....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....j..........F..
............*.......
 
                @ "Gee, it's been a long time since I got any mail addressed to me!"    
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....j..........F..
............*.......
 
                @ "Hint, hint!"
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
........&@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....j..........F..
............*.......
 
                & "Gangway!" @ "Gosh, I wonder whom this could be for?"
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....j..........F..
............*.......
 
                @ "'Dear Dogley,' — Gah! Curse you, RN God!" d "Ahem!"
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....j..........Fw.
............*.......
 
                d "'Dear Dogley, tell me about Dudley's twelve siblings. Sincerely, Erdrick.'"
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....j..........w..
............*.......
 
                d "Well?" @ "Well, I'm the youngest of my parents' thirteen offspring."
                 
             | 
            
                
                |.|         |      |
|*|  ---    +      |
|.---|@|    |      |
|.!  ->|--|--------|
|.---|S|    |      +
|.|  ---    | ------
|.| S       | |    +
|.|   s     |+|    |
|------------+------
 
                @ "My eldest brother is a renowned ancient artifact collector..."
                 
             | 
            
                
                .....}}.............
......}}.....O......
---....}}}........O.
  |...}}}.....O.....
  |....}}@..........
---...@@G..@........
.....o.}}...........
.......}}}..........
......}}}}}.........
 
                @ "My second-eldest went north and joined a band of highwaymen..."
                 
             | 
            
                
                 ....  ......       
    ....    .....   
          ....  ..  
    ..     .@..  .. 
 ..h....    ..  ... 
..   h...      .... 
 ..   ..       ..*  
  ..          ...   
   ..  ...........  
                @ "My third-eldest eschewed modern living and became a mountain wanderer..."
                 
             | 
            
                
                --------------------
.|......+          +
.|..@...-----------|
.|@.._..|...|......|
.|..G@..+.@.@......|
.|......|...|....@.|
-|-----------......|
.-...rr..r..-...G..|
--------------------
 
                @ "My fourth-eldest went to study medicine somewhere in the Mediterranean..."
                 
             | 
            
                
                ......|@......|.|...
.u....+...@..@|.|.i.
...)..|[..@...|.|...
--------------|.|..^
......@.........|...
---------------+|--.
....i.....i...|..@|.
.i............-----.
......i...^.........
 
                @ "My fifth and eleventh-eldest became soldiers at opposite ends of the world..."
                 
             | 
            
                
                ..|..|..........|Z.|
.X|..|...@..@...|.Z|
---..|.@........|.Z.
+....|....._....+...
-....|....@...@.-...
---..|@.........|...
..|..|..h.......|..|
..X..|....@@..o.|..|
..|..------------..|
 
                @ "My sixth and eighth-eldest both went on religious retreats to the Great Temples..."
                 
             | 
            
                
                .....-----------....
--------------------
------....@(...-----
|    |.........|....
|    |.@.....G.-....
---+--k..@.@...|....
......@......@.|--|-
--+--|+.----|---|>.|
     |.o|.@.|...|--|
                @ "My seventh-eldest, being a seventh son, was spirited away to wizards' school at age 12..."
                 
             | 
            
                
                # # ##  ############
# #C# d##  s   s  ^ 
# # #.##  ##########
# # #@#  ##    @    
# # #.# ##  ########
# #   # #  ## | @  @
# ##### # ##> |   @ 
# #  C# #  ## |     
# # #C# ##  ########
 
                @ "My fourth-youngest, a nature enthusiast, found his calling in the Scouts..."
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....|-....}}....-|..
...|-.....;}.....-|.
..|-...}}}}}}}}...-|
.|-....;}}}}}}}....-
--.n...}}.}}....@...
|.n....}}}}}}}}.....
--........}}.}}...N.
.|-.l..};}}}}}}....-
..|-...}}}}}}}}...-|
 
                @ "My third-youngest sends money home each week, but we have no idea of his occupation..."
                 
             | 
            
                
                --------------------
|.....@...|@@@@@@@@@
|.........|@@@@@@@@@
|------+--|--+------
|......@..|.........
|..%..%.[%|.........
|-+-----(-|..[...---
|&.|..|...|......|.K
|&.-..-&..|...../|K.
 
                @ "And my youngest brother is in the midst of a round-the-world backpacking tour."
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....b..........F..
............*.......
 
                @ "One thing I should mention, though, is that our parents gave all of us the same first name."
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....b..........F..
............*.......
 
                @ "Presumably so that our hand-me-down clothes wouldn't need to be relabeled."
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....b..........F..
............*.......
 
                d "Wait, they named you Dudley, even though you're a girl?"
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....b..........F..
............*.......
 
                @ "Hey, just because I play a Valkyrie doesn't mean I'm any less of a man!"
                 
             | 
            
                
                ....................
..................).
...%...........!....
....................
.........@d.........
...[..............$.
....................
.^....b..........F..
............*.......
 
                d "Except biologically and mentally, of course." @ "Well, yeah."
                 
             | 
            
    
    | 
    http://dudley.nicolaas.net
     |