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Author Topic: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls (DF 0.47.05)  (Read 254526 times)

Splint

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1185 on: August 13, 2019, 07:49:34 pm »

I feel like those statues were a really dark omen of some kind. I recall weres being considered children of that god in one of the other pages, and more weres are always being made by stupid people in the wider world. Every time I've thought they were all dead one would show up late in the year to prove me wrong.

Leather armor might not be great, but at least it'll keep anyone from breaking bones in training. May wanna get them set up with helmets though - I learned the heard way when some wrestling training went horribly, horribly wrong. A recruit got his head smashed in on the floor when he got thrown by his arm during a sparring match.

Also to the dolomite: That may well mean a source of iron, or at least some ores that can be sold. And since we can't make steel, no reason we can't be some right fancy buggers with stone houses that'd make dwarves jealous.  :D

Can you imagine it though if we hit galena or tetrahedrite? A chiseled stone bridge of brilliant white, columns running the sides capped with gleaming silver or copper statues (one would compliment, the other contrast, both nicely I would think.) The place'd be the enevy of the kingdom I'd think.

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1186 on: August 16, 2019, 06:57:30 am »

I don’t think we’ll be going that far, though it’ll make bridge-building 1,000 times easier. We could start an industry around masonry and blocks of stone, if it became an option. We could potentially start a mining industry if there’s ore, too, though I don’t know if it’d be thematically appropriate.
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Cathar

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1187 on: August 17, 2019, 05:59:09 am »

Leather armor might not be great, but at least it'll keep anyone from breaking bones in training. May wanna get them set up with helmets though - I learned the heard way when some wrestling training went horribly, horribly wrong.

Ah yes, they have helmets. I don't draw them because I want to draw faces, but of course they wear helmets. And cloth cap and hood, they keep their heads toasty.  As for leather armor, I'm afraid that's all we have, as I say we are severely lacking metal and we need bronze for weapons in priority. But that's alright, leather armor is fine against smalltime threats such as predators and such ; as long as goblins ignore us, we're fine.

Can you imagine it though if we hit galena or tetrahedrite? A chiseled stone bridge of brilliant white, columns running the sides capped with gleaming silver or copper statues (one would compliment, the other contrast, both nicely I would think.) The place'd be the enevy of the kingdom I'd think.

Yeah, that would be awesome if we had a surplus of metal; we'd have to train a metalsmith tho, Joakim only works well with weapons. Else...we can make statues out of marbre or in glazed stoneware. It's still very good looking, and doesnt corrode (which is a problem with the sea)

I don’t think we’ll be going that far, though it’ll make bridge-building 1,000 times easier. We could start an industry around masonry and blocks of stone, if it became an option. We could potentially start a mining industry if there’s ore, too, though I don’t know if it’d be thematically appropriate.

Ah yes, that we totally do. Stone bricks will work wonder for the bridge.
I havn't seen ore tho. Maybe we will later at some point ? Else, trade works alright for small amounts.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Winter 144 and Spring 145

Judging by how calm those last years have been, we can say the world has been made a much safer place compared to the times Tetzobsha or Thomocemir were founded. Almost two years in, and the Aconilun had yet to suffer attacks from werebeasts or other night creatures. Goblins and hostile elves from Wulemaapasi – altho not very far, did not show any interest in the bridge town.

This was for the best. With the acquifer  pierced and with stone ready to be extracted from the ground, the real construction was about to begin.

The remaining planks, made when wood was the main construction material, were used to make floors for a couple new houses. In the meantime, Gram and Ivak – a farmer he recruited to help him in his task – started to emerge from the mine with stone bricks, and so small habitations could be built. The first house made was assigned to the weaver, a woman named Casot.

According to pearlite traditions, married couples, noblemen and extremely talented workers should acquire housing first, and Casot was neither of those things. However, Kimaeslo Ori was still lacking any industry not relying on wood, which was becoming increasingly scarce, and so opening a clothier shop appeared a sound investment.

With that, the bridge's construction was started and thanks to stone mechanisms Gram made, a working windmill was finished. With that new acquisition, production of food could be streamlined and would recquire less arms – at last, the little town's progress was gaining steam.



All in all, winter was calm. After all the fire and brimstone of winter 142, those two years of calm were an unexpected blessing. Nowhere was the kingdom attacked, and all of its enemies seemed to have sink into hibernation.

We'd have to wait until spring to eventually have closure. When the merchants from Iferi Fiyopi came, they brought a lot of news of the world with them.



Far in the north they said, the dwarven kingdom of Bomrek-Laltur decided to wake up and take initiative against the goblin empire of Ansgek.

Bomrek-Laltur was a dwarven kingdom set deep into the northern glacial wastes, and most notorious to have a population composed of goblins. Until now, they were a peaceful and timid bunch, but in winter 144, for reasons unknown and to the general surprize, they decided to attack their goblin neighbours.

Unable to match the empire in number – 300 trolls and as many beakdogs were guarding their capitale city, they launched a serie of ambushes, and finally managed to catch Tarem, the empress of Ansgek, in a trap.



The Empress Tarem never saw the year 145. Her death plunged her empire into a downward spirale, with her goblins now infighting for the title of emperor and many dying in the process.

That, in turn, threw her other neighbours into a feeding frienzy and most of Ansgek holdings were attacked.

Among the new attackers was the empire of Osme which threw everything it had against Ansgeki cities. This, we think, is why the kingdom of Kima was safe for two years.

May the war in the north be long and fought to the bitter end.

We, of course, did not let the elves of Iferi Fiyopi leave without exchanging wares. We had a lot of stoneware crafts to sell, and their animals were quite of interest for us. Notably – they had a mare and as we already had a stallion, we could use her to start a little stable.



We took an extra care not to present the stonewares glazed with ash glaze, but stoneware is valuable even without glaze. Fire clay is truely a miracle material.

Luckily for us, when they questionned how we heat the clay, they accepted « sunlight » as an answer and we got the mare out of the trade. Everything goes smooth and hopefully, we'll have a stable soon.

Then, as Toki was negotiating the exchange rate livestock/stoneware, Gram was still making progress into the newly accessed undergound world.




There is a whole world under the sea.

Needless to say, that discovery of a world under the world was the talk of the town for a couple weeks. Then strange phenomenons started to happen – bizzare grass and mushrooms started to grow on houses basements. Giant cobwebs were found in the underground world – it didn't took people long to figure out they could make good quality cloth out of them.

The spiders who made those webs were nowhere to be found anyway.



This is the first time people from the kingdom of Kima reach the caverns.



In other news, Joakim and Hasbun are now a couple.
Oh, and this is the 20th anniversary of the end of worldgen !
« Last Edit: August 17, 2019, 06:12:37 am by Cathar »
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Haspen

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1188 on: August 17, 2019, 06:03:37 am »

I will be good waifu uwu

Also, some of your coding/images seem to be broke, plus the giant monster thing is twice ;v
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Splint

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1189 on: August 17, 2019, 07:05:19 am »

"The dwarves tell stories about the dread deep. And darker things crawl even further down, if you believe the more wild-eyes of the bunch. Things like monstrous cave serpents that breath fire like dragons in old stories up here, open pits of molten rock, and potentially much worse, alongside untapped mineral wealth. Must be way they dig so deeply, to get at ore further down than our own mines have ever really chanced before.

In some places there's talk of ancient ruins, horrible floating monsters, and undead warriors roaming the place as well.

Not sure I believe any of that talk, but they clearly weren't lying about 'the world under the world' bit."



Ah, I take what's depicted as what they have. I'd be lying if I said I didn't forgo helmets in favor of leggings, boots and gauntlets before (cause were love to target those parts for some reason,) not a stretch to assume a lot of the armor is just worn under their robes, but helmets don't hide so easily. If a were does show up, our dudes are toast, but still. Better leather than broken bones, and not having broken bones is something I'll drink to!

Also good on those dwarves. one less eldritch monster walking the world can only do everyone a favor. And good cover for the stoneware. Sun-dried clay was a thing in ancient times that went unrecorded, so it's as good a lie as any to help the poor long-ears sleep at night.

Sir Knight

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1190 on: August 17, 2019, 02:03:17 pm »

Wow, times two:

One, this is turning into a very aesthetically-crafted little town.  Fine job on the laborious process of building it all.

Two, your storytelling on these peacetime events continues to be great.  The basic process of entering the underground for the first time is so well-written.  And even if people don't wind up being attacked by giant cave spiders, the low-level dread of the depths is there.
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Cathar

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1191 on: August 21, 2019, 01:36:28 pm »

@Haspen: Hasbun best gril confirmed. I need to draw her more, but if/when we have our inn and she's the innkeeper, she'd have more happenings.
@Splint : Yes, I check equipment before drawing, but I don't obscure the faces of main characters. They have leather helmets. So far, no tragedy, but accidents happen and sometimes its unavoidable
@Sir Knight : Thanks a lot !

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Summer 145 (first part)

Life in Kimeaslo Ori has begin to adapt to the newly discovered underground world, and some of the bravest colonists now had taken a habit to launch small expeditions to forage for its unusual ressources. Cave spider silk, most notably, was becoming an important commodity for the cloth industry, developping in the small village. Giant mushrooms, having been spotted down below, were also thought to be a good alternative fuel to wood and coal. Underground water was deemed pure and fit for consumption. Lastly, some plants growing on the underground mud needed to be experimented with. We know that dwarves can extract a blue dye from an underground plant. If Mong Kima can be the first human kingdom to create blue dyes, our cultural influence would grow significantly.

However, as the Aconilun soon find out, the underground world was not really a land of milk and honey. As she was collecting spider webs, Caslot, the weaver and clothier, was jumped on by a white crocodile.



Mospar, one of the member of the militia, heard her cries and rushed to her aid. Luckily, Caslot had the presence of mind to run as fast as she could, and Mospar could save the woman. He was only armed with a wooden training bludgeon, but thanks to his training, he could delay the beast long enough so the rest of his squad could arrive and tear it appart. The crocodile died shortly after, with Hauben's morning star stuck onto its skull.

Eventually, there was more fear than harm, and the small village could add meat to their meals. Bones and scales were also used to decorate items : in the end, everything was good under the sky, and life could resume as normal.

When the guild arrived in midsummer, the village had a lot to trade ; crafts of wood, clay and cloth were exchanged against raw material, mostly metals. Joakim was waiting for that occasion to exercise his trade, and made two additional morning stars. The four members of the militia were now all armed and ready to respond to any threat.

This was also the occasion for Gram to meet with Uquur again and to discuss the state of the world - currently peace was the name of the game. Altho the kingdom lived in constant fear of its neighbours, the whole country was enjoying peace as it last.

Sometimes in the month of July however, another cry came from the underground. Gram came back from the underworld, sweating and fearful - and when people asked him what was wrong, he said :



The Aconilun first thought a rock had fall on his head and he was in delirium, however just to make sure, the militia and their dogs were deployed to the underworld.


No creature

And so life could resume - again. Those caverns they knew nothing about were testing their nerves, but it was nothing of real concern. Of course, cave crocodiles were no more dangerous than their surface counteparts. As long as they would be cautious, the Aconilun would have nothing to fear. The militia came back to the surface.

The following days were calm, but an air of looming menace was weighting on the village. So when rumors of the giant scorpion ressurfaced, a week later, the militia was deployed again, immediately.



OOC : This fight has yet to happen. Franckly I think we have our chances. Wish us luck.

Also ; I colored this drawing. Cheers !

Haspen

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1192 on: August 21, 2019, 01:45:22 pm »

Giant Scorpion looks like a mecha of sorts. Last thing it needs is laser eyes .__.
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PlumpHelmetMan

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1193 on: August 21, 2019, 01:50:28 pm »

Did you mod giant desert scorpions back into the game? Or is that a titan or FB of some kind?

Oh, I see it's a FB. Should really read these things through before I comment. :P
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HakuryuVision

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1194 on: August 21, 2019, 04:23:54 pm »

Hoy, that was a fast update!
This whole subterranean thing is going to be really interesting since this time it's not dwarves, but humans who discovered the caves.
Have there there's been any monster slayers asking to stay at your fort?
I usually get swarmed by them.



Also ; I colored this drawing. Cheers !



« Last Edit: November 04, 2019, 08:14:33 pm by HakuryuVision »
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Splint

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1195 on: August 21, 2019, 05:32:48 pm »

Probably hasn't been long enough, or they're being rubber-stamped with denials, and understandably for their own safety; I doubt many have a particularly long career/life expectancy in dwarf settlements that employ them, and that's not gonna be something that'd go unnoticed by other polities.

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1196 on: August 22, 2019, 06:58:04 am »

No webs, dust or poisonous blood? We'll be eating well. If you count giant scorpion meat as good food that is.

At least dwarven monster slayers can leave steel gear when they inevitably get their heads smashed open by troglodytes. That's the only reason why I would accept them into my last fort.
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Sir Knight

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1197 on: August 22, 2019, 06:15:01 pm »

Cathar, you said that you thought Thomocemir had killed all the werebeasts--but there were some beasts still forgotten.  Which is my lame-joke way of saying that I'd been waitin' on those!

I look forward to all sorts of tragedy from future uninvited guests.  Unless the game shows a very low forgotten beast count in this world.
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Cathar

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1198 on: September 09, 2019, 09:23:32 pm »

Sorry for the time it took... Real life decided to take its toll on my time, and it's usually better to pay this kind of due. Doubly sorry as this update may be kind of short, as not a lot happened. But it  is maybe a good opportunity to discuss about what we should do in the future.

Have there there's been any monster slayers asking to stay at your fort?
I usually get swarmed by them.

I wish, actually. Food is in overabundance, but trained warriors are not. Tho keep in mind this save is  very old – it must have something like two years. It's older than the monster s layer patch, so I don't know if we'll see them. Maybe they will appear when we build a tavern ?

And that's not gonna be something that'd go unnoticed by other polities.
Yeah, I really don't know. I know my world has mercenaries, some of them actively looking for monsters to kill. But new version monster slayers... I don't know. We'll see !

At least dwarven monster slayers can leave steel gear when they inevitably get their heads smashed open by troglodytes. That's the only reason why I would accept them into my last fort.

Not gonna lie, I'd like to have monster slayers. I really like the idea of running an adventurer hub in the village. I mean this is sort of the plan after all : create an almost obligatory passage point, and sell stuff to travellers. So if we can attract more people with the underground world, that would be perfect.

Besides there is another reason I'd want visitors – and that is I am studying, as much as I can, the people and cultures of the world. Having them come to us, in their cultural garments and all, would be an opportunity to record stories from afar. But ey, if they come , they come, if they don't, well, they don't.

Cathar, you said that you thought Thomocemir had killed all the werebeasts--but there were some beasts still forgotten.  Which is my lame-joke way of saying that I'd been waitin' on those!

I look forward to all sorts of tragedy from future uninvited guests.  Unless the game shows a very low forgotten beast count in this world.

Maybe now is as good a time as ever to say that if I'm confident that Hustra, Zothoabo's wife, is still inprisonned, I am almost certain Valken escaped Thomocemir. Almost. As in « I have no idea where he is ».
You know what, we should put guard dogs a bit everywhere.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Summer and Autumn 145

Once again, Hauben and his men rushed in the underground world. When they came back, they were shocked and exhausted, but still alive and unharmed.

 « It was an old god ! »  screamed Mospar, one of the militiamen. « A gigantic teal scorpio with three eyes ! »

Of course, the population was skeptical.  Never in the history of the kingdom of Kima was such a beast ever sighted. Someone made a joke about blackberry wine disapearing by the barrel and suggested that Hauben's men may have a hand in that affair.

However, said men were not in the mood for jokes.

« I tell you as I saw it » Mospar protested. « Commander Hauben saw it first and charged the creature, breaking its legs with his morningstar. By the time we arrived, the monster was struggling to stand – we jumped on it and we hit it as hard as we could »

And as to prove the truthfulness of his story, he presented his weapon – it was covered in a white semi-transparent liquid that was soon identified as hemolymph. For a moment, the people of Kimaeslo Ori were awestruck.

A group of villagers was quickly formed to descend to the underground world – and when they came back, they were pulling the gigantic body with strong ropes.
The corpse of the old god – Ngethac the Sinful Hex – was promtly butchered to avoid the rot, and seeing his flesh was edible, he made of the Aconilun the first human group to ever consume the flesh of a god.

There was however nothing more to be used from the corpse of that underground divinity. Its strange exoskeleton was improper to make armors with –  having been pierced without trouble with bronze morning stars, and so it was left outside to rot and feed the wildlife.

However, the whole event was taxing for some of the villagers. Mospar's wife, worrying for her husband, started to show worrying signs of stress. The miller, Kamloc, drank more than she should and lashed out against another villager.



Gram stopped her just as the fight was about to start. Kimaeslo Ori didn't have the means to heal wounds, nor to imprison wrongdoers. Kamloc was expelled from the village by the morning – it is unknown where she went after the incident. Maybe the punishment was severe, but short of a prison and a hospital, there was not many other choices.

AS for the man who suffered the aggression, he was a new face  in the village. His name was Bemta, from the village of Gicastenna.





Two years ago, during a raid on his village, Bemta was robbed by an Ansgeki deserter. He thought he'd lose all his possessions in the best of case, and in the worst of cases, his family and his life, but the robbery was interrupted by a wandering swordsman.

The Ansgeki goblin was slain and the other raiders fled as fast as their legs would carry them. That experience gave Bemta a  new perspective on life. He married soon after, abandonned his farm and trained to  become a  bowman, and started to look for ways to repay the debt he had to the world.

« As I see things, I should already be dead » he liked to explain. « So when I heard about the bridge's construction, right next to the settlements, I came as fast as I could. »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Altho summer was active a season, fall was significantly less so. Constructions would resume. The longhouse is slowly starting to be converted into the farmer's communal house. In the east of the town, a tavern is slowly being built, and in the west, a granary is bei ng constructed also. The first part of the bridge is almost complete, and passage over the interior sea will soon be possible.



It was, of course, the main mission of the Aconilun. However, building the bridge will not be enough. Too much efforts were already sank into the project, and too much debts were contracted to the guild not to generate a profit, now that it is almost complete. They would have taverns, library, temples – with a bit of effort, they were to become the cultural center of the world.

For now, the situation is under control. The only problem on the horizon is the migrant waves coming faster than we can build housing. With the  new migrant waves, the Aconilun now counts 66 members.

This is a lot.

Among the newest members, tho, two familiar faces appeared



Sug and Jalew – Zefer's parents. I took the opportunity to do an in-depht research on their past, and  ...boy I wasn't disapointed. I have seen those two for a very long time now, they have been in every single one of my forts, and by followi ng them around, I discovered that they were linked to the history of the kingdom a bit more tightly than I originally thought.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*

That's about it for this season's update. I'm a bit conflicted with the underworld, I'll admit. I hesitate to lock that thing up. Ngethac was defeated with  no problem, but it was pretty soft as long as Fbs go. One bad beast and we can lose the village. But if we lock the thing, we'll lose an opportu nity to make history. What do you think ? Do we take the risk ?

Also, the'll be a flourish of promotions in the very short future ; we need pretty much all kind of noblemen. We need a heartcaptain and a medic in case someone goes haywire - that's the most urgent. But we also need a bookkeeper and a manager too.

If you are interested by any of those title, just tell me and I'll grab them for you

Splint

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Re: Mong Kima - The Nation of Pearls
« Reply #1199 on: September 09, 2019, 09:33:23 pm »

I'd recommend simply taking actions to secure it. Stone falls, cages, and a gate would be sufficient, allowing things to come in and be killed/captured, while still allowing for the place to be closed off if a duster or webber shows up.

And redundancies are always good. A secondary lock much further up would go a long way to added security, and assuming there's a stairwell going down, it takes FBs literal years to break hatches from below.

Glad my boy wasn't a chicken shit too. Smashy smashy.
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