Mastada the Fire Elementalist
Mastada was a young kobold who lived in a small forest on the outskirts of a human town named Danip. A couple of humans were traveling through the forest when Mastada and a few other kobolds decided they would attack them. After the kobolds killed the two humans, Mastada found a book.
Mastada read the cover: "A book of Flames." When he opened it, many strange words he has never seen before seemed to leap from the pages up into his eyes. He didn't know what they meant, but one sentence gleamed into his eyes, almost aching to be read. Mastada read aloud the phonetics, and fire burst from one of his hands.
The other kobolds saw, and quickly named him a sorcerer of the dark arts and banished him from his forest. Angered, he left and made his way many miles away from his home. He fell asleep under a tree, but had many nightmares. Mastada awoke in a sweat and could hear whispers coming from somewhere nearby.
Mastada followed the voices and he was lead to a long, winding staircase into the side of a hill. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach as he walked down the steep steps, but ignored it and followed the whispers. Every time he would turn to go back, he would receive an encouraging word whispered into his ears. At last, he reached the bottom of the staircase. "Welcome, Mastada the Kobold Fire Elementalist," a final whisper echoed through his ears.
Mastada now knew where he was. He was in the legendary Dungeon of which none have escaped. Many souls were lost to its winding paths in search of the Orb of Zot.
Mastada looked down at his book of Flames and memorized the words of power. "I can do this," he thought to himself. He began to walk down the narrow corridor. He ignored more stairs leading out of the dungeon and headed east. On the ground in front of him, a silvery potion was lying on the ground. Mastada had heard of potions before, but he didn't know what any of them did. He shrugged his shoulders and popped the cork off of the bottle. He took a long draught and wiped his mouth with his forearm. He relaxed, and a few minor scratches from his travels seemed to disapear. "I guess that potion heals you."
He continued east and heard a click. The whole world seemed to spin and warp around him. As soon as it started, it stopped. Mastada stood tall and looked around; everything seemed different than before. Confused, Mastada started walking North until he saw a creature about the size of him, but with brown skin. The thing shouted, and brandished his shield in front of him, with his dagger held high behind him. As the goblin edged forward, Mastada nervously edged back. "I don't wanna fight you, I come from the land above!" The goblin rushed forward, letting out a battle cry. Mastada panicked and ran in the other direction, sweat forming on his brow. The goblin cackled as he chased him around a corner. But at that moment, Mastada remembered his book. He spun around and shouted the words of power in a panicked voice as he raised his palm toward the goblin. "Et encoudra na rem!" Flames burst from his hand. The heat was intense and Mastada closed his eyes.
When he opened them, he saw the charred remains of what was once a goblin. The buckler was burnt to a crisp, but Mastada spied the dagger on the ground. He picked it up and nervously laughed to himself. Mastada had never killed anything alone, let alone in one shot. With newfound confidence, Mastada continued north.
Mastada entered a large room when a sparkling mass caught his eye. Could it be? Yes! It was a small pile of gold, just sitting there for the taking. He slowly started to approach the gold. As he moved toward it, he then noticed another goblin, resting next to the gold. "I'll just sneak up, steal the gold, then leave," Mastada thought to himself. Mastada was so close, almost within reach, when the goblin sprung up and jumped between him and the gold. "Steal from me, you filthy kobold? I think not!" He pulled out a dagger, with runes spread all across it.
Mastada smiled and mumbled the words for the spell. Flames shot out of his hand, but the goblin ducked low and the fire soared across his head. Mastada's eyes opened wide as the goblin swung the dagger for his chest. Mastada jumped back, and the goblin's blow struck nothing but his robes. Again, Mastada mumbled the words and flames shot out of his hand. The goblin laughed and again parried his attack. This time however, the runed dagger dug into Mastada's ribs, the runes glowed bright as the goblin pulled it from his chest. "OUCH! That really hurt!" Mastada thought to himself.
Tears of pain rolled down his snout as the goblin readied himself for another attack. Mastada panicked and said the words of power too quickly, and his hand fizzled as the flames failed to activate. The goblin again laughed and swung another time. Mastada quickly ducked, fearing that another gash would kill him. As Mastada started to say the words again, he felt his whole body ache. Fear dug into Mastada's chest, "Why can't I use the spell?" Mastada retreated from the way he came, the goblin chasing after him. After a few steps, Mastada felt power returning to him, albeit, very little. He turned around and mumbled "Et encoudra na rem." The spell again fizzled in his hand. The goblin rushed forward and lunged out with his blade. It struck Mastada's neck and blood poured from the wound. Mastada griped his neck and crumpled to the ground. "Ouch, that really hurt...." Blood pooled up around Mastada, and he could hear the cackling of a goblin growing faint as it walked away. His heart started to beat fast, trying to get blood to his head. "This never would have happened if I never found that stupid book!" he screamed in his head. Everything started to fade and blur. Mastada let out a few more breaths and then gave up. Everything grew quiet.
Author Notes
Poor Mastada died before his time, killing a whopping one creature. I forgot that Fire Elementalist is a bad choice for kobolds because when they start out, flame tongue only has a range of one square.
