"Tirin I", Part III, Turn 110The Travails of Tirin Nightwhisper: Into Gloom8th Limestone 972The travel south east skirting the mountains is largely uneventful. I follow the directions to the goblin cave given by Eliye Mobbean. I know I have arrived at Shrivelgutters when I spot the skeletal remains of a goblin smeared over the ground. This creature has marks of on elvish longsword upon its bones. I hope there are more like him inside for me to test my blade.
I travel down the narrow dank corridors hewn into the cave. I stop and gasp... the first creature I meet is not a goblin, but an elf of regal stature! The Queen? No.. the Acolyte. Lesana Tickdrunken, masquerading as a monster hunter. I offer her the chance to renounce the goblins but she is defiant until the last. I shed a tear as her lifeblood soaks the cavern floor. So it is true. The elvish nobility have aligned themselves with the foul goblins of the Wrath-Spiders of Youth.
In the bowels of the earth I move silently through the narrow pathways in the rock. I slay a handful of squealing cowardly goblins before finding the Queen herself. Adela was right! Like Lesana, Queen Futace refuses to leave this goblin cave, or renounce her membership of the Wrath-Spiders. In a fit of rage I tear out her throat. This is why so many of my people, humans and elves alike have died, for this?
I search for many hours until I finally find Bosa Spiderybrands, the Overlord of the Wrath-Spiders of Youth. I take everything from him. I leave this foul cave and begin the journey south to The Brutal Gloom. If any elven prisoners still live there, I will find them. The travel is as gruelling as it is boring. I bump into two elves in the monastery of Parterveil and they tell me of some dwarven forts to the south.
I continue on my long journey.
13th Limestone 972Archquakes is a ruined dwarven fort overrun by beasts and trolls. I slay as many of the foul tusked monsters as I can find, and improve my axe skill with the fantastic blue dwarven metal axe. I find no sentient beings here, and no monsters or treasure worth looting. This place was lost to the feral trolls many decades ago.
15th Limestone 972For several days I have travelled southwards, in the general direction of The Brutal Gloom. The air is colder here. I am heading into goblin territory now, the landscape broken and sinister. I hear strange sounds coming from beneath the towers of Terrorheart. I am dismayed to find many undead creatures writhing in the deep. I am forced to slay a zombie unicorn, its body smeared with goblin blood.
How on earth did a majestic and pure unicorn make it to such a den of evil? There are trolls, beak dogs and even a yak down here. What crazed necromancer is responsible for this? I find no elven prisoners though, and decide to press on southwards through the murky wastes to The Brutal Gloom.
As dawn breaks, it begins raining dwarf blood. What a truly evil place.
16th Limestone 972I arrive at the entrance to The Brutal Gloom, a dark and forboding cave hewn from the cold featureless rock. I spot movement on a rocky outcrop. An elf! The dazed woodcrafter in tattered clothing is Fewetha Snarlingdied, and he begs me to save him.
I agree and we head further towards the camp. There may be more of my kin to rescue, and perhaps Lapama Foggylulls still lives. Tucked behind the outcrop I find the corpse of Tipi Avetholina, dead for centuries. Her corpse bears the marks of a massive bear-like creature, perhaps a victim of the apocalyptic bear who ravaged the elven heartlands in centuries past? I try to get some information from my elven comrade. Fewetha has no family, and no idea how long he has been trapped here. I vow to take him back to the forests of his homeland.
To the south east is a small camp, where a human merchant sits alone. He is of the Pleated Society, the humans in thrall to the goblin filth who took over this cave and who enslaved my brethren. Fewetha is incensed and stabs the merchant in the neck with his iron dagger. The woodcrafter has a crazed expression. I suppose being held captive in a cave for centuries will do that to an elf.
Together we finally find the secluded entrance to the cave, and the first creature I encounter is a terrified elven merchant prisoner. He tells me his wife is Eliye Mobbean. This must be her second husband, Lapama Foggylulls. He still draws breath and yearns to be reunited with his love. I bid him join us and be rescued. I tell him to wait with Fewetha while I explore the cave.
It is a strange place, unlike any I have seen before. Traps lie at every corner. I travel carefully, and hear footsteps in the distance. A goblin! His head leaves his shoulders silently. On his corpse I find a ring made of black bear man tooth. More evidence of battle between black bear men and the goblins and elves?
The frail general squeals as she is next to fall, and a black bear man bone ring is found on her skinny corpse. Soon enough, the Baron Amxu Windyhatred is slain and the last of the goblins in this dank pit are dead. I will take this cave for the elves and return a hero. I gather Fewetha and Lapama and beging the long trek back to safety, through these barren sinister lands. The going is tough, and the elves retch on the hideous filth that rains from the sky.
Things go from bad to worse as we try to sneak through goblin territory between Endedplagues and Malignedtuft - we are ambushed by goblin scum! It ends better than I thought. I scavenge some iron and copper armour to give to the two terrified elves. We move on.
Once we leave the oppressive Waste of Strangeness, the elven captives spot the first signs of living greenery in many a year. The mood amongst the former prisoners improves. The rain washes the burden of years of captivity as well as the foul congealed dwarven blood. We make good time northwards, stopping at an abandonded bandit camp to find new clothing and backpacks. Lapama finds an excellent iron spear on the skeletal corpse of a goblin brigand and straps it to his back.
19th Limestone 972We arrive at the monastery of Partnerveil, home to two elves I met briefly on my journey south. I charge the elven peasants here to lord over Shrivelgutters and The Brutal Gloom. They seem eager to accept the challenge. We take turns to roll the dice on the altar of The Creed of Vomit. We are blessed with good fortune. I take it as a good omen
On the outskirts of Soakedsings, we encounter a terrifying creature. An elven skeleton hanging with rotten flesh, still enrobed and clutching a spear. It has a gaunt appearance. It appears to be the corpse of Ule Twigpacked, child of the forest slain 900 years ago by a forest titan. It looks towards us balefully but appears to have no ill intent. We leave it unmolested.
20th Limestone 972In the forest retreat of Bootteal we find a horrifying sight. Trees have been massacred and fallen elves litter the ground. A band of goblins approaches from the east! Their ringleader claims to be a lord, returning to Poisonuttered, capital of the Most Sin! They will pay for their murder.
21st Limestone 972At long last, we arrive at Glacialtempests. Eliye is most delighted to have her husband returned to her.
I meet the new princess, a planegiftian by the name of Lorsith Eastbroil. She has a determined look, and wields a shield and spear. I am sure she will do the elves proud. When I talk to
Queen Adela, she is remarkably sanguine on learning of my slaughter of her predecessor. I recount my adventures in the caves of Shrivelgutters and The Brutal Gloom, and how many goblins have fallen to my blade. Hopefully now the elves will be free of the insidious cancer of goblinkind, and can sue for peace with the Mong Uthros.
I spend a few nights as a guest of the new Queen who is enamoured by my prowess. Indeed, she invites me to share her bed, lamenting that her celibate monk husband has resided in Planegifts since their sham marriage. The next morning I leave quietly, knowing that I do not truly belong here, not knowing that I have planted a seed in her belly. I will head back to Mong Uthros. I need to find the new law giver, child of Ile and grandchild of Alatha, to tell them of my great progress.
22nd Limestone 972The journey back to where I came from is long. I stop in Mergedforest and find yet more evidence of goblin barbarity. Cameda Pricemaroon the Uncommon Dungeons stands amongst the corpses of my brethren, his steel blade smeared with their gore. I will not stand for this.
25th Limestone 972Finally I return to Drillshrine. I am saddened to find the cup bearer and executioner are blighted thralls, but this time I am able to slay them before they harm the law-giver. Amoya Fernbow is truly the most beautiful elf I have ever seen. She has her grandfather's eyes and her fathers kind smile. Unfortunately, things do not go down well when I tell her the success of my plans. She is strangely outraged that I killed the elven queen, even though she was a goblin collaborator.
I spend many days bleeding into weeks trying to convince her of the truth - of her grandfather and father's plans and their belief in me, and the corrupt goblin influence over the elvish court. It takes a long, long time.
11th Sandstone 972I leave Drillshrine content that Amoya and I see eye to eye. We have become very close over the weeks. I can almost spot the swell of her belly and her wry smile as I depart.
One blighted thrall came to replace her Chief Executioner and was quickly overpowered. How many more of these unholy abominations stalk the land? A visitor has left a message for me it seems. The Baron of Keyconjure has requested my presence in The Eternal Citadel, wishing to discuss my theft of The Scholarly Scorn! The colour drains from my face. He has listed a number of demands and things to be returned to him in his new lair, far to the south. I know better than to defy the will of the Blind Sadist so I set off southward at great haste. I will take the Razorbridge. I hear it has thrived under elven guidance in recent years.
12th Sandstone 972As I travel south I endeavour to route out any thralls which still lurk in these places. In Taxglee I find a creature I have never encountered before. A blighted thrall stronger than any other I have faced. It takes the form of a goblin axeman but it is something else entirely. It uses foul necromantic magic to raise an unnatural cloud of fog around me and with a gesture I am thrown from the hall, desperately grasping at the door as I fly.
There are two of them! They throw me through the air, my body slamming against tree trunks. I am protected by my dwarven steel but find little initiative to counterattack. After a while, their magic seems somehow exhausted and they leap upon my stunned form. I scramble to unsheath Tameimpaled and cleave their heads from their shoulders. I am lucky to escape with only a bruised shoulder. This more powerful undead must be the work of the same sinister agent responsible for the dreaded blight. I press on, wary for any other such monstrosities.
14th Sandstone 972Stirredshoves is home to a blighted thrall lady and her pet zombie ravens. How bizarre. I put them all out of their misery.
At Razorbridge, I find a fort bursting with life. Many children play in the forest and dwarves gaily recite poetry.
What a welcome relief from the hordes of undead. In the Inn, "The Stable Bridge," I find a great many performers and bards singing merry songs. A particularly statuesque elven bowmaiden catches my eye; Miaralei Shakenfurs is her name and she is a member of this fort's ruling group.
I am drawn immediately to an enormously fat unicorn, lazily being patted by the tavern-goers. What a fine steed it would make, if it lost some of its flab. The unicorn bears me to the border of the southern edge of the fort, before promptly snorting and returning northwards, making it quite clear that he does not belong to me. Ah well.
17th Sandstone 972The journey south is long and arduous. I travel westerly skirting the coast, towards the lands of The High Confederacies. A few goblin patrols are easily dispatched, but it appears the town of Binsacks has a ghoul problem. Corpses litter the streets and I take a few foul thralls down. On the outskirts I am attacked by some blighted thrall peasants. I continue south west towards the fabled city of Incensorder and the human kingdom of Sastsepor.
20th Sandstone 972In the end I avoid the cities of The High Confederacies, stopping only to rest in the villages of that land at night. I do not wish to tarry in my task, lest the Blind Sadist send agents against me.
I arrive at the first location as instructed by the Baron of Keyconjure. A museum of some kind, the dwarven fort of Boltspumpkin. It is in a sorry state. Priceless artifacts litter the ground haphazardly. What kind of museum allows its treasures to be treated this way?
I investigate further. Inside the fort are a number of gremlins and a few goblins. The monk Thep tells me the Work of Phrasing runs Boltspumpkin, and Rope Mobbedwilt is their leader. Rope is nowhere to be found. I place the crown of Moldath Mournsaints, from his brief tenure as king of The Walled Dye on an unclaimed pedestal. He lost it in Balancehammer many years ago and I hope he will be glad it is returned. My next instructions are slightly more complicated. I am to steal something from Lawtaker, and something from Stockadeoutrage. I speak to the gremlins and goblins here and get some rough directions. This could take a while.
I find Lawtaker quickly, and it looks to have been ransacked. In the corner is what I am looking for - the bronze slab Shoselostar. It radiates evil and is impossibly heavy. As instructed I transcribe its foul heiroglyphs on to a scroll and stow it in my pack. This knowledge seems to be very important to the Baron and may just save my neck.
Next on my list is to travel to Stockadeoutrage and confront a dwarf queen - Vucar Axesafety. She too has a crown which the Baron has requested. Gods only know why.
23rd Sandstone 972The Tundra of Heroes is impossibly cold for one such as I, used to the fair climes of the far north. The snow-capped obsidian spire jutting from the featureless icy plain indicates I have arrived at Kikrostzar. The first living thing I see is a terrifyingly huge humanoid with the head and long white fur of a polar bear. It hefts an enormous halberd and is draped in iron chainmail of prodigious size. The polar bear man introduces himself as Borik Iceshatter the Blockaded Praise of Vessels. The massive bear grins as I ask about the local ruler. He agrees to join me on my adventures. I tell him of my quest to gather treasure for the Blind Sadist baron of Keyconjure, and he licks his lips in anticipation.
After scouring the frozen fort we finally find the Queen Vucar Axesafety, and denounce her as a vampire - knowledge entrusted to us by the Baron. Borik leaps upon her tearing at her neck with his great jaws and while she is distracted, I deftly remove her head. We retrieve the treasure the Baron had requested - a crown, and a slab.
24th Sandstone 972The slab is prodigiously heavy but Borik shoulders the burden with surprising ease. Unfortunately, he cannot resist the runes etched upon it and his eyes glaze over with forbidden knowledge. It is time to trek to the Eternal Citadel to face our fate. In terror I cannot find the hemp quire in which I inscribed the knowledge of Shoselostar. In a panic I quickly scribe a second tome and stash it in my pack. I must have left the original scroll back in Stockadeoutrage.
26th Sandstone 972Just over the mountains to the west, we are attacked by a huge corrupted drake - a Cave Dragon! Where has this thing come from? Borik's axe splits its skull. He hefts its enormous corpse on his back alongisde the evil slab and grins. We head east to the fort. We arrive at The Eternal Citadal - a great clear glass pyramid erupts from a lush valley. Within Borik gleefully butchers the cave dragon corpse.
We find the Baron in his personal temple to the death God Ala, deep below his private chambers. His teeth are disconcertingly long and he has an aura of blight around him. He silently nods at me and Borik in turn. In the four corners of the temple, surrounding an adamantine coffin, are well crafted pedestals. On the north west is a blade more beautiful and terrible than I have ever seen - Tautaches the adamantine long sword, its grip made of demon leather, menacing with spikes of adamantine.
At the silent direction of the Baron we place our gifts.
The slab retrieved from Vucar Axesafety - Gallpaddles the Spittle of Juice.
The crown of the Staff of Kissing.
The quire of knowledge from Shoselostar.
As we begin our retreat we hear a scrabbling from a corridor to the east. An enormous forgotten beast - "The Perplexing" - an insectoid creature with poison vapours. The creature falls to my blade.
And with that our story ends. We retire to enjoy the
hospitality of The Eternal Citadel, under the protection of the Blind Sadist. He tasks us with training a young obese dwarf in the arts of war and letters, and it is made very clear that this is not a negotiable request. It seems we are now considered the loyal subjects of The Book of Dreams, the local government.
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Topic: Museum III, adventure succession game (DF 0.47.05) (Read 474631 times)