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[They Got Leader]

We as a forum must draw up an all-encompassing lore, with Sethcreiyd narrating 'cause he's already got most of the ground work for the concept at least

I agree. Someone should compile an all encompassing lore. I would try, but I don't know if I would get far. If we all worked together, we could write and ratify a Grimoire of Armok. Something that could explain DF, its complexity and the thoughts of people playing. It would have to be holistic and almost from a third person point of view. It would have to cover stories and epics of DF, the passed on legends and spoilers, terms and traps, fortresses great and small, from the grandest fortress of Flarechanneled and the legend of Cacame, to the failed attempts of Boatmurdered and Demonbuttered (which didn't fail). It would have to hold the keys and the consequences of DF (Like the wiki, but more book-like).

I also agree with the Player is Armok thing. 

Armok creates the worlds and custom creatures in StA1, and it seems to be implied that YOU are Armok. Since when you take control of a single creature they suddenly gain awesome magical powers unheard of in the world.  From the detonation of a tree and making the pulp into pants, to the teleporting of a rabbit's foot 2 inches to the right while it squirms in agony from having it's skin removed. It only stands to reason that Armok is the one typing commands in with the keyboard.

The same thing seems true in StA2:DF.  Although it is never directly implied that you are Armok, you can do many of the same things that you can do in StA1.  You can create worlds from nothing, modify(mod) the worlds to your liking, you can take control of individuals or groups, who afterwords in legends written by scholars were governed by unknown forces.  Those under your command have unnatural powers over architecture and physics.  And can sometimes outright perform magic ('cheating' utilities).

No mortals know of Armok because none worship him/her.  The gods may know of Armok, but may not even exist, perhaps only being aspects of Armok.

It's all very deep.

I agree. Read above part. This concept of Armok should be thought about and argued, while being viewed from many approaches as to best answer the question.

The player is Armok. You're the one who told the Dwarves to build the giant sacrificial chamber, the one who got a kick outta trapping 30+ Cats and then dropping them to their deaths onto the big stone slab in the chamber and exploding on impact with blood and guts going everywhere to bless the chamber.

Armok is the god of blood. he doth flow in the veins of every dwarf, he is the one who inspires the fey moods and possesses the soul of his minions in times of need. so doth his power flow with the flux of the fight, that he grants his minions dominance over the foul beasts of the Deep. Every dwarf who kills a clown has earnt the right to vallhalla everlasting! untill the world is flooded in magma and the fight for creation begins anew and all the heros of the time march forth on fire to do battle with hell and the forgotten deeps itself! all hail the shadow of blood that sweeps all aside!

Extract from the phrophocies of Karakzon, Chapter 1, part 1, sermon 1, subcontexted under rediculously complex indexes sub paragraph 1.

Something like this.  Blood as in energy, the somewhat cyclical force of creating, destroying, and surviving.  The breath and growth and decay of living beings, as well as the forces of the earth like rain, geothermal activity, gravity, and the permanence of objects.  A somewhat indifferent godhead that maintains a slight degree of stability in an existence that naturally and intentionally fights to become chaotic.  Effort pleases it, overexertion and laziness disappoints it, dogmatic worship does not necessarily bring its favor.  In sentient beings, it respects a sense of duty, but looks more kindly upon motivation and inspiration.

Of course, this is in no way canon.  Just my interpretation of what a proper DF-style supreme being might look like.

I particularly like this viewpoint.

Personally, I like to think that Armok is the game itself, particularly the random-number part.

Most definitely true.

Ghost in the Machine?

Also true, but I like the I, Robot reference (intended?)

[Scaraban]

It could be like Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and every epic hall of legends tale/construction deserves its place in this- Book of Armok or The Dwarfonomicon?

[Karakzon]

think we should set up a dwarf wiki page on it? itll be the easyest place to draw up the basics. after that we can focus on refining it. though we need some well loved players with good grammer etc to be the overseers of the Grimoire of Armok!
oh god a noble idea! Keeper/prophet keeper of Armoks Grimoire xP a full copy of this player made book for people to veiw ingame? or the best passages from it.

[Wannazzaki]

This will be the first post on this sacred forum of Overseer Wannazzaki. Who is Armok you say? Armok is in all of us. Armok is that niggling feeling that you have too many cats and not enough bone bolts to shoot elves, Armok is that cathartic sensation you get when the golf club in your hand shudders when that downtrodden goblins teeth fly in a cone of debris, injuring all nearby parties in a hilarious atrocity of physics. Armok is all that is good in this world in the form of brutal murder and the slaughter of everything that isnt a fwuffy wambler.

[Scaraban]

think we should set up a dwarf wiki page on it?

answer to that riddles is yes, friends...

[Karakzon]

Alright, im going to make a new topic:

The Grimoire of Armok! post your passages to be chosen for the book of our god!

see if we can get the community to write this book.

well put all the best bits on a wiki page, if someone can organise that, then well edit it and sew it together like the glorious meaty chunks that they are.

[Wannazzaki]

On an unrelated note: The Dwarfonomicon ...is the best idea ever. Since sliced bread. Since adamantium. Since Deon made a rock grinder. THIS IS the revelation to end all strife in the world. And then fire it up again under the thumb of dorfkind and their brand of mindbogglingly brutal methods of war and punishment of the foes of the gooddorf.

[Elu]

I had always had the impression the player was the fortress, as a form of magical AI. Like a magical, (maybe) less sane GLaDOS.

less sane than GLaDOS... well i think it's in fact the highest level of sanity achievable for a successful Overseer, and man, we're talking about GLaDOS

[G-Flex]

I can't believe we've gone four pages without an actual explanation for where "Armok" comes from, even though people specifically asked about it.

Its an old tag that made sure an arm was still attached to a dwarf-- "ARM_OK", good cause for prayer, anyway you look at it.

This is almost right. Well, not "almost", but it's on the right track.

In one of Toady's old games (probably Dragslay), "arm_ok" was the name of some internal count of how many intact arms your character had left.

This became the etymological root for "Armok" in "Slaves to Armok: God of Blood", which was DF's predecessor and may or may not have included "Armok" himself/itself in some form in the game (I'm not sure).

When Toady started work on Dwarf Fortress and discontinued "Slaves to Armok: God of Blood" he used that game's title in that of the new game, just to make it clear that he wasn't completely abandoning the development goals that the original Slaves to Armok were based on.

In other words, "Armok" in DF is just a titular holdover from an older game, and has absolutely nothing to do with DF itself. It's just a reference to a previous game, with no bearing whatsoever on this one.

[Askot Bokbondeler]

the gods of df universe are procedurally generated, armok is just a joke. it's a reference to a variable in dragslay, that counted the number of arms you had available

eh, i tried and was greeted with this

Ok, we've had several people tell us about the ARM_OK line.  Now get to the point of the thread and get creative.  "To you, who is Armok?"

[G-Flex]

Sorry, I managed to miss your post back there. I skimmed the thread, but missed that one.

[Grumbledook]

That's because religion hasn't been properly implemented yet, but is planned.  Dwarves should eventually get bad thoughts if there's no temple to their deity of choice, and they either make time to pray there, or go there while "On Break".

Also, I prefer to see myself as some sort of angel.  Armok sits above, ambivalent and vague, but his ideas seep into the world, pervasive and whole.  I am but a messenger of his word, and these errant thoughts of dropping barracks onto sieges and making elf skull totems are nothing more than his will manifest.

I agree wholeheartedly. Armok is definitely scamps - http://df.magmawiki.com/index.php/Scamps.