
the bard

[page="start"]
[call="check_collar"]
[if false][goto="nocollar"]
[if_not_know_name][goto="first"]
[goto="back_again"]
[endpage]


[page="first"]

"Greetings, stranger, I am ?? the bard.

 I do not often entertain humans.  Tell me, would you be
 more interested in a song, or in a tale?"

[link="Sing me a song."]
[linkto="song"]
[link="Tell me a tale."]
[linkto="story"]
[link="Do you have any news?"]
[linkto="news"]
[link="Goodbye."]
[linkto="bye"]
[endpage]



[page="song"]
[colour="#808080"]
 The waarg removes a small instrument like a xylophone
 from his backpack, and assumes a crouching position.
 With one paw free, he strikes the bars of the instrument
 and plays a melody.  Several other waarg join in,
 howling in a surprisingly tuneful manner.

 The bard sings in his curious, growling voice.
[colour="#ffffff"]

"I once knew a maid, tee-dee, tee-dee,
 She was dark as the night and with eyes like the moon.
 She knew how to sew, tee-dee, tee-dee,
 With the yrmwat so fine and a needle of bone.

 Tee-dee, tee-dee, we ran through the forest,
 And we caught many hares and we drank 'neath the moon.
 Tee-dee, tee-dee, we were happy as puppies,
 But she told me that night she was pledged to the duke.

 Oh how I loved her, tee-dee, tee-dee,
 With her fur like the night and her eyes like the moon.
 We knew we must part, tee-dee, tee-dee,
 I was sure that I never would see her again.

 Tee-dee, tee-dee, but the duke had a sister,
 Oh a sister who longed for a mate of her own,
 Tee-dee, tee-dee, and my old love suggested,
 That his sister should seek for a waarg just like me.

 (and he married the duke's sister and they lived
 happily ever after as a pack)"

[endpage]


[page="story"]

"Once upon a time, there were three little waarg and a
 big, bad pig.

 The three little waarg were sent out by their parents
 one day to seek their fortune, and they began by 
 building little houses to live in.

 The first little waarg built his house out of mud.
 He took the mud from the river, and baked it in the
 sun.  The bricks were nice and hard, and he used them
 to build a good little house that wouldn't blow away
 when the wind was strong."

[nextpage="story2"]
[endpage]


[page="story2"]

"One day, the pig came along, and decided he wanted to
 make a stew.  He gathered some vegetables and put them
 in a pot.  But he needed some meat.  Now the pig heard
 of the three little waarg, and because they were only
 young, he knew he could easily kill them all and make
 a big stew that would last for weeks.

 So the pig came to the first little waarg's house,
 and he knocked on the door, and he said:

 "I'm gonna eat you little waarg!  Now open the door!"

 And the waarg replied:

 "Get lost, pig!"

[nextpage="story3"]
[endpage]


[page="story3"]

"And the pig got angry and tried to break down the door,
 but that didn't work, so he poured lots of water on the
 house and it turned back into mud.  The waarg only just
 managed to escape and ran all the way to the second
 little waarg's house.

 But the pig saw where he went and followed him.

 Now, the second little waarg made his house out of
 yrmwat, because there were many yrmwat bushes nearby
 and the wood is light and strong."

[nextpage="story4"]
[endpage]


[page="story4"]

"So the pig came to the second little waarg's house,
 and he knocked on the door, and he said:

 "I'm gonna eat you little waarg!  Now open the door!"

 And the waarg replied:

 "Get stuffed, pig!"

 And the pig got angry and tried to break down the door,
 but he wasn't able to, so he set light to the yrmwat
 and the house began to burn down."


[nextpage="story5"]
[endpage]


[page="story5"]

"And the two little waarg barely manage to escape, and
 they collapsed from the smoke.  But instead of eating
 them, the pig hid and waited for them to recover.
 And when they did, they fled to the third little
 waarg's house.  And the big bad pig followed them.

 Now, the third little waarg was going to build his house
 out of stone, but stonework is hard, so he lived in a
 cave while the house was being built.  In the mean time,
 he had built a wall and a door inside the cave to keep
 away intruders."

[nextpage="story6"]
[endpage]


[page="story6"]

"So the pig came to the third little waarg's home, and he
 knocked on the door, and he said:

 "I'm gonna eat you all, little waarg!  Open the door!"

 And the waarg replied:

 "Get bent, pig!"

 And the pig flew into a rage and tried to break down
 the door, but the door was too strong, so he got some
 explosives and blew it up.
 When they realised what the pig was about to do, the
 three little waarg fled into the caves.  And when the
 pig came back, he could not find them."

[nextpage="story7"]
[endpage]


[page="story7"]

"But the big bad pig knew they must be inside the caves,
 and he knew they were trapped, so he began to explore
 the caves.

 Now, pigs cannot see in the dark as well as waarg can
 and the three little waarg were very good at moving
 silently.  So they hid in the darkness, and when the
 pig came by, they threw a rock at his head and killed
 him.

 And they made so much stew from the pig that they had
 to invite all their neighbours to help them eat it."

[link="Goodbye."]
[linkto="bye"]
[endpage]


[page="nocollar"]
[colour="#808080"]
The wolf-creature stares at you nervously.
[colour="#ffffff"]

"Man-creature, I am no warrior.  I pray you leave us
 peacefully."

[nextpage="exit"]
[endpage]


[page="bye"]

"Farewell."

[nextpage="exit"]
[endpage]