The past four months have been a blur. It is only now, after three days at sea, with the wind in my beard and salt-air in my lungs that I am finally able to come to terms with what has happened. The Mountain Home is gone; our histories swept aside in a deluge of epic proportions. Our once mighty civilization annihilated in one monumental stroke by the gods.
The ocean stretches onwards to infinity in all directions. Yet we plow onwards, without destination, and only one aim, to survive. My name is Kubuk Taniden, or at least was. I am now the Captain. This log will serve as the last record of the end of the world.
My tale started with a dream.
***
Kubluk opened his eyes to a dazzling white light. The room was unfamiliar to him, but his jaw dropped in astonishment. Detailed gleaming white stone walls surrounded him, towering majestically up into the darkness. Mighty pillars rose from the smooth marble floor towards a distant ceiling, and impressive statues lined either side of the mighty hallway. His eyes widened as he took in the beauty of the craftsmanship around him. Tearing himself away from the glory of it all, he looked forward, and saw a dwarf watching him.
“Is this a dream, or am I really here?” Kubluk asked.
The dwarf blinked, and smiled slightly in response. “I suppose the answer would be a yes. You are indeed dreaming, and you are indeed here. Welcome to the Nomoddom, the chamber of the gods.”
Kubluk collapsed to his knees in shock. “I humble myself before thee, oh mighty…mighty…” He paused, and looked up expectantly. “Sorry, which one are you?”
The glowing dwarf smiled another faint smile. “I am Moist Vetek the damp. First mentioned in the myths of Flags and Rain. Generally associated with heavy rainfall and strong westerly breezes.”
Kubluk looked down, and noticed a small pool of water forming around the god, as drips fell from the bottom of his robe.
“Oh mighty Vetek the damp.”
“Call me Moist.”
“Oh mighty Moist…”
“Just Moist is fine, this is somewhat informal.”
“Oh…Moist, for what unfathomable purpose have you brought me here?”
“Well. Now…” Moist looked a bit sheepish, and avoided looking directly at Kubluk. “It’s like this. There might have been a slight accident up here.”
“An accident? I’m not sure I quite understand.”
“Weather-godding is not that straight forward you know. There’s about ten of us weather gods, and trying to get us all in the same room once a week is difficult enough.”
Kubluk nodded, having absolutely no idea what the god was talking about.
“Well, Nokgul was out for the evening, and Orshal and I aren’t even talking at the moment anyway, and I said it would be all fine and dandy, and I could deal with things for a week or so…”
Kubluk found his mind slowly wandering.
“…and that’s even AFTER I apologised for the lightning…”
The pillars were really very nice, Kubluk noted.
“…and I told her to save me a chair in Olympus…”
Marble floors as well, Kubluk started tallying up the construction time for such a glorious chamber in his head. Finally, he looked up. The god looked like he was coming to a close.
“…and anyway, if the end of the world isn’t worth a vision or two, I don’t know what is?”
Kubluk looked up. “I’m sorry, the end of the world?”
Moist frowned slightly. “Yes, the end of all things. Were you even listening?”
Kubluk nodded furiously. “Of course, I was just a bit preoccupied. It’s a lovely hall. Can you give me the gist of it?”
“The gist?”
“Yes.”
“Of the end of the world?”
“Yes.”
…
“Fair enough. Ok. Through a couple of bad design decisions, and a few out-sourced labour jobs, the weather gods have got a bit of a back-log of rain to get through before the end of this work-period.”
Kubluk nodded. “How much rain?”
“About enough to cover the entire surface of this little world. And we’ve got about a four month period to get through it all.”
Kubluk frowned. “Can’t you just, I don’t know, keep it up there?”
Moist shook his head. “It’s not that simple. If we start storing rain, then the whole system just goes pear-shaped. It’ll be like Mars all over again. No, it’s no good, it’ll have to come down.”
Kubluk paused. “So we’re all going to drown in four months of rain?”
The god paused, and took a deep breath. “Well. We’ve got two options. Either we drop it all over the space of four months, everybody has a miserable time of it all, and drowns anyway…”
“Yes? Or?”
“We carry on as normal for three and a half months, and dump it all in the last two weeks.”
Kubluk looked perplexed. “What’s the difference?”
“What could a suitably motivated dwarf do in three and a half months to survive a flood?”
“What do you mean, suitably motivated?”
“I mean, if you don’t do what I say, you are all going to die.”
“Ah.”
Moist reached out his hand, and briefly appeared to concentrate. A gold amulet formed itself from the darkness around him, and dropped into his palm. He handed it to Kubluk. It was a small intricately designed model of a ship.
“Consider that a vague suggestion. I’ll leave the specifics to you. You have three and a half months, starting from the time you wake up.”
Kubluk sat bolt upright in bed, sweat scattering from his brow. He looked around, relieved to be back in his room, deep within the Mountain-Home.
“Just a dream Kubluk, just a dream,” he reassured himself. He rolled out of bed, and slipped on his sandals. Standing up, he heard a clink, and looked down. At his feet lay a small golden object. His hands shaking in trepidation, he scooped it up, and sighed as he recognised the golden ship, given to him by Moist.
“Bugger.”
***
Kubluk’s feet pounded on the stone floor as he sprinted down the corridor, his fist clenched tightly around the golden amulet. His mind was racing furiously with what the god had told him. Could it be true? Was the world about to end. How could he doubt the truth, when he held the evidence there in his hand. In fact, he was so distracted it was hardly surprising when he rounded a corner and ran headlong into Dirulal the carpenter. With a clatter, the two of them fell to the floor, scattering the pile of lumber Dirulal was carrying.
“Great adamantine extracts Kubluk! What’s got you in such a panic?” the dwarf asked, brushing himself off and helping Kubluk to his feet.
Kubluk could barely breathe, his lungs struggling to catch up with him. He wheezed. “A flood… A flood is coming!”
The carpenter’s eyes stared Kubluk in the face. “Calm down Kubluk…”
The dwarf spluttered, “Calm down! We have less than four months! We have to hurry, we need to build…” he coughed.
“Build?”
Kubluk reached out, and handed the amulet to Dirulal. “A ship… A ship to carry us all.”
And with that, he passed out, slumping into unconsciousness.
***
“Ah, you’re awake,” Dirulal chuckled. Leaning forward, he poured a flagon of beer into Kubluk’s mouth, who gulped it down greedily. The prone dwarf looked around, realising he had been brought to Dirulal’s workshop. Various tools of a carpenter hung on the wall, and piles of lumber lay stacked in the corner. A glimmer caught his eye from the other side of the room. He looked, and saw the amulet lying upon the table, glinting in the torchlight.
Dirulal moved towards it, and lifted it in his hand. “The craftsdwarfship of this item is beyond compare, I cannot even calculate the value. Where did you get it?” he asked.
“A dream.”
“Care to dream me up a new axe?” Dirulal joked, and tapped the golden ship with a finger. “You mentioned a flood?”
Kubluk sat upright with a bolt. “The flood!” He grabbed Dirulal by the beard and pulled him close. “A flood is coming. The gods have sent a warning. We must let the Elders know! We are all going to die!”
To his surprise Dirulal nodded. “Yes, I know.”
Kubluk peered at him in confusion. “You already know?”
“Yes,” the carpenter replied. “The mighty Moist has had a busy night. He was a little concerned you weren’t paying that much attention during your vision, so he took it upon Himself to appear to half the Mountain Home and reiterate. I was just on my way to find you when you managed to knock me for six out there in the corridor.”
“Then it’s all true. The flood is really coming.” Kubluk slumped back onto the floor. “What are we going to do now?”
Dirulal grinned. “We start planning I suppose. If you’re building a ship, then you’re going to need yourself a fine carpenter, and I just so happen to have a little free time at the moment. But first, the Elders have requested your presence in the council chambers, and asked me to go and fetch you.”
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Topic: The Captain's Log- Spiritwood (Read 61789 times)