After a long day's worth of acting, Vahrtznif returned home to regale his parents with the stories of heroism he acted out earlier that day. His beautiful mother sat at the far end of their table, with a face of stone. Smiling, the young bearded duergar approached his mother to give her a hug. If it is one thing Vahrtznif knew about his mother, it is that her emotions typically matched that of her current facial expression in that they are stone-cold. As he hugged her stone body, her stone lips remained still, for she was, is, and always will be a statue.

A mandolin enters the room. "Vahrtznif, what are you doing? Do not hug your mother. Play me, instead." Vahrtznif walked slowly to the mandolin with his head hanging low. "Aw man, but I like to hug my mother." The mandolin blinked a soft tune and responded "don't worry that you cannot hug your mother, Vahrtznif, because I will huge you."

The mandolin began blinking faster, furiously now, and his once relaxing tune quickly turned into a cacaphony of moistened eyes. Vahrtznif struggled, as it he knew what was happening... Manny the Mandolin was huging Vahrtznif. One inch... two inches... and, yes, three inches later, Vahrtznif had been huged above his previous height. Sobbing, Vahrtznif began pleading Manny to stop while layering the soles of his boots together. "I don't want it, I don't want to be huged, I want to be hugged. I know being hugged is like being huged but with an extra g, but I don't want what you offer." By the end of his last sentence, Vahrtznif had managed to create shoes with a 2-foot rise on them. He slipped them on to his feet, blinking a sad tune back to Manny, who plucked himself purely.

"You think you can live in this world of structure and family, Vahrtznif? Do you think that society will accept you and your uncanny ability to act? There is no society for someone like you. There is only stone, and there will always be only stone." Manny's thick legs began to flex, and his eyes began to boil. With a loud pop, Manny the Mandolin turned into a mandolin of stone (a manstonelin, Vahrtznif thought), and disappeared.

Every attempt to digest what become of Manny failed to yield clarity. However, one thing was certain. Vahrtznif knew that there would come a time when Manny returned, and everyone who was without a mandolin would suffer. One more thing was certain, now that Vahrtznif thinks about it... it was time for Vahrtznif to accept that he could stay with his family no longer; as it would mean only danger. Vahrtznif knew of an orphanage on the surface, in the town of Arkham, which may be willing to feed him orphans in exchange for also educating him. Could this be the start of a journey, or..?

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