"Moldath III", Part II, Turn 7321st Moonstone 859The new queen may have a mission for me - rout the remaining Scholarly Manors. I thought I already had?
Ral Diamondoiled is a miner by trade, and I find her clinging to the rocky spire that forms the centre of this fort.
The general is a bit shifty but I recognise in him a kindred spirit.
He is mangled and shattered, and is missing his nose and right ear, much as I am.
I decide he is not a threat, unlike the slavering ghouls of
Treatyseed. Perhaps some can resist the urges of the blight?
I leave
Stockadeoutrage and head east across the frozen tundra.
In the dead of night I am attacked by a night creature - a skinless humanoid with a trunk.
Osman Ashtunnel the Shady Cavern of Umbras is spattered with snow and wields a copper knife.
I slash at it and Godenrigoth tastes its first blood in many years. Its foul trunk sails away.
Godenrigoth is then wedged firm in the creatures chest but it refuses to let go!
Finally, after I tear its neck with my teeth and hack its head with my spare axe, it finally relinqushes my scimitar, as it bleeds to death.
I continue east, and encounter a troll fleeing from a fort on the horizon. I quickly put it down.
It is still night when I arrive at
Sealsabres, and encounter a goblin lurking by the entrance.
Inside the fort is an expansive and well appointed temple, with many gold and green glass statues of the pantheon of the Walled Dye.
To my delight I find a large stockpile of alcohol, and help myself.
A short distance further is a grand dining room and artefact repository. Many fine works are on display.
One catches my eye -
The Scholarly Scorn, a Zinc figurine of Vabok Glazeddoors. I slip it in my pack.
Vabok Glazeddoors was once king of the Walled Dye and the masterfully crafted figurine celebrates his ascension, and is finely decorated with gold and basalt.
Within the library are a great many books about the Dark Pits
Wraithbreath... where could these have been authored?
I even find some copies of Goden Charmkey the Gates of Mightiness, the famous necromancer's work.
Travelling deeper into the fort I find the armory, weapons and armour of various qualities and materials abound.
I find the forgehall and spot a swordsdwarf hollow hunter, who ignores my greeting.
I do find an adamantine vein, but no evidence that the dwarves here were foolish enough to mine it.
23rd Moonstone 859I retrace my steps westward, past
Stockadeoutrage, towards the goblin pits and
Stealmountain, where I have slaughtered goblins before.
It is eerily quiet. Further west is the Dark Pit of
Chilledhate, and I stumble into the mustering goblin army.
Swarms of military goblins stream from the crude towers and are met with gleaming blue strikes from Godenrigoth.
Soon there a number of religious goblins - Sacred Persuasions. Most of them seem to be blighted ghouls. The waves of goblins are unending!
All day and all night, the screams of goblins fills the foul air.
24th Moonstone 859I head north west from the smoking ruin of
Chilledhate. Five hundred fewer goblins infest this world, having fallen to my hands.
I arrive at a modest fort,
Stasismanors. I bump into a chief medical dwarf necromancer who seems to be fleeing from some beast... a towering quadruped composed of ash!
The great forgotten beast lumbers up the central stairwell, its great ashen trunk curling in front of it.
I leap upon it, Godenrigoth singing. I dismember the beast and take its trunk as a trophy.
A short while deeper into the fortress I find a pedestal upon which sits a finely crafted steel morningstar. An unusual weapon to be crafted by dwarven hands.
I place the
Spot of Quietness within my pack - a steel morningstar encircled with bands of steel and rectangular diorite cabochons.
25th Moonstone 859I leave
Stasismanors and head west across the featureless snow. It is only then I notice I have something stuck in my tooth, and spit it out.
It appears to be a goblin's foot.
I arrive at the apparently abandoned ancient fort of
Palacework. This place has a sinister history, and rumours of necromancers and invisible warriors abound.
I find a dismembered speardwarf outside, an exceptional steel spear and steel armour nearby. A short distance away is a mutilated horse corpse.
I seem to remember a story of an adventurer of the museum who was assailed on horseback by an elf Hollow Hunter... perhaps these are their remains?
I take their chicken leather backpack, which has remarkably well preserved wolf meat, and Adilatir coins from the year 710 - 149 years ago?
Inside the fort I find a bone figurine of the famous warrior Erith Whippedumbral, crafted by a being known as
Nabasbardum... The Divine Fight?
Perhaps an alter-ego of Erith herself? I also find some elf teeth. These perhaps belong to the elf hollow hunter, Evala Blazedjudged.
I descend the fort's staircase and find, bizarrely, a zombiefied eagle neck, sleeping in a fungiwood bed.
I find no other things stirring in this place and make my way to the surface, where I encounter two dwarven hollow hunters on patrol...
One is Erush Gildlabored, and the other Tosid Fissuretowers. These dwarves have been residing here for centuries, having been raised by the evil Cog Wildnesswork.
They are the remnants of The Matched Hame, a dead civilisation, and eye me mournfully. I leave them unmolested.
A brief journey north west and I stumble upon a sad sight... two slain plump helmet men, and an elegent yet alarmed blue peacock.
They look to have been slaugtered by wolverines. Or perhaps the infamous hollow hunters?
I continue my journey west, and enter an eerie haunted ice plain.
I stumble upon a carved wall of ice, and a militia commander who recognises me!
He is called Limul Brotherlens, and I am assuming he knows me from my time incarcerated in that awful island fortress
Ancientlibrary...
I seem to have found
Frostwall the Last Bastion.
I delve further and am amazed to see a huge icy edifice, constructed by dwarven hand from pure ice, rising many urists into the sky.
There are further great icy walls and structures. I explore this wonder of dwarven ingenuity, but I find no beasts to slay.
Quite a few of these dwarves are familiar to me from my time in that cursed library.
26th Moonstone 859It is not very far before I chance upon another fort, the strangely named
Free the Eggs.
The first thing I spot on the featureless tundra outside is an artifact iron crossbow,
Twilightmolten.
I place it in my pack and look for any signs of life outside. A freezing peasant confirms the Golden Eggs rule this fort.
A series of ovoid rooms are again carved from the living ice. The egg obsession here is slightly perturbing. There are a great many masterwork bone crafts, and some evidence of metalworking. I explore the fort looking for beasts to slay yet find none.
I travel south east to the huge sprawling tower complex of
Glazedriven. I have been here many years before, and have heard rumours the ranks of the twisted experiments have swelled ever since.
On entering the main tower, I am immediately attacked by a grotesque beast, a muscular hound of Kosothducim.
This feathered hexapod was once a dog, but is now unrecognisable. It has long black feathers and wings and slavers for flesh...
The soldiers of night, on the other hand, are quite pleasant and leave me to my business. After exploring the smaller towers, I spot a human necromancer, holding what looks to be a slab!
He is a most amiable fellow by the name of Ezif Bluewave, and is quite happy to trade the slab for
The Spot of Quietness the steel morningstar and
Twilightmolten the crossbow.
I now have in my hands
Fatalurn the Hag of Dying, a kimberlite slab.
Reading it, I have learned another secret. I can now raise Putrid Ghouls! I leave Ezif with his new weapons and bid him good day.
27th Moonstone 859Emboldened with new knowledge, I am now a Legendary Reader! I look at my maps and see there is one famous fort I have not yet visited, which is near this part of the world.
The Abyssal Sanctuary is rumored to be the home of many great adamantine crafts, and has been beseigned by the denizens of hell.
One of the advantages of my undying body is that it is no inconvenience to me to sprint north through the barren frosty mountains, all day and all night.
I soon arrive at the outskirts of
The Abyssal Sanctuary. The corpses of many mangled keas let me know that I am near the entrance hall.
I unsheath Godenrigoth, its divine blade undulled by the scores of goblin skulls it has taken, ready to face whatever this place can throw at the Blind Sadist.
The first great beast to fall is a... small great horned owl. This place seems infested with common beasts. Where are the demons?
I travel down a winding path until a great hall and trade depot opens before me. I hear the sounds of battle...
An eerily detailed floor shows grotesque scenes of dwarves prostrating themsevles before a burning door... a portal to hell?
I explore the fort further, the same grisly icon everywhere I cast my gaze. An enormous stockpile of iron chains; what could they need all these for?
Several human corpses, and ungodly amounts of human blood sprayed left and right. I press on and find myself in some fiendish maze.
I explore for what seems like days, going round in circles until finally I find myself in an enormous room, carved of blood-red hematitie.
There is still no sign of the demonic beast that I heard on entering the hall.
At the end of the hallway is a mined out adamantine pillar, dwarven corpses shattered and dismembered all around.
I lose count of the fallen, and every one is beyond my magic to restore. The dwarves here dug too deep indeed.
I find no living demons here, though, and retrace my steps. I can see no sign of the wombat-molesting light blue devil, but as I exit the fort I am accosted by a kinglet devil - Blushedromance the Adorable Pus.
Two strokes from Godenrigoth mangle its neck and cleave its foul skull. I leave the
Sanctuary and head southwards once more.
28th Moonstone 859I leave the mountains at the abandoned fort of
Duskhome, and put down a Human Beast Hunter Empty One and a few terrified goblins.
I continue my journey, this time south east. At the ruins of the cursed
Pit, I slay Buriedurn the winged fiend - a horrifying slug demon.
Thiefpuzzles the Wicked is a shadow spirit - a quadroped made of ash. It disintegrates when Godenrigoth takes its head.
I head then to
Borncats, the Roc shrine, where I once slew Calovi. Ngomstu Beachweather is the last Roc of Orid Xem, grandson of Calovi.
I have a fiendish plan to slay this beast and raise it as a revenant mount. A great winged zombie-roc would be a fitting steed.
However, he dies much quicker than his grandmare - I am much stronger than I was all those decades ago, and Godenrigoth takes his great head from his neck.
I am unable to revive his corpse, much to my chagrin. His zombie head flops about comically, and is put down once more.
3rd Opal 859The next few days involve a lot of travel, and many dingoes being strangled.
At last I arrive at a familiar fort -
Ashcinders the Molten Scar. Time to pick up some gear and visit old friends.
I gather a masterwork spear crafted from the divine blistered metal that I brough to the forgehalls here from
Coverashes many years ago, and kill a shifty looking goblin on my way out.
I find no sign of the weaponmaster responsible, Bim Pageswelters the Accidental. I am saddened to hear he has died of old age, and seemingly left no corpse to raise.
5th Opal 859The spire of
Falsetower the Citadel of Worlds pierces the sky. Scattered around are ballista bolts and workshops of many kind. What secrets could this tower hold?
The tower is eerily quiet, and I find no living souls. The surface is scattered with corpses and bones.
Mangled dwarves spattered with weremammoth blood and various corpses of forgotten beasts suggest this was not a happy place to live.
Various intelligent undead stalk the surface and meander around the fort, and I even come across some wounded troglodytes.
There are rumours that the deposed King Bralbaard Hammerfishes the Yawning fell here. Sadly, I can find no sign of his corpse.
Whatever happened here I am struggling to find answers, yet I find no great treasures or enemies to slay. I decide to journey back northwards.
6th Opal 859The town of
Strifefularmor seems quaint enough, but on closer inspection it is infested with blighted thralls.
Kosoth's Omon Blight has fully taken hold in these parts. It shall be scoured from the earth.
I climb into the keep and find it in disarray. In the centre of the room, surrounded by corpses and thralls, is an enormous troll.
Xubngesp Craterdimple the Glad End is clearly undead, its body a mess of scars and rot.
The town cleansed, I move on to
Partnerdaub. The name is familiar - I suspect I have been here before many years ago.
There are a few thralls here, and a suspicious goblin Master. All meet their dooms.
I travel north over the next few days, stopping by at many hamlets looking for signs of the blight - I am heading towards the sprawling metropolis of
Scarletbronze.
10th Opal 859Scarletbronze is home to a great many thralls, all huddled in the keep. They flee in terror but are cut down like wheat.
I also find two ressurected werebeasts, who also fall. Next to face my wrath is the notorious bandit haven
Swordgleamed.
On arrival I am ambushed by a massive human army. This could get messy.
Mixed in the horde of humans are a few goblins, and I even spot a goblin blighted thrall. Chaoes ensues - it appears there are loyalist forces still bearing the regalia of Omon Obin, pitted against scores of bandits.
In the bedlam, bolts and arrows fly left and right. An insurrection has begun.
I spot a goblin priest trying to run away... how did he get here? He is quickly beheaded.
I suspect that I may have instigated a full-blown battle between the local militia and the bandit horde.
Some of the humans consider me their ally and we drive the invaders north west.
Slowly, I manage to push the bandits back towards the keep, the ground slick with their blood.
There is utter carnage, and in the chaos it is hard to tell friend from foe.
Eventually their forces break, and their leader Tholo Claspzenith arrives, a goblin warlord. As his head leaves his shoulders, the town of
Swordgleamed is free. The bandit forces seem broken, and the Omon Obin troops take the keep.
13th Opal 859For the next few days, I head north through the Tundra of Heroes, and meet no sentient thing.
Wolves feed my desire for battle, and slake my ungodly thirst, as I head into the Adventurous Steppes.
14th Opal 859I arrive at a fort that was not on my maps -
Newworld?This fort appears to be in the very centre of the known world. A fleeing goblin wrestler is quickly dispatched as I approach the fort from the south west.
A squat tower stands on the plane, with the four cardinal directions paved out before it. A beacon at the heart of Orid Xem.
Inside I greet the expedition leader Onget Asmorul. I find a bar of nickel silver; my favourite metal - sadly it now brings up memories of my incarceration in
Clearmasters.
The bottom floor of the fort is flooded. I find no beasts to slay, but spend some time reading in the well stocked library.
As I leave, however, I am ambushed by a troll wielding a steel boning knife! I make quick work if it.
This curious beast was known as Arazi Bonearmor. I take its steel knife. The dwarven metal should not be in the hands of beasts such as this.
A short while north west of
Newworld, I am ambushed by a goblin. This one seems different some how. It is covered with ropes of unnatural muscle and is clearly undead.
Stozu Blackbank the Fiendish Soot Thrall? What manner of creature is this? It is certainly aggressive.
I slash at it, and even with the divine metal, I cannot sever a limb. Many muscles and nerves in its legs and arms are torn but still it comes.
I disarm its silver scimitar and launch a devastating blow against its neck. The upper spine is shattered and Godenrigoth is lodged in the wound, and still it comes.
Again and again I chop chunks of twisted flesh from its neck and it continues to advance.
Without its weapon, it claws and kicks to no avail. Finally my blade bites deep and spills its blackened brains.
This fiendish soot must make an ordinary goblin superbly strong. Perhaps I will find some for myself?
I stop off at my erstwhile home castle of
Spicetrails, and unburden myself of various trinkets and curios I have acquired. I set off once more, heading north west.
Around the mountain where
Ironwards is carved, I bump into a dwarf hammer lord gaunt zombie - Iton Cityruns the Symmetry of Suffering.
She is spattered with forgotten beast extract, and her body is heavily blistered. Before her lie the corpses of two demons.
Like most undead, she is mute and unwilling to share tales of her exploits with me. I wonder what great stories she could tell.
The last time I travelled in these parts, there were demons roaming nearby, and this time is no different.
Plaguemirrors the lizard devil falls to Godenrigoth.
16th Opal 859I arrive at yet another fort that I have not yet explored -
The Iron-Deep.
This mine was founded in the year 700, and is long abandoned. I climb across the bridge, and find many goblin and dwarf skeletons, victims of a battle long since forgotten.
It is an impressive structure, balanced above a bed of ice, but the lower levels are flooded and I am quickly swept into a huge cistern.
It takes all my supernatural strength and endurance to swim against the current and climb back to dry land, where I find a rotten dwarf corpse.
I gesture and it shudders to life as a Cold Slayer. I find no other living creatures here and decide to move on.
17th Opal 859I arrive in the hamlet of
Guildperfect to some commotion. In the civic mound, some merchants are fighting off human zombies, while a gaunt zombie looks on.
Thikut Netsteel the Misty Circle is a macedwarf, and like me, his entire body is rotten. He must have been subjected to the same foul magic which has rotted my flesh and robbed me of my eyes.
I put him out of his misery.
A short journey northwards, the necromancer tower
Momentcrowded is home to a few zombies and a sole necromancer, but all the books have been looted.
There are no more secrets for me here.
18th Opal 859In Largetempests, to the north east, I stumble into a prophet necromancer who seems to be missing both of his hands. He claims to be called Bolli Squashedclap, but since he also claims to be a prophet, I am suspicious.
I think this could be Hob Tileddoctrines, the infamous creater of Tileddoctrines Fist. Godenrigoth bisects him cleanly, and his mangled skull now adorns my backpack.
19th Opal 859I head east over the mountains and revisit
Heroicgem, as I promised Queen Ral I would. The remnants of The Scholarly Manors continue to gravitate to that place. I slay two necromancers but find the tower otherwise abandoned.
Again, no books are to be found. I suspect that scorpion fiend has spirited them away to his library on that terrible island... Could this be the end of Oddom's legacy at last?
... to be continued.
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Topic: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05) (Read 473630 times)