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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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 Posted: Tue, 7th Aug 2012 11:35 Post subject: Lets play: Dwarf Fortress |
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Decided to give this a try. Never attempted any form of lets plays before and my DF skills are noobish at best. I adore this game, but I'm not kidding myself. So I limited the population to around 50-ish, turned off temperature for better frame rate, but embarked in a warm biome to make it a non-issue. Will still get ambushes, but no sieges. Megabeasts might wander in, but I don't expect anything bigger than a minotaur. Caves will still spawn forgotten beasts if one comes to my map. The only really big danger are were-beasts and incompetence from management.
Will try to strike a storytelling tone as if it was in the journal of the site overseer.
So, here's the first post:
| Quote: | Site Overseer's Logs
1st of the month Granite in the year 251 of the Golden Age
It's been 6 months since the overseer of my mountainhome pulled me aside during a party to discuss a lucrative opportunity for our kingdom. We, the Trustworthy Mines, have a reputation all over Ilasroth – The Absolute Domain in the common tongue – for our many works of exceptional craftsmanships, and with the wars of the past being history, it was time to expand our reach.
We were living in the halls carved into the foot of the mountains known only as the Crest of Heat. Numerous teams were sent out to survey the lands for possible sites, and one of them reported back from the other side of the mountainrange that they successfully located a candidate. It is supposedly rich in minerals and sits upon a thick layer of limestone. If we manage to stike iron, we will have a booming steel industry in no time.
The next half year was spent preparing for the journey. The seven brave souls selected for this endeavour were busy with training and I was looking after getting our provisions together. Besides the necessities, an ample food and booze supply mostly, we also selected three cats and dogs to be taken with us. Cats to keep our halls free of pesky rodents and dogs to serve as our eyes and ears in case one of those nasty kobolds try to snatch something while we're not looking. I also asked the local farmers if we could take a pair of pigs with us for catering purposes. They set me up with three.
So we set out for our new home about two weeks ago. Thankfully the journey was mostly uneventful. The only comotion was caused by one of the dogs, who at one night came back to the camp with a dead kobold in his mouth. I guess we know which one will be chosen to guard our gates.
So we arrived and it looks promising. The peaks of the Crest of Heat tower in the distance to the northwest, and the land know as the Friendly Hills are stretching out to the east. There is even a stream running not far from us. However it appears the current is way too strong for us short folk. One wrong step and one of us could be swept away, never to be seen again. No wonder they named it the Sugars of Murder. There are several boulders doting the landscape, mostly of limestone. The surveyors were right.
This looks like a good spot to settle down. Strike the earth! |
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Tue, 7th Aug 2012 20:40 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | No post mode specified
Please copy your message and try again. |
Don't you just hate when this fucking shit happens? I spent half an hour writing the report for the first season. Now it's lost. Thanks a lot...
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| Posted: Tue, 7th Aug 2012 21:34 Post subject: |
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Using back button in Chrome and Safari helps in such case.
On topic: Game is hardcore, every time I considered trying it and going thru how-tos I eventually said to myself: "STOP ! Better learn new programming language instead " 
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Tue, 7th Aug 2012 21:36 Post subject: |
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| Quote: | 1st of the month Hematite in the year 251 of the Golden Age
So we have arrived and are all tired, the initial high spirits devolved into general apathy and would just love to be under solid stone again. To remedy this, I ordered the two miners to start digging out a temporary entrance to the main halls.
Once it had enough room, everyone rushed in for some much needed darkness. Familiar, comfortable darkness. The ground was muddy, the walls were little more than wet soil, but it was still better to be in this glorified ditch than sleeping under the clouds. We knew that it won't last forever, but enjoyed it while we could. The sooner we start the bare essentials up and running, the sooner we can call this place home.
The first thing we did was set up a pasture for the animals. Thankfully one of the dogs seemed to have picked up some herding while on the road, and could be left alone outside with the pigs and the two bulls that pulled our wagon all the way here.
I asked the pick-jockeys to start making their way down. 15 levels should be enough, I said. The last thing we needed was one of them accidentally falling into a cave only to be eaten by a troglodyte, a cave spider or something even more nasty. We discovered four distinct soil layers above the predicted limestone deposit. This will give us more than enough space to set up farming and the stockpiles.
We didn't waste time on that. Once there was enough space, four small farm plot were designated to grow various edibles. While the farmers and miners were busy doing their stuff, I ordered the rest to start moving the contents of our wagon inside. I noticed a weasel eying our food supply the other day and the last thing we need is some rodent munching on our mushrooms.
Once the areas for the farms and food reserves were done, it was time to to start the main storage to be dug out. Thankfully the soil here was very easy to deal with, but still hard enough to support the weight of the levels above them. Once we're done, our two miners will have worked enough to be well respected members of any miners' guild back home.
After a while the guys started complaining that the cats keep bringing them dead vermin. So we designated a suitable spot outside as a temporary dump, so they don't stink up the place. I'm sure they mean well, but I don't want to welcome the first guests with the smell of rotting rats.
Just days before the end of spring, we held a little ceremony at the opening of our first distillery. The teary eyes and gigantic grins of my fellow dwarves were like a mirror, reflecting my own feelings of joy. We have booze! |
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Tue, 7th Aug 2012 22:10 Post subject: |
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Summer report:
| Quote: | 1st of the month Limestone in the year 251 of the Golden Age
Time flies in this place. Another three months passes, summer ended, I should take toll of the events since my last report.
It was essential to start our economy running now that we had food and booze taken care of. So with the help of our two pickaxe wielding friends, we set up a little area just beneath the stockpiles for our workshops. A carpenter's shop and a masonry was enough for the time being. Since the carpenter had enough time to clear out the trees surrounding the entrance, we had a good supply of timber and all the digging gave us more than enough stone for the mason to work with. I told them that we need beds and doors as soon as possible. Didn't need to tell them twice.
With that taken care of, it was time to think about our living arrangements. With beds and doors in production upstairs, I held a meeting with the rest of us to plan the general layout of our quarters. After a bit of back and forth, we managed to come up with one that satisfied everyone with ample opportunities for expansion.
My predictions about the first wave of immigrants was right. It wasn't long after the last door was set in place when we heard the hornblow in the distance, signaling the approach of our first group of new arrivals. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that one of them was a well known craftsman back in our old home. He will be of great help. We had just barely enough rooms to get everyone settled in.
Only a few days later one of the farmers made a passing comment about one of the cats getting a bit bulkier. This reminded me about the horror stories of other forts being overrun by dozens of cats. I quickly ran to find the carpenter and ask him to make a cage. The last thing we need is an ecological disaster – only known in as 'catsplosion' in dwarf circles.
As a last order before the end of the month Timber, I asked our mason to start churning out stone blocks for building material and our carpenter to take a stroll outside once in a while and cut down some more trees while he's at it. |
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Tue, 7th Aug 2012 23:03 Post subject: |
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The last report for today, the autumn sitrep for the first year. Will play winter an maybe more later tonight.
| Quote: | 1st of the month Moonstone in the year 251 of the Golden Age
With winter just around the corner, it is again time to write down the more noteworthy events of the last season.
While winter around these parts are usually rather mild, we all agreed that it is best if we set up a pasture inside the fort for at least the pigs. So a new room was dug out that would facilitate this need and would be the new home of the two sows, one boar and couple of newborn piglets.
Since our accommodations were barely enough to house the first wave of immigrants, I ordered new beds and doors to be put into the previously unused rooms. Not much to look at but still more comfortable than sleeping on the cold stone.
I ordered our miners to deal with a bit of landscaping to facilitate our future outside project, like the planned defensive wall. Sadly, one of them wasn't careful enough and mined the support from under one of the cats, who fell a few meters, getting some nasty bruises on her right front leg and head, peeling the skin right off parts of the skull. While it looks serious, it's nothing time won't heal. Might faint a few times, but she'll be all right. I hope...
As a first line of defense, I ordered the building of a drawbridge right at our front gate. While our mason is busy with other projects, it is on standby, but shouldn't be long before it's finished. Just have to remember to set up a few contraptions if I ever want to raise that bridge.
While the doors and beds for the new rooms were still in production, the new migrants arrived. They will have to rough it out for a while, but won't be long before they get their own lodgings.
A family of kangaroos just passed by our site. Seemed docile enough.
Since there was nothing else for my mason to do, I asked him to start smoothing the walls and floors of the bedrooms. Living in a furnished cave is not the same as a furnished room. Also, it was high time to start working on the dining hall. Eating while sitting on barrels is fine for a while, but I bet everyone would feel better doing that at a table.
Also, the thing I feared would come has indeed come. One of our designated haulers started acting weirdly. He rushed to his room and refused to come out, and his only response to our attempts to find out what was up with him was a secretive look as he was clutching a piece of paper in his hands what appeared to have some sketches on it. He was taken by a fey mood, a once in a lifetime event in every dwarf's life, when they get an idea for something truly wonderful. It is known that if they cannot finish this thing in time, they will inevitably go insane. Since nobody knows what the deal is with this fellow, we locked his door. Should he go berserk on us, it is better if he trashes his room before dying of thirst rather than killing everyone he finds.
Not long before winter came, a dwarven caravan liaison appeared at out gates, requesting a meeting with me. He had a few other traders with him – donkeys and a wagon in tow – but since we had nothing to offer in trade, we didn't bother to set up a temporary trade depot to receive them. I only conducted the meeting with the leader, ironing out future trade agreements. Once we parted ways, I escorted him out to meet his fellow travelers. As they set out for their next stop, I noticed that the sun was already setting, yet it was barely late afternoon. I rarely come up to the surface these days and the chilly onset of the evening reminded me that winter was only a few weeks away. I pulled my cloak around my body as I walked back into the place we can now safely call home. There were ledgers and work orders waiting for my approval. |
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Wed, 8th Aug 2012 09:33 Post subject: |
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Last report of the first year.
| Quote: | 1st of the month Granite in the year 252 of the Golden Age
It's hard to believe that a whole year has passed since we arrived to Udirilrom. It's even harder, that the only one hurt was that damned cat a while back. Things are going smoother than expected and the the general outlook is promising. We know that there is a goblin tribe living not far from us, but they left us in peace so far. Still, we cannot be too careful with those savage beasts. It is only a matter of time before they start taking an interest in us.
The winter had a few notable events, so I better chronicle them. Our apprentice tanner, who was struck by a form of the fey, was still refusing to come out of his room. There was little we could do for him, so we all decided that it's time to start up a rudimentary crafts workshop. Since the first dwarven caravan stopped by last autumn, they surely sent word to the neighboring lands that we are still very much alive and ready to enter the commercial arena. That meant that the elves will most likely stop by next spring. They always come in spring. With the workshop, we will have things to give them in exchange for their goods. Note to self: make sure not to give them anything made of wood! Those hippies hate that.
About those two yaks that came with us a year ago...we all decided it is time to use them in a more productive fashion than lawn ornaments outside. The only time I saw the guys work faster was when we built our first distillery, so this butcher's shop went up quick. Maybe it was because of the fact, that they had little more to eat that plump helmets since we arrived. And with the piglets still not mature enough for slaughter, there was not much other options. And of course that decision came with the establishment of our new tanner's workshop.
While I was supervising the construction, the idea of tanning hides gave me an idea. I remembered a while back, that our friend who locked himself in his room was a brilliant apprentice back in his mountainhome as a tanner. Maybe all he needs is a leather workshop. I quickly ordered one to be built. Sure enough, as soon as it was finished and our moody companion got news of the new building, he almost broke the lock on his door as he kicked it open and rushed to claim the shop as his private domain.
He put up a sign on it that it's now out of bounds for everyone and rushed to our stockpiles to pick up some leather and a piece of granite that was sitting near the shop and started to work furiously on something. It didn't take long and only after a few days, we heard a glorious cry from him. He emerged with a serene expression on his face clutching his creation in his hands.
Never been a fan of shields made of leather myself, but even I had to admit the mastery of this creation. Given our nature as a species, we can expect to see more expressions of master craftsdwarfship, but this was the first one created in our halls. It will always be special to all of us.
Later that month, the first official kill was made in the history of our fortress. One of the dogs brought back a mangled echidna corpse, plopped it down in front of us and looked very proud of himself. And not a single spike was in his nose from the echidna's back.
Since our miners were getting lazy, I ordered them to start digging downwards again. It's a better pastime than sitting in a room, doing nothing.
The butcher reminded me that while eating the meat and tanning the hides of the slaughtered animals is all well and good, there are other parts that need taken care of. I sent out an order to build a pair of kitchens near the food stockpiles. Once it was done, our cooks started rendering the fat of the animals into tallow. Should be handy once we need soap, or we get really desperate for some variety in our diets.
The miners reported back that the clings of their picks started to sound hollow. I agreed that we better stop and start to look for a way around whatever is behind those walls. I am not comfortable enough yet to open a way into an unknown cavern. After a bit of tapping and mining, we managed to find a seemingly solid way further down. We marked the hollow sounding spot for future reference and continued with the digging.
With spring fast approaching, I told the mason to keep smoothing out the walls of the bedrooms and finalized the plans for the new lodgings to be dug out. With the dining hall complete, we also had a new, more comfortable place to eat.
This first year was surprisingly uneventful. Pretty much everything went according to plan, even with the occasional minor hiccups. With spring and the new year just around the corner, we have to start planning for the long term future of our fortress. The goblins will surely start to take notice once they raid caravans loaded with our handiwork. Sentries will have to be posted and traps will need placing. We should also start training our dogs for battle and use them as guards in case some kobolds try to steal our treasures. 252 will be a busy year. |
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| Posted: Wed, 8th Aug 2012 11:43 Post subject: |
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Cool stuff. Love these kinda things, would you care to share any addons that you use for dwarf fortress? I've been trying to get into it, but its so damn hard. xD
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Wed, 8th Aug 2012 13:18 Post subject: |
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Sure thing. 
The graphics is by phoebus.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=57557.0
You can download a prepackaged bundle, that only needs extracting and is instantly playable. There is even a handy tool inside it that lets you set up different aspects of it, like wall shape (can be all sorts of blocky variants or the diagonal one I use), aground tiles, etc. Just read the instructions to make sure it works.
I also use Dwarf Therapist.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=66525.0
This is pretty much essential. By default you would have to scroll through all the dwarves and check their individual skills to find someone suitable for a particular job, but this thing lets you see all of them and their skills listed in a table, where you can freely turn skills on and off individually, set up custom professions, monitor skill levels, etc. Makes life a whole lot easier.
The last one I use if called DFHack.
http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=91166.0
I use this mostly for convenience and making things look nicer. It's a collection of scrips that alter the game and most of them are outright cheats. I always try to avoid using those.
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Wed, 8th Aug 2012 17:15 Post subject: |
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Second year coming up. Decided to ditch the seasonal format and just do a yearly summary.
| Quote: | 1st of the month Granite in the year 253 of the Golden Age
With the workload increasing, I decided to switch to a yearly report instead of doing it every season. I simply cannot make time with all the bookkeeping and counseling I have to do around here.
But let's cut right into it. The first thing I did after the new year celebration was to designate an area to be used as an underground quarry. Spanning two levels, supplying our masons and crafters with enough stone to last a lifetime. I might turn it into something nice later, like a meeting hall with sculptures, or a grand tomb for our fallen comrades. Who knows. For now, it's going to be a glorified stone storage.
With out crafts workshop in full swing, I ordered our architect to start designing and building a trade depot just outside the gate. We better be ready for the elves. They tend to bring a good supply of cloth and wood products.
Speaking of the devil, not long after the depot was completed, the pointy eared gits showed up on the horizon. They quickly made their way to the bazaar and I unloaded a few of our baubles on them in exchange for their rope reed cloths. Not exactly silk, but will do for now.
Also, the cats started breeding like crazy. I ordered the little bastards to be put in a collective cage with only a few left roaming the halls. They will make good cat stew once they have some meat on their bones. The dogs are a little bit more conservative when it comes to breeding, but still needed to put a few puppies away. Just have to remind the nitwits to feed them every once in a while.
In late spring, one of the haulers got the fey. Thankfully, this was a much easier affair than the first such incident. He rushed into the mason's shop, and came out, holding an impressive limestone weapon rack in his hands. However as soon as he came out, he had a confused look on his face as if he didn't know how he got there or what he was doing. It seems he was possessed the whole time. Not everyday does one get taken over by an unknown entity only to create something of legendary value.
In mid summer, the news finally arrived that the whole fort has been waiting for: we struck iron and coal! Now it is only a matter of setting up a few smelters and forges, and we can get this show on the road. With all the limestone to act as flux stone, we will be able to field a force equipped with the finest steel possible.
This joyous news reminded me to tend to the more static side of defense. While the previously built drawbridge is useful, it is not foolproof. If the goblins decide to bring a troll along for the ride, it won't be enough to stop them. So I ordered our mechanic to start doing his magic and set up traps along the main entrance hallway. Cages should do fine for now.
In mid autumn, another fey struck, this time a leatherworker. It was another straightforward affair. The result was the most beautiful headscarf I've ever seen.
The metal industry was well on its way to completion at this point. The smelter was already running non stop, turning the coal into fuel for the forge and ore smelting. Once that was done, I ordered the furnace operator to stop slacking and start turning the hematite into iron bars. They will be very useful for my surprise that will await anyone "lucky" enough to get past our cage traps.
Not long before the end of autumn, the expected dwarven caravan arrived, bringing all the goods I ordered from them last year. After exchanging goods (wood and leather for me, useless junk for them), I threw in a few gifts to the king back home. He was the one who ordered Udirilrom to be established and I am grateful for that. The liaison said he will make sure he gets them.
It was early winter when the news we all feared would come has arrived. One morning a kid was taking a dead rat outside to the dump his cat brought him that night, when he heard the shrieks of a high pitched voice coming from one of the traps. As it turns out we caught a goblin snatcher. These nasty creatures are known to abduct children and take them back to their tribes. Poor kid who discovered him must have been scared to death. The fact that we caught one meant that the tribes nearby finally noticed us and undoubtedly started to get raiding parties together. It is only a matter of time before they start marching for us to slaughter everyone. Before the end of the year, a total of four of these child-thiefs were caught.
The urgency created by this development made me speed up the production of metals and asked our finest weaponsmiths to start making as many components for our second line of traps as they can.
The third year should be quite busy for us. |
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Aug 2012 03:02 Post subject: |
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Third year done.
| Quote: | 1st of the month Granite in the year 254 of the Golden Age
Last year was surprisingly uneventful. We did have a small skirmish with the green-skins, but otherwise, it was just another notch on the year count.
With the inevitable goblin attack looming above us, we all needed something to take our minds off the impending danger. Relief came in the form of another fey incident. It was another straightforward affair, which resulted in a bone greaves to further bolster our already impressive selection of artifacts.
While the bonecarver was busy with his creation, I ordered two restraints to be placed in the entrance hallway and selected two of our most hardy canines to be put on leash. They turned out to be great watchdogs against kobold thieves.
At the end of the first month, the two weaponsmiths came to my office with the news that the things I ordered for our traps are complete. I rushed down to the weapon stockpiles to inspect the goods, and they did a superb job. 60 pieces of long iron spikes were packed neatly in bins, ready to be installed. I immediately called for our mechanics and after finalizing everything, they rushed off to start working on our second line of defense. Anyone “fortunate” enough to avoid getting caught in our cages will be impaled immediately by these colossal needles.
As I was walking back to my office, I noticed that the clothes everyone was wearing started to look worn and tattered. To prevent them later whining about it, I ordered the establishment of a clothing industry to be set up. A farmer's workshop to spin the produce of the pig-tail farms into threads, a loom to turn thread into cloth and a clothier's shop to make shirts and trousers. Pretty straightforward. This will keep a few of the guys busy for a while.
The elves arrived right on schedule and set up shop in our depot. But before I could even start considering what we would even give them, the alarms were sounded. The first goblin attack had finally arrived. Thankfully nobody from us was outside at the time, but the elves were not so lucky. Two squads of goblin ambushers came from both directions and massacred the whole caravan. After they were done finishing off the last elven merchant, the goblins started advancing on our gates, only to be trapped in the cage traps. A few of them managed to take a few potshots at the dog chained at the southern corner of the hallway, but none of them hit their mark. When they realized what was going on, the last few uncaged invaders decided it's not worth getting caught and made a run for it. The weapon traps loaded with the spikes didn't see action this time. The goblins who were captured are in their cages right now, awaiting their fate.
With the danger gone, I lifted the alert and ordered the goods of the unfortunate merchants to be brought in. By tradition, if a caravan gets destroyed, the wares are free for the taking and I had no qualms about taking what was ours by finders' right. It was mostly wooden junk though, the usual elven rubbish. But the least I can do is to engrave a few plaques in memory of these hapless gits. If I don't forget...
With the excitement of the attack wearing off after a few days, it was time to get back to work. The next thing on our agenda was the building of a well. The middle of the dining room seemed like a logical spot, so I ordered our miners to dig an aqueduct capable of bringing water from the river topside all the way down there. With that done, it was just a matter of setting up a floodgate and building the well itself.
It took a few days to bring everything in from the elves and we had a few incidents with goblin snatchers a few times. These cowardly beasts always flee at the first sign of danger, but one of them was braver then usual and took a swing at our bonecarver, who got a nasty looking cut on his left thigh. Fortunately the bleeding stopped quickly and he seem to be able to walk without much problem. It should heal nicely, given time.
The rest of the year was boring at best. The smelters were busy churning out pig iron and fuel, traded some of our baubles off with the humans in the summer, and other dwarves in the autumn. We also had two more instances of the fey, one resulting in a granite mug, the other in a bed made of maplewood.
At one point a lone human wandered into our territory. I didn't like the looks of him. Thankfully he seemed to be just passing by and left us without a word. I better keep an eye on him. If someone lives alone in the wild is never a good sign. He may be a were-beast, in which case, he is a great danger to us all.
The last order I gave before the closing of the year was tombs to be dug out and coffins to be made. The sad truth is that we live in a dangerous land, with goblins as neighbors. We can count ourselves lucky that nobody died yet, but we cannot rely on luck forever. We have to prepare for the inevitable.
As a close for this report, I made a few sketches of our fortress' overall layout.
Main entrance hall, with densely packed cagetraps and weapon traps loaded with iron spikes.
Farms, the pigpen and the various meat and farming related workshops.
The main warehouse area.
The workshop level.
Living quarters and dining hall.
Control hall, with the levers to operate various machinery around the fort.
The future tombs in the process of being smoothed out.
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Thu, 9th Aug 2012 18:13 Post subject: |
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Sorry for the lack of picture this time. It was a busy year with lots of attacks and it completely skipped my mind.
| Quote: | Now that goblins were constantly pestering us, it was time to establish a hospital. I asked our mechanics to make a traction bench and the miners to dig out a suitable spot for the facility. After asking around, it turned out that two of our haulers had previous experience as medics, so they were quickly recruited into the hospital staff.
In mid-spring, the elven caravan was raided again just before reaching safety. While I didn't have time for it this year, we will have to start thinking about extending our reach beyond the main gate and establish an outside safe courtyard. Not for the elves, but for the sake of our warehouse. It is now loaded with useless elven rubbish and we don't need more useless wooden weapons.
On our part, the attack itself was only devastating for the guard dog in the southern part of the entrance corridor. When we could finally emerge from our safe halls, we discovered the poor fella lying in a pool of his own blood, literally riddled with a dozen arrows. After looking at the carnage, we discovered several times more of them scattered around him, most of them broken as they ricocheted off the wall behind the dog. Either the dog was very agile in dodging their shots, or the goblins are terrible at aiming their bows. The dozen or so that managed to hit didn't really harm any major organs. The creature bled to death.
We still managed to capture quite a few new prisoners in this attack, who were hauled off to the jail. In light of the overcrowding, we all decided it is time we swap the position of the traps, so we only capture the ones who get past the spiky surprises. Not that any of this rabble will ever get through the forest of oversized toothpicks.
In late summer, some humans arrived to trade. The goblins tried their luck with this caravan too, but unlike the pointy eared gits, these guys can actually hold their own in a fight. After some of them got a savage beating, the rest decided that it's best they leave, and legged it.
Later that month another fey occurred. This time, we weren't so lucky. The one in question put up camp inside the forge and screamed at us for metal bars. We kept showing him different kinds, iron, steel, copper, but none of them interested him. After a while we gave up and simply locked him inside. There was nothing more we could do for him. In instances of an unsuccessful fey, the outcome is always fatal. In some cases not just for the one who got the condition.
As expected, a few weeks later the poor guy snapped and judging by the noises coming from the shop, he was completely berserk. In this condition, he is capable of anything, including indiscriminate massacre. The only thing left to do is keep him locked up and wait for him to die of thirst. None of us expected our first dead to be in this manner.
After our mechanics finished relocating the traps, the result seemed to have payed off. At one point we found a blood soaked bag in one of the outer ones. I am certain that a snatcher was trying to get one of our kids. He may have escaped, but at least we knew that the defenses were working flawlessly. To further cement this observation, a few weeks later a body was discovered. I love those things...
As for our unfortunate, insane friend, we stopped hearing noises from the shop after a while, so one of the braver miners, armed with his pick, opened the door. The poor guy was on his back, motionless. After we made sure he is indeed dead, a funeral was held in the new catacomb, laying him to rest. He'll be missed.
Late-autumn the dwarven caravan arrived, and the foolish goblins tried their luck again, attempting to raid the merchants. Just like the humans, we dwarves make sure our traders are well protected and the invaders were quickly dealt with. Some of them were even herded into our traps.
After examining the aftermath, we discovered a fallen dwarf among the dead. When I asked the liaison about him, he said he wasn't part of his team. On closer examination, the armor and weapon were crude and bulky. Obviously goblin-made. It seems he was one of the many children abducted by snatchers. They are known to be brainwashed when living among the tribes and are sometimes seen in the goblin raiding parties. A sad fate for an unfortunate soul. We made sure he got a proper burial. He may have lived among our enemies, but it wasn't his fault they filled his head with hate against his own people.
A joyous news spread fast in the halls early-winter. After two years of unsuccessful attacks, two families decided to try for babies, and this season saw the arrival of a baby boy and a girl. This helped us get over the loss of our insane friend and the disturbing discovery of the brainwashed youngster.
The last event of the winter was another attack. The greenskins carelessly approached the gate. As soon as their leader was impaled by five spikes simultaneously right before their eyes, the rest of the band quickly dispersed and made a run for it.
I think next year I'll open up the cave to see what's inside. A proper fortress guard force also have to be established. Should be another busy time for our community. |
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Veki
Posts: 381
Location: Croatia
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Fri, 10th Aug 2012 19:42 Post subject: |
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Another year passed.
| Quote: | Where to start, where to start...
With all the recent raids on the incoming caravans, it was time to expand out entrance. I laid out some plans with our architects and they immediately got to work. We moved the trash heap to its final position on the clearing above our main gate. The amounts of goblin corpses are really starting to fill up our space reserved for rubbish.
Thanks to another fey mood, our artifact collection grew with an exceptional bow. Along its body runs an exquisite carving about that time when the human caravan's guards chased off some greenskins a few months ago.
In late spring, one of the immigrants was carrying a message from the king himself. In it was a royal edict, officially granting our fortress township in the kingdom. That meant we needed to elect a mayor. I'm happy to say, that the vote was unanimous, and I was no longer the leader only in name, but in title too.
As is tradition, my first order as mayor was to dig out a suitable set of rooms to serve as my residence. A bedroom, an office and a dining room should do for now. However, I couldn't resist the temptation, and ordered the legendary bed and armor stand made by our fey crafters to be placed in my new bedroom. After slaving over the fort records day and night for years, I deserve a little overindulgence.
The courtyard was coming along nicely too.
In early summer, another attack struck, but this time it wasn't the goblins. Maybe it was just bad luck, or we were getting too wealthy and other creatures started to take notice, but an infant minotaur appeared on our northern borders.
The alarms were sounded immediately. While we were all safe inside behind our traps, the hornblow of an incoming migrant wave was heard. They marched for our gates unaware of the danger. There was nothing we could do. There were 9 of them in total, 3 of them made it inside safely. One of the female dwarves had to be dragged in, kicking and screaming, the other two survivors told me her husband and child were still outside.
The minotaur stopped at our gates, his club dripping with blood. We gloated him to come for us, and thankfully he took the bait. After a well thought out insult from one of our peasants (can't remember it, it was a long time ago), his hairless nose turned red and rushed towards us, only to be badly wounded by the first set of spike traps. He stumbled back in pain, and when he got up, he must have realized that he will never get to us, so he tried to limp away, clutching an awful looking wound on his leg. We couldn't let him get away after what he did, so we released the hounds. Half a dozen blood thirsty wardogs. Almost felt sorry for the beast, literally being torn apart by those menacing fangs. Almost. The pool of blood they left behind was slowly soaking into the ground. During the cleanup we did find the mangled bodies of the 6 unfortunate newcomers, including the woman's family. They all got a decent burial in our tombs.
By mid-autumn, the first level of our courtyard was done. The annual dwarven caravan were the first to conduct business in relative safety.
With the problem of attacks off my mind for the time being, I felt confident in opening up the area where our diggers heard the echo while mining down. After careful tapping, we estimated the level of the cave's floor and mined through. The first thing we noticed was a light, dust-like vapor spewing out of the hole. This was not unexpected. Caverns are known to be home for a whole other world of flora and fauna. Those must have been the spores of the various fungi living down there, which will undoubtedly start springing up in the darker and damper parts of our halls. I might order paving to be laid down just to prevent overgrowth, but a little color might do the folks some good. For now, I ordered the opening to be walled off and a small hole to be left open. We don't want kids to wander in but still want to know what's on the other side.
Before winter set in, our smiths informed me that the equipment for our military was finally ready. I called all our jobless peasants together and asked everyone if they would like to join the local militia. 10 hands sprung up and they were officially recruited into the defense force of our community. With the steel armor our smiths slaved over for months put on, they looked like they could take on the world. But for now, they only got a set of wooden training axes to play with. It will be long months of rigorous training before they can hold their own against anything, not to mention dragons.
To help them along their training, I ordered two rooms to be dug out near the workshops on top of each other. The upper one was quickly filled with the cages holding our captured enemies with a hole in the very middle, while the lower one will contain our soldiers. Before we allowed this live training to take place, I ordered the prisoners to be stripped down to their loincloths. We don't want any unnecessary injuries inflicted upon our glorious heroes.
After every piece of armor and leftover weapon was confiscated, I ordered the squad to move into the lower room and dropped 5 naked goblins in to see how they hold up. With only holding wooden axes, it was a long and tiring fight, but ultimately five greenskins were beaten to a pulp and 10 unscathed soldiers emerged victorious with some combat experience under their belts. A great triumph for our valiant defenders.
Not long long before the end of the year, two attacks happened. The first one was another minotaur. This time it was a big one. Maybe our first encounter with these beasts was its kid and came for revenge. Unfortunately another peasant fell victim to this attack, but the raging bull-headed creature ultimately ended up full of holes, draining blood on the traps of our entrance corridor.
The other attack was only days before new year. Our armorer was topside to bring in some leftover trash from an earlier caravan raid, when she stumbled upon a group of goblins. Another dead for our fort. All the more painful, since she was very skilled in making armor.
I was about to end the curfew, when I heard the telltale sound of our traps activating and goblin shrieks of pain and terror coming downwards. There were other groups of them scattered about the place and are still trying to gain entrance to our riches.
When it was silent for a long wile, we took a peek at the carnage. The floor was littered with bodies, the walls were dripping with gore and trails of blood and vomit were leading away from the disgusting scene. We found one body lying on the ground half way between the depot and the outer drawbridge in a pool of its own filth. I guess they never learn.
The next year should be a busy one. Training up the soldiers, exploring the caves once they are good enough, expanding our traps...the work never ends. |
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Sat, 11th Aug 2012 16:37 Post subject: |
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Played two whole years without anything major happening, except one or two, so here's a summary.
| Quote: | For months we've been busy carefully going through our whole inventory and throwing anything useless in the trash. Most of the wooden weapons looted from raided elven caravans were the first to go, while most of the metal items, like low grade goblin weapons and armor are all melted down into bars. Few of our barrels were also discovered to contain dangerous substances, like gnomeblight or snake venom. Those were locked away safely until we can find a way to dispose of them safely.
At the end of the year one of the sentries stationed at the walled off entrance to the cave informed me that he heard some strange noises coming from inside. When I went down to see what was going on, and it took me a few minutes to hear what he was talking about. It was like bat wings flapping, but they were much slower than the regular bats' flight. After a while, a distinct hissing noise could also be heard. As I was watching intently through the hole, I could swear I saw three purple, faintly glowing eyes looking at me from behind a massive boulder. I had a pretty clear idea what our new guest could be. I immediately picked up the hole cover and put it in place. The last thing we need is a forgotten beast rampaging through our halls. The wall should be enough to keep it out until we are ready to face it.
Another few months passed. The goblins tried to get in a few times, but they always got halted at our traps.
Our most daring project in this last two years was our quest to find the fabled magma sea beyond the rock layers and to harness the power it holds. With its help, we could rid ourselves from the dependence on fuel for our forges and use the heat of the world itself to melt our metal.
Along the way, a whole new cave system was discovered. It was filled with pitch black mushrooms and purple tube-like plants. Thankfully none of the natives were around when we broke through and were able to wall it off immediately.
After months of digging, our miners finally came back with the good news. The stone below their feet started to feel warm. It was barely noticeable at first, but now they are confident that there is definitely lava running under us. It will not be easy to bring it up to the level of our current workshops, but not impossible. We have a river, and we have stone that won't melt in liquid rock. It's only a matter or careful engineering and lots of building, but we will have magma forges eventually. |
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Mon, 13th Aug 2012 22:25 Post subject: |
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I've been thinking of reverting to an early save, but that wouldn't be very dwarfy. So here's the last update.
| Quote: | Caravan master's log
We've arrived at Blackpeaks some time in the last month of autumn. The guards fought off a goblin ambush, but apart from a bruised shoulder, everyone was fine.
The sad news is that Udirilrom is gone. We entered their courtyard through the drawbridge and found the trade depot in ruins, with blood and body parts scattered around the place. It was mostly goblins who tried to get in, but were halted by the traps of the locals. A thin smoke was coming from the entrance.
I stationed two guards at the gate and the rest of us went downside to check for survivors. On the first level we found the farms overgrown. Judging by the size of the mushrooms, whatever happened, it was about 2 months ago. The livestock was gone.
The second level had the food stockpiles completely ransacked and looted.
Another level down was their main warehouse. Apart from a few broken bins, the whole place was emptied. Almost a dozen treasures of the kingdom, forever lost.
The workshop area was in disarray. Shops vandalized, raw resources thrown around, it was total chaos.
While we saw a few bodies in our descent, burned to a crisp, nothing could prepare us for what was waiting in the living area. Piles of bodies, old and young, blackened by fire. Whoever did this did not discriminate between adults and children. Everyone was dead. I already had an idea about what was the cause of this, but I had to find some proof.
We managed to recover the journal of the mayor. In it he detailed their intentions to bring lava up to their workshops. Looking at the drawings, it was a feasible plan. He also mentioned that their military successfully defeated a forgotten beast in the caves beneath the fort with no losses and eradicated a colony of troglodytes.
The last entry was about him getting called down to the lava project to check on something the workers saw. If I get it correctly, they think there were creatures moving about in the magma sea and the overseer chalked it up to hallucinations due to the fumes. I put the journal in my bag and quickly ordered everyone topside as my suspicions were confirmed. We are not equipped to deal with magma-dwellers. These people may not have know what they were dealing with, but I am fully aware of the power these monsters hold. They may have killed that forgotten beast, but even the best fighters can be cooked alive in their armor if they cannot dodge an incoming fireball from a magma man.
With the journal in hand, we left the ruins of that place. When we make it back to the capital I'll hand it to our chroniclers so the exploits of Blackpeaks are not forgotten. |
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| Posted: Tue, 14th Aug 2012 12:25 Post subject: |
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Damn, I wanna learn how to play :<
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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Veki
Posts: 381
Location: Croatia
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| Posted: Sat, 18th Oct 2014 03:24 Post subject: |
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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mtj
Posts: 2315
Location: Austria / Finland
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| Posted: Thu, 30th Oct 2014 07:23 Post subject: |
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There's also a new version of df. Any idea if there's a lazy newb pack available for it yet?
Intel Core I-9 9900K @ stock, ASUS Z 390A MoBo, 32GB 3.6GHz, Zotac 3090 | BeQuiet 1000W PSU, Be Quiet Dark Base Pro 900 case, 49" Samsung G9
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zmed
Posts: 9234
Location: Orbanistan
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| Posted: Thu, 30th Oct 2014 13:36 Post subject: |
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