I generated a very deadly world with far more titans and FBs than civilized people. Within 12 years all civilization had died out due to frequent attacks from titans. World generation was set to progress for another 988 years and thus we begin our tale in the year 1000.
After pondering the ineffable subtleties of !!XXFUNXX!! Armok decided drop seven dwarves into this world that had not seen civivization in 988 years. Armok made them reclaim the ruins of a dwarven capital. The dwarves were dismayed. Not a single tree in sight but that just meant that they wouldn't have to visit the surface for lumber. In the meantime they tore down the trade depot and their wagon and built their beds from the salvaged wood. Armok was in a merciful mood and despite all logic the settlement would grow. First came a wave of migrants bringing their number to 22 dwarves. Soon a dwarven caravan followed but it would leave without much of a profit. One of the original seven had declared himself king and demanded suitabe quaters and the rest of the dwarves had spent much their time trying to satisfy their king which was difficult because the most costly material was marble. The rest of their time had been spent constructing a roof along the way the caravan would enter and design a raising drawbridge that, once built, would be able keep out the perils known as Titans and Megabeasts. The only availble trading goods were some shoddy rock mugs.These were traded for a yet another copper pick. Metal was scarce so it was a sensible trade.
Still labouring to please the king the dwarves expanded his bedroom and made a discovery. The miner in charge of expanding the room's southern wall had made an window into the caverns. The trees found there was a suitable substitute for the ones found above ground but their optimism quickly faded for while the earth was rich in flux and gems it was without a single metal ore. This came as a nasty surprise since the former inhabitants had left more magma smelters than beds giving the impression that the earth was rich in ore.
Soon Armok's change of heart would be confirmed as a flying fiery blob would appear out of nowhere. For some reason the dwarves had designed but never finished the bridge. The dwarves knowing gravity of the situation decided to battle the beast while simutaniously trying to prevent it from entering. Some were ordered to finish the bridge and construct a lever, others to wall off the entrance to the fort and the last few were ordered to seal the central stairway. All these efforts were met with partial successes but unfortunately none succeeded. Those working on the bridge were intercepted and incinerated but they managed to construct the lever. Those seeking to wall off the entance found it to be impossible unless they removed the floor first (you can't built contruction on other construction) but they managed to remove parts of the floor. The final dwarves were the most succesful ones. Naturally they didn't manage to seal the 3x3+1 stairway but they managed to destroy the part that made it walkable for dwarves and thus isolating three dwarves: the King, the manager and a lowly papermaker who had arrived in the last migration wave.
I imagine that the three were hauling stones from the quarries in order to seal the very starway they became trapped in. The flying blop could still fly down through the stairwell but it was sufficiently distracted by the other dwarves that it forgot about them. The fort had not yet seen a year and already a titan had claimed it as its lair. For a time the dwarves panicked. Understandable considering they were cut off from every stockpile and workshop in the fortress except a small field. Eventually the manager ordered the king to farm plump helmets and construct a brewery solving their most urgent problems namely dehydration and starvation. Neither the king nor the manager paid much attention to the papermaker so he decided to continue working on improving the kings quaters by taking up the mantle of engraver. The king was pleased with this arangement. The manager spent his time building workshops with supplies from the quarries and the caverns that had not yet been hauled to a stockpile. First rock pots to store booze and then two beds. One for himself and one for the papermaker turned engraver (the king already had fine quarters). After this some crundle bones were used to make the +bolts+ that would make a violent takeover a possibility.
The beast was not inactive and during its reign it had made a fowl pact with a group of keas. They would be spared the fire if they in turn stole every pick and battle axe they could find, crippling the dwarves even if they managed to reclaim the first floor. This pact was first noticed by the king as he worked to finish the sealing of the stairway from below by building walls. Soon a wave of migrants arrived and among them were two hunters. These brave dwarves fought and were defeated by the beast. The beast had long since incenerated any remains of first dwarves it killed and therefore its onslaught was unexpected. Even though the marksdwarves scored a few direct hits on the beast their efforts were ultimately fruitless as it prevailed that day. Taking in to consideration that two well trained hunters were unable to slay the beast in point blank range despite the fact that the beast had ~20 targets to chose from the plans to kill the beast with just three untrained markdwarves were abandoned.
Stricken by guilt and slightly depressed after having witnessed the slaughter the king decided to take his own life by removing the floor he was standing on leading to a very long fall down to the magma smelters. Later historians has since theorized that the king was the only one who witnessed the carnage and thievery that characterized the upper levels at this time because he was (for whatever reason) the only one working to seal the dwarves off from the beast. This day the king proved that he was a wise man for he managed to kill himself in the optimal way: his death was quick and painless but most importantly his body was never found and therefore no dwarves were sadened by his demise. Ignorance is bliss and he would bless his fellow dwarves by hiding his demise. His death became a turning point for the two remaining dwarves and the single remaning cat. Even though they never confirmed the rumors, the kings death send the realm into as much political chaos there can be between to people
. Eventually the manager/expedition leader was forced to choose between the two positions and he chose to be king. The role of expedition leader was by no means undeserved as the former papermaker had played a key role in the ghost busting efffort. As a skilled engraver she was the one best suited to engrave slabs honoring the dead. Later artists admired her for her advanced style. In the kings bedroom one can see some of her (tragically few) masterpieces. Chief among were the engraving she made as a comment on the situation immediately following the beast's attack and her banishment to the stairwell
. Most proper dwarves share the sentiment captured in this picture. Their current situation was as follows: They had booze, food and enough pots to store both. They had run out of rock before they ran out of ghosts to make slabs for and their current choice seemed to be between whether to be murdered by an angry ghost or the fiery blob. They were still without tools and it was still possible for a flying creature to fly down through the stairwell.
After some time another migrant wave arrived. They were more lucky than the last wave because the beast was currently out hunting for hedgehogs. The king decided to keep the two groups seperated until the beast was sealed out. The bridge was finished by the new wave and orded to be linked to the lever the old dwarves had built. Sensing it was running out of time the beast decided to strike. The dwarf tasked with linking the bridge and the lever was the first to die because she was working near the bridge at the time. None of these dwarves were hunters and as such they were not able to put up a fight against blob. Instead of growing insane like his predecessor the new king grew desperate. The next time the beast left its lair to hunt, he constructed a ramp in the stairwell that allowed him to climb to the first floor and start linking the bridge and the lever. Two residents would follow his lead. First came the cat that went out to hunt some vermin or what cats do outside. The papermaker turned engraver turned expedition leader followed and began placing +crundle bolts+ in a stockpile upstairs. The bridge that so many dwarves worked to erect was not only erected but also linked to a lever.
Opting to celebrate later the king immediately pulled the lever and was greeted by the fort's feline resident that came rushing in. The cat had apparently had enough of the outside lifestyle for its lifetime. Immediately following the cat was the fourth resident of the fort: The fiery blob that probably had about 40 kills now had come to finish the fort off. The king ordered the expedition leader to retreat to the lowest levels of the fortress but Nish was not willing to comply before she had place her +crundle bolts+ in a bin on the upper level. She was quickly hit by a fireball and bled to death very quickly. It breathed fire on the cat who was gone before the fires subsided leaving no trace it had even existed. The king dodged the first to fireballs by running in circles like a madman but he had doomed himself by locking the beast in the fort with himself. After he realised he had contained this monster he stopped running and welcomed death with a smile. A smile that upon contact with flame would contort wildly before being warped into a shape more fit for screaming in agony.
So how long did all this last? A few days more than 1.5 years. During this time a grand total of 2 FBs (that I left out because they were uninteresting) and one Titan spawned. Since civilization lasted 12 years this is uacceptable. While writing this I started a new fort (because those historians must come from somewhere right) that was obliterated in less than two months by another titan. After this I started an adventurer and the world is so dead my outsider (only option) spawned next to a minotaur's labyrinth where she was slayed after a brief but intense struggle. Now my next fort .. is actually doing just fine. It has lived 2.5 years without seeing much fun and I am currently in the process of estalishing magma powered industries.
Moral of the story: if a fiery blob has taken up residence in your fortress dont try to evict it. Even if it is giving all you tools to keas.
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Topic: The far too long and terribly formatted tale of a recent fortress. (Read 652 times)