiting, just
 +
to the side, prepared to take his life with an enormous axe.
 +
 +
===(28 June 2014)===
 +
 +
<pre>U++++%@++</pre>
 +
 +
"Dulcus!" cried the goblin watch captain.  "Dulcus!"
 +
 +
In time the goblins would find their leader's headless body, but by
 +
then Aliz was long gone.  The hero made good time, racing through the
 +
Otla woods, avoiding goblin sentries as he went.  Outside the city
 +
gate, he made the bird call that was the secret password.  Once
 +
inside, he made his way to the king's feast hall.
 +
 +
People of the human race stopped in their tracks to marvel at the
 +
dwarven specimen of herohood.  Aliz was half a span taller that the
 +
tallest dwarf.  His tan skin was stretched over ripped muscles.  His
 +
beard was full and black.  On his back was slung the axe named
 +
Pain-striker.  In his hand he held the severed head of Dulcus,
 +
dangling by the violet hair.
 +
 +
"It was a mistake to do this," said the king.  "Brave though it was,
 +
killing Dulcus has thrown our defenses into disorder."
 +
 +
"How could slaying the wicked general be a mistake," asked Aliz,
 +
genuinely confused.
 +
 +
"I knew how Dulcus thought," said the king.  "It was as if I could
 +
read his mind.  He never made a move I couldn't predict.  Now he will
 +
be replaced by another, unknown to me."
 +
 +
"Then I will slay them too!" cried Aliz.
 +
 +
"You cannot take on the entire goblin army by yourself," said the king.
 +
 +
"Just watch me," said Aliz.
 +
 +
===(15 August 2015)===
 +
 +
<pre>|SWo++g|  gggggg\@%%%%%%%</pre>
 +
 +
"What is that disturbance in the formations?" asked Darquan.
 +
 +
The old man was almost reptilian in appearance.  He was peering into a
 +
crystal ball with his lieutenant, a king cobra snake man, standing over
 +
him.  It was from his dark tower, in the heart of the poisoned marshland,
 +
that Darquan commanded his goblin legions.  Something was going wrong,
 +
something the signs hadn't predicted.  Looking closer at the disrupted
 +
battle lines, Darquan discovered why.
 +
 +
"But, he is just one dwarf!" exclaimed Darquan.
 +
 +
"Look clossser," said the snake man.  "He isss much more."
 +
 +
Indeed, as the wizard watched helplessly in his tower a single dwarf hero
 +
made his way through the goblin battle formations, axe first.  Heads, arms,
 +
and entrails were thrown into the clear air.  The goblin commander, seeing
 +
the hero heading his way, called for a general retreat.  Darquan hissed and
 +
dashed his crystal ball against the ground.  A tame gremlin swept up the
 +
pieces and put them with the others.
 +
 +
"Ready my giant bat," said Darquan.  "I shall deal with this mess
 +
personally."
 +
 +
==Ulurius==
 +
===(16 April 2012)===
 +
 +
<pre>T%,.%@~,.\U,.,U</pre>
 +
 +
As the black bear ran, Betan could feel the cold air burning in its
 +
lungs.  An invisible line connected the heart of the beast to Betan's
 +
crossbow.  The marks-dwarf let out one final breath and let fly.  The
 +
animal fell tail over snout and skidded to a halt before an old pine
 +
tree.  Betan emerged from behind the log where he had been hiding and
 +
brushed the snow from his nose.
 +
 +
"Capital shot, Betan," shouted Duka.
 +
 +
The man child Duka, like Betan, was just another hireling, bound to
 +
the caravan.  Ever west they rolled, over snowfield and desert, bound
 +
for the fabled adamantine mines of Shoutrock.  The pay almost made it
 +
worthwhile for an average dwarf, but Betan was anything but ordinary.
 +
 +
It was the call of the wild that Betan answered.  That, and an end to
 +
the troubles at home.  As he watched Duka run toward the kill, he took
 +
a swig from his flask.  They were deep in the savage wilds now.  It
 +
was Betan's duty to deal with the local wildlife.  He had tracked the
 +
bear far from the caravan.  Maybe too far.
 +
 +
"It has been a while since I've had a dwarf to eat," said a voice that
 +
seemed to sound inside Betan's head.
 +
 +
He turned to see an enormous black panther with a single green eye in
 +
the center of its forehead.  Betan lifted his weapon, but the monster
 +
batted it out of his hands with a swipe of his claw.  Without even
 +
thinking, Betan launched himself backward into the air, pulling his
 +
knife at the same time.  He landed on his feet, three spans away.
 +
 +
The monster approached.  Everything in its nature was predatory, an
 +
evil spirit of the forest.  Not content to lay down and die, Betan
 +
jumped at the panther, brandishing his weapon.  The creature leapt up
 +
too and the pair collided, tearing and slashing until they slammed
 +
into the ground in a bloody mess.
 +
 +
"Betan," pleaded Duka.  "Can you hear me Betan?"
 +
 +
"He has shot his bolt, kid," said a deep voice.
 +
 +
It was Cuthom, the leader of the caravan.  Betan had always thought of
 +
him as a father, or maybe an uncle.  Though human he wasn't that much
 +
older than Betan, but he had a pragmatic way about him dwarves
 +
admired.  The old man rubbed his hands together and breathed into
 +
them.
 +
 +
"We'll have to bury him before another one of those man-eaters finds
 +
him," said Cuthom.
 +
 +
"But he isn't dead yet," cried Duka.
 +
 +
"Then you will wait with him," said Cuthom as he turned back toward the wagons.
 +
 +
Panic clawed its way through the pain as Betan blinked his eyes,
 +
looking first at the body of panther beside him, then to Duka.  It
 +
wasn't only Betan who was afraid.  It wasn't long at all until Duka
 +
began to pace back and forth.  Betan thought the boy might actually
 +
try to kill him.
 +
 +
"You'll be dead in another minute," said Duka, "but there is no sense
 +
in me waiting."
 +
 +
The boy walked over to where the crossbow landed in the snow.  He
 +
lifted up the weapon and walked back over to the fallen dwarf.
 +
Absentmindedly, he brushed the snow from the bowstring.
 +
 +
"You won't be needing this where you are going," said the boy.
 +
 +
With that, Betan was alone.
 +
 +
"It seems I misjudged you, kid," said Cuthom.  It was not a compliment.
 +
 +
The only man looked at the crossbow in Duka's hands.  The telling
 +
crafts-dwarfship said it all.
 +
 +
"You may need that pea-shooter where we are bound," said the caravan master.
 +
 +
-
 +
 +
The wilds of Allsphere were boundless, extending endlessly in every
 +
direction.  Only a fool would think to set their dimensions on a map,
 +
or worst still, to set across them unprepared.  But who could prepare
 +
for the treachery of those closest to him?
 +
 +
A trail of red lead away from the scene of the slaughter to a still
 +
pond from which Betan drank.  He washed his wounds and found that,
 +
though serious, none were mortal.  The worst was his leg, the bone
 +
snapped in two just below the knee.  Tears streamed down his face as
 +
he thought of justice not done.
 +
 +
It was not justice in the end that moved him.  As he lifted himself up
 +
against a tree, he thought of Cuthom and young Duka.  It would be
 +
revenge that spurred him on.  His wrath would pick him up and set him
 +
against those than wronged him.  Then the pain returned.  One step
 +
before the next.
  
 
==[[User:Urist McCheeseMaker|Urist McCheeseMaker]]==
 
==[[User:Urist McCheeseMaker|Urist McCheeseMaker]]==
Line 396: Line 791:
 
"Of course, Asmuk," said the young man, lounging on the wooden stool.
 
"Of course, Asmuk," said the young man, lounging on the wooden stool.
 
"How could you doubt me?"
 
"How could you doubt me?"
 +
 +
==[[Urist McNuup]]==
 +
===(31 Oktober 2015)===
 +
<pre>Hg,..,|+++@+@|</pre>
 +
 +
The expedition leader, Kogan, was an unrepentant glutton.  The assassin's thought themselves clever by poisoning his favorite dessert, sweet-pod pie.  They didn't count on him feeding the first bite to his dogs.  When his pets died, Kogan was furious.  He called all his lieutenants to him.  He would find the culprit if he had to execute every dwarf in the fortress.
 +
 +
“We had better go,” said Smelark.
 +
 +
“Wait until the first round of interrogations,” said Aliza.  “If we flee now, he will know we are guilty.”
 +
 +
The goblin didn't accept this wisdom.  Smelark knew that if he waited to be captured he would be tortured for sure.  If he had learned anything in the dark tower it was that he was no good under torture.  He would spill the beans for sure.  Ignoring Aliza's advice, he stole a horse from the stable and disappeared before dawn.
 +
 +
“I will find him, my lord,” said Aliza.
 +
 +
“It is a dangerous mission,” said Kogan, “shouldn't I send one of the knights?”
 +
 +
“I know how this one thinks,” said Aliza.  “I will bring him back dead or alive.”
 +
 +
==[[User:USP45|USP45]]==
 +
===(23 May 2011)===
 +
<pre>gBgB,.,,,.,,..,@,.e.e</pre>
 +
 +
The beak-dogs could not hunt by smell.  It was with their bulging
 +
black eyes that they could see through any disguise.  On their backs
 +
the goblins rode.  They were chasing escaped prisoners, two elves and
 +
a dwarf.  The dwarf couldn't get far.  Not as far as the elves.  Not
 +
in this country.
 +
 +
"Hurry up short-stuff," said the elf.  "I can hear the beak-dogs chirping."
 +
 +
Aliz the dwarf thought it might be better if they did catch him.
 +
 +
===(12 April 2012)===
 +
<pre>,.,@~~~.,Bg.,Bg,.</pre>
 +
 +
"Run for your lives," shouted Aliz.  "I will take out this trash."
 +
 +
With the chain that bound him as a slave, Aliz rose up against his enemies.  One beak dog skidded to a halt before him.  The goblin rider sneered and lifted his spear.  The other beak dog tried to charge past but Aliz threw out the end of his chain and caught the thing around the neck, causing it to spill its rider in a cloud of dust.
 +
 +
The surviving beak dog let out an ear-piercing chirp.  The rider hurled his spear but missed Aliz with his failed attempt.  The beak dog moved slowly backward as Aliz began to swing his chain.  The goblin rider howled and brandished his saber.  Aliz took him out with an expert stroke of the chain.
 +
 +
Now free of all control, the beak dog reverted to its predatory instincts.  Face with the crazed fury of the wild animal, Aliz turned and fled.  As the beak dog gained up him, Aliz did something unthinkable.  He leapt onto the lower branches of a tree and pulled himself up.  The monster's beak snapped shut right below his feet.
 +
 +
==[[User:Usurper|Usurper]]==
 +
===(7 January 2011)===
 +
<pre>~~~~~~~@,...,.,</pre>
 +
 +
The calls of the loons echoed across the misty lake.  Aliz had come
 +
here from the mountain to seek answers, and as he looked up to the
 +
hills leading down to the water, his heart still felt sorrow.  He was
 +
cursed, you see.  Every weapon he made would break, and every
 +
foundation he laid would falter.  This was an ill fate for a dwarf.
 +
Aliz fell to his knees at the water's edge and prayed to the faeries
 +
that dwelt there.
 +
 +
"Why do you cry, Aliz?" said a resounding voice.
 +
 +
"All the work I do is of dust," cried the dwarf.  "Why do the gods let me live?"
 +
 +
"But your weapons are destined to bring down giants," said the voice,
 +
"and your works to last till the end of time."
 +
 +
===(7 April 2012)===
 +
<pre>~~~~~F@,.,.</pre>
 +
 +
As Aliz lifted his head, he met the eyes of a girl.  She was
 +
beautiful, as magic spirits go, but also terrible.  Any dwarf could
 +
tell you how the ghosts of the woodland tricked them into doing this
 +
and that.  Aliz was no fool.  As he rose the spirit came to him.  It
 +
had a hammer in its hand.
 +
 +
"Take this tool," said the faery.  "I give it to you freely.  It has
 +
the power to create anything you can imagine.  But know this, in order
 +
for it to work, you must use it to destroy something of greater or
 +
equal value."
 +
 +
Satisfied his curse was broken, Aliz skipped back to town, whistling a
 +
merry tune.  He thought of the wonders he would create once he reached
 +
the dwarf fortress.  Sitting on the back of an oxen cart, Aliz
 +
withdrew the hammer and looked over the many designs etched in its
 +
surface.  They seemed to change before his eyes.
 +
 +
"Destroy something of greater or equal value," Aliz said.
 +
 +
"What did you say, little man?" said the ox driver.
 +
 +
"Nothing," said Aliz, drawing his cloak over the hammer.
 +
 +
"Firesign Fortress," said the driver.  "You made it."
 +
 +
"And I will re-make it," muttered Aliz as he jumped from the cart.
 +
 +
===(9 September 2012)===
 +
<pre>[[++\@|,..,.,|+++@</pre>
 +
 +
Firesign Fortress was the pride of the dwarven empire.  Beings of all
 +
races came from far and wide to marvel at the wonders there.  Aliz was
 +
no exception.  He looked on the domes and spires of the mountain home
 +
with both pride and jealousy.  One day, he thought, one day it will
 +
all be mine.
 +
 +
That night he set up shop in a low-rent part of the fortress.  There
 +
he began the secret work of using the magic hammer.  At first it
 +
seemed ridiculously hard.  He would smash a table and recreate it in a
 +
second.  But he could not make his fortune doing this.
 +
 +
Frustrated beyond reason, Aliz roamed the hallways.  He stopped at the
 +
glass window of Kogan's dress shop.  Looking at his hated reflection,
 +
he hurled the useless hammer through the glass.  Instantly coming to
 +
his senses, he climbed through the broken window, took the hammer and
 +
fled.
 +
 +
Back at the shop, he felt the hammer tingle.  The designs on the metal
 +
seemed to glow with their own light.  He took the hammer to the anvil
 +
and began to hammer out the very air.  At last, sitting on the anvil,
 +
was a perfect beer stein.
 +
 +
"You," said a voice from behind.  It was Kogan.  "Why did you break my window?"
 +
 +
"It wasn't me," said Aliz.
 +
 +
So began Aliz's life of crime.  All over the fortress things went
 +
missing or were right-out smashed.  All fingers pointed to Aliz, but
 +
he flatly denied responsibility.  All the time his smithy business was
 +
booming.  The sheriff knew something was up.  It was only a matter
 +
time before the villain made a mistake.
 +
 +
==[[User:Vasili|Vasili]]==
 +
===(23rd April 2010)===
 +
<pre>UU+U++G.,,...</pre>
 +
A knock came at the mead hall gate.  A powerful blow, nearly tearing
 +
the doors from their hinges.  King Wrathbeard drew his sword and
 +
strode to the entrance, flanked by his elite warriors.  He nodded to
 +
his men and they unbarred the door.  The doors swung open, revealing
 +
the enormous, heavily-muscled body of Grum, half-giant, lord of the
 +
hills.
 +
 +
"Where are my chickens?" growled Grum.  "You are to offer me four
 +
fried chickens on every Tuesday!  Friday it is!"
 +
 +
Wrathbeard stroked his whiskers.  "What have you done for me lately,
 +
Grum?" asked the king.  "Goblins still haunt the highways.  Jackal men
 +
still harass my herds."
 +
 +
Grum left the hall in confusion, sure he had been tricked.  Back on
 +
his hill, Grum watched as a carriage was stopped by goblin bandits and
 +
the nobles stripped of their valuables.  Feeling his stomach rumbling,
 +
Grum stood and ran toward the highway.
 +
 +
"Where is the rest of the gold!" yelled the goblin.
 +
 +
The nobles coward, fearing for their lives.  The goblin raised his
 +
whip, better to lash them again.  A huge hand caught him by the wrist.
 +
Grum tossed the goblin into the air.  The nobles screamed.  The half-giant scowled.
 +
 +
"I will have my chickens," he said, "whether you live or die."
 +
 +
<pre>%~%+%~%+%+++G++\U+||</pre>
 +
 +
Suddenly, one of the nobles took on a sly look.  He was thin, weak looking man in dark robes.  The others backed away as the dark noble approached.
 +
 +
"Who promised you chickens, friend?" asked the noble.
 +
 +
"King Wrathbeard give Grum chickens," said the half-giant.
 +
 +
"Well, Grum, my friend," said the noble, "Baron Gravesly knows that King Wrathbeard lies to Grum and eats all the chickens himself!"
 +
 +
A powerful blow knocked the mead hall doors off their hinges.  The warriors jumped to their feet and reached for their weapons.  The half-giant leapt inside and sent men hurtling through the air.  The king stepped out of his chamber, half naked, a sword in his hand.  The mead hall was a bloodbath, the half giant gasping, looking for more men to kill.
 +
 +
"Grum!" commanded the king.  "Why have you this?"
 +
 +
"Wrathbeard," said Grum through a mouth full of slobber.  "You ate my chickens."
 +
 +
Anger burned in the king’s chest.  He ground his teeth with the thought of that striver besting him.  He attacked the giant, slicing the monster across the face, slashing out an eye.  Grum cried out in pain, and the king struck again, but the blade bounced off the creature’s rib.  Wrathbeard raised his blade to strike once more, but his luck had run out.  Grum dashed out the king’s brains with one vicious blow.
 +
 +
King Gravesly’s reign was one of terror and tyranny.  All feared "Gravesly’s Dog," the evil monster that plagued both noble and commoner alike.  It was into this sad place, that an adventurer appeared, a young man, slight of build, but with the appearance of inner strength.  The peasants looked on him as he rode to town.  Could he be the one to save them?
 +
 +
==[[User:Vattic|Vattic]]==
 +
===(27th December, 2010)===
 +
<pre>kBkBkBkBkB"",."".,\U\U\U\U</pre>
 +
 +
Thunder across the midnight plain.  Captain Gilroy and his men had
 +
been marching all day in the driving rain, all to bring news of the
 +
defeat at Tradalfadad.  If they did not reach the castle soon, the
 +
king's legions would be unready to face the enemy already at their
 +
doorstep.  Gilroy looked at the thick grass to the sides of the
 +
trail.  Something charged out of the grass behind him, knocking one of
 +
the soldiers senseless.
 +
 +
"Bacabadabis!"
 +
 +
"Kobolds," shouted Gilroy.  "Make ready!"
 +
 +
The knights drew their swords as out of the grass charged a dozen
 +
menacing beasts, kobolds on their backs.  Keebis Clan, thought Gilroy,
 +
the boar riders.  The head kobold was a mean-looking creature, not
 +
cowardly like the rest.  Gilroy took aim at him and lowered his visor.
 +
He set his leg and charged, sword raised over his head.  Unflinching,
 +
the kobold kicked the sides of his wild boar and held his spear for
 +
the kill.
 +
 +
==[[User:Ves|Ves]]==
 +
===(08 February 2011)===
 +
<pre>,.@@@Ugg,..,.,?J?</pre>
 +
 +
Some say the world rests on the back of a giant tortoise.  Only few would know for sure.  The dark wizard Afbacam was fleeing from justice when he escaped through the cracks of the earth.  Ramet followed him.  He was hero to his tribe, and with all the villages' money, he had hired a band of dwarves to take him through the darkest recesses of the world.
 +
 +
"The gorlak said he went that way," screamed the dwarf, "so he went that way!"
 +
 +
It went on for hours like this.  Ramet and the gorlaks watched inside the dark grotto as the dwarves fought and cussed.  They had been traveling the dark roads underground for days.  There was no sunshine, and the whiskey had long since run dry.  Ramet took to his feet and sighed.  Slowly he meandered toward the direction the gorlak indicated.
 +
 +
"Don't venture there alone," suggested the little yellow creature.  "The Jabberer might get you."
  
 
==[[User:Xarph|Xarph]]==
 
==[[User:Xarph|Xarph]]==
Line 637: Line 1,245:
 
The End
 
The End
  
−
==[[User:ToonyMan|ToonyMan]]==
+
==[[User:Ylech|Ylech]]==
−
===(16 January 2009)===
+
===(19th July, 2014)===
−
<pre>DDDDDDM,..@EU@@EU@UE,.</pre>
+
 
 +
<pre>|@+@+@@@@@@+U++</pre>
 +
 
 +
You and I have lived through the hard times.  It has been years since
 +
the fall of the dwarven empire and the start of the endless wars to
 +
carve up what was left of its corpse.  The old capital has been
 +
conquered and re-conquered countless times.  It was there, after all,
 +
that treason was born in the feast hall of the dwarf fortress.
 +
 +
"Where is my favorite knight?" shouted King Koland.  "Bring her forth."
 +
 +
From among the armored dwarves, a dwarf warrioress emerged, decked out
 +
in shining plate armor.  All the crafts-dwarfship was of the high
 +
highest quality, down to the engravings on the helmet she carried at
 +
her side revealing a head of platinum blond hair.  Her movements had
 +
purpose, like a mountain lion hunting her prey.  The king smiled.  He
 +
knew as long as she belonged to him, his authority would never be
 +
questioned.
 +
 +
"I declare," said the king, "if there is a finer knight than Ashke in
 +
all of Cogita, let him come forward and claim my crown."
 +
 +
There was silence in the feast hall.  The king had made his point.
 +
Ashke turned and faced the crowd, an arrogant sneer on her face.  She
 +
knew no one could face her because of her divine gifts.  She was
 +
stronger than a bear and faster than a great cat.  She fought for the
 +
king for he was set on the throne by gods before she was born.  Many
 +
of the dwarves had known no king other than Koland.
 +
 +
Just then there was a knock at the door.  The wood beam that barred
 +
the door was split lengthwise by the force of the blow.  The smile
 +
fell from the king's face, but Ashke's grin became even more fierce.
 +
She longed for every chance to prove herself.  Koland ordered that the
 +
door be opened.
 +
 +
As the pieces of beam were slid away the door slowly swung open
 +
letting in a blast of cold Winter air.  Ashke's hand fell to the hilt
 +
of her sword.  There was nothing visible in the doorway but wisps of
 +
snow.  The brave knight called out, but there was no answer.  The king
 +
put his hand on her shoulder.
 +
 +
"I know you are brave," said the king, "and would do anything for me.
 +
This is the hardest thing I can ask of you.  You must stand aside."
 +
 +
Confused by Koland's request, Ashke didn't notice as the red knight
 +
stormed into the feast hall.  The rest of the dwarves backed away
 +
against the walls, as if the creature's presence itself was a source
 +
of pain.  The knight was half a span taller than Ashke, who was,
 +
herself, tall for a dwarf.  Red paint was splattered in chaotic
 +
patterns across the knight's helm and breastplate.  His arms were bare
 +
and the skin was covered in scars.
 +
 +
"Speak your challenge, knight," said Koland.
 +
 +
"Anything Ashke can do," said the red knight, "I can do better."
 +
 +
"Speak, lord," said Ashke, "and I shall kill him."
 +
 +
"You cannot slay him," said King Koland, "for he is my son."
 +
 
 +
==[[User:Zai|Zai]]==
 +
===(19 December 2010)===
 +
<pre>,.,CT,.,.</pre>
 +
 
 +
The mining of the dwarves was as an irritating vibration in the bronze giant's head.  For five hundred years he had struck a heroic pose.  Now his anger was so great, he must act.  Stiffly at first, the colossus dismounted his pedestal.  A jungle had grown up around his temple since he had been placed there.  Where were those who worshiped at the shrine?  Dead, while the dwarves lived?  There would be nothing left of their mountain but rubble.
 +
 
 +
As he passed through many lands, his anger would not fade, for it was as large as he was.  He did not usually care for what he stepped on, but this time was different.  He stopped for a moment and looked below.  Underneath his foot was a tiny speck.  He pinched it up and held it before his eyes.  It was a giant tortoise.
 +
 
 +
==[[User:Zesty|Zesty]]==
 +
===(June 2011)===
 +
<pre>||~@++%||@++++</pre>
 +
 
 +
"I am innocent of these crimes!" cried Fuglin as he was dragged away. Sitting in the dungeon cell, he could recall the cheers of the dwarves as the judge pronounced the verdict. It wasn't fair. The adamantine wasn't his. He was just holding it for somebody. Now in prison, he was left to rot. A guard stopped by his cell and poured a cup of gruel on the cold stone floor. Anger and despair were all he felt now. From now on he dared not hope.
 +
 
 +
--
 +
 
 +
It had begun as such a small thing. Fuglin and the goblin had known each other since the construction of the fortress. Fuglin was young then.
 +
 
 +
One day Fuglin visited the goblin, this time locked in the stockade.
 +
 
 +
"You know the path through the stone?" said the goblin. "The one we built as children? You must go there and bring me what you find. It is the key to my release."
 +
 
 +
===(July 2011)===
 +
<pre>,.,.,.,.,@|#######&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&</pre>
 +
 
 +
The space was not built for more than a child, a narrow, twisting tunnel winding its way through the foundations of the fortress. At the bottom, Fuglin saw a light, a silvery glowing rock at the end of the tunnel. This must be it, thought Fuglin, a bribe to set the goblin free. Hastily, Fuglin took up his pick and chiseled off a piece of the silver metal.
 +
 
 +
Something lay beyond the tunnel. A hole the size of a dwarf's fist opened where Fuglin struck. He could hear a strange howling within, no doubt another subterranean jungle. The dwarf didn't stay to find out. He squirmed as fast as he could, finally reaching the exit where he found the goblin, free from his bonds.
 +
 
 +
"You survived," said the goblin. "Keep the adamantine as a token of our friendship."
 +
 
 +
"Wait!" cried Fuglin, but the goblin had disappeared.
 +
 
 +
===(October 2011)===
 +
<pre>@@@@@,.,o@,..##||#&#&#&&&&#&</pre>
 +
 
 +
What happened next was hard to say. There was a lot of smoke and fire. Dwarves ran screaming through the fortress. Captains shouted orders to soldiers they could not see through the clouds of burning vapor. Fuglin was scared beyond reason. He tried to follow the others, ducking when the monsters swooped down.
 +
 
 +
It seemed it would never end, then Fuglin came rolling out of the fortress gate just as another fire blast rocketed overhead. As it was, the demons could not, or would not set foot outside the fortress. What few dwarves that were left gathered at the hills below. Fuglin recognized a blacksmith which with he had apprenticed. Before he could speak the blacksmith pointed his finger.
 +
 
 +
"He is the one!" the dwarf cried. "Look! He still has the rock in his paw!"
 +
 
 +
Fuglin looked down, having until now forgotten the adamantine in his hand.
  
−
Sword and axe clashed again and again as the fighters struggled to
+
===(July 2014)===
−
best each other in mortal combat.  Arrows rained down on the field of
+
<pre>@g+0++0++0++0++0++0++0++<</pre>
−
battle as man, elf and dwarf fought at once to win the day.  Randar
 
−
took up the sword for the dwarves.  With his mightiness he tried to
 
−
kill Giltra of the elves, but the champion was too fast.  The battle
 
−
seemed endless.  Roars of terror and pain were everywhere.  Just then
 
−
a squadron of dragons appeared, lead by Madnar the Evil.  Could there
 
−
be any hope?
 
  
−
===(14 January 2010)===
+
"You have a visitor," said the prison guard.
−
<pre>DDDDM,.,.s/\@.,.E@E@E@E</pre>
 
  
−
The combatants turned to face the dragons as they landed.  Madnar dismounted his towering red monster, followed by a short stranger, his eyes dark and shining. Randar stroked his beard as he observed the young warrior.  He carried a sword of strange design.  Giltra would not wait. She notched an arrow and fired before anyone could blink.  The young swordsman knocked it out of the sky before it could reach Madnar's chest.
+
It was the goblin, dressed in a dark cloak. Fuglin had blamed his
 +
fate on the goblin, but now that he saw him it all seemed so
 +
pointless. In the morning, he would go to the hammerer to be forged
 +
anew. Fuglin began to wonder why the goblin showed up at all if not
 +
to gloat at his handiwork.
  
−
"Fools," chuckled the villain, "allow me to introduce Lord Strider.  His powers are unmatched in this world. Now you see there can be no hope."
+
"Take this glass pill," said the goblin, holding out his hand, "and
 +
bite down with your teeth. Death will come swiftly."
  
−
Randar set his heels and charged, sword raised. Lord Strider struck a martial pose and set out to meet his dwarven adversary.  As they met, the sound of steel ripping steel echoed across the battlefield. As the dust cleared, the dwarf found himself gloating in victory.  Strider lay broken and sullied, his weapon shorn in two. Madnar was horrified. Had his reign of evil come to an end?
+
The goblin dropped the pill into Fuglin's open hand. The fluid in the
 +
green glass capsule looked black and foreboding. Still, it beat a
 +
humiliating public execution. The goblin turned and left without
 +
saying another word. Fuglin put the pill in his mouth and bit down
 +
hard. A moment's dizziness was all he had time to experience.
  
−
===(18 February 2011)===
+
"Where am I?" asked Fuglin.
−
<pre>.,.M\@,.sssssEssss</pre>
 
  
−
The boy's body churned and twisted, though cut in two. The dwarves watched, horrified as the two halves stood, bloody gore bubbling over their severed ends.  Madnar cackled with glee.  Sensing the danger, Giltra shouted, "Randar, quickly, or there will be two of them." The evil king watched, amused, as the heroes rushed to do battle with the demon.
+
"Quiet," said the goblin. "We are in the catacombs. The dwarves
 +
believe you committed suicide."
  
−
With passion, the dwarf and elf did damage to the multiplying demon.  No matter how hard they fought, the army of demons kept growing, chop after bloody chop.  That was when Randar saw Madnar giggling in his dragon-saddle.  Without warning, the dwarf moved.
+
"But I did commit suicide," mumbled Fuglin.
  
−
With one swing of his axe, the dwarf hero struck off the head of the dragon.  He pushed off of the dragon's neck with his boot, and in a second was in the saddle with the cowering Madnar.  The dwarf pulled a knife from his boot and put it to the evil king's throat. The army of bloody demons turned away from the elf and looked to their new master.
+
"You can take that up with your deity later," said the goblin. "For
 +
now we must get you out of these funeral shrouds and escape before we
 +
are discovered."
  
−
"Release the elf," commanded Randar.
+
===(October 2015)===
  
−
"I," stuttered the king, "I lack the power."
+
<pre>g@,.,.@@@></pre>
  
−
The dwarf saw the villain fiddling with a talisman around his neck.  Randar took it from him, a blue jewel, the color as deep as the sea. With one mighty kick, Randar sent the king tumbling onto the battle field. Seeing what was to come, the elf backed away. Randar held the jewel high.
+
Why had he been rescued? Fuglin was a traitor and had to be forged anew, but to do that, he had to die. The goblin held his hand as they exited the tomb. There was a family of dwarves mourning just outside. As they passed, the goblin held Fuglin close, pretending to be lovers lost in grief. It worked this time, but in order to start a new life, they needed Fuglin to exchange his sackcloth for real clothes. The goblin led Fuglin through a maze of corridors to the fortress market.
  
−
"Demon from the Underworld," cried the dwarf, "devour that trembling sack of filth!"
+
“You look like a scribe to me,” said the goblin.
  
−
==[[User:Vattic|Vattic]]==
+
“Like those creeps that spend their whole lives in the library?” complained Fuglin.
−
===(27th December, 2010)===
 
−
<pre>kBkBkBkBkB"",."".,\U\U\U\U</pre>
 
  
−
Thunder across the midnight plain.  Captain Gilroy and his men had
+
“Forget your old life,” said the goblin. “That is what it means to serve in the Order of Nadir.”
−
been marching all day in the driving rain, all to bring news of the
 
−
defeat at Tradalfadad. If they did not reach the castle soon, the
 
−
king's legions would be unready to face the enemy already at their
 
−
doorstep.  Gilroy looked at the thick grass to the sides of the
 
−
trail.  Something charged out of the grass behind him, knocking one of
 
−
the soldiers senseless.
 
  
−
"Bacabadabis!"
+
===(November 2015)===
  
−
"Kobolds," shouted Gilroy.  "Make ready!"
+
<pre>+++@p|</pre>
  
−
The knights drew their swords as out of the grass charged a dozen
+
Writing prose under the pen name Robinor, Fuglin began his new life as a scribe. Life was different out in the periphery. The monastery where the scribe worked was built into a hillside deep in the Forbidden Forest. Not many people would risk a journey there, but Robinor's works ended up being so skillful and filled with such beauty that he gained the one thing he could no longer afford, fame.
−
menacing beasts, kobolds on their backs. Keebis Clan, thought Gilroy,
 
−
the boar riders. The head kobold was a mean-looking creature, not
 
−
cowardly like the rest. Gilroy took aim at him and lowered his visor.
 
−
He set his leg and charged, sword raised over his head.  Unflinching,
 
−
the kobold kicked the sides of his wild boar and held his spear for
 
−
the kill.
 
  
−
==[[User:Zai|Zai]]==
+
None of the brothers spoke to Robinor as they had all taken vows of silence, but the dwarf could still tell that they were pretty mad about all the visitors they had been attracting lately. Robinor greeted his fans with the humility one would expect from a monk, but it was easy to tell that the dwarf was succumbing to the sin of pride.
−
===(19 December 2010)===
 
−
<pre>,.,CT,.,.</pre>
 
  
−
The mining of the dwarves was as an irritating vibration in the bronze giant's head.  For five hundred years he had struck a heroic pose. Now his anger was so great, he must act.  Stiffly at first, the colossus dismounted his pedestal. A jungle had grown up around his temple since he had been placed there.  Where were those who worshiped at the shrine?  Dead, while the dwarves lived?  There would be nothing left of their mountain but rubble.
+
One day, Robinor was praying in the shrine to Nadir when a bird landed on the creepy statue of the god of the depths. It was a parrot, out of place in the cold northern climate. Robinor stood on his feet and walked over to the statue.
  
−
As he passed through many lands, his anger would not fade, for it was as large as he was.  He did not usually care for what he stepped on, but this time was different.  He stopped for a moment and looked below.  Underneath his foot was a tiny speck.  He pinched it up and held it before his eyes. It was a giant tortoise.
+
“Pretty bird,” said Robinor. “Pretty bird.”
  
−
==[[User:Usurper|Usurper]]==
+
“You are all going to die,” said the parrot.
−
===(7 January 2011)===
 
−
<pre>~~~~~~~@,...,.,</pre>
 
  
−
The calls of the loons echoed across the misty lake.  Aliz had come
+
=== (December 2015) ===
−
here from the mountain to seek answers, and as he looked up to the
 
−
hills leading down to the water, his heart still felt sorrow.  He was
 
−
cursed, you see.  Every weapon he made would break, and every
 
−
foundation he laid would falter.  This was an ill fate for a dwarf.
 
−
Aliz fell to his knees at the water's edge and prayed to the faeries
 
−
that dwelt there.
 
  
−
"Why do you cry, Aliz?" said a resounding voice.
+
<pre>pg+++@+</pre>
  
−
"All the work I do is of dust," cried the dwarf. "Why do the gods let me live?"
+
“What?” asked Robinor, stupidly to the bird.
  
−
"But your weapons are destined to bring down giants," said the voice,
+
“Fuglin,” said the parrot.
−
"and your works to last till the end of time."
 
  
−
===(7 April 2012)===
+
The monk's face went white as a sheet. Someone had taught the parrot to speak these words, someone connected to his old life. The scribe, Robinor, had thought he had left all of that behind. Occasionally a dwarven survivor from Robinor's old fortress would appear at the monastery, but they never recognized him. This was something far more sinister. It had to be the goblin.
−
<pre>~~~~~F@,.,.</pre>
 
  
−
As Aliz lifted his head, he met the eyes of a girl.  She was
+
“You have a visitor,” croaked a monk.
−
beautiful, as magic spirits go, but also terrible.  Any dwarf could
 
−
tell you how the ghosts of the woodland tricked them into doing this
 
−
and that.  Aliz was no fool.  As he rose the spirit came to him.  It
 
−
had a hammer in its hand.
 
  
−
"Take this tool," said the faery. "I give it to you freely.  It has
+
“Your holy vow?” asked Robinor, panicking.
−
the power to create anything you can imagine.  But know this, in order
 
−
for it to work, you must use it to destroy something of greater or
 
−
equal value."
 
  
−
Satisfied his curse was broken, Aliz skipped back to town, whistling a
+
“See for yourself,” said the monk. “Then you will understand.”
−
merry tune.  He thought of the wonders he would create once he reached
 
−
the dwarf fortress.  Sitting on the back of an oxen cart, Aliz
 
−
withdrew the hammer and looked over the many designs etched in its
 
−
surface. They seemed to change before his eyes.
 
  
−
"Destroy something of greater or equal value," Aliz said.
+
It could only be one person, the phantom from the past. The goblin stood at the entrance of the building, the parrot on his shoulder. He smiled at Robinor as he approached.
  
−
"What did you say, little man?" said the ox driver.
+
“Fuglin!” said the goblin. “It's been a long time, my friend.”
  
−
"Nothing," said Aliz, drawing his cloak over the hammer.
+
“I am no longer that person,” said Robinor. “I have a new life here.”
  
−
"Firesign Fortress," said the driver.  "You made it."
+
“You have the life I gave you,” said the goblin, the smile fading from his lips.
  
−
"And I will re-make it," muttered Aliz as he jumped from the cart.
+
=== (January 2016) ===
−
===(9 September 2012)===
 
−
<pre>[[++\@|,..,.,|+++@</pre>
 
  
−
Firesign Fortress was the pride of the dwarven empire. Beings of all
+
<pre>,.@,@@.@,.MMg[@</pre>
−
races came from far and wide to marvel at the wonders there. Aliz was
 
−
no exception.  He looked on the domes and spires of the mountain home
 
−
with both pride and jealousy.  One day, he thought, one day it will
 
−
all be mine.
 
  
−
That night he set up shop in a low-rent part of the fortress.  There
+
“The king has grown attached to the writings of this 'Robinor,'” said the goblin. “This puts you, Fuglin, in the unique position to get close to him. You remember this?”
−
he began the secret work of using the magic hammer.  At first it
 
−
seemed ridiculously hard. He would smash a table and recreate it in a
 
−
second. But he could not make his fortune doing this.
 
  
−
Frustrated beyond reason, Aliz roamed the hallways. He stopped at the
+
The glass pill was unmistakable. The black fluid danced inside as the goblin shook it in Fuglin's face. It was the ill-fated dwarf's job to poison the king in any way he could. When Fuglin went to retrieve his writing material, the goblin took him by the arm and removed him forcibly from the building. He would not be needing any of that stuff where he was going. Fuglin fell silent as he boarded the wagon that the goblin drove with its team of mules.
−
glass window of Kogan's dress shop. Looking at his hated reflection,
 
−
he hurled the useless hammer through the glass. Instantly coming to
 
−
his senses, he climbed through the broken window, took the hammer and
 
−
fled.
 
  
−
Back at the shop, he felt the hammer tingle.  The designs on the metal
+
On the way to the capital many travelers stopped the wagon to ask if the dwarven monk was indeed the famous Robinor. The dwarf writer allowed himself to forget the evil quest he was on. Word spread quickly of the scribe's journey to see the king.
−
seemed to glow with their own light.  He took the hammer to the anvil
 
−
and began to hammer out the very air. At last, sitting on the anvil,
 
−
was a perfect beer stein.
 
  
−
"You," said a voice from behind. It was Kogan.  "Why did you break my window?"
+
“You better do what you're told,” warned the goblin.
  
−
"It wasn't me," said Aliz.
+
=== (February 2016) ===
  
−
So began Aliz's life of crime.  All over the fortress things went
+
<pre>|~@+|~g+|+++++++|@@++%|</pre>
−
missing or were right-out smashed.  All fingers pointed to Aliz, but
 
−
he flatly denied responsibility.  All the time his smithy business was
 
−
booming.  The sheriff knew something was up.  It was only a matter
 
−
time before the villain made a mistake.
 
  
−
==[[User:Ves|Ves]]==
+
“Robinor,” exclaimed the king, “it is a great honor!”
−
===(08 February 2011)===
 
−
<pre>,.@@@Ugg,..,.,?J?</pre>
 
  
−
Some say the world rests on the back of a giant tortoise.  Only few would know for sure.  The dark wizard Afbacam was fleeing from justice when he escaped through the cracks of the earth.  Ramet followed him.  He was hero to his tribe, and with all the villages' money, he had hired a band of dwarves to take him through the darkest recesses of the world.  
+
“It is all too much,” said Robinor, fumbling with the deadly pill in his pocket.
  
−
"The gorlak said he went that way," screamed the dwarf, "so he went that way!"
+
The king clasped the monk's hand and pulled him into his private chambers. The goblin watched ominously as the door closed, sealing the two dwarves inside. Waiting patiently, the goblin eyed the royal guards which flanked the doorway. There wasn't a lot of room to move if this went badly. Just then, the door swung open.
  
−
It went on for hours like this.  Ramet and the gorlaks watched inside the dark grotto as the dwarves fought and cussed.  They had been traveling the dark roads underground for days.  There was no sunshine, and the whiskey had long since run dry.  Ramet took to his feet and sighed.  Slowly he meandered toward the direction the gorlak indicated.
+
“The king!” cried Robinor. “The king is dead!”
  
−
"Don't venture there alone," suggested the little yellow creature.  "The Jabberer might get you."
+
Drawing their weapons, one guard went inside while the other guard arrested Robinor and the goblin. The king had apparently collapsed on the floor. There was a black smear on his lips. The guards took the monk and goblin down to the dungeon to await their fate. When they were separated, the goblin didn't say a word. Robinor didn't know which was worse, to be executed for destroying the fortress, or for regicide.
  
−
==[[User:USP45|USP45]]==
+
=== (March 2016) ===
−
===(23 May 2011)===
 
−
<pre>gBgB,.,,,.,,..,@,.e.e</pre>
 
  
−
The beak-dogs could not hunt by smell.  It was with their bulging
+
<pre>@@|+++!!%!!</pre>
−
black eyes that they could see through any disguise.  On their backs
 
−
the goblins rode.  They were chasing escaped prisoners, two elves and
 
−
a dwarf.  The dwarf couldn't get far.  Not as far as the elves.  Not
 
−
in this country.
 
  
−
"Hurry up short-stuff," said the elf. "I can hear the beak-dogs chirping."
+
“It was all the goblin's doing,” cried Fuglin to the lead investigator. “Where is the king's body?”
  
−
Aliz the dwarf thought it might be better if they did catch him.
+
“Tell me more about this goblin,” said the detective. “How long have you known him?”
  
−
===(12 April 2012)===
+
“We grew up together,” said Fuglin. “He was always getting me in trouble. Where is the king? There still might be time to save him.”
−
<pre>,.,@~~~.,Bg.,Bg,.</pre>
 
  
−
"Run for your lives," shouted Aliz. "I will take out this trash."
+
“You are telling me that the great Robinor is actually the famous traitor, Fuglin the Feckless?” asked the detective.
  
−
With the chain that bound him as a slave, Aliz rose up against his enemies.  One beak dog skidded to a halt before him.  The goblin rider sneered and lifted his spear.  The other beak dog tried to charge past but Aliz threw out the end of his chain and caught the thing around the neck, causing it to spill its rider in a cloud of dust.
+
“That's me! I'll admit to all my crimes,” said Fuglin, “but for forge's sake, just take me to the king's body before it's too late.”
  
−
The surviving beak dog let out an ear-piercing chirp.  The rider hurled his spear but missed Aliz with his failed attempt.  The beak dog moved slowly backward as Aliz began to swing his chain.  The goblin rider howled and brandished his saber.  Aliz took him out with an expert stroke of the chain.
+
“The king was cremated this morning,” said the detective.
  
−
Now free of all control, the beak dog reverted to its predatory instincts. Face with the crazed fury of the wild animal, Aliz turned and fled.  As the beak dog gained up him, Aliz did something unthinkable. He leapt onto the lower branches of a tree and pulled himself up. The monster's beak snapped shut right below his feet.
+
The familiar sinking sensation took hold as Fuglin struggled to accept his situation. The detective collected his scrolls and left Fuglin alone in the holding cell. Fuglin reached into his mouth and pulled out the green glass pill. There was still enough poison for one last dose. He wondered if anyone would be there to wake him this time.
  
−
==[[User:Tharwen|Tharwen]]==
+
=== (April 2016) ===
−
===(17 October 2011)===
 
−
<pre>g,.-,.\@@,.</pre>
 
  
−
"He's not worth it, Gatal," said the dwarf woman.
+
<pre>|%++N++@|</pre>
  
−
Gatal lowered his crossbow. The goblin looked pathetic and beat-up.
+
It was cold and dark in the catacombs. Fuglin was shocked that the dwarves had fallen for the same old trick, or was the joke on him this time? The goblin wasn't here to guide him out of the dark tunnels and Fuglin was buried alive. He slid out of the alcove and shed his funeral shroud. It was dark and creepy and Fuglin could sense the dead bodies all around him in various states of decay.
−
All his fellow thugs were dead. Still, there was no reforming their
 
−
kind.  The best thanks he could hope for was a dagger between the
 
−
ribs.  He raised the sights of the crossbow to his eyes.
 
  
−
"No!" cried the goblin.
+
“I am not Fuglin,” said the wretched dwarf. “I am Robinor.”
  
−
The bolt barely missed the goblin's ear.  He scrambled up and ran into
+
“You mean the famous poet?” said a voice in the dark.
−
the woods.  The dwarf woman took her hand off Gatal's crossbow.
 
  
−
"I told you he wasn't worth it," she said.
+
“The same,” said Robinor after a moment's terror. “Tell me, are you not dead?”
  
−
"And how do you know such things?" grumbled Gatal.
+
“As dead as the writer who took his own life, twice!” said the ghoulish stranger.
  
−
The dwarf woman snapped her fingers and it began to rain.
+
“How is it that you live down here?” asked Robinor.
  
−
==[[User:Timtek|Timtek]]==
+
“I will show you,” said the ghoul.
−
===(17 March 2012)===
 
  
−
<pre>~\U/~e~~</pre>
+
It was difficult to make out the monster in the dark. It looked basically like a dwarf, but stooped and sickly. Robinor followed him to a grave where the family had left gifts as an offering to the dead. The ghoul took some of the morsels of food and shared them with Robinor.
  
−
Those were the good times, only yesterday. Any child born this day
+
“A good haul this time,” said the ghoul.
−
would begin their life in an age of darkness. The dwarf fortresses
 
−
were all shut, blocking out the evil that now flooded every city and
 
−
hamlet. Sunlight itself was a thing of the past, for now black clouds
 
−
crowded out the sky, raining blood on the helpless beings below.
 
  
−
"If only my child were like a seed, blessed Lenge," cried the
+
=== (May 2016) ===
−
desperate mother, "to plant in the ground, in order to spring up in a
 
−
better day."
 
  
−
The baby grew silent. Tears pouring from her face, the girl carried
+
<pre>,.,.|@+@g++++!@!@!@!@</pre>
−
her baby outside and set it beside a large stone. There she dug a pit
 
−
and placed the child inside. With a quick prayer to Lenge, she began
 
−
to fill in the earth.
 
  
−
Many years later, an elf girl found the old house deserted. Nothing
+
This was not the fate Fuglin would have chosen for himself. He lived for weeks as a ghoul in the darkness of the catacombs, all the while wishing he could write about his adventures as Robinor. In time, a custodian came to dust off the bodies and Fuglin was lurking nearby. It was the goblin! Fuglin picked up the femur of a decomposing skeleton. When the goblin approached, Fuglin lifted up the bone and prepared for the killer blow.
−
stood but rubble and an odd stone in the ruined garden. The elf tried
 
−
to read the odd script on the smooth rock.
 
  
−
"Here lies my son, Arkur," said the elf girl. "May Lenge protect him."
+
“I know you are here,” said the goblin.
  
−
The earth began to shake and a giant leaf sprouted from the ground.
+
Stopped in his tracks, Fuglin lowered the bone. He wanted revenge, but more than that, he wanted a way out. The goblin explained to Fuglin how the king's evil adviser had put his own son on the throne and ordered the mass executions of the king's supporters. If Fuglin left now, he could easily escape in the confusion.
−
It unfolded and revealed a young man, naked inside. The girl
 
−
approached. As if bound by a spell, she touched his cheek. His eyes
 
−
opened and he rose.
 
  
−
"There might still be time," he said.
+
Crowds of angry dwarves moved up and down the corridors with torches in their hands. None seemed to notice the humble beggar and his goblin friend. When they reached the fortress gate, they found it closed.
  
−
==Ulurius==
+
“No one is allowed in or out without doing obedience to the rightful king,” said the gate guard.
−
===(16 April 2012)===
 
  
−
<pre>T%,.%@~,.\U,.,U</pre>
+
“Which king is the righteous one?” whispered Fuglin.
  
−
As the black bear ran, Betan could feel the cold air burning in its
+
=== (June 2016) ===
−
lungs.  An invisible line connected the heart of the beast to Betan's
 
−
crossbow.  The marks-dwarf let out one final breath and let fly.  The
 
−
animal fell tail over snout and skidded to a halt before an old pine
 
−
tree.  Betan emerged from behind the log where he had been hiding and
 
−
brushed the snow from his nose.
 
  
−
"Capital shot, Betan," shouted Duka.
+
<pre>,.~~,~.g,,@,.~,.</pre>
  
−
The man child Duka, like Betan, was just another hireling, bound to
+
“Prince Phlega is the new king,” whispered the goblin.
−
the caravan.  Ever west they rolled, over snowfield and desert, bound
 
−
for the fabled adamantine mines of Shoutrock.  The pay almost made it
 
−
worthwhile for an average dwarf, but Betan was anything but ordinary.
 
  
−
It was the call of the wild that Betan answered.  That, and an end to
+
“All hail King Phlega!” shouted Robinor.
−
the troubles at home.  As he watched Duka run toward the kill, he took
 
−
a swig from his flask.  They were deep in the savage wilds now.  It
 
−
was Betan's duty to deal with the local wildlife.  He had tracked the
 
−
bear far from the caravan.  Maybe too far.
 
  
−
"It has been a while since I've had a dwarf to eat," said a voice that
+
Once they were outside the gate, things became strange. There was a reddish mist all around, and the trees were dark and foreboding. It was said that the land and the king were one. If so, this Phlega could be counted among the most wicked to ever sit on the throne. Robinor remembered the stories of how the prince used to torture his servants as if they were the animals he constantly abused. Now his evil had begun to pollute the natural world.
−
seemed to sound inside Betan's head.
 
  
−
He turned to see an enormous black panther with a single green eye in
+
“We have to stop this,” said Robinor.
−
the center of its forehead.  Betan lifted his weapon, but the monster
 
−
batted it out of his hands with a swipe of his claw.  Without even
 
−
thinking, Betan launched himself backward into the air, pulling his
 
−
knife at the same time.  He landed on his feet, three spans away.
 
  
−
The monster approached.  Everything in its nature was predatory, an
+
“I have saved your life twice now,” said the goblin. “Where is your sense of loyalty?”
−
evil spirit of the forest.  Not content to lay down and die, Betan
 
−
jumped at the panther, brandishing his weapon.  The creature leapt up
 
−
too and the pair collided, tearing and slashing until they slammed
 
−
into the ground in a bloody mess.
 
  
−
"Betan," pleaded Duka. "Can you hear me Betan?"
+
“The sky itself is bleeding,” cried Robinor. “How bad are things going to get before you are satisfied?”
  
−
"He has shot his bolt, kid," said a deep voice.
+
=== (July 2016) ===
  
−
It was Cuthom, the leader of the caravan.  Betan had always thought of
+
<pre>@|@++@@@@+</pre>
−
him as a father, or maybe an uncle.  Though human he wasn't that much
 
−
older than Betan, but he had a pragmatic way about him dwarves
 
−
admired.  The old man rubbed his hands together and breathed into
 
−
them.
 
  
−
"We'll have to bury him before another one of those man-eaters finds
+
“You and I serve the same master,” said the goblin. “It is K'ung, the outer darkness, the chaos without end that existed before light and life.”
−
him," said Cuthom.
 
  
−
"But he isn't dead yet," cried Duka.
+
“It cannot be,” said Fuglin. “I renounce this evil!”
  
−
"Then you will wait with him," said Cuthom as he turned back toward the wagons.
+
A lighting bolt struck nearby and Fuglin was temporarily deafened. The goblin was trying to say something but Fuglin couldn't make it out. The red clouds above began to swirl. It seemed like the tales of old and the Nightmare Apocalypse. Nowhere was safe as the gods abandoned their sinful creation. Fuglin knew what he had to do. He trudged back toward the castle through a torrent of blood.
  
−
Panic clawed its way through the pain as Betan blinked his eyes,
+
“No more petitioners,” said the guard at the gate.
−
looking first at the body of panther beside him, then to Duka.  It
 
−
wasn't only Betan who was afraid.  It wasn't long at all until Duka
 
−
began to pace back and forth.  Betan thought the boy might actually
 
−
try to kill him.
 
  
−
"You'll be dead in another minute," said Duka, "but there is no sense
+
“Can't you see?” asked Fuglin. “The world is about to end!”
−
in me waiting."
 
  
−
The boy walked over to where the crossbow landed in the snow. He
+
The dwarf looked like he had been rolling in filth. No one was sure where he had come from. The petitioners said he just walked out of the woods like that. The guard decided to turn him away, rather that having to deal with the smell while arresting him.
−
lifted up the weapon and walked back over to the fallen dwarf.
 
−
Absentmindedly, he brushed the snow from the bowstring.
 
  
−
"You won't be needing this where you are going," said the boy.
+
“You are making a big mistake,” cried Fuglin.
  
−
With that, Betan was alone.
+
=== (August 2016) ===
  
−
"It seems I misjudged you, kid," said Cuthom.  It was not a compliment.
+
<pre>~\@~~g~</pre>
  
−
The only man looked at the crossbow in Duka's hands.  The telling
+
“You are cute,” said the goblin, “trying to save the world after all you have done to turn it out to the Master.”
−
crafts-dwarfship said it all.
 
  
−
"You may need that pea-shooter where we are bound," said the caravan master.
+
Standing in the puddle of blood rain, soaked with filth and gore, Fuglin didn't really have an answer for the goblin. All he knew was that he had to do something. The goblin looked so smug, standing there in his fancy cloak. He was probably pleased with his creation, the monster, Fuglin. The dwarf nearly forgot the femur that he held tightly in his fist. The goblin laughed, revealing a shining gold tooth. That was enough for Fuglin.
  
−
-
+
“This has nothing to do with K'ung or the kingdom or anything!” shouted Fuglin. “You invented Robinor so you could get rich, and now you back King Phlega so you can be counted among the high and mighty!”
  
−
The wilds of Allsphere were boundless, extending endlessly in every
+
“Fuglin,” said the goblin, “how many times have I saved your life over the years? You owe me.”
−
direction.  Only a fool would think to set their dimensions on a map,
 
−
or worst still, to set across them unprepared.  But who could prepare
 
−
for the treachery of those closest to him?
 
  
−
A trail of red lead away from the scene of the slaughter to a still
+
“I'll show you what I owe you,” growled Fuglin.
−
pond from which Betan drank.  He washed his wounds and found that,
 
−
though serious, none were mortal.  The worst was his leg, the bone
 
−
snapped in two just below the knee.  Tears streamed down his face as
 
−
he thought of justice not done.
 
  
−
It was not justice in the end that moved him.  As he lifted himself up
+
=== (September 2016) ===
−
against a tree, he thought of Cuthom and young Duka.  It would be
 
−
revenge that spurred him on.  His wrath would pick him up and set him
 
−
against those than wronged him.  Then the pain returned.  One step
 
−
before the next.
 
  
−
==uggi==
+
<pre>~%~@~~U~</pre>
−
===(18 September 2013)===
 
  
−
<pre>@/g&lt;</pre>
+
It was over in an instant. Fuglin had only hit him once, but that was enough. The dwarf knelt down and tried to wake the goblin, but he wasn't breathing. It was the ultimate sin: to betray one's benefactor. Though, as many times as the goblin had got Fuglin out a jam, he had usually been the one responsible for the mess in the first place. Now he was dead. Fuglin had no idea what to do now. He looked into the broiling sky and its many open portals to K'ung. Maybe it was time to rejoin the endless chaos.
  
−
Life in the shadow of evil.  The villagers of the Slusian Plain were
+
“Robinor!” cried a woman's voice.
−
never safe, not when Darquan and his goblins were on the loose.  Even
 
−
the dwarves in their mighty fortress feared him.  But it is said that
 
−
even those who stand the tallest shall lay as low as the rest of us in
 
−
the end.
 
  
−
Outside the village of Otla was one such bully.  His name was Dulcus,
+
“Yes?” asked Fuglin.
−
and he was Darquan's general in charge of the Slusian invasion.  He
 
−
was resting in his camp outside of town when the word came that one of
 
−
the sentries had gone missing.  He called for his armor and stepped
 
−
outside.
 
  
−
One of the main failings of goblinkind was their lack of peripheral
+
The young lady didn't look too much better off than Fuglin, but these days no one did. She wore a man's tunic, covered in blood spatter. Fuglin dropped the broken bone when he saw her staring at it.
−
vision. The minute he emerged from the tent, Dulcus swung his head to
 
−
the right. Had he first looked to the left, he would have lived a lot
 
−
longer.  As it was, the great dwarf adventurer Aliz, was waiting, just
 
−
to the side, prepared to take his life with an enormous axe.
 
  
−
===(28 June 2014)===
+
“Did you kill him?” asked the woman.
  
−
<pre>U++++%@++</pre>
+
“He was a bad person,” explained Fuglin.
  
−
"Dulcus!" cried the goblin watch captain. "Dulcus!"
+
“Of course,” said the woman. “My name is Rose. You should come with me.”
  
−
In time the goblins would find their leader's headless body, but by
+
=== (October 2016) ===
−
then Aliz was long gone.  The hero made good time, racing through the
 
−
Otla woods, avoiding goblin sentries as he went.  Outside the city
 
−
gate, he made the bird call that was the secret password.  Once
 
−
inside, he made his way to the king's feast hall.
 
  
−
People of the human race stopped in their tracks to marvel at the
+
<pre>UUUUU.U.@[=]HH</pre>
−
dwarven specimen of herohood. Aliz was half a span taller that the
 
−
tallest dwarf.  His tan skin was stretched over ripped muscles.  His
 
−
beard was full and black.  On his back was slung the axe named
 
−
Pain-striker.  In his hand he held the severed head of Dulcus,
 
−
dangling by the violet hair.
 
  
−
"It was a mistake to do this," said the king.  "Brave though it was,
+
There was a carriage waiting on the highway just out of town.  Fuglin followed the stranger, Rose, as she boarded the covered carriage.  The poor dwarf was glad to be out of the gory rain.  It seemed a shame to ruin the plush interior of the carriage, but Fuglin was far from complaining.  He looked back out the window.  The goblin's body was just around the corner.  Fuglin thought he would probably be reincarnated as a slug for his crimes.
−
killing Dulcus has thrown our defenses into disorder."
 
  
−
"How could slaying the wicked general be a mistake," asked Aliz,
+
“There are some friends down the road a ways,” said Rose.  “They would be glad to met the famous poet, Robinor.”
−
genuinely confused.
 
  
−
"I knew how Dulcus thought," said the king.  "It was as if I could
+
“And the murderous traitor, Fuglin,” said the dwarf, “would they be glad to see him?”
−
read his mind.  He never made a move I couldn't predict.  Now he will
 
−
be replaced by another, unknown to me."
 
  
−
"Then I will slay them too!" cried Aliz.
+
“The time has come for you to make a choice,” said Rose. “Will you serve the light, or the darkness of K'ung?”
  
−
"You cannot take on the entire goblin army by yourself," said the king.
+
There was a stone chapel up ahead.  They were far enough from the capital that the powers of K'ung gave way to sunshine.  Rose offered Fuglin a fresh robe and he changed while Rose walked up to the chapel door.  He stood by the carriage as Rose returned with a crowd of surly looking fighters.
  
−
"Just watch me," said Aliz.
+
“Tell us, oh Robinor,” said Rose. “How can this evil be undone?”

Latest revision as of 02:06, 14 December 2022

ASCII Art Rewards (alphabetically by contributor)
A – F G – L M – S T – Z