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Yes

4 (14.3%)

No

1 (3.6%)

It was fun for a long time but towards the end it just started to drag

6 (21.4%)

I wish I could have joined in.

17 (60.7%)

Total Members Voted: 28

[Eric Blank]

[Yeah, someone will be making a beeline for the panic bunker eventually... But then again the panic bunker is designed of course to provide several weaks worth of time with no outside contact. Well, other than for oxygen. There's some holes in there for air exchange. Hopefully some of them are still functional...

Saurinae! Talk about the luck of the survivors in the panic bunker! Probably wouldn't be more than 10 in there. The reported losses to the earthquake (including all missing and dead) was ~20-30, and 8-9 bodies have been recovered.]

[WillowLuman]

It was exactly 20, leaving 30 I believe. When it happened, we all agreed it shouldn't be a fortress-ending event. I guess we'd have 20 topside and 10 in the panic bunker. And 3 cyberdwarves in a storeroom-converted-to-ad-hoc-jail somewhere.

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Yay! Pervert and kobold are back!

20 minute recap:

Mr Happyface and Zanzetkuken unleashed hell.

Mr Happyface used dark rituals to create a portal for demonic ascendency that caused widespread earthquakes and structural instabilities in the fortress. This led to a significant portion of the fortress population being trapped either in the deep hazard rooms, crushed in the halls, or stranded outside.

Shortly thereafter, zanzetkuken unleashed the horror of cyber-nanoassimilation based nanoplauge upon the fortress population, before self-terminating in a heroic fit of catharsis. His character is now dead. During this time, my character became the quintessential deus ex machina for a short while, which has seriously changed his appearance and powers, as well as returning his missing conscience. He is still mildly ascorbic though. His hair has a silver luster, but is otherwise still brown-- and he no longer raises festering zombies against the natural order. He now raises tangible ghosts, who are fully conscious and can resist and even refuse the summons.

Due to the extreme state of fortress damage and nonhabitability, various immediate needs are not being properly met, such as booze, food, and lodging availability.

To assist in this disaster, Eric has pressganged the the mining and masonry crews into heavy excavation work, and weird has constructed an anagama style kiln in the claybank near the riverfront. A charge of enormous clay pots and clay bricks has recently been unloaded.

A major plot revelation has occured in the past 6 pages concerning a dalek, and cryptic warnings about an omnipotent manipulator who is responsible for the forumite abduction, and many recent disasters. This occured at a 10,000 year old ruin that is nearby.

Corai has recently reclaimed control over his kobolds who had a small insurrection against him.

Many people are currently listed as MIA, given the recent confusion and lack of corporeal remains to determine death counts. 

You and your companion are probably chillin in the panic room. Probably the only place with booze in the fortress.

Don't forget about the destruction of the Slashdiver!

When they became planeswalkers so long ago, they were sent to the microline tower, and have been there the entire time, apparently.

[WillowLuman]

Not that planeswalking is much good now. The universe is isolated. There's still other dimensions within this universe, but interlopers from other universes have been locked out, and us sealed in.

[Zanzetkuken The Great]

Not that planeswalking is much good now. The universe is isolated. There's still other dimensions within this universe, but interlopers from other universes have been locked out, and us sealed in.

True, but the creature/artifact summoning and spell-casting bonuses still work

[WillowLuman]

Not if the artifacts and creatures are from outside, which they are. Not sure whether alien magics are cut off and to what degree, but point is Mr. shadowy figure got fed up with other people messing with his evil plot.

[Saurinae]

[So me and Indilwen are just kinda chilling away from everyone/thing?]

[WillowLuman]

[Well, you haven't really been posting, so that's all we could do. Story-wise, being stuck in one of the panic rooms would be the best explaination.]

[Saurinae]

[Fair enough. By the way I probably won't be nearly as active as I was.]

[Gizogin]

[Anybody mind if I jump ahead to the morning?  I want to get this confrontation between Lana and Gizo X done.  I have a good feeling about it.

Actually, it's getting pretty late.  I might have to hold off until tomorrow to jump forward.]

[WillowLuman]

[To get things moving again, sure]

[Gizogin]

[Okay then, morning it is.]

Lana and Gizogin climbed out of their shared tent early in the morning, the sun barely over the horizon.  Most of the fortress was still asleep, apart from a few incidental dwarves who were already working the fields, trying to get most of their work done before the heat of the day came.  Then, of course, there was Gizo X, who didn't sleep.  The android was waiting for them outside their tent, standing stock-still in the way only he could.

"Ah, good morning," he greeted them cheerfully upon seeing them.  "Lana, I'm sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but I could really use your help.  I've been working on some shielding spells, and I need someone to test them against.  It won't take long, though you might want to get some breakfast first."

"Yes, definitely breakfast first," she replied sleepily.  The three of them walked as a group to the food stockpile, where Gizogin and Lana had a quick bite to eat.  Her stomach now reasonably satisfied, Lana turned to face X.  "Now, what was it you needed my help with?"

"Well, if you'll just follow me, I'll show you."  He looked at Gizogin.  "You are, of course, free to come as well, if you want."

"No, no, that's fine.  I'd just get in your way, what with my lack of magic and all."

X led Lana over to the area he'd set aside the night before, now completely covered in magical symbols and drawings.  "You've been busy," Lana commented.

"I suppose I have.  Now, if you could just stand over in the middle of that big circle over there, we can get started."  X pointed Lana to the circle in question, then walked over to the large control panel and display setup.  "I'm going to fire up a few shield spells now.  All you have to do is get through them."

X flipped a switch on the control panel, and the lines on the ground shimmered into life.  Lana could feel the magic flowing through them, the symbols and shapes directing the energy.  A large, transparent dome of energy sprang up out of the ground, closing over the circle in which she stood.  As soon as the dome had sealed itself, the glow from the lines faded, and the faint hum of magic quieted.  She heard X call out, "Okay, it's up.  See what you can do."

When he finished his sentence, Lana had already begun.  She released a roaring wave of fire, which splashed against the dome and swirled around, charring the ground and turning the air burning hot.  She kept it up for a good minute, but when she finally stopped the flames, the dome stood exactly as it had before.  "Not bad," she admitted, before moving on to her next attempt.  Drawing in her magic again, she thrust out her palm and sent a dark, formless blob of shadows at the faintly swirling wall before her.  The darkness collided with the shield in a colossal explosion, knocking Lana back into the opposite side of the barrier.  When she got back to her feet, she was dismayed to find the dome still standing, seemingly untouched by her attack.

She decided to try a different tack.  Instead of dimply blasting the shield again, she reached out with her magic, feeling the shield for vulnerabilities and weak points.  If she could find even a small flaw in the dome, she could pour her magic into it and bring down the whole spell.  Unfortunately, there was no such flaw.  Even her most thorough examination revealed nothing but smooth energy, a masterfully crafted shield spell.  She gritted her teeth in frustration.  There was no way she'd allow this dome to beat her.

For the next thirteen minutes, Lana threw everything she had at X's spell.  The dome filled in sequence with crackling bolts of lightning, sprays of ice, washes of fire, and blasts of shadow, until Lana was completely spent.  The shield, on the other hand, stood firm, having effortlessly withstood all that she could throw at it.  Still, Lana had one trick left.  Even with all her magic exhausted, nothing could contain her when she teleported.  She concentrated on moving from inside the shield to outside it without crossing the space between, made the tiny investment of willpower to start the jump, and...

...remained standing in exactly the same place within the dome.

[WillowLuman]

HugoLuman sat in the tunnel. Sleep hadn't been coming easily to him, and when it did it wasn't restful. Between stress and the sensory overload he still hadn't adjusted to, it was hardly surprising. This was probably not healthy, but at least he had time to get a lot of thinking done. What he'd been thinking about all night was about their situation.

Most likely, that game it's playing with us is Dwarf Fortress. That would make sense. Only able to indirectly affect things. Giving orders, but the orders can be ignored. What can it see? If it really is omniscient, then it doesn't matter. It would know everything we think and what we know. But maybe it only sees as much as a DF player sees? More or less. That would mean we could keep secrets from it. It could see into our minds, but only on a superficial level. Our mood, whether or not we're happy, a general sense of why we're happy or unhappy, but nothing deeper. That's still uncomfortably little privacy, but maybe we can work with it. If we have it. But how would we find out what it knows we know? Have we ever done anything that surprised it? If so, then it can be surprised. But how to find out?

Suddenly, he found his train of thought interrupted by a nearby surge of magic. It was a strange sense, somewhere between smell, taste, and the feeling one got when a CRT TV was turned on. He missed being an astral presence, when he could tell exactly what magic was being used, and sensing it didn't keep him awake at night. Oh well. Better go take a look. Eric probably had something for him to haul, anyway.

[Oliolli]

Oliolli leaned on a tree a good half kilometer from the fort. Due to the constant need for wood, Jerry and the other woodcutters had chopped down all trees closer to the fort. Oliolli was there on guard duty, as the trees were cut. Jerry had claimed that it'd be safe, that they all had axes, but Oliolli had insisted on coming, remembering the spies in the area. He had seen no sign of them this time, however.

He briefly turned his attention to the puzzlebox in his hands again. He had picked it up that morning on a whim. He was familiar with the contraption. A cube, each side divided into nine squares. Each side would normally be colored differently, but due to supply shortages, all sides had simply been made to have a different texture. The cube could be twisted so that the colors would mix up, and the goal was to make every side the same color again through additional twisting. It seemed to be nearly solved and after about a dozen carefully planned moves, it was finished.

Alright, done. Time?
14 minutes, 22 seconds. Not your best.
Almost, though. Your turn, I suppose?

Oliolli mixed up the cube with haphazard movements. A few minutes later he stopped briefly, glanced at it and started twisting it again, still seemingly haphazardly. Oddly enough, it soon started to take form again.

Aaaand done. Time?
57 seconds. I still don't get how you do that.
Damn, still didn't beat my record. Oh well. And trust me, you'll learn.
I know. Just takes time.

He looked around again. Most of the woodcutters had cut down a tree, and were getting ready to take them back to the fort, as all haulers were busy at the excavations. Still no hostiles. He pocketed the box, grabbed his weapons and started escorting the group back to the fort.

[WillowLuman]

[Useful note: In let's say 4 weeks of operation, I don't think we've really clear-cut a huge stretch of woodland. There's a lot more than a single log's worth in one tree. Depending on the age of the forest, or the kind of tree, we're looking at a couple to several dozen tons of wood per tree. I've always gone on the assumption that all the trees you cut down in current DF must either be saplings or scrub-sized.]