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[AquiziTC]

"Do you have anything to say for yourself, dwarf?" the voice asked. It menaced through the empty space, threatening in tone where the pitch was syrupy, almost melodic.

Logom Handscramp, Royal Bookkeeper and, until this moment, the Lord Regent of The Letters of Dwelling, strained to see the voice within the grand, yet unlit hall. Certainly his eyesight could make out even the faintest figure in darkness. The Royal Chamber, however, was so vast, so long, that it seemed to curve with the planet itself, and Logom could not identify the voice that spoke to him now. The whiskers of his beard trembled, detecting the staleness of the air within the dark, tomblike chamber, and the dryness seemed to catch the breath in his throat. But he had to answer, his king had asked him a question.

"You are too late! They are gone. Away from here and away from YOU! Our country will arise from your foul darkness, and when the time is right, they will come to END YOU!"

A blast of wind struck the dwarf full in the face, and further words drowned in the tempest. The gale increased until the noble administrator was driven to his knees, face downcast to shield his eyes from the dust and pebbles whipping like needles through the churning air. A being was suddenly before him, standing tall and seemingly invulnerable to the chaotic sound and fury about him. The voice came again, smooth as silk, dark as pitch.

"You have committed treason, Royal Bookkeeper," the king spoke, cold and emotionless. A smooth, unblemished hand rose to move golden hair from the being's face. The King spoke again, "We will find them. I have not ruled this long without knowing how to put down some petty rabble."

Horror reflected in Logom's eyes. He had figured out the king's secret, or he thought he had. Drained bodies, barrels of blood from caravans that were bought in bulk, then vanished seemingly overnight. The traditions of the nation, that only the Mouth of the King had the honor of speaking to the Royal. He had dug, too deep it seemed. The Ears and Eyes learned of his meddling. But before they cornered him, he turned to seven of his closest friends and told them the truth. The king was a vampire. Their king was a horror. Secret messages had gone out when the Lord Regent met with the foreign caravans from the other dwarven nations. Coordinates of a new settlement. Dwarves that would need help with supplies and migrants. He told only those he could trust, three of the seven Great Dwarven Nations. The Liaisons would nod grimly, but promise that aid would come. A dwarven promise was always kept, or Armok's wrath would be terrible.

Logom was prepared to deal with the horror.
But this...
This was a nightmare come real.

"A-an elf!" Logom gasped. They were his last words, as the elfking dove upon him, fangs sinking into the rugged, yet vulnerable dwarf flesh, draining the poor creature within seconds.

"Guards!!" the King shrieked, "Clean up this rabble! And send me an Ear." Ducin turned and started to walk back to his throne in the darkness. The seven must be found. At any cost.

Edit: spelling errors

[4maskwolf]

I'm in.  I'll come up with a dwarf later.

[AquiziTC]

Torchbridge is an RP Succession fort in need of Overseers!

I wrote up that prelude after digging through the Legends. I was looking for the King/Queen's name for the country I chose, The Letter of Dwelling, just for a little backstory of the expedition to the new fort. Then I found out the king was an elf vampire that took over 1500 years earlier, got suspected of being a vampire, then clamped down with "harsh edicts" which I took to mean complete secret police/martial law, etc.

So the idea is... this is a dark place. The dwarves here know the king is a vampire, they do not know he's an elf. They are building to take down the king, to take back their home from the darkness within.

Said elfking is named Ducin... something I forgot. He has FIFTY-FIVE THOUSAND KILLS to his name. Most of them dwarves and elves in the nation capital.

The year is 2015.
There aren't many rules I can think of, no world-destroying magma weapons would be nice. I wanna see how far this baby can go.

If you want to be dwarf'd, say so! Feel free to write journal entries or happenings in the fort. Feel free to use other dwarves, as long as you remain somewhat true to their character (if they have established one). No profession requests. You get put in the order the dwarf appears. Make the most of it!

If you want to Overseer, say so! I will put your name on the list.

KEY: Finished, Current, Yet to go
Overseer list:
AquiziTC
Grevenis
4maskwolf
WoobMonkey
DarkArtemisFowl (Zechariah)
Kolnukbyne
Bartantalus
Bleaktea(DEAD?!)
Balun

[WoobMonkey]

In.

Looking forward to this one, for sure - seems like one hella history!

Cheers!

edit: rules clarified even as I first posted this.

[4maskwolf]

In case I didn't make it clear, I'll take an overseerer slot

[Grevenis]

I'll take the next overseer slot.

[Grevenis]

Oh the horror of an elven king!

Durr, double post x_x

[AquiziTC]

Oh, notes:

I'm not a modder or anything, so don't expect dwarves to lay seige or anything. It'll just be goblins and beasts. The creative can spin it wonderfully with the narrative, though. Dwarf caravans, while coming from the "home civ" can easily be played to just be from another country, no big deal.

You three plus me have been dwarved. Will update the Overseer list momentarily. Grevenis can go next, since he specifically said next. Then 4mask then Woob.

I'm going to dig the initial holes and then go to bed. I have an early workshift tomorrow. I should finish my turn by tomorrow evening, however.

[WoobMonkey]

Any chance of a screenie of the map/embark, before you call it a night?

[AquiziTC]

Pre-embark is here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/41740546/Torchbridge%20World.rar It is a post-embark from a failed fort (the temporary one I was going to use if I couldn't find a better site).

Map updated with X's and the home civ's location.

[WoobMonkey]

Thank you!

[AquiziTC]

Crap, it's not savage? I may have screwed that up in local if I shifted the location around. If people are OK with that, I'll keep it. Otherwise I can start anew in the same square, just a touch moved over.

OK bed for real now, haha.

Edit: Ok no there's no savage in that local after all, but it's the only desert I found with convenient enough iron and magma. I think it's just something we're going to have to live with. I'll put up a better picture of the embark this afternoon (with visable X's) and a zip of the world. Then after my afternoon workshift I'll play my turn.

[AquiziTC]

This is a dog-leather book. Despite the wear, the craftdwarfship appears to be of high quality. It appears to have seen years of use, though many of the pages have been torn out.

Journal of the Overseer

This journal is to be handed to every Overseer so that the record of Torchbridge is easy for all to find. This is by order of the Lord Regent of The Letter of Dwelling. Knower of the Truth.

25 Obsidian, 2014 -- AquiziTC Orbchanced

I am scared.
I've lived here all my life, the mountainhomes of The Letter of Dwelling is my world. But Logom says that it is not safe, and that ruin will come to us if something is not done. I've heard the jokes, of course, the barrels of blood were always muttered about by the Mason's Guild, usually in the form of jokes about keeping the haulers and the peasants busy. But if what the Lord Regent says is true...

I am not a true worshiper of Zefon Cleansprings, Lord of Rebirth, but may he save all our souls if this is true.

Logom has gathered seven of us, a few of which I am friendly, a couple I have never met before. He tells us we must leave. We are to strike the earth anew and build an army to depose our supposed vampire king. He says we will have the help of some of the other Great Dwarf Nations. I can only hope he is right, for ours will be a hard lot.

Our adventurers know of the world, and we have been assigned a patch of desert in the cold north. "Here!" Logom shouted, finger stabbing the image, "Away from the mountains, where most would never look. This is where you will strike." My compatriots and I look at each other, but we shrug and grunt our agreement. The logic is sound in the respect of hiding, but not for mining a great fortress. May Bërûl Defenseguards, Lord of Fortresses, forgive me for my transgression. We agree to take the essentials in a "missing" wagon and set out on the morrow. At the end of the meeting Logom took me aside, and the old bookkeeper thrust this into my hands. We are to document our progress, and send excerpts out with the friendly dwarven caravans. It will be our only, one-way communication with our home. I am to be the first of the Keepers. I accept my grim task with a firm nod.

I need to sleep. We leave just before daybreak.

1 Granite, 2015

We've arrived in the desert known as The Coincidental Dune. The winds whip across the sands, and a light dusting of snow covers the black grains. I have come to know my comrades on our journey, and we seven are ready to do what we must for our people. Armok's hairy tits it's cold, and the ground is featureless and white.



Some, like myself, have nicknames given to us by our friends and family. We swear to use these as our link to our home, since we will have no other. Already new links are being formed, as Vabôk, the mason besides myself, has begun a relationship with one of our miners, Grevenis. May Armok bless their love with many children. I hope for a day where we can celebrate such joys -- maybe with a party. I've scribed our group below.



I order stairs dug into the sand, the area too flat for a traditional dwarven entryway. I make a note to wall off a compound, but we will need stone first. How deep are desert sands anyway? Well, this stuff needs to get inside out of the cold...

[AquiziTC]

25 Slate, 2014 -- Overseer AquiziTC Orbchanced

It has been a busy two months, but productive! Soon after our miners were able to stabilize the sand beneath our feet our kitchens and softcrafts area has been dug out slightly, with the more vital areas first, and the others marked for later in the year.



Underneath is Bërûl's gift from the heavens: dolomite! With iron-bearing ore inside! Now not only can we arm ourselves, but we have the means to refine it into wonderous steel. There is no coal or lignite, however, so our coke may have to come from the dwarf caravans. We have also found koalinite, so all we need is some magma and we can start forging iron, and with a kiln we can make precious porcelain goods.

I order the hardcrafts area dug next, so my fellow mason and I can get to work. After the miners dig out our necessary space, I construct our masonry workshops and begin to order the construction of tables, chairs, and doors for the floor above: our meeting hall and residential area.



I check upstairs on the farms, and our farmhand, Zon, tells me that the plump helmet harvest should be just fine this spring, and food should not be a problem. Rock pots will be needed for drink, however, as our wood supplies are too limited for barrels. I make a note to begin a large mine underneath the hardcrafts level. I also notice Zon has two cats climbing over her, I ask her about it and she laughs. "Hahaha! So you've noticed! A few animals began following us on the journey. If you remember Cerol, the hunter, took a dog for himself, and these cats.. in their wonderfully aloof nature, decide to follow me around all over the place. Isn't it wonderful?"

He keeps talking, but I'm done listening. There is too much work to do... but that woman does love her cats.



I guess I should get started on those rock pots.

[WoobMonkey]

Carpenter's log, 8th Granite, 2015:

     Carpenter's log.  Gives the old heart a merry chuckle every time.  Good thing; there's scant else to laugh about these days.  Imagine: our liege, a vampire!  Boy, that really sucks!  Speaking of sucking, where in the name of Armok's holy left armpit are we, now?  AquiziTC seems to know what he's about, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe staying home would have been worth the risk.

     I mean, seriously, the only logs I've seen in a week were what I could salvage from our wagon, and you, of course!  3 measly chunks.  I really hope Grevenis can find a cave with some fungiwood to work with!

     But for now, we 7 all share a bed.  Good thing I made it so big!  But seriously, I need the sound of sawing logs;  a sound that isn't coming from Zon's gaping  beer-hole, that is!

     And cold!  Hauling rocks around at least works up the inner fires a bit; who knows how bad the shivering would be without drink and industry?  Perhaps I'll ask Vabok if he can have some cloaks made up; if this is the dawn of spring, I'm a bit worried about how chill it'll get come the dead of winter.

     Oh - gotta go!  The call is up to haul some more stuff around!  -WM