[Short Stories] Mina's Adventure, and other illustrated stories

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This starts out as something i did all the work on, a story on the side of the Word Mastermind game. Here i'll reproduce it, adding illustrations - one short episode at a time. Later on, this thread might host other such stories, or even collaborations - with the other authors' permission.

Mina's Adventure was built around or against some words proposed by bananabadger, ElderOblex, GodRosen, and JaDeX105. You can follow the story's progress at this link.

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Mina, the little Dwarf, plays out having found the King's lost gem and being bestowed a noble title as the reward.

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Out of sapphire blue (the floor was packed with them) popped Monse - the mole, her brother's pet, steed, and pranks partner. "Shoo, shoo!" Mina shouted, waving her arms - but to no avail.

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With impunity, the beast knocked her and her rock puppets down, then hopped out into the caves' darkness - clapping its hind legs as it did, to mock her.

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Picking herself up, barely containing anger, the little Dwarf bowed before the only puppets still standing and vowed: "Your Majesties, this Outrage will not go unpunished!"

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She filled her pockets with pebbles, grabbed her little pickaxe, and guided by bio-, chemo-, and other kinds of luminescence only Dwarves know about, ventured forth - on the tracks of the villain.

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But there were dark places too in the caves, too dark even for Darkvision, and many paths, and pits, and pitt-a-patts to confuse you, so eventually she got lost...

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Now she stands at a crossroads, wondering which way is what:

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Atop an entrance read "piddling", which sounds like pudding. Monse would have went that way if hungry... Another, labeled "un-known", was very dark, and... it gave Mina a funny feeling. The label too looked like a letter had been erased - on purpose!

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And there was a third tunnel: "pohskrow". That looked like something her older brother would come up with! But - Mina thought with a smirk - he di-dn't-know she was old enough now to spell backwards...

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Something's not right... thought Mina, frowning at the wall scratches. She had been following that tunnel for a loong time - in a straight line! - and it was now the second time she encountered them... They looked like something her brother had scribbled, but made no sense.

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Knock... knock, knock! - A few pickaxe hits and something like... plaster fell off. Behind was... (she approached to see better -) a rune! Which she didn't know how to read... But it must have meant something, something magical! Of course, why someone would bother to place such a potent symbol at child height never crossed her mind.

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So she touched it - not with the pickaxe. And what do you know!? The rock wall began to shake - pebbles and dust fell - Mina covered her eyes, seeing nothing for a while - and then... She peeked, and there stood a door open.

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She stepped past its threshold, made another step, and - her third never reaching floor - she suddenly felt cannon-balled back to the tunnel. THAT HURT!

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Something kept pushing her, struggling to free itself. What, it was a... little pig? with two feet in her pockets. "Thief!" came out of her - when she realized, and she grabbed the porkling, and they wrestled, and...