So, after having my dwarf adventurer beaten to death by angry elves with wooden weapons, I decided to look through legends for fun. As I was looking through the Artifacts section, I saw an adamantine slab. Fuckin' SWEET, right? Well, it led me into a story that I found interesting and decided to share with you. Enjoy!
A Midsummer Year's Nightmare
by The Enigmatic L
This tale is one of rising from poverty and filth to power and glory, of treacherous gods and evil curses, of accursed armies and ancient powers. This tale is about one dwarf who dared to be great by any means necessary! This dwarf is Erush Mishthemavuz. Erush was one of the first-born dwarves of yore. When the world was created and the ground shook beneath the raw, primal powers wielded by titans and gods alike, the dwarves were said to have been born of the very rocks and stones, coming to life by the will of a power beyond the comprehension of mortals and deities. The world was a cruel place, constantly being ravaged by the powerful entities seeking to claim dominion over the land. It was a time of chaos and uncertainty; history's favorite story-tellers.
Living the role of a poor farmer for 34 years, Erush wanted more in life. He left his home town and assumed the mantle of a ranger, exploring the land and adventuring. His lust for more drove him to exotic lands and foreign shores. Each and every thrill only served to fuel his ambition. Four years later, Erush becomes involved in a chance encounter and catches the eye of Queen Sodel, fearless leader of The Amusing Machine, and becomes a General. This faction was created when the world was born, when Dwarfkind struggled to survive, as a means to fight back against the cruel fate they were born to. Sodel, a veteran of many battles and skirmishes, slayer of giants and ettins, defiant of gods and monsters alike, was the bold leader Dwarfkind needed: a brave hero to rally behind. Erush would be her champion.
(I'm not kidding. This chick manages to kill monsters that would pummel most of us into oblivion, suffer crippling injuries, and still live to command a nation. She is 100% badass. Her history is no f*cking joke!)
After his first year leading a military force in multiple combat encounters, Erush suddenly becomes concerned with his own mortality and decides to find a way to extend his life by any means. His obsession leads him to study texts and tomes in possession of The Amusing Machine. He becomes crazed, refusing to sleep and staying up late, pouring over words of yore. It was said that he could be found in the library during the late hours of dusk, muttering nonsense under his breath and tearing through old manuscripts and grimoires. He even went as far as raiding goblin fortresses and dungeons rumored to hold ancient bits of arcane knowledge. Knowledge that could make him live forever. Erush, in his vainglorious search for everlasting life, caught the ire of an ancient and malevolent god: Sikel.
This is Sikel's description:
"Sikel was a deity that occurs in the myths of The Amusing Machine. Sikel was most often depicted as a male dwarf and was associated with dreams, nightmares, the night, darkness and jewels."
(He has a history of cursing power seeking individuals with abilities that end up corrupting them and killing them in the end. He seems to enjoy screwing with dwarves and seeing what happens afterwards. I think we can all relate to this evil god, amirite?)
Sikel, interested in Erush's greatest desires, visits Erush in his dreams one night and offers him a chance to have power over the minds of dwarves and everlasting immortality. In exchange, Erush would have to ardently worship Sikel and spread his divine message to others, expanding his influence and control. Upon waking, Erush finds a wonderous slab, Luslemerib, made from materials only described in legends and myths and engraved with words of power.
The words were written in an alien language, but to Erush's surprise, he found himself uttering them without knowing what he spoke. His voice, not seemingly his own, spoke these words of darkness and power. The shadows in the room lengthened and grew, and for a moment, Erush had a vision of the future: he saw cities burning, armies carrying his banner and conquering nations, and lastly, himself, a leader among nations, wielding powerful, dark magics. He saw a future where he reigned over the world and titans would come at his beck and call. The world was his for as long as he lived! He could make history as he saw fit!
Erush becomes a Mentalist in the summer of 46. His ability is described as being able to sow chaos in the minds of foes.
True to his newfound dreams, Erush immediately begins conquering goblin fortresses. This literally happens for, like, 31 years. Somewhere in the middle he leads two expreditions to the depths of the world, tames Giant Swallows and Rats, and brings them to the surface to help his conquest of the world. Near the end of that time, he decides that he has had enough time to understand his abilities and teach them to others. In the year 77, Erush teaches his dark arts to his new apprentice: Adil Dodokimush.
(By the looks of it, there can only be a Master who teaches an Apprentice. No more than one Apprentice can be had. However, an Apprentice can also become a Master and teach one other, allowing the ranks of mentalists to grow one by one. It reminds me of the Sith from Star Wars, but with a loophole with the whole "One Master and one Apprentice" thing. Leave it to dorfs to abuse the system, lol.)
Over the next couple of years, the line of mentalists slowly turns into a rather sizeable group of around 15 dwarves. Most of them join The Amusing Machine, but a select few of them decide to go other places. Every apprentice has a history very much like Erush's: living life, suddenly wanting to live forever, finding a way to live forever, and becoming powerful and suddenly going power hungry.)
Over the next few years, The Amusing Machine, led by the successful Erush, is a powerful nation. Just about every goblin civilization is in ruins and the Humans, Elves, and Dwarves were next on the list. I imagine the Elves are first on that list. Powered by the ancient magics stolen from the goblin civlizations, who were known to horde the forbidden knowledge of dark gods, Erush is pretty much not a dwarf anymore. He's practically a god. But as we all know, power cannot be shared. There can only be one Master.
One of the mentalists, a powerful female dwarf by the name of Nithim Spibsacasser, becomes powerful enough to rival Erush. In a bold move, she confronts him in an epic battle of psychic mind powers and defeats him, usurping him completely and gaining control of The Amusing Machine for herself. Nithim takes over in the year 159. Erush is sent into exile where he becomes a farmer once again in a small village far, far away from the influence of his former faction. Nithim goes on to become the Queen of The Amusing Machine, and so the story of power and betrayal continues...
(Like the treacherous snake she is, Nithim actually goes to become the Master of several Apprentices and contradict my original thoughts on how the system works. On
further readings, she actually created most of these apprentices
before she rose up against Erush! She trashes the system under his nose, stages a coup, and then seizes the throne with her small gathering of loyal followers! Later, in the year 168, another mentalist called Dema Uzuraji (Say the last name. Just rolls off of the tongue, doesn't it? Mmmm....) defeats
her, rips out her right cheek, and sends her into exile and assumes control of The Amusing Machine. Haha, later on, Dema writes a book. This is the description:
Nithim Spibsacasser was a legendary bogeyman leather-bound book. The written portion consists of a 250 page biography of Nithim.
HAHA! WHAT A TROLL! LOL! Grandchildren will read the edited version of Nithim's life story for generations to come. She'll live forever with everyone thinking she's a total loser and whatever the hell else Dema decides to write about her. Priceless. She will most likely die alone with a house full of cats.)
What do you think?
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Topic: A Tale of Darkness and Power (Read 1339 times)