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[Eiba]

Okay, my computer is in the shop... Hence me not updating for a while (posting this from a different problem). Don't worry, the hard drive is fine, so Urist's story is safe.

I should be getting my computer back tomorrow, and I have a week of vacation after that, so the updates should be more frequent soon.

quote:Originally posted by TotalPigeon
<STRONG>Lots of interest are what keep these things going, but if you don't post it no one knows you're enjoying it!</STRONG>

There's some truth to this!

I do deeply appreciate all the comments I've received, and they do indeed have a direct relation to the frequency of updates. I should mention though that when I started this I was determined to post the whole story, regardless of expressed interest. Too often I've seen such things as this abandoned due to lack of interest, despite being really enjoyable... This thread will go on, even if I'm the only one posting in it (though I'm glad to see that doesn't look like it'll be the case!)

So thanks to everyone who's expressed interest!

[Mind War]

Yea, I think you will be getting replies for a long time. (Well as long as you keep it up)

Looking forward to more updates...

Also I dont know if you know this or not, but as far as i can see this is the third most replied topic EVER. Currently it has something like 91. And the most has 137 i think. So I look forward to the day that this thread passes the number one most replied topic ever.

[Jothki]

This is awesome, please continue.

[Fieari]

Hm.  I wonder if eventually, Urist will obtain enough competence and self confidence to make some masterpiece works.  Would she then allow the dwarven caravan to live, and give them gifts to take back to the king to show them all (obviously accepting nothing in return)?  Or would she become fixated on her works, brooding gollum-like over them?

[Trae]

If Urist wants to prove herself to others, how is she going to impress anyone with her grand works if she kills them all?

[Silveron]

Kill one... you're a murderer.
Kill many... you're a conqueror.
Kill them all... you're a god.

[TotalPigeon]

Tell it to Readers Digest!

[Eiba]

Well, that whole "tomorrow" thing I was talking about in reference to getting my computer back... I was a bit off... by like a week. Oh well, I have it now, and will make an effort to update more frequently for a while to make up for my unintended hiatus.
   
---

The Thirteenth Day

Urist had found coal the previous day, and so she knew she could begin metalsmithing operations soon. Unfortunately the coal straight out of the ground was unusable for smithing- she would need an intense heat and it was for that purpose that she had saved the last few scraps of wood from the wagon.

With that task completed Urist next walked all the way back to the magma flow to set up a workshop in which she could smelt metal. She knew to actually build on the magma would take strong steel, so she started to carve out a small area where she could make it.

But she was oh so hungry from walking all the way out there...

Perhaps she should set up a new dining room out by the magma... Heck, why not put her bedroom there to? Why camp by the cave river at all? Food and water, actually, those were pretty important...

Well, she could pump water out to the magma more easily than she could pump magma to the water, so it was decided. Her next goal would be to move everything to the magma. While she was at it, she'd dig a far more fitting grand dining hall and bedroom for herself.

For now though, she'd have to do a lot of walking. She reflected on the sorry state of her shoes, remembering the corpses near the entrance... They had nice shoes... It's not like the dead would walk...

Newly shod Urist set off again for the magma flow and spent the rest of the day smelting steel. Like everything she'd tried for the first time in this place it was slow going, but by the end of the day she had two bars of steel. It was quite fortunate that coal iron and limestone were all found within feet of where she struck the magma! Truly, she must be a skillful miner.

She went to sleep, preparing for a long day of metalsmithing tomorrow.

---

Melbil didn't really know what he was doing... Waiting, he guessed. For what? He was in no danger of dying- the elephants didn't seem to attempt to enter the cave, and Melbil had dragged all the turtle and alcohol inside. He had enough turtle to last a lifetime, but the whisky? It would probably last a year with only himself... He'd be gone before a year was over, right? Well, maybe not... He knew that there were often rivers deep inside these types of mountains...

He dug a tunnel deep into the mountain with that in the back of his mind, but he mainly dug because he had nothing else to do...

In fact, it wasn't long at all before he ran into a river... Great, just his luck. Now he couldn't even dig any more... He sat there for a while, watching the water flow. And then, with nothing better to do, went to sleep.

---

Fourteenth Day

Spring was coming, perhaps Urist would find some sweetpods to brew into tasty rum this spring... Better hurry up with that metalsmithing operation so she'd have a metal barrel ready!

She had gone to the magma and was making preparations to build a magma smelter and a magma forge with her steel, when she realized the Anvil was by the door to the outside... Damn that was far away, and the anvil was so heavy too... Urist headed back to her current home, but decided to have a quick meal before crossing the cave river to get the anvil...

---

Melbil dreamed that he was drowning... Then he realized that it wasn't quite a dream... How predictable. Things were never bad with Melbil, they were always worse... Well at least he was about to die. How could things be worse than that!

Of course, he knew the second he thought that fate would think up something worse than death for him... Fate was a serious ass like that.

Melbil felt himself get swept down what seemed to be a side channel, but... Was that raggedly clothed dwarf? What the heck was she doing down here?

Melbil probably could have come up with a reasonable answer if he hadn't smashed his head against a wall and lost consciousness.

***

[Eiba]

***

Melbil dreamed that he was drowning, it was a familiar dream. He slowly woke, realizing that this time it was just a dream... A very strange dream indeed. In it he had been swept downstream in a flood, and had run into a dwarf... Bizarre...
   
But what was he doing here?

He was in a round cave, clearly dwarf-made. There were three passages out... Two were doors, and they were locked, the last was an open passage... What could be out there?

Oh damn. It wasn't a dream. That must be the Mad Dwarf Urist...
"Uh, hey there!" Melbil wasn't sure he wanted to call to that dwarf, but didn't really want to rot in this little cave...
"It seems... the thing... the thing is awake." Was she...? Yeah, it seemed she was. She was talking to a cat.
"Uh, I'm actually a dwarf... Not so much a, uh, thing. And, uh, that's a cat..."
"It seems... that it presumes to mock us."
"Uh, not at all... I have nothing against... the cat..."
"SILENCE!" Damn it, Melbil wasn't very good at keeping normal dwarves from getting angry at him for pointing out the obvious... He wasn't going to have a fun time with this Mad Dwarf...
"You're a stinking thief! You... you presume to steal from ME! This makes you... you're sub-dwarven! You... you're a thing! And then you mock me! Your death means nothing!"
"So... you're, uh, going to kill me then?" Melbil had no wish for death, but he was pretty much resigned to anything at this point.
"No."
"Uh, ok. That's... good?"
The Mad Dwarf had begun laughing manically... Melbil guessed that it wasn't good after all...
"I said it already... what I said, it was 'your death means nothing'... that was what I've been thinking... You... you're so desperate to steal, to take from me my chance to... to... You've even tried to swim! Sub-dwarven!"
"Uh, actually, it was something of an accident... all of it really..."
"SILENCE! I won't forgive! You won't die, but you will suffer! For your crimes you will suffer!"
The Mad Dwarf Stalked off...

He had totally called it. Fate worse than death, check. He sighed. It's not exactly like he could take satisfaction in being right. Well, that was nothing new either...

He wondered what the Mad Dwarf had in store for him, but not too hard. He was tired of being right, and was pretty sure he could guess the worst possible things the Mad Dwarf could do to him... Actually, that was wrong... The Mad Dwarf would probably do things he couldn't imagine. Sadly he realized that he would undoubtedly be right again...

---

Urist was absolutely furious. That dwarf was too weird! Her speech went nothing like she'd planned... She was going to sound all scary and intimidating, but that stinking thief made her sound silly! She was trying to make that loathsome dwarf feel what she felt back then, when people accused and mocked her... it hurt, and she was trying to hurt back in the same way, but... He had the nerve to look blank at her accusations! To deny them as calm as could be! Urist could never have... To be called a thief to her face and... That's why she was better than this soulless sub-dwarven thief- she at least had a conscience!

But where this wretch was incapable of feeling emotional anguish, he would surly feel more physical pain!

But damn, was it really worth it? She'd spent the better part of the day digging out that chamber and rigging it just so... She was just now getting around to dragging the anvil all the way to the magma river...

Such a very long, tedious time... She brooded over the intruder and the events of that day the entire time... Finally she finished the metalworks, but was too tired to begin work today...

And she had woken up with the expectation of smithing today too! That, that... Dwarf! She didn't have a poisonous enough word to describe him... But soon... Soon he'd suffer indeed. And wouldn't that make her feel better? Surely. She was Urist! She could do whatever she wanted, and right now she wanted that dwarf to suffer! Of course that's why she spent this day as she did- patience was one of her virtues. (Of course it was. It was a virtue and she was perfect.) It was a mark of greatness- this day wasn't wasted; it served excellently to help prove her greatness!

She went to sleep feeling much better about things.

The Fourteenth Night

[Eiba]

A little behind the scenes: I am rather impressed with myself, or this game, or something, as I got Melbil to wash down to Urist's lair with the spring floods on the first try!

That Urist was passing by at the time was just an added bonus. I was actually just as supprised as Melbil to see her there!

Also, you can note in the last night picture a mysterious door and switch at the bottom of the screen. What Urist have in store for poor Melbil?

[Xeirxes]

Oh, no! I really like this Melbil guy... I hope she keeps her word and doesn't take any interest in killing him.

[TotalPigeon]

Hehe... excellent   melb is definitely screwed

[Eiba]

Shortish update for today, but hey, at least I'm updating two consecutive days in a row!
(If you haven't checked recently there's an update at the bottom of the last page you should read first.)

---

Day 15

The spring flood... It had brought that stinking thief, but it had also brought new life. Though she could start metalsmithing any time now, as the facilities by the magma flow were now complete, Urist decided to spend a little time gathering plants. It's not like she had any shortage of pigtail for alcohol or quarry bush for food, but... Dwarven Ale just didn't have that same quality that she fondly remembered about Dwarven Rum...

She realized that it was probably a waste of time, but she went to gather plants- just for a little while, not really expecting much...

       

Oh yeah! That was the stuff! With this she could easily brew up a nice big keg of dwarven rum!

But... she still had a bit of ale left in her one and only barrel... But wasn't this why she built that magma forge? For metal barrels?

She rushed out to her freshly built smiting operation, and immediately started working the nearest metal, which happened to be tin.

   

---

Melbil was bored... He was also getting hungry and thirsty. He wondered if the Mad Dwarf understood that he'd need to eat eventually... Well for the time being he could drink from the cave river... But he was still bored... He picked up a rock and started chipping away at the wall, with no real aim in mind... Before he knew it he was systematically smoothing his entire cell... Well, at least he was doing something...

       

---

Urist was getting quite thirsty just thinking about the prospect of Dwarven Rum... It had been so long... She hadn't even been able to drink it consistently back when she lived in Liruksibrek, but now... From this day, this moment forward, she'd drink nothing but Rum!

As soon as she finished with the barrel she rushed back to her makeshift still, grabing up the sweet pods on the way... then she cursed herself for leaving the tin barrel at the forge. Getting thirstier by the minute, she rushed back to the forge, grabbed the barrel, back to the still and...

       

Sweet, sweet wonderful rum! Figuring that she'd accomplished her most satisfying task yet, she decided to take a break from working... Though she did at the last minute remember her prisoner... She'd have to do something about him soon...

---

Melbil was famished. The Mad Dwarf had to be trying to starve him... Well she'd succeded and he was starving!

It'd be a pretty lame torture if she let him die now... Maybe she was just stupid or something... maybe she'd forgot about him...
Melbil had tried catching fish earlier with no success... He sighed. What a fittingly stupid way for Melbil the Jeweler to die...

Sitting by the river trying to see if there were even fish in there, he heard a click and the voice of the Mad Dwarf, "Eat." He rushed back into his cell, but nothing had changed. He tried the doors again and while the north door was still locked, the one opposite the river opened, and he saw...

       

Food, he presumed. The cooking was pretty mediocre though... It tasted like quarry bushe leaves with some sort of seed seasoning it...

There were quite a few biscuits, and Melbil took one, figuring he should ration them... But after he finished eating and wandered back into his cell the door closed behind him and was somehow locked again...

Melbil sighed again. The Mad Dwarf would probably only let him eat when he was on the verge of starvation... But for now, he was full... He felt uneasy... Things were never that good and simple... The Mad Dwarf had to be planning something... What was behind that other door anyway...

[ March 27, 2007: Message edited by: Eiba ]

[Eiba]

"Exclusive information"? Ha! Atir was traveling with a group of around twenty dwarves, he only knew a few of them who were in his party... And besides all these damn adventurers it seemed as if a band had already arrived last fall... Those merchants were probably rich after selling all that "exclusive information"...
They had better have a lot of food waiting for them at Tholoddom! Though how would the settlers produce any quantity of food over the winter... Atir was sure some dwarves were going to starve... He eyed the horse and the dog that belonged to a couple of the other dwarves...

   

At last, the outpost. Investigation showed a locked door the known merchant slaying tunnel, as well as another cave slightly to the north. It was well stocked with turtle, but there were no dwarves in sight...
Well... except for those five coffins... There were mutterings in the group that they should leave, that this place must be unlivable. Others scoffed, "Of course these fools died- they tried to begin a settlement in the fall! They must have starved over the winter!"
"What about that big ol' pile of turtles there then?"
"Well, all the more food for us!"
Atir wasn't quite sure how that settled the dispute, but the idea that they should try to do something about the locked door to find what must be the untold riches was quickly brought up and immediately caught the imagination of all the dwarves, including Atir...

The bombastic dwarf who'd argued for staying earlier was trying to break down the thick solid stone door by charging at it.
"Why don't we just take it out by the hinges?" Atir suggested, he was a mason after all...
It quickly became obvious that no one knew what he was talking about so he had to do it himself... Eagerly he worked, the eyes of the entire group on him, until he finally got the thing loose.
"Somebody should really set that thing back up!" Atir called over his shoulder as he charged into the tunnel.
"Hey no fair!" The bombastic dwarf clearly wanted to be first, Atir really should learn that guy's name soon... He'd be an issue in the future...

Atir heard water... barely. Twenty stampeding dwarves made quite a racket, and what was that crunching underfoot?
"It must be the river up ahead!" a random dwarf shouted.
"No! No, it's-" Atir lost consciousness as he was thrown back into another dwarf by the wall of water... His last thoughts utter confusion.

---

What just happened? That noise, and... Melbil had watched the bridge upstream retract, and then there was rushing water and, screams... lots of screams...

Melbil was uneasy... Though his whole life had been a disaster, he was still deeply unsettled by other's suffering... He knew, he had heard that the Mad Dwarf was homicidal, but... How many dwarves had he heard scream?

...

Best not to think about it. He pretended he'd just imagined the whole thing... Really, what would dwarves be doing in this place? His party's settlement was the one full of food... Speaking of which, Melbil was getting hungry again, though it would probably be a while before the Mad Dwarf let him eat...

There was a familiar click and the Mad Dwarf's voice again: "Eat." That was soon- Melbil had succeeded in forgetting about what he may or may not have heard, and now food it seemed.

That's odd, it was the north door that had clicked... and it was opening by itself...

Oh...

Oh... no...

   

---

Urist was most satisfied! Rum, slaughter, and suffering! Today was the best day ever! The guttural cry of horror she had just heard from her prisoner still echoed happily in her ears as she went off to a most pleasant sleep.

   
Fifteenth Night

[ March 28, 2007: Message edited by: Eiba ]

[Xeirxes]

this is such a cool story... it's so... believable. makes you think that Eiba isn't even playing DF, just making pictures in ASCII and uploading them.