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Author Topic: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes  (Read 4046 times)

escaped lurker

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[SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« on: April 25, 2016, 05:11:37 pm »


Child of the Mountainhomes

Age of Darkness, Year 374, First of Granite

The conjoined fall of The boisterous Furnaces and Eternal Melodies, about a millennium or so ago, marks an important turning point. About the matter, both dwarves and elves tend to agree on only two points; For one, the other race was at fault. As for the second point, the fall of their ancient kingdoms, set the stage for the forces of darkness to prosper.

Not, that the above matters much to you. At least, not for today. As is always the case in spring, the capable young adults, are to leave their home. The crafters become journeymen, and set out to seek crafting methods yet unfamiliar to them. The recruits, now full-fledged soldiers, transfer to new positions, as to broaden their military experience. Young officials, also expect such treatments. Actually, safe for the nobles who, in their defence, also try to become ever more of a hindrance from that age on, any young dwarf of age, is expected to set out on such a journey.


After apprenticing for five years, and having lived through nineteen winters, you too, have finally reached the age at which your fellow dwarves consider you a full adult.  Thus today, is the start of your so-called wandering years.


~


Child of the Mountainhomes, speak of the following;

Your Name: Any Urists or McSomethings, will be ignored.
Your Gender: Male or Female, are the only options. Sorry Kevak & Tumblr.
Your Appearance: No need to be awfully detailed, safe for maybe the beard.

Your Apprenticeship: Vanilla jobs are fine, as are other, reasonable suggestions.

Your Mountainhome: Each choice starts with minor culture and location related knowledge


Dwarves of the North, The Arduous Spires
Known for the lethality of their weaponry, quality armours, and efficient engineering.
Their national weapon, is the battleaxe, they protect their strongholds with heavy infantry and ballistas.

Mention-worthy about The Arduous Spires, is their militaristic culture, fuelled by the harsh elements of the north, and seasonal influx of evil over the freezing ocean. Rightfully considered the bulwark that keeps these forces at bay, they exact a heavy tax on any non-dwarves and non-elves that inhabit the north, occasionally clashing with the later over the issue of slavery enforced serfdom. Claiming the gods to have forsaken them, they have also done so in turn.


Dwarves of the East, The Menacing Glare
Known for their stout spirits, bountiful animal products, and spirited bonecrafts.
Their favoured weapon, is the crossbow, and beast handlers are the trump card of their military.

Mention-worthy about The Menacing Glare, is their continued pact of mutual assistance with the high-elves living in the nearby brambled jungle. While they also tend to trade with the merfolk of the emerald gulf, their diplomatic achievements remain second to having tamed the fearsome rutherers. To the great shame of their brethren, practices like animism and druidism, are not considered a felony since several centuries.


Dwarves of the South, The Gems of Toiling
Known for their enchanted works of jewellery, intricate glass-works, and artistic engravings.
Their favoured weapon, is coin, and outside of their desert, they like to bolster their caravans with mercenaries.

Mention-worthy about The Gems of Toiling, is that they tribute prayers to Scarlet-Glint and respect to its spawns, the ruby men. Their worship not only allows their continued presence in the grand cavern, but also to share in the creatures earthen magicks. In turn, the dwarves have most of the southern human nations in their pockets, with wars in the region focused on goblins, and similar threats.


* Be informed, that the mentioned distinctions, are mainly made by the dwarves themselves. As example, any dwarven steel is several notches above human make, the later ones arguably even unable to tell these differences.



Well then, this game ought to be pretty straight-forward. Do take note, that ascii-art will only be provided as I see fit. Thus only [SG].

Shout-out to the programm used REX-Paint, or, rather the creator - known on these forums as Kyzrati. (Link to his site to follow... later)

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NRDL

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2016, 05:25:08 pm »

Name: Bakat Nomal
Gender: Male
Appearance: Tall and wiry, long brown beard twisted into plaits.

Apprenticeship: Miner

Mountainhome: Dwarves of the North, The Arduous Spires
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piratejoe

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2016, 06:47:42 pm »

Your Name: Libash ZustashAlak
Your Gender: Female
Your Appearance: Slightly taller then normal, no beard being female and dwarf fortress dwarves not having beards if female, Long fiery red unkempt hair.

Your Apprenticeship: Axedwarf/huscaral

Your Mountainhome: Dwarves of the North, The Arduous Spires
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Battleships Hurl insults from behind thick walls, Destroyers beat up small children, Carriers stay back in the kitchen, and Cruisers are a bunch of tryhards who pretend to be loners.

VoidSlayer

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2016, 08:37:34 pm »

Your Name: Urist McSomethings Erush Amkoldumat
Your Gender: Male
Your Appearance: His eyes are bronze.  He has a medium-length braided beard with a neatly trimmed mustache.  He has very low cheekbones and a prominent chin.  His head is narrow and his nose is upturned.  His hair is orange and his skin taupe. 

Your Apprenticeship: Furnace Operator

Your Mountainhome: The Arduous Spires

IronyOwl

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2016, 08:52:55 pm »

Your Name: Libash ZustashAlak
Your Gender: Female
Your Appearance: Slightly taller then normal, no beard being female and dwarf fortress dwarves not having beards if female, Long fiery red unkempt hair.

Your Apprenticeship: Axedwarf/huscaral

Your Mountainhome: Dwarves of the North, The Arduous Spires
Damn. I want a glassworker, but I think I'm gonna have to +1 this instead.
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The kitchenette mold free, you move on to the pantry. it's nasty in there. The bacon is grazing on the lettuce. The ham is having an illicit affair with the prime rib, The potatoes see all, know all. A rat in boxer shorts smoking a foul smelling cigar is banging on a cabinet shouting about rent money.

escaped lurker

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #5 on: April 26, 2016, 12:19:34 pm »


Child of the Mountainhomes

Age of Darkness, Year 374, First of Granite

You are Libash Zustash'Alak, hailing from The Arduous Spires; A stern dwarven woman of the north. At fifteen years of age, and under urging to reconsider your decision, you took to the military. The years since, have been mainly spent in the pursuit of martial, and situational prowess - both plenty needed to fight the collective enemy.
Looking back, you are satisfied with your progress.


Spoiler: Your current Traits (click to show/hide)

With most of your time spent in exercises far from your temporary home, some bare-bone barracks fates know where, you have become quite used to travelling around. This time, it is no different, with you and your peers spending two weeks on the road to make it in time. Over the course of the next week, several caravans will leave the capital Umid Deler'mishar - Titans Fall, and while not the last to do so this season, they will certainly be those, that will travel the furthest.


Over the course of the last month, you have packed everything important that you brought, or received during your service - and sold off the rest. Better, to travel light. All together, your gear weighs in at around ninety pounds, which is well within reason of what you are used to carry. Marching several weeks, or sprinting short distances, among the basics of training.



With a thud at your icy door, you are brought back from your musings. Instructor Idór, in whose care you and nine fellow recruits have been for the past five years, urges you to hurry; Half of your lot, was ready hours before dawn, and by now they want to get a move on. Hastily complying with his request, the whole troop is gathered a few minutes later. Having chosen your nightly dwelling based on its proximity to the city, it only takes your group half an hour to reach it. After passing through several thick walls and military controls, it is another half an hour before you actually reach your goal.


It is not your first time coming to the capital, but you find the great hall to be, once more, impressive. The place famed in several legends, the most important obviously the slaying of  Deler'mishar, the steel-titan, at the hands of Melic, the human demigod. The mighty titans blood, copiously spilt during combat and its death throes, formed the only known veins of natural steel, and some of them have been preserved to this day. Needless to say, they are off-limits for everyone, with the parts on display encased in clear glass.

This great hall, once the titans lair, is currently overflowing with the activity of thousands. Caravan organizers loudly proclaim their travelling routes, while the local merchants try to sell some last-minute wares to the enlisting soldiers - obviously at highly inflated prices. Several military officials, while behaving far more subdued, get equally long lines of enlists, though mostly from seasoned veterans.

Having said their goodbyes prior, over several inebriated evenings, your small group of eleven splits up. Most of you agree, that it was a good time - all of you agree, that you wouldn't want to do it a second time. At least some parts of it. The other freshly-minted soldiers, make a beeline into the bustling mass of people, while the Instructor is already catching up with some former recruit of his - a balding man in his fifties. Poor sod, the later one.


Having informed yourself five years prior, you have a keen understanding of what the soldiering life has to offer. You could enlist with a station of your choosing, take a closer look at the capital, or even seek out employment yet unknown to yourself. Dawdling around for too long though, might find yourself in front of closed doors.


~


For now, these are the possibilities that you are aware of:


Join the northern front-line! (Unavailable)
To put it bluntly, without climbing the military ranks, or recognized deeds of merit, most dwarves under forty just aren't eligible to be stationed at the northern forts. Enough veterans die each year as it is, with everyone better of in the long run, if greenhorns gather experience elsewhere, instead of dying in vain.

Guard a Northern Trading Caravan (1 Year, Extendible)
Going around the northern human kingdoms, the wares are mostly made by apprentice smiths, or failed creations of higher-tiered crafters. Still, dwarven-make, is dwarven-made, and any tool, weapon or armour the local market doesn't sell, will just be traded further southwards by them. What the caravans return with, is necessities for living and crafting, plus any important information that was to be had at the taverns.

Run a Tour as Enforcer
(1 Year, Extendible)
A bit more selective than guarding a caravan, are the duties that enforcers have to shoulder. The long arm of the military high court, they put the axe to any deserters, traitors, true-steel smugglers, and the boot to any uprising insurgents. It is just, but dirty work, and one of the better ways to start a career in the military at a young age.

Enlist as Guard to a Punitive Facility
(1 Year, Extendible)
Guarding a den of miscreants not guilty enough to put to the axe, but not innocent enough to go free, is not one of the most sought-after employments. To deal with insurgents and frequently violent criminals, is something that only specific mindset can do. To those that manage, future employment as a Punitive Overseer might come into view.

Guard a Kingdoms-bound Trading Caravan (1,5 Years+)
Led by an official ambassador, these caravans cut deep into the human controlled "Hundred Kingdoms". Safe for goblins and desperate bandits, they do so relatively unhindered - any serious attack on an ambassador promising war upon any local faction involved. As one would expect from the feuding race, the b-rank weapons go for high prices, while the bounty of their lands go for far less.

Guard a South-bound Trading Caravan (2 Years +)
Participate in the journey towards our eastern brethren, The Menacing Glare. While many of their practices are, well, questionable, they are dwarves, and the sole supplier for some rare materials. As The Gems of Toiling also send their caravans there, it is a hot-spot for important information, and wares from all three dwarven civilizations.

Optional: South-bound One-Way Trip (3 Years+)
It is not strictly illegal, but heavily frowned upon, to leave the caravan without prior notice - be it to study our eastern cousins, or head even further south towards the grand cavern. Deciding to do so beforehand, is far less frowned upon. Deciding against such an initial plan, and hurriedly leaving behind our erring kin in favour of the northern lands, is more welcomed though, second only to not bringing up such foolishness in the first place.



You also might want to decide upon the colour and speech of our fair lady:

For now I went with a navy blue in ascii, due to her being an axe-dwarf, but any input otherwise, is obviously welcome.




What? What was that? You wanted to have a look at the great hall?
Aww~, We~ll. These opening posts are "heavy" enough as they are, but if you want to explore, or once we return, I assure you that you just might get a closer look. That, or you won't, as a hall filled by thousands, would take hours to create. So.. the later option, I wager. ;3

On a more serious note, I took the liberty of smuggling a "
' " into the last name of our protagonist, as I tend to "treat" such double-names in this manner. Will revert this change upon public outrage.
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Robot Parade Leader

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #6 on: April 26, 2016, 01:03:14 pm »

PTW

I'm unsure exactly what the best vote is and I don't want to go against the group but if it were me, then maybe this?

Guard a Northern Trading Caravan (1 Year, Extendible)
Going around the northern human kingdoms, the wares are mostly made by apprentice smiths, or failed creations of higher-tiered crafters. Still, dwarven-make, is dwarven-made, and any tool, weapon or armour the local market doesn't sell, will just be traded further southwards by them. What the caravans return with, is necessities for living and crafting, plus any important information that was to be had at the taverns.
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piratejoe

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #7 on: April 26, 2016, 01:04:45 pm »

Run a Tour as Enforcer (1 Year, Extendible)
A bit more selective than guarding a caravan, are the duties that enforcers have to shoulder. The long arm of the military high court, they put the axe to any deserters, traitors, true-steel smugglers, and the boot to any uprising insurgents. It is just, but dirty work, and one of the better ways to start a career in the military at a young age.

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Robot Parade Leader

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #8 on: April 26, 2016, 01:29:57 pm »

(Note: that's also cool and if it's a tie between mine and piratejoe's then I will switch).
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flazeo25

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #9 on: April 26, 2016, 01:45:11 pm »

PTW

I'm unsure exactly what the best vote is and I don't want to go against the group but if it were me, then maybe this?

Guard a Northern Trading Caravan (1 Year, Extendible)
Going around the northern human kingdoms, the wares are mostly made by apprentice smiths, or failed creations of higher-tiered crafters. Still, dwarven-make, is dwarven-made, and any tool, weapon or armour the local market doesn't sell, will just be traded further southwards by them. What the caravans return with, is necessities for living and crafting, plus any important information that was to be had at the taverns.
+1 this would be helpful if it can give us some trader, lingual or other social trait and form connections.
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VoidSlayer

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2016, 02:58:55 pm »

PTW

I'm unsure exactly what the best vote is and I don't want to go against the group but if it were me, then maybe this?

Guard a Northern Trading Caravan (1 Year, Extendible)
Going around the northern human kingdoms, the wares are mostly made by apprentice smiths, or failed creations of higher-tiered crafters. Still, dwarven-make, is dwarven-made, and any tool, weapon or armour the local market doesn't sell, will just be traded further southwards by them. What the caravans return with, is necessities for living and crafting, plus any important information that was to be had at the taverns.
+1 this would be helpful if it can give us some trader, lingual or other social trait and form connections.

+1 Plus we might be able to acquire an exotic weapon and our arctic survival skills will come in handy

Tomcost

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2016, 04:21:10 pm »

As always, nice narrative skills and storytelling, Lurker. I'm posting to watch for now, because I'm not a terrible fan of the standard dwarven culture, but I will see.

NRDL

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #12 on: April 26, 2016, 05:14:01 pm »

PTW

I'm unsure exactly what the best vote is and I don't want to go against the group but if it were me, then maybe this?

Guard a Northern Trading Caravan (1 Year, Extendible)
Going around the northern human kingdoms, the wares are mostly made by apprentice smiths, or failed creations of higher-tiered crafters. Still, dwarven-make, is dwarven-made, and any tool, weapon or armour the local market doesn't sell, will just be traded further southwards by them. What the caravans return with, is necessities for living and crafting, plus any important information that was to be had at the taverns.
+1 this would be helpful if it can give us some trader, lingual or other social trait and form connections.

+1 Plus we might be able to acquire an exotic weapon and our arctic survival skills will come in handy

+1
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escaped lurker

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Re: [SG] Child of the Mountainhomes
« Reply #13 on: April 27, 2016, 01:07:16 pm »

Child of the Mountainhomes

Age of Darkness, Year 374, First of Granite

Having finalized your first pick, you make for the area of the northern caravans - easily visible even to the untrained eyes, by the wares the hawkers line up besides them. Seeing as your undercoat is still in good form - and, most important, quite comfy - you have little interest in the offered wares, with most of the sleeping-rolls on display actually a downgrade.

~

While you also considered joining the enforcers, it isn't a job for the squeamish. Going by first-hand accounts, almost no tour ends without having to kill some criminal lowlifes. Now, culling the pus-blooded goblins, is something that they somehow do their darnest best to make easy for us, but red-blooded sapients, is a different story for some.

The criminals range from kobolds escaping their sentence, deluded human lowlifes from the kingdoms, blinded by tales of our riches, or even half-blooded elves, either acting as disposable spies, or intent and actually capable of smuggling true steel. Even dark mages, intent on serving the demons, have been discovered - and subsequently put to the axe.
'Anything you could think of, and then some', as the enforcers tend to joke.

Well, maybe at a later date. Maybe never - but safe an untimely death, you easily have at least forty years to figure things out, more if you don't plan on having kids. You are not sure about that topic yet, but that might be nice - well, not now, nor any time soon.


~

Arriving at the proper place, you start with your search. Almost all of the caravan coordinators, have put up signs that list some prerequisites. About half of them, bluntly tell greenhorns to screw off. Well, you knew about that part already, and there are a good number of dangerous routes. A given, considering this being the north. That even some of the other places scoff at your apparent youth, is somewhat regrettable though.

After half of the morning has passed, you got two offers which you would consider worthwhile - both of them will only be viable up till lunch.




While making further rounds, you are surprised by a sudden tap on your shoulder. Instructor Igór and a few of your squad, have happened upon an interesting opportunity. Well, more like the instructor has heard it from a military friend. Now, even though most of your old squad doesn't want to participate, they are in the process of letting the others know.

After those who are interested have been gathered, you get the finer details:
In one of the caravans, an already pledged part of their forces, seems to have run into trouble on their way here. Reports from the area also indicate goblin activities, making the caravan unwilling to wait any longer for them. The thing is~ - it's a military caravan.




Spoiler: Libash Zustash'Alak (click to show/hide)


Hmm. Somehow the formatting, feels a bit off. Oh well. O~h! Turns out, I just really like my stuff in cursive. Gives it more of a "story" vibe.
I gave a little info-dump on the enforcers, seeing as there was some interest on them as well.
Should none of the three options tickle your fancy, well, you can search for better opportunities.
( Go ahead, I dare you ;3 )
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