After reading dozens of DF-inspired Fortress stories I've decided to write one of my own. The extra push comes from the mod I just installed, giving me many interesting surprises to write about and make up as I go. I've also decided to write a few little poems/songs based on my story in order to bring it a bit of eccentric authenticity. I'm unsure where this should go and I don't believe this is good/long enough to warrant passage amount the forum's many grand examples of masterfully-crafted literary adventures, so its sticking here for the time being. I don't really know how this should be formatted, so I'm making it up as I go, as per usual~
Enjoy!
Journal of 'Chief' Keshshaknanir - Expedition leader of the Gate of TalonsPrelude - The Founding Seven We watched our beloved Mountainhome fall like worn pillars in the midst of an earthquake. Our people are all gone; we many who once rose from the Stone to conquer and trade across the lands now lie scattered by the winds. Only two pitiful outposts remain in Dwarven hands as unknown nations have laid waste to our once-majestic cities of platinum and gold. Our King, in his desperate plea of madness, has declared war on one of our closest allies after adopting one of of their nobles as his General. As we watch the very foundations of our civilization crumble before us, we find ourselves with one choice; we must spread the seed of Dwarvenkind across these fallow lands.
Assembling our supplies and gear with haste, we have commandeered a wagon to travel with. Though unsure of our future, I tell my men the truth. They journey shall the long, the lands uncharted; we must shape the land with our own Dwarven hands, so as to bring new life to our people. It shall be difficult, it shall be long, but what's the bloody fun in building without a challenge? I, 'Chief' Keshaknanir of medical education and leadership skill, set out from the Mountainhome with six Dwarven brothers and sisters; 'Mason' Geshudorrun our architect and mason, 'Core' Oduribmat our miner, 'Shaper' Okiklist our carpenter, 'Cook' Anamning our resident farmer and cook, 'Beastmaster' Duthnurzocol our hunter, fisherman and animal trainer, and 'Axe' Edtulninur our woodcutter. Let us be known hereforth as the Founding Seven of the Gate of Talons!
"
Here Comes Dwarf Fortress!"
"A mechanical city deep within the stone,
A spire of tempered gold to mark the way back home
We seven bear the marks of a journey far and wide,
The seven who shall build a stone fortress most sublime!
The layers of stone, they shifted,
Beneath the pounding of our picks
The gemstones there lay sparkling,
Like eyes that watch us dig
Mining for iron, platinum and gold,
We wander the caverns so deep down below
Awaiting our brethren in rooms of polished stone,
Awaiting the call of our dear Mountainhome
Hoping for fountains of quality booze,
We dream of inscriptions from the mouth of the muse
But what of the most darkened depths of the earth,
Where demons may wait in Hell's own well-lit hearth?
What Dwarf would not dig for the right to strike heat,
Upon adamant ores like millstone to wheat!
What good is a fortress with splendid gates of stone,
Without legions of enemies on which our blades we may hone?
May war-hammer, battle-ax and short sword the same,
Become goblin and kobold and demonkind's bane!
May all drunken Dwarves bring the battle to Hell,
Lest in drunkenness one of us fall into the well...
May waterfalls of mist and magma forges so hot,
Be a hallmark of Dwarvenkind like booze in stone pots
May our craftsdwarves create more than just trinkets of stone,
Like doors of cut gemstone and beds of shaped bone
We shall tame the wildest beasts,
From above and deep below
We shall tame the earth's burning blood,
That gives life to blackened stone!
May our fortress last a century or until a damn plague strikes,
Like a horde of wailing demons to mount atop our pikes
Be it desert, plains, mountain or marsh,
We Dwarves shall all conquer lands tranquil or harsh
From volcanic chasm that leads to the abyss,
To the tallest of grass and a leopardman's hiss;
We seven shall lead first into the glory of the unknown,
For the FUN, for the power, and our great Mountainhome!
Strike the Earth!"
For months we have marched across desert and marshland alike, through 'impenetrable' sandstorms and 'unscaleable' mountains high. Our Dwarven-made maps are useless for we have crossed all known lands of Urdimduthnur. Deep in the southern reaches of our continent, the very stone is different... The flora seems to pulsate with life as it shines with a menagerie of pleasant colors. And the animals! I could not imagine that there were so many undiscovered species so far across the continent! Perhaps with the news of our success we shall bring many more to these bountiful lands. Though the journey was long and the obstacles were great, we seven have come to rest in a perfect inland location. Though a bit wild, these lands are covered with lush forested regions and dotted with fresh water springs. Indeed, it is here we shall strike the earth!
1st of Granite, Year 129 P.G. - The Founding of Towerguard Praise be to Doren Rifotganad, god of fortresses, mountains and war, as our wagons have rolled to a final halt! We have come upon a pleasant plateau nestled between snowy hills of hardened clay, the land replete with small frozen ponds. We have traveled a dizzying distance south of our kingdom in hopes of escaping the influence of The Curled Cover's Mad-King
Akil Madushning and his Meowkin love-slave, the 'Maiden' General
Ottem Athelegul. Though the reach of our kingdom spans the entirety of the known world, I am confident that we may carve this virgin landscape into a self-sustaining fortress of our own. Pickaxe in hand, I am prepared for whatever this new land has in store for us. Strike the earth my brothers, and long live
Towerguard and the
Gate of Talons!
18th of Granite, Year 129 P.G. - The Beginning of The End We have carved the entrance to our home in one of the southern hills and immediately we stumbled upon an baffling sight. After digging a wide tunnel into the hill and three layers-deep into the stone beyond, I caught a glimpse of an unknown material protruding from the tunnel ceiling. Though it lies too high to reach, sparse bits of lantern-light casts an ominous purple glow upon the ground, pulsating with some form of terrible power. Whatever this new material is, we shall discover its power in due time. For now, we must continue mining the main access tunnel to our future fortress proper.
19th Granite, Year 129 P.G - Curious Visitors Oh, bloody stones! Only hours after we unearthed the mysterious purple stone, we were visited by a group of strange humanoid Cabybara men. Rather than watch our operation from afar, they chose to rush into our tunnel and scare the piss out of my men and I! Forced into a corner, Mason and I managed to chase two of them out of the tunnel and proceeded to beat them to death with our fists. Luckily our miner, Core, had just completed removing the ramps up to the top of the hill. Two capybara women and one man now lie stranded atop the hill into which we've carved our home... I don't plan on letting them down any time soon.
1st of Slate, Year 129 P.G - Stare Into The Eye of The Abyss I... I cannot speak a word of this to anyone... Not even my lover, 'Mason' Geshudorrun, would take kindly to what I must share. I dreamed a terrible dream this night, one of horrors beyond mortal comprehension. I dreamed of a grand mechanical city deep below the earth fueled by a massive sea of magma, in which shadow-bound monstrosities roamed free. Great clockwork sentinels stood guard at the city's massive gate of bronze, surrounded by a moat of molten magma. Strange words kept repeating themselves throughout the dream, more and more loudly as it reached the end... "We watch from the Abyss... We are the Eyes of the Void... Though our people are gone and our city lies in ruin, we shall rise with the blood of mortals... Beware the depths of the mind's curiosity, for it shall unleash what the gods have willed blasphemous and unholy... We are the Void, and we shall not be denied. Seek us... And unleash the power within you."
The only thing I remember vividly is a blackness so profound as to elicit deathly unease in even the most experienced Dwarven explorer. And the eyes... Bloody stones, those damned eyes... A thousand bleeding eyes staring at me from the abyss, bathed in an ominous purple glow... Whether a fever-induced moment of insanity or perhaps a glimpse of what has gone and shall rise again, I'll be damned if I'm not on my toes about any deep-mining operations near those bloody purple stones... Once I get my hands on them, I"m locking them up in a coffer somewhere and throwing away the key!
1st of Slate - Morning, Year 129 P.G - Shaped by Will Alone Though at night I faced Fear, at morning I swelled with pride! The FIRST piece of wood harvested by our men, a single willow log, has been shaped into a masterwork willow bed. It usually takes many months, sometimes years, to reach the level of skill required for a masterwork... 'Shaper' Okiklist has created one out of his first log, and I could not be happier with the results! I shall be placing the masterwork bed into our communal sleeping quarters until we have carved out the private quarters for our men. Let all men gaze upon the perfection of masterfully-shaped living wood at the hands of our Shaper. May all our constructs be gifted with such quality!
4th of Slate, Year 129 P.G - Winter's Embrace I awoke today to the sound of my men's cheers and so I stumbled half-awake out of the tunnels. All around me, the land lay blanketed in a fine coat of crystalline ice atop a layer of fresh snow as Shaper grinned at creating yet another masterwork bed - this one made of Ash. I heard him thanking 'Medtob' the goddess of Crafts and Metals, and 'Bal the Fountains of Spring' god of rebirth. Surely we must throw a celebration honoring Medtob, for he showers us in his favor! If these masterfully-crafted beds are any indication of our future wealth and prosperity, then I have no doubt that we shall become a grand kingdom of lasting influence! Long live the great Towerguard!
7th of Slate, Year 129 P.G - Gates of Stone Truly Medtob does smile upon us! As the Mid-Spring snow begins to recede and grass once again dots the landscape before us, 'Mason' Geshudorrun has created a masterwork shale door which I shall mount at the entrance to our home, and a masterwork shale table which I claim as my own. Poor and under-fed as we may be, we sleep upon beds of shaped perfection and are shielded by impenetrable Gates of Stone. No enemy shall breach the halls of Towerguard today!
On a personal note, I must carve my personal quarters so that I may begin taking inventory of our supplies. In the last month our supplies have become scattered about the tunnels and small storage rooms without any regard for organization. My concern is that we may be running low on food or alcohol... Gods know how angry Dwarfs become when deprived on alcohol... Perhaps that's what pushed our former King to adopt a crossdressing Meowkin love-slave as his General, and then declare war on the Meowkin people... Surely I am incapable of understanding the intrigues of politics and the chaos in which nobles are always shrouded. Ah well, back to work mining out those tunnels!
10th of Slate, Year 129 P.G - Fresh Mountain Air Ahhh... So do the flowers begin to bloom as the final traces of Winter's breath have faded from soil and sky alike. The many ponds are still frozen solid though I do not know for how long. I only hope that no man falls into a pond - Dwarves are notorious for drowning in pitiful amounts of water... Regardless, my lover Mason has created a masterwork throne to complement my masterwork table, giving me a majestic office from which to govern over this outpost. Things are finally starting to look good! Today I shall begin drawing up plans for the expansion of our fortress into a few more layers of stone. It is time that we built our permanent workshops and private quarters, lest we receive a handful of workers with nowhere to work!
23rd of Slate, Year 129 P.G - The Ninth Layer We have struck our first gemstones today upon reaching the ninth layer. We have begun hollowing out a large dining hall in the ninth layer's midsection, just beneath the entrance. As our miners clear the future grand hall and statue room, our architect, mason and carpenter have begun setting up shop to the north, east and west; connected to the barracks by three adjacent sets of stairs times three. Hopefully we will have our private quarters by the end of this month! How fitting, as the entire 9th layer seems to be comprised of Slate with streaks of cobaltite.
...To be continued. My next 3-4 entries are about a rogue Nephilim Legionaire who killed my beastmen and some of my animals, one of my recruit's sudden decision to punch a Nephilim pack-cow in the head and kill it, (thank you for the free loot!), a sudden spree of 4 kobold thieves who managed to make it to my entrance. Should have let them steal something... That and a Greater Demon of Wrath who appeared out of nowhere and promptly died. Wtf? A few other odd happenings will be added to that.
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Topic: Epic Storytime: Towerguard, the Gate of Talons (Read 1013 times)