Have you heard of Hulkstant? It is a wonderous place, a savage paradise, where the Saldogs sing deep in the darkest caverns in the belly of the earth.
(This is a mod game,
Furry Fortress III. Quick explanation of the differences in the spoiler ahead.)
Saldogs are a race of dogfish (small shark) anthros with a pirate-themed culture. For example they use cutlasses and combat anchors as weapons.
Saldogs are carnivores, and thus cannot plant crops, which means they cannot start with booze, but every Saldog starts with the hunting skill.
The Komodos that we trade with are Ancient Egyptian themed monitor lizard people. The piriform mace mentioned later is the classic Egyptian "pear-shaped" mace, originally made of stone.
FuFo3 introduces various new metals, Hydrolith is the ore of Hydrochalcum, basically blue gold that can be used to make clothing, and Dragon Fossil is the "ore" of Dracometal a lightweight but strong metal similar to bone. Metals like these appear in small clusters pretty much everwhere, a safeguard against maps like this one where the normal veins turn out to be a disappointment.
It was a difficult start. The Molten Mansion chose to settle on the border of a desert and grassland. Half of the land was an aquifer that constantly defied any attempt to dig aesthetically or functionally. But for a saldog with simple desires, it was paradise. The savage land was filled with prey for the hunters, giant echidnas, hampsters and camels that produced much meat and bone. Their herbalists turned the useless plants into fabulous booze, and a simple well within the aquifer provided for all their needs.
The prospectors had promised shallow metals in Hulkstant, but the veins of tetrahedrite and clusters of gold were within the aquifer, and striking the earth would risk flooding the fortress. But the land also provoided clay and sand, and plenty of wood and bone for charcoal. With an early production of earthenware, they managed to trade for a great stash of metal javelins. The good hunting continued, and the simple frontier paradise flourished.
But after a while, ambition struck the minds of their leaders. They wanted magma for their potters and glass makers. The miners dug a great shaft, down past the aquifer, past the caverns and finally striking the blood of the planet, the great magma sea. The doors to the caverns were opened and new hunting began for the strange creatures of the deep. Along the way, the Saldogs found clusters of hydrolith and dragon fossil, and they plucked these luscious ores from the ground to throw into their new magma smelters. Their thirst for metal became like a fever. Citizens where all urged to discard their old metal ornaments and throw them into the magma smelters for whatever scrap of metal they were worth.
The Saldogs realized that they held little love for their original settlement. The crowded levels had been carved in the pockets of the aquifer hastily, out of fear of invasion. So when the geat shaft to the magma sea was finally completed, the Saldogs of Hulkstant left their old homes behind and carved a new settlement on top of the magma and caverns. A mighty ramp was dug to the surface so that caravans could bring their goods down to the new subterranean metropolis of Hulkstant. A new age of prosperity for this savage paradise has begun.
Here in the deep, the Saldogs finally errected the artifact table Dag Gitch, the Zeal of Beauty, in the new tavern, The Sourness of Riders. One of the original seven settlers had created this treasure early in the days of Hulkstant, but the saldogs had decided that the first tavern was not worthy enough to errect the Dag Gitch there. They also placed a few "chiputs", some sort of stationary instrument imported from Komodowan caravans. None of the saldogs know how to play such things, and no Komodo performers have ever visited Hulkstant to use them, so the chiputs ore little more than objets d'art and items of curiousity. Something of a irony, since the settlers of Hulkstant have had difficulty obtaining any native Saldoggy instruments, and must make due with chanting and poetry for their entertainment.
For a brief moment today, it seemed that this paradise might be destroyed.
The Forgotten Beast, Cankerboil barged into the caverns. The local squadron, The Rooms of Church, was well armored in gear produced of the local dracometal, but their weapons were crude, a handful of arms imported from Komodowan traders, but most of the squad still preferred the light wooden weapons that had been crafted as an emergency resort in the early days of the fortress. Still, these weapons served well enough against the cavern's wild beasts, and Cankerboil was still of flesh and blood. Sealing off the cavern would deny its bounty to Hulkstant's hunters, and cut off access to the trade depot and its imports of new metal, so the decision was made to allow Cankerboil to enter through the hunters' hatch and have The Rooms of Church and whatever hunters were passing by dispatch it immediately.
When we dug the great shaft down to the magma sea, it naturally passed through the open area of the caverns. In order to gain access to the cavern's bounty, pasture for our livestock and grotto lemons for our stills, we built a wall around the shaft where the ceiling was low. In order for the hunters to exit and capture prey, we built a small tunnel beneath the wall, protected by a hatch that was usually kept tightly closed to keep the cavern's beasts out of the fortress proper. The barracks of the Rooms of Church were stationed a little distance away from the hunter's hatch so that they could quickly respond to any trolls or cave ogres that could open the hatch themselves. It is here that the conflict would take place.
Apparently, I didn't read the forgotten beast's description hard enough, and it came as a surprise to me and to the Rooms of Church when Cankerboil started belching flames at my valiant defenders. The cave moss around the hunters' hatch turned into a billowing smokescreen and The Rooms of Church became disorganized and unable to engage. Cankerboil seemed more interested in our herds of sheep and horses that were pastured there, but behind the wall of smoke, it was apparently picking off our warriors one by one. The squad of 10 had been reduced to 3, with no sign of improvement against the beast.
But then, in a flash, the conflict was over. The great beast finally entered the carved stone of the fortress proper and as it climbed the stairway, one of the last surviving members of The Rooms of Church greeted the beast. It was Taye Nipperboa, in fact the mayor of Hulkstant, wielding the steel piriform mace imported from the Komodowan caravan years ago. Before Cankerboil could open its mouth and utter another blast of flame and smoke, Taye gave it a mighty crack to the head with his mace, bruising the brains and killing the creature in a single stroke.
And then and there, Taye bestowed a new name upon the weapon that had saved the savage paradise of Hulkstant. Ebigting Jurger Paraph, Ownspikes the Gift of Sewers, a steel piriform mace. Oddly enough, the Beast Slayer Taye Nipperboa chose to pass the legendary weapon on to one of the new recruits, and instead wields a superior quality sterling battle oar, forged here in Hulkstant. May it too bring fame to our mayor and savior.
It's actually kinda funny, I've only managed to trade once with the Saldogs of our home civilization, Drop Holph. Each other year there has been some problem, like someone or something toppling the depot, or forgetting to craft new goods after trading with the Komodos. This year, the forgotten beast attack got in the way.
Author
Topic: The Saldogs of Hulkstant (Read 1954 times)