As a separate, tri-ninja'd idea...
Maybe the ghost of the warlord is a recurring mini-boss who also shows up in various sidequests instead of being the bonus boss, a d instead of the previously mentioned end...
Once Tim is defeated, the dwarves offer you entrance to the Upper Realms, where you attain fame through a series of related quests. The central settlement, a dwarven fortress combining the best and the maddest of the community, is a sort of a hub for this activity; every quest you finish ends with you bringing a trophy to the dwarven king. These trophies include magical items and an Adamantine Pick. The magical items let the dwarves explore deeper, safer.
If you need to collect trophies based off of Dwarf Fortress, they should be things like a certain number of elf ears, the bones of an air-drowned mermaid, the last tears of a dwarven child for battle through a life of cruelty, an artifact rope reed amulet encrusted with shells and covered in the blood of its creator, and something with a picture of a dwarf surrounded by cats and/or eating cheese.
Or Planepacked, or Ásax's spear.
There should be at least 15-20 "magical" items which advance the "expand underground" counter, and several others. In my opinion, of course.
Are we talking about Armok the god of blood, or Armok the forum member?
Maybe both, with the forum member being the decoy Armok.
If they are separate, then how would we differentiate them? Well... I guess godhood would be a good indicator. Maybe they're one and the same, but Armok has to ascend first or something?
Maybe Forum!Armok is a scary but easily-defeatable-by-the-time-you-reach-him NPC? Maybe Armok's Ale would be a sidequest...
I always assumed that this game will be somewhat of a meta comedy about the board and RPGs in general.
Why not? I was designing the plot with that in mind, but with enough room to make it more serious.