The Creators had been upset for a reason. Not because the world had ended, but because it had been unique. As far as They were concerned, it was a masterpiece.

Across the folds of time and, in a dimension tucked away in the corner, there was a universe that expanded faster than all others.

And before its last stand, upon a wave of growth, the world had sat, riding across the Great Expanse. The Creators had named it: 'Whonovakind', and had looked upon it with all-satisfaction because its design wasn't as boring as say, just a large rock or a slightly more imaginative flat disc, and its questionable physics was Their revenge against all those irritating non-believer scientists.

What was lucky for the inhabitants of Whonovakind was that the universal wave dragged a moon and star along with it, giving the world night and day as it was pulled into rotation.

The Creators knew who They wanted, and he lived in Citadel, the fortress city-- a place a few miles from the Pratchett Mountains and had once been some distance from the Literass Sea.

Citadel itself was just as unique as the world it was situated as it had been formed with man-made geography.

Back in the days where the ruthless Citadel Army ruled the city, with Mad-Kings as mere figure-heads - much to the anger of Mad-Royalists - the Army built the palace, and the surrounding courtyards, out of bluddystronge metal.

During construction, the Mad-Royalists buried hundreds of gunpowder barrels in the wine cellar under the palace ready for revolt against the Army.

the combination of alcohol and gunpowder during the subsequent explosion sent an aftershock through the soft ground beneath the palace creating a personal valley.

Unfortunately for the Royalists however, the Mad-King had decided to quench his thirst that night, giving him quite a shock to find himself flying in opposite directions, ending the Mad-King Reign.

But the bluddystronge held out, leaving a palace bridged over a small valley, and in the middle of what remained of the city.

The good news for the Royalists was that soldiers and guards tend to over-analyse situations so they were simply pushed over when they went to look over the sides of the metal plates.

These events became known as the 'Great Gunpowder Shock' which brought in what was the current Kontrola Era.

The Kontrola rebuilt the city, complete with city walls from the Army days, and new flowing river beneath their feet when Literass Sea water flooded in at the bottom of the valley.

The then Kontrola, Stoo, also ended the democracy of deciding which army would make the people's lives hell which in essence made Citadel a dictatorship. But nobody seemed to mind, as it meant a leader with ambition to stay where he was.

Besides, it saved time voting between two corrupt leaders pre-set for scandal anyway.

So they felt an iron thumb was better than a paper-weight.

It was currently night in Citadel, and Baxter was playing a game of 'Pans' in the Shattered Skull tavern with three other, much, much larger men. He was drunk, and doing something lethal. WINNING.

HPB

13.10.05 Front Page

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