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ArtistChapter 18 – The Dragon Who Owned Nothing Except Everything Part 1 – The Mountain That Asked for Books Use the uploaded reference images strictly for Morksik (CR-M1), Borstel (CR-M2), Hopsy (CR-M4), and Dravarius (CR-M14). Preserve their established appearance, species, clothing, colors and proportions. Scene: the four travellers have just entered Dravarius’s enormous library inside the mountain for the first time. Dravarius stands among towering bookshelves and looks down at the visitors with an intelligent, slightly eccentric expression. He MUST match CR-M14 closely: enormous wingless, monitor-lizard-like dragon, heavy four-legged reptilian body, long powerful tail, earthy olive-brown and weathered charcoal scales, amber eyes, long backward-curving horns, small round spectacles and tiny black scholar’s cap. Do not add wings to Dravarius. Morksik, Borstel and Hopsy stand together several steps in front of him. Their established relative sizes MUST be preserved. Borstel is clearly a hedgehog. Hopsy is clearly a kangaroo, not rabbit-like, and has his enormous naturally attached leather pouch clearly visible. Also include Percival P. Waddlesworth, a small dignified anthropomorphic penguin gentleman wearing an elegant black tailcoat, white shirt, bow tie, black top hat and monocle, carrying a closed umbrella. He stands beside the other travellers and looks up at Dravarius with calm curiosity. Scale is essential: Dravarius is vastly larger than all four travellers. The travellers should appear small beside his legs, but remain clearly visible and recognizable. Do not enlarge the travellers to dragon size and do not make Dravarius human-sized. Surround them with the extraordinary mountain library: immense wooden bookshelves disappearing upward into the cavern, galleries, ladders, reading tables, ancient books, scrolls and warm amber lamps. No gold treasure or jewels. Books are Dravarius’s treasure. The mood is magical, scholarly and humorous rather than threatening. Dravarius has just discovered that his visitors brought no books. Realistic painterly fantasy storybook illustration, highly detailed natural textures, warm soft volumetric lighting, cinematic depth, consistent with The Morks of Mistmoor. 4:3 landscape composition. No duplicate characters. Bottom-right: small white full-body unicorn watermark with the text “AI by Unicorngraphics”.
The Morks of Mistmoor
Chapter 18 – The Dragon Who Owned Nothing Except Everything Part 1 – The Mountain That Asked for Books
For several moments none of the four travellers moved. The enormous wings upon the mountain slowly folded again until the creature became almost indistinguishable from the black rocks surrounding the summit. Morksik looked at Hopsy. Hopsy looked at Borstel. Borstel looked at Percival. "I feel," Percival said, "that we should address the question of books before climbing a mountain inhabited by something capable of swallowing the mountain." Hopsy immediately searched through his enormous pouch. A wooden spoon appeared first, followed by two brass bells, a compass, the small blue feather, a folded umbrella and a teapot. "No books," he announced. Borstel stared at the objects around his feet. "How can you carry all that and not one book?" "Books are heavy." "So is the teapot." Hopsy looked offended. "The teapot is essential." A low rumble rolled down the mountainside. "I CAN HEAR YOU." Hopsy returned the teapot to his pouch. "Apparently so is whispering." Beyond the wooden sign, a narrow road climbed between enormous black stones toward the summit. Small lanterns hung from iron hooks along the path. One by one they awakened with warm amber flames. Percival examined the nearest. "An invitation?" "Or instructions," Borstel said. The deep voice came again. "THE ROAD IS SAFE." A pause followed. "MOSTLY." Percival sighed. "I preferred the station." They began climbing. After several minutes Morksik noticed rectangular shapes carved into the rocks. One looked exactly like a bookshelf. Three stone books stood upon it. Their titles had been engraved into the spines. THE PRINCIPLES OF FAIR DISTRIBUTION. THE COMMON OWNERSHIP OF TREASURE. WHY DRAGONS SHOULD NOT HOARD GOLD. Borstel read the last title twice. "That seems unusually specific." "Perhaps dragons have a problem with gold," Hopsy suggested. A gust of warm air swept down the road. "GOLD IS A SYMBOL OF OBSOLETE MATERIAL ACCUMULATION." The four stared upward. Percival raised one eyebrow. "I see." The voice continued. "BOOKS, HOWEVER, ARE DIFFERENT." "Naturally," Percival murmured. They climbed higher. More stone shelves appeared beside the road. Some contained carved books, others plaques bearing quotations. Hopsy stopped before one. "What does this say?" Morksik wiped moss from the stone. "'Knowledge belongs to everyone.'" Beneath it someone had added a second inscription in smaller letters. EXCEPT RARE FIRST EDITIONS. Borstel began to smile. "I think I'm going to like this dragon." Eventually the path reached enormous bronze doors built directly into the mountainside. Instead of handles, they bore carvings of open books. Above them were the words: THE PEOPLE'S FREE LIBRARY OF THE HIGH MOUNTAIN. Beneath that, on a smaller brass plate, someone had written: ADMISSION BY PERMISSION OF THE OWNER.
