Alright! Here's the first part; it's pretty rushed' but better that than lagging behind with my writing as usual.
Also'
I have no mouth and I must sing – a mute bard’s tale
Muthkat Mothcat was a prodigy – he had an uncanny ear for music, an angel’s singing voice, and a sharp linguistic wit. He had all the makings of a great bard – but there was one problem.
Muthkat lacked a functioning mouthpiece.
Now, it has to be understood that plump helmet men being mute was in fact an evolutionary advantage – it prevented them from screaming in terror and alerting their ilk when devoured by a dwarf with great voracity and furious hunger. Evolution never meant plump helmet men to become bards.
It’s not that Muthkat did not try to perform despite being so hampered. In fact, his exaggerated gestures while singing and feeble attempts at playing a bagpipe, a trombone or a shawm were met with an uproar of laughter and earned him a reputation as something of a comedian, much to his chagrin.
So Muthkat decided to leave. Aware of the world’s dangers, and somewhat smaller than an adult dwarf, he purchased a set of chainmail overalls the local smith had made for his youngling, affixed a pot lid for head protection, grabbed a trusty trumped of his, and decided to depart the fortress of Princetomes the following morning.
His last night at home, Muthkat had a peculiar dream. He was wandering winding, narrow hallways, not dissimilar to those of his home. A lone dwarf was dashing to and fro, ranting about worldview issues and asking Muthkat questions that he, surprisingly enough, was physically incapable of answering.
Not wanting much to do with the scene, Muthkat wandered on in search of an exit, of which he found none. He opened mostly every door he encountered, but they generally led to sparingly furnished rooms. Some of those in turn contained recently deceased farm animals. Muthkat unexplainably knew the full name of every one he found.
After some consideration, he pocketed a dead rabbit by the name ‘Onul Tathkogan’ and continued on his trek, composing musical pieces along the way to pass time.
Muthkat was getting restless. It seemed like days had passed, and yet he was still walking in circles, unable to find an exit. In fact, he was quite certain there was none. He was trapped forever, him, a maddwarf and Onul Tathkogan.
Muthkat woke up with a start. ‘Thankfully, t’was all just a dream’, he thought.
Onul’s unmoving eyes were peeking at him from his backpack.
