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[Tasoth]

Here goes nothing!

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15th of Galena, 733

My name is Erush Mörulvel, and I am writing this logbook as a recollection of my journey or, should the worst come to pass, a way for whoever finds my corpse to know how I came to be in this state.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I am in the mountainhome of Clawmanor, once a ruin, now a living fort once more, for now anyhow. Between the creatures which dwell below our feet and the creatures that roam the countryside up above, our numbers have dwindled to just a few dozen. Despite this, we live on in defiance of them all. Earlier today, our Expedition Leader, Dastot Athelnoram, summoned me to meet with him in an area of the fortress away from the others.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

There he told me he’s heard rumors of a mighty Dwarven fortress to the south, known only as Championvault. He claimed that hundreds upon hundreds of our kindred live there, and that what scant few travelers we’ve had pass through our home may know of its location. He mentioned that through them he’d learned of a Dwarf by the name of Lokum Pulleyspire who resides in Championvault, and he seeks the return of several codices which were stolen from The Deep Vault. One such Codex is entitled Waxing and Waning and the Universe; it is claimed that it has been stored in The Palace of Brains, in Divedact. He ordered me to establish contact with Championvault that they might send migrants to assist our cause, and that along the way I try to recover the codex this Lokum Pulleyspire seeks.

I went to my quarters and gathered my things: a set of clothes, a waterskin, my travel pack, and my trusty copper crossbow. I’ve been hunting with this weapon for years, and never once has it let me down. Along with my own belongings, the Expedition Leader was gracious enough to gift me some armor. Unfortunately, said armor is composed of only a battered copper breastplate and a heavily-dented copper helm, deemed no longer fit for service by the militia. Ah well, beggars cannot be choosers.
As I went to ascend the Grand Staircase to the surface I was stopped by Nish Nêcikrakust, a miner and lifelong friend. Nish said she’d heard of where I was going, that she was coming with me, and nothing I said would change that. Together we went up to the barracks and mounted the two horses (named Kogan and Tulon) that had been prepared for us. The Militia Commander told us that the safest way south would be to take the Underway south through the ruins of several long-abandoned forts. While the prospect of traveling through unmapped ruins was far from appealing, it beats trying to contend with the known threats on the surface.

With that, we set off into the Underway. I shall write another entry when we stop to rest.


16th of Galena, 733

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Luckily the commander had been correct. We found a stairwell leading up to the surface, which housed a seemingly abandoned Trade Depot and Tavern, where we rested overnight. I am no stranger to the surface but Nish, having spent most of her days chipping away deep in the bowels of the Earth, took a bit to adjust. While she was busy attempting not to expel last night’s dinner, I picked over the Trade Depot for anything that might help us, picking out what food hadn’t rotted.

A few hours’ travel to the south we discovered a Dwarven hillocks by the name of Bolthanded. The white sand which surrounded the site fascinated me; it was so different compared to the snow-capped mountains of the north. The hillocks were in shambles, seemingly abandoned for some time. Unperturbed, we continued on our way south.

Further south we came upon a Monastery of some sort, which based on the Stone Carved sign was named "Postdweller”. It was full of creepy statues, many of which depicted Dwarves being turned into frightening creatures with monstrous fangs or ghoulish, animal-like horrors by The Mine of Ambers; a sobering reminder not to incur the wrath of the divine.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Despite there being no one else present, I got the feeling we shouldn’t stay long, and we left soon after.

Further south we reached our first major obstacle. In order to continue, we must pass over a small mountain range. Going around is out of the question, as to the west we spy a tall stone tower; with our gear we wouldn’t stand a chance against the creatures that may lurk within. With luck, we shall be over the mountain before nightfall.


17th of Galena, 733

While it took a bit longer than expected to cross the mountain, we’ve had some luck. Early in the morning we came across what appears to be a lair of sorts. Nish insisted we ought to leave it be and continue onwards, but the promise of treasure proved too great for me. I dismounted Kogan outside, and snuck slowly into the warren.
Inside I saw a frail yet large creature, which looked to me like a combination of man and jackal. Not wanting to take any risks, I loaded my crossbow and fired at the creature before it had noticed me.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The bolt struck the beast in the right upper leg, and as it toppled over it suddenly transformed into a bedraggled looking Dwarf! Before I could load another arrow Kogan charged in, having heard the scuffle from outside. Dashing in, the horse bowled the peasant over, before crushing its head with his hooves. To my disappointment, there appeared to be nothing else in the place; this…werejackal had carved out a hole in the ground to hide in, a hole which was now its tomb. Ah well, that’s one less village with terrorized livestock at least.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We happened upon another ruined fort just a bit south of the beast man’s lair. Or rather, it seemed abandoned. Curiously, a host of goblins had taken to living within the fort. While they weren’t looking I grabbed some food, an iron spear, a set of iron armor, and this nifty trollbone crown…It’s not like it belonged to them anyhow.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Eric Blank]

It is amazing how much you're capable of changing about the world already, but resurrecting a nearly dead civ is still a monumental challenge. Killing a goblin civ is too. But somehow wiping out a significant portion of the human population was an accident.

[Imic]

It’s much easier and faster to tear something down than to build it once you have the right tools. If you play your cards right, gravity does most of the work anyway.

[Bralbaard]

On the topic of accidental genocides. It appears that populations in recent years have been relatively stable, compared to the horrors of the third age of legends:

[Eric Blank]

So the dwarf population at least has been on a mostly upward trend. That's good to see.

Where the hell is that kobold!?

[Quantum Drop]

That... is honestly a good question. Maybe it stole everyone's in-game awareness of it?

Perhaps that could actually be something of a submission to the Museum for a weaker (and lucky) adventurer, as the skull/body/whatever of the last Kobold to live in Orid Xem?

More seriously, it's good to see the Dwarves are on something of an upwards trend. Should provide plenty of fodder for new fortresses, if nothing else. I also see the pointy-eared leaf-lovers are on the rise, so the forts won't be running out of firewood anytime soon. 

That said: what's with the sudden drop in the Gobbo population after 31-12-23 on the top graph? Not as big as the accidental genocides, but it's still, what, a few thousand?

[TheFlame52]

Maybe someone waded through a dark fortress? Or sent a squad to do the same in fort mode?

[Tasoth]

PART 2 INCOMING

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Spoiler (click to show/hide)

What luck! At the human-owned castle Strengthpears I met a swordsman who told me where to find Divedact. Ironically, it’s back north, where I had just come from. Unfortunately, it is VERY close the same Tower I had been attempting to avoid yesterday. I suppose life can’t be easy. I stopped in a seemingly-abandoned hamlet to rest overnight before heading into Divedact proper.


18th of Galena, 733

We finally arrived in Divedact, now we just have to find The Palace of Brains. The streets are empty and lifeless. This is unsurprising, given the place’s proximity to that damnable tower.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This looks like the place!
Despite its morbid name, The Palace of Brains seems to be but an abandoned library; one absolutely stuffed with tomes and scrolls at that! It will take a while to sift through all of these tomes for the specific one Lokum wants, but I may as well take some of the others too. By the beard, there are floors upon floors of books here! This may take some time…
After several hours of searching among the books strewn about the various floors I finally found it! On the third floor of the library, resting amongst a pile of similarly dusty books sat Waxing and Waning and the Universe. As I placed the book in my backpack, I took another look around the library. These books hold so much knowledge in them, from the patterns and colors of various stars, to the understanding of various animal anatomies, and even theories on the nature of weather and the world itself. These books shouldn’t be rotting in some forgotten library! They should be safe in the vaults of a fortress, cared for and studied by astute minds… minds perhaps like the ones in Championvault. I must gather as many as I can, and remember to map out this library’s location…
It took several hours, but I managed to cram my backpack almost full to bursting with various books. It saddens me I cannot get them all, but such a thing in unrealistic. There are simply too many for just myself and Nish to carry, even with our horses. I shall be sure this place is not forgotten. I strap both mine and Nish’s packs to Kogan and Tulon. We have a long journey ahead of us, and the two of us must be ready for it.


21st of Galena, 733
It has been a while, but we are not yet to our destination. We did find something of interest however. While heading towards the town of Diptramples we came across a Labyrinth in The Subtle Hills. I know not what is in it, and currently I do not care to find out. I have a fortress to find. I did make sure to mark the location down, however. In the town, we heard of a nearby castle called Boltspumpkin which also went by the name of “The Museum”.
Approaching the museum I am approached by a human, who appraised my stuffed pack and determines I have come to donate a thing or two to them. While not my original mission, I didn’t suppose it would hurt to leave them with a few of the duplicates. Spying a large throne fashioned from skulls of all sorts of horrid beasts, I got an idea; just as powerful as might and conquest is knowledge, and it too should have such a befitting display. Using a few of the larger tomes I fashioned a seat, placed a large bookshelf behind them to serve as the back, and stacked a few more books to either side to serve as armrests. It probably wouldn’t be the most comfortable thing to sit in, but that’s not really the point here. On the left armrest I placed the trollbone crown, and against the right armrest I leaned the iron spear, now christened Mörul Omtäl – “The Pages of Liberation”. Spying a peculiar wooden structure nearby, I gathered up the remainder of the books not used in the display, and prepared to leave. Nish elected to stay behind in Boltspumpkin and help with maintaining The Museum; she told me she knew I would come back around, sooner or later. Not sure what to make of that, I set off for the odd structure.

Inside I found a strange fellow by the name of Glloyd Ancientborn the Round. He seemed somewhat…off, but it’s not my place to judge. He informed me that this place was the Shelter of Adventures, overseen by the League Knowledge, and it was created to assist adventurers travelling to and from The Museum. Intrigued, I ask to join this league of his, and after donating to him a few of the books I'd gathered, he agreed. Following that, I rested up for a bit, restocked on my supply of food and water, and set off towards Championvault, which Glloyd told me was within the mountain range to the south. Looks like I’ll be hiking again…

Man, it is still a long way to Championvault.


24th of Galena, 733

At long last I arrived, Spotting two obsidian structures in the distance, I followed the road until I reached the entrance to Championvault. Inside I finally found Lokum Pulleyspire, who it turns out is the Expedition Leader of this place. I turned over Waxing and Waning and the Universe, and told them that I had even more books outside on my horse, but before I would turn them over they had to promise to send migrants to Clawmanor. They agreed, and I brought in the rest of the tomes, as well as the map I had made of the path to the Palace of Brains. I will rest here for some time; I expect they will charge me with leading the migrants back to Clawmanor. Perhaps along the way back I can pay that labyrinth a visit…

Come to think of it, this whole thing went rather well, all things considered.

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My turn is concluded. I've finished my adventure. Sadly my side project was unfinished, but if anyone wants hundreds of masterwork mugs you should poke around up in the north a bit.

Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15203

Hate to say it, but my adventure was a bit of a step down from past posters in terms of peril.
Sidenote: I had a little map to show where stuff on my journey was, but I seem to have saved over it. I'll leave a hint instead: If you're looking to get your bones ground into porridge, check around The Subtle Hills. It's not too far from Boltspumpkin.

Addendum: It's come to my attention that Divedact is not abandoned at all, but rather sparsely populated. Rather than a daring raid under the nose of a malignant necromancer, I pretty much just robbed a local library...oh well.

[Glloyd]

There's definitely more than one kobold left. I came across a camp with a few of them during my turn, but I steered clear of them because I was worried about accidentally wiping out the last surviving kobolds. Dunno how many total remain, but if anyone wants to find them, they were east of Swordgleamed, near the mountains there.

Looking forward to reading about your adventures Tasoth!

Also, I realized I didn't post here when I updated my post with my final update, so I don't know if anyone's seen it, because it's a couple pages back on the default page view. That is located here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8181021#msg8181021

I hope some future adventurers get some use out of the Shelter of Adventures!

[FakerFangirl]

Adventure mode succession game?? Sign me up.

[TheFlame52]

Oho, it's my turn again soon!

[Bralbaard]

There's definitely more than one kobold left. I came across a camp with a few of them during my turn, but I steered clear of them because I was worried about accidentally wiping out the last surviving kobolds. Dunno how many total remain, but if anyone wants to find them, they were east of Swordgleamed, near the mountains there.

Looking forward to reading about your adventures Tasoth!

Also, I realized I didn't post here when I updated my post with my final update, so I don't know if anyone's seen it, because it's a couple pages back on the default page view. That is located here: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=175875.msg8181021#msg8181021

I hope some future adventurers get some use out of the Shelter of Adventures!

I enjoyed that! It's nice to encounter previous adventure companions like that, it ties together the different stories that everyone writes down. Also, that ruined tavern looks familiar, I'm sure I spend a night there sometime during my adventures. The adventure site is impressive as well!

My turn is concluded. I've finished my adventure. Sadly my side project was unfinished, but if anyone wants hundreds of masterwork mugs you should poke around up in the north a bit.

Here's the save: https://dffd.bay12games.com/file.php?id=15203

Hate to say it, but my adventure was a bit of a step down from past posters in terms of peril.
Sidenote: I had a little map to show where stuff on my journey was, but I seem to have saved over it. I'll leave a hint instead: If you're looking to get your bones ground into porridge, check around The Subtle Hills. It's not too far from Boltspumpkin.

Great, I'm looking forward to the story!
I'll try and update the turn lists and relevant posts with all the new information soonish, (likely tomorrow) 

[Glloyd]

I enjoyed that! It's nice to encounter previous adventure companions like that, it ties together the different stories that everyone writes down. Also, that ruined tavern looks familiar, I'm sure I spend a night there sometime during my adventures. The adventure site is impressive as well

Thanks! Running across Eric's character was a complete accident, and I didn't connect the dots to our game until I talked to Amsir and Slenshi. It also gave a really good example of the interesting stories that DF can tell. After Eric's character died to the titan, his companions Amsir and Slenshi actually did get married, only a few months later. Pretty neat little detail.

[Luckyowl]

I enjoyed that! It's nice to encounter previous adventure companions like that, it ties together the different stories that everyone writes down. Also, that ruined tavern looks familiar, I'm sure I spend a night there sometime during my adventures. The adventure site is impressive as well

Thanks! Running across Eric's character was a complete accident, and I didn't connect the dots to our game until I talked to Amsir and Slenshi. It also gave a really good example of the interesting stories that DF can tell. After Eric's character died to the titan, his companions Amsir and Slenshi actually did get married, only a few months later. Pretty neat little detail.

Huh? Makes me wonder what Sekur and Tohwot are doing. These two were pretty good at combat and were absolutely fearless when we fought the ettin who unfortunately killed my adventurer with a lucky grab and chomp. I like to imagine that they are still slaying beast, or probably sell their skills at arm as mercenaries guarding merchant caravans as they travel to town town, but who knows,  I should check and see what's up with them. Hopefully they did something cool after my adventurer died.

Edit: Also give me another turn. Wanna take another stab at it.

[Quantum Drop]

Makes me wonder what Sekur and Tohwot are doing. These two were pretty good at combat and were absolutely fearless when we fought the ettin who unfortunately killed my adventurer with a lucky grab and chomp. I like to imagine that they are still slaying beast, or probably sell their skills at arm as mercenaries guarding merchant caravans as they travel to town town, but who knows,  I should check and see what's up with them. Hopefully they did something cool after my adventurer died.

If it's Sekur Handgoal and Tohwot Drummedknit (I think it's them, as they have Thon Scarone listed as a companion), they haven't been doing much of note. They married in 713, then there's nothing about them until 716/717, when they took on positions in two different religious groups. Maybe they decided that combat wasn't really for them after seeing your adventurer get chomped on?