In our last episode, our four heroes discovered that they have new amazing powers, and thanks to their brave rescue of a villager, they have agreed to go on a King’s quest to save his subjects. Their first stop? The Cloud Fortress of the silver dragon Atlas, a legendarily intelligent creature who may have information about the disappearance of the town folk. And, they have just arrived where the castle is supposed to be, to find…nothing?
After several days on horseback, our heroes have arrived at the location of Atlas’ Cloud Fortress, which is meant to stand at the confluence of Cannon brook and the Far Quar river. However, as Marcus makes the extra-long drop off of his horse to the ground, he says what the rest of the group is already thinking, “hey, shouldn’t a castle be easy to find? Why don’t we see it anywhere”
Pauline, her sharp elven eyes casting across the horizon, shakes her head. “You aren’t going to believe this, but I think I know where we’re supposed to go, or rather, who we are supposed to talk to. Stay low, its vision is probably just based on movement.”
The four would-be adventurers hitch their horses and creep into the low brush, Pauline leading the way. Angie, her nose twitching, whispers “hey guys, why do I smell chicken?”
Pauline moves aside some brush, and the answer to the fowl smell appears – ahead of them, lounging in a clearing, is a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Tentatively, Product Marketing Manager Caroline steps out of the bushes, and with a subtle clearing of her voice, she calls out “uh, excuse, Mr…um…Rex?”
The dinosaur turns towards her, and the ground shakes as it strides in her direction. With a low rumble, a voice emanates from deep within the animal “oh hi! I didn’t see you there. I guess you’re looking to get to the Cloud Fortress?”
Wary, but now curious, Caroline explains the situation. “Yes, we were sent by King Gaudenz to speak with Atlas; we need to know more about the disappearing villagers”.
The dinosaur straightens slightly, its tiny arms crossing in front of its chest. “Well, I can’t just let anyone into the castle. Atlas pays me to keep out the riff-raff…no offense. If you want to enter, you need to answer a riddle.”
As the rest of the team steps into the clearing, Pauline pipes up, “if it’s the one about two legs, four legs, three legs, we know that one!”
The securi-t-rex cocks an eye. “I don’t know that one. But, actually it’s pretty simple. What I want to hear is a story that changes my world, using as few words as possible“.
Caroline, confident as a communications professional, she takes a step forward and looks about to speak, but, Pauline calls her back. “Wait Caro! I might be wrong, but I think it’s a trick question.”
Pauline steps in front of the dinosaur and begins to move her hands rhythmically. Soon, her newfound magical ability begins to manifest itself, and light flickers from her fingertips creating an image floating in midair. The drawing begins to slowly spin, and after a few moments it becomes clear what the elf has created – a spectral heliocentric model of the Earthen solar system.
The dinosaur begins to smile, at least as much as its giant mouth will allow it to smile. “Wow!” it says, “so this is what other universes look like. That is amazing, because I thought it was just turtles all the way down. Well, allow me to keep my part of the bargain.” The dinosaur tips its head back and bellows a colossal roar, forcing the party to scramble to cover their ears.
As the shock of the prehistoric shout wears off, they notice an unexplainable sight – a staircase is magically floating down from the sky. Giving a farewell wave to the T-rex, the group steps onto the staircase, and they feel it begin to rise into the air. Before long the pastoral kingdom fades from view, replaced by the cottony softness of the clouds. A moment or two later and they break through into blue skies, and ahead of them looms the giant castle of Atlas the dragon.
The stairs deposit them gently at the front doors, which magically swing open, beckoning them inside. “Oh. My. God” whispers Marcus as his eyes adjust to cavernous space in front of him.
They are standing inside a massive room the size of New York’s Grand Central station, except there are no timetables or Broadway posters on the wall. Instead, every visible surface is covered in bookshelves, from floor to ceiling. Magical sconces emit a pleasant orange glow, making it easy to see that each shelf contains thousands of books, scrolls, and sheafs of paper. Some of the spines are readable in English, others are written in strange otherworldly script. In the middle of the room is a pile of books heaped atop one another, looking more like a hoard than the nicely arranged books in a library. Atop the hoard, an 150 foot long dragon sits in repose, a book perched on a reading stand in front of her. One taloned finger taps her lips as she scans the pages, her massive wings fanning her body every once in a while.
Trying to hide their knocking knees and white knuckles, Pauline, Caroline, and Marcus move towards the dragon, Angie doing her best to stay in their shadows. As they approach, the dragon languidly lifts her gargantuan head to look at them. “Ah” her voice rumbles across the stone floor, “travelers. Welcome to my cloud fortress. Tell me, what brings you to the Cloud?”.
“This place is amazing,” Marcus says, his wide eyes trying to take it all in all the stored knowledge. “I’ve never seen so many books in one place.”
“Thank you,” Atlas smiles, “I am a lover of knowledge. That’s why I acquired this castle from its previous tenant, a giant who didn’t recognize its potential as a book repository.” She casts her eyes wistfully along the shelves. “I just wish my oldest friend was here to see it…”
Angie pokes her head out from behind Caroline, then throws herself to the ground, prostrating before the dragon. “Oh great and powerful Atlas! We beseech thee, willst thou help us save the kingdom of Connectalot?! Dost thou grant us the boon of imparting some of your wisdom?”
Atlas grins uncomfortably “Um, please, there’s no need to grovel. I am aware of who you are, and why you’re here. And, I do want to help, but unfortunately even I do not have the answers you seek. I do not know where the villagers have gone.”
The party is crestfallen at this news. “But,” continues Atlas, hoping to perk them up, “I do think that our problems might be related, and perhaps I have some information that might give you an avenue to investigate.”
With a flap of her giant wings, Atlas arises and floats over to a large painting depicting a rather strange looking animal; part pig, part sheep, part chicken, and part cow. “This is my oldest friend, the Eierlegende Wollmilchsau. She used to call this castle home, and she would help visitors just like you quickly understand the information contained within the fortress. She gave people a different way of looking at things, and provided better connections between all the knowledge stored here. Sometimes it was like she could do it all, or do anything. She was one of a kind.”
Atlas’ eyes grow misty looking at the painting of their best friend. “Several weeks ago, the Eierlegende Wollmilchsau disappeared without a trace. She wasn’t taken from here, of that I am sure – no one could penetrate my fortress in the clouds. No, my friend left of their own free will, and I cannot imagine why. I have lived for centuries, and have seen many friends come and go, but she was special. I do hope that she will finish what she needs to do and return soon. Life in my cloud is not the same without her.”
Her eyes hardening, she turns to face the group. “If there is any creature alive who can find the villagers, it is the Eierlegende Wollmilchsau. If you can find her, I am certain that she will be able to give you the answers that I cannot. My advice? Start by traveling to the home of her youth, a small village called Wiesgooden. I can give you directions.”
The dragon accompanies the adventurers back to the massive doors, handing them a simple map to Wiesgooden. As they step on the magical staircase and begin to descend, Marcus is struck by a distressing thought. “Atlas!” he calls. “What happens if the Wollmilchsau was taken just like the villagers? What if the same fate has befallen your friend?”
The dragon waves as the castle disappears from view, her voice barely carrying through the clouds. “Then you should return home. Anything that could take all of those villages and the Eierlegende Wollmilchsau is too powerful for this world.”
Diagramming Inspiration
Just like the Eierlegende Wollmilchsau, draw.io can do it all! Did you ever think about using draw.io to create a floor plan? Just like Pauline created a map of the solar system, you can use draw.io to create maps of your office, campus, or structure. Inspired by the story above, here’s a map we built of New York’s Grand Central station. Everything was built inside Confluence using draw.io, and utilizes a somewhat accurate scale.
Want to get started building your own maps or floorplans? We have a few blogs and videos to get you started:
- How to create floorplans in Confluence with draw.io (blog)
- Use the background page feature to build floorplans (video tutorial)
- How to create interactive diagrams (including maps and floorplans) in Confluence using draw.io (video tutorial)
If you’re ready to dive in, you should head to the Atlassian Marketplace to install draw.io in Confluence and start your free 30 day evaluation.
Happy diagramming!
Last Updated on August 1, 2023 by Admin