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[Pheo]

This is the community fortress Darkfurnace.
I will get into more details about embark location, fortress goals and whatnot later. Most likely after the "prequel" is finished.
If you want to claim a dwarf early, go ahead. (but please keep the names dwarf-y)

Prequel
Chapter 1 - The First Age - The Dragon Kingdom
Chapter 2 - The Second Age - The Great Sundering
Chapter 3 - The Third Age - Aftermath
Chapter 4 - The Founding of Portaljaw

Darkfurnace
Chapter 1 -

[Pheo]

A Brief History of Kar Gomath;
As told by Dwarven legends of The Ace Anvil.

In the beginning, there was nothing.

The god Argoth, with his awesome power, created the world. He called it Kar Gomath.  Argoth shaped the world to his will. Mountains rose and oceans filled with the snap of a finger. The world was populated with the creatures and plants of his imagination. Creatures you and I could not even believe to exist. Satisfied with his creation, Argoth began his great sleep deep below the earth.

Thus began the First Age.

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

The First Age
The Dragon Kingdom

Over the millennia all living things became dependant on each other, creating a cycle of life.  In the early years the land was governed by dragons. Smart, strong and magical creatures that lived over the four corners of the world. But all was not well on Kar Gomath.
Using their intellect and power, the dragons slowly crafted the fate of all other creatures by pitting them against each other. War and conflict became commonplace between sentient creatures. For thousands of years war reduced great nations to rubble and wiped out entire civilizations. The world was weakened to the point that the dragons were able to enslave much of Kar Gomath. Greed for wealth and power drove them to create a world under their rule.

Argoth awoke from his great slumber to find his world decimated. Looking across the landscape he found billions of dragons swarming over the surface of his creation. They ruled all life with an iron fist. Argoth feared that this would lead to the eventual death of his world. He pleaded with the draconic leaders to end the dictatorship over the denizens of Kar Gomath. The dragons scoffed in his face. They did not fear him because dragons had grown to the point where their combined strength and power could take on Argoth. When the dragons refused to end their empire, Argoth silently traveled back to the center of the world. But to punish them he took with him dragon flight, rendering them bound to the ground.

Many thousands of years past before Argoth awoke once more. Still the dragons held control over the world. They were even more powerful than before. Argoth did not want to risk his life, so he created other gods to help him rid the world of the dragon scourge.

To look over the physical world he created;
Zas, the goddess of mountains
Tomud the goddess of rain and thunder
Udar, the god of the moon and stars
Astis, the goddess of the sun and fire
Alod, the god of day
Ibruk, the goddess of night

To look over life he created;
Baros, the god of death
Gamil, the god of birth

To look over war he created;
Savot, the goddess of war and valor
Litast, the god of strength

Argoth looked to the newly created gods.  Each one nodded towards him in understanding of their purpose. With a great swiftness, they smote the hordes of dragons sparing none. Flames engulfed the scaled beings, seeming to steal their very life essence. As soon as they had started, it was over. Charred bodies littered the mountains, plains, forests and oceans. The gods gathered, their faces emotionless. Argoth closed his eyes, and suddenly became enraged. A handful of dragons still lived. He told the others he would finish them, but was stopped short. “No.” the gods of life said in unison. “The dragons are no longer a threat, and it is no longer your place to decide the future of the creatures.” The stern voices echoed. Fury filled Argoth’s eyes. His own creations defied him, both mortals and now gods. Argoth turned away. “That is for me to decide.” He muttered, and returned to his home in the center of the world. Each god found a respective home to watch over Kar Gomath, and continued to keep the world in balance.

Thus was the end of the First Age.

[Dermonster]

Derek Soulchopper!

PSYCHOTIC AXE DWARF! SLAYER OF THOUSANDS! REQUIRES A STEEL AXE FOR EMBARK! THE MILITARY SHALL BE BEHIND ME AND MINE ENEMIES IN PIECES! HEAR ME! FOR I AM INVINCIBLE!

[Pheo]

The Second Age
The Great Sundering

Life on Kar Gomath quickly recovered with the end of the dragon empire. The rotting corpses of dragons soon became of the earth and provided nourishment for plant life. Of the thousands of sentient races that once existed, now only a dozen or so remained. The strongest of which were the Goblins, Dwarves , Humans and elves. Each of the four races soon had a foothold in the world. They began to grow and become powerful nations once more. The remaining dragons gathered on small, secluded islands in fear of being killed for the past. Unfortunately for them, they would soon be hunted down in a group effort between all living creatures.

In 3,958 of the Second Age, nearly all living things started hunting dragonkin. Dragons were no longer a threat to any of the four nations. For the elves, killing dragons was an act of revenge for those that were alive during the First Age. The humans hunted the dragons for sport and prestige. Goblins only actively hunted dragons for food, but that was a very rare occurrence. Dwarves had a different plan. The monarchs of the dwarven empires wanted dragons to be tamed, and enslave them as dwarven ancestors once were. The only successful taming of a dragon was that of High Dungeon Master Sinsot. He tamed Ostnuklat the Blue Gems, last of the blue dragons. The great dragon died due to infection in 4,011, a mere three years after he had been captured. Only the smartest and strongest of the dragons were able to elude death or capture by the nations. It was estimated that only 20 or so dragons were never killed.

By the year 11,341 of the Second Age, the entire world had been claimed by the four great nations. When no land was available for expansion, war broke out. Battles on the scale of those before the dragon empire occurred daily. In just 30 years the elves were nearly wiped out by the human armies. The elves retreated to the forests, trying to conserve their race. They were vastly outnumbered. Rather than finish off the weak elves, the humans turned to the goblins and dwarves of the mountains. Both were constantly locked in battle over the high peaks.

Hematite 1, 11,761 S.A.
Argoth emerged from the center of the world. It had been nearly twelve thousand years since he was last heard from. All the while Argoth had been planning a way to destroy all he had created. The god climbed to the top of the highest mountain. “Hear me!” His voice boomed around the world. “This moment will be your last!” Argoth placed one hand down to the cold snow-covered stone of the mountain. The earth trembled, waves of earth rippled down the mountain as if it were made of water. Suddenly the mountain was no more. Faint traces of dust lingered in the air but quickly dissipated. Entire oceans began to drain. Forests burned and plains split in two, opening great caverns. Argoth was laughing maniacally as he did all this. The other gods watched as he destroyed Kar Gomath. The pantheon knew they would be next. With no world, they would be powerless against Argoth, and quickly destroyed. The gods began to hum and chant in languages mortals will never know. Tomud attacked Argoth with lightning and Astis enveloped the mad god in fire. This was enough to paralyze Argoth and stop the destruction.  Zas forced Argoth down to the deep reaches of the world, back to his home. She enveloped the center of the world in hardened stone, turning Argoth’s home into a prison not even a god could escape.

The imprisoning of Argoth came at a price. It, along with Argoth’s rampage radically altered Kar Gomath. Oceans and lakes pooled in areas that had once been mountains. Peaks rose from once flat plains. The gods chose not to return the world to its old form. They did not wish to return it back to the way Argoth had wanted it to be. The dark god did not own the world any longer. It now belonged equally to the pantheon.

Spoiler: The New Kar Gomath (click to show/hide)

The chaos of the Armageddon caused untold amounts of loss of life. Dwarven mountainhomes collapsed, killing almost all dwarves in Kar Gomath. Human cities crumbled, and many died to starvation and disease. The demons that commanded the goblins foresaw the destruction of the world. They fled deep underground before the apocalypse, leaving the goblin tribes with no leadership.  This caused the various goblin tribes to later fight and wipe each other out. The only race that benefitted from this was the elves. Without need for shelters, they quickly recovered. The forests grew back quickly with the nurturing touch of the elves.

The Third Age had begun.

[Urist Imiknorris]

Name: Urist the Blue
Profession: Berserking Metalcrafter
Items: FORGE ME A BRONZE BATTLEAXE
Skills: Proficient Axedwarf, adequate shield/armor user, novice metalcrafter
To the military with me!

[Dbuhos]

Name: Gkec Earthseeker
Profession: Mad miner.
Items: Pike and bronze spear.
Skills: Expert miner, skilled SpearMan
       

Aye

[Leesin]

Name: Leesin
Sex: Preferably Male
Profession: Miner OR Wood Dwarf ( anything like wood cutting, carpentry etc ) OR Mason ( anything stone related you need ), basically whatever you need.
Items: Whatever fits the job mate

[Zathel]

Ah, I think I'll bite.

Name: Melbil
Skills: Adequate Appraiser, Negotiator, Judge of Intent, Organizer and Record Keeper

[Pheo]

I'll start a list then.

Pheo *Alldin - Miner/Architect
Dermonster *Derek Soulchopper - Axedwarf(psycotic)
Urist Imiknorris *Urist the Blue - Metalcrafter/Axedwarf(berzerking)
Dbuhos *Gkek Earthseeker - Miner/Speardwarf(mad)
Leesin *Leesin - Miner/Mason
Zathel *Melbil - Bookkeeper
*empty

A farmer/brewer would be nice for embark 

[Pheo]

The Third Age
Aftermath

Hematite 2, year 0 of the Third Age
The day after the Great Sundering

Prince Shadowfurnace awoke to the enormous grin of the traveling medical dwarf Worthglazed. His vision was blurred, but quickly adjusted to the bright morning sunlight. The prince lay upon a smooth boulder covered in a silk cloth. The medic was lightly wiping dried blood off his hands and wrists with a damp rag. The rough prince realized he must have been injured somehow.

Shadowfurnace tried his best to recount what had happened. Having just awoken, his memory was hazy. He remembered He was traveling with an army. The dwarven queen demanded that the goblins encroaching to the west were to be dealt with. The prince, bored as he always was, traveled with the army. He enjoyed nothing more than watching a great battle, especially one the dwarves would surely win. The last thing the prince could remember was that they were traveling in a small canyon passage. He sat half way up, then winced in pain. He looked up to the medic.

“What happened?” rasped the prince, as he lightly rubbed the sore lump on the back of his head.
“There was an earthquake my lord. Several.  One triggered an avalanche.”
“How long have I been out?”
“Just over half a day my lord” he quietly replied as the medic dipped the rag in a bucket of water.

The medic scurried out of sight, around a large boulder and returned shortly with General Slingnotches.
The prince smiled and she smiled back.

“Glad to see you are still with us Shadowfurnace.” She grunted.
“It’s just a bump. Not like I will be doing any fighting anyway.”
“Nobody is. I’m canceling this siege on the goblins to the east.”
“Why is that?” The prince questioned. A puzzled and dissapointed look came across his face.
“Seven of the nine squads were buried during the quakes. I have decided to return to the mountainhome but…” she trailed off. The prince waited for her to continue, still with a puzzled face.
“Look around you, Shadowfurnace. Do you know where we are?”

The prince stood up and walked to the larger boulder. He scanned the horizon, and quickly replied.

 “No. How far did we travel after I was knocked out?”
“We didn’t. It seems some form of sorcery has changed the area. The canyon should be right where we stand.”
“This better not be some form of joke general. Hematite Fool’s Day was yesterday.” He chuckled.
“It’s no joke my lord.”
The prince stared at her for a moment.
“Fine. We should return to the mountainhome.”

With that, the survivors of the avalanche headed back west across unknown lands. They hoped that some landmark would stand out to them and assure them they were on the right path. No familiar land showed up, so they marched further west.

Exactly one month after the earthquakes, the group came up to a small camp of dwarves. Plain peasants most of them, some were farmers. Yells and hollers resulted when the camp spotted the squads marching toward them. A drunken dwarf ran up to welcome the general back. His eyes widened as he ran past the prince.

“Prinsh Shhadowfurnash!” He exclaimed in a drunken slur.
The drunk placed his hands on the prince’s shoulders and began to weep.
“They’re all dead! *hic* All of ‘em!” The drunk gasped through heavy bawling and drunken burps.
“Who’s dead? What happened to the mountainhome?” the prince demanded.

The dwarf stood there with his head hanging and hands still on the prince. The prince pushed him aside and walked swiftly to the camp in search of answers. Shadowfurnace came up to a tanned dwarf, who happened to have his head in his hands, sitting on a barrel of ale. Judging by his clothing, he must have been a farmer. Surely he would have an idea what happened the prince thought.

“You there. Farmer. Explain everything that happened here.”
The dwarf looked up at the prince. Suddenly he became alert, being in the presence of the prince.
“Uh-uh I was in my field planting more fisherberries and…” He started rolling his red beard in a ball.
“And?”
“The mountain… disappeared.” He started rolling his beard into a even tighter ball.
“And everyone inside the mountainhome?” the prince asked wide-eyed.
The farmer shook his head. “Gone.”

[Dbuhos]

 For the forces of prince Shadowfurnance, them bastards who destroyed our homes shall pay the sum...IN BLOOD ! (or booze...at last.)

Cool story so far.

[r3d5kull]

Can I join?

name: Johann

Profession: Maniacal Genius( novice carpenter, novice mason, novice engraver, 4 points to axedwarf, 2 in armor, 1 in shield)

Items: just bring me an axe a set of armor and shield

Thanks