The Doom of the Disc, the later days, too many thes!
Sounds bad doesn't it? Doom with a capital D. But Doom might not be bad, just the end of something. Maybe. And this is the Discworld, it has to turn out right in the end. Doesn't it?
A mighty ship travelled the ocean seas of the Disc. A very mighty ship. Made of steel, iron and even concrete. Sea travel on the Disc had come a long way in the last one hundred years. A shame that the morals of the disc had fallen behind a bit, but more on that later. This ship as well as exploring for the sake of exploring was also seeking out vital minarals, resources, places for wealth. It had come across a pretty little tropical island. With white coral beaches, tall green cocunut trees, shinning blue lakes that glittered in the sun, birds and a wealth of natural wildlife. A place of peace and tranquility. Although it was not going to be a place of peace and tranquility for long if the Captain of the vessel from the country of Ankh-Morpork had his way. He took a look at it. Just the perfect island that they were looking for on this mission.
Which was why able-shipman Edward Whitesnake was on the ilse in full Navy gear exploring one of the remoter bays. He didn't mind his job too much, it was interesting not too ardius and he did get too see interesting parts of the disc, like this island. Whitesnake was moderately intelligent, and did not actually come from Ankh-Morpork, but Quirm a nearby city, but the Ankh-Morpork navy had come calling and were offering well paid work, so he grabbed at the opportunity.
He had heard some explosions nearby though, which had caused concern, but one of his fellows had explained that the Captain was thoroughly exploring the island even under the surface and taking advantage of 'our superior technology,' as he put it. Just then, Whitesnake thought that he had seen just out the corner of his eye something land in the trees, something big. He couldn't see it again. 'Na, just my imagination,' thought he.
Later that day the Captain was given a report on the survey. 'Nothing much of interest save maybe some copper under the surface, which our radioactive particles found,' he was told. The Captain was unconcerned and moved on. But perhaps he should have been. Perhaps Whitesnake should have been. Because this particular mission had awoken something. Something large and powerful. Which was only going to grow larger. Something which was insane by the radiation which the ship had pumped into it and was going to get madder. Something which was going too be of great concern to all of the Disc...
It was six months later. Whitesnake had returned from his mission which he had found profitable and even enjoyable in parts. Some of the naval songs in particular were quite an eye opener. Now he was back home in Quirm. Even here, life was good. He was a young man without responsibilities end had gainful employment in one of the bakeries. At the least he knew that he was better of than many.
He had a friend. Well, he had many friends, naturally, but he had one interesting one. Known as Danforth Wind-are-arca. But fortunately this was shortened to Windo and that was how Whitesnake referred to him. Windo was a appropriate name. Because he could be full of it at times.
On this occasion, for example. Windo took a rather unhealthy interest in the ocult and natures of all things magical. Nothing wrong with that in particular in ages gone by in the disc magic had been a dominant force, but on these modern times, most regarded magic as a rather backward notion with the advance of civilisation, technology and logic. Although magic was about to make a rather dramatic and unpleasant comeback...
Windo and Whitesnake were having there normal get-together at a local inn called the flaming Dragon. Windo was doing most of the talking as usual. About his recent occult experiences. He gabbled enthusiastically 'thee have been some unusual ethos is vibrating on the sixth medium. Something in the seas. No-one has seen anything like this for decades. It is worth checking out. I might even have a look at my silver rune system.'
'Really,' yawned Whitesnake. It was late and Whitesnake did have to be at work early n the morning. On this occasion he didn't have time for Windo's long magical traits. He downed his pint and made his goodbyes into the foggy autumn Quirm night.
Windo said goodbye to his friend but then thought about things. He was not kidding about the magical activity, however. There was unusual activity in the southern seas. It could be nothing, but he did take an interest. He looked at his own tailor-made webpage for all things magical. He had a modified database which came up with Dragons when he investigated the precise magicial waves. Not just Dragons either, but king dragons. Dragons, he remembered, where rather cute little creatures which in times gone by had been kept as pets by the rich and powerful. But nowadays there were rather rare, they were a product of past times and in these modern days were close to extinction, indeed many species of Dragon were extinct nowadays.
Still, the data said King Dragons. Now these were different. Bigger, powerful and could be dangerous. In parts of the underdeveloped parts of the Disc, they had been known to create some seroius damage. These were even rarer. Of course, he mused, he could be jumping to conclusions, there were other possible explanations for this ethos and he had been wrong before. But this needed checking out. He did know of a magicial store which might be a help in selecting devices to at least counter any activity which any Dragon might cause. A rather shady little place in one of Quirm's less fashionable but possibly more interesting back-streets. Run by a Dwarf of rather dubious reputation, but it was a feature of Windo's personality that he could be very trusting. Trust is very important, he believed.
