The Epic of the Digit Knight

[Rakoa]

Right then, here is a little something I've been brainstorming for a little while and decided to write up today. It isn't very polished of course, being just a day's work, but I think some forum goers may enjoy it.

Without further ado, I present the Epic of the Digit Knight. 55 stanzas is close enough to 500, right?

P.S., bonus points to those who can guess the reason for the names. Some are more obvious than others.

[Rakoa]

The Epic of the Digit Knight

Spoiler

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Hear the tale of the Digit Knight
King Manus’s finest Champion
He sought to fight the Glass Demon blight
His prowess was one in a million



His bravery was known to all
His skill the inspiration for legend
His strength made giants appear to be small
His wrath a righteous engine



His kindness a trait that none could forget
His handsomeness the envy of men
His mere presence was Evil’s threat
His wisdom surprisingly Zen

Truly Sir Thumb was the greatest of great
A Hero of whom the Bards would sing
But incoming was a cruel twist of fate
The twisted barb of glass shard’s sting



The Demons of Glass had amassed to attack
Brought forth by magic most Evil and dark
Manus sent the knight to fight them back
Sir Thumb thought it but a lark



Here lies the tragic flaw of the Knight
His greatness has spawned great pride
This failure would soon be brought to light
But too late, for Sir Thumb will have died



A wise old woman who was known to most
Her prophetic powers amazed
Warned Sir Thumb that death was close
Sir Thumb was not at all fazed



Before Sir Thumb rode out to destroy
He called upon Pollex, his squire
The lad was naught but a boy
But even he saw the situation was dire



He raised his concerns to Sir Thumb
And pleaded that he heeded the warning
To his begging the Knight was numb
And he set off the very next morning



Upon his steed, Unguis, he rode
A horse most faithful and brave
To destroy the creatures by his knightly code
His search led him to a cave



Before Sir Thumb, the entrance did loom
It’s entrance too small for his steed
He set forth into his tomb
The Glass Demons waiting to feed



The Demons of Glass, though weak on their own
Had amassed an army of thousands
They sought to take King Manus’s Throne
And storm the villagers’ houses



United were they under Lord Sio the Second
An Evil man who had planned this invasion
Though Sir Thumb was a force with which to be reckoned
Lord Sio had planned for this occasion

Through rumours and lies, misdirection and guile
Lord Sio led the Knight to this cave
Inside were ambushes and traps by the pile
To ensure that this was his grave



From the shadows, the Glass Demons stared
Sir Thumb failed his spot check
They wanted to see how he fared
Knowing he would emerge a wreck



Rolling rocks and pitfalls
Poison darts and pressure plates
Fire traps and moving spiked walls
Quicksand and falling weights



Traps were a tool of the cowardly, he knew
Beaten and bloodied he continued ahead
He was an intimidating sight, through and through
His appearance filled the Demons with dread

They had thought his death a given
The traps prepared had been merciless
But still he marched onwards, driven
Though every step he took was torturous



The Glass Demons felt a panic within
And nearly turned to flee
As Lord Sio rubbed his chin
And broke into a grin of glee



Sio could see that the brave Digit Knight
Despite his intimidating exhibition
Would barely be able put up a fight
Sio reminded the Demons of their mission



With this the Demon’s realized
Though he looked quite scary
The Brave Sir Thumb was barely alive
They closed in with a cackle most merry



Only now was Sir Thumb aware of his fate
The Demons emerged from their hiding spots
His doom was engraved into slate
He would be unable to stop Lord Sio’s plots



But even then he did not despair
The Digit Knight grinned at the attack
It truly seemed he didn’t care
For he knew there was no turning back



Upon seeing them, the Digit Knight roared
He drew his sword without a thought
And charged the bloodthirsty horde
The Demons were surprised by his spirit so hot



O Sir Thumb charged out to fight
But ‘gainst glass could not defend
They struck him down, brave Digit Knight,
‘Till he could neither draw nor bend!



A lesser man would have fallen there
With no means to continue on
But Sir Thumb, laughing, slashed down a pair
And continued until the dawn



Wave after wave of Demons was felled
Sir Thumb was a broken mess
But still he fought like a man compelled
And even possibly, possessed



The battle raged on for another full day
The Demons were all defeated
Lord Sio swore that Sir Thumb would pay
In his rage he became conceited



Sir Thumb approached the man
In his state, an impossible feat
But the Evil Lord Sio had one last plan
To bring about Sir Thumb’s defeat



Lord Sio dodged the knight’s swinging blade
And gave a single, signal phrase
Many Glass Demons rushed to his aid
From the depths of this cavernous maze



A contingent of Demons hidden until now
Exploded from within the dark halls
And struck the Digit Knight down
Laughing maniacally as he falls



The Digit Knight, as he lay down dying
Realized, though dead, he had succeeded
In reducing their numbers, by trying
Manus’s army could crush them unimpeded



With the threat now neutralized
Sir Thumb let out a sigh
He lay there bloodied, beaten, and died
And happily he closed his eyes



Lord Sio paced back and forth, enraged
He kicked the corpse and screamed
And yelled at the Demons as he rampaged
He would not be taking the throne, it seemed



His army of thousands was now reduced to tens
His ambitions for conquest now thwarted
But Lord Sio now desired revenge
He then laughed, chuckled and snorted



At his command, the body was hefted
Lord Sio thought if he could not invade
“At least the knight would be unressurected”
As his troupe emerged into a glade



His corpse was to be separated
No body part left intact
His name would become faded
His soul forever trapped



Unable to reunite with his frame
Sir Thumb could not return
Lord Sio would show his corpse the flame
He decided the Digit Knight would burn



The Evil Lord Sio gave the command
But was interrupted by a figure
One both large and tanned
With many an equine feature



‘Twas Unguis, the Digit Knight’s steed
Hoping for his master’s triumph
With a hoof blow, Lord Sio did bleed
And with another he was silenced



The Glass Demons, their numbers few,
Scattered before the beast
Away from the scene and the body they flew
Leaving their leader, now deceased



With the enemies scattered,
Unguis turned and dragged his master
Saving him was all that mattered
The horse began moving faster



Night turned to day, and day to night
Still Unguis continued to drag him
Without a break, without respite
The horse complained not, expression grim



The villagers looked on, shocked
As the Digit Knight’s body was brought through the town
They took the body from the horse and walked
As Unguis, exhausted, collapsed to the ground



Sir Thumb was taken to the church
And placed before the pew
The High Cleric descended from his pulpit perch
And prepared to raise the knight anew



The Cleric took a scroll and cast the spell
Sir Thumb felt a tug on his soul
Released from his afterlife cell,
The Digit Knight heeded the call



His bones were fused back into place
His skin sewn tightly shut
Between his eyes was no longer a space
And organs again filled his gut



But still, Sir Thumb felt something was wrong
He had lost something he couldn’t replace
Something he’d had all along
Overwhelming was his disgrace



He was alive again, but without his old zeal
The Digit Knight had lost something inside
Something he knew was real
Something which still had died



In his overconfidence, the Digit Knight risked all
He had thwarted Evil’s plans, he was sure
But lost because of his gall
And the consequences, he would now endure



The Brave Sir Thumb has learned his lesson
And attained an amount of modesty
But still another one did beckon
And this one quite audibly



From outside the church, a call did rise
Sir Thumb opened up the door
And to the Digit Knight’s surprise
In flooded the villagers, a veritable downpour



They were grateful for his aid
And happy he was whole
But also brought news very grave
Which couldn’t be solved with a scroll



Unguis had been quite old, you see
And after having collapsed
Died almost immediately
The horse’s time on this plane had elapsed



The Brave Sir Thumb was sad, of course
And bade the villagers goodbye
Unguis and been the noblest horse
Alone, the Digit Knight cried.

[oppyu]

Oh no, the poor horse

Also, I love you.

[davidbofinger]

the Epic of the Digit Knight.

Have you considered trying to make it as historically accurate as possible? So find out what treatment The Giant needed and speak of a quest to reattach the tendon, preventing adhesions, etc. Just a thought.

[Rakoa]

Have you considered trying to make it as historically accurate as possible? So find out what treatment The Giant needed and speak of a quest to reattach the tendon, preventing adhesions, etc. Just a thought.

I did consider it, and I Googled around as much as I could to find out exactly what had happened, what the treatment was, and so forth. Mostly all I found was what I already knew, that the Giant had hurt his thumb on glass.

So I figured I would just do it in an Epic Poem that was pretty much unrelated to what actually happened. I don't think the Giant is an overconfident guy who learned his lesson or anything like that. I should make that clear.

Oh no, the poor horse

Also, I love you.

Thank you! Glad you liked it.

[Tragak]

Manus: Hand
Pollex: Thumb
Unguis: Sanguine (bloody)
Sio: ??? (Soda-Lime?)

[Mike Havran]

That is simply awesome beyond stanzas

[Rakoa]

Manus: Hand
Pollex: Thumb
Unguis: Sanguine (bloody)
Sio: ??? (Soda-Lime?)

Well done, well done. I did make Lord Sio's the hardest to identify. I will say, however, that his title is important. But Lord is not.

That is simply awesome beyond stanzas

Thank you for the high praise.

[Dissection]

Well done, well done. I did make Lord Sio's the hardest to identify. I will say, however, that his title is important. But Lord is not.

Sio the Second reminds me of SiO2, the chemical formula of quartz, although I have no idea what significance that could have, so it is probably wrong. Just something I felt like mentioning, though

[FLHerne]

Sio the Second reminds me of SiO2, the chemical formula of quartz, although I have no idea what significance that could have, so it is probably wrong.

Ah, there's another type of material containing large amounts (50-100%) of silica, that generally looks a bit like quartz, and is definitely significant in this context...

[Belkar<3]

Because glass is made from quartz?

[King of Nowhere]

That was amazing!
Shows what a man can do when he has too much free time

[rodneyAnonymous]

"The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica (SiO_2) plus sodium oxide (Na_2O) from soda ash, lime (CaO), and several minor additives. Often, the term glass is used in a restricted sense to refer to this specific use."

[DawnKraken]

Right then, here is a little something I've been brainstorming for a little while and decided to write up today. It isn't very polished of course, being just a day's work, but I think some forum goers may enjoy it.

Without further ado, I present the Epic of the Digit Knight. 55 stanzas is close enough to 500, right?

P.S., bonus points to those who can guess the reason for the names. Some are more obvious than others.

Sir Thumb: thumb
King Manus: manus, the bones that hold up the palm of your hand
Unguis: "A nail, claw, or fang"
Glass demons: glass
Lord Sio: SiO2 (quartz, which when melted down and moulded becomes glass)

[KorvinStarmast]

Epic Indeed.
*applause*

[Peelee]

The Mod on the Silver Mountain: There is no epic Necromancy.