This post and thread are scheduled for deconstruction. Please watch for falling bars, disappearing characters and the stray goblins. Sorry about the mess!
What Is This Thread For?
As DROD.net and its community have grown over the past two to three years, many threads containing valuable pieces of information, stories, discussions and discoveries about DROD and the Eighth have been made. Although some of this information has been immortalised in DROD.net officially, much of it has not, and with no efficient organising or listing of it, most of it has now been buried in the boards, completely forgotten by most people, or even unknown to newer members. This thread has therefore been brought into being to preserve the memory of such older threads, so that future users of the forum can also read and enjoy them, and that the information they contain may not be lost forever.
The thread will be similar to a small extent to Matt’s
"The Eighth Pinned Down" article, the official literature about the Eighth, which contains general information about the Eighth and some information about its people's cultures. The major difference, however, is that it will provide a comprehensive listing of all the other non–official threads containing information that forum members have written, but which have not already been recorded.
Basically, anything that has been written to a reasonable standard and contains some useful information about DROD or the Eighth is likely to be included on this list.
As finding older threads worth reading is quite a difficult task, and also to keep them for future (often nostalgic) reference, I will try to update this thread on a regular basis, adding more threads to the list as they are created, and reorganising the thread categories as the list grows.
The general metaphor (just in case you’re confused by the writing style) is of a metaphor between the Eighth and the Forum. The undiscovered knowledge waits out there for you, the intrepid explorers of the Eighth, to discover it, and then post it here to tell the rest of us about it. Eventually, your thread may get its own place in history when I get round to including your information in this list for others to find it.
Which Threads Should be Included?
As before, all threads that have some information in them related to DROD, the Eighth, its inhabitants (any living creature) or its people, should be eligible for inclusion.
I will (at hopefully semi–regular intervals) search the forum for any new threads that may have been created and include them if they have enough information to make them worth viewing. It will be likely that I have not have picked up all the threads that could have been included, however, so if you feel I’ve missed a thread, then you can nominate it by replying here, and I’ll take a look at it. If there is information half–way through a thread that’s interesting, then I may also record it here and provide a link to the middle of the thread, if the amount is substantial.
Editing My Writing
This is a sort of open project, so all contributors are welcome to suggest and make changes. If you’ve noticed a mistake in my writing, don't like the layout, or think something could have been better written, then please feel free to make a criticism about it by replying – I will take any suggestions you have seriously.
Note From the Archiver
Prodded indirectly by Matt’s inclusion of this on the
DROD.net website, I’ve updated the page with more links to recently created threads (although these will in time also get buried into the forum).
Also, I took the chance (before too many people give this page a scrutiny) to edit some of the more awkward parts of my writing, and make it a bit less wordy, so the page will have changed somewhat from what it used to be like. If, however, I’ve deleted anything by accident, then please feel free to tell me.
For those who have read this thread before, red asterisks (
*) denote new entries in the list.
Introduction
Far, far back, in the depths of time, before the beginning of the new age of thought, reform and study heralded by Benedat’s Discovery, the Eighth was wreathed in mystery and the mists of ignorance. As time began to pass, however, intrepid travellers and explorers began to bring back reports and pieces of information from the then unexplored outside world. As this information began to collect slowly, fragmented pieces of lore and information from all over the Eighth began to filter through to be recorded by Eighther historians, scattered pieces of information that provided valuable insights into the workings of the Eighth and the tales and beliefs of its inhabitants.
As time went on,
the discovery of the Eighth's shape and the mapping of its lands began to open up new horizons for exploration and discovery. This, of course, dramatically accelerated the rate at which new information came in, and every day, the reach and amount of our knowledge expands at an ever-increasing rate. However, this influx of information does also have negative consequences, since the lack of its organisation threatens to wash all the older pieces of collected information back into the forgotten recesses of time.
Therefore, we must preserve the information we have, so that the past discoveries may not be completely forgotten, and so that future generations of Eighthers also have the opportunity to read this information.
Stories of the Eighth
The Eighth is a huge place, probably populated by millions of people, but at this time, we have collected very few stories or tales written by people from the Eighth.
Of course, we have recorded on DROD.net
the main (official) legends and stories of the Eighth, which were discovered a very long time ago, and are believed to be the oldest surviving stories ever recorded.
However, one or two other stories of unknown origin have also been discovered:
The
Tale of a Younger Beethro is a short story of an intrepid exterminator's demise with the Living Tar, found inscribed on a large stone tablet near a grave.
A very long story entitled "
The Adventures of Beethro"
was found written on several massive slices of rock in the ruins of
Construct the Story and
Reconstruct the Story. Unfortunately, a large chunk of the rock we found has been either broken or lost, so we do not know the ending of this particular tale.
Poetry and Songs
Much like the stories, very few pieces of poetry from the Eighth have been discovered and recorded to date.
Again, on DROD.net,
the main (official) pieces of poetry from the Eighth can be found in the Stories section. They too, are also believed to be some of the oldest in the Eighth.
The other pieces we have are few, but varied:
In a small chamber in the ruins of an ancient city were found some old scrolls containing some enigmatic pieces of Haiku from the
DROD Haiku Contest.
From a region of East Tueno,
a song was found on a scroll written in a foreign language. It appears to be about a Dungeon Roach being harassed by a dungeon exterminator, although numerous arguments about its accuracy were also found written beneath it.
A
DROD song was heard in a small, remote town somewhere in northern Ephelna, and its lyrics were written down. The actual style of the song, however, is as yet unrecorded.
A small, but interesting
DROD Joke was found written on a small piece of a much larger scroll, most of which had unfortunately disintegrated by the time it was found.
A contest held recently in Dugandy encouraged people to participate in a
song-writing contest to write the "smitingest" music for the Eighth. There is also
another copy of this preserved on DROD.net.
* Several songs were nominated for having lyrics that were very descriptive of the Eighth and some of the monsters that live on it. The results of this collection can be found in the thread entitled
”Song Lyrics Describing DROD”
Dungeon Debates
Many interesting topics have been discussed and recorded about the problems and experiences of being a dungeon exterminator and about the dungeons themselves. Information from the Smitemaster’s Guild about King Dugan’s Dungeon has been kindly provided to us by some of the few members that have ever ventured down there, and is listed below.
Overall opinions on the difficulty and general appearance of King Dugan's Dungeon itself were discussed in a few topics:
About King Dugan's Dungeon
How hard is DROD?
A vote on the Favourite levels of King Dugan's Dungeon was conducted recently, along with another parallel vote on the least liked monster.
Some discussions on what people thought were the easiest or hardest levels can be found here:
* DROD's Easiest and Hardest Levels
Some discussions of particular levels of King Dugan’s Dungeon can be found here:
* Annoying Level (Level 9)
Several transcripts of debates on the notorious Level 13 (the maze) have also been published by the Guild:
The debate on Level 13
Level 13 opinions
Level 13 (The most unpleasant level?)
We found a few discussions that focused on what people thought were their favourite or hated rooms in King Dugan’s Dungeon:
Least Favourite Rooms
* What are some of your worst rooms in KDD?
* Annoying 'annoying' rooms
The famous room L3 1S in King Dugan’s Dungeon, also known as the ‘Eight Gates of Bill’, was a strange mechanism incorporated into King Dugan's Dungeon for an unknown reason, although it is believed to be some sort of security mechanism. The actual methods that can be used to solve the puzzle (of which there are quite a few) can be found discussed here:
Eight Gates of Bill
Eight Gates – Revisited
An interesting debate, entitled "The final few rooms were a letdown" was also published recently, and discusses the failings and strengths of the 'Neather's final challenge at the bottom of King Dugan’s Dungeon.
* Also, a theoretical discussion on whether or not the ‘Neather could have been killed prematurely (from Beethro’s descriptions of Level 25) can be found in the thread entitled ”A Deep Curiosity”.
The question "How did Beethro get back?" was raised in the Smitemasters' Guild shortly after he returned from cleaning out King Dugan's Dungeon. Much speculation about it can be found in the transcript, although no-one is certain about the answer, since Beethro himself refuses to comment on the matter and no maps of King Dugan’s Dungeon below Level 10 can be found anywhere.
Also from the Smitemaster’s Guild, more transcripts of discussions about other aspects about dungeons and their contents in general were kindly donated to us.
Some votes on what dungeon exterminators think are their favourite and most deadly monsters are can be found here:
Favourite Monster
The Deadliest Monster
* Deadliest Mix of Monsters/Monsters and Objects
Some other transcripts of debates on specific dungeon elements can be found here:
Invariants of Tar Cutting
* Tar Spreading and Forming
Are spiders "cheap"?
Trapdoors
Eyes
Interesting fact about roaches
* Monster Movement Clarification
* Snake AI
A small discussion of monsters that didn’t make it into DROD was also recently discovered (it comes with a few demos of a very old DROD).
* Another debate was found recently, which dealt with the problem of where the scar on Beethro’s head came from, which has caused some to query the accepted (official) reason given, and conjecture other possible reasons for it.
* An interesting discussion on conventions and stylistic features of dungeon extermination by Smitemasters from all over Ephelna was also discovered recently. There appear to be many different opinions on exactly what the best way to go about clearing a dungeon is, although this looks to be solely based on personal preference, and not regional location.
One or two studies into the actual movement order of monsters were made in order to clear up the mystery of how Dungeon Exterminators can get out of (or into) some seemingly impossible situations with monsters right next to them. The results can be found here:
* Monster order
* In one turn, what is the order of creature moves?
* A recent series of discoveries of Architectural designs was made by several experienced Dungeon Exterminators in several different dungeons. It was reported to the Smitemaster’s Guild, but as yet, the purpose of such strucures still remains a mystery, although the Dungeon Architects’ Association are rumoured to have something to do with it.
* Smitemasters have also been recently discussing which (user-made) dungeons would theoretically have been worth re–clearing in terms of the satisfaction and experience gained from doing it. Although at first glance ludicrous, such discussions are not taken seriously, for they are only intended to find the best rooms to create re–enactments of for educational purposes.
DRODistic Discussions
Many other topics about the beliefs and philosophy behind the Eighth and DROD have also been uncovered.
A poll on what people think of dungeon exterminating in DROD was carried out in Dugandy recently. Public opinion appears to be mostly very positive.
A discussion or two about the general DROD playing strategy from the Committee of Successful Dungeon Extermination can be found here:
Math gurus go! Or: How to play DROD
DROD tendency
A debate on the metaphysical problem of monster killing in the dungeons, entitled ”Where does all the blood go?” was found in one of the Chambers of Discussion inside King Dugan’s castle.
* A collection of old sayings handed down by Smitemasters over many years, was recently compiled into an article entitled: ”Memorable quotes of the Eighth”, which is itself still a work in progress.
An unusual piece of information about a possible movie for DROD, called "DROD - The Movie™" was unearthed from a small town near Dugandy, where the film may be shot some time in the future. Reports indicate that plans appear to be still in the planning phase, but experts assure us that it will be going into production soon.
* An unusual debate was published recently by a group of retired Smitemasters that recalled the nostalgia of their first Dungeon Extermination job and what might have happened if they had not decided to become exterminators.
Some unusual debates were contributed by a small organisation of people discussing the philosophy of DROD.
One of these concerned the naming of DROD and was entitled, fittingly, "Why DROD?", while another was on how to pronounce the word "DROD".
Another two were on the naming of people involved with DROD and their personalities:
Those Who Play
Who are you?
One other unusual debate from the same group, entitled "So, I raise tar for a living...", discusses the naming of a person involved in the hypothetical process of breeding and farming Living Tar.
The group also discussed the problem of the edibility of a mimic, in which the problem raised by Beethro's description of level 22 of King Dugan's Dungeon is addressed.
* An unusual discussion and vote on how much being a Dungeon Exterminator has impacted the social lives of Smitemasters has also been discovered recently in Dugandy in one of the archives of the Smitemasters’ Guild.
Places of the Eighth
This section is mostly empty, since general information about the regions of the Eighth is very rare and highly difficult to obtain. The main (official) information that we have can be found on the Master Map of The Eighth.
Recently, however, a contest was held for some intrepid explorers to research an unknown area and bring back some tourist information about it. The successful survivors returned to submit their entries, which were recorded and published shortly after.
Information about the Eighth
As well as Matt’s
article on the Eighth, which covers the major parts of the information of the Eighth we have to date, several texts have also been found in which some aspects of the Eighth are discussed in more detail.
Some in–depth information about the generally accepted form of writing of most of Ephelna’s inhabitants (translated) can be found in an article entitled "Sihmpuhl Englihsh for Dummies". Warning – the link contains spoilers, so don't look if you wish to work out the system yourself.
A smaller amount of information on Sihmpuhl Englihsh can be found here in the text entitled "Story Collaboration" (Pronunciation Section), along with some detail on the calendar and dates of the important events of Beethro's life.
A proposed system for extending the dungeon coordinate numbering system was uncovered from a secret archive of the Dungeon Architects’ Association, entitled "More DROD Coordinate (Indicatory) Numbers?". It is, however, unconfirmed whether such a system has been accepted, or even implemented, since the Dungeon Architects’ Association refuse to comment on it.
A small discussion about the Kingdoms of the Eighth was found in Mellenfral just before the drawing and unveiling of the Master Map of the Eighth, in which some of the problems of the Eighth’s geography were discussed.
In the second part of the text called "Story Collaboration" (Scientific Discussion), much information concerning the Eighth’s physical structure and shape can be found.
Some monster and Tar metaphysics can be found in the second half of a discussion on "Bridges" that wandered off topic.
Quite a few other discussions of physical problems in the Eighth and dungeon metaphysics can also be found in the third part of the "Story Collaboration" (Metaphysical Discussion) text as well.
A paper, entitled "Area of the Beneath", was recently published by a very famous dungeon researcher, who had pooled all known data about them to find their estimated total surface area. From this information, it is inferred that very few of all the Eighth’s dungeons have actually been explored, something the Smitemasters’ Guild is eagerly researching.
In "A Very Complex DROD Puzzle" a puzzle posed by King Dugan, concerned with "The Study of the Dungeon", is debated and we believe solved. Warning - the puzzle solution can be found in the link, so don't look if you wish to have a go yourself. The puzzle was recently removed from there, however, and re–written and republished in a more up–to–date form in "A DROD Puzzle IV".
A recipe for Eyeball Pudding was discovered from a small village living on the northern border of the forest of Elpa. It is a very old recipe, although now not prepared often, since Evil Eyes no longer need to be hunted for food there.
* Some new information on the announcement by the DAA of the recall of the Palace Style was reported and recorded. Many sources are contributing information to the discussion, some of it conflicting, but nevertheless, it seems that many breakthroughs could be made on this topic.
* A new debate is raging on the new journey being undertaken by Beethro to King Dugan’s Dungeon to try to solve the mystery of refilling dungeons. For the time being, Beethro has not been seen since leaving for the dungeon, although many are hopeful he will return, bringing more knowledge to enlighten the surface–dwellers of the Eighth, and perhaps to help solve the mystery.
Miscellaneous
This section is mostly empty, since we can’t find anything apart from these two articles to put in it. If you notice something that is to do with DROD, dungeons, the Eighth, or its people, but don’t quite fit under any other category, then nominate it to be included here.
A very distinguished and retired architect published
a special type of map (called a "DROD Template") recently, allowing explorers of dungeons and other subterranean areas to map the rooms they are in, and to give newer Architects a helping hand with planning a dungeon.
(^)A rather odd picture was found in an old pile of scrolls from a traveller. It is
a painting of some Living Tar engaging in some intriguing festive activities, although its authenticity is not confirmed. It was apparently spotted on the plains of Clot, where some tar naturally found there became interested in the "
Christmas"
festival celebrated by the local people, and decided to join in. A team of scientists is on its way to investigate.
* A puzzle, called a
“DROD–word” was recently published to test the knowledge of Ephelnans about Smitemasters and dungeons in general.
(^)
* Recently, a world–renowned sculptor revealed his latest masterpiece:
a statue of Beethro’s head, which is a tribute to his work as “one of the greatest Smitemasters that has ever lived”. Although not quite finished yet, it has received great praise from its visitors and many art critics, who have hailed it as “impressive”.
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Resident Medic/Mycologist
[Last edited by agaricus5 at 02-16-2009 06:28 PM]
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