There are three things which can be blamed for this delay: my internet connection slowing down to non-functional levels, the
Call of Warhammer Rage of Dark Gods mod for M2:TW and the simple fact that most of the effort for the past month went into getting rid of huge amounts of stuff that has accumulated over the years. All the millable plants have been milled into dye or flour, so I can now send the millers to do other tasks and grow some of those crops for brewing. I have over 1700 units of dye, that should last me a while. Severely limiting agriculture allowed me to reduce the plant stocks to less than 8000 units from over 11000 in the beginning. The amount of useless bone crap lying around can still be only described as "unholy", and it only increased, but there is less even more useless bone in storage. All rock nut paste was processed, and I'll go through the oil itself soon, too. Meat stocks? Over 7500, most of it from Forgotten Beasts, and growing. I had to butcher some llamas and ran out of storage space. A lot of dead llama had to be tossed into the magma sea.
But enough of my logistical troubles, I imagine they're not very interesting to read about. All dwarves unburied for various reasons - the most common of which was having been immolated by demons, before or after death - have a memorial slab now, nearly forty years after death. The waterguns in the eastern and southern sides of the fort are ready for linking their components together. The new statue garden is being filled with statues, encrusted with some of the fort's most precious gems. I caught some rutherers, which will replace llamas as a source of meat and leather, and crundles, which I plan to use for live training for my soldiers. Forgotten Beasts unfortunately prevented me from progressing towards Hell. Especially
this bitch.
Its poisonous gas killed a High Master Marksdwarf who got too close. A legendary one, Astesh Rawring the Fetid Droplets of Laboring
lost both arms in a fight with another FB, Thudel Menaceshaft the Poisoned Hex, but what killed him was a kick in the head some time later. Two axedwarves were slain by a winged salt humanoid who proved to be more of a challenge than I thought. A promising young swordsdwarf was crushed to death by a blob beast which flew in through a hole I forgot to wall off. An Expert Swordswarf, Atis Diamondsound, is already 162 and may pass away any year now. Two new recruits, Iden Armorkeys and Asob Helmmurders can't replace those losses soon. Asob became the new captain of the guard. Sakzul wielded a sword (later named The Angry Thrower), Kadol an axe, and Asob received an ☼adamantine pick☼, a remainder of my attempt to create a squad of miners, cut short by Radavi's rampage. The other soldiers are certainly up to any challenges they may face, and quite a few received titles or became weapon lords, or both - enough for me to lose track of who was already mentioned. So I wrote a little something for reference.
• Ingiz Scouredmachine the Umbral Omen of Trade - Legendary Macedwarf, wields the artifact leather shield Evenbeard and the artifact iron mace The Mesh of Portals. Unbelievably strong, basically unbreakable, indefatigable and very agile. Has only one hand. Member of The Blunt Chambers, an old squad originally intended to guard the fort from the dangers from below. Doesn't care about anything anymore.
• Lor Craftswires - Grand Master Macedwarf, wields a mace he named The Panther of Negating and an artifact bone shield, Stasisfeed the Frightful Portals. Very slow to tire, quite durable, slow and agile. Also a member of The Blunt Chambers. Is getting used to tragedy.
• Lor Giltsoothes the Turquoise Stake of Creating - High Master Hammerdwarf, wields a war hammer named The Glaze of Chasms and an artifact bone shield, Balancedblot the Whiskered Cover (yes, I have quite a few artifact shields). Incredibly tough, very slow to tire and very strong. In The Blunt Chambers. She, the other Lor and Ingiz often hold three-way sparring sessions. Is getting used to tragedy.
• Stakud Netdabble - High Master Macedwarf. Basically unbreakable, very slow to tire and agile. Member of The Inky Entries, a squad created to protect dwarves passing through the first caverns. Is getting used to tragedy.
• Momus Granitelessons the Teal Bride of Hawks - Great Swordsdwarf, wields Cloudodor the artifact bone shield and The Angry Thrower, the famous masterwork adamantine short sword with 14 notably kills, mostly FBs. Indefatigable, incredibly tough, very agile and strong. Also a member of The Inky Entries. Doesn't really care about anything anymore.
• Zasit Waxycrystal - Legendary Hammerdwarf. Basically unbreakable, mighty and indefatigable. Member of The Livid Flags, a squad once meant to support The Primitive Daggers in protecting the aboveground part of the fort, now almost its replacement and the most elite squad of the fort. Is getting used to tragedy.
• Rimtar Groovedpulleys the Turquoise Sea of Radiance - High Master Hammerdwarf, wields the artifact bone shield Lessenedgrasps the Taciturn Bravery and carries the artifact adamantine helm The Just Cloister. Absolutely inexhaustible, incredibly tough, extremely agile and very strong. Became a hammerlord while only 39 years old. Also notable for being the only warrior with a title which actually makes sense. Member of the Livid Flags.
• Kol Bridgedcarnal - High Master Speardwarf, wields Dullaching, one of the two artifact adamantine spears in the fort. Absolutely inexhaustible, mighty and quite durable. Also in The Livid Flags.
• Ber Hammerbearded the Blockaded Obeisance of Assaults - just an Adequate Swordswarf and Adept Wrestler, yet has three FB kills to his name. Granted, he wasn't fighting alone. Slow to tire, but very flimsy. Lost an arm a few years ago. Member of the Primitive Daggers, the oldest squad in the fort, tasked with defending the surface. Doesn't care about anything anymore.
• Lor Empirearmors the Roasted Spring of Bastions - Legendary Marksdwarf, carries Touchcrowds the Times of Weakening, the artifact adamantine crossbow. Veteran of the war with demons. Very strong, slow to tire and tough. Member of the Primitive Daggers. Is getting used to tragedy.
• Dishmab Axeact the Livid Beguiler-Bone of Lancers - Legendary Marksdwarf, wields another adamantine crossbow, Netthrones, made of feather wood. Very slow to tire, tough and agile. Also in The Primitive Daggers.
The most intense fight they were a part of was the one with Nosmul the Skull of Oblivion, a one-eyed sparrow, beware its deadly dust. I sent the military after it when I accidentally learned it causes what may be the most underwhelming syndrome ever - temporary disabling the pancreas. Fighting dust beasts with soldiers is quite a chore. They keep spamming massive clouds of dust, and you can only hope someone or something gets a lucky shot in. The soldiers spent more time being thrown around than fighting. The battle moved into the entrance corridor of the caverns, where bolts, war animals and weapons finally brought the beast down.
There was also a tick devil escaped from Hell. It broke the hands of Momuz the swordmaster, but Lor the hammerlord killed it mostly on his own, striking the killing blow with his bone shield. Three Forgotten Beasts are sitting in the third cavern around an artifact door. One of them is called Abesp.
Abesp is a web-spinning humanoid made of
electrum. You might be wondering what's so shocking about that. Well, Wirejade sits upon gargantuan amounts of gold. Tens of z-levels of gabbro criss-crossed with gold veins. Galena is the second most common ore, not counting the iron-bearing rocks. As a result, electrum became the staple luxury metal in the fortress. The furniture in the quarters, in the dining halls, doors, workshops, roads leading to the entrance, much of the new statue garden, many more things... all made of the same alloy. It's almost symbolic of the fortress. And Abesp... I can't help but feel like it's a sign of the things to come, a foreboding herald of impending doom. Perhaps a symbol of the fortress turning upon itself, of a danger hidden within. What it is, I do not know, and I dare not speculate.
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Topic: [0.34.11] [SPOILERS] The Tale of Wirejade (Read 94581 times)