Eric and the Dread Gazebo

"Eric and the Dread Gazebo" also known as just “The Gazebo story"[1] is a role-playing game-inspired anecdote, made famous by Richard Aronson (designer of The Ruins of Cawdor, a graphical MUD, and the voice of Cedric in King's Quest V).

It subsequently spread to the internet where it has been frequently retold and adapted as short stories and comics.

The tale features a player who misunderstands the gamemaster's description of a gazebo on a small hill, mistakenly assuming it to be some kind of monster in the game.

After asking the gamemaster its color, size and distance from the group, the player attempts to call out to the gazebo.

By the end of the encounter the player, lacking the means to harm the gazebo, opts to flee in desperation.