An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Lyssra.

A little gully dwarf runs by and says 'Wordwrap is at 65. You change? Off 65 80.'
The gully continues 'Eyes hurt? Turn Color OFF!! (regular story dates)

Astinus says 'Enter the main library here to view only the author list.'
Astinus gently places a large book on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Lyssra' scribed in grey ink.

Author:    Lyssra         
Date:      Sun Aug 26
03:28:55 2018
Subject     My youth as a bully

I was
born in a moderately sized village, to a somewhat
impoverished
family. My friends and I did not have any toys, so
we had to use whatever we
could find. I was not a very kind
youngster, picking on anything that was
smaller than me, first
small animals and soon, smaller minotaur children. I
followed
them around unrelentingly, teasing them at every opportunity,
and
occasionally giving one a bloody nose, another a beating that
left them
winded and gasping to breathe until I had left the
area. My parents
disciplined me, but I was far more wild than
your average minotaur, so their
punishments weren't very
effective. This went on throughout most of my
childhood, until I
started developing my adult horns. Then, large hoards of
other,
bigger minotaur teenagers would swarm around me and
attack,
delivering a swift kick, a sharp jab of the horns, or a
bite on my hind
side. I knew I had to stand up to them to even
survive, but it didn't seem
likely. The masses of young bulls had
me constantly on the run. I finally
realized what it was like to
be bullied, and I didn't like it. I reached
down deep into the
depths of my being and summoned all the courage I could
muster,
then approached the largest of them. I determinedly gazed into
his
cold, harsh eyes and demanded that he and his buddies back
off and leave me
alone. I challenged him to a one-on-one battle,
and if I were to win, they'd
never bother me or anyone else
again. The big bull snickered at this idea,
as I was considerably
smaller. He accepted confidently, assured that I
didn't stand the
slightest chance. As we began to engage in combat, people
from
all over the village assembled to watch. This was a rite of
passage for
us, and everyone wanted to know the outcome as it
happened. Our healer moved
in closest to us, in order to render
aid, as one or both of us would
certainly be injured, but these
contests were not intended to be lethal,
though we did not hold
back from them either. As it began, he reared back
and then
initiated a murderous charge. He was a lot more brutal looking
than
your typical male in ritual combat. I rapidly jumped out of
the way, causing
him to sail right past me. Then I turned and
gave him a swift kick in his
rear end. He turned, horns ready to
drive right through me. I had to use my
own to block him, but
then we were locked in a stalemate for what seemed
like forever.
He pushed forward, driving me back, but I dared not move, or
his
horns would have impaled me for certain. However, I had an
abnormally
long and thick tail, so, after being sick of being
driven backwards, I put
all my strength into one ferocious tail
whip. This briefly stunned him, and
then I took the chance to
give him a jab in the chest with my own horns.
This angered him,
and he retaliated with a swift kick, so forceful that it
winded
me and left me motionless on the ground. He then charged me
again,
nearly stomping his hooves into my bones and crushing
them, but he barely
missed. It was all I could do to muster up
the energy to bite his leg as he
passed. Then he came around for
another pass, before I could rise to my
feet. His right front
hoof gave me another kick to the ground, and then his
hind feet
both stomped on my chest, cracking several ribs. That should
have
been the end of it, as when one of us is incapacitated to
this point, combat
usually ends. I had very little energy left
and didn't seem to stand a
chance. However, he was absolutely
committed to his resolve, a heart of
flame, determined to fight
until I took my last breath. The others couldn't
intervene, lest
his rage be redirected toward them, and he becomes even
more
fierce than he already was. As he whipped back around for
another pass, I
had accepted the idea that this was the end, and
was nearly ready to give up
entirely. However, at the last
second, a burst of energy washed over me, and
as he approached
again, so fast that he couldn't control the placement of
his
hooves, he stepped right over me, giving me the chance I needed
to drive
my horns into his gut. In doing so, however, I caused
his enormous body to
come crashing down on me, knocking me
unconscious. When I awoke, the healer
was standing over both of
us, still summoning more magic to heal our
injuries, which were
both quite near fatal. I learned that his injuries were
even more
so, and there was a chance that he wouldn't survive, even with
the
healer's care. I was declared the winner. I had very mixed
feelings about
this. I wanted to be proud of myself for standing
up to this vicious beast
of a minotaur, but sneaking a blow as he
tried to trample me didn't seem
very sporting. However, it was
probably the best I could do given my size
and my mental state.
After my ordeal, I decided that being a bully wasn't
all it was
cracked up to be. I ceased terrorizing anything smaller than
me,
and instead, rose to the defense of the young or weak. I was
never known in
my village as a bully again. 

The Storytellers of Ansalon, The DragonLance MUD

Astinus points to the massive wall of books behind him and bids you to make a selection.

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