After the rampage of Usluh which ended by its death at the hands of the militia, life in Workclench was never the same. No dwarf could have expected what was going to happen next.
The first half of summer was spent in some kind of calm uneasiness. Our esteemed mayor was re-elected, and we received the visit of a human caravan. With the humans came news from the outside and some goods to trade.
Then slowly but surely, a insidious madness began to root itself inside the souls of the weaker ones. The discovery of missing ones fate only fueled the fires of destruction.
Little by little, dwarves began losing their mind. Militiadwarves, Civilians, Child. None seemed safe from breaking down.
Then mysterious disappearances began. "Accidents" some said. "Murder" other said. (he fell into the draining hole)
We kept working, trying not to think about what was happening behind the shadows. The moat drain the now-dead overseer devised was finished, and worked superbly. Would things have been different if he didn't die ?
The bubble exploded on the 24th of Malachite. "117" like we call him lost his mind during a meeting with "2" the mayor and... and he
murdered him.
It must have been an accident everyone thought ! Unfortunate accidents like these are know
and bound to happen in such situations. But what followed set many doubts on the accidental nature of this death.
This sudden appointment was not normal. It was like he
KNEW what was going to happen.
And to add insult to injury, no migrants came, for the second time this year...
The new "mayor", "48", suddenly ordered us to do something so terrible thinking about it makes me uncontrollably shudder in fear.
He ordered the execution of 21 children under the pretence their souls where beyond redemption. That their growing insanity would doom us all.
At first we protested. But then, we complied. And as we dug new spaces for the catacombs, we pulled the lever.
No one dared say anything.
Toward the end of summer, another Forgotten Beast arrived at Workclench : Siga Simooce.
Flashbacks of what happened when Usluh came began tormenting us. We couldn't even imagine what kind of hell our lives would if we had to live through all of this again.
The Tyrant, as we named "48", wasn't so frightened. He was calm and full of self-control. He claimed having the entire situation under control.
Maybe he was right, because the beast fell in a total anti-climatic manner :
Following the death of Siga Simooce, the Tyrant continued ruling with an iron fist. He kept saying "I will undo the errors of the past fools that ruled this place".
Urlance Woolsbane is living serenely, undisturbed in his wooden cottage. Her life seems enviable when I think about it. Did she foresee all of this ?
Autumn :On the 4th of Limestone, 104 officially became an adult.
We also caught some Draltha after the Tyrant ordered the unsealing of the caverns. Thanks to the new draining hole, we reclaimed the first and second layers. The Tyrant may be cruel, he has a purpose. He is currently working on a cave-in project which will stop the last cavern layer flooding.
The young "110" was taken by a fey mood ! He easily found what he needed, and created Fungusflood, the Renowned Greed, a galena earring and our most valuable artifact as of yet. He says the name was inspired by the flooding caused by past overseers.
Some days later, a caravan and the outpost liaison arrived. The Tyrant met with the liaison, hidden from everyone's sight.
When the liaison left, he harbored a victorious grin on his face. We later understood why, and guessed what happened during the meeting.
This is the mid of summer, and Workclench will wither if it keeps scaring migrants away?
An assassination attempt failed today. As the Tyrant was inspecting the future cave-in grounds, the floor collapsed and he fell.
Despite his terrible injuries, he survived. And the culprit was found and executed, bypassing the law. "44", Soapmaker was thus murdered by "117", which was now known by all as the Hand of the Tyrant.
The Tyrant recuperated quickly, just in time for the cave-in operation.
Once the bridge were finished, the miners were ordered to dig out the weakpoints. The blast caused by the cave-in made the whole fortress vibrate.
The operation was a success, but wasn't without casualties. Two brave dwarves died in the process. The tyrant himself saluted their tragic departure. Thanks to them, the flooding problem is definitely fixed.
Winter :Winter has come. And our lives are focused on cleaning the mess in the caverns. The monotony is installing, and we are just pestered by Giant Keas.
Then the monotony was broken :
The report was the following : 54 ennemy units, composed of 17 trolls and 37 goblins soldiers.
The Tyrant ordered the militia to intercept the ennemy in an open-field.
The clash was violent. We could hear battlecry and painful wailing from the safety of the fortress.
The fight ended in the Duke's throne room, which was outside the fortress :
We lost two soldiers sadly. "70" the Swordwarf suffered critical spinal-injuries, and "75" the Speardwarf drowned into the swamp, dragged by its heavy armor.
The year is close to and end, and we spent winter hauling corpses. The catacombs are now twice the size of what they were at the beginning of the year. This fact by itself is terrifying.
A child strangled a wild Crundle in the cavern.
We think "117" began to realize how he was manipulated. He lost his loved ones and commited atrocities. I would nearly pity the poor sod, but it doesn't erase what he did.
Also, "105" has grown to become a peasant today.
And that was the last eventful day of the year. Spring is coming soon, and we heard a new overseer is going to take the helm. Is he with the Tyrant ? Or against him ? Only time will tell.
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Topic: Parallel Fortresses Succession Game. | Finished (Read 87931 times)