Bay 12 Games Forum

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

Author Topic: Tales from Entar: Notable Stories in the Modern Era  (Read 1531 times)

comicraider

  • Bay Watcher
  • The only person who cares about Tales from Entar
    • View Profile
Tales from Entar: Notable Stories in the Modern Era
« on: June 22, 2017, 04:05:45 pm »

Entar is a mixed bag in terms of sanity. Talk to one man, and he'll be friendly as they come. Talk to another, he'll be wearing the first guy's skin while using the flayed corpse as a puppet. From the last surface-dwelling megabeast that rules the world to a bear man that conquered ten towns with nothing but a pebble, I hope to gather tales about noteworthy people from all over Entar that somehow have yet to meet their end, through death or other means.

(Also gives me some time to kill while I wait for the succession game I have running in the save's most rcent fortress to get updated. Might just call it off and continue myself soon)
« Last Edit: July 07, 2017, 01:15:00 pm by comicraider »
Logged

comicraider

  • Bay Watcher
  • The only person who cares about Tales from Entar
    • View Profile
The Mad Mayor of Marketcanyon
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2017, 04:49:41 pm »

The Mad Mayor of Marketcanyon

Go anywhere belonging to the dwarven civilization known as Zulban Unol, or The Banner of Souls, and you'll hear stout countrymen talking about Tun Ownerpainted the Neutral Blaze. While an accomplished warrior in her own right, Tun is...eccentric to say the least.

Born in 1036, Tun is the youngest daughter of Onul Baldgranite and Id Tongscounselled. On her 12th birthday, now considered an adult by dwarven society, Tun married her childhood sweetheart, Solon Ropecircle and moved to the fortress of Marketcanyon. She spent the next year as a miner, before feeling adventure call her name. She would spend two years wandering The Desert of Climaxes, following any leads she could find in an attempt to find Lolum Bungekocig Ingtak Govos, the last living megabeast on the surface and namesake of the Age of the Hill Titan, the world's current era.

Her search was fruitless, and Tun eventually returned to The Banner of Souls, visiting countless fortresses, making occasional stops back home in Marketcanyon to see her husband. The five years she spent in total travelling alone took it's toll on Tun's mind, causing her to develop a split personality.

In the midwinter of 1053, Tun was staying in the fortress known as Giftorb, Mountainhome and the oldest dwarven fortress in the entire world enjoying a few months' rest and relaxation at the tavern. Some months passed before a the outpost liaison arrived at Giftorb bearing two documents; declarations of war from the humans of The Kingdom of Celebrating and the elves of The Empire of Buds, once The Banner of Souls' closest allies before what would become known as "The Silverypainted Incident" occured, causing all diplomatic relations to collapse.

Fearing for Solon's safety, Tun hurried back home to Marketcanyon and formed a militia, being declared commander by the mayor at the time. She spent a year training the military before deciding the mayor wasn't competent enough to run Marketcanyon, and successfully usurped him.

Soon after, in the midspring of 1054, The Kingdom of Celebrating sent a detachment of troops in Marketcanyon's direction. Having prepared for this day, Tun was stood at the gate waiting for her human guests. Her militia were asleep at the time and didn't join her, but she didn't care. This was HER fortress, the humans will have to kill her first.
Tun stood her ground, bearing only a silver warhammer and a waterskin filled with dwarven wine. She killed seven of the ten invading humans, leaving the others to let their masters known that Marketcanyon wasn't afraid. She was given the title "Neutral Blaze" in recognition of her victory.

The rest of the year was spent in peace, if not for Tun's split personalities being unaware of the fact that they shared the same body, merely finding it a freak coincidence that they shared the same name, and soon the two were competing against each other for the title of mayor. Insisting they were seperate people, soon the outpost liaison would be informing every fortress in the empire that "Tun Ownerpainted the Neutral Blaze has assumed the position of mayor of Marketcanyon, replacing Tun Ownerpainted the Neutral Blaze" over and over and over again. Never in the history of Entar had such a heated political battle occured, let alone with only a single person involved.

A second wave of humans arrived in the late spring of 1055, laying seige to the fortress for a full year. Tun and her soldiers defended their people valiantly, Marketcanyon's entrance never being breached, even with dwarven casualties slowly showing themselves. Tun's unit relied on crossbowmen for most of the siege, with Tun and two others hammering down any stragglers. She ended up the lone surviving hammerdwarf and killed a further two humans before being overpowered by a human soldier by the name of Gognav Heavenskeys, who was immediately shot down.

Once the dust had cleared and the siege had officially ended in the late winter of 1055, the civilians left their burrows to collect their honored dead, but could not locate Tun's body, which was in a nearby lake unbeknownst to them. Her ghost returned before a new mayor could be elected, and after some time horrifying dwarves simply became a common sight. For whatever reason, a new mayor was never elected, and the ghost of Tun continues to act as if it ran the fortress, flying around the mayoral throne room arguing with herself.

To this day in 1065, a decade after her death, Tun is still referred to as mayor, and the outpost liaison's reports still mention her attempts at overthrowing herself, it's still unknown if the liaison is aware of her death in the siege or he merely tells people of her election out of commemoration.

Nonetheless, go anywhere in The Banner of Souls and you'll eventually hear tales of Tun Ownerpainted the Neutral Blaze, also known as The Mad Mayor of Marketcanyon.

(TL:DR she for some reason keeps replacing herself as mayor and even though she's apparently been dead for a decade the liaison continues to tell me this repeatedly in every report he gives to every single fortress I've made before or after her death, I assume it's a glitch but I like the idea of a ghost running the place. Whatever it is, apparently she's still mayor)
« Last Edit: June 22, 2017, 07:10:01 pm by comicraider »
Logged

comicraider

  • Bay Watcher
  • The only person who cares about Tales from Entar
    • View Profile
Asmel Bergesis, King of the Dwarves
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2017, 07:05:16 pm »

Here's a little one, I just killed the last megabeast in adventure mode only to CTD and be restored to the moment I passed the community fort on. This guy's the current king of The Banner of Souls.

 Seeing as the game crash stopped the Age of the Hill Titan being ended by The Banner of Souls' human enemies, The Kingdom of Celebrating, I might just go get my next adventurer to drop off a necromancy book and give the good king what he wants :3
« Last Edit: June 22, 2017, 07:07:21 pm by comicraider »
Logged

comicraider

  • Bay Watcher
  • The only person who cares about Tales from Entar
    • View Profile
The Megabeast Trinity
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2017, 11:24:40 am »

Since before recorded history began, there have been but three lone megabeasts roaming Entar, maintaining a vice-like grip upon the world as they strode above it's mortal inhabitants, looking down upon them with the same scrutiny and disdain your average elf would for a woodlouse.

Entar's calendar was created by the dwarves of The Banner of Souls, the world's oldest civilization, and cites the founding of Giftorb and The Banner of Souls as a whole by the first king, Bim Rulertrade, in the early days of year 1 as the beginning of history. Regardless of the civilization's founding and the young empire's ambition to shape the world as they saw fit, this first era would become known as the Age of the Three Powers. It is known that Entar's self-proclaimed rulers walked upon the virgin soils of the world long before the civilized races first came to be;

Kesting Tamoldolek Ginglimul Stalkob - "Kesting Saviorcomets the Young Gold of Boils



Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Darala Ecuayi Senama Ale - Darala Denesteemed the Hawk of Leaves



Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Lolum Bungekocig Ingtak Govos - Lolum Lizarddells the Twilight of Leaves



Spoiler (click to show/hide)



Months passed, and now the year 1066 has begun, signalling the dawn of a new era: The Golden Age. The megabeasts that ruled the world are finally all dead, and the threat of their attacks and theft are gone. At long last, the civilizations of Entar are free to attack and steal from each other, as the new freedom from megabeasts allows them all to focus on the wars that wrack the world. Will The Golden Age live up to it's name and bring prosperity to Entar once and for all, or will The Age of Emptiness one day come and consume us all? Only time will tell.
« Last Edit: June 25, 2017, 11:26:49 am by comicraider »
Logged

comicraider

  • Bay Watcher
  • The only person who cares about Tales from Entar
    • View Profile
Revived with a Crucial Mission
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2017, 01:12:37 pm »

Just looking through Skinnedseals' history (my most successful active fort), despite being dead for almost a thousand years at this point the Hydra known as Kesting (see above post) apparently got into Skinnedseals at some point in 1066 and melted a masterfully-prepared roast, before seemingly returning to the afterlife without harming anyone.



What a bastard. Truly there is evil in this world. Off to a good start, Golden Age.
« Last Edit: July 08, 2017, 10:40:41 am by comicraider »
Logged

comicraider

  • Bay Watcher
  • The only person who cares about Tales from Entar
    • View Profile
The End of Silverypainted
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2017, 08:21:34 am »

I've already told stories about the cursed fortress of Silverypainted, a once-thriving fortress belonging to The Copper Torches of the Banner of Souls that fell in the year 1054 as a result of "The Silverypainted Incident", which saw the settlement succumb to constant werebeast attacks as well as the first acts of aggression from the world-spanning war that it caused. Over the span of the next seven years multiple reclamation missions were launched to resettle the fortress, for reasons spanning strategic location to salvaging artifacts to laying the many corpses strewn across the fortress to rest.

By the year 1061 all attempts to reclaim the site had been abandoned, as the werebeast infestations had become too much to handle. To make matters worse, scholars from the neighboring civilizations as well as travelling mercenaries still frequented the site's library and tavern, inevitably falling prey to the curses of the buffalo or gila monster and unwittingly travelling back out into the world to spread it further. Skinnedseals, the new Mountainhome and most densely-populated settlement in all of Entar has put down two seperate weregila monster infestations that could be traced back to Silverypainted, with more popping up all the time.

Finally, motivated by the dawn of The Golden Age three years prior, one final expedition to Silverypainted was made in the early days of the year 1069 to be rid of the problem once and for all. In contrast to the previous settlers, this team was solely military, their mission to eliminate any living thing in or around the damned fortress. Upon arrival they discovered the land immediately outside the fortress gate was crawling with hundreds of leopards and jaguars, as well as countless insane merchants and visitors whose psyche had been shattered by the trauma of the constant violence.
It took some time but soon the sentient creatures on the surface had all been put to the sword, and the unfettered swordsdwarves made a push into the fortress itself. They met light resistence from soldiers belonging to The Rain of containers, the oft-overlooked second elven civilization who tended to keep to themselves, who had conquered Silverypainted and routed the last sane Dwarven settlers mere weeks before the current expedition.

The dwarves fought their way down to the lower levels, slaughtering anyone in their way, be they human, elven, goblin or even fellow dwarf, until they reached the burial chambers in the lowest point of the fortress. Almost all free space had been taken up by coffins and memorial slabs save for the central plaza, with a single microcline statue bearing the Banner of Souls' crest.
To the dwarves' surprise the statue had been toppled and a curious slab left in it's place which was surrounded by a group of goblins, all chanting foul litanies in their guttural tongue.

The leader of this bizarre cult looked to the leader of the dwarven expedition and simply gave him a foul, toothy grin, as the ground caved in from under the goblins' feet, sending them plummeting into a seemingly-bottomless pit. The dwarves watched on confused and tried to look into the crevice before they heard it.

Screaming, the likes of which none had heard since the early days of the year 1 when the underworld spire erupted from the Goblin capital. This demonic shrieking horrified the dwarves to their very souls, before the expedition leader motioned the others to run.
They hurried towards the entrance with all their energy as demons of all shapes and sizes poured forth, incinerating wood and stone alike and destroying masterpieces made my countless fallen craftsdwarves over the last twenty years.

The last swordsdwarf barely made it out in time, the great gates of Silverypainted slamming shut mere moments before a Red Demon could escape.
Even with the great stone barriers sealing the entrance screams could be heard as clear as day. The expedition promptly settled in the shanty town on the surface, built by The Copper Torches before their fall to accomodate the steady stream of visitors. Though they have only wood, the dwarves are building up and fortifying in case the demons should ever break free. Their new orders were simple: Nobody goes near the gates. King Asmel Bergesis had ordered the fortress off-limits and to be guarded by a standing garrison at all times unless it became apparent that The Banner of Souls' destruction was imminent, in which case the gates were to be opened and the demons loosed on the world as a form of mutually-assured destruction.

While the dwarves followed these orders to the word, they decided one thing must be done; someone had to go back into the fortress and recover the body of Oddom Ralkubuk, the last true ruler of The Copper Torches who single-handedly built up the fortress during a whole winter with no food or water after the rest of the expedition had starved and frozen. Naturally nobody was willing to make this suicidal journey until an adventurer, a dwarf-aligned human by the name of Bomrek Relicbasin and his dwarven companions Mosus Minedconfine, Fikod Earwheel the Unwelcome Spite of Paint and Messthos Clashwalled (see Family of Steel thread: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=164559.0) agreed to the task.

The gates were opened briefly enough for the band of warriors to make their ways in. While the demonic screaming could still be heard, presumably they were all having their ways with the mangled corpses of the werebeasts, the burial halls just beyond the entrance were silent. Bomrek and his men made their way through the desecrated halls and found the melted remnants of the steel door that led to Ralkubuk's tomb, the coffin still intact. They wasted no time in exhuming the mangled skeleton and it's decapitated skull before running like hell for the entrance before any demons came back.

Refusing payment, Bomrek's group chose to take Oddom's remains back to the Mountainhome to be buried in a tomb worthy of such a hero, instead of the ramshackle wooden hovel the expedition had prepared. They spent a full day travelling to Skinnedseals, silently walking it's hallowed halls and reaching the mausoleum.
It was simple enough, plainly decorated so as to resemble Silverypainted's styles, save for the pillars being engraved with the ensignia of The Copper Torches and moments from Ralkubuk's life by the Mountainhome's finest engravers. Sitting ready in the center of the room was a masterfully-forged gold sarcophagus, adorned with pyrite and blue tourmaline, Ralkubuk's favourite stones in life. King Asmel Bergesis joined Bomrek in lowering the skeleton into it's final resting place, far from his home and any family he may have had, and a few words were spoken by Skinnedseals' nobles. As reward for risking their lives, Bomrek and his men were granted citizenship in Skinnedseals, with their own accomodations and allowing Messthos to reunite with his sister and pay his respects to his late father.

Finally, the damned fortress of Silverypainted's story had come to an end. Now the werebeast outbreaks were dealt with any stragglers roaming Entar could be easily dispatched, hopefully finally keeping the epidemic at bay. The garrison would remain outside the front gate, solemnly awaiting the day the order comes to open the gate once more and plunge the world into chaos.
Silverypainted's garrison would soon recieve word that a human army from The Kingdom of Celebrating was marching to take the site.

Silverypainted must never fall again.
The gates of hell must remain closed.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2017, 06:38:57 pm by comicraider »
Logged

Bearskie

  • Bay Watcher
  • Nyam nyam
    • View Profile
Re: Tales from Entar: Notable Stories in the Modern Era
« Reply #6 on: August 01, 2017, 11:00:47 am »

Man, just caught up to this, the writing is great. Did you really play a fortress with demons on the loose? Sounds like a great way to kill your FPS.

comicraider

  • Bay Watcher
  • The only person who cares about Tales from Entar
    • View Profile
Re: Tales from Entar: Notable Stories in the Modern Era
« Reply #7 on: August 02, 2017, 06:12:36 pm »

Yep, it's been resettled like 5 times so I just got bored, resettled one last time, place was full of insane mercenaries so I just dug straight down to the circus and shut the gates behind me :P Only embellished part was the goblin cult, but to be fair there were a fair few goblins there. It now exists solely to open up and let the demons loose if I can't end this war peacefully :P Bonus points for being the first fortress I made in this world, while it was the third I generated since I got back into DF it was the first one where either civilization had all died out or just derped around as an adventurer. Gotta love how it failed so hard I get werebeasts linked to the site visiting every single fortress I made on the entire continent :P

Should have another update soon, working on a frontier colony far away from absolutely anywhere as I write this :)
« Last Edit: August 02, 2017, 06:33:43 pm by comicraider »
Logged