@FrankyPlaysGames: I'll get to yours in a little while. I just finished this one when you posted.
Triciblishmiccicuty Collubidifintetriblucitenianalinin, Miner cancels Dig Channel: Dangerous terrain.
The weather has cleared.
A section of the cavern has collapsed!
The Stray Kitten's head takes the full force of the impact, bruising the muscle!
The Stray Kitten is caught in a cloud of boiling magma!
The Stray Kitten regains consciousness.
The Stray Kitten stands up.
The Stray Kitten is no longer stunned.
You have struck shell opal!
What the
hell is with that name, man? Yeah, I'm calling him Tricib for short or I'd use up the entire post length just writing his name.
It had been a long, hot, boring day. Tricib had been toiling down in the dark for far too long, searching through the earth in vain for something of value. But there had been nothing, absolutely nothing but rock, rock and more goddamned rock. Behind him, the tunnel stretched for miles in a meandering path back towards the main fortress. He couldn't see a thing, since the lack of dirt meant that the faintly phosphorescent moss that grew in the upper levels didn't stretch this far, and his lamp had run out of oil several hours before.
He cursed, loudly, as he stubbed his toe again. That was, what, the fifth time that day? He had carved this entire damn tunnel out himself and so he knew exactly where every edge, every outcropping was - and still he managed to kick his toes on the uneven floor! Tricib muttered under his breath and trudged for the end of the tunnel. He had a channel to dig, dammit, and if he didn't get it done by the end of the day then his booze ration was cut by half. He planted his feet solidly and heaved his pickaxe high above his head.
The best thing about being a miner is there's always a way to get your anger out of your system, he thought as he swung the pick as hard as he could.
The pick hit the ground with a satisfying crunch, but then the crunching sound didn't stop. It grew into the tortured screaming of rock tearing itself apart and Tricib swore loudly, stumbling backwards from the now-shaking floor. Cracks grew all around him, faint sparks from the shattering rock glowing like the sun to his dark-adjusted eyes. He knew what this meant. He ran, pounding up the tunnel as fast as his stocky Dwarven legs could carry him.
***
Far below, in the large cavern that was to become the heart of the fortress' magma forges, an architect and his cat were busy mapping out the location of the first smelter. His cat had just had kittens; the father appeared to be the cat owned by that good-for-nothing broker. He hated that guy. Damn fool never did any work. But the kittens were now all dutifully following the architect and his cat around like ducklings and damn if he couldn't get the broker to at least help
care for the bloody things.
From above him came the screeching, grinding sound of tearing rock. The entire cavern shook and the architect stumbled. Rock began to fall from the ceiling, landing all around him with almighty crashes. A huge rock smashed into the ground near him, sending a billowing cloud of dust washing over him and his entourage. The shockwave knocked one of the kittens flying; he watched, helplessly, as the poor animal crashed headfirst into the wall. The mother cat yowled and tried to run for her injured child; he scooped her up into her arms as more rock fell, directly into the channels of magma. A great gout of angry, red magma surged up into the air, falling as rain more deadly than any the architect had seen before.
That poor kitten, he thought sadly.
That poor, poor kitten.He turned to leave. His nerves were shaking, he needed a stiff drink. Or several. But from behind him came a sound he had not expected; pitiful mewling. The architect turned in shock, his beard twitching as he tried to vocalise his surprise. There, on shaky legs, stood the kitten! Her fur was a little singed and her eyes had the unfocused look of concussion, but the small, delicate animal was somehow still alive! It was impossible. The kitten should have been nothing more than a bloody, burned smear. But here it was, tottering towards her mother as the big grey cat fought him to be put down.
"Huh."
It was no good. He was beaten. He couldn't feel his left hand; one bleary look showed that this was because he didn't
have a left hand anymore. It was lying about three feet away, where the cruel, jagged edge of the goblin's dagger had cut it from his arm. It had been a perfectly good hand, too. He called his hands 'Punchy' and 'Holdy', but now he didn't have 'Holdy' anymore. He dimly decided that Punchy was going to have to hold things for him too, and if it complained then it could join Holdy in being out of a job.
They gathered around him, prodding him with their toes. "Think he's dead?" one asked in its grating, guttural voice. The others laughed as if this were somehow a really funny joke. Another kicked him in the ribs, eliciting a groan. "Oh, goodie. He isn't. What should we cut off next?" another of them rumbled. He was glad, in a way. They weren't elves. That would have been embarrassing. And then there was the whole 'eating' thing. He had heard that sometimes they didn't wait for their opponents to die, and just went straight to the eating. "Check out his socks!" one of the nasty little creatures growled, kicking at his ankles. "I call dibs!"
Fire surged through his brain.
First my hand, now my socks! He coughed again. "Over..." he muttered. He felt the goblins' attention draw to him. He tried again. "Over..." He pushed himself up with his stump; the searing pain was nothing compared to what the goblins threatened. "Over... my..." He coughed. Blood came out. He growled, heaved, and got one leg under him. He knelt in the ring of goblins, his stocky, square face twisting into a mask of rage that set the ugly little things back on their heels. He pushed himself up and stood, spitting and snarling. "OVER MY DEAD BODY!" he roared.
Welp. First try. I'm a tad rusty, but hey. Also, yes, I will take full and complete advantage of lack of detail and will use wild poetic license to set and advance the scene.