Cog Satzasit was the typical expedition leader. A miner by profession, he saved up some gold, went to the Mountainhomes Institute of Trade to learn how to run a fortress for profit and pieced together an expedition to a promising area.
Maps showed a convenient climate, a brook flowing in a canyon and a volcano.
The location they chose was halfway up the mountain, at a safe distance from the volcano and overlooking the brook.
As the wagon made its way across the mountain to the chosen campsite, Bim Serid, the fortress mechanic, noticed junk scattered around the brook, and dozens of kobolds. "Good thing we chose the high ground," he said. "That should buy us some time before we are forced to exterminate them."
Thikut, the expedition's hunter and a close friend of Cog, jokingly suggested that they dig a channel across the mountain and above the canyon, route the lava into it and watch as the kobolds burn. Bim jokingly drew up some plans and verified that the plan was indeed possible. Cog jokingly approved the plan and started digging. He and Bim Zuglarasen, the second miner, spent the next months digging the channel. One day, Cog struck the stone one final time and sent magma oozing through the channel. He ran up, sealed the corridor leading to the channel and ran to the meeting hall, shouting "I've done it! Project DIAF is complete!". Thikut, who spent most of his time outside and didn't know about the dig, spit out his -Dwarven Ale- and the entire expedition couldn't stop laughing.
Shortly afterwards, a group of about a dozen migrants arrived. Unfortunately for them, they arrived from a different direction, and were greeted by a legendary Kobold bowman who opened fire on them immediately. The migrants ran like hell for a few seconds, and then turned back and charged the surprised kobold. They weren't even sure why. It was as if some force compelled them to become soldiers.
The bowman, Blabatreeldus Usirnursher Kidet Ning, was hardly overwhelmed. The dwarves were no match for his *Copper Bow*, whether he used it as intended or as a blunt trauma delivery device. The sheer numbers of dwarves, not their menacing fists, was the thing that brought him down. Likot Fathkalan, one of the migrants, clocked an exhausted Blabatreeldus and brought the carnage to an end.
When the remaining five migrants arrived, the original expedition members, were puzzled at the sight of five dwarves covered in blood and vomit. The new arrivals told their tale, and were immediately hailed as heroes and made into "The Girders of Loving", Diamondwill's standing army led by Likot.
The big dig was over, and the dwarves started to spend more time outside. They soon noticed a group of antmen sitting on a hedge above them, teasing the dwarves who went outside. No work could be done outside the fort, as the dwarves couldn't help running back into the cave whenever an antman peeked over the hedge.
Cog didn't waste any time. He ordered the dwarves to stay inside and began work on two paths leading to the hedge above. The restrictions were then lifted and the Girders of Loving, accompanied by Thikut, were dispatched to eliminate the antmen. It seemed like a walk in the park initially. The ground was soon white with ichor and numerous antman corpses lay scattered on the hedge. Curious dwarves climbed up and looked at their slain tormentors. A victory party was announced for later that day, and the army kept working.
Then, tragedy struck. Likot became stuck, and he soon found out why- he stepped in a concealed web laid by a giant cave spider. What happened next could be summarized as carnage. Not even the outpost liaison, who had just arrived, was spared. Working day and night, the dwarves eventually fled into the relative security of their fort and sealed off the paths leading to that dreaded ledge. Only Cog, Thikut, Bim the mechanic and some other guy survived.
Meanwhile, the magma reached the end of the channel and started leaking down on the unsuspecting kobolds.
Almost immediately after the spider disaster, even more migrants arrived, this time from the right direction, compensating for the losses. Some of them entered the fort successfully, but others were stuck outside, because the giant cave spider scared them so much that they couldn't even get close to the fortress. Most of them were saved eventually, but at least two died of thirst.
The first order of business was to relocate the entire fort by digging new rooms to the east. The dwarves were far enough from the spider to feel safe, and the fort slowly returned to its normal state.
The lava is still slowly spreading. It hasn't reached the waterline, but it claimed the lives of half a dozen kobolds. The spider continues to roam the ledge, waiting for some more dwarves to digest.
That concludes my story turned plain old description.
I have no idea what to do next. I got indoor farming up and running out of the spider's interruption range, and I'm about to dig out a proper apartment complex for the dwarves. I really want to kill the spider, but something tells me my current military might won't cut it, and the only metal I managed to find was engulfed by the magma when I filled the channel.
Thread updated.
[ December 19, 2007: Message edited by: AlienChickenPie ]
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Topic: Dunking spiders and sacrificing peasants at Diamondwill (Read 1417 times)