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Voting closed: May 25, 2020, 03:39:38 am

[Quantum Drop]

Damn, we lost Zon? Military incompetence and a shitload of Gobbos did what no Minotaur or Roc could do, it seems. That's just one more reason to sacrifice the lot of 'em to Armok at the first opportunity.

In terms of Military Dwarves, did we lose any named guys, aside from Zon?

Good work on the rest of the fort, though. The Temple of Armok looks utterly badass, and it'll provide us with an excellent solution to all those Goblins once it's done.

EDIT: Also, something I knocked together before bedtime.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

They’d lost many of their number to that wretched horde. Every squad had lost someone. Some had only a single survivor. Worst, he felt, was the loss of Zon – he’d been there to see her take down the Roc, and to slay that bestial Minotaur before it could do any harm; her talent was irreplaceable, and the incompetence that had caused her ignoble death unforgivable.

The Eternal Chambers are half-complete, long neglected in favour of other, more important projects. Half-finished murals line bare walls, hastily-placed coffins lying upon bare stone. In time, they will be completed, each one detailing the events of the occupant’s life, and their deeds in service to Smithsoldier.

Ideas already form in his mind: these tombs must be widened, expanded, carved so that all may remember the Dwarves and Humans and Goblins that lie within. The Fallen must be remembered as they were – heroes, sacrificing themselves so that the Dwarven race may live another day. Honour them, he would preach, for you will one day join them at Armok’s Side.

But today, there is no time to mourn. There is a hungry god to appease, and a war to be fought. His Temple must be made, that His blessings are not withdrawn; the military must be remade, that Smithsoldier may survive. They will return, in time, to carve the murals and give proper honours – Armok knows they deserve their honour.

The remains are laid to rest, one by one, by sable-robed Dwarves. Squads lie beside squads, the soldiers of each group lying in eternal sleep beside those they fought with, bled with, and trained with. And Zon, Slayer of Beasts, Legendary Speardwarf of Smithsoldier. Who fought the Goblin hordes from the very first call to duty. Who fought for Smithsoldier to the end, even as the green tide of vermin drowned her men one by one, even as her mortal body broke under the strain and her valiant soul rose to join Armok in the Battle Eternal.

She will be missed. All of them will. There are a few words from those who still live, spoken with what time is available to them – all those who survived speak well of her, of her courage and her battle prowess.

The black robed Dwarf stays silent. He has much to say about her, but for now, his silence would suffice. His speeches and religious proclamations would be cold comfort, at best, to her grieving comrades and partner; for now, he would see to it that the dead were appeased, and their names carved in rock and stone.

He remains there long after the last mourner has departed, and the last body been laid to rest. Once they are all gone, he steps free from the alcove, places a hand upon Zon’s coffin. He murmurs the prayers he has known all his life, beseeching Armok to see a soul’s passage into the Battle Eternal be uninterrupted. Once for each coffin, once for each Dwarf, Human, and Goblin that died in the defence of Smithsoldier.

His work complete, the Dwarf tugged his hood slightly further down, careful to shroud his features. In moments, he was another Priest, pious and unchallenged, making his way back to the Temples.

It would not do, after all, for the Dwarves of Smithsoldier to see a dead man walk again.

[ProjectXMark1]

That's a very nice piece of writing, Quantum! I think it captures Rīsen (I presume that's the anonymous priest), and the general mood not long after the siege, quite well. QD2 hasn't been named yet, as I couldn't find a speardwarf, but there may be one now that I have neatened up the military a bit.

Intermission - Alternate Timeline

A brief power cut wiped out the progress that I had made into Sandstone, so I figured that I would post what was done in this "alternate timeline" separately, along with a few more bits of information about the world.

---

Journal of Rīsen 'XMark' Swallowclasp, 10th Sandstone 184

The adamantine survey was resumed today, as well as the first excavations of Arm_Ok's Temple, and some migrants arrived not too long ago either. I decided to floor over the gate properly.

Trading went well, as I had our broker soften up the merchants with a few of our steel shields. A few more shields bought us more than enough waterskins for the military, as well as a dozen or so fine musical instruments for Temple Row. A good quantity of bags and clothing were then purchased with a pair of steel gauntlets and iron high boots.

The goblin and troll corpse situation is now even further out of hand, so I have also been designating their corpses to be dumped into the atom smasher.

Furthermore, the military cannot afford to stand at ease while we are at war: all three squads have been reorganised and set to train. The Sneaky Sneaky, reduced to a single goblin, has been dissolved and incorporated into The Silvery Shanks.

12th Sandstone 184

Digging the Temple to Arm_Ok is progressing; the first arena level has been excavated.

Spoiler: Diggy Diggy Hole (click to show/hide)

I am taking care not to excavate the arena too quickly; designating the whole thing at once will lead to unnecessary cave-in fatalities. The ancillary halls - the prisoner storage, pitting chambers, and magma sump - have been given the go-ahead to be dug, as they are not as dangerous to carve.

14th Sandstone 184

Kol Ardesadil, Papermaker is throwing a tantrum!

Another one of the particularly unhappy dwarves in the fortress. Cleaning up after a siege is always a stressful business, perhaps I should keep the unhappy dwarves to the less mentally straining areas of the fortress? I'll bring it up with Rimtar at the next opportunity I get.

15th Sandstone 184

The papermaker, Kol, is assaulting one of our mechanics outside the fortress gates.

16th Sandstone 184

Asėn Litastmeng, Mechanic has been found dead.

Asėn was found dead early this morning, given that he was so badly beaten, I can only presume that Kol is to blame. This cannot stand, the justice system in Smithsoldier has been neglected for far too long. Murder cannot be left unpunished.

Spoiler: Plans for justice (click to show/hide)

In less serious news, I have gotten around to giving the temples places to store the instruments that the fortress recently acquired. Services should be less dull in the future, and that might help to raise the mood.

This is certified to be the true account of
╔═════╗
║RĪSEN║
║MOZIB║
║DODÓK║
╚═════╝
184

---

So, here's a few things that I gleaned from a copy of the save in Legends Viewer:

The World of Wonder, a world of Goblins

All of the elven civilisations, and the single Kobold civilisation, have been wiped out. Left unchecked, goblins now make up most of the population of Buzong Bagsnub, and the overwhelming majority of the remainder are human.

Smithsoldier seems to be serving as a rallying point for dwarves to come out of the proverbial woodwork. As I may have said before, it's the largest concentration of them in the world.

Spoiler: Civilisation Summary (click to show/hide)

The largest two of the four goblin civilisations, the Evils of Perplexing and The Lauded Curses, are our neighbours. The other two are far to the north and west, and probably too far away to rip and tear, until they are done in a practical manner.

How Civilisations Fell

The elven civilisations' fates are as follows:

The Sister of Fords: Wiped out with extreme prejudice by a bronze colossus, Kerleb Matchtarget the Ochre Seizure.

The Song of Bowing: Waged war against The Squashed Realm (of humans), lost every battle, and was then rendered defunct by the untimely rampages of a forest titan, Ared Beardmeadow the Cloudy Moss.

The Quiet Intricacy: Waged war against The Squashed Realm, lost every battle bar one, and then got tag-teamed by a forest titan and a bronze colossus (Ogred Leapedsnarls the Pale Bulb, and Rogut Bronzecalled the Hale Shocks, respectively).

The Heavy Valley: Waged war against The Squashed Realm, won the only battle, then had all but one of their sites destroyed by beasts. One was taken by the aforementioned Ared, two by a hydra (Agwa Esteemed the Stone of Hide), one seemed to be abandoned by its government and resettled by nomads, and their last site was abandoned (I've no clue why) in 183.

The kobolds were broken by Ared as well. I am convinced it has a particular hatred for all forms of settlement, maybe it's a hardcore an-prim?

The only extinct human civilisation, The Nation of Moths, was actually wiped out by the roc that Zon slew. Its two sites, in the northwest of the world, were later reclaimed by other human civilisations.

They'll sing songs about this one!

The Bridled Pulley and Smithsoldier

Here's the site history for our civilisation.

Contrary to QD's opening post, a roc has been the ultimate downfall of most of our sites, though we have certainly had our fair share of battles with goblins that probably didn't help. However, Threeorb is currently occupied by goblins, as I have noted in the past.

Also, that roc has, according to Legends Viewer, destroyed and/or stolen a few of our fort's masterpieces, though I don't think it has ever paid us a visit.

As for the fortress, should we bring the king to Smithsoldier? Given that the fortress is the world's only major dwarven site, it would make sense. I'm unsure if anyone else would actually want to, though, given that the king is very high maintenance.

Is the lack of a prison a deliberate choice on the part of previous overseers? I will defer to you on this matter.

[StrikaAmaru]

Also, that roc has, according to Legends Viewer, destroyed and/or stolen a few of our fort's masterpieces, though I don't think it has ever paid us a visit.

As for the fortress, should we bring the king to Smithsoldier? Given that the fortress is the world's only major dwarven site, it would make sense. I'm unsure if anyone else would actually want to, though, given that the king is very high maintenance.

Is the lack of a prison a deliberate choice on the part of previous overseers? I will defer to you on this matter.

If they're masterworks as opposed to artifacts, it's very likely they were sold to caravans, then the roc has killed their bearers in the world's background.

The king... narratively, we should I'm not happy about it, I myself avoid the king like the plague in my own playthroughs, but given the state of the dwarven civilization, there's no reason to not have the damn nuisance set up shop here. Doylistically I don't want it, watsonianly, I can't avoid it. Bleh. 

Speaking of: is there a dwarven king elsewhere in the world? Does s/he live in some settlement held by another civilization? Can we indulge in massive in-story paranoia about him/her?

As to the prison, I think it was just always lower-priority than other things.

[recon1o6]

Mind dorfing me as a smith/mechanic?

Urist McRecon has begun to stalk and brood
I want to see goblin blood for what they did. The best goblin hunters demand the best tools of death.
May Armok grant us strength, for our wrath must eclipse his own...

There was heavy pounding later that night after the ceremony. Sounds from a dark forge obscured by a stone door wherein dwelt the so called Hammerer of Hate. A relatively normal dwarven smith who one day got drafted at the mountain homes, whose idea of testing was to compare the caved in skulls of goblins to his latest weapon out the forge.
Few know what happened after his only battle, only that the previously happy dwarf now smirked grimly but maniacally whenever the order came for more tools of war, be they armour to withstand a thousand trolls, or menacing spikes on which to hang invaders.

A bitter dwarf may think of a death trap. Few would actually go out of their way to start making it

[ProjectXMark1]

Mind dorfing me as a smith/mechanic?

Urist McRecon has begun to stalk and brood
I want to see goblin blood for what they did. The best goblin hunters demand the best tools of death.
May Armok grant us strength, for our wrath must eclipse his own...

There was heavy pounding later that night after the ceremony. Sounds from a dark forge obscured by a stone door wherein dwelt the so called Hammerer of Hate. A relatively normal dwarven smith who one day got drafted at the mountain homes, whose idea of testing was to compare the caved in skulls of goblins to his latest weapon out the forge.
Few know what happened after his only battle, only that the previously happy dwarf now smirked grimly but maniacally whenever the order came for more tools of war, be they armour to withstand a thousand trolls, or menacing spikes on which to hang invaders.

A bitter dwarf may think of a death trap. Few would actually go out of their way to start making it

Metal. I will see to dwarfing you up, and see if I can find a speardwarf for QD2 while I'm at it.

If they're masterworks as opposed to artifacts, it's very likely they were sold to caravans, then the roc has killed their bearers in the world's background.

The king... narratively, we should I'm not happy about it, I myself avoid the king like the plague in my own playthroughs, but given the state of the dwarven civilization, there's no reason to not have the damn nuisance set up shop here. Doylistically I don't want it, watsonianly, I can't avoid it. Bleh. 

Speaking of: is there a dwarven king elsewhere in the world? Does s/he live in some settlement held by another civilization? Can we indulge in massive in-story paranoia about him/her?

As to the prison, I think it was just always lower-priority than other things.

Ah, I thought something like that might have been the case, regarding the roc.

The current king of The Bridled Pulley, since 178, is Rith Rampartbalance: his profile in Legends Viewer does not say where he is. Checking through the sites of The Bridled Pulley doesn't turn up anything either. The only dwarf in the world outside The Bridled Pulley is a visitor of The Evils of Perplexing. I think offering up enough stuff to the caravan will cause him to come out of the woodwork like most of our migrants.

Are there any more votes in favour of attracting the king? Since the caravan is still in the depot, I could certainly offer enough stuff, and I checked; we have more than enough wealth in architecture and I'm pretty sure we're a metropolis too.

[recon1o6]

The king triggers in the current version are land holdings and population not wealth. The old nobility triggers now govern werebeasts and titans
But we should have had him by now since we struck adamantine which causes the king to arrive in the guise of a migrant regardless of wealth

I have no idea how to use legends, but does it say the king is actually alive?


Another question, how does tweaking the raws for platinum blunt weapons and armour sound? Its the equivalent of Adamantine for sharp weapons, plus we could save our adamantine for weapons, cloaks and most importantly, socks.
Platinum armour is better than steel, but its very heavy- you need good armour skill to not be a snail's pace, so its best used only when we have high quality soldiers

[Quantum Drop]

Okay, taken a legends look (found some awesome FBs, like 'The Mine of Hell', 'Bora Hellmined the God-forsaken Skull', and 'Rushan Gutdrink the Vulture of Burials', among others), found some traitors in our fortress (listed under spoiler), and found what happened to our previous king.

The King, one 'Ral Geshudidok', was crushed by a drawbridge in Smithsoldier. He came back as a secretive poltergeist in early spring 178, and was put to rest later that year, in late summer. Ast Bronzefought became King in 178, he too was crushed by a drawbridge in Smithsoldier (early summer, 178). Current King should be one Rith Rampartbalance, as of Summer 178, though there's no word on his whereabouts.

So, yeah, he's alive for now, but who's willing to bet we're going to crush him too?

Spoiler: Treachery Must be Rewarded in Blood (click to show/hide)

• Papos Duneworshipped, As Roughvalleys, Snodub Frothdevils - Human master, Dwarf Agent, goblin agent respectively. As was 'threatened' into their service, Autumn 177; Snodub was too afraid not to comply when threatened in 179.
• Ragu Worthbeetles and Stozu Ticksteppe - Serpent man and Human. Stozu was flattered into joining the traitor's plan.
• Olngo Hatredslick, AKA 'Dostngosp Sinsoothed' and Dostngop Talondevil - Former spied on us under an alias; the latter was threatened into willingly joining their plans.
• Emeg Boundnature and Artha Windyriddle - latter was threatened and agreed willingly. Now an agent in Smithsoldier.
• Sestah Ecruduties and Kulet Veiledchannel - human and dwarf, former made a threat to the latter.

Tested with a backup save, accurate up to ~184.

Guessing they were behind all those artefact thefts. Perhaps they could be written into the story as being behind that military screwup that just occurred?

Bottom line: our Fortress' security currently has bigger holes in it than my socks, and considering I can fit the entirety of my heel through at least one of those holes, that is not good at at all. Looks like that jail may've just become a fair bit more important.

As for platinum weapons and armour, I'll go with putting up a new poll in the thread and seeing what the general consensus among players is.

EDIT: Actually, does anyone know how to remove a poll and set up a new one? All I've managed to do was re-word the questions and reset the vote count, without resetting the timer.
For archival purposes, the prior poll was on whether or not to post a secret about a certain spoilery metal, with 2 for and 2 maybes.

[StrikaAmaru]

Re: overseer-ship.

I should be next in line, and I think it's best if I swap with DwarvenLord. I'll be out of town this week-end.

[Quantum Drop]

Re: overseer-ship.

I should be next in line, and I think it's best if I swap with DwarvenLord. I'll be out of town this week-end.

Got it. I'll swap your positions on the turn list, and PM DwarvenLord about the change.

[recon1o6]

We seem to be quite good at disposing of useless trash...sorry, nobility via drawbridge
and damn, villainy is something i don't seem to get much of in my forts. That looks entertaining!

[DwarvenLord]

I'll get started soon.
EDIT: Where's the save file?

[ProjectXMark1]

I see. To be clear, the save I have is still perfectly workable, so here's something to tide you over until I've played through autumn.

---

Journal of Rīsen 'XMark' Swallowclasp, 9th(?) Sandstone 184

I asked Rimtar the date but, even as he claims, it was not the 8th of Sandstone yesterday. I would swear before Arm_Ok that it was the 16th.

After I finished writing up yesterday's reports, the world - for lack of a better term - disintegrated. It was dark, I could hear nothing, smell nothing, feel nothing. I followed the world into the void, and woke up today.

I remember nothing from that time which I spent in that nothingness, but somehow I can remember a new vision of Arm_Ok, which I cannot date at all. I can only conclude that He has given me new instructions. I believe that a review of DwarvenLord's living arrangements is necessary, which I intend to discuss with Rimtar.

At any rate, I think that I have some catching up to do.

This is certified to be the true account of
╔═════╗
║RĪSEN║
║MOZIB║
║DODÓK║
╚═════╝
184

---

Excerpt from Visions, by Rīsen Mozibdodók

Undated - after a 16th day of Sandstone

All dark, with only the voice of Arm_Ok Nabastākud. He spoke: "Yᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴅᴏɴᴇ ᴡᴇʟʟ."

Out of grace, I reply "Thanks be to you, Sarąm Nņm Nazush."

"As ɪs ᴊᴜsᴛ."

I was lost in the dark, and so I asked of him, "Ekurnņm, where am I?"

"Yᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ɢʀᴀsᴘ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪs sᴛᴀᴛᴇ, ʙᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴏᴜᴛsɪᴅᴇ ᴏғ ᴍʏ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛɪᴏɴ. Dᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ғᴇᴀʀ; ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ʀᴇsᴛᴏʀᴇᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘʀᴏᴘᴇʀ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ. Cᴏɴsɪᴅᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴄᴇᴅɪɴɢ ᴅᴀʏs ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴘᴏssɪʙɪʟɪᴛʏ ᴀᴍᴏɴɢsᴛ ᴍᴀɴʏ, ᴀ ᴠɪsɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀss."

He then began, "Lɪsᴛᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀᴅs, ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇᴍ." And so I remember these words.

"Tʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʀᴀɪᴛᴏʀs ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴍɪᴅsᴛ, ᴛʜɪᴇᴠᴇs ᴏғ ʟɪᴠᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ᴄʀᴀғᴛ. Kɴᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ɴᴀᴍᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ʙʀɪɴɢ ᴜɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴍʏ ɪᴍᴍᴜᴛᴀʙʟᴇ ʟᴀᴡ." And so I knew their names.

"Tᴏ ʟᴇᴀᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ғᴏʀᴛʀᴇss, DᴡᴀʀᴠᴇɴLᴏʀᴅ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇʙᴇᴀsᴛ, ᴡɪʟʟ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ." And so I knew my successor.

"Fɪɴɪsʜ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴛᴇʀᴍ, ʀᴇʙᴜɪʟᴅ ᴛʜɪs ʟᴏsᴛ ᴡᴇᴇᴋ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴛᴛᴇɴᴅ ᴛᴏ Mʏ ᴛᴇᴍᴘʟᴇ ᴏɴ Oʀᴀᴍ Aɴᴜʀ." And so I knew my duty.

I spoke. "I understand, Atalod. What of our king, who is lost in the wilds?"

"Mʏ ᴡɪʟʟ sʜᴀʟʟ ʙʀɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴋɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ Esʜᴛᴀ̂ɴᴇᴢᴀʀ, ɪɴ ᴛɪᴍᴇ. Yᴏᴜʀ ᴘɪᴄᴋᴀxᴇ sʜᴀʟʟ ɴᴏᴛ sᴛʀɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜɪs ᴠᴇɪɴ."

"I understand, Kironstākud Ļlul."

"Rᴇᴛᴜʀɴ ɴᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ Oʀᴀᴍ Aɴᴜʀ, ᴀɴᴅ sᴇᴇ ᴛʜᴀᴛ Mʏ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴅᴏɴᴇ." And so it ends.

---

I'm not getting a definite answer regarding the King, so I will hold off on making any offerings to the dwarven caravan (which the wiki maintains to be one of the criteria) and get back to playing in short order.

[Quantum Drop]

Good to know the save is workable - didn't think it'd be damaged, but it's good to know. That journal entry was very well-written, I must admit; quite a good way of working thread knowledge into the game in a believable way.

Yep, 5000 Urists of offerings will be enough to call the guy over (I presume we've already hit Metropolis rank - or 'Wretched Hive of Scum and Villany' rank, with all the spies). Even if he does somehow show up... well, accidents happen, and it's hardly the Overseer's fault if he gets locked outside when Goblin Claus comes again

Take your time if you need/want to - I'm pretty sure the thread won't object.

Good luck dealing with all the spies/agents/scum and villainy! 

EDIT: Threadmarks updated in the Table of Contents.

[recon1o6]

Very well written Project, liking what we have.
From what I have heard, villains are formed during world gen and also during fortress mode over time

I didn't realise we had multiple thefts though, thought it was just the one?

[ProjectXMark1]

Very well written Project, liking what we have.
From what I have heard, villains are formed during world gen and also during fortress mode over time

I didn't realise we had multiple thefts though, thought it was just the one?

I'm pretty sure that we've had multiple thefts, though I can't remember if I saw them in Legends Viewer or the artefacts menu.