UPDATE 04/08/12: After a hiatus of several months, the fortress is open for business again. We're looking for overseers once more!
Alrighty then, let's get this fort off ground. I've found a nice spot close to the gobbo action. Probably went a bit overboard with the resources, but whatever. We need a lot of those in case an overseer is taken by a fey mood and wants to build himself a glorious mausoleum.
I've also worked out a little bit of background for the fort, just read the spoilers.
Book of Saint Urist, written in 105 AF (after forging):
"It is the belief of our order, that the world was forged by Armok, the Great Smith, and that He sent forth His children, the dwarves, to reign supreme over the stone and the earth. Some heretics claim that He did not, pointing to the travesties of the goblins, and saying that Armok in His Divine Forge would have created a world without such blasphemous creatures. Those infidels are wrong, for we know that the world was corrupted by Other Things, that have crept into it after its creation. The loremasters have taught us of Those Who Dwell Below, who took life and re-forged it into the repellent shapes of the goblins. It is the ghastly influence of these demons that warped and perverted our brothers, the elves and humans, and turned their minds from stone and earth to the goblin-infested surface. At least the humans retain some semblance of a healthy life, with their great cities of stone. Likewise, the many small gods of our world were created by Armok with His wisdom, but the demon gods of the goblins are not of His design.
According to the scriptures of our forefathers, Armok accepts those into His Divine Forge who have shown that His Blood flows through their veins. Brave warriors, inspired craftsdwarves, great leaders, all who have served His cause. The cowards, traitors and useless idlers are cast back into this world and must prove their worth in their next life.
But the dead, if they want to live forever in His Divine Forge, need to be buried and cared for properly, to allow their souls to leave this world. I have studied the ancient rites of burial and many accounts of hauntings. It seems that the dead are chained to this plane of existence if their life and death are not commemorated. Our order must ensure that the rites of burial are adhered to.
Thus, the purpose He has given us is to wage war against the goblins and their masters, to create great works of art, to build a glorious dwarven civilization and to commemorate those who have done so. This is the faith of our people."
Codex of Burial, dated 120AF.
"The rites of burial are:
- Every dead dwarf must be entombed.
- If this is not possible, the dead may be commemorated with a memorial slab.
- Dwarves must be buried according to their devotion to Armok. The useless and uninspired may be buried in a simple coffin, great dwarves require a tomb of larger size. Those inspired by Armok must have glory in death as they had in life.
- The metals are a gift of Armok. They must be used to honor the dead.
- The Fortress-Temple's archpriest may go beyond these burial rites if he/she desires."
Personal Diary of Tau, Priest of Armok
20th Galena, 200 AF
The great fortress-temple of TorchinkThe last days have been... stressful, to say the least. Vabok returned with troubling news from the north, and the King's scouts have reported that the goblin menace is spreading. We've lost a few temples to the greenskins, and there are more and more tales of demoralized dwarves. We have to confront the blight of evil, and bring Armok's laws to the north again.
I met Vabok in the cathedral. He seemed as troubled as I, but told me of the Order's plans to send a caravan northward.
"We need to establish a new Fortress-Temple there, with defensive capabilities. The Order believes that you have the experience necessary to build an outpost and to defend it from evil."
"Is that so? Look, I'm not an expert for warfare. I've managed supply routes during the war of 191. I didn't kill a carpton of greenskins, I just did the bookkeeping."
"It's not just the goblins. The catacombs below this place are crammed full of dead dwarves. I don't think we can keep up with the digging any longer. If the war goes on any longer, we'll run out of space down there."
"Alright. Which area did the Order select for the outpost?"
Vabok unrolled a map. "It's the Bridled Swamp, on the other side of the Short Barb. Rather close to these two goblin fortresses. If we can provide a safe haven and a sturdy defensive post, the gobs will have a hard time doing any kind of raiding to the fortresses of the Short Barb. We might be able to take them out if we're careful."
I thought of the people we would need for an outpost. Some workers, yes, but also someone with artistic talent. And a medical dwarf - I had seen the horrors of the Goblin War and didn't want to go anywhere near a greenskin fortress without a doctor.
"And... there's something else. I don't know how relevant it is, but somewhere northeast of the location is Pebuen. I'm sure you know the legends."
Of course I knew them. Damn tales scared me to the surface and back as a child. The tower of Pebuen was a traditional haunt of necromancers. We've often heard rumours of these servants of evil and their deathless legions.
"It's too far away to be of any importance", Vabok tried to reassure me. "The Bridled Swamp is not known for any demonic aberrations, you're unlikely to have anything to do with Pebuen."
I sure hope so. Looks like we'll have enough dead of our own to fill the catacombs.
This fort is accepting overseers!Succession List:
1. Terra_Inc 2. charred_gp 3. Spinning Welshman 4. Pufferfish 5. dash27 6. NotaPirate 7. Tevish Szat 8. Kalemyr Skyfire 9. Fear The Amish 10. CaptainArchmageTurn done
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Attention: We are using the latest DF2012
with binary patches. It doesn't change anything with regards to save compatibility, though, so if you feel uncomfortable using it, you can always use the unpatched DF2012.
Every overseer should:
- End his/her turn after having completed one year.
- Finish his/her turn within a reasonable time. If you're AWOL for a month or more, your turn may be skipped.
- Expand the fortress catacombs. No project is too insane, no mausoleum too luxurious. Give it your own unique spin.
- Adhere to the Codex of Burial. Part of the fun is actually having some dead dwarves to put down there.
- When making a decision that could heavily affect the future of the fortress, apply dwarven common sense. It's like human common sense, but it menaces with spikes of hilariousness.
Latest save:
http://www.mediafire.com/?sku114puagugejq
That's it for now folks, let's strike the earth.