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[IndigoFenix]

Chapter 1: A Journey Begins

My name is Gugumba.  I come from a little village in the tropics, and have never traveled far from home, and nobody really expected me to.

You see, I'm a goomba.  You know, the little walking mushroom guys?  The 'underlings of underlings'?  Among monsters (and our world has plenty of those to go around) we're pretty much at the bottom of the food chain.  My surname means 'Bounddogs', and that's about as flattering a name as our folk get.  It isn't all that bad for the villagers, as long as we stay out of sight of anyone who might want to stomp us flat.

Nobody really knows what it is that possesses a goomba to begin wandering the wilds.  Maybe it's the thirst for knowledge, or curiosity.  Our memories are good, and when you remember every last thing that ever happened to you life can get pretty boring.  Maybe it's a need to spread, as instinctive as a mushroom's need to scatter its spores.  Or maybe it's simply a kind of madness brought on by our ancestral heritage.  My friends all told me I was being stupid, and I can't really argue with them.  It's a dangerous world out there, even for the bigger folk.  The roads are full of monsters, created in ancient times by Koopa alchemists and set loose to wander the wilds.

Spoiler: Starting Stats (click to show/hide)

It started while I was hanging out in the old drinking mound and spotted a group of unusual travelers...

Spoiler: The Mound (click to show/hide)

Vonky, a small Kong.  Bangom, a bob-omb thief.  And a shyguy, whose name I won't try to pronounce.  They were discussing some events occurring out there in the wide world.  A Paragoomba had learned the secrets of life and death and was raising the dead in a tower to the south.  And a bob-omb army was making its way toward Orangecoil, a forest retreat in the north.

I had to see it for myself.  Maybe I could even become a great hero...or even an infamous sorcerer.  I would become an adventurer and see the world!
But not by myself!  Even if I could survive the normal monsters on the roads, ghosts are known to attack lone travelers at night, and it was a long way to go.  I turned toward the experienced wanderers.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

They weren't quite so confident.  Fine then.
Feeling a little dejected, I turned toward less snobby potential allies...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Well, they're hardly the talented warriors I was hoping for, but beggars can't be choosers.
And so, three goombas set out along the road to Orangecoil...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[IndigoFenix]

Chapter 2: A Tooth for a Tooth

They say that the monsters who walk this world were created by ancient alchemists who discovered the secret of life and grew living creatures from shining golden coins.  Most monsters - even us Goombas - have coins inside us.

I never thought much of it before, but I've always been able to sense the presence of other goombas.  Along the road, though, I felt a presence that was similar, but...stronger, coming from just outside my range of vision.

Spoiler: Those little golden pluses (click to show/hide)

As I peered around the bend, I saw it for what it was - a wild piranha plant.  I wasn't too worried about it, though; piranha plants are dangerous up close, but it isn't hard to keep out of their reach, as long as you don't go trying to attack them -

Spoiler: Stupid drunk (click to show/hide)

Aaand there it goes.  Well, guess it's time to try and play the hero.  I drew my spear with my mouth.  It ain't easy having no arms.

Spoiler: Headbutt to the teeth (click to show/hide)

Well, that was lucky.  It can't do any damage without its teeth -

Spoiler: Splat (click to show/hide)

Well, guess I was wrong.  Gumbarg's down.

Spoiler: First victory! (click to show/hide)

The battle is won, but not without costs.  One of my drunken allies is dead.  I made sure to liberate his coins, as is the custom among our people.  At least, I think it is.  I also took his hat and shoes, which are made of buzzy beetle scales and are quite a bit nicer than my own fuzzy clothes.

Ulgum, who ran off at the moment the plant reared its head, came back.  Could be worse.  A drunken coward for a traveling companion is better than no companion at all.

We continued north.  We encountered few wild creatures aside from an abundance of wild piranha plants, which fortunately Ulgum continued to avoid.  It must be too early in the season.  Along the way, we did encounter a shyguy and a bub-ulb traveling south, but they had nothing interesting to report.

We eventually reached Orangecoil, but the place was deserted...

Spoiler: Refugees? (click to show/hide)

Scattered around the forest retreat were several tents full of yoshis.  And one bumpty.  I suppose I would have warned them about the army, but they wouldn't wake up...

Meh.  Maybe we'll find the army further on.  I decided to explore...

Finally, Ulgum's stupidity outweighed his cowardice and he attacked a wild piranha.  Hoping to save him, I joined in the fight...

Spoiler: You broke my tusks! (click to show/hide)

Argh!  The stupid plant bit off BOTH of my tusks!

I killed the thing, but Ulgum died as well... Well, this turned out to be a stupid venture, after all.  Alone in the wilderness, friendless and tuskless, and the sun is beginning to set...
Wait, what's that?

Spoiler: A Dark Fortress... (click to show/hide)

A Koopa fortress!  Well, this looks like a fine place to stay, doesn't it?  Koopas always can find a use for more goombas...usually throwing us at enemies in droves to die, but eh.  It's a living.

As I approached the fortress proper, I could feel the presence of more monsters concentrated in a small space than I have ever felt before...

Spoiler: Lights in the darkness (click to show/hide)

And when I closed my eyes and focused, I could feel hundreds upon hundreds of little coin-made homunculi, deep below me.  Surely, there is no better place for a wandering monster than here.

Spoiler: Underground monsters (click to show/hide)

I will rest here.  For now.

Spoiler: Stats (click to show/hide)

[Ardent Debater]

((PTW.))

[IndigoFenix]

Chapter 3: A Real Battle

I had always thought that, when push comes to shove, a Goomba's training isn't really worth much.  I mean, we're all about strength in numbers, right?  But as it happens, some of the minions in that place were ridiculous.  Heck, I met this one grizzled Goomba warrior who claimed to have defeated five humans single-handedly!  Well, so to speak.  We might be the lowliest of the monsters, but we're still monsters.  Go, Goomba Power!

Anyway, the point is, they wouldn't take me as a minion.  But my resolve was renewed.  Being born a little mushroom man is no reason not to become a legend.  So I decided, a legend is what I will become.

But it won't be easy.  Most peasants who want to become warriors begin their training by heading out into the wild and beating up weak monsters.  But when you are a weak monster yourself, that can be tricky...

Spoiler: The Mortal Point (click to show/hide)

Hearing about a civilization to the southwest, I decided to cut through a mountain range called the Mortal Point.  The mountain was fairly quiet, although I did run into a few Puffs...

Spoiler: Puff goes Poof (click to show/hide)

They were almost disappointingly easy to defeat.  I wasn't going to be getting any good training here.  I did spot a few ? Blocks flying around, though.  I thought I might luck out and find a useful item in one of them, but I couldn't even catch them.  And throwing rocks at a flying, moving target using nothing but your mouth isn't as easy as it sounds.

I finally reached one of the villages...

To my surprise, the village was almost entirely inhabited by Shy Guys.  Strange creatures, those Shy Guys... you can never trust a word they say.  Sensing the presence of a single coin-containing monster, I headed into a nearby drinking mound and was greeted by a Goomba in a mask.

Spoiler: Shy Guy Village (click to show/hide)

The Goomba, Blumbik, told me that the village was having some problems with bandits that were coming down from the north.  I offered to check it out.  Perhaps I could become a hero, I thought.

Unfortunately he wasn't interested in joining me, so I brought along some drunk Shy Guys instead.

I headed north and found the bandit camp without much trouble.

Spoiler: Bob-omb Bandits! (click to show/hide)

Just my luck... The camp seemed to be mostly made up of sleeping Koopas, but a handful were awake...and some of them were Bob-ombs.
Killing a bob-omb isn't the hard part.  The hard part is making it away alive.

Spoiler: Lucky shot! (click to show/hide)

Rather than engaging the explosive bandits head-on, I picked up a rock and tossed it at the nearest bob-omb, unexpectedly killing it in a single lucky shot!  I quickly turned around and de-fused a bandit that was sneaking up behind me before she could explode!

I was feeling pretty sure of myself about then!  But before I could finish the job, a Parakoopa bore down on me...

Spoiler: Run away! (click to show/hide)

No way was I sticking around.  I turned and ran for the forest as fast as my feet could carry me.

Also, both of my allies died.  Actually I think one of them might have just run off.  You can never trust those Shy Guys...

[Lovechild]

Fun story, seems like an interesting mod.

[IndigoFenix]

Chapter 4: Nicely Tanned

I was already deep in the forest when I suddenly realized that I was missing my spear.  Then I remembered - I had given it to one of the Shy Guys before the battle.  Was it the one who had run away, or the one who had died?

Fortunately, I still had my trusty dagger... and although I was forced to retreat, the battle wasn't without its rewards.  I managed to snag a few items from the bandit's camp in the confusion... including an iron hammer and an iron fork.

I don't know how to use a hammer.

Spoiler: Ellies? (click to show/hide)

I looked around to get my bearings.  A small herd of gray creatures with long, swinging trunks were wandering about a short distance away.  I had heard of these creatures... it seems I had found my way into one of the small regions that still retained the mostly unaltered life of the age before the monsters were born.  This was the jungle that the Kongs called home.

Supposedly, these creatures were friendly.  I wasn't entirely sure how friendly, until I decided to try beating them up.
Most fled, but I was able to catch one.  Surprisingly, it didn't even try to fight back.  So I killed it.

Spoiler: Snazzy new leather clothes! (click to show/hide)

I made a shirt out of the Ellie, and a pair of trousers and a hat from some large frogs called Winkys.  I also beat the living daylights out of some gentle forest creatures with my hammer.

After a while of this, I decided to return to the bandit camp...

Spoiler: The chieftain! (click to show/hide)

...and was immediately greeted by a bob-omb with a large cannon pointed right at me.  And she didn't look happy.
Running away would mean a cannonball to the back of the head.  Charging forward would mean a cannonball to the front of the head.  I had only one chance to make it count...

I charged, ignoring the cannonball that smashed through my eye, raised my hammer, and was immediately caught in a fiery explosion as the chieftain blew herself to kingdom come.

I thought it was all over... I could feel myself burning up...

There was only one thing to do:

Spoiler: Get naked if you want to live! (click to show/hide)

I was very, very lucky.  My new leather clothes had protected me from the worst of the blast, and though they were on fire, I had managed to cheat death.  The same could not be said for the chieftain, whose remains burned away in front of me.

It was time to make some new clothes...using the only materials available.

Spoiler: The Goomba in the Koopa Leather Suit (click to show/hide)

[IndigoFenix]

Chapter 5: Cleaning Up

The camp had scattered, but night was falling, and there was no village in sight.  Bad news - the last thing I needed was to run into some night horrors.

Fortunately, I found a small camp nearby...

Spoiler: Death in the Night (click to show/hide)

A pair of koopas and the bob-omb I defused earlier were sleeping there.  I killed them both and spent the night in their tent next to their corpses.  I am the terror of the night.

The next morning, I set out and encountered a lone Shy Guy.  Well, girl, actually.  Do Shy Guys even have genders?  I've never heard of a Shy Gal.

Spoiler: Shy Guy Stalemate (click to show/hide)

Anyway, we dueled for a while using our hammers.  But we were both pretty much equal in skill, and the battle seemed to go on forever, until suddenly she turned and ran!

I was getting good at this.  Or so I thought - then a cannonball whizzed by my ear...

Spoiler: Markskoopa Fight (click to show/hide)

After defeating the interrupting Markskoopa, the hammer-wielding maniac came back, but she seemed less intent on fighting.  I guess she had finally had enough.

Spoiler: Shy Guy's Story (click to show/hide)

I learned that she was a lieutenant of a nearby bandit camp.  Seems like a new destination.

I noticed a ? block hovering nearby.  Figuring it was worth a shot, I decided to try taking it down with a rock.  I spat the rock into the air, and...nailed it!

The block fell to the ground.  I picked it up and opened it.  What was inside, I wondered?  A couple of coins, or if I got lucky, maybe a powerup...

Spoiler: Lucky Break! (click to show/hide)

A POWER STAR?!

Talk about some good luck!  With this, I could make a single wish.  Maybe I'll become a giant for a day?  Or attain temporary invincibility to take out a powerful enemy singlehandedly?  On the other hand, I could use it to heal myself and grow my tusks back...

Decisions, decisions...