Hmm, when I released hell, the whole military got ganked quite quickly, but I'm not a soldierdorf. More of a mechanic, so I kinda expected it.
In other news, thank you all for the compliments.
I believe that this is the final update in the Urist saga, and as such, I will be making it extra long if possible. Before I post the final update, I'm going to put up the second half of the excerpt. Ladies and Gentledwarves, enjoy.
Now, we can move on to the final confrontation of Urist and the Mystery Dwarf.
Urist woke from his sleep well rested and at ease. He smiled at the roiling clouds of blood, surprising himself with his cheerfulness. It would surely be a good day today. He sat for a minute, trying to think of what to do next, who he could interview to get an even firmer grasp on the myriad complexities of this fortress, and finally he decided he would just wander the fortress again, and hopefully something would come to him after awhile.
He descended the stairs briskly, brushing past the few early risers and late shift workers on his way to the dining room. Urist entered the dining room, and spotted the dramatic dwarf, Draignean was his name. Urist slid into a seat next to Draignean, and snagged a mug filled with beer. Draignean was bleary eyed and seemed quite groggy. Urist gulped down half the mug and smiled at Draignean, "Late night?"
The dramatic dwarf nodded, "Yep, we finished digging out three tunnels that we'll be able to funnel the demons through to seperate them and force them to fight us one on one. It took several of us militia dwarves to supervise and make sure the miners did it all right and proper, with fallback points and further channels. It was exhausting. Good news is we're about a quarter of the way there, within the next few years, we'll be fully prepared for them."
Urist nodded, "And then you'll what? Colonize hell?"
Draignean smiled wearily, "Yeah, but we're going to burn that bridge when we reach it. Right now we're still in the initial planning stages for our invasion. Soon though."
Urist chuckled, and finished his beer, "Well, I wish you luck with that. Get some sleep, you look like draltha dung." With that, Urist stood and strode off into the fortress once more, his mind abuzz. He passed Splint in the hallway.
Splint was carrying a huge sheaf of papers, and he was grumbling tiredly. Urist watched Splint dump the papers on another dwarf's lap in the dining hall, and say, "There you go, Storm, that's all the previous Overseer reports, all the stocks information, and a rough outline of the work hours we'll need to set up to do what you want."
The other dwarf looked agape at the huge pile, then nodded a bit overwhelmedly, "Alright, good. We've already got three of the tunnels done, as well as the initial entry point prepared, so this will all come in handy."
Splint glared, "Wait, you all mined out more stone and didn't tell me how much? Damn it, I've been working on these reports for the last two days!"
The conversation devolved into an argument from there, so Urist left again, heading deeper, planning to check out the Demon Tunnels. On the living quarters level, he bumped into Talvieno once more, and she smiled at him brightly, "Hello there fella, how you doin' today?"
Urist beamed at her, "I am well, milady, and how are you?"
"I'm doing fine, I got a pair of cavy from your caravan friends, and hopefully they'll have some lil babies soon. I sure miss havin' cavies running around here." Her smiled shrinked a bit, "How did your business go?"
Urist shrugged, "My work is progressing, which is good enough. I have all the time in the world, and to be honest, I doubt the Baron expects my report immediately."
Talvieno looked impressed, "A Baron? Which one?"
"Oh, Baron L-" Suddenly, another dwarf grabbed Urist by the elbow, and started pulling him away, frantic. Urist tried to pull out of his grip, but the dwarf kept jabbering and pulling.
"Come on, hurry up! We've got to get upstairs, a migrant wave came, and two of them are Spawn infected. We have to stop them before the others bring them inside!" The dwarf looked over his shoulder at Talvieno, "Get someone down to the Research Center, and have them open up two cells for these new arrivals, NOW!"
Urist stopped resisting, and started running up the stairs. He'd seen what Spawn could do inside of a unprepared fortress. His battle in the abandoned dormitories of his old home came rushing back in an instant, and his arm started aching without warning.
They got above ground, into the trade depot courtyard, where about two dozen strange dwarves were milling in a group around two bleeding dwarves. Several dwarves in the crowd were shouting for the two wounded to be put down, but a protective circle of militia had already been formed by the caravan guards, and a couple doctors were trying to haul the dwarves across the courtyard. Urist sprinted to the wagons and grabbed his spear, but he was without his armor, and joined the circle of soldiers.
More militia arrived on scene, including bleary eyed Draignean, a perky looking Fischer, and Steelcrazy. They pushed through the crowd, laying about with the shafts of their spears rather liberally, "Disperse! Disperse in the name of Spearbreakers! Get out of the way you idiots, what will you do if they turn here?" Fischer cried as they pushed into the center of the circle.
As that phrase percolated through the crowd, the migrants began to back off nervously, then they dispersed rather quickly. With the impediment gone, the doctors got help from two militia dwarves and lifted the wounded easily, then carried them inside, preceded by a wave of soldiers.
They soon reached the Research Center, where two cells were opened for the two dwarves, and several more doctors stood nervously shifting from foot to foot. Just as the crowd reached the cells, one wounded dwarf started screaming. He was immediately dropped, and a ring of blades surrounded him. His arms elongated suddenly, violently, with a hideous crackling sound. His screaming was replaced with gurgling as his skin started splitting and falling off, his bones fusing and pulsing as he changed. The soldiers began stabbing and slashing at him, and one got a good strike in, slicing off his head. A collective sigh of relief was interrupted by a screech.
The other doctor was held by the other wounded once-dwarf, high in the air. The once-dwarf was snarling, and ripped the doctor in half, throwing the pieces into the crowd, bowling over several dwarves. While everyone was recovering, it charged, its claws already splitting the skin of its fingers. A great slash of one monstrous arm disemboweled a pair of caravan guards, their guts coiling out onto the floor with a flood of blood.
The beast grabbed another guard by the head, and squeezed, sending chunks of skull and brain spraying out as it crushed his head. It kicked, sending another militia dwarf spinning down the hallway. Several milita dwarves attacked back finally, cutting off one arm and impaling in several places. It shrugged off these wounds as its eyes turned black and dead like a shark's.
Then, as it pulled itself off their weapons, a snapping sound was heard. Its lower jaw split down the middle, the gap expanding down its chest, ripping open its ribcage to reveal fangs as long as a finger, a mouth big enough to fully enclose an adult dwarf. One of the remaining doctors was screaming, "Breach! Breach! We have a full breach! Fall back and seal the wing!" Another was catatonic in a corner, leaning against a cell door, crying.
Urist tackled the Spawn from behind, knocking it onto its face. He sat up on its heaving back, and plunged his spear right through its ghastly skull, pinning it to the ground. It bucked him off easily, and lifted itself, dragging its head up the spear all the way to the buttcap, then fully freeing itself from the offending weapon. Urist lay stunned, mouth agape.
This Spawn was far far stronger than it had any right to be. That blow would have killed any other Spawn Urist had fought. It turned, the garish wound dripping a thick, viscous black goo sluggishly. It scrambled toward him, its claws leaving gouges in the stone floor. Sarvesh leapt in front of it, and bashed it in the chest with his hammer, caving in its ribs on the left side. Little did he know that several of the ribs went through its heart, as it grabbed him as he tried to yank the hammer out, and ripped him in half, tossing the pieces to either side casually. It bore down on Urist again, and Urist drew his dagger, ready to die.
Just as the Spawn reached Urist, it fell dead, the rest of its life finally expended from its black heart.
Urist looked at the halves of his... His friend. Sarvesh had been his friend, even though Urist had tried to push him away. Urist shook off his grief for the moment, and struggled to his feet. All around him, gore was everywhere. Dwarves were dying on the floor, leaking their life's blood. A couple of the doctors were trying to set up a triage station, bandaging wounds and pushing guts back into body cavities. One thing caught Urist's attention though.
In the midst of the chaos, the mystery dwarf stood, a fell look on his face. He saw that Urist was looking at him, and he grinned darkly and said, "Urist, remember our conversation."
Urist felt strange, he felt drained. He stood mechanically, standing at straight attention, eyes unfocused. He tried to move, but could not.
"Urist, come with me." Urist fell into lockstep with the dwarf, following him. They went down, past squads of militia dwarves rushing to the Research Center, past groups of doctors and civilians scrambling to burn the Spawn corpses. They went down, and down and down. Past the magma forges, and into a grand hallway. It seperated into three smaller hallways, leading deep into the earth.
At the terminus of these tunnels, a solid wall of gloriously beautiful stone stood. It was mostly a light blue, glittering and shimmering like it possessed an inner life of its own. Patches of it were dark, black like the pitch darkness of an unlit tunnel.
The mystery dwarf stood in front of the wall, murmuring to himself rapturously, "Yes, and now we will show them all? They will know the power of Armok!" Urist tried to move, to scream, to flinch, anything, but he was held as if by magic.
The dwarf turned on him, a crazed look in his eyes. "Urist, do you remember our conversation?" He gestured at the wall grandly, "Behind this stone are all the demons of hell. Billions upon billions of them. Clamoring for release, for the blood of the inhabitants of this iteration." He smiled at Urist, "You worship their god, you know. Your dwarven god is the devil. The master of evil, the GOD OF BLOOD. Well, I'm going to give you all what you wanted! What you deserve! I will unleash Armok on this world through you. You will birth a god unto this world, my friend."
He turned back to Urist, grinning. "Urist, pick up that pickaxe."
Urist reached down, and picked up the pickaxe. It was plain, made of bronze. A simple wooden shaft, with a utilitarian head atop it. To end the world with a pickaxe was tremendously Dwarven.
"Urist, do the right thing." Urist walked to the wall, each step forced from him. He stumbled fitfully, like he was having a controlled seizure. After what seemed like ages, he was standing before the warm wall, pickaxe at his side, trying to resist even now.
The dwarf roared, "URIST! I COMMAND YOU! DO THE RIGHT THING!"
Urist raised the pickaxe high above his head, his arms tensed against the swing, but he swung anyway. The pick dug into the adamantine wall deeply, and a whistle of warmed air came through the hole when Urist withdrew the tool for another swing.
Horrifying screams and roars drifted through the hole, and a scratching noise could be heard, as if a thousand hands were trying to dig it out. Urist raised the pick once more, his whole body tense.
"Urist, it is time." This voice was different. Urist fought the hypnosis enough to turn his head, to see Mr Frog standing at the entrance to one of the tunnels. "Urist, I'm begging you to stop." Even without the emotion that should accompany that statement, Mr Frog sounded earnest. "Urist, you must stop. For us. For your family. For your friends."
Mr Frog's features morphed, twisting into those of Sarvesh, "Urist, I saved you... I can't believe you lived! You must listen to Mr Frog. You must fight." Sarvesh had tears on his cheeks, "I've seen what will happen if you fail. Please..."
Now, Urist's old friend Melbil stood there, his fangs peeking out, "Urist, I'm so sorry. I'm so very sorry. I knew you would hate me for what I was, but you were my friend through it all. I loved you as a brother. Please don't do this. Don't do it, and if not for me, then for..."
"Me." Urist's wife stood there, with his son in her arms. She was smiling down at the boy gently, "Urist, I'm so sorry I left. I couldn't take it anymore. You'd become cold, and distant, I miss the old you. I miss you, Urist. I love you."
Now, beside his wife and son, his parents appeared, their eyes glistening with unfallen tears, "Son," His father said gruffly, "I know I wasn't always the most loving person. I know I didn't say a lot of things I should have said to you. Your mother and I, we just wanted you to know, we're so very proud of you, no matter what. No matter what, Urist, you are our greatest accomplishment, the crowning achievement of my life." His father smiled his smile, a quick baring of teeth, and a wrinkling of his eyes, "But there is one thing you must do. Stop that man. He is no dwarf, he is an evil evil man from out of this world. Stop him, Urist, stop..."
Mr Frog lay on the ground, the spectres fading around him, the evil man atop his chest, choking him forcefully while he laughed maniacally. Despite his imminent death, Mr Frog was speaking, hoarsely, "Stop... Him. Urist... Stop him. Urist..."
Urist still stood poised to break open hell, the pick high above his head. He dropped the pick, and it clattered against the ground at his feet. A thousand voices shrieked in rage and hate as he quickly stepped up to the man, and pulled his head back by his hair. Urist drew his dagger for the second time that day, and placed its blade against the man's throat.
The man went wide eyed, and he yelped, "Urist! No! Do the right thing!"
"I am." Urist stated coldly, and drew his dagger across the bared throat. Blood sprayed across the wall, and the man fell to the ground, gurgling and flopping like a beached fish. Slowly, his struggles stopped, and Mr Frog sat up, coughing. His eyes were blood-filled, the vessels had popped while he was being choked. His throat was bruised and his face was nearly maroon from trapped blood.
Mr Frog summoned the strength to speak, "A fine... Job. Fine job." Then he passed out, his chest heaving forcefully as his body refilled its dangerously low oxygen levels.
Urist looked at the wall, and a figure stepped out.
Bedecked in brutally spiked armor of the same dark material that made up part of the wall, with beard that glittered the same color as the adamantine, the figure was a dwarf. A huge dwarf, nearly three times the size of Urist. He held a battle axe lightly in one hand, and his face blazed with unearthly energies.
Urist stood before Armok, God of Blood.
Urist. My favored son.
Urist fell down on his face in a deep bow, nearly prostrate before the god.
I grant you a boon this day, for you have entertained me greatly with your struggles. The figure help up the broken head of a spear, the same spear Urist had broken fighting the spawn in his home. Your broken spear. Fight well, Spearbreaker.
There will be an epilogue tomorrow sometime.
Wrap up the end of the Urist story a bit better, cast doubt on the whole 'happy ending', you know, good old Dwarf Fortress stuff.
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Topic: [34.11] Spearbreakers - It shudders and begins to move (Read 2278146 times)