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Dwarf Fortress => DF Community Games & Stories => Topic started by: Ubiq on September 14, 2010, 01:37:11 am

Title: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 14, 2010, 01:37:11 am
Today is a most exasperating day. A few days ago, I was gallivanting along through the jungle, minding my own business, and suddenly I came along and found Cousin Eustace in, of all things, an oaken cage. The dear fellow, yes, a bit scatterbrained, but a dear fellow none-the-less, apologies, the dear fellow said that he was minding his own business and had stepped into what he claimed was a cleverly concealed trap. I expressed my doubts and got quite the rude reply from him. I examined the cage a bit, but could see no way of extracting my chum. You would think that he could simply break a flimsy little cage such as the one he was in, but this was apparently not the case.

 "Tough luck, old boy" thought I and began to continue along my path as I had places to be. It was then that I stepped into a cage trap of my own; Eustace thought this quite the laugh, the stupid git. He spent the rest of the evening mocking me quite thoroughly until we each fell asleep. As a mercy, he fell asleep first so that I could at least fall asleep without being serenaded with his feeble attempts at wit. I awoke the next day to find Eustace and his cage both gone. This was an unexpected twist and a pleasant one at first. As time went by, I began to see things differently. Between the both of us, we might have eventually figured a way out of this predicament, but, alas, this was a much more difficult proposition with only one of us about. Beyond that, well, he was still company even if it was exceedingly annoying company.

I began to feel quite sorry for myself as one will and thought for a while that this might be my permanent lot in life. How quickly I would come to miss those quiet moments. My solitary existence continued on for a while longer and finally came to an end when a stocky creature approached. Upon inspection, it was one of those... those diggy, bebearded provincial types. Dwargs? Dorfs?  Something along those lines. He chattered at me in a inane would-be language that I couldn't make out. It sounded something like "Man, you're a big un, ain'tcha!" I remain unaware to this day as to what he said, but I suspect it was unflattering. Oh, I do so wish that I had attended to Uncle Frederick's language classes rather than watching birds.

Ah, but I digress. So there we remained staring eye to eye for a time. My eyes must have been decieving me that day; while I can clearly recall what my apparent captor was wearing, what he was carrying in his right hand (a sort of stick and tusk combination, a tuskstick, if you will), and even how he was missing his back left tooth, I have the oddest impression that he was shimmering the entire time. How the mind plays tricks on one in times of stress!

He muttered something that I did not catch, but which I interpreted to mean that fetching me back to whatever den of inequity he sprang from was his current purpose in life. I admit, I began laughing at the poor fool for this. I've seen these creatures before with their wagons and imbecilic muskoxen (that might seem harsh, but have you ever tried having a conversation with one?) and I could not imagine how he could possibly accomplish this mission without them. I quickly shut up when he reach out his left hand and hoisted the cage onto the corresponding shoulder with a single motion.

"CAD!" I said, "BOUNDER! Respect the laws of physics, you bearded mendicant!" While it seemed to accomplish little more than amuse him, I continued to abuse him verbally all the way back to his "mountainhome" or "footrest". This collection of hovels, this wretched hive of bearded villainy, this... this hole in the ground. Mountainhome, my foot! Footrest, my sainted spinster aunt's trunk! This place is little more than a massive, smoking pit in the ground with a massive collection of assorted objects surrounding it on all sides. One such collection that we passed housed a collection of cages, containing Eustace, that great braying jackass, who laughed at me so hard that his cage shook.

Even now, days later, another such collection currently contains myself along with as odd a menagerie as one might ever see. Crocodiles of all varieties, salt, fresh, cave, bears of various shapes and colors, and what appear to be thirty or forty dogs stacked in a single cage. My heart goes out to them even if they don't seem distressed about it in the least. My nearest neighbors are, of course, all muskoxen, who spend the majority of their time making up chants about something called goblinball. Confound it all.

Next time: Reginald begins his career OR A elephant never forgets. To kill.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Vaftrudner on September 14, 2010, 08:39:20 am
I like it, the elephant insults are grand.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Xenos on September 14, 2010, 05:26:42 pm
That is amazing...It sounds like my forts...only there are massive amounts of various monkeys and gorillas...and elephants.  ;)
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Urist McKing on September 14, 2010, 06:21:30 pm
Lets see how he reacts.. to MAGMA
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 14, 2010, 09:44:34 pm
I have heard a lot in my day about magnetic personalities; mine it seems is broken as it attract only fools. Several times today, I have been approached by some confounded idiot or other, who always fires off the same "Man, you're a big 'un, aintcha?" It's possible that this is some sort of digbeard (lacking the correct nomenclature, I have chosen to call them this for simplicity's sake) greeting, but I still harbor suspicions that they are expressing a familiarity unbecoming creatures that haven't been properly introduced as of yet. I suspect something is going on, but I have no clue as to what that would be. Once I saw a digbeard clad in purple leaves come up to me, speak to another digbeard, and then wander off. I've observed this digbeard before; it appears that he is of no value, does no work, and, as a result, must be in charge.

It was shortly thereafter that I was approached by a green clad digbeard. I'm not sure as to what his intent was. I know only that he fed me some fish. Fish! Can you believe it? I still find it amazing even now. My initial response was "Don't know much about elephants, do you, old boy?", but I found myself quickly devouring it anyway. Odd thing that; I don't recall ever being that hungry before or since. Or ever being hungry for that matter.

At last, whatever it is going on is settled and I'm blessedly removed from the vicinity of those confounded muskoxen (I fear that their asinine HERE WE GO, GOBBO! HERE WE GO! chant shall forever remain in the dark recesses of my brain) by the same green fellow before being transferred to another cage. Odd thing that; the only difference I can see between the two is that the first was wooden and this one is made of copper. I remain there only a short time before another purpleclad digbeard comes along, pointing at different objects, jabbering rapidly and then heading back the way he came. Shortly thereafter, I found myself, cage and all, being carried, none too gently I might, by the same glimmering miscreant who brought me to this digbeard hellhole in the first place to a small stone structure. I give my spleen full vent and should rightfully be proud of the insults I unleashed upon him, but it was ultimately futile. There is little profit in verbally abusing a barbarian. They either cannot understand you or do understand you. The former results in confused looks or laughter while the latter results in a sharp stick in the face.

I leave off my lengthy list of insinuations about my porter's heritage to note the largish collection of folks around the stone structure. There seem to be three different types of creature involved; the reedy, pointy-eared fellows who like to lecture a hapless elephant who desired only to scratch their back against a handy bit of foliage, the digbeards, and creatures who seem to fall between the two. The latter lack any other defining characteristics and are the most boring creatures I've ever seen. There seemed to be a bit of heated discussion between chosen representatives of the three and that same purple twit, which is punctuated by many a headshake, nod, and waving of fingers. The latter towards me, the sky, and everything in between. The purple chap seems particularly fond of a single digit, which is often employed whenever the pointy-eared fellow is involved.

At least, the matter is settled and I have apparently been purchased by one of the digbeards. I am not sure what to make of that. Pointyears are annoying, but have a decent reputation amongst my jungle and savannah comrades. The nondescript fellows are usually considered quite fair, but it rumored that they consort with that most dreaded of hells, the circus. The digbeards, well, my feelings about them ought to be quite obvious; suffice to say, I do not consider them the lesser of the available evils. I begin to complain about this profusely, but immediately cease when my cage is lifted onto the back of what appeared to be a clinicly depressed warthog. The look he gave me while my porter was approaching him was a great reminder of how somebody is always worse off.

And so we set off. I attempt to make conversation with the warthog once or twice, but the poor fellow will talk of nothing but his lumbago sadly for a few minutes before falling silent. After two such isntances, I abandon any notion of further attempts at passing the hours in idle chit-chat. We travel a day and a night before we arrive at our presumptive destination. Imagine, if you will, a great mountain rearing up against the sky, belching smoke and an eerie red glow reflecting off of everything around. The ground, the sky, and the vast waters in the distance behind the mountain. Beneath that mountain sits a massive rock wall with a single, formidable gate at its center. We pass through the gate in a relative hurry; in fact, we'd been at an accelerated pace like that ever since the scenery went red and purple. 

Upon reaching the center of the town, I, along with a rather surprising amount of food and beverage, am removed from my beleagured warthog compatriot. The latter offers several thanks to a particular deity with whom I am unfamiliar. I freely admit, I'm not the religious sort. My family and most of my friends are fairly devout worshippers of The Great Koganusân , but I am sceptical by nature. That is not to say that I was not touched by the sincerity of Brother Warthog's devotions, but I'm not sure that divine anything had to do with his relief. This place seems to have less of the divine and more than the demoniac.

After a brief interlude, one of the digbeards approaches and allows me out of my cage. I laugh triumphantly and head for freedom through the gate; the digbeard pays no mind to this and simply wanders off. So much the better as I can escape without the hassle of fighting my way out. There were traps there to be certain, but I inspected them carefully on the way, could see them quite plainly now, and was quite confident that I could navigate them without any trouble. I was nearing the entrance when I noticed the giant creatures, walloons I think they are called, stomping around in the far distance. I immediately slowed for two reasons. While I only dabble in biology of creatures who do not live in my home territory, I was quite aware of the fact that walloons are sea-going fishtypes. Secondly, I'm quite certain that they usually have skin. In light of that unfortunate development, I thought it not unreasonable to display the greater part of valor and turn back. In doing so, I bumped into one of the squeaky short creatures. I attempted to apologize as I had honestly not seen him earlier, but the little fiend stabbed me with a pointy stick. It did no lasting damage, but stung. A lot in fact.

"MOUNTEBANK! BANDITO!" I screamed. "ASSASSIN! Take this, you lilliputian brute!" With that, I picked the jabbering villain up by his right foot, small toe and threw him, as the vernacular goes, a country mile. Over the gate, over the field, and in the general vicinity of the walloons. I imagine they dealt with him; I have no desire to find out. As I arrived back to the scene of my deliverance, apologies, I noticed several of the dwarves staring at me. I seem to have drawn attention to myself. My dealings with the digbeards remain fairly limited, but I have come to the conclusion that such attention is not to be desired. Oh, bother.

Next time: The Education of Reginald or A Clockwork Elephant.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: darkflagrance on September 15, 2010, 10:01:57 am
This is far, far too enjoyable. I had a smile on my face the whole time I read it. I want to see more of Reginald!

that most dreaded of hells, the circus.

I found this line exceedingly humorous.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Urist McKing on September 15, 2010, 02:43:48 pm
The purple chap seems particularly fond of a single digit, which is often employed whenever the pointy-eared fellow is involved.

Best. Line. EVAR
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 15, 2010, 05:50:59 pm
I know not why, but I often find myself drawn to the Grand Dining Room. It is an unusual, but thoroughly charming place, full of random statues, tables, thrones, and a marvelous waterfall. The mist is particularly delightful on a hot day. Many a time I've seen a sad or trouble digbeard enter this wonder of architecture with all the world on their shoulders and leave minutes later in a trance of wonderment. I admit, the effect is somewhat spoiled by the rabble hanging about. The digbeards don't seem to mind, I've seen one of them shove a dozing horse off of the nearest table and then immediately sit down and eat on it. This seems unsanitary, but cleanliness does not seem to be a digbeard virtue. They seem totally unaware of something so rudimentary as a nice dirt bath. Savages.

Not to say most of the other company is any better. The troglodytes are an especial nuisance with their chants of "Gooba gabba geeba gabba" and "ooga chaka ooga chaka ooga ooga ooga chaka" and "Yabba dabba doo!" and other such nonsense. As often happens, one stumbles across a diamond in the rough and I have found an oasis in this intellectual desert. This consists of an elderly giant olm named, in the vulgar, Solon Welldrinker, a rather pompous, but certainly interesting Giant Eagle named Sam (he claims this is after the famed Giant, but I have my doubts), and, greatest of all, a Giant Cave Spider named "Stray Giant Cave Spider [Tame]". The latter is a decidely worldly creature and has a better understanding of the digbeards, which he refers to as Urists, than any creature I have encountered. As such, when he claims [Tame] is a title bestowed upon a respected member of the community by Urists, I am inclined to believe him.

Many times have we whiled the hours in polite conversation. Little was I to know what was to come though. During one such day, right in the middle of an engaging lecture by Sam upon the deleterious effects of today's engraving on youth, a greenclad showed up and dragged me off. I tried to resist one or twice, but to no avail. He spirited me away to a large building that consisted of many small corrals and a large central building. What a collection of animals there were! One could hardly set foot on the ground without fear of the ground turning out to be a very indigant dog.

I remained there for some time before I was finally approached by a purpleclad digbeard, who dismissed the greenclad with a perfunctory nod. At least, I assume that is what the creature was and I assume that that was a nod. It seemed to be nothing more than an ambulatory pile of purple leaves, layer upon layer of them that disguised all features, but it spoke the digbeard language and exuded that same confounded superior attitude. We had yet another standoff, regarding each other, and the purple twit fired off the customary "Man, you're a big un, aintcha!" greeting. This removed all but the last little vestige of doubt as the identity of this creature. One day I intend to discover the meaning of this phrase; if it is unpleasant as I suspect, there shall be a great accounting.

At this point, I found myself shackled to the floor by another greenclad that had appeared as if summoned by magic. Several blueclads also sprang out of the aether and began to play musical instruments. It's rather amazing what a tonal range can be accomplished with things made out of rock. Despite being shackled, this was an altogether pleasant experience. I rather like the trumpets; I reminds me of home. The purpleclad seemed satisfied with these arrangements and left. Yet another blueclad approached at this point was a massive stack of leaves, which had other leaves attached to them.

The first was a pleasant scene of happy elephants frolicking in the wild jungle; this is ironical on several levels, but I do not think it was intended to be. The next was one of a collection of ugly creatures that appeared to be wearing sharp rocks and waving sharp sticks. Not necessarily unpleasant, but baffling at the time. The next image was certainly less ambiguous as it showed the elephants and rockclads together. I began to have an uneasy feeling at this point. The next image showed the elephants in various stages of distress, which seemed highly amusing to the rockclads. The fifth, well, it shall remain unsaid. I still shudder to think back upon it. The entire sequence was repeated again and again for several hours with musical accompaniment all the while. I think I was in a state of shock by the time it was released as I hardly recall when it ended. 

Since this has happened, I have often felt a strange compulsion to follow the purpleclad idiot that inflicted this on me in the first place. I will say that the next few weeks were quiet, uneventful ones. This came to an abrupt end one late autumn day when loud trumpets rang out and the purple fool ran out to see what was the matter. As usual, I felt drawn along in his wake though at least part of it was curiosity to see what was going on.

Off in the cold distance where the walloons did prowl, I beheld a massive walking juggernaut of shiny rock, who was heading straight towards us. "Ah, there's something", thought I, "you do not see everyday." At this point, my attention slid over to the purple dolt, who was gibbering at me in his customary fashion. I have no idea what he was saying, but I judged from his gestures that he wanted me to attack the creature in question! "The Hell you say!" was my initial response, which lead to a reiteration of his hackneyed attempt at conversation and a renewed gesture. It was at this point that I first began to lament the inability to replicate the gesture I saw so long ago between the digbeard and pointies. I attempted it with my trunk, but it failed to elicit any response other than a repeated command to engage.

As would any sensible creature, I continued to balk as the monster continued to approach. Each thunderous step shook me to my core and set my tusks aquiver. Even now, it was at the gate and my mind was still against interfering with it. I considered the possibility that any hostilies would exist solely between Shiny Rockthing and the digbeards, but there was also the possibilty that I would be guilty by proximity. Every day with these fools is a great trial.

Next time: Reginald at war OR Elephantitis of the Ego.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 17, 2010, 03:20:51 am
I found myself moving towards the rockthing albeit unwillingly and in no great hurry. My purple colleague chose to remain behind, confound him. While en route to the gate, I passed a dog that I recognized from my unpleasant experience the other day. He looked from me to Shiny Rockthing and back again. The misbegotten fool then had the audacity to say "Better you than me, pal" and went off on his merry way. May all his offspring be scrawny and flearidden forever.

Shiny Rockthing had apparently taken notice of me and had politely decided to wait for me outside of the walls. We stood there for a moment, sizing each other up. And up and up and up, in my case, since Shiny Rockthing towered well over my head. There he stood in what seemed to be a gracious offer for me to make the first move. I wished to run and should have, but something compelled me to remain there. So I did the only thing I could and desperately sought a weapon; by which I mean I picked up whatever was handy and flung it at Rockthing. Sadly, this turned out to be nothing more than a random wooden log. Ash if I recall correctly.

Judging by his lack of reaction, I can only conclude that Rockthing was rather embarrassed for the both of us. He took a step foward with the evident intent of relieving said embarrassment by relieving me of my living status when it happened. The brainless (literally I think) twit stepped on the aforementioned log and tripped. Do you recall the traps I mentioned earlier? Well, he landed right across one of them. Not a cage trap, mind one, but one that employed many shiny rock objects though of a different shade than his. If I recall correctly, at least a few of them were a light blue color. I know at least one of them was since it neatly removed Rockthing's head from his impressive shoulders. The head bounced a few times and landed behind me.

After a few minutes of watching, I cautiously moved forwards to investigate. A prod from my trunk resulted in no movement from the Rockthing's corpse. It was then that one of the digbeards, himself clad in rocks, came puffing up behind me. Before now, I had never really noticed that the digbeards had rockclads amongst them; they must be rare or frequent areas that I do not. The rockclad was soon joined by several fellows, who seemed rather excited about the whole thing. After a bit of work and the help of a rather sturdy fellow (another tuskstick; they must be the bulls of the herd), they sat the body upright. I rather liked the effect it gave off; a being forever stuck in mid-stumble with it's arms flung out before it.

This whole situation has apparently made quite an impression on the digbeards. As I recall this, I am observing a thinnish digbeard engraving yet another tribute to this event. This particular one seems to involve the Rockthing pleading for mercy and me laughing. I assume that is supposed to be me; these little beggars always make my tusks too small in any such image and fail to capture that certain air of refinement and classic breeding that define me to my very core. There seems to be a cottage industry built around such engravings of me; nothing else must ever happen of interest in this sordid little burg. In purely artistic terms, the Dining Hall's corner image of me striking down Shiny Rockthing with a single blow is my favorite, but the current example is rather nice.

It is good that I have fine colleagues such as Solon, Sam, and Mr. Spider, [TAME] as I might get a swelled head otherwise. I've attempted several times to impress upon the digbeards that this was only a happy (for me anyway; Shiny Rockthing would dispute it) accident, but such pleas fall upon deaf ears. They keep me grounded; often by reminding me of what would have happened had Rockthing gained hold of me. Sam is especially adept at painting what a gruesome picture that would be. I often have to leave the Dining Hall when he begins since the body of Rockthing is now standing against the wall of the Hall. It would seem that the digbeards are not opposed to using corpses as decorative briq-a-braq. I expect that my own skull might someday by considered objet d'art.

Apologies, but I grow weary of story telling and will pick this up again later. Good day to you, sir and/or madame.

Next time: Reginald and the Rockclads or Foolish Inconsistencies are the Goblins of the Small Mind.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: GannonDorf on September 17, 2010, 06:44:58 pm
Reginald is magnificent.

Keep updating, I love this. :)
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: mgrinshpon on September 18, 2010, 12:09:10 am
This is just amazing. Artifact level.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 18, 2010, 05:12:08 am
Another day, another indignity. The purple poltroon who am I bidden to follow has taken to showing me off to the gawking imbeciles that constitute his peers. Even now I find myself surrounded by a goggling gaggle of them. I suppose that, on some level or other, I should appreciate their quite evident admiration of me, but my conscience won't allow me that pleasure. Moreover, my dislike of this particular set of digbeards grows by the day; ill-mannered brats seems the best description for them.

It is a welcome relief when the alarm trumpets sound and I am sent out to deal with whatever situation has newly arisen. I had thought previously that it had been quiet in recent days though I understand that this is somewhat deceptive and not really the case. Dangerous situations apparently often arise. The universe itself seems to have it out for this city; there have been several attempts to attack us by the opposing rockclads in recent days. Their attack was blunted each time when they blundered directly into the walloons, who seem to be quite impartial when it comes to dealing out skeletal violence. I myself saw one such instance from a great distance while that purple dolt ventured up onto the wall for a better view of the oncoming horde. Lacking tooth or claw, the walloons made do with bulk and wallowed the rockclads to death.

As I descended the wooden walkway (one might ask how an elephant can walk on a flimsy wooden scaffold, the answer is, of course, very carefully), it was then that I learned of the digbeard's great mania for leaves that go on the feet. Almost the entire footrest turned out to the gate to watch from a distance as the rockclads were reduced to a fine paste and wait for the all-clear signal. The minute the last walloon shambled off into the distance, said signal was given and an entire host of digbeards charged out to liberate the leaves from the rockclads. I noted few purpleclads went out in this charge, but I suspect that they simply picked out the best that was brought back in for themselves and left the rest for the hoi polloi to squabble over.

Anyway, the walloons are asleep at their posts or whatever they do with their spare time as a great collection of rockclads has made it to the digbeard's very gates. A number of them have already fallen prey to the traps; some of them sit in cages and await the tender mercies of the digbeards while a few have been scattered o'er the countryside by the shiny rock trap. A few of them are still hanging around outside as I make my way out there; one of them is a particularly large fellow for a rockclad and has the same insufferable air of self-importance that the purpleclad digbeards possess.

We regard each other from across the line of traps and the big rockclad makes several gestures and utterances which I suspect are a challenge. I step forward to accept his challenge and the infamous swine pokes me with a sharp stick before I had formally agreed to duel him. I attempt to show him the proper way to issue a challenge by stripping him of the leaves from one of the his forefeet and striking him with it. This does not achieve the desire effect and is, alas, my own fault. When I forget myself, I know not my own strength and this proved deleterious to the health of the rockclad in question. In my own defense, his head did arc quite nicely. I suppose that I could make some joke about the rockclad losing his head over the situation, but that would be gauche.

Still, it seems odd that two very different situations would have largely the same result. One might begin to think that decapitations, invasions, and shambling monstrosities are an everyday thing in the world of the digbeards, but this seems unlikely to say the least. No city could be that unlucky.

One of the other rockclads rushes at me in an evident attempt to avenge his fallen comrade. I've had quite enough of this and simply step on him. Even amongst elephants, my family has long been reknowned for it's ability to crush things underfoot and I firmly believe I did my ancestors full justice in this instance. Seeing as how their leader is now roughly a foot shorter and another of their comrades now flattened, this rest of the rockclads realize the lateness of time, make what apologies they can (or so I imagine), and speed off into the setting sun.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a digbeard stripping the leaves off of the late, possibly lamented rockclads feet. Another collects the head of the big one; I wonder what happened to the head of Shiny Rockthing. A digbeard laid claim to it as I recall, but I know not why. What purpose could somebody have for a giant stone head? I shudder to think.

Next time: Reginald and the Hydra or Six of one, over a half-dozen heads of another.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: noodle0117 on September 18, 2010, 09:12:14 am
The purple chap seems particularly fond of a single digit, which is often employed whenever the pointy-eared fellow is involved.

Sorry to express my dwarven noobyness, but what's the digit? 123456789? and what are walloons?
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Urist McKing on September 18, 2010, 10:16:32 am
Reginald should be made an honorary dwarf. He is totally awesome.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: noodle0117 on September 18, 2010, 10:21:14 am
Reginald should be made an honorary dwarf. He is totally awesome.
I'm pretty sure he'd prefer to remain his old elephant self rather than turn into an "ungraceful, unsanitary, and leaf clad digbeard."
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Kregoth on September 18, 2010, 12:48:55 pm
The purple chap seems particularly fond of a single digit, which is often employed whenever the pointy-eared fellow is involved.

Sorry to express my dwarven noobyness, but what's the digit? 123456789? and what are walloons?

He is referring to the middle finger lol.

I was quite aware of the fact that walloons are sea-going fishtypes. Secondly, I'm quite certain that they usually have skin.
Not sure walloons sounds like a whale but the skeletal variety is my guess. At least thats what i think they are.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Sphalerite on September 18, 2010, 09:09:12 pm
Bravo.  If it was possible to give animals nicknames, I would name the tame elephant hanging around my fortress's dining room Reginald.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 19, 2010, 01:45:07 am
The previously mentioned cottage industry in engraving featuring yours truly has expanded into the realm of statuary. There have been a great deal of statues featuring elephants striking down rockclads, elephants striking down squeakers, elephants laughing at Shiny Rockclads, and so forth. The digbeards have placed them liberally around the footrest inside and out. I noticed one digbeard placing one precariously on top of a floor supported by a slender column of stone. Apparently there are a great number of these outside of the great wall.

This became particularly amusing when a small group of rockclads showed up the other day along with a shaggy individual much larger than the rest that had what could be laughingly referred to as tusks. Shagtusks must have been a bit of an art or architectural critic as he went out of his way to smash the stone column supporting the statue. Unfortunately, for him at any rate, the statue sans support promptly landed on him. I've often heard that great art can leave one breathless, but I never expected it to be a permanent situation. The rockclads promptly left after this; discretion is, of course, the better part of valor.

It was a few days later that the elephant laughing, shagtusks cringing drawings began to appear. I fear my fame begins to exceed me. These newest images were quite popular in leaf images that were attached to other leaves and clear rocks that were attached to sundry other objects. Small roundish things that held water and other drinks were often decorated in such fashion. This items were largely given to visitors in exchange for other commodities. Can you imagine? Me, a minor celebrity, whose image is deemed worthy of export without the slightest question as to any objection on my part either. No residuals either. Mark my words: this sort of thing will cause problems down the road.

...

And so it has. A hydra by the name of Eydri has shown up and is attempting to challenge me from just outside the gate as I speak. The creature is standing amongst the discarded remains of a walloon that attempted to hinder the great beast while enroute to the gate. There was a bit of confusion at first as each of the heads attempted to speak at once and merely succeeded in drowning each other out. A veritable cacophony that was. They seem to have just been making general noise until I appeared on the wall above them. Since then, they discussion has been much more focused. Now one of them has browbeaten the others (quite literally in this case) in speaking as a spokesheard. "ELEPHANT! COME OUT, ELEPHANT, AND FIGHT US! WE, EYDRI, CHALLENGE YOU!" I pause for a second to consider my response before calling back "NO SOLICITORS!" That ought to give him something to think about. Several long minutes pass as there is a argument over what a solicitor is before another head speaks up. "COWARD! FIGHT US!" "NO SPEAKEE LINGO!"

Another argument and another spokeshead. "BUT YOU JUST TALKED TO US!" "THAT WAS THE OTHER ELEPHANT!" Another argument, but the same head. "THERE! YOU JUST TALKED!" "I'M A THIRD ELEPHANT!" No argument, but a different head. "GET THE FIRST ELEPHANT BACK UP THERE THEN!"

I then notice the purple buffoon has begun giving me orders in his usual fashion, but with many unusual gestures. After a brief moment, I think I understand some of them. He appears to be making a symbol of tusks with his fingers and jamming them into his other hand. Goring I suppose. Then he waves his hands. Gore and then fly? Gore then beat him to death with the leaf I took from the rockclad? I really ought to dispose of this thing, but I can't bring myself to do so. It fits my trunk rather nicely. Ah, a headshake. I get that one. Don't gore the multicephalic twit? But... don't tell me that he wants me to take Eydri alive. I have no intention of trying to take him either way.

Not wanting to be rude and leave my visitor in limbo, I call back. "FINE, I'LL BE DOWN EVENTUALLY." I then begin to head down the scaffolding towards the dining hall, where I plan to take a nice nap by the fountain. I figure it will take several hours before the heads figure out what happened. The digbeards can deal with him in the meantime. Unfortunately, I happen to glance up and notice Sam soaring about overheard. Well, I shan't retreat in front of him; that eagle would never let me hear the end of it. So I change direction and head down the tunnel through the wall that leads to the gate. Eydri sees me and steps forward in their eagerness to join battle.

A short while later, a tuskstick is busy carrying Eydri's cage off towards the structure where I was educated in the ways of the rockclads. The purple dolt is in absolute ectasy over this. I can only hope that he has found a new favorite and I can wander off as I see fit. Several other digbeards have ventured out to collect the walloon bones as these are apparently quite valuable. As nonchalantly as possible, I nod to my colleague, the Giant Eagle, as I head on down to the Dining Hall. The idea of that nap seems better than ever.

Next Time: Reginald and Sarvesh Hammerthunder or The King Has Entered The Building.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Scaraban on September 20, 2010, 06:12:58 pm
sweeeeeeeet
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 20, 2010, 09:23:12 pm
I sense a great disturbance in the footrest; the digbeards are all astir over something and that can never be a good thing. This den of bearded vipers is a hive of activity above and beyond what we normally see. In recent days, a stone trail was constructed to the very horizon under the careful eye of my "rival" Eydri. The twits have it in their heads that I want the level of attention inflicted on me by the digbeards and seek to usurp my position as their favorite. As such, Eydri spends a great deal of their time outside the footrest, beating walloons to death with their foreheads and eating the odd rockclad, shagtusk, and squeaker that they stumble across. As such, this made it quite easy to build a path to replace the older dirt trail.

The entire place is being scrubbed from roof to ceiling, top to bottom, from nave to narthex, and so on. I've even seen a digbeard wash off the accumulated dirt of a dozen seasons all at once. Even the purple donkey that orders me about as if I were a common lackey has gotten into the act by switching out for an entirely different set of leaves. He's still wearing what seems to be five or six layers of them, but they're clearly a different set. One greenclad even spent the better part of the evening shining my tusks and chattering away all the while. I will admit, he did a rather nice job of it, but it doesn't take much to make me presentable if I do say so myself.

There is a heavy atmosphere of excitement and energy that I have not before experienced in my time here. One purpleclad digbeard whose job seems to be to tell other digbeards what to do has especially been active; from what I understand, she usually spends most of her time in her own den and commands from there, but she had lately been running around and taking a personal hand in things. From what I've seen, this often amounts to her carefully explaining whatever it is she wants in their gobbletygook language, another digbeard listening carefully, Talky Purpleclad leaving, and the latter digbeard doing whatever it was they were doing before the purpleclad came along. The primary difference is that they now do so with angry muttering as musical accompaniment. My impression of the purpleclads seems to be much in line with that of the common digbeard.

...

The air is stifling. Something must happen soon or I think we shall all go insane. Rather, I shall go insane and the digbeards will continue with business as usual.

...

The day has arrived and I am so far unimpressed. The social "event" of the season seems to be the arrival of two purpleclad digbeards. One of them a relatively tallish, scrawny creature carrying a calf while the other is a stout little fellow who is almost square in shape. The latter is obviously in charge; when he laughs, everybody else (barring his mate, apparently, as I've yet to see any change of expression on her face) does as well. When he stops, so does everybody else. The latter is rare; the old boy laughs at everything. He laughs with delight at the statues, he laughs at Eydri's heads pummelling each other (which, I admit, endeared me to him), he even laughs at the fountains, and he even laughs at me (which somewhat nullifies the earlier endearment). Still, while seemingly a nice chap who enjoys everything, I can't see why he is so all-fired important.

...

There was a bit of consternation the other evening when a rockclad leaped at the laughing purpleclad out of nowhere with a sharp stick. The situation quickly resolved itself when the theoretical victim subdued the attacker by pummeling him with his own, newly detached arm until I wandered over and stepped on the rockclad to keep him from further mischief. You have to nip this sort of situation in the bud. That was probably the single longest moment I've seen Laughing Purpleclad refrain from so much as the slightest chuckle. On the other hand, it was only seconds later that the situation struck him as being amusing.

That recent incident seems to have reinvigorated the "images of me" industry, which had been trailing off as late. Eydri had begun closing the gap between us while the newcomer purpleclad had quickly shot up the ranks. That gap has widened again considerably. Eydri is apoplectic about it, but it is beneath my notice. The only reason I am aware of it is because of Eydri's moaning about it.

There has always been a steady trickle of new digbeards showing up, but Laughing Purpleclad seems to really draw them in. I usually try to come and watch them arrive as there is always something of interest in such a caravan. The latest group seems a small one and barring a straggler off in the distance seems of little interest. As I turn to go back to my customary post by the fountain, I hear a voice off in the distance. "Reggie? Is that you old boy?"

"Eustace?"

Next time: Reginald is on the case! or Ho, ho, my lad! Ho, ho, my lad!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: noodle0117 on September 21, 2010, 06:10:37 am
I wonder if this is really the game being played.

Cant wait for what Reginald will do once he sees Eustace!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Eugenitor on September 21, 2010, 01:29:17 pm
I wonder if this is really the game being played.

There has to be some artistic liberties involved. It involves dwarves changing clothes, after all.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: squeakyReaper on September 21, 2010, 05:22:31 pm
I am in awe of this topic.  It's delightful, hilarious, absurd and yet endearing and classy.  Keep up the good work.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Karnewarrior on September 25, 2010, 08:51:16 pm
Posting to keep this in my 'new replies' list.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Demonic Spoon on September 26, 2010, 03:53:49 am
This is wonderful. Keep up the awsome work!  :D
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: gumball135 on September 26, 2010, 08:58:02 am
Really great work so far. Very unique and excellently written.

*Thumbs up*
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 28, 2010, 03:12:11 am
My sides. I find it difficult to speak. Oh, Koganusân above, my sides. They ache as if they are about to split asunder and yet I cannot help myself. It is sometimes difficult to breathe. A pet. I fear I might die laughing. A pet! Eustace follows that digbeard around all the while with all the airy contentment of the most vapid of dogs. The digbeard will go into a small hut, rap on a rock with a stick for a while, examine it with some degree of satisfaction, carry to a wooden box, drop it in, and resume her original industry. All the time being followed by that great, grey lump of a devoted pet, Eustace. If Uncle and Auntie could only see him now! He simply glares at me whenever we meet as I am constantly hit by a wave of merriment over his situation to the extent that I am nearly overcome with the giggles and cannot get a word or two of proper greeting out first. Laughing Digbeard seems to have developed a kinship with me because of this. He often laughs at Eustace himself; I suspect that it is because I myself do this, but it possible that he finds the situation absurd for a different reason.

The digbeard will often bid him to perform tricks whenever she seems out of sorts or saddened and he gladly does him. I should be embarrassed for him and elephants in general, but it amuses me far too much to see him rear up on his hind legs and beg with his forelegs as a common cave spider would for a scrap from some digbeard.

A pet. My sides!

...

By no account am I the sentimental sort, but I will admit a soft spot for calves, elephant, digbeard, or otherwise.  The other evening, I saw a rockclad pop out of nowhere and stuff a digbeard calf into a massive leaf and immediately flee with him. There are no lower scum than those who seek to harm a calf. Naturally I pursued. I could not understand how these verminous characters continued to infiltrate the footrest without activating a trap. Nor could I understand why the rockclad was fleeing away from the entrance.

The mystery was soon resolved when I saw him slip out of a small hole in the wall that faced the mountain of fire and the sea. Judging by the soil on the other side, the original wall had a square section that was removed with the intention of rebuilding it as a straight line. The twit of a designer must have issues with symmetry or some other such nonsense. For some fool reason, a digbeard had been interrupted in the process and had never gotten around to finishing the wall. No wonder the rockclads managed to keep slipping inside. Eydri alone had eaten five or six of them in the past few months.

Now was not the time to indulge in petty recriminations over architectural failings as the thieving rockclad was hustling up the mountainside. Sadly for him and fortunately for me, the calf was a heavy burden for him and slowed his escape considerably. Disturbingly close to the statues that mark the edge of the footrest's territory, I managed to overhaul the calfnapper. The fool rounded on me and attempted to defend himself while still carrying the leaf and calf. This allowed me to knock the leaf loose so that the calf would be out of harm's way. I then pressed my attack as the rockclad begin to think twice about engaging such an impressive physical specimen when his ill-gotten gains were already lost (or so I fancy; I certainly would have thought this in his position). I swung at him with the leaf I carry to this day in my trunk and the poor fool dodged it and, in so doing, fell right into a reservoir of the hot, red water that the digbeards had tunnelled into the mountain for. I know how what their purpose was and I suspect that neither did they at the time. Perhaps it's just in digbeard nature to have the stuff handy at all times. I think there was some notion of having it run down the footrest at some point, but the attempt seems to have been abandoned for now.

I doubt he suffered too much as he burned up almost instantly. Dreadful smell though; not unlike some of the food that the digbeards often prepare. They make these things out of common wheat and meat that could probably brain a grizzly bear if thrown at it's head. But I digress, a digbeard collected the calf, another sealed up the hole in the wall after we returned, and all seemed well for a while. A new image soon appeared of a burning rockclad and a laughing elephant. This was to be expected. I find a new image that seems to come from a single digbeard to be much more interesting. It is if two elephants grabbed a weasel at either end with their trunks and pulled until the wretched thing was stretched out entirely too thin. For lack of a better name, I shall call them woozles. Despite their ludicrous appearance, I find something ominous about them.

Next time: Reginald and his new Firey Friend and or The Unbearable Sweetness of Being.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: darkflagrance on September 28, 2010, 04:40:59 am
Oh Koganusan above!!!

In my opinion, the goblin should have drowned in the magma, rather than burned to death.  :P
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: squeakyReaper on September 28, 2010, 08:28:00 pm
Not sure what woozle is referencing, but otherwise...

All hail Reginald.   :)
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: darkflagrance on September 29, 2010, 06:45:57 pm
Not sure what woozle is referencing, but otherwise...

All hail Reginald.   :)

Most likely Heffalumps and Woozles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woozle)

edit: I'd say it was a drawing of a forgotten beast or a demon of some sort (like the ones that become law givers, for example).
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: squeakyReaper on September 29, 2010, 06:47:47 pm
Nah, I mean the dwarven in game equivalent.  But there's a lot about DF I don't know.   :P
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: gumball135 on October 01, 2010, 09:00:32 am
''Next time: Reginald and his new Firey Friend and or The Unbearable Sweetness of Being''

Maybe Imps jumping out of Magma Channels instead of Jacks out of Boxes?

''SURPRISE!!!''
*Fireball to the face*
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on October 05, 2010, 05:24:01 pm
We had a new arrival today while I was in the Dining Hall. The hubbub on the surface brought me out to see what was going on. The source of the excitement was a cage being carried by a digbeard; the cage was evidently quite heavy as the digbeard was bent over nearly double and stumbled along with it quite slowly.

The cage itself was a sight to behold. A great green tail sticking out of one side, a great bat-like wing protruding out of two other sides, one held at an awkward vertical angle and the other at the horizontal. The inhabitant was, as should be obvious by this point, a greatly embarassed dragon. A dragon! Noble among beasts, second only to the elephants themselves, and vastly larger than the cage he now found himself in. Digbeards seem to have a talent for this sort of thing; I once watched a single digbeard stack several hundred rocks on top of each other without the pile ever seeming to grow in the least. I started to speak to him, but he cut me off with a brusque, thunderous "Not a word." Exceedingly rude, but quite easy to forgive under the circumstances.

I watched with a great deal of interest as Purple Poltroon fed the new citizen a small bit of fish and another digbeard released him from the cage. The dragon, obviously and understandly in high dudgeon, attempted to adopt a dignified air, but this is quite difficult when a cage has compacted you into a roughly cube shaped object that has to walk on tiptoe with two wings at odd angles. It was several hours before he stretched out enough to regain his customary, impressive size.

He also regained what seems to be his typical gregarious nature. I don't know what got him started talking, but he soon began with a veritable avalanche of dialogue. In quantity as well as volume. The old boy says everything with a voice that could raise an entire graveyard. Perhaps it was a gold statue of a fluffy wambler in the Dining Hall that brought him back to a good mood; he considers it quite fetching. After a brief period, he apologized for his rudeness and introduced himself as Luto Firetamed the Sparkling Syrupy Sweetness of Warmth. "Doubtless a fearful name uttered only in low tones by the respectful and spoken aloud only by the foolish!" boomed Luto with a toothy smile. After seeing those teeth, I believe him.

Luto is often the center of digbeard attention as they seem particularly interested in his scales, teeth, and claws. Luto tends to oblige them by showing off these features. A yawn alone merits a chorus of impressed chattering from the yokel audience. This piques Eydri no end, which amuses me greatly.

...

The digbeards have been up to something lately. I'm not sure what exactly, but it involves the fire mountain behind us. I believe they're trying to bring that rockclad melting water down to us for some odd reason. They also seem to be building some sort of overland tunnel towards the small finger of the sea that lies near the bottom of the fire mountain. As with any other digbeard enterprise, no good can come of this.

Next time: Reginald and The Bottle Imp or It's a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Dante on October 05, 2010, 05:50:47 pm
This is fantastic. Posting to follow.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Moonlit_Knight on October 05, 2010, 06:58:00 pm
same.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Karnewarrior on October 06, 2010, 09:03:24 pm
This is due to become the next... I want to say Boatmurdered, but that's not a good comparison. Can anyone help me? What's a great DF story that didn't involve the protagonist going out in a blaze of glory that makes the sun look cold?
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Kobold Troubadour on October 06, 2010, 11:12:20 pm
(http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/3478/elephantnotimpressed.jpg)
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on October 07, 2010, 01:24:37 am
In an apparent bid to increase security, the digbeards have began excavating a large pit out in front of the fortress. Day in and day out, they continue to delve into the deeps. Another digbeard has set to work on a bridge across the gap. I'm not sure why they feel they need the added security; nothing has so much as made it within a trunklength of the front gate in the past few weeks. Even the Squeakies seem to have taken a sabbatical from their attempts to steal whatever digbeard junk is on hand.

---

The pit project continues apace. They're so far down that I can barely even hear them anymore. The bridge has been finished and looks rather nice all things considered. I'm not sure about the wisdom of using a shiny rock to make it out of though as it's rather slippery to walk across. Meanwhile, the fire water project seems to be nearing completion through the sea tunnel is still a long way aways from being finished.

---

The digbeards have come back up in a bit of a hurry. It appears that they tunnelled into a massive cave system and were welcomed by a rather sizable shagtusk. It apparently injured one of them and then received the usual response from a tuskstick-wielding digbeard. At least, I assume that's what happened since the corpse was brought up to the surface garbage heap with a tuskstick still lodged in its face. As a scientific experiment, I tossed one of the local rats off the bridge into the depths. I believe I heard it splash a short time later. I assume that means there is water down there.

---

We had a visitor today. A certain titan by the name of Asmu Smosdu or Axmu Smazdu or something like that. A great towering elk of salt with two tails and a rather quaint, austere look. It bellowed its challenge to the heaven in a great, ringing voice and strode forward to display its terrible wrath and incomparable power. It did this by stepping out onto the bridge and cracking it asunder with its mighty hooves. The twit is probably still falling. An intellectual titan he was not.

---

According to Luto, Asax (I think that was the name) was "a Mountain Titan. Not the sharpest bolt in the quiver if you catch my drift." Luto made his acquaintance while on what he calls a shopping spree. He often speaks of these sprees with a wistful longing that would be more worrisome if not for the fact that that he often allows digbeard calves to interrupt his stories so that they can rub his belly. A dragon exposing his belly to anyone is something that usually just isn't done.

---

Today was a bit of a surprise. The digbeards tunnelled up the rear wall and connected that tunnel to two other, much shorter tunnels. One of them lead to an odd-shaped building that was covered by odd-looking trees while the other was a long, low building with a bunch of holes in the ground. There has been some work on the sides, but it's largely just two walls and a canopy at this point. There was a bit of a panic when they allowed some of the fire water to come down the mountain to test the system and a short, red fellow that seemed to be made out of fire jumped out of one of the holes. This probably would have not been a problem for me personally if I had not been wandering around the building to see what the, if you'll excuse the expression, hubbub was about. Worse, the hole that the jackanape popped up out of was one I has just walked around.

The nasty little bugger threw a fireball at me and singed my tail! MY TAIL! To be sure, it's a modest one and not in the category as Luto or Eydri's, but it is mine and I have a great deal of attachment to it. Damage was fairly minimal, thankfully, and is not lasting in any way but the principle alone made this a potential calamity. Moreover, the brute seemed to punctuate his attack with a high-pitched, piping laugh.

This grievous insult could not be ignored so I kicked him in the face. The horrible little beast went flying towards the front entrance and hit one of the cage traps. As luck would have it, it was one of those new-fangled, transparent cages that seem to be all the rage these days. The digbeards have put him to work in the Dining Hall as a giant lamp by placing the cage near the fountain. I have to say that this has greatly improved the ambience. The Hall has went all the way from dank and rather dark to dank and merely poorly-lit. Upon thought, this is somewhat unfair as the dim light reflects off the jewels on all the furniture quite nicely. The digbeards are all atwitter over this. They seem to be intent on catching more of them now and have constructed several such clear cage traps around the holes. It's possible that this what they intended from the start, but it seems such a small outcome from such a large project.

Next time: Reginald gets a new boss or The Artisan and the Elephant!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Meta on October 07, 2010, 04:36:16 am
Loving this story so far! :D
Can't wait for the next part !
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: squeakyReaper on October 07, 2010, 03:05:52 pm
Kicked him right in the face.  What a boss.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: BurningLed on October 07, 2010, 07:58:08 pm
I can just imagine the voice ringing out from nowhere as Reginald angrily turns towards the goblin: "THIS. IS. SPARTA~AGH!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: synkell on October 08, 2010, 06:34:10 am
Totally Awesome!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on October 11, 2010, 06:52:00 pm
We had another group of rockclads show up with another shagtusk the other day. This group came from over the fire mountain and decided to pay a visit to the digbeard's river of fire water. Since there was plenty of said fire water to go around, the digbeards had temporarily sealed it off with a thin slab of reddish rock. The shagtusk promptly sauntered up to said rock slab and punched a hole in it. Gad, it's a wonder that they ever live long enough to breed. The smell of burning hair and rockclads still lingers over the entire footrest even now. Eydri seems to agony over it though I suppose having seven sets of nostrils would make things seven times worse.

I will say this for the digbeards, when action demands, they can sometimes be prompt and can even surprise you. After the fire water enveloped the latest sacrifices to the altar of sublime stupidity, a digbeard pushed down on a sort of rock stick and another thin red slab popped up behind the site of the first. I suppose the closer one was just a temporary patch or that work had not been finished on it yet. After the fire water disappeared a short while later, I noticed a redclad digbeard hiking up the side with a large round rock on his back. I'm not sure what the point was, but I suspect it was part of repairing the damage inflicted by the late Shagtusk and Company.

---

I've been keeping an eye on a blueclad digbeard for a while now. An oddball this one; he was in the Dining Hall one day idling away the hours in idle chitchat with another of the species and suddenly started walking around in a trance. He wondered around for a period and then claimed a small building as his own after kicking out the current inhabitant. One would think that this would make the other digbeard indignant, but it did not. The entranced digbeard then began moving all about the footrest, picking up various rocks, clear, shiny, and otherwise, pieces of leaves, quite a few walloon bones, an odd bit of leather here and there. At times, he would cease his activities and simply sit in his building while passing time by dragging a stick back and forth across the ground. I think he was making lines in the dirt, erasing them, and then drawing over them again.

After a while, he would either decide he has waited long enough and takes off to go get an item or it somehow became available. I think these periods of waiting have made the other digbeards rather nervous as the others often glance at him and mutter beneath their breath. I suppose this is the reason that I was assigned to follow him. I believe that to be a mistake actually; from what I gather, Purple Imbecile told a random greenclad to have one of the higher species of creatures keep the blueclad out mischief and the poor fellow chose me instead of one of the multitude of dogs that were apparently intended for this purpose. At any rate, I'm clad to be free of the purpleclad nuisance.

So I stand around for a long period and watch Blueclad with interest. I'm not sure what the intent is here. Presumably, he has an entire list of tasks to perform and these materials are for each of those tasks.

---

That last bit of translucent greenish rock he fetched after waiting for a few days must have been what he was waiting for. The Blueclad works like a digbeard possessed and has done so since the moon went to a quarter. It is now nearly full and his pace has not slacked once. He neither stops to break his fast or rest, but works on that one piece of white rock nonstop. Surprisingly, everything that he collected has been used on that first white rock. I'm not sure how that will work in the long run exactly since one of the objects he collected was a cube of reddish rock vastly larger than the object he is working on. "These digbeards are mad" I say to a small puppy as it passes by. The dog merely nods and continues to follow a fatish digbeard carrying a large rock. That seems to be half the life of these creatures; carrying rocks, making things out of those rocks, and then going to get more rocks.

Not to be, apologies, dogmatic about it, but I've never quite understood the affection dogs have for digbeards. Sure, loyalty is one thing, but the dogs seem genuinely content to be around creatures that are, for lack of a better phrase, totally insane. Even now, they are constructing an extremely flimsy looking set of rock and wooden stairways that form a rough cube around the center of the footrest. Up and up and up towers this series of scaffolding, but for what purpose? To what end? For what benefit? But I digress.

The Blueclad has apparently finished his project while I was lost in thought. It's one of the musical instruments that I believe the pointy-ears called a harp. Apparently the only way to play it is to hold it in one arm, raise the other to the sky, and bring it crashing down the side to make a loud thrumming noise. No, I must correct that, it also seems possible to play it normally though at a much faster rate than usual. The other digbeards seem enchanted by the sound it makes as well as its... unique appearance and have granted Blueclad a rousing series of "Huzzahs!"

After that brief moment though, the digbeards go about their business as usual while Blueclad suddenly realizes that he hasn't eaten for about a half moon. As he heads to the Dining Hall to remedy the situation, there is a great commotion from up above. Being naturally curious, not a feline, and therefore safe to indulge in said curiosity, I head upstairs to see what the matter is. Bah, nothing more than a group of rockclads. Well, make that several groups of rockclads. Make that, well, my, but that's a lot of rockclads.

Next time: A City and Elephant Besieged or The March to Keep Fear Alive!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Karnewarrior on October 11, 2010, 07:46:23 pm
 ???
Did that dorf just...
 :o
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Argembarger on October 11, 2010, 08:19:02 pm
Urist McHendrix cancels Put Item in Stockpile: Kissing Sky
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on October 12, 2010, 05:59:39 pm
Imagine, if you will, a coconut. Now take that coconut and impale it in four places with the thinnest, shortest sticks you can find. You would then have a fairly remarkable approximation of the creature in charge of the rockclad horde currently occupying the field before us. I believe he (I think; being male myself, I often assign that gender to creatures where such qualities are dubious) referred to himself as Zedan Warmheat the Firey Flame-Fiend of Firey Warmth and Redundant Taxonomy Apparently, Tick Fiend, Esquire. I admit that part of that is my own addition, but suffice to say that one's eyes tend to glaze over halfway through his introductions.

ZWFFFFWRTATFE walked toward the footrest in as impressive a manner as possible, which is not much when your legs are only about a tenth as long as your body is tall. He would have been faster if he had just laid down and rolled towards the pit. He's been out there for about twenty minutes now, hurling verbal abuse at the assorted digbeards on the wall, in a voice that sounds remarkably like the sound a rhesus macaque makes when you step on it. He's been trying to get the digbeards to lower the bridge so that they can come inside and kill everybody in the footrest. I think that is what he is saying; his accent is atrocious and I can only make out about half of what he is saying since he speaks so quickly. Zedan put about ten times the elocution effort into pronouncing his name as he has the entire spiel he's unfolded since then.

At any rate, the digbeards seem to have no intentions of complying with his demands, which is one of the more intelligent moves I've seen from them to date. One of them beside me has been fiddling with an odd rectangular device made out of bone for a while now. Some sort of musical instrument would be my guess. He's now taking what appears to be a shiny rock needle not unlike a porcupine's quill and is laying it across the instrument. Well, I can't see what good that wi... Sweet Merciful Koganusân, that instrument flung that needle clear across the pit and took a rockclad's leg clean off! That has redoubled Zedan's remonstrations towards the footrest; he has moved to the very edge of the pit to make his threats heard. Ah, the digbeard has another needle ready to go and seems intent on belimbing Zedan with this shot. This should be amusing.

---

Well, it was, but not in the manner originally intended. Either the digbeard just missed or Zedan managed to dodge the needle, but either way, the result was the same. Zedan fell to his side, couldn't get back up again thanks to his spindly legs and rotund, presumably blood-engorged form, and rolled right off into the abyss. The rockclads are still wandering outside (well, stumbling at any rate since it's now a new moon), but are not really doing anything. I think that they are lost with Zedan to give them orders (which is odd since one would think he would be little more than a parasite thriving off the life's blood of their society), but are too embarrassed by the situation to want to leave. Every so often, a crowd of them with gather by the edge of the pit and the digbeards will drop the bridge down on them two or three times out of spite. There are still more rockclads out there than I can be bothered to count. This has made a sizable dent in the local walloon population, let me tell you.

---

Rockclads outside or not, life goes on inside the footrest. I think Blueclad has become used to my role as a bodyguard. For the first few days after the completion of his harp, he kept glancing back at me while I was following him in apparent confusion. I suppose I can understand this. If I were the size of a digbeard and a creature my size happened to start following me one day, I might be a bit put about it as well. Well, perhaps not, if I were as fortunate as to have such a handsome and debonair devil following me about as Blueclad is. A greenclad eventually explained the situation or so I gather since Blueclad went up and talked to one of them the other day and now seems more accepting of the situation.

In other news, one of the tuskstick bulls uncovered a grotto packed full of fluffy wamblers. The nest was disturbed in the process and the digbeards are up to their armpits in the creatures. The digbeards seem unperturbed by this and Purple Pain-in-the-trunk has spent much of his time taming those wamblers brought to him by the various greenclads wandering around the footrest. I'm not sure what to make of them actually. I'm not one for cute, which the digbeards (rather surprisingly) are, but some of them have quite interesting stories about travel and some rather unique theories about the structure of the universe. They also have some odd, apparently religious-based ideas about the body of Shiny Rockthing that still stands in the corner of the Dining Hall. Some legend or other from what I understand.

However, no matter what the wamblers might say, I have no intentions of ever dancing my cares away.

Next time: Reginald and the Megaproject or Cast In The Name of Elephant God, Ye Not Guilty!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: BurningLed on October 12, 2010, 08:02:08 pm
I love the reference to the Beheading of the Colossus at the end  :D.

Also, my money's on the megaproject being a giant Reginald.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on October 13, 2010, 06:04:49 pm
Great story, chuckles and outright guffaws all the way through. Keep'm Coming!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on October 24, 2010, 03:11:25 am
There are, as it happens, right ways and wrong ways to do everything. For elephants, the right way involves not setting one's surroundings on fire. By all appearances, digbeards disagree. At the very least, they have an extremely high tolerance for grassfires. I will say, though, that they seem mildly irritated when a large collection of black cubes caught fire. Those burned day and night for weeks on end. Judging by the smoke and heat generated, there must have been some of these cubes within larger, hollow cubes that were also dark in color. The latter continue to burn now even after one of the digbeards finally managed to put out the grassfires by dousing the entire surface layer of the footrest in water. She accomplished this by hitting a rock stick sideways so that water came flooding out of the overland tunnel and drenched everything to about waist deep. Waist deep on a digbeard, mind you; if it were waist deep on me, then a great deal of my problems beyond the fire would have been solved all at once.

I will give them this: the digbeard method is much more expedient than the pointy-ear method. The latter involves a great deal of wheedling some spirit or other to do something about it. A  bit of rain perhaps. From what I saw lately, it seems that the pointy-ears are wasting their time; trees, despite all logic, don't seem to burn. Counter-intuitive that, but such things are par for the course for the digbeards. Still though, when they want to be, the digbeards can be nothing short of ruthlessly efficient.

On the other hand, this method had its hygenic downside. Mud everywhere. Dustings of dirt. Mounds of muck. A plethora of peat. How thoroughly unsanitary. On the other hand, nobody has been sick lately despite the mess; this may have had something to do with a great number of hollow stumps that had recently contained an unusual and quite appetizing liquid that promptly boiled off when the fire came close to where they were being stored. The digbeards were much more put out about this than the other destruction wrought by the flames.

Old Uncle Alfie used to get the giggling staggers after eating certain fermented fruit; I suspect that the digbeards have somehow duplicated this effect and are storing it in the aforementioned hollow stumps. The smell was similar at any rate; sort of a sickly sweet odor. They drink it constantly. If I did not know any better, I would think it were medicinal in nature. I do know better though; the digbeards don't give a fig, fermented or otherwise, for basic preventive medicine. Those of a delicate nature may want to divert their attention elsewhere for a moment. Please understand, however, that such knowledge is essential if one wishes to understand the digbeard, Many a time I have seen a digbeard stumble up to the surface, blink their eyes for a second as if stunned, projectile vomit, and then stagger off. Not once have I ever seen a single one of them so much as chew a blade of grass to expedite the situation or consume a kobold bulb to soothe their nausea. These creatures seem to lack the basest knowledge of a mere calf!

Those with a weak stomach can come back now.

At any rate, there seems to have been some sort of flaw in their firewater mechanism as they managed to cut off the flow of said firewater and then went back to work on it. I haven't the foggiest notion as to what this was about. They appear to be testing it even now. I've seen them do this before; they have a great number of cage traps such as the thrice accursed one that planted me in this situation scattered across the countryside. Every so often, a digbeard will dart out the gate and lug a now occupied cage back into the footrest and stow it somewhere.

Most of often that not, the cage will contain a walloon, but there have been the odd rockclad or random creature. Once, I saw them carry in something that looked like a mountain goat that did not seem the least bit distressed about its missing face, fur, or skin. Now, the sheer amount of rockclads loitering about has put the quietus on these little shopping sprees; I presume the cages remain out there for the most part thought eh rockclads are presumably freeing their comrades in such instances. This is of little import as the local stocks were rather large anyway.

But I drifting further and further away from the object of this story. To the point. The digbeards will take a cage with one of the local undead roughnecks (they seem to be saving the rockclads for another purpose) and move it out in an enclosed area near the firewater tunnel. They connect something or other to the cage. They then move away from the cage and another digbeard will move a rockstick or other. The former inhabitant of the cage will now be let loose to wander around in the enclosure. If it escapes from the enclosure, the inhabitant is dealt with in some fashion or other. Luto roasts it or Eydri bores it to death or what have you. A digbeard will then go in and construct a wall to control the gap. The process is then repeated as necessary.

If it doesn't escape, they let the area fill with firewater. This doesn't agree with the free-roaming creature, but such is unlife. The process is then repeated shortly later. In this manner, they see if there are any holes or missing areas in the system. It is a slow process, but trying to rush it as they did recently leads to great consequences. Haste makes waste and digbeard haste makes burning wastes.

I admit, this entire process has sparked my interest.

Next time: Reginald and the Megaproject, part 2 or Gleaming the Cube.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Meta on October 25, 2010, 04:19:32 am
Quote
They drink it constantly. If I did not know any better, I would think it were medicinal in nature.
So right! :D
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: synkell on October 26, 2010, 05:55:09 am
"Haste makes waste and digbeard haste makes burning wastes."

Not to mention flooded forts (^_^)

Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: noodle0117 on November 03, 2010, 06:14:08 am
bumped this thread for great elephatiness!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on November 23, 2010, 03:12:29 am
It is said, in some circles, that "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." It is likely, nay, probable that this is true in most cases, but is certainly not in the case of the rockclad horde that had, until recent, encamped itself on the doorstep of this very footrest.

Our deliverance, oddly enough, began with the arrival of a large crowd of squeakies. Apparently, this stems from how the odd battle between the walloons and the rockclads that had provided the digbeards with a giggle and idle way to pass some time. Several rockclads shuffled off this mortal coil in the process and were freed of their need for material possessions as a result. These possessions apparently attracted the interest of our gibbering neighbors, who began to show up in force after all a while. The most recent of these involved a sizable contingent armed with some sort of odd stick and vine contraption that tossed pointy sticks are the rockclads.

The squeakies were quickly expunged from the plains, but enough damage had been wrought upon the rockclad force that the digbeards decided to treat with them. They chose an Ambassador Plentipotentiary to go out to deliver their terms and lowered the drawbridge to provide him access to the rockclads. Judging by the zeal with which he went at this appointed task, Ambassador Luto has a promising future in the field even if the rockclads did seem uninterested when he came bearing the gift of flame and fang along with the digbeard request that they "Burn in hell, Gobbos!" I'm not sure as to the translation of this though I'm quite sure of the phrase since many of them shouted this from the walltop when Luto out. Furthermore, Luto repeated the line himself with a voice whose volume would have made the average avalanche envious.

The rockclads ignored this offer to treat and snubbed every entreaty after his initial advance. Shocking breach of protocol on their part if I may say so. They could have at least requested a list of terms. But it was not to be; the minute he announced his initial position and punctuated it with a cone of fire, those rockclads not roasted headed for greener pastures. His speech failed to enflame their passion for peace, but did set some of them aflame.

Perhaps it was his inflection.

In the meantime, the digbeards have completed whatever their grand design was. At the current juncture, it appears to be a massive cube of black rock. One of the purpleclads seems to be explaining plans for whatever the final result will be to a group of tusksticks, who take turns mocking her behind her back. There's a smaller squarish pillar of black rock close at hand that was the recipient of loving care and much work from a group of whiteclads. The pillar has been carefully polished and waxed until its reflection in the sun is nigh blinding.Proof of concept I think. At any rate, the digbeards seem to be ignoring it though it had collected a large group of admiring troglodytes.

It had been relatively quiet since Ambassador Luto's failure to communicate. I haven't seen a rockclad or squeakie in nearly a full moon cycle. The last one I saw was about three quarters moon ago. This was when a bemasked rockclad lunged out of nowhere at me while following Blueclad amongst a host of other digbeards who had ventured outside to collect the various leaves and rocks dropped by the now-defunct rockclad herd. I know not what the rockclad expected to accomplish with this trick, but I must admit that I derived a great deal of satisfaction from stepping on him. His trick, my treat.

Next time: Reginald and the Megaproject, part 3 or The All-Encompassing Statue
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Dante on November 23, 2010, 04:48:47 pm
Excellent; pray continue, master wordsmith.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on February 21, 2011, 04:53:45 am
Absence makes the heart grow ever fonder. Would that all the digbeards would go away long enough for me to grow fond of them and that I could live the necessary centuries it would require.

Another Titan came to call today, which suggests that Nature itself hates the digbeards with a passion rivalled only by that of the rockclads. This one, reputedly a Titan of the Marsh, according to Eydri, was a great shambling heap of, all things, sandy loam. It attempted to slaughter an innocent kitten, received the merest nick from that tiny claw, and promptly exploded when a small chunk of its loam went flying. I believe the digbeards are trying even now to figure out a way to bag the creature's corpse and sell it to the pointy-ears. This entire episode would suggest that Nature, while possessor of a multitude of fine qualities, is not possessed of great intellect or sensibility in designing her champions.

The digbeards have apparently finished their magnum opus of rock. After smoothing it, they carved numerous tunnels at random points and heights and then clad it with that shiny yellow metal that they have been dragging up from the earth. I may not know art, but I know what I like. It is not this and, while not an expert, I can safely say that it is not art either. One of the cows informs me that this is what is known as cheese and is derived from the milk she provides on a semi-monthly basis; she cannot, however, say as to what this monstrous monument to solidified cow extract represents. I congratulate her on her inability to understand as the only way to safely know one is sane is if they do not comprehend the daily shenanigans of the digbeards.

The monument has been celebrated and the digbeards have moved on to a new interest. The events, as best as I can piece together, began like so: Mr. Zedan, Firey Et cetera, Et cetera and So Forth managed to survive his fall into the abyss and had spent the time since his plunge into oblivion skulking about in the underground in a section that was no longer accessible from the rest of the footrest. A digbeard had blocked it off for some reason that I doubt even she or he remembers; it is possible that the region had been stripped bare of its shiny rocks and other worthwhile supplies. Curious as to why he wouldn't simply leave, I discussed the situation with a Mr. Tobrul, who had been born in the footrest wild and free before being captured and turned into a pet by Purpleclod. His suspicion is that the section in question was one that was a narrow spar of land that was backed by a sheer wall with water on two sides. With the section connected to the larger caverns blocked, our Friend Tick Fiend had nowhere to go. With his legs and arms, Zedan would simply float at the mercy of the water and be cast time and time again upon the same spar. Anyhow, the digbeards could hear him stumbling about and shrieking curses at them for several days. 

So the digbeards prepared what was, for them, an ingenious trap. The following I can vouch for myself as I witnessed a great part of it. A great, winding burrow was dug by a tuskstick that came close to the area that they guessed Mr. Zedan frequented and a cage placed partway through it. A door was placed on the far side of the cage nearest the end of the tunnel and the operation began. An occupied cage would be carried next to the first cage and by some magical show of dexterity, the inhabitant from the new cage would be transferred over to the second. Following this, the digbeard would shake and kick the first cage to insure the occupants were kept in an internal state of constant rage. My Blueclad himself participated in this. This went on for a great long while and the first cage was magically never filled despite its many occupants. A redclad showed up and worked on the first cage while a purpleclad and whiteclad worked on the opposite end.

As this went on, preparations took place upstairs as well. The digbeards provided the cavern level above with a marvelous clear rock floor and roof and accentuated it quite tastefully with a charming statue of your favorite narrator as well as one of the rocksticks that was furnished by a redclad. They then settled into this room for a while to keep tabs on Mr. Zedan.

When the whiteclad was finished with whatever she was up to, everybody retired upstairs save only a single tuskstick who ventured downstairs and carefully waited until Zedan was on the far side of the spar to chisel out the last section. After this, he ran as if all the demons in digbearddom were on his heels; as soon as he was out of the burrow, a digbeard child pushed the rockstick down. This had two results. The first was that a rock wall sprang out of nowhere at the end of the burrow, which blocked it off. The other, more amusing result was that the cage collapsed releasing its inhabitants.

I am no expert on their body language and their lack of facial skin prevented any expressions from registering, but the distinct impression is that none of the thirty walloons jammed into that cage were happy and, in fact, felt quite put upon by the lot given them by life... death? Unlife? Whatever. They were certainly unhappy and chose to express this to Mr. Zedan as best they could. He gave quite a good accounting of himself and obliterated about twenty and a half of them before being rolled to death by the remaining half of number twenty-one. The tuskstick responsible for the day's entertainment was given many an encouraging slap on the back and seemed absolutely delighted that he made it in time to see the show. I'd call the whole thing barbaric if not for the fact that Mr. Zedan almost certainly had equally unpleasant plans for all the inhabitants of the footrest and probably would not have given them as much of a sporting chance either.

It was then the problematic aspect of the event reared its ugly, wallonish head. The footrest was blocked off from the battlefield by three things: the instant wall, the more permanent one erected near the end of the spar, and an underground lake. Can you see the problem, gentle listener? If so, you're well ahead of the digbeards. If not, feel not ashamed as I had not even realized it myself until the moment it happened and the fatal flaw of this plan realized. Namely the sad, simple fact that water is not an impedient to an aquatic creature, be it dead or alive. After finishing with Mr. Zedan, the remaining walloons came out of the burrow and promptly swam into the water towards the footrest itself. This was met with, let us start with consternation and work upwards and outwards from there.

Next time: Reginald, Zombie Slayer or Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Phenixmirage on February 21, 2011, 09:39:07 am
Huzzah for the return of Reginald! Another fantastic installment.  :D
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Taricus on February 21, 2011, 09:41:16 am
REGIN-ALD!,REGIN-ALD!,REGIN-ALD!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: squeakyReaper on February 21, 2011, 10:42:26 am
I would raise my trunk to the sky and make a heroic cheer in reward for this amazing account by Reginald.  Lacking a trunk, I am sad that you will have to settle for the sounds my hands make when slapped together.  Many times over.  Good show, dear Elephant.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Thief^ on February 21, 2011, 12:58:59 pm
More! More! More!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on February 21, 2011, 01:32:42 pm
Jolly good! I simply cannot wait for the next installment.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on March 27, 2011, 01:48:29 am
In times of peril or even mild distress, my uncle Olie was found of saying "Regular", he often called me that. I don't know if it was a nickname or if he thought it was my name. Pardon. "Regular" said Olie, "when tha old world starts to turnin' widderschynnes and tha tames go nort cause of some great gammalatches, thas tha time when an elephant has to accept has plans hae gone agley and tran has thoughts to savan' has own trunk. Billybarn tha lot, ma stircherop!" That was Olie for you. Not even Eustace can compare to Olie when it comes to being scatterbrained.

His words came to me unbidden as I stood there and watched the drama unfold beneath me. The walloons had broken up into three small groups. One walloon headed down into the deep, four turned their attention to the nearby trophy room that was partially visible from where we now stood, and the remainder wandered off away from us though it was only a matter of time until they realized where we were. If ever a situation had turned widderschynnes, it was the one below me. I muttered something to this effect, which caught the attention of Mr. Atemlanlar, a giant bat who was a recent acquaintance of mine. Atemlanlar had been trained years ago to help digbeards hunt. This idea was given up when it apparently occured to the digbeards that hunting walloons was not a profitable venture. Atemlanlar overhearing my comment was unavoidable since he was using my left tusk as a perch.

"Ah, don't you worry, Reggie" said Atemlanlar. "Things could always be worse." My response was merely to point downwards to where a couple of walloons had begun knocking over a collection of cages that had, until now, contained rockclads and shagtusks from the recent visiting herd. "Huh. Well, that ain't good" said Atemlanlar, which cost him several points in my eyes. Ain't? How vulgar. Another battle began in earnest beneath us as the other shagtusks joined in the frenzy of cage tipping and an army of rockclads swarmed those few walloons. No gratitude there. Atemlanlar flew across the room and disappeared upstairs.

"Billybarn this!" thought I and turned to follow him. Just as I turned, a great drumming noise rang through the cavern floor, which sent most of the digbeards flying for the stairs upwards while others hurried to a nearby room to grab sharp sticks and rocks to put over their leaves. The sheer volume of digbeards forced me to bypass the first set of stairs and move for the farther stairwell. Just as I prepared to ascend, a walloon surged upward from the downward stair below.

Pure reflexes stepped over as I stepped on its skull, which gave way with a thoroughly satisfying crunch. What else could I do? Chances like this are all too rare, normally. That solitary walloon was soon replaced by an entire host of rockclads; several of which received the same treatment as their predeceased predecessor. The rockclads kept coming up the stairs towards me despite this for some time. In all the world, only the rockclads rival the digbeards in imbecilic disregard for their own safety.

After a while, they paused in their futile attempts. I cannot say why. Perhaps it was to work up courage to attack me in large numbers; they had to have been well aware that the first few rockclads to charge me would meet a squishily unpleasant end. Well, probably. Perhaps they were simply trying to figure out if any of them weren't aware of this obvious fact. They had to come up here though as this was the nearest staircase that had access to the levels below and above and the others were well-guarded by now. I could not flee myself for fear that one of the gammalatches might slip up and cut a ligament from behind. I'm not worried about being stuck by one of those sharp sticks except in the eye, but have a heathly respect for the cuts they can inflict.

This little standoff soon worked out to my satisfaction when I perceived a flutter of wings and Mr. Atemlanlar returned to his perch on my tusk. He said only "you may want to step back a bit" before folding his wings and going to sleep. Atemlanlar might butcher the language, but he is still one of the more sensible beings I've encountered in this great bastion of insanity so I stepped away from the staircase.

Seeing this, a braver than average rockclad screamed out a probable warcry and charged up the stairwell onto our level. As he did, a great, green head dropped down from the level above. Luto and the rockclad regarded each other face to face for a brief second before the former opened his mouth as if in a great yawn. The rockclad screamed "NOT THE FACE! IT'S WHERE I KEEP MY EYEBA-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" and instantly turned into a cloud of ash as a cascade of flame enveloped him and those following rockclads directly behind him on the stairway.

I don't know what that meant, but I doubt it's the sort of thing that any creature wants as its last words. I, for one, intend to curse the digbeards with my dying breath as I've often heard that such curses tend to be more effective than normal ones. Great Aunt Sareva always said that anyway. Said that her grandfather Olie, a different Olie than the one Uncle Olie was named after, mind, Olie is a common name in the Phant side of the family. Pardon. Great-Great Grandfather Olie had cursed a particularly obnoxious warthog with his dying breath and three days later that warthog was serving as dinner for a group of digbeards. Had a plump helmet shoved in his mouth, Sareva said though she said that her grandfather would have wished that... well, never you mind.

The immediate threat of the rockclads was now over, but it had occured to me by then that I hadn't seen my Blueclad lately. After a bit of thought, I realized that he had been one of those who had rushed for a stick and rocks earlier. I cursed him profusely for this when it occured to me as I feel responsible for him and had better go look for him.

Next time: Into the Depths or Billybarn every last single one of the Gammalatches!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Phenixmirage on March 27, 2011, 08:05:54 am
Excellent storytelling good sir! Pip pip, cheerio, and all that. :D
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on March 27, 2011, 06:15:52 pm
Ah, 'tis like Christmas every time this thread updates.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on March 28, 2011, 06:54:37 pm
As I walked over to the nearest stairwell, I recall pondering as to whether or not insanity is contagious. I often worry about that these days; I notice myself rambling on and on over some odd tangent when I usually to be quite focused and concise. Stupidity is not contagious obviously as I would never have lasted this long around digbeards with my vast intellect intact if it were. Reasonably intact at any rate. Looking for for a confounded Blueclad under the circumstances was a startling lack of judgment on my part.

I was brought out of my reverie when I realized that the stairwell was abandoned when it should have been swarming with either digbeards or rockclads. It was quiet. Doubtless you expect me to say that it was too quiet, but your expectations can go hang. I'll have no part in such an odious cliche. Besides, there was noise though it was all in the background. Noise that was primarily of the F-WHOOOSH and "NOT THE FA-EEEEEE" variety. At other times, I could hear a distant rattling sound. I suspect that was Eydri beating on a walloon with his heads.

It was odd all the same. If the digbeards or rockclads weren't here, then it seems likely that they would on another floor. They couldn't be above me as there's no racket to indicate a battle above me or the assorted gore that would have been the result if the rockclads had fought their way through to the upper levels. Nor were they directly below me as there were no signs or sound of battle below me.

This would require closer investigation and, steeling my will and cursing myself as a fool, I descended the stairs. Down I went ever deeper into the abyss. The stairwell was fairly narrow and the stone layer around was untouched; neither smoothed for decoration nor carved into passages so that the digbeards could plunder the various rocks they treasure so well within it. After a time that was probably much shorter than it felt, it opened into a vast cavern that extended off into either direction as far as the eye would see. I had never been done this deep before; my Blueclad had no reason to venture this deep. A position I wholeheartedly endorsed as this dank cave managed to exceed the surface when it comes to being a landscaper's nightmare.

As I stood there and surveyed the scene, a small creature lunged at me. I forget the name of the sniveling beasts. A crumble? Crumpet? At any rate, it promptly bounced of my knee and laid there stunned. I debated stepping on it, but decided against it. Stomping was too dignified for this little fool so I punted it clear across the cavern instead. I'm quite proud of the distance I got on it. Rare kick that.

I know not if this lone crumpet was the only inhabitant of this portion of the cavern or its erstwhile colleagues saw that kick and decided discretion was the better part of valor. I do know that my crossing of the cavern from then on was unobstructed though I did catch the odd glimpse of the denizens of the dark every so often. Gad, what a hideous place this is. Trees that look designed by committee, animals that look like they've been assembled out of the spare parts stockpile, and Koganusân knows what all else. From what I've heard of that particular deity from Aunt Elle, I doubt he knows about this lot though. Old Kogy is big on smiting and my suspicion is the entire lot would have been done for from the start he had known about it.  Not that I normally condone smiting for something so relatively minor as merely being ugly, but there's only so much an elephant could take. A tree that is constantly spitting seeds for instance. That's well over the line.

I hurried along in a desire to get this over with. If I didn't find that Blueclad shortly, I'd give up and try upstairs. This thought began to comfort me more and more as time wore on and I was just about to gladly give up when I heard the sound of a host of marching feet. The universe conspires against me; my confounded conscience. It came from over a ledge towards the farther end of the cavern. A vast island of rock rose up behind up and disappeared in the darkness above.

I cautiously crept to the edge and peered down. What I saw staggered me so much that I had to lean against the near wall for support. I convulsed for a while with silent laughter, but all too brief as it quickly gave way to rage. For below, in two groups, the rockclads and digbeards pursued each other around that island of rock in a great circle and probably had been doing so ever since I stepped on that one walloon what seems like ages ago now.

A pestilence on all of them; digbeard and rockclad alike!

Next time: Like a Moth to the Flame or Some Things Are Best Left Forgotten.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on March 28, 2011, 07:09:20 pm
What, rapidfire DF updates and now a quick Reginald? I daresay, if this continues I shall become spoiled.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: bowdown2q on March 28, 2011, 08:00:34 pm
This is fantastic beyond reason. Posting to follow!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on March 29, 2011, 06:20:16 pm
Upon seeing such a sight, I would normally turn and walk away, but this... this... this. These current actions were on a level of idiocy that cannot be forgiven or turned into an amusing anecdote to be recited at holiday gatherings or even as a means to while away a dull evening. Blood. Blood alone would rectify this and I resolved myself to setting into motion the means to achieve just that. I would go down and interpose myself between the two groups with the idea of slowing up one group long enough for the others to catch them. Ideally, it would be the rockclads who were caught, but I was beyond the point of caring about the particulars. Cast the bones and let them lie.

This first required that I find an area that would allow me to go down to their level. Geographically, mind you; I'll never reduce myself to the level of a digbeard. I'll join the graveyard of my ancestors before that happens. So I cast my eye along the ledge to find a handy ramp; soon spotting one, I travelled to it. Just as I arrived, there was a great keening sound and the entire cavern became as bright as a midday in summer. All of us, elephant, digbeard, and rockclad alike turned as one to see what this was.

A great, squirming and writhing creature of fire that resembled nothing so much as a scaly moth that walked with its wings and had no discernable eyes. I would appear that my intervention would not be necessary afterall beyond fulfilling my obligation to that Blueclad. An elephant is, after all, faithful one hundred percent of the time. I had spotted him by this point and he was well away from that whatever it is.

The creature gave out another great wail and began to waddle forward with flickering flame. It headed for the rockclads, which is a mercy to me for once. They might kill each other and then my obligation is over. That or the digbeards will kill the remainder. It moved with a speed that belied its method of movement and drew towards the rockclads as if their very existence filled it with an unfathomable rage that must be vented. At least, I gathered this from its body language. I suspect this interpretation is the correct one. I know that feeling well.

Closer and every closer it came and the vibrations from its ponderous movements rattled stalagtites and stalagmites alike. I could feel each step to my very core and that keening, wailing cry. Was it of rage or pain? I cannot say and will never know for the oddest thing happened.

I still don't know what happened exactly as there is no possible way that what I recall happened actually did. Yet, I have no other reasonable interpretation of the event than the one I made at the time.

The creature, by whatever name it hailed by and whatever type it was, sneezed. That is the best interpretation of what I saw. The creature started, reared back, snapped its head forward, and vented off a great cloud of dust. Perhaps it had accumulated the dirt while crawling through a tunnel that it was only barely able to fit through. At any rate, it sneezed and the dust went everywhere.

One might ask why this would be of any import. Embarrassing perhaps as it thoroughly undermined the aura of menace that the creature had previously established. Like having a leg cramp when slowly raising your foot to prolong the moment when preparing give some scoundrel a well-deserved head-stomping. You misapprehend the scale of this sneeze and the resulting effect of the sneeze on the rockclads.

The sneeze cast up a wall of dust that enveloped some of the rockclads and scattered them as if they were leaves in a typhoon. The sneeze also propelled the creature backwards like a punted crumpet. It whizzed through the air like a shooting star and slammed it into the far wall with a thunderous impact. It promptly burst into a thousand pieces, which showered the surrounding area with a rain of firey assorted moth bits.

I miss the jungle with its cold, rational survival of the fittest, warm monsoons, multitude of trees and fruit, and its utter lack of flamable moths that are hoist by their own petard. Bah, let me never speak of it again. Such things are best left forgotten.

Next time: All around the Cave Quarry Bush or Stomp! goes the Reginald.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Naryar on March 29, 2011, 06:30:33 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Reginald, Elephant, Proficient Sarcasm User.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Karnewarrior on March 29, 2011, 08:00:20 pm
Watch out for exploding lungs or other organs. Armok forbid you have explosive livers! :(
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Meta on April 01, 2011, 07:43:46 am
Quote
Stomp! goes the Reginald
It's going to be legendary! :D

Love the story so far. Please continue it!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on April 03, 2011, 12:37:25 am
As I said, let us forget the entire sorry incident and count it as a something that never happened and that we shall never speak of agin. Every family has its hyrax they say and this was mine.

Pressing on. The unmentionable and quite imaginary unpleasantness I had just not witnessed left me as bewildered as I had ever been in my entire existence; I doubt any elephant had ever been more confused than I was at that instant. It was, let us call it, a nonplussed ultra moment. I fear I may have temporarily gone rogue in this state as I don't recall climbing down the slope and closing with the enemy.

One moment, I was peering down a ramp from atop a precipice, the next minute I had a small round object that seemed to be made of some indeterminate object bumping into me. I have a chilling thought that it was made of flesh, but after the utterly uneventful sequence that had occured a few moments before, I had decided to ignore my senses and rational thought as much as possible until I managed to return to the relatively sanity of a surface where giant aquatic creatures strut about without skin or muscle. True, the trees have branches whose shadows occasionally form images of rabbits and birds that prance about, but it is still preferable to the nonsense that I haven't been encountering down here.
 
At any rate, the round object kept bumping into me despite my attempts to bypass it. When rational belief fails, surely instinct will suffice. I therefore dealt with this in the customary fashion, which distressingly enough, seemed to not work as intended. When stomped upon, the wossname simply flattened out under my foot; it went from a three-dimensional sphere to a two-dimension circle in an instant. I am not sure what the mathematical term for such a conversion is as I am hardly an expert in that field; I shall have to take it up with a camel sometime.
 
The flattening was only temporary as the unexplainable material it was made of soon began swelling up around my foot. I shifted said foot sideways and raised it in preparation for a tactical withdraw and the spheroid promptly shot off at an angle away from my foot with a great Ta-WHANG. It rebounded off of a stalagmite nearby, came back, cuffed a rockclad on the side of the head, and sailed off into the dark distance.
 
My faith was shaken to the core.  Stomping had encountered something that it apparently could not fix! I feared that I might go mad for an instant, but deep, deep within me, I heard dear old Father's words of encouragement. "Son," said he "when times go bad, and they often might, rely on your feet. Whether defense, recreation, or simple retreat, they shall never fail you." And they never had prior to then. Was it possible that it was merely a fluke? A test. A test was necessary!
 
I found the nearest rockclad and stepped on him, which proved the efficiency of that old standard. Once was sufficient, but one had to be certain. I stepped on him another five or six times to be on the safe side. Quite effective. It was quite evident that my imagination was running away from me ever since I had kicked the crumpet across the cavern. The strange orb was merely a figment of my addled brain. No such thing could exist in the first place and certainly wouldn't be so hardy if it did, which it couldn't.
 
In this calm moment, I took in the surrounding area and noticed that the floor was of the shiny blue rock that the digbeards valued so highly close behind me. The elephant's share had evidently been carved out of the living rock though they had curiously avoided a single outcropping, which had some images engraved upon it. Upon closer inspection, I saw that one was a rather crude drawing of a woozle while another was a coconut with sticks embedded in it at odd angles. Strange that. Presumably, the digbeards had simply not carved into this region yet though they would presumably have to do so after too much longer since the bulk of the remaining blue rock was in that outcropping.
 
A great clatter from behind me brought me out of my musings. The digbeards and rockclads had finally collected themselves enough to revert to their fundamental state of being: hitting each other with pointy sticks. I then realized I would have to see this idiocy through to its utterly moronic end. Some days, it does not pay to wake up. Most days, in fact, when you live in a footrest with the digbeards.
 
Next time: The Natives are Restless Tonight or They are Vengeance, They are the Night!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: flieroflight on April 03, 2011, 09:03:24 am
Epictacular good chap.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on April 03, 2011, 06:10:53 pm
Oh now I am entirely too excited about the next update. I love the alternate titles.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Razonatair on April 03, 2011, 09:04:57 pm
I recently took the time to read all of these updates, and I must say, this is a tremendously good story.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on April 04, 2011, 05:35:03 pm
By my reckoning, it was well into the night and I was quite tired of all this aggravation I had been given. The lack of discipline was appalling on all counts and the only way to right it was the old fashioned method. Yes, this very night was right for stomping and it was high time that I get my action in.

I walked slightly around the melee and waded into the chaos from behind. Then I set to my grisly work. A stomp here, a kick here, and things went quite swimmingly as the enemy numbers decreased dramatically and a considerable portion of the remaining rockclads fled back in whatever direction that they could. Some of the uninjured digbeards pursued them with a great zeal while the others began gathering up the wounded of which there were a few. No dead that I could see, which I wholly attributed to my timely intervention.  Of course, the more seriously wounded, of which there were several, would have to survive the rigors of digbeard medication and the tender mercies of their witch doctors. My Blueclad was uninjured, which meant that I had succeeded in my role as a bodyguard, and was already heading back upstairs while carrying a fellow digbeard that had been stabbed in the foot.

At that moment, I heard behind me a low muttering. I turned about and peered downward to see a fairly small creature that was apparently trying to look as large as its small frame would allow. It appeared to be clad in a large black leaf that wound around most of its body and had a leaf that covered much of its face.

"FGEH MEG!" said the creature. It's voice sounded rather unnatural, as if it was trying to speak with a menacing tone and failing miserably. "Beg pardon?" asked I. The creature blinked its massive eyes and spoke again more slowly and with great deliberation; its enunciation was superior this time and I could understand it. I suspect that it would have had an odd sound to its voice even without this odd affectation due to its oversized fangs.

The conservation, as best I recall it, went along these lines.

"FEAR MEH!"
"What?"
"FEAR MEH?"
"What."

It was here that the creature reverted to its normal, somewhat high-pitched speaking voice, and, yes, those fangs did indeed affect its speech.

"Fear meh?"
"Who in this confounded world of tragic idiocy are you supposed to be?"

The creature went back to attempting a gruff voice.

"I am Vengeance for all theh thieving that has been done by theh bearded moles! I am theh terror that flutters in theh night!"
"Is this a joke? Did Eustace put you up to this?"
"I never joke."
"What are you anyway?"
"Can't you tell by theh wings? I'm a BATMAN! Who else has wings?"
"Any number of creatures. Cave swallows, eagles, cardinals, penguins, bl...
"PENGUINS ARE AN ABOMINATION!"

I paused for a second to collect my thoughts. I was rapidly running out of patience and the next moments would determine the final outcome of this conversation.

"What?"
"What?"

We stared at each other for a brief instance before the Batman broke the silence.

"FEAR ME!"

Batmen exceed crumpets by a considerable margin as a projectile. I expect the wings have something to do with it.

Next time: Abandoned in the Dark or Our Princess is in Another Cavern.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on July 19, 2011, 12:47:56 pm
"Pride goes before the fall." It has often been said and was the primary thing running through my mind as I fell down into oblivion. The thought immediately after that was annoyance that my last thoughts might have been a pun and self-loathing at such an obvious one. Fortunately, that pool of water that broke my fall also broke this train of thought. The cold water shocked me out of my despair and into action.

To date, that action has been wandering around in the dark. Not for the first time, I curse the circumstances that resulted in my current situation. I was meandering along in the darkness, minding my own business, and was suddenly, and utterly without warrant I tell you, assaulted by a creature that seemed to be comprised of nothing more than legs and an outsized maw. I suffered no injury at the hand... rather, multitudinous feet of this abomination, but stepped disdainfully aside to avoid its clumsy, ungainly charge and stepped off into oblivion.

For a time, I remained where I had landed in the hopes of being assisted by one of my friends from the footrest or even one of the less incompetent digbeards, but I fear that I have been utterly forgotten in the excitement. If that is how it is to be, then I would find my own way through the darkness without their measily excuses for assistance.

So I now find myself in the darkest depths of this unholy digbeard realm. Not for the first time do I curse that odious monstrosity that forced me off the ledge; I wholeheartedly consign it to whatever hells its kind possess along with, on general principle, all digbeards. My speculation is that digbeard hell involves them living rational, orderly lives where they never harm another living soul or plague the souls of their social betters with their neverending idiocy.

I have acquired a companion, so to speak. More a follower or hanger-on to be precise. He is another of the benighted batmen that wander these caverns though of a much, much more friendly variety. He is reputedly a bit of an outcast amongst his own kind and has been ever since felling a rampaging creature that was threatening his tribe. From what I can understand, it was a great black and white bird of steam that promptly dissolved when gently tapped with the shaft of his trusty nightcap spear. Since then, he's been an outsider from his clan. No gratitude amongst the deep classes, it seems.

I pondered for a moment what kind of mocking gods would create so many fragile monsters to throw at the world, but then I recalled that the selfsame gods also created digbeards. This is a malicious world created by malicious beings. At any rate, he seems intent on following me around though he is theoretically supposed to be showing me the way out. If nothing else, at least I have something else to talk to. My rapier wit and scintillating conversational skills are wasted on myself alone and, once you get past the "My Old Chum" every other sentence, he is an interesting fellow to talk to.

He is also proving useful at the current time. We have encountered some creatures that seem to be ambulatory mushrooms that I have an utter inability to understand. My colleague seems able to comprehend the series of pantomime that they communicate with and is endeavouring to see if they can show me a way back to or merely towards the surface.

The news is mixed, it seems that there is an area nearby that leads upwards, but the natives wish some in exchange. Apparently, they have a problem that they feel only I can resolve. Nothing is ever easy in this world.

Next time: There are more things under the earth than dreamt of in your philosophies, Reggie or Eight Four.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on July 19, 2011, 12:57:03 pm
Cheers for additional Reginald!

Jeers for that atrocious pun. Thank heavens that was not his actual last thought.

Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Phenixmirage on July 19, 2011, 05:59:11 pm
Hurrah for more Reginald! I was beginning to fear we'd never see his noble trunk again. :D
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Conan on July 19, 2011, 10:24:09 pm
Ha-ha!

Quite the excellent story, I do wish for more.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on July 20, 2011, 02:34:15 pm
It seems that these ambulatory mushroom creatures have recently had a problem with one of the local abominations. The problem stems from the fact that the beast in question has decided to take up residence in one of the passageways that the mushrooms use to migrate throughout the local cavern systems. The creature resolutely refuses to remove himself from said location long enough for the mushrooms to pass through. As such, they are unable to migrate as they need to; furthermore, from what I understand of my erstwhile comrade's translation, one of their more important leaders is trapped on the other side of the creature.

As such, there has been a bit of a schism within the ranks. Some want to remain where they are or even find a new migration route while others wish to maintain their traditions. Either way, they lack an individual with the necessary authority to decide either way and have simply stood around waiting for something to happen.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this exactly. On the one foot, they seem incapable of taking decisive action on their own behalfs. On the other foot, I suspect that this is because they're ambulatory mushrooms and decisive action is simply not in them. Mushrooms are not known for their initiative after all.

At any rate, it is entirely too dank down for my liking and it seems that the locals will assist me in my trip towards the surface if I help them in exchange. What choice do I have? From what I have seen, creatures of this unwholesome variety are not to be feared as they are roughly as tenuous as a digbeard's sanity; a swift poke of the tusks ought to serve for it.

So my colleague and I moved towards the ill-reputed creature with the intent of assisting those poor fools. This required heading down a gentle slope into a much larger passage way that narrows towards the end and then vanishes into darkness. My sense of direction is not as accurate as it usually is thanks the winding caverns and darkness, but I believe that we are somewhere beneath the center of the footrest. In particular, one of the regions where the tusksticks work at bashing their sticks against the earth. If I concentrate, I can hear ever-so-faintly the clinking of shiny rock against the cavern walls far above. More likely, it is simply my imagination or even wishful thinking at this point. While the digbeards are nigh intolerable, at least I can visit the surface while in their company. I'd welcome even the sight of a walloon over this dark abyss at this point.

As I speak, the target of this missions is looming in the distance. I do not think that it has spotted us, but I have gotten a great deal more than I intended in this bargain. Imagine a vast, spiked turtle that moves aimlessly in a small patch of ground, breathes fire, and appears to be made out of some sort of shiny rock, confound it. It could not be a wisp of a creature like the one my sidekick destroyed or a self-destructive one like the flaming moth. No, it had a be a great lump of fire-breathing stone with a heavily armored shell because I was the one to do with it. Malicious indeed.

Next time: Reginald's Ascent or Fortune Favors the Fallen Fool!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on July 20, 2011, 03:37:41 pm
Imagine a vast, spiked turtle that moves aimlessly in a small patch of ground, breathes fire, and appears to be made out of some sort of shiny rock, confound it.

Mecha-Bowser? Oh shi-
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Theodolus on July 20, 2011, 04:13:55 pm
I can't believe I missed this for as long as I have. Reginald is most certainly a character, and a delightful one to read. Keep up the good work!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on July 20, 2011, 09:34:55 pm
Just thought I'd mention, this thread is nominated in The Hall of Legends (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=89305.msg2458117#msg2458117). Rock the vote, people!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on July 21, 2011, 01:49:40 pm
I am not a religious creature by nature. I believe that I have said that before and so reiterate it now. However, sometimes one most simply rely on faith. Not faith in the theological sense here, of course, but a more concrete, worldly faith. Put simply, the faith in the utter imbecility of the digbeard species.

Despite my long and arduous association with the digbeards, I find that I am no closer to understanding their heathen language than I ever was. At best, I have learned to make minor connections between some of their more vituperative exclamations and certain events. There are two words or phrases, I cannot be sure which, that I have learned to fear beyond all others when they spring from the mouths of these miserable wretches. More on that in a moment.

Speaking of digbeards, I became utterly certain that I heard them at labor somewhere up above me. So close to relative salvation and yet so very, very far. During my unfortunate, forced association, I have also recognized certain sounds of their activities. These vast, magnificient ears of mine are not merely objects of beauteous art, but are remarkably effective at their designated task. They reveal to me no less than three digbeards involved in the same activity. This activity would serve quite nicely.

I turned to my colleague, Xogaksumspa, means Sunset from what I understand. How a creature that lives in perpetual darkness wound up with a name like that is beyond me. I just now realized that I never properly introduced the poor fellow, so apologies to that worthy individual. I turned to Xogak and request the momentary loan of his spear, which is kindly granted.

I pause dfor a moment to make sure that my suspicions are correct, which I am quite certain that they are. I steadied myself and ventured out in the cavern. "Ho there, I say. Good day to you, sirrah! Might I have a word, old boy?" I twirled the speak in my trunk in what I hoped was a nonchalant manner. The great creature turned and announced in a thunderous voice. "FOOL! You seek your death at the hands of Osmust Sedanustmusm? I shall grant your request!"

"Actually, it's because of a request that I am now here. You have become a bit of a bother to the neighborhood from I understand and I respectfully ask that you move along and face the consequences." "CONSEQUENCES? How amusing! What powers do you possibily have that can contend with those of my own? A shell of thickest armor? Flames that would render the greatest hero a shrieking cinder? A body made of the finest steel?"

"Steel? What is steel exactly? It is obviously a fine material, but I must admit to being unfamiliar with it." I was stalling for time, of course, but I think I know how to handle this sort. Osmust affected a dignified pose "The Prince of Metals! Iron purified into an alloy of the greatest sharpness and strength..." It was rude, I freely admit, rude to interrupt, but I did so here.  "An alloy? So you mean to tell me that a creature has spontaneously came into this world made of a material that has to be subjected to any number of alchemical processes first? How is that even possible?"

"I admit to having wondered about that myself from time to time," said Osmust slowly and with the slightest hint of melancholy. This faded away as he continued. "At any rate, you do not seem to possess any such actual strengths of your own and I think that I shall delight in killing you. Then I'll go and eat some of the Plump Helmet Men as I strongly suspect that they are behind this would-be assassination... are you listening?"

"Beg pardon," said I as I had been studying the roof of the cavern while listening. I turned my afull ttention back to Osmust before continuing.  "I am delighted to inform you that your assessment is premature and a great slight. I possess two great powers. Knowledge and observation. Allow me to demonstrate." I stepped a few paces to the left used the spear to draw a smallish circle in the mud of the cavern. "Do you see this?"

"Is this some sort of trick?" demanded Osmust. "Of course. Are you afraid?" "I fear nothing that you or any of your friends can accomplish!" snapped the creature, who stormed over to the circle and leaned forward to examine it. "What about the accomplishments of, well, not exactly an enemy, but not a friend either?" Osmust straightened hurriedly and glared at me. "What is that supposed to mean?" "I expect it means goodbye."

Just before I said that, I had heard up above me something that gladdened my heart for the first and likely last time ever. It was what I have somewhat tongue-in-cheek dubbed the mating call of the Wild Tuskstick. I believe it goes something like "oops." And with that, a massive hunk of stone shot down from above through the cavern ceiling and hit Osmust center on. It seems to have reduced him to his fundamenal particles. I must admit to be slightly offput. The circle was about a footlength away from where the boulder actually landed. Had Osmust been smaller, this might have been a calamity.

Another first occurs shortly after as I see the bebearded face of a tuskstick peering down through the hole recently made by their carelessness and am actually gladdened by the sight. He or she, whichever, seemed surprised to see me and vanished before returning with another of the breed. I hope that they are trying to figure out to rescue me, but we will soon see.

Next time: Once more amongst the surface living or A Grand Project is Begun.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Karnewarrior on July 21, 2011, 05:56:50 pm
"Hey Titan!"
"WHAT?!"
"Bonk!" *crunch*
"Ooh hoo hoo, I do believe that was the best thing ever!"
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: BloodBeard on July 22, 2011, 12:33:34 am
Just finished reading it all, a great story deserving of more attention then it has.

Don't be off-put by the lack of pretty screenshots or sometimes hard to read ye olde talk, give it a go.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Indricotherium on July 22, 2011, 10:02:31 am
So glad to see/read updates again!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on July 23, 2011, 08:38:13 pm
Just dropping by to say, this thread is officially legendary (http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=89305.msg2458117#msg2458117). Congratulations.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 16, 2011, 01:22:15 am
The tuskstick and his colleague spent what seemed like an eternity jabbering away in their digbeard fashion before vanishing once again. After a time, they were replaced by a whiteclad who peered down at me for a moment and then vanished for another moment before returning. Have you ever watched someone construct a stairwell while hanging upside down? Until recently, I had not and it is far more disconcerting than I expected.

The process goes as follows: the digbeard fastens his facial hair to whatever sturdy object is in the vicinity and then walks backward until he steps off into the abyss. He then pushes backwards until his feet come into contact with the ceiling nearby and he is standing upside down facing towards the area where he is to go to work. He somehow attaches the stairwell without so much as any sticky mud or beeswax before swing himself back up to do it again. This is usually accomplished with a single block or stone.

I am quite certain that all of this is quite impossible, but I have become accustomed to such things over my time here. I am unaware of how their beards are even strong enough for this sort of thing to begin with though it may simply be the amount of dirt involved. That or all the fleas link claws and hang on for dear life. On an unrelated sidenote, they fish with their beards as well. A darkblueclad will take up position over a likely spot, drag out an unsuspecting victim with their hands, and then bludgeon it to death with their beards.

After a long time, the stairway to hell from hell is completed and I haved made my illustrious return to the greater comforts of relative civilization. Xogaksumspa has accompanied me and has settled into a comfortable existence in the dining hall. My voyage has apparently prompted an entirely new interest in my image as my pet Blueclad has taken to crafting images in my likeness. If it is not my imagination, it seems that my legend has grown or my name has at any rate as the odd scratchings that always seem to accompany my image have added several new figures. I shall have to see if Luto can read their heathen language and explain things to me in a quiet moment.

There have been few of those lately. The entire footrest seems to be in a constant state of activity and the number of tusksticks has increased vastly. Redclads as well. There is a constant stream of them towards the bottom of the footrest and as many other digbeards returning with cages bearing local abominations, vast numbers of cave plants, and what seems like hundreds of logs from whatever passes for trees down there. They seem to be stripping the entire cavern system down. I followed my Blueclad down there once for what was apparently a particularly attractive bit of blue rock and it seemed that they have been digging a network of tunnels down there that willl soon render the entire region hollow. The heat below a certain point becomes unbearable and the digging downwards ceases at that point and switches to the horizontal.

At this rate, it will only be a few seasons before all that remains is a single great tower of rock and stairways that is hundreds of elephants tall. I have no idea as to the intent of this, but it cannot be good.

Next time: Flashback Backtrack or The Dragon's Tell.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on September 16, 2011, 01:34:39 am
Oh boy, pretty blue metal. A pleasure to read as always.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on October 09, 2011, 12:23:21 am
The digging continues and I have long since grown weary of watching it. My Blueclad seems to as well as he has spent the majority of time recently loitering about in the Dining Hall. This is a blessing as I get an eerie feeling when descending down into the depths even if it does mean that I have to spend the bulk of my time in the company of digbeards.

As I have so often in the past, I spent the greater part of many an afternoon speaking to some of my old comrades. The thought of it amuses me so allow me to recreate for you, as best as I am able, some of the stories I heard. I begin with the Distinguished Luto.

"- of the Council of Apes? Yes, my friends, I have seen a lot in my thousand years, but..." began Luto on grayer than usual afternoon. "Thousand" interrupted Sam the Eagle, "thousand years? But the world is only six hundred and eleven years old, anybody knows that." "Irrelevant! A dragon does not achieve his full growth until he lives a millenium everybody knows that!" "Which does call into question how one does know that with any certainty. Wouldn't somebody have had to see a hatchling take a thousand years to grow first?" That was Solon. "I AM ONE THOUSAND YEARS OLD AND I WILL DEVOUR THE NEXT ONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE!"

I decided to tempt fate. "So what was it like before the world began?" The remark apparently went over Luto's head, which is impressive for a creature that size. "Dark mostly with bits of white here and there. Then the world rose from the waters, the mountains rose and fell, the rain began to fall, rivers and lakes formed, and then came the other animals." "Yer puttin' us on." That was said low and from in the midst of a large cluster of animals so the identity of the speaker remains uncertain. "No, that's how it was. I remember it too." That came from Eydri's fourth head. Two of them objected and said that it wasn't, two more couldn't recall, and the other two sided with number four.

"It was dark, it was light, and I remember hearing something about stupidity." "There were a bunch of others as well. Titans, dragons, hydras, and them shiny things what they have in the corner there." That was the seventh head. "Who's telling this story, anyway?" and a puff of smoke brought everybody's attention back to Luto.

"Anyway, the world exists now. We can all agree on this one." "I don" began one of Eydri's heads. A stern "WE CAN ALL AGREE ON THAT PARTICULAR POINT!" put paid to that though. "Being a dragon, things come naturally to me. Eating smaller things, collecting smaller things' shinies, burning smaller things, crashing through smaller things' houses. Those were the good days and were packed to the brim with excitement.

I remember this one Adventurer that showed up and began reciting a long list of my so-called crimes. CRIMES. A dragon being a dragon is supposed to be a crime. He got roughly a fourth of the way through a recital of the previous year's dinner menu when I grew tired of listening to him and set him on fire. There's not a problem in the world that can't be fixed with the proper application of dragonfire I always say.

Time went on and as many dragons do, I turned my attention towards building my hoard. No self-respecting dragon can attract a mate w-" "Dragons have mates?" The speaker remained wisely anonymous. "HOW THE BLAZES DO YOU THINK DRAGONS COME ABOUT? SPORES?" "Well," continued the hidden voice "that would require that there be at least two other dragons that were born at least fourteen hundred years and change before the world even began. And they'd have need dragons a thousand years before that." "He does a point" ventured Solon quietly. "We're looking at infinite regress otherwise, which seems a bi-" "QUIET." "Turtles all the way down" muttered a voice, possibly a dog. "SHUT IT!" was the response along with a challenging glare that no one present could bring themselves to meet.

"Now, as I saying before I was so rudely interrupted before, and SHAN'T BE AGAIN IF SAID INTERUPTEES KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR THEM, there are times when a dragon's fancy turns to settling down and finding a nice mate to while away the rest of eternity with. There's only one proper way of doing that and that's amassing a hoard large enough to have a scent that a dragon can pick up from the next cave over.

Gold's best for that; it has a nice effusive blend of scents that can easily turn the head of any dragon of the opposite gender after a good role in it. I spent decades constructing a hoard with little success in finding any gold. Plenty of rock items, which can set off a room nicely when arranged tastefully, but lacking in the smell department. One day I venture out to the nearest settlement that I think I detect that faint scent of gold from, but the scent is gone by the time I arrive.

So I content myself with eating the Mayor and bellowing out that I wanted gold items before going home. I get back to the lair and find, to my evelasting dismay, that some fiend had carried off my entire hoard. FIRE! MURDER! THIEVES IN MY LAIR! THE VERY THOUGHT!" The circle of listeners that had crept closer as the story progressed expanded greatly during this explosion of wrath, but it soon passed. "I set out to find the thief and expand my hoard in the process, wound up here, and you know the rest."

I replied that this was nice, but that he was supposed to be telling us the story of the time he killed the Ash Brute Lord of whatever the Council of Apes was. He responded with a very hurtful comment directed at my heritage. Uncivilized, the lot.

Next time: Flashback Sidetrack or Olm is Where the Heart Is.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on October 09, 2011, 09:32:33 am
Turtles, turtles all the way down.


Hooray for more Reginald!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Lord Allagon on November 22, 2011, 04:16:30 pm
Sorry for necro, but this deserves a congratulation. Wonderful read.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Korenn on November 22, 2011, 08:25:53 pm
Sorry for necro, but this deserves a congratulation. Wonderful read.
don't apologize, I would have completely missed this thread if it weren't for your timely bump.

great read!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: noodle0117 on November 23, 2011, 02:01:54 am
Bump for great Reginald!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: koofle on November 23, 2011, 03:15:53 am
Thanks for the bump and consequent awesome read.  The name Reginald will never be the same to me again.  :D
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Reudh on November 24, 2011, 07:21:36 pm
What a superb read! It indeed deserves a place in the Hall of Legends!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: thechosenone456 on November 26, 2011, 11:48:10 am
I'd like more gore in this story, please.

And also this is awesome! MUY TALENTOSO!!!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Remalle on December 02, 2011, 05:24:31 pm
This isn't dead, is it?   :(
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Meta on December 06, 2011, 07:48:16 am
I hope not!

Quoting legendary quote:
Quote
"HOW THE BLAZES DO YOU THINK DRAGONS COME ABOUT? SPORES?"
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: noodle0117 on December 06, 2011, 06:07:04 pm
This isn't dead, is it?   :(
might have been some time, but remember that Ubiq must've put a lot of effort into perfecting each of these.
Give him time.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on December 06, 2011, 09:07:09 pm
He's gone longer without updating before- I'm assuming that if he feels Reginald's story is at an end, he'll tell us.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Feb on February 22, 2012, 11:38:48 pm
God damn it, this is better than most "books" out there right now.  Recommending this to all fellow DFers :3
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on February 29, 2012, 03:31:05 am
"I have had the oddest dream just now." "Do tell," said Uncle Bertram as he idly picked a trunkful of grass and inspected it briefly before stuffing it down that ever voracious maw of his. "I was minding the own business as usual..." This brought a derisive snort that was utterly undeserved. "I was, as I said, minding my own business and came across one of those spare nondescript fellows that is always hanging around outside of the forest. Not being one to cause trouble, I nodded politely and made to go on my way and the brainless fool attacked me!" "Not much of a dream, that sort of thing happens all the time in my experience," replied Bertram.

"Allow me to finish. Being myself and that whatever being itself, I stepped on him." "Excellent instinct, nephew, even if it is but a mere dream. I still fail to see why this is odd." "He was able to stand up afterwards." "Pardon?" "Stepping on him had no effect." "Blasphemy! Ivory poachers and footpad wastebaskets, " Uncle Bertram had an awesome gift for invective, "this dream was nonsense! Utter nonsense! The idea that stepping on something smaller wouldn't kill it instantly!" "It did." "What?" "It did kill him. He was quite dead, I assure you, but arose anyway. Then, and here's the true horror, I look around and see one of those wretched digbeards. I despise them as a rule, but this one. So help me, this one terrified me. Skin taut and drawn with a rictus horrible grin that I shall never forget even if it was naught but a dream. I recall having an utter certainty in the dream that he raised this poor fellow from the dead."

Uncle Bertram's response was lost to reality as I awoke from a boredom induced stupor by the general reaction to the tail end of a Cave Crocodile's story. "And I gnawed my way through the wall of Antmanflesh, dragging my tail behind me!" The line provoked a veritable gale of laughter, especially from Luto, and I suspect that I missed a great story in the bargain. Imagine, a dream being described within a dream; if it had not really happened, I would accuse the creator of such a tale as being a tremendous hack unworthy of the title author.

Time has a funny way of getting away from us. Sometimes, it seems as if we close our eyes for a moment and months have passed. Othertimes, it seems like a day will last several years.  I know not how long I was asleep; I doubt it was for more than a few minutes, but it seems like the bulk of a year has passed since Luto's story. On the other tusk, it feels like I have gained an extra day somehow, an strange experience and one that I will not have again for some time. Odd feeling that.

I shall have to inquire later what the story told by the Cave Crocodile was, I do not think I have had the pleasure of being properly introduced. Perhaps that introduction will suffice as an excuse to get the story again. At any rate, the next to speak was that Solon, whose wisdom is unanimously acknowledged by myself to be second only to my own.

"I remember," said that worthy, "when this was solid rock as far as the eye could not see. On account of it being solid rock, you see." His flair for comedy does not remotely approach his wisdom. "I still recall the day when I was taking a short nap on the banks of the lake below when I heard a peculiar sound for above. I look above me and a hole opened in the rock a distance above. At first, I thought that some sort of ambulatory moss had contrived to dig through rock as that appeared to be what was above me. After close inspection, it was revealed to be a creature that I had never seen before."

Next time: Flashback hacktrack or Solon and Thanks for All the Fish!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: koofle on February 29, 2012, 05:10:27 am
Woohoo, A new chapter!

Brilliant as always.  Rereading the entire story again still brings me much laughter.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Meta on February 29, 2012, 07:49:37 am
Short but awesome chapter! Thanks again Ubiq! :D
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Lord Allagon on February 29, 2012, 08:37:14 am
Awesome read! Thanks Ubiq!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on February 29, 2012, 12:49:39 pm
"Imagine, a dream being described within a dream; if it had not really happened, I would accuse the creator of such a tale as being a tremendous hack unworthy of the title author."

I got a good chuckle out of that.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Spinal_Taper on March 08, 2012, 09:44:08 pm
Bumped
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Xune on April 11, 2012, 04:50:00 pm
Oh wow. Stumbled across this in the legends thread. Brilliant writing Ubiq!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on April 20, 2012, 01:47:34 am
"I recall" said Solon, "the time before they came.  Alone, I sat in the dark for time in and time out. There was a period when I had ranged far and wide in search of what could be sought. I Many a cave was swam through and many a mudflat slithered over. I wandered amongst the mushroom forests and dreamed amongst the curlhair plants. This had long since passed by the time this story began as I had found nothing of interest and had retired, in a sense, to a life of sloth and the barest amount of activity to sustain my existence. Occasionally I stirred to help myself to the odd cave fish or lobster that was foolish enough to venture near me, but my travels and education were seemingly at an end. One fine day... or night, as it was hard to tell down there, I heard a noise slightly above me and dove into the water in alarm. Few things there are that would bother one such as myself, but those that will are fearsome indeed. I watched from the distance as one of the dwarrows as I would come to call them poked his bearded face out of a hole that he had newly excavated in the ceiling of my home. Imagine being struck by the knowledge that the roof of the world was nothing but the bottomside of a world above! This was how I felt and I shall never forget the astonishment I felt at the sensation. The creature disappeared shortly, but soon emerged from a new hole in the wall not far from my traditional lounging spot. I liked to bask in the light of lichen, you see. He glanced around a bit and went back into the cave, such that it was, and disappeared. I was later to find that he had continued digging downwards. Much later as I had happened. I kept my distance as I was wary of anything new and had never before encountered so new as this. Finally, my curiosity got the better of me as it always has when there is something new to encounter. I had noticed other dwarrows coming and going with one in particular who often seemed to be working at the edge of the cave. I came out of the water with the intention of seeing the world above and perhaps expanding my palate at the expense of one of these creatures in the bargain. Alas, I saw the surface world, but it was in a cage. I almost went mad at the notion of entrapment, but I was soon fed by one of them and allowed my freedom. I admit to being disappointed by the surface at first, but while wandering around the entrance, I happened across a puk that was in the midst of stealing some bric-a-brac or other from one of the floors below. I bit his face off, which killed him and, more importantly to the dwarrows, allowed them to recover the item in question, and it seemed that the dwarrows had a much greater opinion of me afterwards. This leads into my next..."

It was then that I noticed that we animals were all but alone in the room as all of the adult digbeards began streaming out and down the nearest stairwell. Some had stones that had been squared off, some with nothing but themselves, but all, all heading downwards into the depths. I noticed my Blueclad charge amongst them and set off to follow to see what misbegotten idiocy that they had gotten themselves into this time.

And what a sight it was. While once a great cavern system teaming with life, there was now nothing but a flat plain that stretched off as far as the eye could see in all directions with the only exception being a vast stone wall that went into the roof above. At a guess, they had removed two floors of rock between the previous floor and the current one. At the upmost limit of sight, there were digbeards building something... I knew not what. If you went to the grand staircase and went down, there was but a single, slender set of stairs that preceded downwards into an abyss rather than the grand of old. Beyond this, there was only the same vast pillar of rock  that stretched from the inconceivable depths below up and through the level above. Judging by the location, it must be the tube that the red melty water that digbeards love so much flows up from the depths through to the mountain above. Something was a bit off about the ground around it though. As there was nothing else of interest, I had to go closer to investigate so I returned to the level above and proceeded to the rock wall. My suspicions were confirmed when I grew close enough as I could feel the heat radiating from it. 

The reason for the odd appearance of the ground around it was that the area immediately around the rock tube had been replaced with a series of bridges. Odd that. I look around to see what the digbeards were occupying themselves with; they were divided into the three tasks. Building bridges, as I was now certain that this is what those on the edge of my vison were doing, engraving every bit of stone in sight, and finally, constructing a new floor abovehead out of clear rocks. My inspections were interrupted by a great cacophony from the depths below; a trunk-curling blast of ghastly wails, screams, and other hideous sounds too numerous to mention from a multitudinous host of voices that seemed to be beyond any ability to count.

As with all things to do with the digbeards, this can't be good.

Next time: A Heartstopping Moment or the Great Fall of the Footrest.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Lord Allagon on April 20, 2012, 06:15:55 am
Wonderful read, as always.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on April 20, 2012, 12:52:02 pm
Oh no- voices in the deep! I am perched at the edge of my seat!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Xantalos on April 24, 2012, 11:22:13 pm
Posting to watch. This thread is awesome!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: tahujdt on June 01, 2012, 01:22:01 pm
Hate to be a bother, but
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Old Bean.
Ubiq, are you writing the next chapter?
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on June 07, 2012, 12:12:41 pm
It seemed like an unending eternity, but I cam certain that shortly after the hideous wailing began, a tuskstick that was on the verge of collapse arrived on our level and was followed shortly afterwards by his canine owner. After a brief talk, I pieced together the following story. The dog, Idar Loenemdeb, followed his pet into the depths and encountered a trapdoor that he could not pass; as such, he waited for his charge to return from the depths that he had descended to for an unknown purpose. Idar knew only that another trapdoor lay directly below the one that he stood near now as he had caught a glimpse of it when his pet had passed through the first one. He stood there for a time and waited faithfully as dogs are wont to do. It was then that noises and smells arose from beneath him that made his hair stand on end and made him consider ever so briefly heading back up but his better nature bade him stay to see what would happen.

Scant seconds later, there was a clattering sound for beneath him and he made ready to spring on whatever would arise. As it happened, it was a spring of happy greeting to his pet, who turned and fastened the trapdoor quite shut, the very notion of which would seem scandalous to any self-respecting spider I should think. That action had apparently been the source of the previous noise as both of the trapdoors must have been firmly sealed against whatever was beneath. Barely had he done so than a great pounding sounded from below as if a vast pack of creatures was beating on the bottom trapdoor from below and issuing great howls of rage.

After a brief consultation with the tuskstick, a host of digbeards filed down the stairwell below in a steady stream to collect that blue rock they seem to admire so much. Most of them went empty-handed except for a single red-clad who hauled a rock downwards with him several times. He happened to descend at the same time as my Blueclad so I saw him descend through the first, now open trapdoor to do something to the second. From what I understand from the other animals, after completing whatever insane task he had down there, he performed the same with the top trapdoor as well. After a while, the flood trickled off and the plain below was empty save for a few straggling carrying their treasured cargo upwards. Oddly the stairwell does not descend all the way to ground level as I expected, but stopped a floor above on a small platform surrounded by ramps.

Attention returned again to the region I discussed before now that all of the blue stone has been safely stowed up up above us somewhere. The carving continued and the addition of a ceiling of clear stone continues as well, which should give a fairly nice view of all those carvings when finished from the floor above. Trees have somehow sprang up on both levels as I am quite certain I see one off in the distance on each floor. Similar work continues on the next level up, which has also had its floor removed and is in the process of being replaced with the same clear stone. There are several of the round stickish contraptions on this floor that I had not noticed before and the stairwell on that level has been covered with transparent trapdoors with center having been replaced with a block clear stone with a statue above it. Nice effect that; rather fetching actually. Tables and sundry other furniture are being added as the floor above expands along with large caches of food and drink. It is that that I notice a tuskstick head downwards and I wonder what that is all about.

Next time: The Great Fall of the Footrest, Part II or Click.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Phenixmirage on June 09, 2012, 06:45:42 am
No comments yet? I am aghast!

Another fine installment, Ubiq!  Three cheers for Reginald! :D
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on June 09, 2012, 08:49:21 pm
Oh hello update, how did I miss you the first pass? I'm quite interested to see what happens with the circus here.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on June 07, 2015, 11:12:40 am
Perspective, yes, that's the word I want to use here, perspective is a funny thing. If you were to ask me, I would be ever so certain that recent events covered a span of, at minimum, a few years. "More than the tusks on the face but less than the legs below" as Old Uncle Everfort used to say; he'd never say three, you understand, because of a slight speech impediment he had. Since he went to all that trouble to come up with a way to not say the dreaded word, he would often go out of his way to group things into sets of three. He would never say his own name for the same reason. Grandmother used to tease him terribly about it; Errwhuhfwoht I think she called him. The old girl could be quite vicious when she wanted to be.

At any rate, I have been assured that the events of earlier this afternoon lasted no more than a matter of mere seconds and that, if anything, we actually would have gained almost exactly an hour rather than losing time if indeed years had passed. Something about different time zones, whatever those are, and the passage of the seasons relative to the alignment of the stars and I'm not certain what all else. I remain unconvinced but the same source assures me that dragons are an absolute authority on this sort of thing. Of course, I've always been assured that dragons were aware of time before time existed somehow. You'd be surprised how much authority the ability to breathe fire can lend any statement.

When last I left off, I believe that I was telling of a tuskstick going downstairs. I'm not entirely certain what he did down there since my attention was soon drawn to the other digbeards arriving on my level. Level of the footrest, mind you, there's not a digbeard alive on my intellectual and cultural level. Whatever he did, it was soon accomplished since he returned with a great deal of satisfaction.

Now, you have to understand that I'm not entirely certain what happened or why it happened. I can only relay things as I directly observed or recalled directly observing. I will consult my colleagues and see if a more complete narrative emerges. But enough dilly-dallying.

One of them eventually separated from the herd and headed downstairs. As is their habit from time to time, he played with a small stick with a round rock attached. I cannot recall if I have described this game before so I might as well do so now. The game is ever the same and involves merely moving a stick back and forth. Sometimes this is done but once and at others, it is down in rapid succession. Various noises always accompany these actions; sometimes, it resembles an extended peal of thunder and sometimes it sounds like a herd of rhinoceroses wandering around. Either way, digbeard laughter is the most common result with thin layers of dust covering everything in sight being a distant second.

I believe that this was the first time I ever saw the direct result of said play; the digbeards had created several clear floors out of stone and you could see down a considerable distance. It was rather, and I admit sadly, underwhelming since it simply opened the trapdoor that had earlier been the recipient of some angry pummeling by creatures unknown. The result of that was far more impressive however since a vast variety of demons erupted onto that patch of ground. Have you ever seen a hornet's nest struck by a rock thrown by a mischievous monkey? The overall effect was quite similar.

I do not know what the demons expected exactly since there were no targets of value on that level or even a digbeard for that matter. I doubt that even these misbegotten lunatics would remain standing around in the midst of a horde of demons. I have to say that the sight was impressive though it hardly seemed to make the expected impression on the crowd around me. They laughed and pointed and, upon being noticed, even began to wave. I suppose having distance and two thick layers of clear stone gives one confidence that would not exist otherwise.

I believe that one of them noticed the digbeards waving at him. I'll never forget the expression. I sincerely hope that you never have to see the facial expressions of a tick demon, or, indeed, any foul creature from the depths. For one thing, it's hard to interpret anything with those ghastly features. I believe that it was surprise but it could have been angry, happiness, or mild indigestion. Whatever it was, I'll carry that with me to the end of my days.

I got a good look at those features because that was when IT happened. There was the distinctive loud click of the stick and round rock towards the middle of the room and the various trees on the level below us disappeared. Not cut down or fell over, mind you, but disappeared. If that was the fourth oddest thing I'd seen that day, I could go to the Burial Ground a happy elephant.

The trees disappeared and then time froze for me. I had the distinct sensation such that you have with a leg in the air but with all four legs at once. Floating off the ground I suppose is how I'd describe it; possibly that is what that jumping nonsense is all about, but, being an elephant, I'll not experiment in such shenanigans to find out.

So, the sensation of not being on solid footing and things beginning to freeze in place began. If you were to tell me that the universe itself had strained to comprehend the events at hand and had nearly collapsed before figuring out a way to cope, I would believe it without hesitation. After that horrible interval of compressed years, things... I cannot bring myself to describe the situation as reverting to normal. I've spoken before about the weird sensation of time while dreaming but this was no dream. I would say it was a nightmare and stomp my feet for a dramatic sting but that would be trite. Let me say that time started back up again and go from there.

Time started back up again and I had the sensation that the floor below me was rising and carrying the entire footrest up to the surface. I realized after a brief second that quite the opposite was happening, but on the floor below that. I happened to glance over at the face of the tick demon I had noticed previously. This expression was quite easy to figure out; it was the face of a being who looked into the Eyes of Utter Madness and could only cope with the most foul of curses.

In other words, it's the same expression I have every time I look in a pool of water. The expression of one who has come into contact with the digbeard. That tick demon is lucky though since his experience ended after only that brief encounter. Though I suppose it was less of an encounter with the digbeards and more a direct encounter with the floor of the entire level above him followed by the floor directly below him and the floor below that as well. The dust still hasn't settled even now but I doubt that there were any survivors. I expect that there isn't a living thing left beneath our feet.

I had always heard rumors of dark, terrifying things lurking beneath the soil but no horror story yet imagined can encompass the insane designs of the humble digbeard.

Next time: The Footrest Fell or Time Stamps Ever Onward.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Immortal-D on June 07, 2015, 09:16:38 pm
I am in tears from laughing so hard :D  The previous update was from before I started playing DF, which is probably how I missed it.  Brilliant little story you have going.  I just hope the conclusion doesn't take another 3 years :P

Edit: You really should read this slowly, or you'll miss a lot of the subtleties in the writing.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Max™ on June 08, 2015, 12:02:49 am
Holy digbeard-deities, Reginald Goblinstomper stomps again?
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on June 08, 2015, 06:50:11 pm
The grin on my face from seeing this in my list of updated topics defies description. Huzzah!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on June 08, 2015, 11:01:27 pm
The digbeards have begun constructing a stairwell down from the clear floor; I am not sure what the purpose is since the only thing down there are corpses, mounds of clear stone, stone dust, dust that used to be demons, assorted other types of dust, and whatever native rock remained after their excavations. As the stairwell descends, floors are being built around them. The rate this proceeds at is utterly astonishing and I suspect that it will not be long before the entire area is reconstructed. Their ability to build while hanging upside down above a void is admittedly impressive though the ability to feel fear would require more sanity than they possess.

The construction of the stairs was slightly paused and there was a great deal of excitement when a gigantic anteater that seemed to be made out of slime emerged from a side tunnel far below us. It descended down to the lowest level, stood for a moment among the vast field of demon corpses and stone, uttered an echoing bellow that I strongly suspect was a particularly powerful vulgarity in its own language, and made a hasty exit back into the tunnel. It has not been seen since; the excitement passed and the build resumed.

Some of the digbeards have made a game of tossing various items off the sides of the floors just to see how long it is until a distant, echoing thud announces its arrival at the bottom. I would dismiss this as a useless waste of time except for the fact that a straggling falcon demon caught a heavy stone table to the face so it does have some apparent military value. I assume the poor fellow was a scout sent out to find out what happened to the first wave of the invasion. I can only hope he wasn't a peace envoy since, as Solon explains it, the usual method is to bring the opposing party to the table and not the other way around.

Next time: Reginald in Hell or Business as Usual.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Max™ on June 13, 2015, 01:54:25 am
Love the Rocky and Bullwinkle style preview lines.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: ImagoDeo on June 13, 2015, 03:23:16 pm
By Armok's Beard, I had never expected to see this epic tale concluded. I shall follow the proceedings with baited breath. :D
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: MarcAFK on June 17, 2015, 12:32:41 am
Reginald how we have missed you dearly.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Dwarf McDwarf on June 18, 2015, 10:49:32 pm
Holy cow, Reginald! I remember back when it first started. I feel old coming back now.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on July 08, 2015, 12:34:08 am
The stairwell has been completed and the reason for the construction has been revealed. The digbeards have began butchering and making meals out of the various, apparently edible corpses lying around in the deep. I assume that they are edible at any rate as the digbeards display a surprising range when it comes to diet. Some of the corpses require very little preparation as well; particularly where tenderizing is concerned. I should be appalled, both by that morbid "joke" on my part as well as the entire situation, but I can't be surprised by anything these days. I fear that I have become used to tragedy in my time here.

So the digbeards have substituted one form of butchery for another. They are occasionally interrupted by the occasional visitor from the nether regions of the world but have began working on ways around this. Out of sight, out of mind for one thing since they have thrown up rooms around and over the pits that the various fiends emerge from. You would think that the ghastly wailing that accompanies said emergence would be a warning sign, but no. Another is that they have put my esteemed colleague, Mr. Tame Giant Cave Spider, Esquire, to work alongside rings of strange combination of cages and rocks near the exit of one of these rooms. They have constructed a fairly nice collection of these creatures in those cages up above. Most seem susceptible to these tricks but there have been a few narrow escapes for Tame as some of them seem utterly immune to his webbing. These are dealt with by a handful of rockclads that usually remain nearby apparently for just that purpose and he is occasionally give leave from duty as a replacement is switched in if available. Presumably even a digbeard can tell when a Giant Cave Spider is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Would that they could see the same in an elephant.

Next time: Inferno or Heffalumps and Woozles.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: TheBiggerFish on July 08, 2015, 10:25:34 am
Quite the story!
I simply cannot wait to see what happens next!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on July 08, 2017, 01:52:39 pm
By the method previously described, the digbeards have assembled a motley assortment of caged beasties that they have been temporarily storing in a small area nearby cleared off for just that purpose. As a general rule, I avoid closing with that sea of cages. Even by footrest standards, the smell is just appalling but it pales in comparison to the language, who roils the air constantly. Such vulgarities that there is no real point in trying to engage them in polite, intelligent conversation. Or even other forms of conversation; though I will admit to watching, from afar but with delight, an attempt by Eydri, which actually managed to silence the mob for a while. I was not close enough to hear his side of it but it was apparently enough to stun them into a temporary vituperative desistance. That or they suffered a collective, massive stroke from the sheer stupidity. I have spoken with Eydri before you remember. The all-too-brief quiet was simply delicious and, even more delightfully, is replicated every time they see him approach. Eydri rarely comes down here since navigating a steep stairwell with those heads is an understandable challenge but the other animals try to talk him into coming down more often.

As time marches slowly on, the regions the demons can emerge from diminish and the ensemble begins to shrink as the cages are taken elsewhere. The digbeards have constructed several areas for them up above where the cages can, by some trick of their foul digbeard magic, be opened from a distance and allow the inhabitant to stroll around. Some of these areas are behind thick walls of clear rock so that the digbeards can gape at them and jabber on. Others have been dropped into narrow shafts on the far outside edge of the footrest that ring it in a great circle. The purpose of this, I cannot guess. Perhaps they fear someone digging into the footrest from without and these demons are unwitting guardd- no, that is too stupid even for the digbeards to imagine.

The crowd dwindles and then one day, only a single cage remains. I cannot fathom the reason that it is left; perhaps the inhabitant is one that they do not feel the need for. Whether because they have a sufficiency of that type to gawk at or because they are generally unimpressed with his kind. He looks rather like a weasel that has been walked over by a herd of yaks. I believe that I shall attempt to engage him in conversation soon; solitude might have softened him.

Next time: Woozle wozzle or I didn't do it.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: scourge728 on July 08, 2017, 05:36:11 pm
woah
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Immortal-D on July 08, 2017, 06:27:22 pm
Holy digbeard-deities, Reginald Goblinstomper stomps again?
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on July 08, 2017, 09:00:09 pm
Huzzah!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Immortal-D on July 09, 2017, 01:09:14 pm
Huzzah!
Monk12?! What are you doing outside the Legendary Hall?  Get back in your cage ya lazy bum.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: monk12 on July 09, 2017, 10:07:20 pm
Huzzah!
Monk12?! What are you doing outside the Legendary Hall?  Get back in your cage ya lazy bum.

Oh no, I've been spotted! I must flee back to the shadows from whence I came!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: scourge728 on July 10, 2017, 08:06:14 am
We'll be back in 2 years when the next update happens
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Remalle on July 12, 2017, 01:07:30 am
See you all in 2019!
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Urist McNuup on July 13, 2017, 08:21:10 am
PTW
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 14, 2017, 02:41:42 am
"Hark ye, all and so
 to this great tale
 true and full of woe.
 Of an elephant hale
 hearty and full of life
 who endlessly fell
 into a valley of strife.
Seven years to the day
he happened in his
own very humble way
a trap he did sorely miss.
One would think,
for it all it mattered,
a digbeard mirror
had he shattered.
His luck never improves
his story never moves
For all that time has he spent
not knowing last whence he went.
Little thought he had gave
and forgot the time to save.
How long these things could take
if he should ever forsake
to check in on time
or to make a rhyme,
which can take a hour or two
past the point when it was due.
Reciting is its own reward
(sorry if you're getting bored)
Humblest thanks to you,
grand ladies and gents,
that's stuck clean through
all this rambling nonsense
puns atrocious and plots worse
and all without recompense.
And that's my verse."

So, Reggie old doll, what do you think?"

"I think," so I said, "dear Eustace, that Great Uncle Milton would roll around the graveyard if he could hear your treasonous foray on all that is good and decent in poetry."

Eustace's response was, as ever, appalling and not worth repeating here.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Immortal-D on September 16, 2017, 11:36:48 pm
"Hark ye, all and so
 to this great tale
 true and full of woe.
 Of an elephant hale
 hearty and full of life
 who endlessly fell
 into a valley of strife.
Seven years to the day
he happened in his
own very humble way
a trap he did sorely miss.
One would think,
for it all it mattered,
a digbeard mirror
had he shattered.
His luck never improves
his story never moves
For all that time has he spent
not knowing last whence he went.
Little thought he had gave
and forgot the time to save.
How long these things could take
if he should ever forsake
to check in on time
or to make a rhyme,
which can take a hour or two
past the point when it was due.
Reciting is its own reward
(sorry if you're getting bored)
Humblest thanks to you,
grand ladies and gents,
that's stuck clean through
all this rambling nonsense
puns atrocious and plots worse
and all without recompense.
And that's my verse."

So, Reggie old doll, what do you think?"

"I think," so I said, "dear Eustace, that Great Uncle Milton would roll around the graveyard if he could hear your treasonous foray on all that is good and decent in poetry."

Eustace's response was, as ever, appalling and not worth repeating here.
Armok-speed, you magnificent elephant.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on May 09, 2019, 09:34:56 pm
I ventured close to the cage and was greeted with a nasally cry. "I'LL GRIND YOUR BONES TO MAKE MY BREAD". Ever polite and willing to give a new... let's go with... acquaintance the benefit of the doubt, I replied, "I beg your pardon?" "I'LL. GRIND. YOUR. BONES. TO. MAKE. MY. BREAD." "Indeed. I thought that was what you said. Unleavened or have you some powder in that cage?" "What?" "The bread. Are you intending on hard biscuits or something more sophisticated?"
This left the beast flummoxed since I doubt it had much in the way of a refined palate. Bread was something that I had no real personal experience with before the footrest but all civilized beings are familiar with it through birds who are great fans of that particular foodstuff. They were always praising it to the heavens that they descend from; I once knew a sparrow who had claimed to have sampled wide varieties of it from across the entire world. Counterinituitively, she often insisted that rockclads, of all things, were the best bakers and attributed it to them not having much else to look forward to in life. Though, to be fully honest, I've never yet met a bird who didn't considered him-or-herself to be the world's greatest living authority on baked goods.
Since arriving at this mixing pot of venality, vanity, and violence though, I have sampled a bit of those wares myself. Digbeards make it in the oddest fashion; they start with flour, which I understand is the customary and universal ingredient. The flour is made by taking something and grinding it into a dust; usually some straggly weed or another. The next process is to add something to the flour and then baking it to make biscuits. Something here can be taken to mean almost anything so long as it is roughly edible and some things that probably should not be. Cheeses, fruits, milk, fermented beverages, small vermin, medium vermin, larger vermin, meats, fats, undocumented sundries; the world's is a digbeard baker's oyster when it comes to bread ingredients and it is not impossible that the shell will be tossed in itself for flavor. At the very least, ground up for lightly dusting the top of said biscuits. I witnessed this first hand when my blueclad was apparently temporarily press-ganged into working in that field because of a footrest shortage of qualified laborers.
These biscuits are, on the whole, surprisingly edible and I am not above sneaking one from time to time. They'd never notice anyway since the digbeards often make them in ridiculously large quantities. Do watch those biscuits made with fermented beverages though as too many of those will give you the hobblegobbles as Great Aunt Matilda was wont to say.
The pointed-ear folk bread, medo I think it is called, is one that much is made of, particularly by smaller varieties of birds, but I cannot say much for it myself. It seems to barely make an impression especially when set next to the digbeard variety; I should not be surprised if the latter dent a stone slab in large enough quantities by sheer weight. I suppose the taller folk almost make some attempt or another at it but I've never encountered any of it to say.

Next time: Bread? Seriously? After almost two ye-
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Superdorf on May 10, 2019, 10:47:52 am
I... I am so very happy right now. Thank you.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Steedat on May 30, 2019, 07:53:35 am
Is this based on a fort you're still playing? I can't keep my dwarves alive and interesting for a full month, let alone 8 1/2 years!

Anyway, really glad the stories are still being updated, they are quite entertaining. PLus, this means I can PTW without resorting to the Dark Arts.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Immortal-D on May 30, 2019, 03:21:24 pm
Next time: Bread? Seriously? After almost two ye-
That is not dead which can eternal pontificate.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: nezclaw on June 10, 2019, 06:26:27 pm
I have acquired a companion, so to speak. More a follower or hanger-on to be precise. He is another of the benighted batmen that wander these caverns though of a much, much more friendly variety. He is reputedly a bit of an outcast amongst his own kind and has been ever since felling a rampaging creature that was threatening his tribe. From what I can understand, it was a great black and white bird of steam that promptly dissolved when gently tapped with the shaft of his trusty nightcap spear. Since then, he's been an outsider from his clan. No gratitude amongst the deep classes, it seems.

I pondered for a moment what kind of mocking gods would create so many fragile monsters to throw at the world, but then I recalled that the selfsame gods also created digbeards. This is a malicious world created by malicious beings. At any rate, he seems intent on following me around though he is theoretically supposed to be showing me the way out. If nothing else, at least I have something else to talk to. My rapier wit and scintillating conversational skills are wasted on myself alone and, once you get past the "My Old Chum" every other sentence, he is an interesting fellow to talk to.
is. is that an Adam West's Batman reference.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 14, 2021, 12:11:40 am
"I have to admit that you have me at a bit of a loss." The voice snapped me out of my extended internal monologue; it was still nasal but the difference between the initial yammering and the last was remarkable. "I'm not usually at a loss... well, unless it's that whole handshake deal. I always fall for that" said the demon, wringing its hands dramatically. "I'm supposed to seal a deal without one since that way, we're not bound to it on our end, but I just can't help myself. I make an offer, they take it, they automatically stick out their hand, and there I go. I really shouldn't have told you that I suppose."
"Well, as I do not have a hand, I cannot see the worry about it on your end.""Indeed, now that you mention it, is there anything you would trade your soul for? Any ungranted desire or secret longing?" "Have you looked around to see where we are? I have grown accustomed to disappointment. At any rate, you have already admitted that, without a handshake, you fully intend to cheat anybody you make a deal with. So I shall pass... for the foreseeable future."
"I'm not surprised. I'm bad at this but it was a safety school deal and a guaranteed job, see. There's a 2700 year wait for a spot in the Incubus program and the less said about the things you have to do to get into that school, the better. Muck or Gristle would have been options but I'm not at all convinced that those are really grow- "At this point, I began to wonder whether Woozles in general could talk Solon into a stupor or if it was just the current individual.  "Of course, there's Steam, but nobody actually really likes Steam so much as they're obligated to-" 
I cleared my throat, which is of impressive size and therefore of a great affect in a conversation. "How did you come to be in this... splendorous accommodation anyway?" "Excuse me?" "How'd you wind up in the clink?" I do apologize for the vulgarity of the language but I was beginning to accumulate the level of stress rarely encountered outside of an evening with Eustace.

"Well", said the creature, "it all started when... are you ready for a long story?" "You have no idea."

Next time: It would have been a tenth anniversary post but Reginald refused to have any part of 2020.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: fatcat__25 on September 14, 2021, 01:13:32 pm
This is legendary indeed. Reading through the story led to numerous outbursts of mirth on my part.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: Ubiq on September 14, 2023, 12:11:35 am
"Well", said the demon, wringing, as always its hands in dismay, "well, it started just like any other day. Same as any other day since time before time began. Which may sound odd, but believe m-" "I'm not sure I can in general" I said "but, on that one particular point, I have heard similar accounts from others. Please continue."

"Oh, there are others here from the land before time?" More wringing. The only thing put through more wringers than those hands is my own weary soul. "I should like to me-" "If you please, I think the land before time stopped being relevant after its first time around." Unforgivably brusque on my part to be sure but the whammy of whinging with wringing were working on me.  "Let's focus on the here and now if you could be so kind."

"Ah, well, myself and some of my frien... well, colleagu-... work acquaintances were going through the daily motions and we suddenly had the oldest feeling of time slowing to a crawl. Then one of them, I think it was Airk, said that the bearded fools had opened a path to the surface." Well, this certainly sounded like a digbeard thing to do. "So we made a rush for it. It was smooth oozing at first but then we ran into a bunch of giant spider. Not the usual demon types but the hairy, webby kind. Next thing I know they start spraying webs everywhere. I tripped and fell into this cage. Could be worse though; old Fraid took a web to his face and blundered into a giant sawblade. Kinda exploded. Just went "Pop" and then he was nowhere and everywhere if you get my drift." I nodded politely though, be frank, the only drift I was getting from this creature was his foul odor. That said, his retelling did indeed match prior observations of my own, which is a remarkable feat of honesty for a creature such as itself. And here I was hoping for some brief respite of ennui by being able to laugh at obvious falsehoods; this creature must lack the imagination even for that. "That does indeed clear things up though I'm not sure why you said it was a long story." "Oh, my, no, no, no. That was six months ago so that's just the intro for my story." 

Next time: Whinland Saga or The Lord of the Wrings.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: sodafoutain on September 14, 2023, 09:26:33 am
No way, a new elephant at large post. Webbed demons are great.
Title: Re: The Life and Times of Reginald Goblinstomper, Elephant at Large.
Post by: fatcat__25 on September 16, 2023, 11:36:07 am
Keeping right on schedule this time, too. Every two years, almost down to the second.