THE BIG IDEA
Inspired by MottledPetrel's Modded Hell and many huge modpacks before it, I've decided to have a go at making my own collection, but with a twist. I don't want a batshit insane world where namekians are slaughtering goombas with plungers. My goal was to assemble (and tweak) as many mods as I could (I'm not really proficient at reading raws) while sticking to the generic fantasy theme.
You know what's the most interesting? The modpack is stable, probably because there aren't that many complex interactions going on,
and the error log is only a meter long.
The point is, I want to brag about my creation, and despite being a crappy writer, and not being the most proficient in writing in English, I've decided to do a drow fort story
Kyubee's Dwarven Wastes by Kyubee - without remnant civs, they were renamed vanilla entities anyway
ZM5's mods (What Lurks Below, Dragon's Dogma creatures, mythological creatures, OCs, Dwarfest Dungeon, Zombies Ate My Dwarves, Dr. Z's Merged Megabeasts) - I didn't expect some of them to contain files from the warcraft pack. Took hours to unclutter the errorlog.
Forgotten Realms Direforged by GoblinCookie (original Direforged by Knight Otu, D&D pack by Teneb, I believe) - no civs, it would be a bitch to tinker with weapon sizes, some names changed to be more descriptive.
squamous' mods (Lovecraftian Additions, Extinction, Endless Dark, The World of Flesh, The Last Age, Fantastic Races, The Lunar Realms) - removed a few not interesting entities because worlds were swamped with eldritch civilizations every time, renamed most non-lovecraftian creatures to more descriptive names (especially in Fantastic Races), deleted domestic animals from Lunar Realms because they caused some "nothings", and they weren't interesting enough for me to bother fixing them.
Mottled Petrel's Fungus Expanion by MottledPetrel
Mostly Mythical Monsters Modular Mod by IndigoFenix - was included in some other mod, not sure if all modules
Asin's mods (The Wee Folk Mod, Rise of the Beasts, Goblinoids, Culture Shock) - removed Goblinoids' dependence on Grimlock's history and realism mod.
Dark Ages III: War & Mythos by GM-X - plants and pets. As much as I like this mod, I always break something while scavenging for useful raws.
Beter Bugmen by Warlord255
scourge728's mods (extinct creatures, mundane creatures)
Assorted Creatures pack by Enemy Post - grays, kong
Rhenaya's Drow Mod by Rhenaya, updated by Mediterraneo
Fortress Defense Mod II by darkflagrance
Caverns Of Peace, Friendship, & Fun by fluffyshambler
Misc Custom Creatures by EpicJ
Morps's Assorted Creatures by Morps
More leather mod by sackhead
Creepycaverns by Godlysockpuppet
Deeper Dwarven Domestication by Wannabehero (no idea who updated it, snatched it from some other mod)
SaurFortress by Eotyrannus (again, no idea who updated it, I recovered it from the Modded Hell save file)
Expanded Good/Evil Regions by than402
Seiggrain's Farming and stuff by SeiggrainHart
Kazoo's Silk Eggs by Kazoo
WHERE ARE WE NOW?
The save state is gone, and the story is over. Almost.
DWAR... DROWING
SQ (me) - animal trainer/caretaker/house overseer
Lunardog15 - brewer/planter
MottledPetrel - fisherman killed by a firebreathing clown with a chainsaw
scourge728 - animal trainer/shearer
Fred the Mitey (Pikachu17) - miner/house administrator
Darkening Kaos - mechanic/weaponsmith/carpenter
Imic - swordsman/craftsman/house weapon master, leader of the Blackguards
ZM5 - stabber/potter
Schmendrick (FakerFangirl) - shearer/spinner/weaver/brewer
Freshcannon - house priestess, leader of the Helmet Snakes
Asin - House captain, leader of the Steel Samurais
Ombragon - cook
Name, profession, special requests, as simple as that.
The menagerie and botanical gardens of the drow capital, usually crowded with all kinds of people, were almost completely empty. Caretakers gathered around an empty enclosure, looking at the main gate with excitement.
"This time it has to be something good"
"I dunno, probably a false alarm. Last time they brought another bunch of geese"
"Shut up you two, you're ruining the mood"
"those three false alarms last week ruined my mood already"
"shush! I heard something!"
Suddenly the grand gate began to open. The cavern became silent for a moment, nobody dared to breathe, let alone talk. A wagon pulled by four rothe appeared in the gate, carrying a crate large enough to contain a well fed cow. The drow looked at the crate with anticipation. There's no way it's something mundane again, is there?
The wagon slowly moved towards the empty enclosure. People began to whisper.
"Oh, I bet it's a dragon"
"Maybe a dragonne?"
"Perhaps a dragoon?"
The whispering was cut short by the cart stopping. Four rhinotrolls entered the enclosure and placed the crate on soft moss. As they were doing that, the animal inside made a disappointingly familiar grunt. Many of the caretakers rolled their eyes and returned to their usual work, the rest crossed their fingers hoping for a miracle.
As soon as the rhinotrolls opened the crate, every bit of doubt was cleared - this was a huge waste of time. A fat molebull crawled out. The menagerie already had a herd of those, and this one wasn't special in any way - the same pointy horns, the same shaggy fur, the same round belly.
A young caretaker barged into the menagerie overseer's office.
"Overseer, you said it was "a beast most ferocious", not a farm animal! You've sent our last draltha for slaughter to replace it with this?"
"Now, now SQ, there's no point of being upset over things like this" the overseer said calmly. "After all we're still getting funded. You know, new animals get in, girls from the palace pump gold into my... our coffers."
"Is that all you care about? The previous overseer would send expeditions to the deepest caverns to capture cave eagles, elusive deep stalkers, even ancient constructs from forgotten times, you just cheat the system in hope that nobody will ever find out!" SQ was struggling to restrain herself. If not for two rhinotrolls standing in the room, she would have probably got violent. "You know, if enough people complained to Valsharess..."
"Is this a threat? I can make sure you all mind your own business, after all I'm only treating you as my equals out of my own good will. Maybe you don't really deserve that, huh, quaggoth girl? Remember, as long as I'm on the higher position, you're no better than a slave." That was true, the line between subordinates and slaves in drow society was blury to say the least. SQ hated that fact.
"What if... what if I stopped working for you? Maybe even become your superior?" asked SQ barely holding back tears. "If... if everything goes well, you won't... won't have the right to object."
"I think I know what you're planning. Alright, remember one thing: if they turn you away, don't expect me to forgive you. If you come here to beg me to take you back, I'll have you whipped until there's nothing left of you, and you know I'm not exaggerating.
"Breathe, SQ, breathe..." SQ thought to herself, standing in front of the door to the Surveying and Settlement Ministry bureau "you can do it, just knock on the door, and the conversation will flow on its own. If you chicken out now, you'll have to run away into the caverns where driders would certainly get you. Okay, here goes..."
As she was about to knock, a tired-looking male opened the door "You're gonna stand here the whole day or do you want something signed? If it's the latter, come back in, let's see... next Timber 23. I've got undercoffee to drink and the mistress is on a business trip to Stop-Bothering-Me"
for a moment SQ considered being compliant and going home, but then she remembered the situation she was in. "I... I'm here to... the notice on the wall... please..."
"Ah, that. Can you believe you're the first person to ever ask about this? That's nuts, isn't it? Oh, right, get six more people, supplies, tools and what not. I'll take care of the paperwork." The male slammed the door shut, leaving SQ confused for a few seconds.
"Have I just become an expedition leader?" the girl asked herself "And where am I gonna find six people willing to join me?"