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[AlanL]

Here's the next one:
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Blitikus, his emotions quieted by alcohol for the time being, kept digging and digging. His scratches on the mountainside became deep marks, those deep marks leaving more and more vacant space until there was a tunnel into the cliff face. Blitikus expanded the tunnel into the mountain at a slightly downward angle. After digging a sufficiently deep hole in the ground, he stopped. The food outside would soon be ruined by the cold if he just left it out there. He took a rest, pondering the situation.

No, I mustn't allow myself to be slowed. Sooner or later, I'll meet death anyway, but I can't just cave in, it would be a disgrace. I want to continue as long as I can. My mother would want me to continue as long as I can...

He raised his head, and walked outside. He grunted as he picked up a barrel, and moved it inside. One by one, he moved it all in. There were few barrels left. Most of the supplies had been consumed while traveling, and there was only a portion of the food left. Luckily, Blitikus was only one kobold. A little food can last a long time if rationed properly.

He dug further into the mountain, without exactly knowing why. He just dug, if nothing else than to keep his mind off of the subject of his mother. It was relatively slow, and he found he was a somewhat sloppy with a pick axe, but he managed to get through the rock and dirt. He noticed different types of rock on the way through. The rocks seemed oddly colored as he continued, brownish. The oddly colored rock squeaked in a metallic sound as he struck it. Blitikus felt his sadness clear. He had expected to find nothing out here but death, but maybe, just maybe, he had found something more.

   

Cassiterite...

He found a feeling of achievement. He looked down, and smiled at his pick axe. Maybe there was something out here for him after all.

Fale, you suffered the loss of family, and that drove you to your destiny. My mother, may your death drive me to mine. You succeeded against all odds in the harsh, unforgiving wilderness, you fought many a foe, faced death many times, took many injuries, but in the end, you brought light and peace to this world. You fought with infinite bravery, starting stranded in a foreign world with nearly nothing but determination. Here I start, like you, stranded in a foreign world with little other than my own determination.

He looked down upon his pick axe, and managed to smile, a tear falling to the floor.

But I do have a pick axe, and a knowledge base. Greatness may not grow on ice, and destiny will not take root here, but I have other means. I shall hew my destiny out from this very mountain! This mountain will provide my fate, for better or for worse.

He looked back up at the wall, and swung again, over and over, cassiterite falling from the wall before him as he chipped away at it. He was making a shelter where none was, and he would make whatever else he needed despite what little he had. He was producing his future, he was producing a home, and immediately, for the first time in his life, he was producing ore. He remembered his apprenticeship with the metalsmith. Ore can be made into bars. Bars can be made into tools. Tools can be used to provide everything needed for life. Things were finally looking up.

If I live to ever reach such means, I will build monuments in your memory, mother. May they stand for all eternity, a symbol of what you have done for me, what you have done for us all.

His smile widened, and the feeling of awaiting vengeance lit up his mind like the fire in a forge.

May I build the means to tear those who murdered you limb from limb... literally!

A vengeful grin appeared on his face at the thought. He dug further, and noticed an abrupt change in the color of the wall from grey to white. He identified it as limestone. Quite a beautiful mineral, he thought. Beautiful, like the honest and just deeds of his mother. He sighed. Again, he found sadness, but no longer was he awaiting death. He had found a mission.

May I build the means to speak with you again, mother. Somehow... I must. Death will not stand in my way unless he delivers me to you in person!

He dug through the limestone, and proceeded through the rock to another layer of stone. The newly dug cavern howled as a snow storm roared outside. More limestone. More ore! This mountain was full of metal. Blitikus dug eagerly, but as his mind cleared itself of the alcoholic fog, he began noticing little errors in his technique, and began to correct them. The door of the tunnel provided little light, but as Blitikus dug deeper, the bitter cold lessened, until the mountain provided comfortable warmth. Once again, his flying ambitions were tempered by bitter reality. Liquid water was needed for life, and without life, Blitikus wouldn't last long enough to build anything greater than his own meager grave. He kept digging. Limestone hinted of the precious resource of water, but taunted him with its absence. Somewhere in these mountains there must be a source of hope, a source of...

The stone crumbled before Blitikus, and he peered into a cavern. The glistening beauty within filled him with relief. He thought he would live the rest of his utterly short life without ever seeing such a symbol of a living world again.

   

He let out a long sigh, and closed his eyes in silent prayer.

Armok, when you made this region, you must have looked ahead in time and saw me here. I don't know why you want me of all people to survive out here, I don't know what you intend for me to do, but thank you.

Unfortunately, this beautiful flowing mass of runoff from seasonal glacial melting presented a major navigational hazard. Blitikus could not tunnel over it as he could not dig straight up, and he could not tunnel under it without caving himself in. He would have to bridge it somehow. He remembered his mathematics, his ideas in physics. An arch was the best shape, and could be made with anything solid. Nothing around was more solid than the stone itself. He walked back up the tunnel, his kobold eyes slowly adapting to the dim light, and picked up the nearest boulder. His strength proved useful. He raised it, and, hauling the heavy weight over a rough floor, made slow progress in getting it to the edge of the river. When he finally managed to get it over to the river, he thought about how using boulders as is to build a bridge would be ridiculous. He brought his pick axe up, and struck the boulder. He chipped cracks in it until he had split the boulder into many pieces, barely suitable for any construction, but it would have to do. There was not enough, he would have to get another boulder. He sighed again and proceeded back, hauling the heavy siltstone boulder over to the pile of stone. He broke the boulder apart as he had the last. There was barely enough, but it was still enough. He worked with efficiency and determination, carefully stepping through the shallow points of the water and sinking stone into the wet muddy floor. An hour of struggling against the river, and he had established the bases of the columns. Another hour later, he had raised the columns. Carefully, he put the stones in place, one by one, reaching the other side 2 hours later. The bridge was shaky and rough, but it was heavy and withstood the current of the river. This was his first achievement in this mountain... one of the worst bridges he had seen. That wasn't the point though, the point was that it worked, for that's all that mattered. Blitikus rested for a while, then got back to digging. If his mothers death was his sole drive, then he would have attempted to dig to the center of the world, but he also had a drive to survive, and he knew he would have to establish the basics first. Somewhere to rest, somewhere to work, and somewhere to make food. He always felt like continuing deeper and deeper despite that.

My mother, my best friend, I swear that if I ever get a real chance, I will dig through hell to speak with you again.

Blitikus' mind was still as eager to dig, but his body began to find it more difficult to drive the pick. He found himself reminded of his thirst. He replied to his thirst by walking back to the front of the tunnel, and quenching it with a large dose of dwarven rum. Drunk and relieved, he made his way back down the tunnel, and continued. He felt his muscles becoming exhausted with the labor, but felt his muscles actual capacity expanding, slowly, bit by bit, but surely. This experience was making him a stronger person, literally. He dug a short tunnel past the river, and stopped. He stood back and thought, laying out a floor plan for his dwelling in his mind. Several minutes later, he solidified it in his mind, and raised his pick axe, setting out to solidify it into the mountain itself. He wanted to recreate his home, but, for the time being, designated one room for every immediate need. One for resting, one for working, one for making food. It was meager, but it would at least allow him to survive long enough to do something of value.

   

He began to dig out those rooms as he had laid them out in his mind, but alongside of those thoughts, he remembered his childhood with his mother. He was a prince, but he wasn't raised as if he were a human prince. Like his mother, he used to often interact with people of all professions and status levels, and wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. As he chipped through the rock, dust filled the air. It didn't get much dirtier than this. His blood carried many traits over from his mothers blood, but, he hoped that it also brought him the courage and inner strength that he would need to make it. He excavated the rooms out of the stone, his determination gladly accepting assistance from alcohol in giving him the strength to make his plans come true. He was amazed at the speed that picks allowed one to travel through stone, even as inexperienced as he was. Perhaps something was magical about the mountain itself. Perhaps dwarven picks are a miracle of technology. Either way, exhausted, Blitikus finally managed to carve out room for the basics. He didn't know if he would die or live to achieve his goals, but either way, he would meet his mother again. His mind wandered as he rested, imagining the possibilities of magic and technology that could let him achieve his goals, but the immediate still claimed his attention. He would sleep on the floor if he had to, he had chipped the rock into fine chips in the room designated for producing food, he would bring water in an empty barrel if he had to in order to bring water to the soil, and he would till it with his pick axe. It's not unheard of for great things to start off simple and plain, thought Blitikus, but whether it be through great achievements, or through death, he just wanted to be able to talk to his mother again.

[ October 16, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Armok]

I am in awe, everything I said about the previous story also applies to this one, a fey mood must truly be the only explanation!

On the practical side maybe you should edit the first post to include a link to the previous story, just in case.

Awesome, just epic awesome!

[Bluefire]

I might be repeating what has already been said, but this really is an incrdible story. It's much like Urist's story, except for the motive of the character. I'm waiting for the next part!

[Necro]

I have been reading this, and the last one, but haven't made any comment so far. Shame on me. I'd just like to say that your story deserves at least a ¤, and I think we should all sacrifice virtual dwarf children to your honour. Not sure if it would help you any, though.

[AlanL]

No sacrifices needed, if I wanted that I would play normal DF   :p

I put a link up top to the first one.

I'm really glad I can do something to hold peoples attention while waiting for the new release   :p

Also, there might be some things that are awkwardly or flat out unrealistically timed in the story due to the time abstraction present in DF.
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Blitikus rested, and pondered the bridge. Rough stone wouldn't do for anything serious. If he wanted to pursue his goals without losing his life, he would have to start with a simple upgrade: somewhere to refine the stone. He finished his rest and got up, assembling a masons workshop in his mind. He left, and picked up a rhyolite boulder, hauling it into the work-room, intent on assembling the workshop in reality. He put it down and hacked the boulder apart. Then, he cleared a space by rolling other boulders out of the way. He put the fragments of the boulder back together in a variety of shapes, making a simple stone hammer and chisel, and creating a flat surface with stone fragments and gravel. It was actually far from flat, but it was better than the cave floor. Immediately, he knew what to do. He grabbed another boulder and brought it back, breaking it up. Then, he set the broken fragments down and chipped away at them. It was a dull task, but not one he was unfamiliar with. A while later, he set the resulting blocks down, and stood up. His first workshop was makeshift crap. It was time to make something worthwhile for a change. He pulled the random stone fragments apart, disassembling the workshop Then, he cleared the area away. He took his newly produced blocks, and began assembling them together, making a surface that was truly flat to work upon, and actual working-grade equipment to go with it. Upon completion, he stood back and smiled proudly at his work. It wasn't ideal, but he had produced something himself in these harsh lands that wasn't crap. He thought, hopefully he could produce a living that wasn't crap, if he wished to live. He stood and continued his thought. Much could be done with stone despite it being a primitive material. He had produced a surplus of blocks, and used the leftover stone and blocks to ptoduce a second workshop, for working with wood. There were no trees in this barren place, but he could tear down the wagon outside and recycle the wood, crafting something to sleep on that would at least be better than the cave floor. It occurred to him, given enough time, if he had the resourcefulness to keep alive for the next few weeks, he could make this mountain truly his home, and even be relatively comfortable in it. He was about to walk outside, when he realized... a bed would come later. Now he needed food if he wanted to take the path of living, and he knew that that was the path his mother had chosen. It would be the path he would choose, in her honor.

There was the problem of irrigating the settled dust in the food production room still. He could do as he thought earlier and take a barrel and move the water by hand. Then he could lose the barrel in the swiftly flowing river and starve to death. He began thinking of alternatives. The river was swiftly flowing, and that meant, with proper encouragement, it could be temporarily be made to flow into the cave. This was a job for some kind of machinery, as attempting to channel the river directly would likely result in Blitikus drowning in the river. His workshop room was proving truly too small, as it was full with two work areas in it. He would need a third to produce the mechanisms that would be needed to channel the river. He took up his pick axe and began expanding the room. He remembered reading a dwarven book on mining tips on the way north, and in it was mentioned a general rule of thumb, "If it's more than seven body lengths from both sides to their opposites, the ceiling'll be just about guaranteed to fall on your head." Blitikus kept that in mind, and left a stone pillar in the middle, supporting the ceiling. After digging out more room, he took stone into the masonry workplace to make more blocks. He picked a random boulder, but as he was shaping the blocks, he realized he could make much more of this simple stone. Doors to seal off the rooms, and flood gates for channeling the river. They would be heavier and less efficient than their metal ideal, but they would do. He chiseled as the sun passed outside, finishing the blocks and continuing, turning worthless raw stone into nearly worthless but functional equipment. He produced 3 doors and a working floodgate out of the nearby boulders. He didn't even rest. Immediately after, he cleared the space behind the masonry workplace and carefully crafted simple mechanical tools from the nearby stone, making the blocks into suitable tools and a usable workbench. Immediately thereafter, he picked up a boulder and brought it into the brand new workplace, proceeding to make a lever and the mechanisms to link it to the floodgate. He paid close attention to his work, refining the mechanisms in every detail. It had been his lifelong hobby, tinkering with machines and mechanisms. From mere stone, he produced exceptional mechanisms that would easily move the heavy stone floodgate. He found his next task, and began to install the floodgate and the doors, digging room for the lever he had made. He worked tirelessly, his work keeping his mind focused as the alcohol began to dissipate in his system. He took a short break to eat, savoring the slightly freeze-burned meat, and finished up with the floodgate. Afterwards he followed his meal up with another drink. The sparse supplies becoming readily visible once more, he reminded himself of the situation. He must work. He retrieved the lever from the mechanics workplace and fixed it to the floor near the farm room. Then, he walked back, adding a groove into the wall for the floodgate to slide in and attaching a strong stone hook to it. The hook was controlled via a line which, by several pullies, was eventually connected to the lever in the other room. The lever wouldn't be able to raise the floodgate all the way but it would be more than enough to flood the farm room.

He hammered the last pulley into a socket he had made in the wall, and fed the line to the lever. After the hook up was complete, he pulled the lever. The pulleys squeaked, the floodgate moved, but the farm room was still hollow. Something wasn't working. Then, he realized his mistake. The floodgate had an outlet on the other end that had to be controlled by a second floodgate. Slightly annoyed with his own mistake, he proceeded to carve up a second floodgate, smaller than the first, place it, and, using the same pullies, link that to the same lever with newly carved mechanisms... well, partially.  His mind benefitted from the labor, but his body had become exhausted. Almost blurry-visioned from tiredness... he just called it quits for the day, and lay next to the lever. It was rough stone, but at least it was a little smoother than the stone elsewhere.

   

He let his exhausted body finally tend to itself, and shut his eyes, slowly but soundly falling asleep. That day he drempt of home. The home that he once knew, the home that he couldn't return to, yet. Several hours later, he awoke, the dream taunting him so much he wondered if it could actually be called a nightmare. He got up, and grunted. His body's strength was restored, and he was ready for another day of trying to survive.

No, I WILL see my home again, I WILL see my mother again.... somehow, at some time.

He looked back at his mechanisms linking the floodgates, and smiled. They were simple, and they were incomplete, but they were the product of his skill, they were working machinery. He was left stranded, but now he was showing the first signs that he could actually do this. He finished the linkage, and pulled the lever. It took more force than last time, but the result was far, far more rewarding.

   

It worked. It was a small first step, insignificant on the grand scale, but his machine had channeled the river and applied it as he wished. He had completed his first step in taming the mountain with mechanisms. Blitikus returned the lever, and the floodgates fell into their original position. There was a flushing sound as the water receded.

He walked over the bridge and out of the tunnel. His eyes had adjusted to the inside, but it was night. He let out a deep breath, the breath taking on a foggy form as it escaped, the aurora visible above. He had intended to take in a few good deep breaths of fresh air, but it was deathly cold outside, so he quickly returned back in, shivering. He crossed back over the river and walked into the farm room. The bone dry dust was now lush, moist soil. Blitikus took his pick axe, and tilled it until it was fit for growing things. There were strange spore-seeds in the dwarven equipment, likely from the purple mushrooms, and he would try to plant those. He finished readying the soil, and proceeded to the front of the cave to get the seed. Blitikus had never before farmed, but he was quick to figure things out and planting seeds was straightforward enough. The task was made inefficient by the distance from the seeds to the field. He made a note to himself to move the stockpile into the inner cave. On the bright side, Blitikus was now producing his own food. He returned to his stockpile to drink, and continued. Time passed, and more and more of the indoor farm was marked with the row of a growing mushroom. The dwarves had long bred their staple crops to be as space efficient as possible, and little room was required to sustain one person.

   

It had been gradual, it had been tedious, but it had been done. Food was on the way, Blitikus just had to let nature finish the production process. He smiled upon the beautiful fields, for now he knew, he had a very real chance of surviving as long as he wanted out here. His spirits raised from his accomplishments, he turned to moving the food to the bottom of the tunnel, placing it conveniently in the hallway, piece by piece, stopping for a meal during the task. He was seriously running out of food, and hoped that nature would work swiftly despite the harsh climate. He also stopped for a drink. While sober, he found himself slowed by sadness, while drunk, he found himself sloppy rather than slowed, but at least he didn't feel as bad. Dwarven rum wasn't on specifically short supply, but that wasn't important. Despite him starting to have a habit of drinking the stuff, he wasn't dependent on it, and wouldn't particularly mind drinking from the river if he were to run out.

After the hauling had been completed, he took his pick back up, but set his sights on something other than striking down solid rock. He would strike down the wagon, and recycle the wood. There wouldn't be much, but it would be all that he would be able to use, and as far as he knew, all that he would ever be able to get on this glacier. He walked outside, and hacked at the thin metal frame, nearly nothing more than wire, that held the wood together. He disassembled the wagon, and managed to salvage three logs worth of wood in total. One logs worth he would use to make a bed, another he planned on using to make charcoal. He would need fuel to make any kind of metal bars or crafts. He would also need some starting fuel with which to make coke, if he were to ever strike any coal. If he never found coal, he wouldn't be able to make use of the ore anyway, but he wagered that this mountain was truly mineral rich, and would provide him with what he needed. He took one of the bundled logs-worth of wood and brought it back in, dragging it behind him. Wait, what was this?

   

Blitikus peered through the slightly ajar door and smiled both on the outside and on the inside. Despite having never farmed a day before, it had worked. He was no longer short on food. Food was now limitless, as long as he was able to till the fields. He continued, dragging the wood into the carpenters workshop, where he shaped the wood and assembled a bed from the planks of the wagon and stone nails. He then moved the frame into his bedroom, and fastened it to the floor. On it he used thin layers of smooth gravel as padding and pillow. He finally had a real room to sleep in. Next, he brought stone into the masons workshop and chiseled out a chair and table, stopping to harvest plants. He placed them in his room, fixing the table to the floor, and then harvested more plants. The purple mushrooms smelled sweet and fresh as he picked them. He stored the mushroom and walked to the edge of the river, and looked back.

   

He stood in front of his achievements. No longer was this an icy prison, this was a second home. The mist of the river drifted in from behind him, and he smiled. He has made real workable tools and workplaces, he has a room to live in, eat in, and think in, he has constructed this mountains first fully functional machine, he has grown food and now has more plants than what he arrived with, all before the arrival of summer. He has a home and a future. He found himself in a new relationship with nature as well. Nature provided raw materials and simple necessities, and he refined them into constructs and worked from the energy in the food. Nature also provided the only code of laws under which Blitikus would have to abide. Luckily, Blitikus was knowledgeable in those laws and knew how to use them to his advantage. He had a home, but he would have to go further, and deeper than that, eventually.
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I get the feeling that I'm going a bit on the slow side, but in this case it's going to end up starting slow probably. As things move on it should pick up.

[ October 18, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Xotes]

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!

Seriously, though, very nice. Blitkus does seem real, and I like the way he thinks.

[Armok]

[insert the usual praising here]

[Pitchblack]

can i ask how you made a kobold fortress and how i can make one?

I know it requires modding but my skills at modding are near non existant.

[AlanL]

Here's essentially what I did:

1)Go into your entities file, and find the dwarf entry. Note it has the [CIV_CONTROLLABLE] tag. This means that the game will use this civ for mountain halls and fortresses. Cut the tag and paste it in the kobold entry, so that the game uses kobolds instead. I discovered earlier that due to the lack of tags, this makes dwarves basically disappear from world-gen unless you give them a different tag.

2)Kobolds are by default very low tech, with little ability to craft things. In the various item files, there are tags you can refer to to give item-production abilities to the kobolds. I wanted them to be as capable as possible, so I copied the dwarfs clothes/item making entries and pasted them over the kobold ones. Also, world generation will crash if you don't tell it what word classes to use and not use in site generation.

3)Review the kobold creature file. The game considers them only partially intelligent by default. Get rid of the civ and learn tags and replace it with a full fledged [INTELLIGENT] tag. Of note also is that they are size 4 rather than size 5 like dwarves, they are nocturnal, and also, they have the [BONECARN] tag (which also hints that they're canine   :p)

[ October 18, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Xotes]

Well, IIRC, you can have 2 or more civs with the [CIV_CONTROLLABLE] tag, and it'll select 'em from random, so, dwarves could still technically have lived there.

[AlanL]

Yeah, I just wanted to make real sure I wouldn't have to abandon worlds between the two stories, since technically the only reason they're 2 different stories is because they're 2 different characters and 2 different game modes.

Again, thanks   I tried my best to make Fale more than just bytes and cycles, and I'm making the same attempt for Blitikus. Glad its working  
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Nature would tend to his home, and he would have a place to sleep when he was tired, but for now, he wanted to tunnel further. He thought, maybe if he tunneled deep enough, the light at the end might be his mother waiting for him...

He took up his pick axe, and walked back to the end of the tunnel, burrowing it even deeper. Shortly after he continued, he knocked down a pillar of rock to view a beautiful, shiny substance behind it.

   

You have struck silver!

Beautiful metal. Beautifully useless. I would be better off with copper! Although, if memory serves I could make anti-sickness barrels with it. It might help me live longer some day.

He made a note of the substance, and continued. The tunnels reverberated with howls from inclimate weather outside. Blitikus payed close attention to his digging, and found his speed increased as he brought his form to decency and began finding ways to exploit defects in the rock. More cassiterite. No malachite to go with it. The howling continued... but was it from the outside? The dull sound increased from below and before him until finally, he turned, collapsing a wall and yelling as he nearly fell off the edge, staring down into a seemingly bottomless fissure in the mountain.

   

A wind howled through the nearly perfectly dark expanse, the cold breeze passing right through Blitikus' fur.

If I misstep here... I'll count the falling time and see if I can calculate the depth in my head before I impact!

Blitikus' snickered at the morbid thought, but, something shined, refracting light on the other side. This shine brought a smile to his face, and warmed his blood through its gnomish components. Those were gems on the other side of the chasm. Blitikus pondered the idea of building a stairway to the bottom of the chasm, and of simply leaping off and hoping for deep water on the bottom, but, he wanted to continue his life, so he refrained. He would have to bridge it, but the idea of building a support was laughable. In order to build this supportless arch, he would need something better than crap stone, he would need true blocks. He walked back, took the time to pick plants, then proceeded to select a random grey boulder and take it to the masons shop, breaking it up and smoothing blocks out of the fragments. Summer dawned outside, and the snow began to lower on the glacier. The permafrost always remained. He finished, and took the blocks back down to the chasm. He grabbed the thread of a cave spiders web on the way, and used it to form guy wires to hold the incomplete bridge from falling into the chasm as he built it. Row by row, he laid the blocks, and as the bridge became too heavy for the cave spider silk, tensile strength stronger than steel, to hold, he tossed the rest of the blocks to the other side of the chasm and leapt to the ledge himself, finishing the bridge from the other side. Immediately after he had laid the last block, every block being used, he turned and moved to the rock face to start digging again. He dug through the beautiful sapphire, its blue tint grasping and pulling at his gnomish traits, but he continued forward anyway, his desire to be with his mother again overpowering the sight of the gems. More and more cassiterite, but where was the copper to go with it? Bats screeched in the chasm behind him, making him jump at first, but he soon got used to it. He growled and cussed under his breath, his inner mechanic and metalsmith yelling,

WHERE THE HECK IS THE C...

   

You have struck copper ore.

Within, his metalsmith self applauded. Copper and tin make bronze. Blitikus, unlike many dwarven and human metalsmiths, also knew the deeper meaning of the chemistries of the alloy. Everyone else made crap bronze that was even weaker than iron, but Blitikus knew the true, proper methods that allowed a metal stronger than its ferrous counterpart. He smiled as he dug through the copper, but continued straight on. He dug and dug, his mind once again more determined than his body was willing to support. He backtracked, bats flying in his face as he crossed the chasm, and walked back to his room. For the first time since the assassination attempt, he slept in a real bed, this time a bed of his own making. He opened a book he had brought with, dwarven reading material, "101 ways to get yourself drunk" by Mistem Alehammer. He read, "Way #1: Mushroom wine..." After a decent portion of an hour, he put down the book and let himself fall asleep. That day he drempt of digging straight into hell, and yet, he felt proud and rewarded of it. The sun set, and he awoke. His mind had been churning the fires of hell, and he felt energetic and well rested despite sleeping on essentially gravel. Gravel was better than the floor, though. He left the room and proceeded to get a drink. He had read about that very type of rum last day. He realized... in his ambition to dig to the center of the earth, he had left his plants on the fields unattended. He found survival to be a fitting priority, and so started harvesting the plants. He heard a gushing of water proceed down the river. He heard it splashing into the bridge. He heard barrels bumping into one another.

Is that my... what the f*ck?!

   

The flood receded. Blitikus stepped out, and promptly slipped on the fresh mud and fell face first into the floor. He promptly got up, and futily tried to brush the mud out of his fur.

Erm... That was intended!

He chuckled at himself. He was finding new humor from hardships. Maybe it was why his mother tended to be amused in circumstances many would find grim. He saw that the mud indicated the river had overflown, luckily not washing any supplies away from it. Perhaps that was a warning from the mountain. He continued picking plants, filling a barrel and putting the rest on cleared space on the floor. After he finished picking the mushrooms and storing them, he took a boulder and crafted a new rock door, placing it in the tunnel to block off future flooding. He made sure the thresholds were waterproof and that a forceful flood wouldn't break the door, and then left it. Business taken care of, he took up his pick and proceeded back to the end of the tunnel, digging further. More gems... but it was only rose quartz. Still, it raised his spirits to see such beautiful formations. But, beyond that lay something far more useful. More copper. He smiled, for the mountain was willfully sharing its bounty. Then as he continued, the stone turned dark, pitch black. It was getting warm. Blitikus noticed this, noticed the fragments, the fine details in the rocks, and really found himself skilled at plowing through it. He had become a miner... for the time being at least. The rock lightened again, but it was still warm. Something far shinier than even the last precious discovery presented itself in these depths.

   

You have struck platinum!

Great! Or at least it would be, if I were a dwarf. Riches have little use out here!

Survival seemed assured, and the mountain was throwing riches his way, but Blitikus wanted something he valued far, far more than riches, he wanted the means to reach his mother. The mountain had yet to yield that. He kept digging. But, it seemed right inside of the platinum vein...

You have struck iron ore!

But I already have what I need to make br....

He remembered a rumor he had heard from some dwarven merchants. There was a type of metal that was an alloy of iron that proved far stronger than even the bronze he was able to make. Maybe one of the books that were brought along would detail the properties and production of this metal? He kept note to seek such a book in the bag the next time he left to sleep, and continued. If he were pressed to building a way to reach his mother, then he might need this metal. The hematite was laced with cassiterite. The heat was beginning to become uncomfortable. There was a bubbling sound behind the rocks in front of him. He continued anyway, confident in his abilities to pass any obstacle. Suddenly, as he struck the rock, it cracked, and then, as if the mountain itself were angry, the wall seemed to explode, nearly-burning hot, rotten-egg smelling air blasting through the tunnel, throwing rocks all around and knocking Blitikus flat onto the ground. He found himself slightly dizzy, and strangely all of the mud on his fur had been instantly dried. He squinted and picked himself up. What he saw was the incandescent, bubbling artery of the mountain, the portal to hell, it seemed.

   

It was glowing red and yellow, indicating the molten rock was well over a thousand degrees in temperature. He walked up to the edge but jumped back, stifling a yell as a speck of magma landed on his foot and ate right through his clothing. It was rather painful but, being only a speck, did little real damage. Yes, that was confirmation, it's rather hot. He trimmed the burned fur from his foot with his claws, and tossed the still heated speck, holding it by the fur it had globbed around, back into the magma. This magma would knock down a stone bridge, and melt away any metal, even iron. Maybe that iron alloy metal was the secret? Until Blitikus could experiment with it, he would have to stop his digging at this depth. Hell had a fitting and formidable moat, and Blitikus lacked the resources to cross it. It looked like he would have to build his way to his mother after all, digging simply wouldn't cut it.

He also realized, he was probably going in the wrong direction to meet his mother. He pondered, his mother obviously would've gone to heaven, and getting through hell to heaven would be truly an astronomical feat. He would have a better chance of jumping in the magma and swimming to heaven, he thought. But how would he reach heaven directly? His jumping fell a bit short... He thought, the mountain had provided him with all of the necessities of life, but it had also provided him with iron, bronze, metals with which to build constructs and machines. He summed it up in his head, the mountain had also provided water, and fire. Water and fire make steam. He had used steam as an adolescent to power small moving toys and contraptions. With the bronze provided, was it possible to upscale it, and use steam to drive a large machine? He walked back up the tunnel, pondering the possibilities, building various contraptions of metal and mechanisms in his head. His mother was the only family he really knew, and maybe, just maybe, he could build something not just as a monument to her, but as a way to reach her. A machine to channel magic to perform arcane feats, or a machine of ingenious technology to perform unheard of miracles? Would it be both? He felt rather... dwarfed... by such a task. But, he had all the time in the world to try.

[ October 20, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Armok]

This story is truly Beyond Quality!  

[Bluefire]

Blitikus is quickly digging his way into the hall of fame! You are also right about the bronze, so obviously Blitikus is very smart, and not just a good story teller   .

[AlanL]

I had the misconception about bronze myself until i read the thread on this forum and did a little thinking about it  

[Necro]

It really impresses me how you update so often.
I don't know how to put the awesomeness to words.