22th Moonstone 256
Winter arrived with slightly cooler temperatures, but thankfully the heat of this region was still palpable. Vampires supposedly feel much more comfortable when it is cold, because it is easier for them to hide themselves. It is hard enough to root out the remaining free-roaming vampires as it is.
Moonstone itself was very uneventful thus far. The traders left us after wasting enough of our time and hospitality with the trinkets and subpar equipment we gave them. The miners started mining out more hematite, since our enhanced iron/steel production apparantly started to thin out our supplies. And I had enough time to observe the thirsty vampires in their prison cells. It's unfortunate hat we can't just starve them out, but it might give me some opportunities to actually use those monsters against our enemies or even their own kind.
7th Opal 256
Groups of giant apes kept bothering us. They might not be vampires, but I still took it onto myself to whip some fear and discipline into them. Possibly also death. The survivors quickly got the message and ran back into the wilderness.
Feeling their blood splattering against my face made me think about the origins of many vampires I read about in my studies. You see, quite a few vampires have been hunters just as myself before turning. Most assume that the curse gets transferred by being bitten, but I doubt that it is possible to create as many vampires as we have here in secret by constantly biting dwarves without killing them. Also, the surviving victims of vampire attacks still show no signs of the curse.
I suspect that there was something much more subtle at work...
19th Opal 256
After a long talk and some record-studies with our administrator
Anti-Paragon a former citizen of this place caught my attention. His name was
Gigmaster and apparantly he was the first vampire that came to this fortress. That curse most likely originated from him, but that still does not explain how it spread. And since he truly died before I even arrived here, there won't be a way for me to interrogate him.
My search was interrupted by a report of a jeweler making a big fuss and claiming one of the workshops.
The materials were collected fast and the work started. The result however is rather questionable.
While coffins are an important pillar of order in the dwarven society, they are also often used to symbolize the resting place of vampires. I can't prove that the jeweler was kissing vampire ass, but one of the vampiric ring leaders organizing a festivity in honor of the artifact hardened my suspicion.
Yes, mock me while you still can, dark creature. Justice and light will preserve in the end!
23th Opal 256
Another visitor has arrived in one of the lower caverns.
After hearing the troubling reports about poisonous gas we decided to send our battle-proven archers to the cavern-entrance. They might be able to deal with it at a safe distance. Unfortunately only one archer was able to arrive in time, accompanied only by a loyal wardog.
All worries were unnecessary though, as our archers once again proved to be unshakingly reliable. While the dog was bravely distracting the terrifying beast, it's master needled it with precise bolts and struck it down.
Very impressive, the beast didn't even manage to come into gassing-range. Sadly the brave dog died in the deadly struggle, but we still have a lot of spare creatures that tend to breed like rabbits.
It might be a good idea to install some sort of heavy gate there, to keep the bigger monsters out. Our militia might not always be there on time...
13th Obsidian 256
It seems like those forgotten beasts have developed a fear to this place. I have received reports that the latest one preferred to arrive in the demonic region below our fort, where it can't even reach us.
And according to history it was not even the first one to do so. I really wonder how we even get those reports, when noone could reach that place. More and more dark secrets arise each week...
I found a crucial clue for our most relevant mystery, however: The reason for our vampire-infestation. You could say that fate lent me an ear.
A very special ear, that does not even seem to rot and also shows other typical signs of the curse. I did not see a good reason why it should be there, but after a quick look into the well I grew surpicious.
Someone installed spike-traps into the well and the water was mixed with blood. I unrolled my silver whip and let the tip fall into the water. After the blood floated away from it, my suspucions became certainty: The well was poisoned with the blood of a vampire! The curse must have spread through this, when it was still used as the primary source of water.
And I can't even punish anyone for it, since
Gigmaster is already dead and I don't know who built this hellish device. All I can do is fight it's legacy...
19th Obsidian 256
A combined attack has been planned against us! First of all, another beast came by and attacked our cavern-entrance.
The group of war dogs I stationed there tried to fend it of and almost managed to tear it into pieces.
Apparantly it won't be stopped by just fangs and claws though, as it still fights back and kills a few dogs. The other animals got sprinkled by it's bodily fluids and quickly catched a strong fever.
What's even worse, parts of their body also started rotting away.
We had to send armored soldiers to deal with the thread, but our archers were already busy at the surface.
A goblin invasion force has appeared from the east. The thread was effortlessly send running by our deadly archers on the wall, though. As usual.
23rd Obsidian 256
The dog-torture came to an end a few moments ago, when Zargodia arrived on the scene, rushing through mysterious smoke emitted from an artifact bone door that is lying around there for some reason.
His adamantine axe made short work of the beast with a few well placed attacks. The last dog survived the battle, just to die of bloodloss. Sad irony, but an acceptable loss. We have a shortage on capable close-combat fighters, not on war animals.
23rd Obsidian 256
While our outside foes don't manage to faze us, the enemies inside our walls continue to feed on the weak and careless.
The latest victim was a clerk who took a nap inside the public dorm, which seems to be the favorite hunting ground of our resident bloodsuckers.
Also our chief clothier barely survived a feast, as it seems.
He thankfully recovered soon. I do not fancy a nudist fort with all the immoralities that come with it.
2nd Granite 257
The plants heralded the arrival of a new year.
Spring made me reflect on my achievements in the last months or rather the lack thereof. Our military might be more effective than ever, thanks to our enlarged metal industry, but I still could not score a significant success in my battle against the dark forces pulling the strings. I will give up on managing the fortress and concentrate on fighting the true battle as captain of the guard. Hopefully the next leader will support my crusade and enforce order and light in these miguided halls.
Here is the save!Sorry for the long delay, the timing turned out to be much worse than I expected at first. I also didn't really manage to a real make progress in any vampire-related projects that I had, because I wasted so much game-time organizing stuff (animals, metal-industry...). Anyway, I hope the next players will be ready soon and give us some nice turns, so this fort can pick up the pace again.
I'm gonna write a PM to both
TheWetSheep and
Twangykid, just to be safe.
Oh, and I almost forgot...
hey can I get an update on my kill list? Should be pretty long by now....
Really impressive...
Author
Topic: [Succ. 34.11+] Watchedgleam (necro-, demon- and vampire-con; free elf-delivery!) (Read 80755 times)