Ulolgeshud.
Current Info:
Year: 1
Current Population: 7
Most Recent MapA Repugnant Conclusion."It is better if there is more happiness."
The king considered what to him seemed good. Though philosophers, he thought, often twist words to make what is wrong seem right, King Ast V did not see any way in which this might be untrue. Stroking his finely plaited beard, the monarch nodded his assent.
"Your majesty is most wise." The philosopher bowed deeply, his beard touching the floor of the throne room. After returning to the full height of his rather short stature, he continued, "And is it not further true that happiness is, ultimately, what is good? All other things we esteem as good-- honor, wealth, food and other physical pleasures-- are only good to the extent which they produce happiness."
The king's aspiration to be known to history as "King Ast the Wise" was beginning to seem to him regretful. Upon reconsideration, however, the philosopher's statement made sense. King Urist the Brave, he recalled, valued honor more than all, and so led his kingdom in martial combat against the goblins. For his decision to spurn traps as unchivalrous, King Urist received as reward only a pitiful death, sputtering and gurgling from the goblin bolt in his neck. There was also to be considered King Cog the Marvelous, who was crushed to death beneath a mountain of platinum coins he demanded stored in his bedroom. And the tales of what happened to King Fath the Lusty after he welcomed the beings of the pit into his mountain home are too gruesome to recall. None of these monarchs, the king decided, lived a better life than his own ancestor, King Ast the Second, or the Simple, a man who delighted in nothing more than in copper and plump helmets, and so was always ecstatic. Reluctantly, the king responded, "I see that is so."
"If your majesty would, I would request that you consider a hypothetical situation. There are two dwarves, one a king, and the other a soapmaker. We have a single adamantine scepter to give to one of these dwarves. To whom ought it be given?"
"To the king, undoubtedly."
"Your majesty has judged well. We ought give the scepter to the king, as he, due to his kingly sensibilities, will derive from it more happiness. Were it tallow and lye we had to give, it would be best to give it to the soapmaker. It is happiness that ought to be maximized."
The king could not help but nod in agreement.
"And let us consider another situation. Suppose there is an impertinent dwarf who intentionally mocks the various nobles in his mountain home. These, let us say ten, nobledwarves demand that the impertinent dwarf be hammered. We ought to support this dwarf's being punished, ought we not?"
"This is so. Miscreants ought to be punished for their wrong doing."
"Might I suggest that, though that is true, it is not the ultimate reason? We judge that justice is good because, in most all cases, it tends to produce the most happiness. There is another important principle to be discovered from this situation, however. It is, of course, unpleasant to be hammered. And, though the nobledwarf will receive a great deal of happiness from vindication, it is not unreasonable to assume that the amount of happiness each nobledwarf will receive is only approximately half the amount the impertinent dwarf will loose. It is only when we consider the happiness to be gained or lost by every dwarf that we come to the correct conclusion, that the impertinent dwarf should be punished. That is to say, we must consider both quality and quantity."
"Now wait a moment. You seem to have implied that, had the impertinent dwarf insulted only a single nobledwarf, say the king, he ought not be punished. I demand you explain yourself."
"My apologies, your majesty, as I have not explained myself clearly. The nobledwarves referred to in the previous example were lesser nobles. Greater nobles, especially kings, have much greater capacities for happiness and unhappiness, and so must be considered more greatly in such cases.
"Very well. Continue."
"Thank you, your majesty. There is another case to be considered, if we are to discover the full implications of this happiness principle. Let us suppose two fortresses. The kings and nobledwarves of both fortresses are happy to the same degree, so their happiness is not to be considered in this case. In the one, there are fifty common dwarves, all of whom are excellently happy. In the other, there are one hundred common dwarves, each of whom, though he is less happy than a dwarf from the first fortress, is much more than half as much happy. There is more total happiness in the second fortress, and, as such, we must judge it the better fortress."
The king stroked his beard. This is what it is like to be wise, he thought. "You are correct; there is no other reasonable conclusion."
"There can be considered a third fortress, this one being to the second fortress as the second is to the first. We must affirm this third kingdom to be better than the second, and so, in turn, better than the first. We may continue in this way until we reach the last fortress, in which there are a multitude of dwarves, all of whom have very little happiness, in fact they are just above the level at which life ceases to be worth living. This Last Fortress, of all those considered from the first onward, must be considered the best."
"As you say, it must be so considered. However, I do not see how it is relevant. Why must additional dwarves make all the dwarves unhappy? Surely, if each of the multitude of dwarves in the Last Fortress works as hard as the fifty dwarves in the first, they should be just as happy, and so the Last Fortress would be even better yet."
"That would be the case, your majesty, if the resources in a fortress were unlimited. Your domain is large enough that we have not run into any problems of this sort, but there are, in a given area, only limited farmland, wood, and metal. Even something so seemingly plentiful as water is limited. As the number of dwarves increase, each of these dwarves receives a lesser share of the resources, and so, roughly, is less happy."
"But in that case, should not the total happiness remain the same as we increase the number of dwarves?"
"Your majesty has overlooked the fact that certain sources of happiness are not diminishable resources. The pleasures of dining in a great dining hall, of observing a grand engraving, or of serving a wise king are not diminished by the number of people sharing them. As such, we should expect that the case of the fortresses is an accurate representation."
The king's grip on his scepter tightened, infuriated as he we was that the philosopher had refuted him not once, but twice. "I know what would make me much happier right now," he thought, recalling the case of the impertinent dwarf. King Ast, however, was devoted to being regarded as wise, and saw this as his chance to secure the epithet he yearned for. "A wise dwarf, even a king, must admit when he has been mistaken. I shall make it so."
"Make what so, your majesty?"
"The Last Fortress, of course."
"But, your majesty, I meant it only as an example demonstrating the principle of maximum happiness. I didn't mean to suggest..."
"Nonsense," the king interrupted, "You yourself demonstrated that the Last Fortress is the best fortress imaginable. That is the trouble with philosophers; you know wisdom, but you refuse to act upon it. What is wisdom worth if it does not inspire action? As such, I am appointing you, Athel Nishdallith, to the task of founding and peopling Ulolgeshud, the Last Fortress."
***
Here goes my first attempt at a community fortress. The gimmick of this fortress will be the development and maintenance of an extremely large population. As such, if you would like a dwarf named after you, there will certainly be plenty to go around. Only vaguely dwarfy names or suitable nicknames will be used, and I am the final arbiter on both those criteria.
I don't have a super-computer, so I expect the fort to slow down eventually. While I will try to ameliorate the lag by limiting animal populations, employing atom-smashers, and designing my fort to optimize path-finding, the lag will eventually grind the fortress to a halt. If you have any tips for reducing lag or optimizing path-finding, they would be appreciated.
Credit for the philosophical problem of the Repugnant Conclusion, the inspiration for this fort, goes to Dereck Parfit. Athel's presentation of the problem was incomplete and flawed, so don't judge Parfit based on this story.
Deities:
Roduk Usibkil, "Roduk Oatwheats". Female dwarf. Labor, crafts, and metals.
Zalston Arbanzon, "Zalston Cradledhelm". Female dwarf. Fortresses.
Tad Shagogtad, "Tad Staticmatch". Male dwarf. Balance.
Omer. Female dwarf. Minerals and Jewels.
ók Asënlolok Äkiltholid, "ók Gravelgranite the Pointy Deep Rock". Male Dwarf. Caverns and Mountains.
Alak Kônimketh, "Alak Masterjustice". Female dwarf. Fame.
Dwarves Currently available:
Male miner. Worshiper of Roduk. BKWM's Urist Elfbane.
Female woodcutter/carpenter. Worshiper of Zalston.
Female mason. Worshiper of Tad. Lafiel's Limelda Nighblade.
Male stonecrafter. Worshiper of Omer. Canadark's Canadark Stonehelm.
Male cook/brewer. Worshiper of ók. Askot Bokbondeler's Askot Bokbondeler
Male planter. Worshiper of Tad.
Author
Topic: The Peopling of Ulolgeshud (Read 987 times)