Meet Dr. Acrid

Creation of Thump
From the Journals of Dr. Acrid

. . . ever closer, we can see them coming, a great hairy horde. We were growing ever more desperate to protect our home from the oncoming Grendel.
    Once we discovered the secrets of the monstrous trolls, once we were able to contain them, we knew we could fight back. I tried various Crossroads devices to control the beasts, but to no avail, I knew we would go the route that the Skull Clan went, we would follow in the footsteps as the Cross Roads. We thought we could control the filth and funk of the Trolls.
    It is all folly of course, now I know this, looking on the ruin of the Green, I understand beyond a shadow of any doubt, this is my doing. I alone carry the burden of fault, not only for the plague that I unleashed, but for the current apocalypse that the Rage brought with it.

Schnark was my first specimen, and it shows in the crude creation of the gruff I refer to as Thump. Then, I merely sliced apart the trolls before they could convert to stone, and grafting parts of them onto our poor goats. I thought this process may give our Gruff the capability to turn to stone, or impart some of the troll’s rage upon them. I started with Schnark’s heart, a huge organ in and of itself, the results were . . . tragic.

Thump, it was thump that was patient zero, and I wish I had destroyed it while I had the opportunity. When . . . it, began beating, as though still attached to the horrid troll, and sludge and funk began oozing from detached ventricles, I should have known that I had gone too far. But no, I had assumed that this would allow my studies and experiments to move faster, I did not understand how the contagion worked, not until . . not until my faithful companion Licky fell victim.

This Journal entry was discovered by John Baltisberger