Well, this one is a lesson I learned from my first fortress.
I had embarked in a temperate area, it was going swimmingly, I had just received migrants, and they were all fine and dandy. Working hard, but then winter came. Guess what I forgot to make? That would be my still, so I couldn't make any alcohol. Of course, my supply was already drained and the water on small lakes were frozen. The first dwarf died about a week in. He was a miner. Several others followed his life, short and dead in a corner. I did not understand catacombs at the time so I just threw the bodies outside. The ones that I could find anyway. The ones I didn't find started rotting. Miasma everywhere. Two dwarves soon went insane, and abandoned their clothing and decency for a more traditional way of life, naked in a corner of their room, locked in, and crying. Until of course, they died of thirst. The dead pile was rising, and I just gave up on throwing them outside. But now my expedition leader had his time to shine. You see, he had been fairly composed until this point, but then came my first tantrum. He swiftly punched another dwarf in the face, they ran away crying. He proceeded to smash his chair in his office into nothingness. I was determined to replace this chair though, so I sent a dwarf in to replace it. He smashed the chair again. i figured, "hey, it happened twice already, he wont smash a chair again, besides, he just left his tantrum." As I replaced the chair, he entered another tantrum and smashed the chair. there was then a steady stream of new chairs into this room until the fortress fell, which is coming soon. Of course, with untreated corpses, came a ghost. He proceeded to hang over one specific dwarf, who he knew in his life. This drove him berserk. Of course, he headed straight for... his room? I took the opportunity to lock him in and he just hid there until death came. The other dwarves died horrible, beerless deaths. All that was left was my expedition leader. Somehow, he survived the carnage and was wandering outside. At this time, a honey badger came out of nowhere and raged at him, charged at him, and he dodged into a pool, drowning in the process.
The moral? Dwarves really need their alcohol.
There was a simple mechanic by the name of Fath guildromance, trying to make a living, but this all changed one day when Urist McUncompletedfeymood went berserk, and ripped a dog to shreds, literally ripped it apart. As the other dwarves hurriedly fleed the room as the military riot control made their way through the crowd. Fath though, was at the end of the line. The berserker got to him first, and proceeded to flat out rip his arm completely off and break his ribs with said arm, all in two moves before the military got to him and ended the killing spree. I had no hospital at this point, so I just let the wound fester. "It gives character to the fortress." I thought. The dwarves, not knowing what to do with this spare arm, just threw it in the meat locker and called it a day. What is a one armed mechanic to do? I knew what the only logical thing was, draft him into the military and give him a crossbow. He was fantastic, and eventually I made him the leader of the squad. Making friends because of his new proximity to others and he was becoming quite popular.
Remember, this is the tragic story of Fath guildromance, it doesn't end there.
My first forgotten beast came. "Bax" a blob of flame with a stubby tail. I prepared excessively for this, using a war dog chained to the ground near the newly opened entrance, for Bax to come in. I didn't expect Bax to come in, and engulf the dog almost instantly, killing it with only a little dent in itself. (This was Fath's dog, by the way.) Next, the marksdwarves came to save the day. 3 died before the other ran away "for food" then fath came in, later than the others, bax came close enough to melt the fat off of his face, so fath, with a melted face, broke bax into a state of really dead, then Fath proceeded to somehow survive, becoming a hero in the fortress and even gaining a title. Getting a new, special room and friends with high power due to his new living quarters area in relation to the others.
Remember, tragic.
He was not retired though, and had one last trial The forgotten beast "Onul" a large blob of vomit, yes, vomit, with a square shell and deadly dust. I prepared much better, with more dogs, one war dog and a few others (as well as the war dogs puppies) Guess who owned the war dog? Fath. It turned out, onul was very powerful, it could launch globs of either Icy extract which gave frostbite, or a Fiery extract that would burn them. (not melt, just burn.) It killed the dogs quite easily. One puppy ran away, exposed to the dust, but nothing seemed to happen, so I figured it was nothing major. So I sent in my marksdwarves. Lead by Fath Guildromances, the one armed crusader. The beast proceeded to burn one of his legs, and freeze the other, killing none of his squad with pure pushing power. They killed it. Only for me to notice something "Puppy has succumbed to infection." So I began to watch the dwarves, then suddenly, it started. A dwarf began to spew miasma like a firehose. then the others started to as well, including Fath, who especially choked on the dust. They were rotting alive. The others died later on, but none had it worse than Fath, who lived longer due to one less limb for infection to do whatever it does. By the time he died, his eyes had rotted off, his joints were completely rotten, and his facial appendages were rotting as well, before finally he succumbed to infection. Despite the best efforts of the Dwarf "elite" medical team, with their unfaltering method of "More water! More soap!".
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Topic: Your Dwarf Fortress anecdote - Illustrated! (Read 104931 times)