Upon awaking, the two descended the stairs one more level to find themselves in a sort of central plaza, with largish halls leading to the north, east, and south, and four doors along the wall to the west. Strangely, there was a chasm in front of these doors, and Feb and Adil could only enter via a bridge that connected the northernmost doors to the central room. Inside, they found a dining hall, which was designed in a fashion so that none of the dwarves could sit together. Even Feb, being from Ishenmistem, thought this was strange; she and her compratriots, though they lacked most luxuries, could still enjoy rounds upon rounds of watered-down dwarven wine with each other in one of Ishenmistem's long, rotting, wooden dining tables. The walls of the dining hall were made of flux and adorned with engravings, however, so that was something. There were also the corpses of two giant snakes, that Adil identified as black mambas, lying in the dining room. Feb readied her spear and shield (which was a simultaneous action).
Following one of the large ramps, the two found a large food and drink stockpile. The two feasted on various preserved roasts they found, and washed it all down with a large helping of ale. Feb stuffed several exceptionally cooked goose egg roasts into her bag. The two then ascended the ramp and went back to the central staircase. Exploring the hallways stemming from the plaza, Feb found three large apartments, probably the homes of the noble class of Luckystream. Being that Feb herself was looking for a comfortable place to stay, she checked out the apartments. Although they were large, they were not lavishly furnished. Even though they were better than Ishenmistem's queen's living quarters by a long shot, Feb wasn't too impressed. Maybe this was because, subconsciously, she didn't want to settle down at all. Maybe all she wanted to do was keep adventuring, which put a unique sensation in her heart, especially now that she had someone to share the excitement with.
On the level below that of the dining hall and noble apartments, Feb found where the average dwarves lived. It was a network of passageways, the each of which had doors lining it. The doors each led to a tiny room, fit only with a bed and piles of dwarven possessions where they could fit. It was cramped, and the two dwarves could barely fit in the same room at once, and it was a huge struggle to get out of one once they had. After poking her head into a few doors, Feb decided this would not be a profitable exploratory venture, and returned to the staircase to go down another level.
On that level, she found a large stonecrafting workshop, with stations set up for several masons, stonecrafters, and mechanics. Beside that was a huge stockpile, full of mechanisms, crafts, clothes, and a large assortment of other finished goods. Feb could have picked through the goods for days on end, but decided that that would be quite tedious and carried on exploring. To the east she found a workshop devoted to leatherworking, and at the southern end of the level, she found two burial rooms. One had three rows of stone coffins, with minimal furnishings. The other had a many engravings on the walls and floors of limestone that it was carved out of, and it had beautiful statues adorning it. Additionally, it had a smaller density of coffins, implying that this room was reserved for exceptional dwarves. There was also a room at the back of the ornate toom, which led to an even more exclusive tomb.
Feb left the tombs and went south, finding a mineshaft, which she descended, only to find the shaft shallow and the malachite mines it connected to empty of ore and of dwarves.
Returning to the spiral staircase and going down to the next level, Feb found a cloth stockpile, and a room covered in blood. In the more interesting room, she found two dead dwarves and the militated corpse of a colossal beast lying in an immense pool of blood.
Adil stayed in the doorway and said a prayer for the poor souls of the unfortunate dwarves, while Feb rifled through the bins in the room looking for treasure. She found cloth, and kicked a bin over in her frustration while a single tear rolled down Adil's cheek. Moving on, Feb found only a set of clothier's shops to the east and more bedrooms to the south, so she continued on down the stairs.
After walking down the stairs for quite a distance, and having to stop to rest multiple times, Feb finally found another level of the fortress. Walking through a door to the west, Feb found something disturbing.
When she looked at Adil, he looked just as surprised as she did. They returned to the staircase without breathing a word and continued further down.
She continued down another large expanse of stairs until she reached the end of the central staircase, far beneath the earth. At the base of the stairs there was a passage leading north, where there was another staircase of equal size leading further down. There was also a fortification allowing Feb to see a patch of fungus-covered floor.
Down the stairs and a series of large ramps Feb and Adil went, until they arrived at Luckystream's magma forges and smelters. Connected directly to the smelters was a bar stockpile, which was directly connected to a mine. While taking a brief peak at the mine to see what sort of ores and gems were mined there, Feb stumbled at something heart attack-inducing.
Feb jumped backwards and yelled "ADIL! HELP!"
Adil charged at it, steel axe held high and began chopping wildly. While he hacked at and grappled with the beast, Feb threw the steel bolts she had collected at it, careful not to hit Adil as he wildly flailed around.
Although the beast was a worthy opponent, Adil crushed it in a fit of murderous fury, taking no wound himself. However, he did get quite a lot of sinister blood on him. Luckily, most of his skin was covered by cloth and armor. However, he might have gotten some in his mouth.
Knowing not whether Adil had just contracted a deadly syndrome, the two carried on back to the forges. In one of them, Feb spotted a legendary feat of metalcrafting. It seemed too beautiful to leave behind, but she couldn't work out a practical way to carry it with her, so she, regretfully, left it where it was.
With that, Feb left the level of mines and forges via the ramp she entered from. Confident she had explored the full extent of Luckystream's subterranean portion, she returned topside to get one final look at the place before leaving.
She took a set of steel arrows from the ammunition stockpile directly below the surface. She noticed that the main gate had been opened, and was about to leave through it when Adil stopped her. He told her that they should close the gate before they leave because all of the other dwarves would be too lazy to shut it themselves, and a goblin siege was always imminent. So, Feb, new bronze armor, artifact grate, steel bolts, and new companion in tow, pulled several of the many levers she had pulled before, shutting the gate, and climbed the ramparts of the fortress. She hopped off the wall and was outside again. Adil, a bit freightened of hights, opted to take the trapped bridge and get out that way. Feb met him at the exit of the bridge and the two left Luckystream, never to return. They walked for a long while to the southeast, Feb explaining her fey mood, the museum, and all the other adventures she had had since leaving Ishenmistem as they did so.
Author
Topic: The Museum: Adventure mode succession world (DF 34.11) (Read 819454 times)