No, this was vanilla 40d13 with the orc mod. However, the story that led to this is a tale of greed, arrogance, and bloodshed.
The embark site was promising. A terrifying mountain overlooking savage shrubland, filled with sasquatches, trolls, and giant eagles. In addition to the open chasm, the map contained an underground pool, as well as an abundance of coal and magnetite. It wasn't long before the wealth of spider silk, troll bone, and iron goods made the fortress value rocket, attracting the attention of various ugly parties.
However, Guildlions was founded for the purpose of combat, and a legion of 12 champions was formed early on, each bedecked in full iron gear, wielding a sword and shield, legendary in all aspects of their craft. They brutalized waves of goblin and orc invaders without pause, leaving no survivors and many disassembled corpses in their wake. But it wasn't enough. With no flux on the map and traders disrupted by sieges, the flow of steel was much too little to outfit them adequately. The legends told of the vast power that lay beneath them. Of an ancient vault of Adamantium just outside the fortress borders, built to trap horrific demons during the forging of the world.
An expedition was made. A mining shaft running to the floor of the world. All 12 champions stood at the shaft entrance as brave miners ventured forth. Soon, cries of celebration rose as several veins of the glorious metal were uncovered. The champions were confident in their ability to deal with mere frogdemons and paltry tentacle demons without effort, and the miners were pushed to extract as much of the mystical metal as possible.
Vucar had spent all her life at Guildlions mining precious metals, but this... this was otherworldly. The dance of the merest glimmer of light across the exposed ore was brilliant, taking on a near celestial quality in the gloom of the shaft. It was intoxicating, and almost made her forget about the distant, unsettling sounds echoing through the rock, always on the edge of hearing. As she excavated the last rock, those sounds manifested themselves as the wailing of the damned poured into the mining shaft, bringing with them an oppressive heat, and swirled around Vucar, transfixed in terror and awe at the scene before her. Across a pool of magma, a blood stained altar of fire stood, framed by engravings painful to look directly at, of dwarves screaming, wreathed in flames. Flanking the altar stood two massive braziers, their twin flames reaching the roof of the temple. Vucar stood paralysed as the flames swirled, featureless, then seemingly focused upon her, radiating pure malice. She didn't have time to scream before the fire roared into the breach, leaving only charred bones and a pool of copper in it's wake.
On the surface, the shaft had been evacuated and the warriors stood wary, as plumes of smoke rose to the surface. With a flash of heat, a figure wreathed in hellfire burst forth. Before it could take to the skies, it was beset upon by the fearless champions, braving the intense heat and quickly dismembering it, the flames dying away with a shriek, leaving only a pile of ash. With the demons released, they knew it would only be so long before more came. Sure enough, two more of the foul beings rose from the depths, and both were cut down before they could burn the earth. But then... nothing. No flood of shrieking demons came to engulf the champions. The baron became restless. A bounty of Adamantium lay within the mine, and until the pit was cleansed of horrors, it would remain there, unusable. He devised a foolhardy plan. A plan to venture into the mine, create a second, larger entrance into the demon temple, and send the champions in to clear it.
The remaining miner, though reluctant, managed to get down into the mine without incident, carving out a staging area for the champions. Once finished, all 12 champions ventured into the mines, three covering the main stairway to prevent any spirits going through the original breach and escaping into the outside world, the rest stationed ready to storm the demons as they rounded the bend in the corridor. The miner then opened the corridor up to the temple, immediately beset by burning terrors. Running for his life, he barely made it around the bend as a fireball roared past. The warriors steeled themselves for combat as the horror made it's way up the corridor. As they launched into the corridor to dispatch the firey spirit, they realized their terrible mistake. Unearthly howls reverberated throughout the chamber as a wave of demons flooded out of the temple, surging up the main stairway and into the side corridor, surrounding the small force, bathing them in a wave of fire and smoke. A desperate, chaotic melee broke out, the intense heat liquefying the very rocks. The swords rose and fell, their white hot blades streaking through the shimmering air and choking smoke, their slashes not ceasing until all muscle had burned away, but the demons were too many. For every hellspawn that was snuffed out like a candle, another blazing inferno would take it's place. Soon, the proud military might of Guildlions was nothing more than ash.
Standing at the fortress entrance, the friends and family of the soldiers anxiously awaited their safe return. Against the night sky, the entrance to the mine shaft suddenly erupted, demons spilling out into the black sky. Even at such distance, the focus of the spirits rage was felt by the onlookers. As one, they cryed out in despair, as they realize the barons plan has failed, their greatest champions have fallen, and they would pay dearly for their foolish arrogance.
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Shortly after, I recruited the entire civilian populace, but with few weapons between them and no training, they didn't stand a chance. They were slaughtered, their corpses filling the halls. Some managed to crawl away to safety, only to be murdered later as the spirits demolished the fortress.
22 Spirits of Fire killed, 82 dwarves killed. 21 spirits of fire were killed by the 12 champions, one by a lucky civ who picked up a crossbow.
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Topic: How do you set fire to fire? [HFS] (Read 1045 times)