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[ZM5]

I think there may be a minimum size (some dances when you try to perform them in adv mode do say "there's not enough space to perform here) - might want to try expanding them.

Crikey, I'm surprised that weresheila didn't bite anyone - very fortunate.

[SQman]

I think it was stacked fairy fire that made the wereroo harmless. I'm not sure how it works, but the drows were getting good hits against abrians all the time.

The tavern will be annoying to expand - it's right under the river and in the soil layer - but I'll do it. Bummer about the temple, because I wanted it to be in the tower. Oh well...

[pikachu17]

Why are you calling a useful artifact lame? Better than a bracelet.

Also, are you removing everyone's hunting profession?
Otherwise everyone is going to try to get crossbows, and military people will get screwed up.

[Lunardog15]

do I have the cat yet?

[Darkening Kaos]

     Lunardog15, I will get you a volleyball, paint a cat's face on it and get it delivered, keep an eye out for it.....

Spoiler: Rather than double post..... (click to show/hide)

     My parallel universe was wiped out by a sudden surge of dinosaurs........

      ***** PSA: never embark on 3 bad-land biomes, it just won't end well. *****

     So here is an ... ... ... interesting ... embark I found after generating about forty new worlds, with 3 surviving drow civs, so I had plenty of choice.

     It features three Wilderness biomes, so there is gonna be a lot of animals, maybe another swarm of badgers, I will make sure that they have plenty to get enraged about.

     Also, SQman, I don't know whether Pulverisers work as intended, they certainly do not function properly when bought with embark points.  Maybe they only work properly when bought as pets through trade.

     Son of Edit: Something quite trivial, SQman, spelling error in the "Outpot Administrator".

[SQman]

Why are you calling a useful artifact lame? Better than a bracelet.

Also, are you removing everyone's hunting profession?
Otherwise everyone is going to try to get crossbows, and military people will get screwed up.

A single artifact mechanism that can be used for a single weapon trap? I guess a legendary mechanic is good, but I'd rather get a legendary bone carver. I want my artifact mussel shell amulet.

And yes, I'm removing hunting and designate crossbows for smelting. If I decide to use hunters, I'll have them use bone or wood crossbows.

do I have the cat yet?

No, we can't buy a cat, we haven't seen a wild cat, and we haven't raided anyone yet. I'll do my best though.

     Son of Edit: Something quite trivial, SQman, spelling error in the "Outpot Administrator".

Haven't noticed that. I'll fix that when I feel like playing with raws.
About pulverisers, I have no idea how they're supposed to work, if there's something who knows, it's GoblinCookie. Nothing in this modpack was made by me.



Fred the Mitey was still disgruntled about a horde of immigrants that stormed his bedroom early in the morning. As much as he would have liked to see them sleep in the mud for a couple of days, he knew he would be blamed for this, so he had to quickly excavate some bedrooms. The problem? It was nineteen people, each needed a three by three room, and there were also corridors...

"To hell with this!" Fred threw his pickaxe to the ground in a fit of anger. "SQ, Kaos, I'm caling a meeting!"

The administrator's words eventually reached the two women's ears. The three drows met in Fred's office to discuss a serious issue:
"Why do I have to dig all by myself! You've asked me to build bedrooms and expand your little zoo, and Nunore, you know, the beauty who works as a barkeep, said she would be very grateful if I made some more room in the tavern." Fred lightened up while remembering his conversation with Nunore, but then frowned again. "I have too much on my plate right now, a little help would be appreciated, you know.

"Yeah, I've noticed you're struggling to meet your quotas..." SQ said. She didn't really know what quotas were, but she liked that word, it sounded official. "I'm sure if you try just a little bit harder...ow!"

"What SQ wanted to say is: I'll make some pickaxes and she'll find someone to swing them, Is that right, SQ?" Kaos kept jabbing SQ in the ribs with her elbow.

"Sure, ow, that's what I, ow, meant. I said it, ow, you can stop that already!" The overseer snapped.

"I'm sorry, but that was really cathartic, Scourge was right all along." Kaos smiled sincirely, which was rare with her.

"Good enough, thanks. Now get to it, I want the new miners to report to me as soon as possible." Fred the Mitey gestured at the door, at the same time adjusting his position on his chair. He obviously wasn't going anywhere until his demans were met.



Darkening Kaos headed straight to her own forge. SQ decided to find 'volounteers' in the tavern.

The Mahogany Hall, as young as it was, has seen better days - the back wall has been knocked down, but Fred hasn't started expanding the room yet. A few men from the latest migration wave were playing cards by one of the tables, occasionally looking up to have a peek at Nunore, who was having a heated conversation with the local poet, or at least the poet was having a conversation, because the woman's only contribution was nodding and various "I sees" and "tell me mores".

SQ came up to the table where the men were sitting. Nobody paid any attention to her at first, maybe for the best, but then, against her better judgement, the overseer coughed meaningfully and said: "As the acting house overseer of Dungeonevened, the matriarch of House Hateromanced, and a... uhh... I request that some of you report to the manager Fred the Mitey to be assigned to mining! No more loafing... around?" SQ realized the drows were holding back laughter. "Oh... oh no... please don't...". They did.

Nunore was looking at SQ's pitiful performance from a distance, totally ignoring the poet's rambling. She realized she could get easy points for helping the overseer out. "Hey now, gentlemen, I was convinced you were better than this. To laugh at a poor young girl like that? Not to mention she could have every single one of you beheaded..." The barkeep said, looking down with very convincing fake sadness in her eyes. There was a certain dissonance between her expression and what she said, but no one seemed to have noticed. "I'm really disappointed in you... I guess you're just a bunch of ruffians, disrespecting our mistress like that."

"I'm so sorry, Nunore! I'm reporting to the manager in this instant!"
"Please don't get mad at me! I'll work in the mines for you!"
"I'll respect the little girl, just don't button your shirt up all the way, Nunore, I like it when the three top buttons are undone!"
The men left the tavern in a hurry, leaving shaken up SQ, pouting Nunore, and agitated Liceyi together in the room.

"Thank you, Nunore, I'm so... I'm so gareful you stood up for me, even though you dodn't have to." SQ said.

"I did have to, mistress SQ. If you don't show men their place, they'll try to walk all over you." The barkeep's frown turned into a smile suspiciously quickly. "Especially those noblemen with nothing to do with their lives, you know what I'm talking about, right? You look like a sheltered youngest daughter of a minor noble couple, so I assume you have experience with those people."

"Umm... I'm actually... You know what? That's exactly who I am!" SQ lied. "I've dealt with high-born troublemakers all the time back in the capital."

"Your problems were probably of different nature, though, weren't they? Such a beautiful girl must have had a lot of admirers, right? Couldn't take a step without tripping over some poor obsessed sod, hmm?"

"I think you may be projecting... No, wait, that's exactly how it was!" SQ kept lying. She felt flattered by Nunore's assumptions. Nunore felt happy that her flattery worked well.

"Wow, I wish I could spew bullshit like these two." Liceyi whispered to himself. "I'd be pumping out poems like crazy."


SQ walked down to the menagerie level to check on the newly excavated section.



The backlog of animals was substantial, and there were many more pressing matters, it was somewhat frustrating. As SQ was thinking about the menagerie project, she noticed a tiny spider crawling on the boardwalk.



They kind of had Scourge's eyes, or at least that's what SQ thought to herself. Shouldn't a priestess be blessing the newly-hatched spiders anyway? Freshcannon didn't seem like someone who would bless spiders, so there was no point telling her.



Next day SQ woke up to a sound of Freshcannon yelling at her soldiers: "Tomorrow you're waking up even earlier, you useless slackers! We can't allow a freaky marsupial thing to surprise us again!". SQ got out of her bed, opened the door and listened - a sound of multiple pickaxes breaking stone could be heard. Seems like new miners got to work early too. "Wait, maybe it's me who overslept?" SQ thought.
Suddenly MottledPetrel came out of his room. "Morning, boss!" he said. It must have been just before noon already then!

SQ ran out of her room to join Scourge at the looms. Just before reaching the staircase, she was stopped by Lunardog. The brewer seemed worried about something.

"SQ, I..." Lunardog had trouble saying what was on his mind. "Back in the capital... Oh gods, it's embarrassing..."

"I thought we've been over it already." SQ said, anxious about what Lunardog was about to say.

"I guess I'll just say it." The brewer smiled nervously. SQ's expression was even more nervous. "I... I miss my cat. There, the cat's out of the bag. Man, if I held it back for just a second longer, I would have pussied out."

"H-huh? What is a cat?" The overseer was relieved, but confused.

"It's like a surface version of a moleweasel. They make purr-fect pets and I happened to have one back at home... the old home. So... can I have a cat?"

"Why are you asking me? I'm not your mom, you can get your own cat." SQ looked at Lunardog, squinting her eyes.

"How, pray tell, could I do it? I know, I'll go to the store and buy one with hard cash. Oh, wait... "

"Ugh, okay, I'll talk to Kaos about your cat, but right now I really have to get to work!"

"Thanks, SQ! Wait, Kaos...?"




SQ finally reached the looms, but Scourge wasn't there. They were supposed to be doing this together, then again, SQ was supposed to be there a few hours earlier. Now where could Scourge be...?

The soldiers were training in the barracks, Imic and ZM5 were sparring, while Freshcannon was busy reprimanding Biretha for excessive use of the darkness spell against his sparring partner, Melici. Scourge was sitting on the floor near the door watching Imic and ZM5 fight.



"Come on, Five! His defense is down, strike him in the stomach!" The woman shouted. ZM5 attacked as he was told, but Imic heard Scourge's words too, and parried accordingly. "What a wimpy swing! I thought you were an expert duelist, Five!"

"I've been through more fights than you can imagine!" ZM5 boasted. "Thugs, hired swords, jealous husbands, anything you could imagine. Once I defeated an elite assassin while having my right hand chopped off."

"You still have both hands, how is that possible?" Scourge inquired.

"I got better." ZM5 responded, before immediately taking advantage of Imic's confusion, and tackling the vigilante, pushing him backwards, then he attempted to stab Imic in the chest, but his attack was parried again. The tip of Imic's sword stopped dangerously close to ZM5's face.

"Nice try, mister ZM5, but I saw right through your tricks! A common cutthroat may fall for your distraction, but a real warrior will know better!" Imic was incredibly proud of his own performance. He didn't like ZM5's fighting style at all, and he knew there was a lot of luck in play, but a champion of justice shouldn't reveal his weaknesses to sneaky backstabbers.

"Look at him, stroking his ego." Scourge chuckled at Imic's boasting. "Speaking of distractions... I think SQ doesn't realize that I heard her come in. Hi SQ!"

"Couldn't you just pretend to be surprised for my sake? Nevermind, are you very busy right now?" SQ asked sarcastically. She was disappointed that she failed to sneak up on her friend. Her piwafwi must have ran out of magic in the sunlight, or perhaps it was never enchanted in the first place?

"Am I busy? I'm currently overseeing the training of our troops, something you should be doing."

"In other words, this pest keeps distracting ZM5 and Imic. Could you take her away before I kick her out myself?" Freshcannon butted in.

"Scourge, people have been looking at me weirdly for a while now. I think they all want a piwafwi like mine, so how about we go make some? I'll even let you have one." SQ suggested.

"Like I need your permission! Sure, I'm no clothier, but I like learning new things, let's go."



SQ and Scourge left the barracks, only to notice a small group of strangers heading their way, seven drows total.

"You must be SQ, the overseer right? I've been told to seek an exceptionally scrawny woman if I want to talk to the leader." One of the migrants, a priestess, said. "Hmm... stunted growth caused by constant stress, bags under eyes signifying sleeping problems... I suspect social anxiety and some other mental disorders, but I'd have to have a long talk with you."

"Uhh... I... What's going on?" SQ was taken aback by the woman's diagnosis. They've looked at each other for no longer than twenty seconds.

"Woah, lady, just who are..." Scourge was no less surprised than SQ, but being more level-headed, she wanted to ask the most important question. She failed miserably.

"Oh, this doesn't look good, or at least didn't. That's a big scar on your hand, you were brobably bitten by some large animal about... fifty years ago. Flat teeth on the mandible, no upper incisors, definitely some grazer." The priestess seemed shocked after glancing at Scourge's left hand. "You're lucky it healed so well, it's almost unnoticeable."

"What?! How can you see that? There's no trace of... Wait, I can just barely see it when I really strain my eyes, but there's now way you could notice!" Scourge shouted. "And you got the time right too! What are you?"

"Asithi Luredtorments, a priestess of Lolth, and the house cleric from now on. No, that's not up for discussion, unless you want to discuss it with the High Priestess herself." Asithi pulled out an official looking scroll. "If you have any objections, this is the list of grievous injuries that you may suffer if you turn me away."

"I don't even want to read that... Welcome to Dungeonevened, Asithi. Could you introduce your friends to us?" SQ was completely convinced by the size of the scroll. There was a lot of hauling to be done too.

"This is Iquila, an expert miner. Bad back and myopia. This is Obi, a useless slacker, pathological procrastination. This is Uthimi, a high master armorsmith and an expert fish cleaner, no sense of smell, helps with gutting fish."

"Can she clean mussels? We've got a lot of them." SQ asked.

"Something tells me I know what I'll be having for dinner for the rest of my life... Anyway, This is Weri, a beginner fish cleaner, asthma. And this is Weri, one of the best fishermen I've met. Having said that, I haven't actually met that many fishermen."

"They're both named Weri? My name is Weri too. And Imic's... and the outpost liaison's. Scourge, is there any other Weri I should know about?"

"Well, Weri means 'plague' in old Elven, and guess what's the other word for plague?" Scourge answered, making SQ strangely uncomfortable.

"The last one is Yetine, a master hunter, antisocial personality disorder." Asithi continued as if nobody said anything. "I look forward to seeing my new office."

"Ha ha, about that..."


Not much is actually going on. Some PLOT and a small migrant wave.
The tavern seems to work. Kinda. Nunore keeps serving drinks to herself, and reciting poems to the outpost liaison, but nobody else does anything. There's no visitors either.
The temple works, but only idle drows ever use it. Is it like that in vanilla DF?

[scourge728]

I love how that poet saw through their nonsense instantly

[Darkening Kaos]

     Deliver the feline volleyball to Lunardog in a public ceremony in the middle of the dining room.  Pomp and ceremony, people, praise the celebrations, and you have the right to partay.

[SQman]

"Invisibility! Disappear! Skiddadle skidoodle!" Scourge shouted at a nearly finished leather cloak, making silly gestures. "Ugh, how do I cast this spell? I figured I could replace endure elements with abrian tallow, but what to do with invisibility?"

"Maybe leave it in a dark room for a while? If you can't see it, it's almost like it's invisible." SQ suggested.

"We CAN see in the dark, though..."

"Oh, right."


On the surface the Helmet Snakes were getting ready to move out once again, this time as attackers, not defenders.



A band of hideous creatures were standing across the river, throwing insults at MottledPetrel and his apprentice Asithi. This couldn't go on for much longer - the productivity of mussel collectors would go down if monsters keep interrupting their smoke breaks.



The Helmet Snakes finished their work and returned to the barracks.
Freshcannon, ZM5 and Ayanu failed to kill even a single mongrelman, Biretha and Oquari killed one each, Imic and Melici both killed two. One mongrelfolk was still roaming the dusty woods, but after seeing its pack slaughtered, it should have learned to stay away from the settlement.



Or perhaps that didn't even matter. Yetine the hunter decided that a lone mongrelfolk would make an easy prey. He needed just a single bolt to pierce the repulsive hybrid's skull.

Meanwhile, SQ and Scourge were examining Scourge's new piwafwi.
"This cloak is supposed to make me invisible, right? I mean, it's not working for you..." Scourge said, with a generous dose of uncertainty in her voice.

"Mine probably isn't enchanted, you did all you could to make yours work." SQ encouraged her friend, even though she didn't believe any of Scourge's spells actually worked.

Scourge put on the cloak, looked at her hands, then spun in place a few times. "Can you see me? If so, am I at least slightly less noticeable?"



"You would be much more stealthy without your garish purple scarf." SQ shook her head, disapproving of Scourge's fashion sense.

"It's actually heliotrope, the second sneakiest color after magenta. Don't you know your color theory?" Scourge returned to her old chipper self. Why would she, of all people, need an invisibility cloak anyway? "Let's leave magic to wizards, and colors to artists. The new fisherman's guild headquarters should be ready now, how about we check it out?"

"The what now? Why am I only learning about it now?"

"Should have woken up earlier. The cook boy, whatever his name is, started making fuss about spoiled mussels stinking up the place. We wanted to ignore him, but Lunardog took his side like a flower-smelling sissy he is."



The room was relatively small, with six workbenches for cleaning mussels. The floor and walls were made of clay loam, not unlike the whole upper part of Dungeonevened. Most importantly, there was absolutely nothing to 'check out'.

"Looks like we're all alone here." Scourge said. "Now it's time to get down to business!"

"Ugh, those jokes are starting to get stale after a hundred years."

"Jokes? Oh, heh heh..." Scourge chuckled, realizing what SQ was thinking. "No, I wanted to talk with you about Five and his little investigation. I assume you've asked him about that already."

"Yeah, I've solved the case myself, ZM5 even told me I was right!" SQ boasted. "Can't believe he took two decades, and I figured it out in a year."

"What if I told you Five isn't telling you the whole truth? I've had the same conversation with him, and it ended on the same note - a big fat lie."

"W-what? How do you know what my confrontation with ZM5 went?"

"I might have listened in for a bit... Hey, you were supposed to be surprised to hear that ZM5 had been lying to us!" Scourge crossed her arms theatrically. "Anyway, Fred and Lunarboy's mother... as weird as this sounds, were working together. The truth has been uncovered, everybody is happy, right? Wrong. He's not done yet, but he doesn't want to admit it."

"Can't you just be happy that it's all over? Why do you have to complicate this even further?" SQ was getting irritated. She wanted to believe she could just leave her past behind.

"If it was up to me, I'd leave the case as it is now, but you know Five, he's not giving up even if there's nothing to gain from winning." Scourge paused for a moment. "At least two people directly connected with this case reside in this settlement now. I just hope Five doesn't stir up any trouble... Oh, and please don't start treating anyone differently because of all this. I don't want you making enemies, got it?"

"I've got a great idea - how about we step in and uncover the truth by ourselves?" SQ suggested in her usual way that made it difficult to guess if she was serious. "I bet we could do it in a matter of days."

"Yeah, great idea, detective SQ Justiceromanced. I can only assume you were joking or being sarcastic, but I'm happy you're taking it well."

"Not like it's gonna change anything at this point."

"Looks like you're the optimistic one this time. If I wasn't such a fantastic friend, I'd tell you you should be worried, but I'm gonna trust your judgement instead. Don't get use to it though." Scourge said, with a big grin on her face.

"Hmm... Detective SQ Justiceromanced..."


- - - -


"First day of autumn... still dry and sunny like in summer. Why do we keep track of the seasons anyway if there's no difference between them. Doesn't really matter... what matters is that HE came into my office. A man of athletic build, muscular yet not freakishly so. A soft steel circlet adorning his head, three shell amulets around his neck, resting over a tasteful silk scarf. Definitely a blue-blooded man, but his hands were covered in dirt as if he was working on the fields just a moment ago..."

"That's because that's what I was doing before you called me to your office, SQ. And what's with all this monologuing?"

"Lunardog asked. I figured he wouldn't address me by my proper title - detective SQ Justiceromanced. He was a troublesome type, but to get on top of the case, I need to interrogate everyone involved. Lunardog Drilledterror happened to be a member of a noble house involved in a large scale embezzlement I was investigating."

"Oh for Lolth's sake! I told ZM5 not to tell you about that specifically for this one reason! I knew you would make a scene, although, to be quite honest, I didn't expect this to take such a bizarre turn."

"So detective ZM Truthrelief, fifth of his name, has already had a talk with that nobleman? Wouldn't expect less from him. 'This was a result of my own independent investigation. ZM5 wouldn't want me to get in his way, but this is as important for me as it is for him.' I said."

"Aren't you in your second twenties? I think you're a little to old to be playing a detective like this."

"What an insult! If I wasn't a calm and reasonable woman, I would have shown Lunardog what I think about his remarks. Instead I asked: 'Are you willing to tell me what was your family's role in the heinous crime of one Fred the Mitey Scaldedwitches, or do I have to extract the truth from you by force?' Perhaps I could have been more careful with my wording, because Lunardog was still my friend, but I knew I wouldn't go far if I was beating around the bush..."

"I told everything I know to ZM5, you don't really need to know all the details. I don't have time to play with you, there are marrow spawns to be planted, so unless you want to drink shiitake wine exclusively, let me get back to work." Lunardog got up from his chair and simply left the room.

"Damn, I was so close, too close even. I, SQ Justiceromanced, outwitted by someone like this? No, it must have been ZM5's doing..."

The door opened once again, Lunardog appeared for another brief moments just to say: "I can still hear you! Stop monologuing!" Then he closed the door again.

---

MottledPetrel was walking along the river with his apprentice Asithi. They did that everyday before work, or at least before the first smoke break.

"I rarely say that to people, but I'm impressed by how well you adapted to fisherdrow's life. Waking up just before noon, then a smoke before work, then breakfast break, then a few minutes to rest, an hour of looking for a good fishing spot, then lunch break... Not everybody can live their life like this." The fisherman praised the young woman without actually looking at her.

"The truth is, I lost control of my life long time ago, and while I can't say I like it this way, I can't be assed to get my shit together." Asithi admitted, also not looking at her mentor.

"I'm so proud of you, Asithi. If you were my daughter, you will be my greatest treasure..."

"Whatever, old man."

"Wait, I think I heard something. It sounds like... croaking? Moon toads live in this river, but that's not them..." MottledPetrel started looking around frantically. "I smell brimstone. Wait... moon toads don't smell like brimstone, abrians don't croak... FROG DEMONS!"




"We have to tell everybody! Asithi... Asithi, wait for me!"

Asithi was first to arrive at the barracks. Freshcannon rallied her soldiers as soon as she heard the word 'demons' being uttered.
"Army of the abyss is knocking on our door, Snakes. Our supreme matriarch, Lolth, rose above other demon lords in the time before time, raising us above all monstrosities from the putrid pits. Now it's our time to prove we were worthy of that honor! SNAKES OUT!" There was fire in the priestess's eyes, and not a sign of hesitation in her voice. The mood spread across the barracks, giving the Helmet Snakes zeal and courage to fight the amphibian monsters.

Two soldiers were still missing. Ayanu was still putting on his armor, and Obi decided it would be a great moment for a nap.



Fortunately the demons weren't advancing too fast. In fact, they were rather sluggish and uninterested, but there was no doubt that they were there to spill blood.




Only five demons were visible from near the entrance, and their equipment was entirely made of copper. Despite those facts, Freshcannon decided to wait. More demons could have been waiting in an ambush, or maybe they knew some foul abyssal magic. There was no reason to take any unnecessary risk. In fact...

"Mistress Freshcannon, I see more of them!" Imic shouted, pointing south of the tower. "Five to the south!"



"Boss, I'm sorry, but I can't take it any more!" Biretha said through his teeth. "Those fuckers are going down! Helmet snakes rule!"

"Biretha, you fucking moron! Snakes out!" Freshcannon yelped in shock and disbelief as one of her gangsters drew his scimitar and dashed towards the frog demons.



Biretha immediately cast faerie fire on a spearfrog in front of him, but a large swordsfrog jumped at him from the side. Biretha's reflexes were fast. He struck the monster's leg like a snake striking its victim, making it squirm on the ground pathetically, desperately trying to defend itself.
While the frog demon was preoccupied waving its sword and shield at Biretha and Freshcannon, Imic stepped in and almost chopped off its head with a swift strike of his sword. It was a miracle that the demon could keep fighting with such grievous injury, but the struggle didn't last long.



A frog demon pikewoman recognized Freshcannon as the leader of the defenders, and despite being blinded by faerie fire, it charged at the priestess savagely. Freshcannon decided not to dull her axe on the pathetic creature, and punched it on the hand, crushing its finger, and painfully twisting its wrist.
The monster was infuriated. It tried to take down the priestess with its entire mass, but hardly being able to see, it crashed into another frog demon. A moment later the pikefrog lost its leg below the knee to a powerful, if not very graceful, swing of an axe.




The frog demons were surprisingly resilient, so much that most Helmet Snakes were preoccupied finishing off the crippled ones long time after disabling them. ZM5 however, was locked in a single combat with a spearfrog. There was no one to help him, just his daggers.
The demon attacked savagely, but ZM5 managed to avoid getting hit. Then he punched the spearfrog, trying to knock the shield out of its hand, but the monster held on tightly. The demon, annoyed by ZM5's audacity, executed two quick stabs - one of them was dodged, the other parried. ZM5 took advantage of his light, wieldy blade, and stabbed the demon's spear arm a split second after parrying. The copper spear hit the ground, the monster's webbed hand hanged uselessly from its bleeding wrist.
A few quick slashes later, the frog demon's inestines spilled from its ripped abdomen.



All other frog demons from this group were dead, the drows rushed to help ZM5, but before any of them could raise their weapon, ZM5 was already holding the monster's grotesque head in his hand.



Not wanting to be worse than Biretha, Melici lead the charge at the second group of frog demons. She aimed at the hands of the nearest demon, shattering one of them, then she smashed the creature's kneecap, which reminded her of good old times. As she was reminiscing about collecting donations for the church, Freshcannon jumped in swinging her axe wildly, cutting off a leg and an arm, and making numerous other holes in the monster's body.
ZM5 quickly cut off the demon's thumb, hoping that maybe this time he will be able to keep it for himself, but then he dropped it, after Freshcannon's axe flew way too close to his face. The priestess's swing split the frog demon's chest in two, ending its miserable life.



Thanks to joint efforts of Imic and Melici, the second demon died a quick death.

The last frog wasn't so lucky, but seeing its painful death, the remaining demons decided to flee. The attack was thwarted with absolutely no losses.


Fortress Defense frogmen ambushed MottledPetrel, but they were big pusses. They never landed a single hit, but our shields took a beating. Good thing there's no weapon damage yet.

[ZM5]

I imagine my character wearing a necklace of severed fingers of various species now.
I'm also honestly kind of surprised this first ambush seemed very mild - should take a look through the FD raws, I'm not familiar with them.

[Fleeting Frames]

"Relatively small"

"Six Fisheries"

What would be relatively big? Even breadbowl only had 3.

(Also, I recall cleaning jobs used to be posted to only 1 fishery, so might want to check if that changed, and if not use a manager order.)

"What an insult! If I wasn't a calm and reasonable woman, I would have shown Lunardog what I think about his remarks. Instead I asked:

Missing ", somewhere, or was that all out loud?

I don't think you can call the frogmen pussies when their mailshirt is literally crushed to dust with a dagger while they're on (fairy) fire. Though I see no notes on shields being damaged, or any attacks with the done?

(Also, you probably shouldn't use bone maces, since they're likely too light - unless they're modded to be different from regular maces or bone? Seems so, those shots should only bruise, not smash things. )

[Asin]

(I've noticed your little fort thing you got going, with my mods in it too! I think this is pretty cool... I'd like to be made a member of this fortress, preferably as a soldier.)

[SQman]

"Relatively small"

"Six Fisheries"

What would be relatively big? Even breadbowl only had 3.

(Also, I recall cleaning jobs used to be posted to only 1 fishery, so might want to check if that changed, and if not use a manager order.)

It's small for a guildhall, but DF space is non-euclidean anyway. Mussels are a staple of our drows' diet, and most goods for export are made of shells.

Missing ", somewhere, or was that all out loud?

All out loud.

I don't think you can call the frogmen pussies when their mailshirt is literally crushed to dust with a dagger while they're on (fairy) fire. Though I see no notes on shields being damaged, or any attacks with the done?

(Also, you probably shouldn't use bone maces, since they're likely too light - unless they're modded to be different from regular maces or bone? Seems so, those shots should only bruise, not smash things. )

Shields did take damage. I'll replace them with diamondium, which as we know, is unbreakable.

The mace is made of crude bone, a metal from The World of Flesh by Squamous. It's basically renamed iron. There is galena on the map, so I'll make a better mace for Melici later.


Some other things:
-Drows not using the tavern and temple may be a bug. Looks like Nunore will be serving drinks to herself until that's resolved.
-Still no visitors, but apparently that happens when you designate a tavern from a table. Let's try to fix it. Nope, still nothing
-Updated to 44.11. Now we can genocide mongrelfolk without serious consequences. Does that sound really wrong to anybody else?





As the Helmet Snakes were returning to their barracks, a lone mongrelfolk decided to follow them. Unfortunately it wasn't an expert at hiding. Imic, startled by the hideous creature, resorted to his most basic instinct - biting. The vigilante didn't expect the mongrelfolk to have the same reflexes as him. Unfortunately for the monster, Imic also had a sword.



"M-miss Nunore... are you sure you're qualified? Maybe mister Fred or mistress Asithi could do it instead?" Imic curled up on the hospital bed. His shin was bleeding badly, but the thought of Nunore tending to his wound was more horrifying than the vision of slow, dishonorable death.

"Oh, dear Imic, there's nothing to be afraid of, it's just a simple procedure." Nunore said as reassuringly as she could. "Besides, all drow women get basic medical knowledge at some point, just like men learn mechanics."

"Scourge once sucker punched me in the liver, then said she didn't know that's where liver is. I don't know if I should AAAARGH!" Imic screamed as Nunore touched his leg.

"Whoopsie. I'm afraid it's worse than I thought. The good news is that we'll spend some quality time together, the bad news is that the time will be spent on suturing. What's with this frown? I can sing you a song to make you feel better."

"N-no, please, the wound isn't even that deep, it will heal on its own!"

"Oh, I can't watch you squirm like that." An expert listener could hear that Nunore was, in fact, enjoying this. "Fine, I'll bandage your leg and you're free to go."



Something fell and horrifying appeared on the horizon - a sinister caravan of the undead was moving closer and closer to Dungeonevened. Once it got close enough, one of the skeletal caravaneers let out a chilling cry:
"HEY ANYBONE HERE? *CLACK CLACK CLACK* IF SOMEONE DOESN'T COME HERE TO TRADE, YOU'RE ALL BONED! *CLACK CLACK CLACK*"


"Fred, this will be a weird question, so better brace for it." Scourge warned the administrator after barging into his office.

"Scourge, has your mother not taught you to knock before entering someone's office?"

"My mom died when I was five. Now are you ready for the big question?"

"Gods, Scourge, this is not something you share with people like that!" Fred the Mitey said, appalled by the woman's lack of filter. "Okay, how about that question? It can't be that bad."

"Do you have experience dealing with living dead?"

"E-excuse me?"



"Hurry up, we have to bring those crafts to the trade depot!" Fred hurried the other drows. "Athara, I'm sure you can carry more than one figurine at a time! Tharumi, what are you doing with those rocks! We need to trade, not cut gems! Menari, what are you doing? Menari! Menari?"

"Wahahaha! Can't stop me now, Captain Nobearrrd!" The furnace operator screamed wildly. "To the jewelerrr's worrrkshop me mateys! Actually, no, don't follow me! Hahaha!"



Menari didn't actually care if he was being followed or not, he just claimed a jeweler's workshop and tools, then grabbed a handful of rough onyxes.

Fred the Mitey decided he wouldn't stay around, waiting for Manari to finish his work, and instead went back to trade with the skeletons.
"Instruments, animals, seeds, a few bars of electrum and... that's all, really. Hmm... maybe a couple of bags of sand. We can give you..."

"WE WANT YOUR FOOD, BONEHEAD! *CLACK CLACK CLACK*"

"What?" Fred snapped. "What would YOU need food for? You're skeletons!"

"I'M NOT ASKING YOU WHY YOU WANT OUR INSTRUMENTS! YOU COULDN'T DOOT PROPERLY WITH THIS SKIN AROUND YOUR CHEEKS! AND SINCE YOU'RE TRYING TO RATTLE ME BONES IN A BAD WAY..."



"...GIVE US YOUR BONES! *CLACK CLACK CLACK*" The skeleton started laughing maniacally, other skeletons joined soon after. "HO HO, IF YOU COULD SEE THE LOOK ON THE MASK OF SKIN, MUSCLE, AND CARTILAGE YOU CALL YOUR FACE! HOW ABOUT DEM FIGURINES THEN?"

"I'm gonna get the girls to check out the animals. You, freaks, can take whatever the hell you want, but leave MY bones alone."




"That's a good haul, isn't it, SQ?" Scourge said after seeing the animal cages prepared for transport.

"Mmm..." SQ was too busy scribbling something in a tiny notebook to respond properly.

"What are you doing? Give me that!" Scourge grabbed SQ's notebook with a quick swipe. "This doesn't look like your diary, it's not anything official, what could it be? How about I open it and..."

SQ started panicking. "N-no, please! Don't read that, I'll listen to you, just give it back... please give it back..." The overseer started breathing heavily, tears running down her face.

Scourge realized she made a mistake, SQ never reacted like that to Scourge taking her diary. "Oh, that must be really important to you. I'm sorry for taking it from you, but tell me one thing: what is that?"

"T-that doesn't matter! You don't... you don't need to know a-about my inves... about what's in there."

"Hmm..." Scourge raised her eyebrow, signifying that little gears in her head were turning at high speed. "Okay... Hey, check it out, a water buffalo! Remember them?"

"Y-yeah, that's the one that bit you fifty years ago. No, wait, that was a yak... or an aurochs? A bison? Why are surface animals so weird?"

"Dunno, underground we have rothe, tuskoxen and molecows, no redundant bull... LOOK AT THAT THING!" The little gears in Scourge's head stopped completely, she was left with blank mind, pointing at a cage with a tiny furry creature. "IT'S SO CUTE!

"I thought you hated hamsters?"

"It's a cavy, totally different. Hamsters eat their young for no reason, I don't trust them. Cavies, on the other hand, are gentle and kind-hearted."



"And this is..." SQ said, looking at a small six-legged creature. "...an otter?"

"That's one of these animals from the moon, a moon otter. At some point in history a mad sorcerer opened a portal to the moon and let a lot of wacky stuff go through. That's what my aunt told me, at least." Scourge's eyes got a little wet. She wasn't sentimental, but it's been long time since she last thought about her real family." Oh, those were good times... She kicked me out as soon as she was legally allowed to, that batshit crazy woman. How mad she was when I couldn't leave her house because I got stuck on a spider web made by her fifty-seven spiders."

"Okay..." SQ got somewhat upset because she didn't have any childhood memories Scourge didn't know about. "Let's move on."



"That's a much more reasonable animal. Did you know that some people carve their tusks while they're still on the boar?" SQ shared a piece of trivia with Scourge. "I read it in a book I borrowed from Kaos."

"Hmmm... I wonder if I could make Imic try that."

"You mean carving a boar's tusk, or borrowing a book from Kaos? Because I think there's not much difference between those two things, for Imic at least."



"A bird. Five would know more about it, but the priestess would get her panties in a twist if I showed up in the barracks again." Scourge sighed in frustration. "You should talk to her about my special privileges."

"What special privileges? You're not royalty, nobility or even an official."

"I'm an ex-priestess, and the house overseer's almost-sister, not to mention almost-daughter to the royal meangerie's late former overseer."

"That's a lot of meaningless titles." SQ noticed.

"Oh, I could go on forever." Scourge said smugly. "I'm one of the founders of Dungeonevened, a fiancée of another founder of Dungeonevened, a talented fighter, mistress of two whole spells, the hottest chick in the settlement..."

"...besides Nunore from the tavern, Athara the jeweler, and Freshcannon's left hand Melici, if you like tomboys that is."

"Ow, way to put me down... BUT. Since you're not into women, your opinion on that doesn't matter, I still reign supreme."



"Another bird, but I actually know this one." Scourge proclaimed proudly. "It's a loft owl, domesticated by dwarves, appreciated by everyone. They eat hamsters.

"I see... Do they do anything else?"

"We could train it for hunting or war, but it's a bird, come on now. It's pretty cute and soft too, maybe you should keep it as a pet? Would help you with your... episodes."

"Why do you assume I like cute and fluffy stuff?" SQ said while petting the owl, which really was therapeutic, but she didn't want to admit Scourge was right. "I prefer cave roaches. You know, Fred bought me one when the first caravan from the capital came here, but the little guy got out of its cage and got eaten by a spider."

"Fred got eaten by a spider? Then who traded with the skeletons just five minutes ago?" Scourge pretended to be shocked. SQ let out an extremely long and loud sigh.



"No, not again! Cast darkness! Darkness!" Scourge shouted, looking at a cage with a bizarre snake-like amphibian, sweating unnaturally, eyes wide-open, teeth chittering. SQ covered the cage with a shroud of darkness without hesitation. "Heh, l-looks like it was my turn t-to have a panic attack... heh... heh." Scourge tried to sound reassuring, but her laugh was unnatural, almost unnerving.

"Maybe you should talk with Asithi about this? You've turned really pale grey..."

"It's fine now, don't worry. It's just... these creatures are from... elsewhere, I can't properly describe it, but I can feel it." Scourge still had a blank expression of a madwoman on her face.

"This again... You know, abrians come from the abyss, and you even had a punch-out with one at some point. I've got a feeling it's not about outsiders at all."

"I'm fine."



Lunardog and Darkening Kaos were watching the fey furnace operator working. It was an astonishing spectacle - the inspired drow has been working without stopping, and he was working furiously, making exaggerated swings with precise tools, but somehow not making a single mistake.

"It's gonna crack, I'll bet you one silver." Kaos said to Lunardog, despite literally not having a single coin.

"Nah, that would be anticlimactic. He's gonna smash the gem with a hammer and snort what's left of it through his nose. I have no money anyway, so I'm not betting. Scourge never gave my pouch back to me. "Lunardog said indifferently. He just wanted to see the wondrous gem that was about to be made.

"Heh, what a surprise..."

Suddenly the furnace operator tossed his tools at the floor. His eyes widened, and he took a deep breath before screaming from the top of his lungs: "Oberrron, Titania, the wind's a-blowin' homewarrrd, I'm a-sailin' to see you again! HA HA HA!" Then he calmed down, looked at his work - a perfectly smooth black rock with a subtle engraving of a codex - and muttered to himself: "Finally... that took some time, but it was a good learning experience. I'll give it to my eldest daughter, if I ever have one..."



"Huh, I guess that's fair." Lunardog shrugged. "I guess we could tell Fred to get it into the books."

"I don't really care, let's get back to work, shall we?" Kaos didn't wait for the man to answer, instead she picked up a large chunk of rock from the floor and headed straight to her workshop.

[ZM5]

Pretty good to see skootals as friendly (sort of) caravaneers instead of siegers - last siege they gave me in one of my personal forts was really damn rough.

[pikachu17]

Are we going to be conquering people?