Game:

Dwarf Fortress (2006)

Duration: 3:07

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5

A story reward by Threetoe, received on 14 Jan 2012.

Narration by Jiseng So.
Sound effects and music from FL Studio.
Image drawn with GIMP.
Audio recorded and combined with Audacity.

This story takes place in the dark times. We are all still alive, so
we know how it was. So let us instead talk of the heroism that took
place then, and let it be a beacon to the future.

It was no longer safe to move in the darkness. Horrible rifts tore
the curtain of night, dropping celestial demons from the watery
heavens above. Villages were islands in the vast blackness, saved
only by the guardian spirits that defended them. But even this was
not proof that an individual would survive to see the sun.

It was on one such morning that Omo emerged from his father's hut,
glad to see the morning light. He was gladder than most for tonight
was the night of the village dance. Lanterns were hung from the lodge
posts with care. Omo slipped on his boots and jumped high and snapped
his heels together. It was a great time to be alive.

High in the castle tower, Mela looked down at the fools in the village
below. Mela's father forbade her to attend the festival, or even to
go down into the village at night. "It is better to watch over
things," he would always say, cloaked in the shadows. Mela looked
down at the tiny hapless people. If they only knew wait lay beyond
the lanterns light.

Drums and flutes blew sweet music over the evening town. The shadow
of the castle tower cast its length across the town square like the
steeple of some great temple. Omo clapped his hands and spun around.
The lights. The women. Then he saw the face.

In the darkness of the tower's window, a beautiful face lay framed in
a halo of pale golden hair. Omo was stricken instantly. Like a
drunkard, he stumbled toward the tower. Tor caught him by the arm.

"Omo, you fool," said Tor, "where are you going?"

"To the castle," mumbled the love-struck boy.

"It's almost dark, idiot," said Tor. "The bogymen will get you."

The light of the sun was almost gone. The lanterns of the village
were disappearing behind the trees. Omo was almost halfway to the
castle when a horseman appeared before him.

"How dare you walk the roads at night," said the stranger.

"The girl in the tower," said Omo.

"What do you want with my daughter?" asked the horseman.

"I want to ask her to the festival," said Omo.

"Even if by taking her from the tower, the village might be
destroyed?" asked the horseman.

"Yes," said Omo, "I want her that much."

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