Verankht Does Not Want Milk
By Justin Gaskell.
The Knights of The Road are a group of good people who want to keep the road safe. But not everyone likes them. There are two people who do not like them at all, in fact, and they are bad, naughty people who want to hurt others! [A simple picture of a winding road.]
One is Dredoc, he is a gnome and he is very mean. He has a small beard and he uses magic in bad ways. He hurt Ubaldo, so none of the Knights like him at all! The other is Vippin. He is a Kobold and the biggest bully ever. He is small, scrawny and cruel. He loves tricks and traps and everyone hates him. [A simplistic picture of a gnome, his nose drawn over long and pointed, and a Kobold with sharp teeth.]
One day the Knights of The Road were walking along. Today there was Nelehien, their bold leader, and Verankht, the grumpy mage who loves apples, and two other, new members! [A picture of Nelehein and Verankht, drawn as simplistic stick figures, brightly coloured.]
One was Rhue, who is handsome, strong and very polite. The other is Alair, who is a Halfling. He is almost as smart as Ubaldo, and he has a magic book! [A picture of Rhue and Alair, again very simply drawn. Rhue has a large smile on is face, and Alair has a book under one arm.]
As they walked they heard a scream. They ran to find out what was wrong and found Vippin! He had pushed a little boy over and was going to steal his coins! Oh no! [A picture of Vippin standing over what looks like a little boy wearing a hood and cloak.]
The Knights run forward to help the little boy. As they do so they trip a hidden wire and BAM! A cage falls on top of them! Now they are all trapped! [A picture of Nelehien, Rhue and Alair in a cage.]
Look! That's not a little boy! It's Dredoc with a disguise! Bad Dredoc! Dredoc and Vippin laugh. They have captured the Knights and they can now be mean to them! [A picture of Dredoc tearing off his hooded cloak, and Vippin, pointing and grinning evilly at the caged Knights.]
'Let's call them nasty names!' says Dredoc. 'No, let's throw mud at them!' crows Vippin. 'No! Let's make them eat mud!' Cries Dredoc and soon both of them are arguing. [A picture of Dredoc, holding a chunk of mud in one hand and Vippin pointing towards the poor trapped Knights, all looking very sad.]
'I know' Says Vippin. 'Let's have a game of Tiddlywinks to decide what to do with them.' 'Alright' says Dredoc and the two go off to play the game, whilst the poor Knights are in a cage! [A picture of Vippin and Dredoc, lying on the ground playing Tiddlywinks.]
Knight Rhue tries to prize the bars of the cage open with his sword. But even though he's strong, he's not that strong. Knight Alair tries to read his book, to see if that holds any answers. It does not though. Even Nelehien is at a loss for what to do! [A picture of Rhue straining at the bars, Alair reading a book, and Nelehien looking puzzled.]
But what's this? Not all of the Knights are in the cage! Cunning Verankht managed to escape with an invisablity spell. But he is not as strong as Rhue, and his books aren't as good as Alair's. How will he get them out? [A picture of Verankht looking puzzled and sad.]
'I wish I was stronger and more powerful,' Verankht says sadly. He is very thin and weedy, you see. 'I know!' says Nelehien, 'why don't you drink some milk! Milk makes your bones strong, and your mind sharp! If you had milk, you could free us!' [A simple picture of a glass of milk.]
'But I hate milk' Protests Verankht, not happy. 'Please Verankht!' says Alair. 'No!' replies Verankht. 'Please drink the milk!' pleads Rhue. 'Never!' says Verankht. [Picture of Verankht looking cross, standing over the glass of milk, arms folded before him.]
'You must drink milk!' Begs Nelehien. Verankht still isn't sure. He really hates milk. Can you persuade him? Please drink the milk Verankht! Please! [A picture of Verankht holding the milk, he is frowning, clearly unhappy.]
Verankht must have heard you. He is very brave and very good deep down, so he drinks the milk! All at once he becomes more powerful! See how his muscles bulge! His bones get stronger! Verankht is very strong now! [A picture of Verankht, his arms up high, bulging muscles upon them.]
Verankht uses his new magic and strength to lift the cage right off the Knights, and they are very happy! They all hug Vernakht! Hooray for Veankht! Hooray for milk! [A picture of Verankht literally tossing the cage off the other Knights. The Knights all smile, hands high up in the air.]
Later Dredoc and Vippin return, their game took them a while because they both kept cheating! But they have decided to call the Knights mean names, throw mud at them and then make them eat it! How awful! But what's this? They cannot see the Knights. Only a small note on the floor. [A picture of Vippin and Dredoc, looking confused, moving towards the note.]
They move to the note and look at it. It says, "Got Milk?" Suddenly the cage falls on top of them! The Knights were holding it up with strength and magic, and now it is Vippin and Dredoc who are trapped. [A picture of Vippin and Dredoc trapped in the cage, holding the bars, with the Knights outside smiling]
'This is your fault!' says Dredoc' 'No, it's yours!' replies Vippin and soon the two are fighting, because evil always fights with evil in the end. The Knights laugh, very amused, and they leave the two of them to fight. [A picture of Vippin and Dredoc fighting. Dredoc punches at Vippin whilst Vippin tugs Dredoc's beard.]
It is bedtime now, and the Knights are sleepy. Say goodnight to the Knights and have a glass of milk before bed now. It will make you strong, just like Verankht! Goodnight Knights! Night night! [A final picture of all the Knights waving goodnight, Verankht holding a glass of milk.]