Impaler of the Rock

"You can't be serious!"
"With only a Tuck?!"
"You're no great adventurer!"
"Go back home to your hound and your field!"

These thoughts swam through Faust's head as he made his way up the mountain. From here he could see the smoke from his town's forge in the distance. He was going to do this. He was going to make it to the top of the mountain.

The thing about this particular mountain was that it cast a shadow over his town. More specifically, at a crucial point in the season, the peak of the mountain covered the entirety of one of his fields. Faust had been steadily losing crops year after year and it had gotten to the breaking point. His mother was sick and he needed that extra crop to pay for the care she needed. So he was going to do something about it.

All his work in the field prepared his body well for the climb. But it wasn't the climb he was worried about. Once he got to the top he'd need to shave off the entire peak in order to let the sun shine on his field. But he was no wizard. He had no spell for blowing peaks off mountains. Instead he has his Tuck. A long thin sword given to him by a traveler that he fed and housed a few years ago. The traveler had insisted Faust take the Tuck as well his yellow kite shield as payment for helping him in his time of need. Faust had initially refused, explaining he had no need for weapons and shields on his farm, but the traveler urged him to take them saying: "the time will come when these items could mean life or death". This wasn't exactly what Faust had in mind at the time, but he was grateful to at least have something with him now.

Finally, after a grueling journey, the peak was in sight. Faust's plan was to start at the top and chip away until he could see the sun shining through to his field. He was prepared to stay days or even weeks at the top to accomplish his task. But as it happened, that wouldn't be necessary.

The peak was not as solid as the rest of the mountain had been. Where the base of the mountain was solid stone, the peak was made up of rocks of all sizes stacked on top of one another. As Faust looked closer, he saw that the rocks weren't just randomly assorted either. They were neatly stacked in an arching pattern. Almost as if they had been placed there on purpose...

But that couldn't be. Who would build on to the top of a mountain like this? What purpose could it serve? No one ever traveled up here. There was no reason for any of this. The only thing this peak did was shade his field and hurt his yearly crop. And the mountain had done that for as long as Faust could remember. Since before his father died when Faust was a boy and he was forced to take over the farm to support his family. It had always been that way. But what about before? Was there a time when the field was not in shadow and the crops were more plentiful? Surely his mother would know something and he could always ask her when he returned home. But now, his focus remained on what he set out to do: destroy the peak.

As he scanned over the rocks, he finally saw it. The weak point. The keystone in the arch that held everything together. If he could remove the keystone everything would crumble. He pushed and pulled with all his might but could not get the stone to move. Finally, in an act of desperation, Faust raised his tuck and Impaled the Rock straight through the center. The rock shattered with an ear-splitting crack and the ground began to shake as the rocks started to fall.

Faust watched as the rocks tumbled down the mountain. In the distance he could see his farm, bathed from edge to edge in sunlight. It was going to be a good harvest this year.

Entered by: 0x3EA4…82db and preserved on chain (see transaction)