It began in the fifth year of the reign of king Urvad in the dwarven civilization of Etur Ibruk. This great empire was rapidly expanding its borders, and it was in this year that 7 dwarves were sent to the glaciers of the south, where they were to found a new bastion of dwarven civilization. This was to be Ushiliklist. Unfortunately, not long after the founding of Ushiklist, war came to Etur Ibruk. The elven kingdoms of the west lost their patience with the dwarves and launched a full scale assault upon the grat empire. During this time, Etur Ibruk was too focused on the war effort to send traders or migrants to the fortress. Thus, the colonists were stuck with the food and drink they had the foresight to bring with them.
Despite this, the first few months went swimmingly at Ushiliklist. Workshops were built, a firm wall was made to keep the yeti out(Although it managed to break in anyway) and everyone was happy(Bar the 3 miners who almost starved to death thanks to an architectural misunderstanding). However, the spring after Ushiliklist's founding, the inevitable happened: the last of the carefully kept rations of food and drink finally ran out. Desperate, the dwarves mined down to the caverns, hoping to be able to make a farm there. Yet my the time they breached the caves, it was to late. All but 3 of the dwarves had died of thirst, and the remaining few were very close to death. Worse, a horde of troglodytes had escaped from the caverns. The dwarves valiantly battled against the troglodytes, but one by one they fell, until only the miner Sazir Shorebrass remained. Sazir desperately grappled with the troglodytes, yet he too was grievously injured. At last Sazir took his last breath and died a heroes death. Yet as his soul passed into oblivion, something amazing happened: some migrants arrived.
These migrants obviously came upon quite a brutal scene, yet they did the best they could considering the circumstances. They dug out some tombs, made a farm so as to brew beer and even began producing goods to sell to traders! Indeed, during the last days of Ushiliklist's original colonists, the elves of the west were finally defeated by Etur Ibruk. Around this time, a bookkeeper looking through some old records realised that the fortress of Ushiliklist had been completely forgotten for two years! A group of traders was immediately sent to the fortress, where the inhabitants (Recently bolstered by another group of migrants) presented them with all types of stone and ice crafts, and in return for a large number of cages, weapons and armour. Yet these weapons came too late, for while the dwarves were trading, the troglodytes broke into the fortress, where they killed 2 dwarves and badly injured the other 3 before finally being killed. The traders ran off, returning to the mountainhome, where they told of what had happened there. Ushiliklist was written off as dead by the empire, and no more traders would be sent on what was clearly a suicidal route.
Meanwhile at Ushiliklist, things had gone from bad to worse. A troll had destroyed the farm and broken into the tombs, where it smashed coffins and knocked over the statues that had been to carefully made to honour the dead. It was at this point that 5 dwarves arrived, among them being Unib Zonzeg, one of Ushiliklist's greatest heroes. Originally a strand extractor, Zonzeg first showed her potential when she single handedly killed the troll that had plagued Ushiliklist for so long. Zonzeg then took part in a great many battles with the Yeti, eventually constructing a suit of yeti bone armour. Yet this peace would not last. In the spring of the eighth year of the reign of king Urvad, a craftsdwarf was sent out to make some yeti bone armour. But while he was out there, the yeti immediately attacked him. The other dwarves immediately rushed to his aid, but the yeti immediately attacked them, rendering 2 dwarves immobile and badly injuring all of them but Zonzeg. After killing the yeti, Zonzeg hastily constructed a hospital but it was too late. All the dwarves but Zonzeg succumbed to their injuries and infections. With Zonzeg the 1 remaining dwarf left, things seemed hopeless. Yet hope has arrived once more in the form of 24 new immigrants, and beyond all odds, Ushiliklist has survived for 3 years. I can only hope its future shall be bright.
The entrance to the fortress. A great many battles against the yetis were fought here, as one can see due to the various bloodstains and pile of clothes where dead bodies once were. Two of the main doors to the fortress have been destroyed by the yeti. To the south, you can see the wall, an early attempt by the original colonists to keep the yeti out. It didn't work. You can also see a tin cage, a failed attempt by a mechanic(Now deceased) to trap the yeti.
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Topic: The tale of Ushiliklist (Read 939 times)