Part 1

Welcome apprentices, and allow me to tell you of a land, a land once held by the *good* and the *pure* and all those insufferable wretches who insisted on giving the weak a helping hand, when the shadow, and the inferno waited with baited breath. The land, of Skybird Trill.

Today will mark the beginnings of your history lessons, and it will serve to teach how your master rose to power by playing his rivals against each other, and by ramming a claw down the gullet of good. For though apprentices you are, there will be only one true apprentice left by the end of this tale.

We begin our first lesson, in the land of Brana-Hawk, or, "Eversmile" as the Piteous inhabitants first called it. It was a land of cheer, and joy, of simple pleasures. It exists now, as a fire scarred blight on the land.

I was just a simple advisor in those days, revelling in my newly converted faith in the dark. I had been a human tactician in my previous life, a wizard of no small reknown, but none of that had prepared me for the master I would come to serve.

In those days, I made many notes, and maps of the state of the land. Many spells I cast held true, and we shall hear my voice describing an area, before the battle begins, and after the battles, no doubt, bloody conclusion.

Here then, is the land that your master now holds, back when it was held by the realm of good, note the sun, not yet blocked by the sulphurous caverns spewing smoke into the air in billows, note the green, the livestock, and more importantly, the people, not yet .. demolished.



Let us take a closer look, at where our journey begins.



For those of you so attuned to the world of magic, cast the appropriate Incantation to hear the words I spoke then. For those not so attuned to the magical world, read forth the words I scribed.

EverSmile

Set in the realm of joy, the people of Eversmile are plagued only by aching facial muscles, and not anthrax as we had hoped. Eversmile is a disgusting land of good humour and polite frivolity.

We shall bandy no further words on frivolities, let us delve into that godforsaken land from when it once stood.



Mark well several things, first, the giant Orb is known as your 'Dungeon Heart', in essence, it is your life, with each strike on the orb, it brings you closer to death. As Keeper, above all else, that is the thing that must be kept safest above all else, for if that falls, so shall you.

Also mark the messages falling on the screen, those serve to inform of various activities taking place amongst your denizens. Anything a creature is unhappy about, any demises, any time that unhappy creatures next of kin needs to be informed, what have you..



Herein is your Treasury, this is a vital proponent of your dungeon, your minions will run here to be paid with a spring in their step, thieves will mark this as their first stop, bar your dungeon heart, whilst imps will drop your hard earned, and easily mined gold, from their pockets, direct to your coffers. Ah, greed.



Speaking of the shiny stuff, this is it, there is another type, which shall be covered in a further lesson, but gold is the lifeblood of any dungeon, mark it well.

Speaking of Imps, here is 'Chad' a rampant annoyance, but a hard worker. Poor bugger's been slapped to death on many an occassion, only to be ressurected, and slapped to death again.





Here then, is a more in-depth view of the underground terrain we must conquer.



The flashing image on the picture there, is the creature portal, contained within is a portal to the dark realms that brings forth creatures evil and wicked, and that do so like to share the pain.



Part of the binding magic of the keeper is the ability to transport any troop to any area of your territory in near an instant, this allows you to quickly set up ambushes for invading heroes, save a unit from death, chuck an annoying imp into the path of a boulder, what have you...



This then, is the lair of all creatures, and it appears that the first of our inhabitants was a fly. Each creature makes individual lairs, that look completely unique.



Flies, for the most part, are weak, annoying creatures, with little purpose for life other than getting in the way, and exploring caverns quickly. They posess little to no fighting ability, and even the lowliest gnome tunneler will make short work of a fly. It is always handy to keep one around to explore new areas, but do not waste time in attempting to save one.



The second creature to enter our humble beginnings was a Beetle. Unlike the weakling fly, the Beetle actually has some backbone in it, much hardier than the fly, and actually able to do some damage, in a choice between a beetle and a fly.. well, the strong survive.



The curious amongst you (coincidentally, those who did may have the best chance of surviving) may have noted the barrier surrounding the walls on this overview, denoted by the grey marking. This barrier is affectionately known as a fortification, and it will be one of your strongest allies.

Its point is twofold, first, it ensures nothing will gain access to your dungeon that you do not want it to, it is completely inpenetrable, assuming someone doesnt find a way around it. The second point, is that it will actually help improve efficiency with your buildings.



Ah, heroes approach, Smart keepers will watch the active map in the corner, a trail of white dots indicate that some fool is on their way to try and valiantly make you leave. Generally, I advise you to valiantly crush them.

And that's just what happened to these poor gnomes.





The lord of the land is a mighty foe, who defends each area, in the name of love, justice... peace. He is usually the last obstacle stopping you from moving onto the next area of conquest. He's strong, and usually accompanied by many guards. It appears as though this lord, may have forgotten his.







Ah, the stench of death. Our, now deceased, knightly chum managed to dispatch the entire fly population before succumbing to your Beetle minions.

The closing words for my Master back then, where rather congratulatory.


Brana-Hawk

Brana-Hawk, war and anthrax have taken to this land likes fleas to a rat. The region is, thanks to your unstinting efforts, now a major eyesore.