Doireann the Felid Monk
This is my first Diary of a Crawler work. Not all events are exactly as they occured in game. (But I try to stay close; I mainly drop what's dull/repetitive.) This is in Crawl version 0.16 on CAO, and as a Felid Monk. Hope you enjoy! I will continue to update this until my character's journey comes to a close. I have done some proofreading, but it's an ongoing process, so please excuse the typos! Autofire (talk) 06:56, 23 March 2015 (CET)
Preamble and Prologue
I took this magic book off Robin. It's quite a strange little thing: I can write in it just by looking at it! Since I feel too full to continue on, I think I'll pass the time by recording my journey in this book.
Hmm...I'll begin from when I woke up...
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I gasped and gritted my teeth from a horrible pain in my head. I found myself in a dimly lit room. Minutes passed before the pain began to subside, and I began to wonder why my bed was so hard. When I finally sat up, I felt very strange and not entirely myself. I looked down to see a pair of large paws, each with a fine set of claws. Thinking that I was being sat on by some large cat, I held perfectly still, hoping that it wouldn't notice me.
Minutes passed, and the cat hadn't moved a muscle. Hoping that it was asleep, and knowing that I couldn't take it for another minute, I dashed away as fast as I could and ducked behind a wall. Looking back, I couldn't see anything chasing me. I felt quite satisfied with myself, but something still felt wrong...and why had I run all that way on all fours? I looked at myself and finally realized...
...that I was a cat!
Level 1
It took me a some time to take it all in. I walked back to where I woke up, and didn't find any more cats. (I realized that I was only scaring myself before.) I found a note on the stone floor, and though I couldn't pick it up (I lacked thumbs), but I could tell that it was written on. When my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I read:
Resignation accepted ~WD
I hissed and tore up the note. Resignation? Those jerks read my mind! I hadn't even told anyone I was leaving! Good for nothing thieves! One of their transmuters probably did this to me, and then they dumped me in this...place.
But there was nothing I could do about it. After my anger began to subside, I began to worry. Where was I? How was I going to become a Spriggan again? I knew nothing about transmuting, and I had no money to pay a professional transmuter to cure me. (Which would cost a small fortune even for the richest lord...something I'm not!)
Pushing these things out of my mind, I decided to explore the place. I walked through the cave for a while before finding a stairway leading down. I didn't want to take it though; I sensed that I was deep underground already, so I wanted to go up, not down.
Next I found a giant, sleeping cockroach. I pounced on and dug my claws into it, killing it quickly. Staring at the blood pouring out of its wounds, I suddenly felt very hungry, and found myself eating it without second thought. Only once I was done eating did I realize how strange it was to be eating meat. (As a Spriggan, I only liked fruits and vegetables.)
Well, I continued roaming around the dungeon, killing the rats and bats I encountered in order to get used to my new claws (and my new stomach). I even felled a pair of goblins who ganged up on me. Before long, I was engorged on all of the meat. However, I couldn't find a stairway out of the place.
Stealing the backpack of a goblin I felled, I used it to carry a few potions I came across. However, I was unfamiliar with them, none of them looked very pleasant, so I decided to save them until I can figure out what they do. After wandering around for what felt like hours, I finally decided to try downstairs.
Little did I know what I was getting myself into...
Level 2
The first staircase I tried led to a room full of sleeping goblins. I killed one, but my new body made me fumble and make enough noise to wake the rest up. I fled the way I came and tried another staircase.
The second staircase had a similar set of goblins, although they were all awake and they seemed to have a leader. I managed to swipe a scroll and escape. (It turned out to be a Scroll of Fog.)
The third and final staircase led to an empty room with three hallways. I knew that the two hoards of goblins had to be somewhere on this level, so I made sure to be extra careful.
Almost the first thing I found was a sparkling altar. Looking around it, I found that it belonged to Nemelex Xobeh, the trickster god of cards. I didn't see any reason to join his service, because I didn't like the sound of trusting my life with a deck of cards.
After wandering around some more, I found a bread ration, although it looked as tasty as a rock. (Something which I would have never said yesterday!) Then I ran into what I think was the second mob of goblins. I ran off, not wanting to face a certain swarm. I waited patiently for the goblins who strayed from the pack, and quietly dealt with them, one or two a time.
Then I stumbled into a nice little chap named Ijyb. He wasn't too happy to see me, and tried to gut me with his dagger. The fellow wasn't any match for my claws, and pretty soon he was limp and lifeless.
Right after that, a hobgoblin, calling herself Robin, walked in and began throwing her goblin followers at me. (Literally!) I was able to fight back without too much trouble, because I drew them into a tight corridor. When there was an opening, I jumped for Robin and slashed her neck open. Killing Robin left the goblins without moral support, and they went down without much of a fight. They won't skin me so easily!
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Well, I've written out my journey so far. I think I'll take a little nap, because I'm still rather full. (Although it makes me feel pleased, in a way, to be so full of my prey!) I do have many questions, but I'll have look for answers them when I wake.
