I've mentioned previously that I've gotten some of my art illustrated. Well, this is a perfect example of that. Technically, this has been around for half a year or so, so I don't feel too guilty in posting it up here. In fact, it might serve to give a minor boost to the sales, as it's essentially an advertisement.
A while back, I became friends with a guy named Peter Tyson, aka TinyPirate on Bay12Forums. He's pretty friendly in my opinion, and he has a great taste in literature... although I'm biased, because he particularly likes certain things that I've written. What happened was this: He was writing a book about Dwarf Fortress, and he wanted five or six original, short Dwarf Fortress stories to include as pages of art by Tim Denee. We were already friends at the time, as I've helped him out on different occasions before that, and I won't lie - I think that may have played (at least slightly) into his final decision... because my story was one of the ones he chose.
Technically, it wasn't a story. It was a 1900-word poem that I summed up in 234 words. Even so, it did actually happen in a game of mine, and TinyPirate thought it was awesome. The summed-up version is as follows:
The fortress of Naugaridge was built into the side of a mountain, and was built more specifically for design and beauty than anything else. Unfortunately, this attracted the attention of some elves, who vowed to claim the kingdom for their own. The elves soon laid siege to the fortress. Tholsak, the captain of the guard, led Naugaridge's army out against the invaders valiantly, and though many dwarves were slain, they broke full upon the ranks of the elves and slaughtered many in the defense of their home.
At the height of the battle, a dragon appeared on the opposite side of the fortress, and quickly flew to attack whomever it could find. It happened upon Thatthil, who was the fortress's weaponsmith and Tholsak's lover. It's unsure why she was outside the walls - possibly hoping to catch a glimpse of Tholsak - but she was quickly murdered by the dragon, Felgoth. The dragon then proceeded to dispatch the elves, setting their precious forests ablaze in the process, and then turned on the dwarves. It slaughtered many before finally being pierced by Tholsak's sword, though Tholsak himself was mortally wounded in the fight, and had lost one of his legs. Despite this, Tholsak dragged himself through the ranks of his dying comrades and stabbed the beast through the skull with the very sword that Thatthil had made for him, before dying there on the burning field.
Tim Denee is awesome - I love his art style. Peter Tyson's book isn't too shabby, either. While I'm still of the opinion that the best experience of the game is gained by diving right into it, his book would be a major help to a beginner to intermediate player, and it's available right here for less than $20. For a 240 page, oldschool game manual filled with detailed pictures and explanations (not to mention jokes), that's a pretty decent price.
Here's the panel where my story became art. (If I get any copyright issues, I'll take it down, but I think this would tend to serve more as a boost in revenue for O'Reilly than a legitimate problem. If anything.)
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