Urdim was quietly moving through dense grass, tall trees of the Massive Brave Forests high above him, when he heard Erib scream. It was two days since he began his journey, and they have just left Roofbowel, and with it the territory of the Rainy Lashes. They were now in terra incognita, as far as his map would tell: trees and trees all around up to the Glad Seas. He was very thankful for having met Erib, since she was the only person who had the courage to leave home behind - even though he was uncomfortable with the thought of being alone in the wilds with a lady for a prolonged period of time. Anyway, she was a hunter, and he desperately needed someone to scare off bogeymen, so he had to take her.
And now she let out this painful scream - he looked back and saw her and an alligator. She probably made a shot at it, but the beast was too quick and strong, and it ripped her arm off. Urdim's eyes widened with terror and he vomited. Erib let out another scream. In a minute, it was over. She could not land a single blow on the thing. Urdim clutched the handle of his sword, but the alligator just lay there, probably not having noticed him in the first place. His heart beating fast, Urdim slowly turned around and crouched towards Roofbowel, leaving the place where he lost his first and only companion for this journey.
When he was back at the hamlet, he went into the nearest house and sat down, shaking and weeping. He was not ready to lose a friend so soon: they barely made a dozen steps.
He spent the rest of the day mourning Erib's death. But on the next morning, he knew he had to think of a new way to proceed. He had to move on. The hamlets were full of his kinsmen, who were scared to death by stories of three creatures of night right outside, in the woods.
He surveyed his inventory. The steel sword and shield were his most prized posessions. One day, he wandered into a house in Magicbusts and found out that an older swordsman had died. For some reason bodies would not rot above ground - no miasma or anything, they just decayed, simple and clean, so there was no practice of burying the dead among his above ground kinsmen. The dwarves living in that house liked the old man, and apparently they all knew him well, so they respectfully lay him there with his hands crossed on his chest. But the old man had something very rare among his equipment: a steel shortsword and shield. Since Urdim was the only dwarf who knew how to handle a sword in the whole of the Rainy Lashes, they let him replace his copper sword with the old man's steel one. They were glad that such a fine piece of craftsdwarfship would be of use to someone.
From that moment on, he considered it his responsibility before the clan to face the monstrosities that terrorized them: steel was the only metal known to be able to harm them.
That's how his journey began. And now he was alone again. A single night alone in the wilds was almost certain death.
He talked to almost every single dwarf in Magicbusts, Laboreddashes and Roofbowel, but they were too terrified of the prospect of accompanying him on his task. He couldn't blame them: after all, they were not fighters. He needed someone skilled and ready to face danger. He needed to find a mountainhome.
According to the map, the nearest fortress was to the north-east. Far to the north-east. There was no going around having to travel alone for many days, except one option: Bowelsmiths, the farthest and northerhnmost hamlet of the Rainy Lashes. Eventually, he made up his mind. He could get there in two days if he were fast enough, and he was ready to spend the night without sleep. He gathered his posessions, checked the supplies and walked out of Roofbowel, ready to face whatever danger was out there.
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Topic: The Museum: Adventure mode succession world (DF 34.11) (Read 818599 times)