Five tales of Alora, retold

Of the two strangers in the hall

On the night before the mines were changed, when not a dwarf in the hall was stirring, there came up from below the noise of a brawl. And a certain dwarf, who had four quarts of mead in him and was not wise, took up his axe and went down.

There stood two strangers, the one with a mallet and the other with a spear, and at their feet lay ten warriors of the hall. And the dwarf leapt upon them; and the one laid his hammer to the side of the dwarf’s nose, and he rose up, and up, into the rafters.

Then a small voice called from the floor: These are no mortal warriors. These are Balthildis and Hor. And the strangers said: Now that they know us, it is no longer any sport. And they went out through the roof and rode away upon a steed of eight legs, crying that mining might go to Hell, for they loved nothing in all the worlds so well as a good fight.

A retelling of The Night Before Mining-Patch by Vogar Eol

How combat works

Of Shandar and Demetrious, who went down

In the days when Alora was changing, and none could say into what, there were two miners, Shandar and Demetrious, and none in all the land were more given to the pick than they. And they said: Let us go down and learn the whole of the mines, that those who come after may be the wiser. And they went down.

Nine months they laboured in the dark, and then a tenth. And at the end they had learned this: that there are spoils beneath Alora, and that any may have them, and that the price of them is the mind. For it is not the falling roof that takes a miner, nor the things that breathe below, but the sameness of the dark, stroke upon stroke, until reason goes out like a lamp.

And Shandar came up and wrote it in a book, that others might be warned. And still, in every part of Alora, the picks are heard.

A retelling of Insanity! by Shandar

Mining

Of the two leopards that would not

There was a thief in Alora named Kuli, and he stole a belt from Arendia, and fled with it through a waterfall and down into the dark, to a cave that had no other door. And Arendia followed; and before her went Deagol, her leopard, who had the scent of him.

And she bade her leopard charge. But out of the shadows sprang a second leopard, dark as the cave, and bore Deagol to the ground; for the thief also had raised a beast from the egg, and its name was Zytal.

Then Kuli cried: Finish her! And the two leopards rose, and stood nose to nose, and neither moved. And again he cried it, and louder. But the leopards had looked upon one another; and the commands of thieves, and of the owners of belts, were become to them as a small noise, far off.

A retelling of Blood Lust (part I) by Kuli Nachtwind

Pets

Of the portrait that would not stay down

There is a house in Alora that its owner raised room upon room; and in the master’s chamber stands a desk built for one of more than common size, and before it two chairs, made with some care to be a little uncomfortable. And on the eastern wall hangs a portrait of Kiasyn.

Many times it has been taken down, and carried off to storage, and left there in the dark. And in the morning it hangs again upon the eastern wall, among the busts of demons, as before. No one in the house will say who puts it back. It is thought that no one does.

For Kiasyn has died one thousand five hundred and sixty-three times, and it is his habit to return.

A retelling of The Masters Suite, a room in a player’s home

The Masters Suite
A huge desk, built for someone of larger than average build, dominates the room. Its surface is cluttered with arcane scrolls, and books of dubious origin. Two slightly uncomfortable chairs sit before it, while a large throne-like chair sits behind. Sconces of wrought-iron holding large, lit, tapers cast an eerie glow across the many shelves of magical ingredients and items. Marble busts of demonic beasts sit upon pedestals between the shelves. A large portrait of Kiasyn resides on the eastern wall. Somehow it keeps getting put back up, no matter how many times its taken down and put into storage.

The room itself, as a player wrote it.

Homes and citadels

Of Deter, and the cows that shone

In the days before Tarsonis, when the god of light was already dead and the other gods had not yet noticed, there lived a farmer called Deter, who had many cows and no wonder in his life.

And Deter, being weary, made rites over his cows such as farmers should not make, and gave himself to the dead god of light; and the dead god, having nothing else to do, made the cows to shine.

And the shining cows went up into the night and came down upon Montano, and where their light fell the towers of Montano burst asunder. And the men of Montano, having no weapons against light, threw sausages; and Deter threw sausages with them; and this they did for fifty-two years, which among men is a long while and among gods is the space of a yawn.

Then the cows went away into the morrow, by a road no man may follow. And they wait near Tarsonis to this day; and when the gods remember them, it will be too late.

A retelling of The Tale Of the Glowing Cows by Aurial

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