The last thing I remember was tumbling through darkness. I awakened later, how much later I have no way of knowing, in the depths of the earth. The darkness of the deep cavern was impenatrable, and the pain in my head a dull throb. None of this was farmilar... where was I? How did I get here?

As I tried to pull back my memories I found I had none. My own name was a mystery to me. Who was I? What was I doing here?

Panic briefly rose in my breast, but I forced it down, swallowing the impulse. I had control, I had to keep control, otherwise I would be lost. I quickly checked what I had availible. My hands and feet were bare, but rough and caloused, more than capable of walking for miles or climbing rock walls if I needed. I was wearing some sort of armor, a light chain mesh. It was torn in several places, showing frequent use, not just from keeping me alive from this fall, but also from other threats that I must have face.

Strapped to my waist was a short sword, and to my back a shield. Somehow I knew the feel of these tools, the instincts on how to wield them remained ingrained within my psyche. Good. This world I found myself lost on was a wild and vicious place, with threats I could not as yet imagine, yet somehow I knew my life was in danger, that paranoia was the only way to survive.

My sharp pointed earts twitched as I heard something from above me. Some one, or perhaps two, were climbing down the rock face. They were downwind from me, the air flowing from deeper below, and my blunt but sensitive nose couldn't catch their scent. Still, I knew these creatures. Their hideous green skin, their clawed hands, and their barbarous nature was all so clear to me. I heard them, their gutteral language, squawling out insults and threats as they came at me. I braced myself as these evil beings descended and over ran me.

"Frank! If you broke your leg on that fool stunt Mom is going to kill you! And she's going to kill me for letting you try it! Are you alright down there? Darn fool kid, if you've gone and gotten yourself killed..."

Defiantly I raised my voice in challenge, they would not find me laying helpless on the ground! "Da-ad! I'm just fine! Little bump on the head is all. Don't have a heart attack or something, it wasn't that far!"

"Figures you'd land on your head. One part of you that's hard as a rock. Surprised it didn't crack open when you hit. Hang on, I've got some bandages, let me check you out."

"Oh shut up, I'm just a little dizy is all. Just bring me the lantern, I can't see a thing down here and I need to get my barings again."

*****

Ah, greetings Keeper. Oh no, don't try to locate me, my voice is merely in your mind. Such as it is. In fact, you could say that I am merely a section of your mind, splintered off in order to help you understand this new realm you've found yourself in.

Ah, looking around, isn't it lovely? That's right, it's a dark, dank pit locked underground. Hm. Maybe with some curtains? No, I think it'd still be a pit.

I'm sure you're quite tired from forcing your way through the dimensional barriar, driving your heart through that which is more solid than stone and embed it here, in the center of what will be your new kingdom, your new body. Yes, such exertion of power, such grand accomplishment. It's left you weak, weary, wounded. You need to rest, recover your power before you proceed. That's it, rest awhile, restor your energy... Bah. You really are a lazy bastard arn't you? Come on, let's go. We've got work to do.

Oh, but how do you expand your powerbase? You're just a pulsating... whatever that is there in the bottom of the pit. I'd say jewel, but I swear it has veins that I can see pumping... we'll call it blood and we'll never speak of this again.

Now concentrate my Keeper... draw strength from the stone, from the air, from the very fabric of this world. Yes, this world is full of energy, life you can suck from it and feed yourself with. Mmm, tasty. Maybe a little to sweet for my taste though. I can almost feel my teeth rotting.

No matter, you've gained enough power to exert yourself. Concentrate, you are bringing forth life from nothingness, creating the first of many servants, an army enslaved to your will. Focus on your goal...

"Woo hoo!" The creature looked vaugly maleformed, like an infant child that shouldn't have the strength to lift it's large head yet, with massive eyes that were pure black. The Imp however seemed quite happy with being brought into existance, and was scurrying about inspecting everything in the limited space provided.

Masterfully done Keeper. You have summoned an Imp. Pitiful lowly creature though it is, it draws it's strength from you, and so is tied to your land, tirelessly serving you as you so desire. These magical creatures will serve you to the bitter end, though they're not very effective at it. No, while the Imp might be useful for clearing out a larger cavern and making it into a better home, we might have to look elsewhere to gather an army. Very well... let us begin. Exert your will on the wall there.

The Imp, happily playing with it's toes after having explored the small cavern suddenly snapped to attention and charged at the rock wall. From it's own magical nature it managed to produce digging tools and started assaulting the rock wall with every ounce of it's limited strength, and it's unlimited determination. It wasn't long before there was a nice sized tunnel the Imp was burrowing through like the little pink grub it resembled.

"Wheee!" There was a sudden rush of air, stale air, but air all the same, as the Imp broke through into a larger cavern. It rolled out of the tunnel, glanced around, and started cleaning up the rock fragments it had created. They were tucked neatly away into a massive sack on it's back, which quickly grew to nearly the same size as the Imp. After cleaning up however, it started scurrying around the new area, exploring it's new surroundings again.

And as it explored, the Keepers awareness grew. As the little Imp took the rock chips and spread them on the ground, tapping them into place with it's padded feet, the Keepers ability to draw strength from the realm grew as well. This being from Elsewhere was making a home here, deep within the depths of the earth, where no prying eyes could see the forces of evil could fester and grow. Without the strength, yet, to materialize more formiddible forces, the Keeper would draw on natives of this realm, vile creatures driven into the depths and away from the light for being verminous evil monsters who longed for a chance to reclaim the glories refused to them. And so the Keeper began to mold his unstoppable horde of monsters that would boil from the depths of the underworld and consume the land.

"Frank? You hear that? Sounds like some construction or something up ahead."

Ah... I see we have our work cut out for us Keeper.

:lol: I finally got around to reading this. Now I want to go get my DK2 CD and start playing (never had the original, only the second one. Love that game though! It still runs rather well on my computer too, and doesn't look too dated!)