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(cont'd)
Why? Why hadn’t I noticed it before? Why hadn’t I seen that I wasn’t a dwarf and was in fact an elf? Was it because I was surrounded by people who thought I was a dwarf. Just a little high for his age; it’s no big deal. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen that earlier. Then, and I knew I would, I would’ve gone into the woods, married a forest cedar tree, and lived happily ever after. But this wasn’t after. This was now.
I straightened up. “Alright, so you’ve told me that I’m an elf. What do I have to do to stop Oblivion from releasing the rest of the megabeasts or whatever he’s trying to accomplish.”
“You have to train first. You’re in no shape to face a deity.”
“I understand that. But how…”
“I will teach you. For now, let me give you your first history lesson.”
“Oh boy, I can hardly wait.”

Goul Das Harlingway:
Before Lagdon began, when it was just a mere settlement, seven powerful rulers lorded over the plains. The first one was Ark, the second Brom, the third Oyster, the fourth Sidon, the fifth Argon, the sixth Zenith, and the seventh Oblivion.
For a time, the seven ruled in harmony. Until the day one of them became corrupted. And that was Sidon.
Sidon wanted to build an empire. He wanted to conquer all the other kings. So, he enlisted in the help of the megabeasts: Bile, Plague, and Titan.
A great battle ensured. The six kings fought back against Sidon and his megabeasts. This battle was called the Battle of The Sky, for, as it was told, Sidon and his men were all clad in dark armor and all were mounted on top of wraiths.
The knights of the six kings fought bravely. However, all knew that they were headed for certain demise. Their only hope was to somehow imprison all three megabeasts in order to defeat Sidon. However, such a feat was not without sacrifice. A great hero was needed for such a mission. And so they chose Lagdon, an elfish archer with wings on his feet.
King Oblivion was the only one who truly objected to such a venture. Lagdon was his brother, and he didn’t want to see his brother perish. King Zenith also objected, but for a different reason. He wanted to be the one to capture the megabeasts, for it was said that, if one were to perform a specific enchantment, one could become a megabeast.
But Lagdon paid them no mind, and went ahead. He snuck away in the dead of the night and headed for the battlefield. It was only after he’d arrived that Oblivion heard what had happened.
Desperately, Oblivion tried to get to Lagdon as fast as he could. He arrived just when Lagdon had finished the enchantment. Oblivion was horrified. His own brother was trying to become a megabeast! He had no choice but to draw his sword and slay his own brother. Just at that moment, King Zenith arrived as well.
However, despite Oblivion’s efforts to stop it, the spell was already underway, and both Zenith and Oblivion were transformed into megabeasts. When Sidon saw what was happening, and how corrupted his plan really had become, he sacrificed himself to undo all the wrongs that he’d conceived, and, in doing so, trapped all five megabeasts into his body, which became a large crystal that barreled its way deep down into the earth. Just before the vortex closed, Oblivion slipped out. He stepped again up onto the battlefield, and saw all the carnage that had been caused, reared his huge demonic face to the heavens, and wept aloud.
Oblivion sought to destroy all remaining megabeasts. He sought to wipe out the four others from the prison and destroy them completely. However, all prisons have a key. The key to Starfire was catapulted high into the sky. Oblivion tried to get to it, but it was out of his reach.
Thus, even today, Oblivion, a creature not listening to any reason and doing whatever it takes to complete his goal, seeks to open up the prison gate and free the four megabeasts. For you have to first set free any living entity in order to wipe it out completely. The problem was, Oblivion was only one megabeast, and opening up the gateway again would cause severe devastation across the world, even if he still managed to kill all four of the megabeasts. However, Oblivion wouldn’t listen to any reason, for he was determined to carry out his duty owed to all of his deceased loyal subjects who died for him on that battlefield.

Thank you for replying!!! Just when I thought no one was really reading this! :D:D:D

(cont'd)
The next day, we went about our early chores. Baidr said noting to us all morning, which wasn’t at all strange. After last night, his behavior had changed. Now he no longer had that princely attitude and didn’t talk back to Vorak. Also, he never complained about the meals served to him. That was new.
Just while I was finishing the last of my chores, which was cutting wood for the fire, Baidr walked up to me and awkwardly stood there, waiting for me to finish. When I saw that he wasn’t going to go away, I put down my tools and wiped the sweat from my brow.
“Yes?” I asked. “Do you need something?”
He was silent for a while. Then, when I thought that he wasn’t going to say anything, he said: “I’m sorry. About what happened last night, I’m very sorry-” I cut him off with a wave of my hand.
“Don’t mention it,” I said. “We should’ve done that anyway.”
“No, you didn’t have to,” Baidr said, his face down. “I’m sorry for being such a brat. I didn’t deserve to be saved back there. After all that I put through you, I want to make an honest apology.”
I couldn’t speak. My mouth was hanging open as I stared at him in disbelief. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This very same guy, the guy who’d been a brat all those years before and the same one who’d gotten us into numerous amounts of trouble before, was apologizing to me! To me, of all people!
“Well…um….” I was truly speechless. I heard a clatter of plates from within the house. Jax must’ve been overhearing our conversation. I felt sorry for him later, because Vorak was going to kill him for breaking all those dishes.
Baidr must have heard it too. “I’ll get it!” he called as he ran back into the house. “I’ll clean that up for you Jax!”
This day was going to be an awesome day.

“Lemme show you how it’s done,” Jax said. “Over here…first you…yeah, that’s it…you got it!”
We had decided to go fishing before lunch. It was a good day to go fishing, after all. The sun was high in the sky, and there were few clouds hanging around.
Jax was teaching Baidr how to fish with a pole and string and bait attached. Baidr, being more of an indoors man, didn’t know how to operate a fishing pole and clumsily broke his own stick several times. Instead of getting frustrated, however, he let (get this.) Jax TEACH him how to fish. When Jax showed him what he was doing wrong, he didn’t say anything like “I knew that” or “That’s how YOU do it.” No, he accepted correction humbly and even acted on it. In the end, we were catching an endless supply of fish just because Jax and I were trying to test how far Baidr’s patience would go.
Finally, we gave up. It was almost time for lunch, anyway.

I can say, after that one day, Baidr and I became friends. Together, the three of us became like brothers; after all, that was somewhat the truth. Jax never again talked to Veronica, although we liked to tease him about it. That is, I liked to tease him. Baidr just said it was normal and something all boys go through.

Spring came and went, and then passed again. And again. Baidr was sent to a university not far from Vorak’s forge in Lagdon. Jax later became a scholar as well, and studied overseas. He would come back once a month to visit us, and we’d have a chat (just the three of us.) and a game of chess over bear and coke (Baidr didn’t drink.). I myself decided to join La Fronte, the city’s Fighter’s Guild. I fought my way up to the level of a young master myself. I would often spar with Jax. Baidr would watch us and then he’d try to join in.
One year, a herd of elephants, mounted by goblins, crossed into Klymaestra territory, and stopped right near the edge of the city of Wallow. The citizens, having nowhere else to flee to, sought refuge in Lagdon. For the first time in many years, we had an overcrowded city.
A massive number of the refugees knew how to handle a sword quite well, and we had ample defenses already built, so the governor assigned a detachment of troops to take out the goblin army. I was chosen to lead them, since I knew the area quite will enough, for it had been my hometown.
During the night, my men and I went out of the city gates and travelled north for some time. When we got to a small village, I ordered my men to search for anyone alive. They found some people, alright. But they weren’t alive.
As I stepped into the first room, I noted with horror at the carnage that dominated the room; as if someone had turned it upside down. It looked like someone had been frantically searching for something and had left the room a mess.
My eyes fell to the bed. There were three people; I counted the skulls. It was hard to tell, because those three people were everywhere. It was as if someone had somehow blown up all three bodies at the same time. Their limbs were all severed. All that remained intact were their heads, which were impaled on top of three poles stabbed into the bed. At first, I couldn’t believe it, because the mass of gore and blood that I saw had to be more than three bodies. But we couldn’t find any other heads or skull bones.
“This place is hell,” I said. “They can’t be far!”
Just then, I heard a shout.
“OVER HERE! THEY’RE OVER HERE!”
My men with me rushed outside into the night. The village was being ambushed by dozens of goblins, coming out of the fields with their sabers drawn. I was enraged.
“Come and face your death cowards!” I yelled.
My men and I battled the goblins into the night. I yelled as I slew them, goblin after goblin, slicing off their legs and arms, dispatching heads, disarming them, biting their shoulders, ripping them apart with my two knives. My sword was lodged somewhere deep in the heart of a goblin. I left it there and continued on.
We finally had driven the goblins back. The filthy nasty green vermin swore revenge on their fallen comrades (though I cannot believe how so low a creature could possibly even attempt to take revenge for another.) and retreated back into the night. I ordered my men to keep chase, but only as one large group. We chased them to the stone well down by Li, slaughtering them as we ran.
A group of goblins snatched one of my men and escaped down a tunnel. I ordered the rest to keep chase. I myself went down the tunnel.
It was as humid and as musty as the stories say concerning goblin tunnels. My two knives, one behind the other, were poised and ready to strike as I descended further down into the tunnel, guided by the light of the ancient glowstone torches on the walls.
Several minutes later, I reached a cavern. There were fresh torches on the walls, and the center was littered with wealth, chests, weapons, and all sorts of goods. There was even a fireplace to the left of the litter. The place, however, seemed vacant. I took a small step forward.
With a yell I dodged the axe head that flew out of the wall, destined to slash my brains right out of my skull. Then, I heard the excited voices of goblins. They must’ve thought I was dead.
A hatch in the ground opened, and a goblin’s head poked up. He looked around the room, and decided all was clear. He looked back down into the hole and called his other companions, who filed out of the same hole one by one. They immediately headed for the entrance. They looked for the body. Wait. Where was the body–
My crossbow bolt went through all three of them.
“Look out,” I said.
I loaded another bolt and descended into the hole. This one was a much smaller tunnel, with dimmer lights. I could make out a small room at the end of the tunnel. A man was tied there, stripped of weapons and armor. I started right for him. He cried out in relief when he saw me. Using one of my knives, I cut him loose. We then headed out of the tunnel.
“Do you know what all of this is?” I asked him, gesturing at all the things all over the cavern.
“No,” he replied. “The goblins never spoke of any treasure. This is my first time seeing this as well.”
I saw something printed out on the side of one of the chests. It read “Property of William Henry, Governor of Wallow.”
“Those goblins will pay,” I said through gritted teeth. Then, I opened up the chest.
Inside were the heads of people.
I stared at the chest. “How could they do such a thing…?”
“Maybe those heads are like trophies or something,” the man suggested.
I turned to him. “Go back to the others and tell them to wait for me. They should be back at the village.” He nodded and headed out.
I looked back at the chest. I scanned the room and spotted one loose piece of paper stapled between two chests. Carefully, I dislodged the piece of paper. It was a letter. The letter read:

Dear Green-Skinned IDIOTS

   Remember to speak out the incantations CAREFULLY and LOUDLY, and remember not to pick the head of a creature that would be useless to our cause; i.e.: a GOBLIN. Use your BRAINS the next time you kill a fellow ally, or you won’t have brains anymore.

Love, Hastings

I read the note over several times. Incantations? Sounds like magic to me. I searched the rest of the chests, but couldn’t find anything else of value. Then, paper in hand, I headed back to the surface.

It had started to rain, and the wind was blowing the drops into my eyes. Pulling a torch out of the tunnel wall, I started back to the village.
I had walked for a while when the rain stopped. I heard footsteps behind me.
“Show yourself,” I said, turning around immediately. Then, I froze.
I was staring into the face of Goul Das Harlingway, the very same tigerman who’d taken out Fillegian and three other soldiers all those years ago in the Buffalo Bar.
“Ah, you remember me,” he said.

Hello, everyone! Thanks for reading this sentence!
I'm fairly new to this kind of thing (even though I've played Dwarf Fortress for quite awhile) so if I've messed up anywhere, please let me know, and I will gladly correct it ASAP. As you can see, the story is not complete. However, I am in the process of completing it and will finish (hopefully) by next week. So, stay tuned for more! If you have any questions, comments, or requests, please let me know!

The introduction was just to add a little history behind the story. Also, I did this based on one of my civilizations, so the events that happened are true, except for Vorak, Orrik, and all those other extra characters.

And, so, here it is...

Klymaestra, Giginlolor
Ah, it’s so good to be back at home. After a hard day’s work in the sun. Right now, all is well. The land is at peace again. But it wasn’t always so. I’ll have many a story here to tell you little ones about a land far, far away, where I once called my home. A place where peace was only found in the dungeons. A place where we once inhabited; where we once lived in, now deserted. The place? Alright, gather around and please sit down if you will, children, while I repeat the histories of The Empire, as well as its fall. Our story begins in a little cottage on a field of cabbage…

The Little Villa Dawn, Klymaestra, at precisely one o’ clock in the morning
“Run!” screamed Orrin. “It’s a water mole!” Waving his hands around, the child ran around in circles around the yard, before collapsing in a heap of dried fruits.
“Orrin!” His mother scolded. “Can’t you for once in your life do something useful? At least go and play out in the field, where you’re less likely to destroy the barnyard.”
“Sorry, momma!” Orrin called as he ran into the field, waving his arms back and forth as if he were flying.
That little boy whom I am speaking about is me. I was a careless, naïve dwarven child for my age. All I had circling my small mind was fun, and more fun. Momma often scolded me for my actions, and often used the broom stick on me. That was when my Papa was still around. My Papa would be away often. He left the disciplinary actions to Momma. I never saw him a lot. Whenever I did see him, I’d run into his arms and give him a kiss on the cheek. Papa had a long grey beard that encircled his face, so I mostly just got a mouthful of smoking grey carpet and the stench of hygiene at its most unpleasant side.
When news of his death reached our little villa, my momma broke up. We had to move out into the country, because most of momma’s work earned our stay. But, because of Papa’s death, momma could go no further. So, she did the natural thing. She committed suicide.
The officials came to pick me up. They immediately brought me into the care of a man named Vorak, who was in charge of masonry in Lagdon, a huge trading city not far from Dawn.
Vorak was a kind dwarf. He was one of those types who wouldn’t give a left leg about whether or not you did what you were supposed to. Course, that is saying quite a lot; most dwarf masters whom I’d come across were rather brutal and arrogant.
On the day that I arrived, I was assigned to fifth district, Underplane. Fifth district was one of the many subterranean districts under the large trading city. Lagdon was very massive. Thousands of people moved about daily in it, be it dwarf, elf, or human. Goblin traders were quite common here. Two large wizard guild towers loomed near the southern quarter of the city. Several other guilds were spread out amongst the blocks and blocks of houses and centers. The main meeting hall was a large bowl-shaped arena with stone tables and chairs and benches. Thousands would crowd the meeting hall during the holidays-especially at night, where dancers and magicians and circuses performed.
Now, Underplane was quite different. The city of Lagdon was built right on top of a cliff face. The subterranean districts were located directly underneath. Underplane was the outermost district, and, therefore, got the best view of the sea that stretched far into the horizon. Underplane was quite a favorite. Only dwarves and goblins lurked below the city. Here was where one could find peace away from all the looks that other races would give you if you were different. It was a safe haven for the dwarves. The few goblins that did sneak in weren’t such a big problem. As you probably already know, goblins are quite antagonistic creatures, who don’t know their right from their left. They’d get into fights with the dwarves, and then end up getting thrown out of the city.
Vorak’s forge (also his home, for a dwarf’s forge is always his home.) was near the edge of the sea, on top of a boulder, facing the sea. When I first arrived, Vorak introduced me to his other apprentices; Jax and Baidr. Jax was short and stubby. He was one of those dwarf types who’d always be the grunt doing the work. Baidr was from the family of a lawgiver. He considered us as his “underlings.” I quickly became friends with Jax, who was also an orphan. We worked together under the hot sun to get our projects done. During the night, we’d often sneak off to join the festivities aboveground. I know now that Vorak knew we were sneaking off. We were young and left plenty of marks for him to find out what we were doing. But he said nothing to us about it.
Baidr, being a pain in the rear, decided to follow us one day to the carnival, in hopes of getting us in trouble with Vorak. As we started up the stairs leading to the over ground, we didn’t notice him following us.
“Watch your step,” Jax warned.
“I know what I’m doing. We’ve been up this trail a million times.”
“No, I mean-never mind.”
“You scared of something?” I asked.
“No.”
“He’s not going to find out about it.”
“I didn’t say I was scared!”
“Oh. Then is this about Veronica?” I gave a grin as Jax’s face turned red.
“Mind your own business,” He muttered.
Veronica was a blonde human who was always at the festivities. She was about Jax’s age. They first met each other when I was horsing around with Jax, and accidentally pushed him into Veronica. Jax instantly apologized; however, when he saw her face, a look came across his eyes that sent me sprawling in laughter. It was love at first sight. I ran off and left them to their business. After that one encounter, I interrogated Jax and finally managed to get Veronica’s name and age out of him.
I teased him about it every day.
“Veronica!” I said in a falsetto voice. “I’ll bet she has them eyes! Them sparkling blue human Caucasian eyes, which make you want to just…”
I trailed off.
“You’ve got jokes.”
But when he realized I wasn’t replying, he stopped. He stared at what I was looking at. The dark figure of someone climbing towards us. I knew who he was right when I saw him.
“I knew it!” Jax said. “That little spoiled brat! He’s gonna try to get us in trouble!”
“Not if we disappear,” I said with a grin. “His skinny legs aren’t that nimble. Look at him. He’s got that autocratic swag. Politician brats aren’t fast runners.”
“He’s a lawgiver, actually,” Jax said, as we took off.
We made it to the carnival just in time to catch a quick drink by the Buffalo Bar. Then, we ran around for about half an hour, going from activity to activity. It was almost dark, and people were already starting to flood the streets. Our goal was to get as many activities done before the others got to the carnival.
By the time we were done, it was dark, and people were milling about. I met Jax at the Buffalo Bar, which only a moment ago had been empty but was now crowded. We talked for some time, and drank and ate. Then, something caught my eye.
“Jax, I think that’s Bratface over there.” I said, pointing.
Jax shook his head. “I don’t think so. Baidr’s not the social type.”
But, nevertheless, there he was, with his high and mighty and self-centered attitude. I was mad.
“Why is he here?” I asked. “Hasn’t he caused us enough trouble already?”
“Don’t look,” Jax said. “If he doesn’t see us, he’ll get bored and go back. Nobody wants him here anyway.”
And then, as fortune would have it, he spotted us and instantly ran over to us, yelling. He managed to part through the crowd easily.
“Let’s make ourselves scarce,” I said. Who knew that the brat had dedication in finding us?
“Table, left,” Jax whispered sharply, and we hid ourselves under the empty table just as Baidr entered the bar. He scanned the bar with his hands on his hips, like a maid searching for her bosom, then started walking around the tables like he was on patrol duty.
Now, either his eyesight was horrible, or he was too eager to catch us, I don’t know. He walked up to some random guy sitting right next to the bar; his back turned to him, and knocked him on the head. Baidr must’ve thought that was Jax, because they were both wearing green.
“Caught you!” He sneered.
The next second, he was on the floor, and blood was flowing from his nose, a shocked look on his face. The man had swiped around and him, and now stood up, towering over the little spoiled brat. But he wasn’t any ordinary man.
He was a tigerman
I’d only heard of tigermen in legends and in stories, but I’d never seen one up close and in real life before. They say you can recognize a tigerman when you see one. I never doubted that saying.
“Imbecile!” The brat screamed. “Do you know who I am?”
“What was that?” The tigerman snarled, pulling back his lips to show the glistening fangs. The boy quieted down.
“He’s gonna get himself killed,” Jax whispered to me. “We’ve gotta do something.”
I was just content with letting him suffer, but I nodded my head. “Alright. But how do we?”
“We’ll do it the old-fashioned way. You distract the tigerman, and I’ll get Baidr.”
“Have you seen his claws? He’ll tear me to pieces.” I was frightened.
“Quit being such a girl.” He knew that annoyed me.
“Okay, fine.”
I couldn’t believe what I was about to do. I felt like I was insane. But I crawled out from under the table, and edged my way to the entrance of the bar. Everyone’s eyes were on the two figures in the center. I edged to where I deemed to be a fitting place to die.
“Spoiled brat,” the tigerman snarled. “What are you doing outside your closet, human dog?”
“M-my daddy is a hunter. He’ll hunt you down. You’ll be sorry then.”
“Hunt me down? Where; from the closet he hides in?”
I heard a thump. The sound of heavy footsteps behind me.
“Enough,” A voice ordered. The voice belonged to Fillegian, captain of the guard. With him were three other soldiers; all had their swords unsheathed. These weren’t dwarves, but men, who were operating under the Elite of Klymaestra.
The tigerman stepped back slowly. Baidr was now unconscious.
“I’ll have none of you here,” He said slowly.
“Goul Das Harlingway, I am placing you officially under arrest for openly assaulting a civilian on Quaker Territory.”
The tigerman snorted. “Do you think you could possibly retain me?”
“We will use force, if we have to. Now surrender your weapons.”
In the next instant, the tigerman smashed into Fillegian, knocking his sword from his hand and pinning him to the ground. The other three soldiers ran to help him, but the tigerman batted them away like flies.
“Now,” said the tigerman. “On what terms do you base your accusations?”