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Hello everyone. I've been lurking these forums for a while now and appreciate the qualities this board has. So what better way to show my appreciation than writing a "history book" for a game that is made by the world generator.

I don't know if this has been done before, but allow me to explain: perhaps the most pleasurable thing that I get from this game is not the dwarf flinging or dwarf melting or dwarf making. Nay! I get the most fun from reading these stories and especially Toady's Development Log. I'm not the best Dwarf Fortress player out there--perhaps the worst--and I dare not torture your mind with a story about how my party of seven dug perfect little cubicles which appease no one but my perfectionist self. But I digress. I have generated a world. (A smaller world just because I prefer not to be swamped with countless material.) And am using the legend of the Dwarven deity to create stories not so different from mythology.

So I inquire, has it been done? If it has, I would like to jump in the bandwagon and ride gleefully ahead. If it has not, please do not let my horrid word structure and diction deter you from trying it out yourself--its rather fun.

So to finish, this is my first time, please be kind. I accept criticism. Not so biting, I wince at the feasting of my ego. Maybe just a nibble?

[Kagus]

Pah, I hardly think you qualify as the worst DF player.   If you can dig cubicles, you're obviously not the worst.

But then again, this is a game geared around losing, so who's to say?


Anyways, this sounds like an admirable (but exceptionally tedious) pursuit.  I don't think anyone's done it as of yet, aside from the snippets that Toady puts into the Devlog and the Future of the Fortress thread(s).

I once thought of what it would be like to have a sort of dwarven cartographer, traveling far and wide through the wilderness of a world.  Dreadfully tedious, but a person could write up all sorts of interesting stuff about the local area and whatever civilizations made their home there.  A sort of Dwarf Fortress Herodotus.

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The Creation

In the beginning there was the world. An enormous sphere of molten rock, there existed no being but a single goddess, Ber Tingem. It was no perfect place for such a Dwarven goddess. Perhaps it was the extreme heat. No, it is also a well established fact that Dwarven goddesses love it steaming hot. Perhaps it was the enormity. No, it is well established that Dwarven goddesses prefer it enormous. Perhaps it was the rough terrain in which she lived it. No, it is well established that Dwarven goddesses like such terrain. What disturbed such a paradise was the selfish trenches which drained the land of lava. A world that spanned the edges of space soon shrunk to a size no larger than 33 by 33 Dwarven stadia, but who's counting? Sure, Ber would be able to process such a size of land quicker without a drop in any of her feats per second unlike the enormous world (Which in comparison to other gods was quite standard). Seeing the world—she had come to have known as home—dwindling, she grabbed a handful of the molten mass and tore it open and flat. Most of the trenches were sealed shut by her might and the remaining was sealed by the hardening of molten rock. Ber saw this and stroked her beard in approval.


Speculated Image of Onra Kisnast--Molten Era

The molten sphere she once called her abode then became a black flat piece of stone. Saddened to see only the remains of her once ☼home☼, Ber continued to stroke her beard and from this, dust and gravel fell. Soon enough, layers upon layers of many rocks now lay on the alien land. There seemed to be something missing on this cold slab. And from that instant of recognition, out fell Allas and Lurit from the holiness that is Ber’s beard.

Allas and Lurit were a passionate couple with passionate intentions. Born into this world together, each felt that they must live together. Ber recognized their supernatural hold on her earth: for each step Allas and Lurit took on the world, water and mountains trailed respectively. The wise one allocated land for each deity to grow as their own. Allas was given the crater of formerly molten mass from the southeast. Lurit was given the opposite ends of the earth. Ber carefully instructed each lover that in order to meet, Allas may periodically return to her Lurit as long as she followed a careful fault that Ber had traced to the crater and back for an eternity. From this, came the endless running water from the mountains. Ber saw this and stroked her beard in approval.


Speculated Image of Onra Kisnast--Terrestrial Era

Life would be the first thing to grow from this barren world. Whether it was Ber’s terrestrial life, Allas’ aquatic life, or Lurit’s aerial life, they all flocked and relied on Allas for continued sustenance. Onra Kisnast flourished under the nourishing bosom of Allas. Nothing could live without the product of Allas.

It would be Allas’ love for Lurit that would create the first beings of the land. They would be known as the Immortals. Lurit played and laughed with his creatures. While teaching them the importance of the mountainous regions, the Immortals prospered under the gaze of their rigid god. Wherever their picks struck, Lurit blessed with teal ore. The Immortals were glad that their community's furniture sets, clothing, and buildings were under a single simple and sturdy rock. Although the wrong lever were occasionally pulled due to this, the Immortals were able to brush it off and laugh. For after all, they were Immortal.

But things would soon turn for the worst. With worshipers came prayers, and by Ber, their prayers came to him by the thousands. Such endless prayers!

Why must all the quality resources remain on the mountains?

Why must there be stones littering the streets?

Why must we have an un-Ber'ly appetite for vermin?

This frustrated Lurit. For all he had done, the Immortals seemed to lack any sense of patience. Sure, he may be able to handle one, maybe two suggestions prayers every once in a while, but one thousand? The Immortals are far too swift for the god of mountains. But he could not destroy what Allas had created. So Lurit did what any responsible male god would do. He “lost” them. Witnessing that they had lost his inspiration, the Immortals left his gaze. Most lived within another region of Lurit’s lands. How they could have lived without his gaze is unknown. But it is theorized that they inhabit a region of the back he can never reach. Those who wished to give Lurit a finger salute fled the mountains altogether and ran straight toward the greenery. These vindictive creatures smirked at the idea of hugging a tree while angering a god at the some time. However, their efforts were futile for Lurit had already begun playing with his new gifts from Allas, “The Immortals—Mortal Edition.”


Speculated Image of Onra Kisnast--Immortal Era

While Lurit admired his new beings, he found some favorable over others. Those that were too tall were “lost.” Those that were too kleptomaniac-y were “lost” as well. Lurit carved the creature's features like he carved his mountains--slow and very slowly. Within centuries, he was left with strong and stout creatures resembling the gods. But these Mortals lacked several qualities of the deity. Sure, they were strong and stout, but lacked beards. An essential images that puts any celestial being to shame without. And while they lived on the mountains, they did just that.

Coincidentally, within the same era Lurit had thrown the tall and sneaky ones away had he noticed new beings of mixed characteristics. They had no signature features each god formed each being with, rather a blend that both disgusted and interested. Batman, Snakeman, Ratman… Lurit winced and tried not to think how the Leechman came to be.

All this time, Ber saw all things and stroked her beard in approval. She saw the beginning of the age of the natural deities and saw the end. She saw new goddesses approaching. One’s which thrive off the leftovers of the creation. She saw Zasit and Ertal. Like Allas and Lurit, Zasit and Ertal went hand in hand. One goddess could not live without the other. It was Zasit who raised the glorious fortresses, Ertal who accumulated such wealth, and Zasit who took it all away with war. This endless cycle would continue for an eternity. Like how Allas and Lurit bring life to the world, so will Zasit and Ertal take it away.

But with unnatural death, came unnatural events. The dead lingered, unsure whether to continue living their expected lifespan. The living yearned for more blood. The once peaceful Immortals split into the old and new. And even the natural god’s terrain of life were spoiled. Out of Ber came monstrosities with single horns. Out of Allas came abominations with protruding mouths. Out of Lurit came horrors with beautiful coloration.

But despite all things, despite the grumbling deities and crumbling beings, despite the living and dying, Ber saw this and stroked her beard in approval. The wise goddess knew all things came with a purpose.


Image of Onra Kisnast--Golden Era

[Specialist290]

I, for one, am impressed. Keep up the good work!

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I am having a lot of fun writing these. These aren't on the whim type of writing but rather intricate tidbits I have in my mind for some time now. Meaning, I have a solid goal of number of stories, a solid idea of how it molds with both forms of gaming provided by Dwarf Fortress. But I always want to have a sense of flexibility to the story. And in order to encourage participation, I'd like to request any interesting game aspects that would like to be explained in the story. One of my favorite parts of mythology were the explanations of the unexplainable. Why does this occur, or that? So feel free to ask, or even jump in with your own mythological stories. Cheers!

The Dwarven Race

Allas, deity of water, creator of Immortals and sustainer of life, recreated her prized beings for the entertainment of her lover. The sudden disappearance of the treasures poured upon him suggested his lack of attention on her gifts, his lack of attention on her, and perhaps his attention on another! But Allas would keep this within herself for now.

She blessed these beings with a quality that those prior lacked. These new creatures were mortal. And with mortality came a limited existence on Onra Krisnat. And with scarce recourses came value. Allas had presented her new animals with the gift of natural death. But like all things, made them yearn for her life giving water.

Lurit witnessed the first Mortals as they sprouted from the dirt like tower caps in a freshly broken cave river. Like the former followers, the Mortals took shelter and began prospering. They, like their ancestors, were much too fast for the god of the mountains. Yet, there was one characteristic that caught his gaze. While the beings were quick, they all inevitably lose pace, stop, and become one with the rocks. All Mortals individually lost this battle in due time, and yet, as a group, they continued to laugh and celebrate.

It seemed to Lurit that it was all a game to them. For they seemed to live by this mantra: “Losing is fun!”

By Ber! Lurit took it upon himself to better this fighting race. He noticed, like a mountain, it must endure buffets of wind and water which persistently eroded them. Creation was easy enough. But the survival was what made it more exciting with death quickly trailing behind.

Improvement of these struggle mortals were logically aimed toward godlike qualities. In honor of himself they were endowed with toughness. With Allas—agility. Ber—strength. What such perfect features to seek! But how were these qualities brought forth? One by one, the fragile, slow, and weak were plucked by Luric and lost. Only the best for Luric.

Despite all this, what he was left with were hollow images of the gods. What about the spectacularly chiseled beards of wisdom and eyes that gleamed of incredible grandeur and inevitable disaster? A god could not grow such personalities into his creatures even with centuries of selective growth. Luric acknowledged this and left the selected Mortals, promising to return his gaze upon them.

But something unexpected occurred with the Mortals. When life is given a value, all things follow. Burdening unreasonable greed soon came to pass. Necessary gods of wealth and war were born. From this came Ertal and Zasit.

Wandering the mountainous regions of Onra Krisnat, Zasit came to witness the selected Mortals at work. It was an odd sight. For beings skilled in the pick, they chose to live outside.

Rolling up her sleeves and brushing her beard aside, Zasit would accomplish what Lurit could not. What Lurit could not enforce in his followers, Zasit inspired. As such, in a dream, a young Mortal heard the instructive voice of the goddess.


Earliest Manuscript of Zasit's Visitation

And upon waking, Zasit’s knowledge filled the once hollow race. From hence forth, the race recognized themselves as Dwarves. The Dwarven race, beginning with one young Mortal: Zaneg Granitetundra the First.