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[4maskwolf]

It seems that the others have begun innovating things in the time I have spent smoothing out the entire fortress.  The "normal" dwarves have begun calling me a legend and have begun coming to me for training in engraving.  I've been starting them slowly, working on smoothing some of the old, abandoned mineshafts where all of the useful ore and stone has been hauled away.

How long has it been since we came here?  A year?  Two?  The time seems to blur.  I find myself thinking less and less about the old world, where I came from.  I wonder if the others think the same way.  I haven't seen them much since we moved some booze and food stocks down to the forge levels to allow for faster production.  I mostly work with the "normal" dwarves, helping them with their jobs.

I've learned quite a few things here.  How to smooth and engrave stone, how best to plant crops, how to cut stone into a variety of useful products.  I even participated in a few military drills in case any goblins decide to show up.  None have yet, but there are rumors among the others that a goblin army is approaching the fortress.  The military is training overtime to prepare for their arrival, but I can only hope they will be enough.

I'd estimate our population to be somewhere around 100 right now, what with all of the normal dwarves and us newcomers.  I can't help but wonder what the dwarves think of the others, those who work on their projects.  The elf, the mad alchemist, and the others.  I've managed to blend in to the background, so I hear what the other dwarves whisper about.  Some think them heretics, some think them insane.  Few think they are of any true use to the fortress.

In other news, I have made a discovery.  I have attempted to mimic some of the runes I have seen printed on ancient tablets in our library, and some of them seem to have a certain... I'll use the word power for lack of a better word.  I have spent some time studying them, and I believe that given time I could work out their meanings.  These same tablets tell of great dwarven runemasters who engraved runes of power in their mountain halls that could annihilate entire armies within minutes.  The normal dwarves treat these stories as myth, but I cannot help but wonder if there is an element of truth to them.  Next time I see the elf I'll see if he can't dig out a large chamber for me to do tests in.

[endlessblaze]

-date unknown-

its been a while since I wrote in this....need to do that more. its been roughly a year since we came here, form what I can tell.

this brings me to the first order of business  for this entry.

how in the name of armok did I not know we had a library? just....HOW?!

ahem...yes anyways....the kids are learning there skills well, I'm also doing well in my practice. the adults of the fortress now hove knives as well, though not all of them use or practice with them.

another thing I have been doing is making armor and weapons. I still kind of miss my home. the dog, my games.

I decided to try and recreate some things from my games for both usefulness and to have a reminder.

it went well actually. I managed to replicate marth's falchion as it appears in supersmash bros'

right now im getting ready for some practice with some of the military.

im wearing my iron armor.
the chestplate? yha I put a bit of gold on the center and carved into it the same burning tree that's on my sword. im thinking about just making that my crest or something.


-date unknown-

the kids and the adults without any fighting skill are in the dinning hall. what kind of idiots were we to forgot to build traps!? we are from bay12 for crying out loud! figuring out how to slaughter everything that gets near us should have been the first thing on our minds!

on the bright side, if we live, we will be able to have some awesome scourges and whips.
its a goblin army, if you consider a group of 15 goblins to be an army that is.

me on the military are going out to fight now, im not sure if anyone else Is going to-(the writing stops abruptly)

[Amperzand]

{{Thank you kindly, please keep it up.}}

I spent the last few days in the doctors' ward, recovering and taking the opportunity of time without work to do to write down as much as I can remember of scientific knowledge from Home, for the new Library.

The Normal smith I convinced to work with me apparently finished assembling the Firearm while I as injured, as a get well soon gift or somesuch.

Okbod-Ontak "Doom-Arm" This is a Crude Firearm. All Craftsdwarfmanship is of Mediocre quality. It has two barrels of scrap iron tubing, and a spring-loaded/padded stock for recoil assistance. It is aimed with a simple notch-and-pillar sight. The object menaces with Mace-flanges of Bronze near the muzzles. The object has a strap of Giant Worm Leather for ease of carrying.

It's beautiful! I should get some powder and shot made up, and test it.

I've only made a few ounces of powder so far, this is proving more onerous than expected.

The smith has cast two lumps of lead about the right size, I can-

Goblins! Oh shit. Well, thank Armok for the Elf and his obsession with preparedness, even I have a suit of armor, and my pick should suffice for a weapon, if Okbod-Ontak fails.

Thankfully, I found the militia gearing up for battle before I went out myself. They looked surprised to see me. Hah! They call me the "Mad Alchemist" Mad! Well, not to sound cliché, but I'll show them. Heh.

[endlessblaze]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"ok...you got this"

one seconded calm, the next a storm of sound, as blades clashed and the goblin whips lashed out.


endlessblaze ducked under a mighty swing then delivered a slash across a goblins chest. then dashed around to behind the goblin.
the goblin was to slow, he did not even have time to turn around before a blade was stuck through his back.

"that all you- arhg!-

an arrow, thankfully it only grazed his cheek. throwing a knife endless struck the bowmans leg. not the best shot he had ever thrown but it worked.
he charged towards the bowman.
"you want to fight me?! fine then!"

-the first battle has begun-

[Amperzand]

I have recorded the battle in a more narrative style than a journalistic, apologies to whoever reads this, presumably after my death, or upon my rise to fame.

The others have simply charged! Now it's gonna be damned hard to find a good shot...

There! I sight in, choose a target, pull the first trigger, and...

A deafening blast echoes around the entrance-valley as a plume of thick smoke and dying sparks explodes from the left barrel of the Okbod, sending me flying several feet backwards with a nearly-sprained hand, saved from broken ribs only by armor and padding. The shot itself, an egg-sized and shaped lump of lead, flies from the muzzle and across the approximately ten meters to my chosen target, the apparent leader of the goblins, he with the fancier hat and obviously-superior armament. The unfortunate goblin is struck in the center of his chest, the heavy lead slug smashing a huge dent in his chestplate before tearing a hole into his flesh, shattered by now into many smaller fragments of hot metal, and simply tearing him apart, killing him instantly and launching his remains into his now-terrified former minions!

I stand up and walk through the cloud of smoke I created, Okbod held ready to fire, and look at the horrified and enraged goblins with faint amusement.

"I didn't make a bad one-liner. You're welcome."

[WillowLuman]

(Skipping to the end of the first year seems a bit much, it's a lot of time for people to miss things from back home. Family, holidays, etc.)

[4maskwolf]

(Skipping to the end of the first year seems a bit much, it's a lot of time for people to miss things from back home. Family, holidays, etc.)

(Flashback scenes can be done)

[Amperzand]

{I don't necessarily care, honestly. I have no real interest in using the homesick ploy, given that my chosen line of work ends with steam-powered-mecha armed with black-powder autocannons.}

[WillowLuman]

(Not necessarily homesick, but a lot happens in a year, especially when transported to a new life. So "How far have we come" and "Jeez has it been a year already?" and that sort of thing seems appropriate.)

[Amperzand]

{True.}

[Amperzand]

{I refuse to RP-post twice in a row.}

[endlessblaze]

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(endlessblaze slams into the goblin and slashes its head off, just as another is shot with a gun)

"looks like amperzand got it working, not bad."
-snap!-
"WOAH! that was close. silver scourge eh? were did you get silver? no matter, i look forward to taking that."
-snap! snap!-
"mmm... yes, I can see it now, nice gold patterns on the tip. a ruby imbedded in the handle. yes im going to look forward to some aesthetic improvements"

"try it you elven pansy!"

"ahhhh interesting, you speak our language. well then, i guess you could be useful!"

(endlessblaze cuts of the goblins hand with a powerful strike, the delivers a punch to his head)

"GHA!"

"can you say, "prisoner of war"?"

[4maskwolf]

Deep within the fortress, 4maskwolf chiseled away at a wall, engraving an intricate rune into it.  All civilians were supposed to assemble in the dining hall until the military lifted the siege, but he had ignored the call to return.  "I've never done well with groups," he muttered as he chiseled out yet another segment of the rune.  As he worked, though, his mind wandered to other topics, his body working on autopilot.

The old dwarf fortress game had been intricate, but nothing like the world they now lived in.  The dwarves seemed just as alive as people back in the old world, if in their own way of living.  It didn't feel as though they were living inside of a game at all: it felt like they had been transported to a whole new world which closely mimicked dwarf fortress.  He wondered how much the others had noticed it, what with all of the chaos and their own projects, but he had done his best to blend in with the normal dwarves.  Only a few knew that he was not, in fact, one of them.  He was considered slightly odd, yes, but not an outsider like the other world hoppers were.

A slight slip almost made him marr the rune he was inscribing, and his mind jerked back to the task at hand.  From his research, this was the dwarven rune for earth, although it wouldn't do anything on its own.  It appeared that there were three types of runes: elemental runes, trigger runes, and function runes.  Elemental runes indicated the general class of power that the runes would have.  Trigger runes indicated what caused them to activate.  Function runes were a general classification for any rune that indicated the effect of the runes activating.  He recalled less than fondly the cave in he had accidently caused by inscribing the runes for earth and movement without adding in a trigger rune to prevent it from going off immediately.  However, the earthquake generated by it had been weak and left him feeling exhausted afterwards, so there was obviously more to the runes than mere engraving.

Spoiler: 4maskwolf's stats at current time (click to show/hide)

Legendary Engraver (Level 27)
Proficient Mason (Level 5)
Competent Stonecrafter (Level 3)
Adequate Grower (Level 2)
Novice Runescriber (Level 1)
Novice Macedwarf (Level 1)
Adequate Fighter (Level 2)
Adequate Discipline (Level 2)
Dabbling Shield User (Level 0)
Dabbling Armor User (Level 0)
Dabbling Dodger (Level 0)
Dabbling Striker (Level 0)
Dabbling Persuader (Level 0)
Dabbling Consoler (Level 0)
Adequate Teacher (Level 2)
Novice Organizer (Level 1)
Dabbling Student (Level 0)

[Amperzand]

The others kill another goblin, and disable the weakest-looking, presumably for interrogation.

 Next target... Next target... An archer! Aim...

CLANK! I spin around under the force of a heavy iron bodkin arrow to the shoulderplate, then roll behind a large boulder, the archer's second arrow smashing into my calf with enough force to penetrate chainmail and reach bone.

 I pop out from behind the boulder to throw a large handful of rocks, then, in a display of luck that impressed even me at the time, swat another arrow out of the air with my pickaxe, giving me enough time to get the gun up and aimed with my other hand...

BOOM.

The second huge slug misses the archer by nearly a meter, sailing past its head and smashing into an already-fleeing recruit with enough force to pulverize the poor conscript into giblets.

A fourth arrow slices towards me, missing my head by inches as I dive back behind the large rock, arm bruised from firing the gun one-handed.

Because that's a good idea, my skills just now, or at least as many of them as I'm bothering to remember;

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Legendary Miner
Expert Mechanic
Expert Discipline
Skilled Dodger
Novice Shield User
Competent Armor User
Skilled Fighter
Competent Striker
Adequate Wrestler
Adequate Mace User
All social skills are probably Novice-Adequate-ish
Competent Chemist
Proficient Inventor
Novice Electrician
Novice Metalcrafter
Adequate Gunner
Competent Student
Dabbling Physicist
Dabbling Nuclear Scientist
Dabbling Psychologist
Dabbling General !!Science!!

{For future reference, the gun I'm using is, in effect, a .950 caliber heavy slugthrower with like 4000gr of black powder behind it, and would be able to harm a First World War heavy tank with little effort, being rather more powerful than any handheld firearm {Not counting rockets/recoilless rifles} like ever, because this is a terrible idea, but I have no sense of moderation. Also, post more.}

[endlessblaze]

((Ok we started with fifteen goblins, how many do we have left? I'm busy so I can't check))