Who is Stubz · The Journey of Stubz Flux

Stubz Flux close up: a gnome with a tall black mohawk, bushy black eyebrows and a big moustache, in braces and a vest

Some gnomes read about adventures. Stubz Flux would rather be standing in one — ideally in the most dangerous part, preferably at the front, and definitely before anybody has finished saying “wait.”

Somebody has to go first. Might as well be the one with the shield.

The dig mapPick a stop to jump to that chapter

Chapter I · The first Flux through every door since the day he was born

Eleven minutes older

Stubz Flux was born eleven minutes before his twin brother Nux, and he has been first through every door since. First out of the cradle, first up the workshop chimney, first to find out that the frozen pond on Sprocket Street was not, in fact, frozen all the way through.

Where Nux would stop at the mouth of a cave to wonder what was inside, Stubz was already inside, shouting back that it was fine, it was probably fine, and could somebody bring a torch.

He was not reckless, exactly. He just could not stand the thought of anybody else meeting the danger first. His mother called it a terrible habit. Stubz called it manners.

Stubz Flux sitting in a big wooden tavern chair beside two tankards, hands on his knees — Eleven minutes older, and he will not let anyone forget it.

Chapter II · The same rainy afternoon, two floors down

What the cellar was hiding

On the rainiest afternoon in the history of Dun Morogh, the twins were given one job each. Nux was sent up to the attic to sort through Great-Great-Grandgnome Pip Flux’s old things. Stubz was sent down to the cellar to fetch a jar of pickled turnips.

Behind the turnips was a wall. Behind the wall, when Stubz knocked on it, was a very interesting hollow sound. Behind the hollow sound, after a hammer and a small amount of shouting, was a dented old shield wrapped in oilcloth.

It was far too big for a gnome and far too heavy for anyone sensible. In the middle of the iron boss was a keyhole shaped like a star. And scratched into the back, in Pip’s spidery writing, was a note.

Stubz Flux sitting in a chair beside a glowing iron fire basket — Warming up by the fire, the shield never far away.

Chapter III · Learning the most important job on any expedition

Porter, then digger, then shield

Stubz did what any sensible young gnome would do with an ancient shield and a mysterious note: he talked his way onto an Explorers’ League dig as a porter, carried crates twice his size into ruins nobody had opened in a thousand years, and asked a great many questions.

The scholars knew everything about the old stones. What they did not know was what to do when the old stones started moving. So Stubz learned that part himself. The most important person on any dig, he decided, is the one at the front: the one who steps through first, takes the hit, and stands between the scholars and whatever has just woken up.

So that is who he became. Not the fastest, not the cleverest, but the one who does not move when everything else is moving towards him. He learned to set his feet, raise the shield and grin. The grin was not in any training manual. It just happened.

Step where the dust lies thick and grey;
the polished stones are the ones that sway.
Turn the star once, the door turns twice —
and whoever goes first had better be nice.

Chapter IV · Nobody said the front was a comfortable place to stand

Traps, tombs and the Copperkettles

The first real tomb had everything: pressure plates that clicked, axes that swung out of the walls in a very rude manner, a staircase that decided halfway down that it would rather be a slide, and a long hall of statues that were definitely watching.

It also had the Copperkettle brothers — three rival treasure hunters with one brain between them and a lot of shovels — who had heard there was gold under the mountain and barged straight past the porter at the door. They made it four steps.

When the ceiling came down, it was Stubz who held the doorway, shield over his head, boots braced against the stone, while everybody crawled out underneath him — the scholars, the mules and, eventually and very grudgingly, all three Copperkettles. One of them said thank you. The other two are still working up to it.

Chapter V · Neither of them can get there alone

Two brothers, one map

When Stubz finally came home, dusty, dented and delighted, he found Nux in the kitchen with a blank parchment that glowed when he sneezed on it. Same afternoon. Same Pip. One map, one shield.

It did not take them long to work it out. The map shows where; the shield opens the way. Nux can read the riddles and find the road. Stubz can walk down it first and make sure the road does not eat anyone.

So they made a deal. Nux scouts ahead with his spells and his map. Stubz goes first through every door with a star-shaped lock. And whoever reaches the X first waits for the other one. (Stubz has already decided that will be him.)

This is his half of the story: the doors, the traps and the long road, written down one step at a time.

Stubz Flux waving with a big grin from his tavern chair — “Last one to the X buys the cheese sandwiches.”

Packed by Stubz; not checked at all

What’s on his back

Pip’s shieldDented. Star-shaped keyhole. Very heavy.
A short swordSharpened every night, mostly for the noise
Fifty feet of ropeForty-nine since the staircase
TorchesLots. Somebody has to see the traps first.
BandagesMostly for everybody else
A digger’s pickFrom his porter days. Still handy.
Nux’s cheese sandwichesHe was told they were for sharing
No sense of danger whatsoeverDoes not fit in the pack either

The door at the end of the world

Somewhere past the last line of Pip’s map is a door with a star-shaped lock. Nux has the map, Stubz has the shield, and neither of them has a plan. He is going first anyway.