It might not have been hell, but by Amok it was close enough. I am Tun Saziredan, and I am recording this down to be sent to the Mountain Home, lest the tale be lost. And hopefully this time, it won't be hushed away.
It started out innocently enough. The king wanted to establish a forward base, close to the western forest. The location that was chosen was a desolate wasteland on the surface, perfect for ensuring the vile elves didn't bother us. But underneath the wasteland was good, solid stone. Enough to build a grand base to serve as a staging ground for further incursions against the elves. A standard company of seven dwarfs, led by my elder sister, was sent out to establish the base. I was sad at the time that I didn't get to go.
Months past, and eventually the caravan returned from Hushboulders. How appropiate that name became. Rumors erupted almost instantly that the base was in danger, that strange monsters were creeping up from the depths to kill and maim the dwarfs. And almost as fast, the rumors stopped. Nothing. All being kin got me was a very stern 'Mind your business' from a hammerdwarf that looked all to ready to strike. So I waited. Then a smaller rumor sprang up, that a few survivors had made it back home, but with their minds almost gone. This rumor was silenced almost before it began. It was only my connections that even allowed the rumor of the rumor to reach my ears. Hushboulders indeed.
So again I waited, but this time not idly. I knew from my sister how important this base was to the King, so I knew it was only a matter of time before another expedition was sent out. Thus I bent all of my will and considerable contacts to ensure that I knew exactly when this would happen. And as I thought, some months later, a new expedition was formed. I had to use up almost all of my favors and the goodwill associated with the name of Saziredan, but I was in. This is when I suspected that something wasn't quite right.
7 dwarfs again, being sent out to reclaim a base that had fallen. Surely, the nobles knew that monsters were involved. Why else would things be silent? So do they send more dwarfs? No. Do they send better trained dwarfs? Amok forbid. Untrained. All of us, with the exception of the two miners, untrained. I am no mason, no crafter. My talents were in manipulation, backroom deals. I'm not even sure my fellow 'peasants' had that much in the way of skill. Two miners and a hand of peasants were being sent where a carefully selected and trained group had failed. This was not good. But it was the King's wish, and I had to know the truth behind my sister's fate.
What we found when we arrived....By Amok, I, *many and heavy scratch marks* I cannot write this. I need time. I need to lose myself in drink, then exhaust myself crafting the stone blocks needed to make my sister's dream fortress come true. Maybe then I can continue this writing.
(Feed back, good or bad, is always welcome. This is based, mostly, on two play-throughs on a 2x2 embark site in a large region map. Large as in 18megs large when I exported the map. Makes for an awesome desktop image.)
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Topic: Close Enough, a story (Read 645 times)