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[Travis Bickle]

Nephilim III's Journal
8th Malachite, 260: This and the following entries shall be written to serve as a permanent record in the likely event that I and a great number of us do not survive. May they serve the reader well as a warning of the dangers of exploiting the metal of the gods.

During the past few months, we had greatly expanded our mining of adamantine. Production of vast arsenals made of the material would, I had thought, allow us to reconquer our Dwarven lands which had fallen to the enemy with relative ease. All throughout the mining process we thought we were being careful to not breach the center of the pillar, an action that was rumored to bring death to even the mightiest of fortresses. As more and more adamantine was mined without incident, however, we grew increasingly careless. One layer was shaved off of the pillar, and then another, and another, until a few days ago one dwarf struck his pick where he shouldn't have. Suddenly horrifying screams, worse than any goblin or beast from the caverns, came from the depths of the fortress, loud enough to be heard on the surface. Immediately the whole fortress knew that we were going to suffer the penalties whispered of in legends.

At the time Tonnot was in Lower Goldsilver, in charge in adamantine production. I had given him strict orders to seal of the entrance to the area in the even that anything went wrong in the upper levels. I trust that he was fast in carrying out my orders.



The dwarves down there should be safe for a while. The forges were greatly expanded both to accomodate an expanded workforce to increase metal production and to provide a bunker for the electorate to survive in the event that the upper levels of the fortress fall to an outside enemy. The bunker cannot be of much help to most of the electorate now as the stairs are unusable, but there is ample food for Tonnot and the others who are stuck down there.



On the surface, an expeditionary force was quickly put together consisting of all soldiers from all units who were available at the time. They would face whatever was coming for us in the caverns to buy us the time we needed to seal off the caverns and mines from Upper Goldsilver.





Fighting could be heard until yesterday. Whatever sort of horrors now roam down there likely made short work of the expeditionary force. The smoke and miasma which wafted up the stairs was incentive enough to finish blocking off the stairs, completely separating Upper Goldsilver from the lower sections of the fortress.



Lucky and ChaosPotato are missing; it is almost certain that they did not make it out of the mines in time and are now dead. Jecowa led the expeditionary force to defend the lives of us who are still alive. These three dwarves alone are worth avenging, to say nothing of the others who have died. I began this year thinking that I could reconquer hillocks to the south, but now I will have to reconquer Goldsilver. Upper and Lower Goldsilver will need to be reconnected somehow, and large squads of very well-equipped dwarves will need to be trained. Either we will retake the fortress or we will all die trying.

[fatcat__25]

Journal of Fatcat, Holy Wealth of alil Helpfulmirth.
Malachite 8th, 260

"Work that you may have riches. Delve deeply, for the earth and stone are the storehouse of wealth." These are a few of the teachings of our Lady alil Helpfulmirth, passed down from our forefathers. Despite my love for the sunlight, I have sought to obey these commands to the best of my ability. From today, I will struggle to ever bring myself to do so again. Yesterday, I felt ill at ease. First I surmised it was the weather, and then feared I, in my weakness and carelessness, had angered our Lady. All doubt in the matter was dispelled when a abysmal screech seemed to shake the very foundations of the earth, seemingly emanating from every surface. Fearing the end of all had come, I fled to the temple, to await my fate before She whom I serve. On they way, I passed Nephilim III, rushing towards the meetinghall and cursing by everything he could think of. As I worshiped before alil Helpfulmirth, several further screeches shook the walls, and then an eerie stillness crept over the fortress.

The gods had not appeared bringing wrath and judgement, and regaining my sense, I realized what had happened. Over the previous year, as I led the fortress, one of my greatest achievements was the expansion of the mines around the pillar of Adamentine, the metal of the gods. I had undertaken this partially in obedience to the commands I have quoted above, and partially in the knowledge that Nephilim III, as my probable successor, would be eager to outfit our militia with the best weaponry possible. Since the end of my term, I have mainly focused on my duties as Holy Wealth, but was aware the expected rearmament was underway. All became clear. The Overseer had crossed the line from the holy act of seeking riches by work in the depths to despicable greed, and had torn at the gift of the gods like a dingo at a rabbit. I offered a quick prayer for mercy to our Lady, and hurried out to gather news.

The news was grim. Tonnot, along with many other workers at the forges, are believed to have barricaded themselves in the deepest levels of the fortress. Several other dwarves expected to return to the upper levels failed to make an appearance, and are presumed dead. Among them are my old friend Lucky, and former electoral adversary ChaosPotato. Additionally, Jacowa, the hero of Goldsilver, led an expedition to attempt to stabilize the situation in the mines. While the sound of fighting echoed from the depths until just in the last hours, they are also believed lost to the horrors that have been unleashed. Nephilim III seemed shaken and deflated as he oversaw the sealing of the stairwell below Radipon's rooms. His hope of reconquest of goblin lands seems all but dead, as he speaks now of reclaiming our own home, or dying in the process.

I cannot imagine our Lady would withdraw her blessing entirely due to the choices of one dwarf. Nonetheless, I fear I will struggle to trust Her commands for work in the depths for many years to come. I must steel my faith, so I can support that of my flock. Many are afraid that we have little time left. I must go and comfort them.

In the service of our Lady, alil Helpfulmirth
Fatcat

[Travis Bickle]

Nephilim III's Journal
18th Galena, 260: The once mighty Goldsilver now lies in smoldering ruins. We had thought that Upper Goldsilver had been securely sealed off from the threat that had invaded the caverns. Under that assumption, tunnels were dug to reconnect Upper and Lower Goldsilver and production of armor and weaponry resumed with a renewed vigor. In the weeks following the initial breach of the adamantine pillar's center, steps were taken to rebuild our militia with new recruits. If things had proceeded as planned, we would have had time to raise an army of adamantine-clad soldiers to reconquer our fortress, but it was not to be. There was one spot that we had overlooked where the demons could still invade our territory: the wells that Radipon had erected to draw water from the caverns.

The first victims were a few children. Perhaps the demons were drawn to their innocence out of uniquely fiendish sort of cruelty.



In just a few moments all of the chlidren at the wells were dead and there were two demons loose in Upper Goldsilver.



Thus began yet a new rampage, somehow more disasterous than the first despite there being only two demons. They tore through civilian and soldier alike with ease. The army that we had sought to build was all but annihilated within seconds. To make matters worse, they were advancing faster than we could put up walls to block their advance. I was ready to order the entire population to take shelter in the pyramid when LadyBrassroast killed both demons single-handedly. This heroism will undoubtedly go down in Dwarven legend, though the wounds the brave soldier sustained have rendered it unrepeatable.



By this point many dwarves were dead, including the electors Fatcat, Radipon, Imic, and Quantum Drop. How cruel of fate to tease me into believing that this would be the end of the deaths. The wells were still not sealed off, and there was no time to seal them before yet another demon sought to exploit them. This new demon was perhaps worse than the others, able to burn dwarves to ash all by itself. This demon we were successfully able to seal away, but at the cost of almost all of our territory. The pyramid and the inn are under its domain, as well as everything beneath the ground level of the fortress other than the lower level of tombs and a small path leading the the prisons.



Other than mountain dorms, almost no part of the fortress remains under our control. To think that a mere three of these creatures would be able to bring us to our knees!

I must compose myself. The gods have allowed some of us to survive to test us. I was foolish to think that Goldsilver would gloriously lead a national reawakening as a conquering fortress, but national awakening may still proceed regardless as the slow awakening of this corpse of a fortress. Yet what an astouding awakening it is when a corpse rises. Goldsilver must survive one way or another. As of now, there are just over 90 citizens. Surviving members of the electorate are myself; Pyer; Clover, who inherited Lucky's seat; Eniteris II; Angular Momentum; Yung Boujee, who is quarantined; and LadyBrassroast, who is recovering in the hospital. Let us all remember that Goldsilver began with less.

[fatcat__25]

There goes the last of the starting seven. I'll take a new dwarf. One who doesn't mind the outdoors, and preferably who worships alil Helpfulmirth strongly. It is ironic that the pyramid, originally built for Lucky's religion against digging too deep is now overrun with demons. You'll probably have to individually ask people if they want new dwarves.

[Radipon]

Clean at last.

[Travis Bickle]

Clean at last.

[CoderBlaze]

Did my dwarf survive the onslaught? Got a PM confirming my dwarf's demise.
A re-dwarf would be nice. This time maybe whoever happens to be furthest from the action at the moment?

[Travis Bickle]

There goes the last of the starting seven. I'll take a new dwarf. One who doesn't mind the outdoors, and preferably who worships alil Helpfulmirth strongly.

A re-dwarf would be nice. This time maybe whoever happens to be furthest from the action at the moment?

Re-dwarfed the both of you.

As it stands right now, I've had a turn going on for about a month now. I'd like to finish, but real world and hardware factors hold me back from speedy progress. I'll keep playing for now, but if anyone wants to call for a snap election, we'll hold one.

On a related note, it seems as if much of the interest in this game has dried up. This is understandable, as this game has been running for almost a year at this point. It does, however, present difficulties with keeping this game running.

[fatcat__25]

All I can say is, if Goldsilver is going to die, it should go out with a bang. Preferably written by someone good at creating a good story.

[Travis Bickle]

All I can say is, if Goldsilver is going to die, it should go out with a bang. Preferably written by someone good at creating a good story.

I agree. For now, however, Goldsilver clings to life.
Nephilim III's Journal
12th Sandstone, 260: For over a month the fortress walls were surrounded by an army of elves bent on seizing our fortress. The remains of our militia were in no position to fight them head on, so I ordered everyone inside and ordered the the drawbridge raised. This didn't stop four soldiers from deciding that they would take on this army all by themselves with no weapons. Perhaps falling in combat in defense of the fortress was a way to ease their guilt from having not died at the hands of the demonic hoard. The remaining soldiers, led by Lurker, fired crossbow bolts down at the elves from above, doing little damage to their forces. Meanwhile, the outpost liaison and merchant caravan arrived. The former was turned into a pin cushion by the elves' arrows, cutting off our connection to the Mountainhome until next year at the earliest. The merchant wagons carrying precious supplies we so desperately needed turned around at the sight of Goldsilver under siege, with those merchants and guards brave enough to draw close meeting a similar fate as the liaison. A small migrant wave was also so unlucky as to arrive at this time; fortunately I never had the chance to learn any of their names and can feel little sadness at their loss. As a last ditch effort Yung Boujee was released to the outside world for the first time in years. She gave the elves a good thrashing but was ultimately put down by their sheer numbers. At least she died in her Dwarven form.

Finally they have retreated. I don't know if they simply got bored when they realized that they weren't going to be able to breach the curtain wall or if they got scared off by the bruises they were getting from our marksdwarves. I'd say that life was going to return to normal now but even during the siege life was strangely normal behind the walls. Between the lower population and the much smaller territory of the fortress we control compared to the beginning of the year, managing what has come to be referred to as "Free Goldsilver" has been quite simple. Simply put, there are just fewer cogs in the fortress machinery that can be mucked up at this point. I have busied myself with trying to find new blood to revitalize the Electorate, which has lost so many members recently. The two new members I had raised to the rank of elector, in keeping with a tradition that has developed in this fortress of adopting the name of a former elector, have styled themselves as Fatcat II and CoderBlaze II respectively. In a sense, as long as the Electorate survives, so will Goldsilver.

[Travis Bickle]

Nephilim III's Journal
22nd Opal, 260: More of our enemies tried to besiege our fortress in the preceding months. A small squad of 10 goblins descended on the at the start of the month of Moonstone, forcing Free Goldsilver into yet another lockdown. Despite their small numbers, these goblins showed themselves to be more than capable fighters. One cyclops learned this the hard way, being unlucky enough to decide to terrorize our fortress at the exact same time as these goblins.



The fight between the cyclops and the goblins was short and ended with only one of the goblins being slightly injured. Our small militia was in no position to defeat these goblins in a head-on fight, but fortunately during the past few months I had been hard at work installing new defenses to our fortress. These goblins would need to contend with several traps if they wanted to get inside the fortress, and for whatever reason that was a risk they seemed willing to take.



Several of the invaders were shredded to bits before the few survivors decided to give up and head for the hills. A resounding victory for us, yet even so one of our militiadwarves still managed to meet his end at the hands of a goblin who managed to survive having his leg cleaved off by a trap and still put up a tenacious fight. Goldsilver is once again safe, but for how long when our militia is this weak. We may face another test soon enough, for one of the dwarves has been acting strange lately and is demanding wood to begin a project. One of my last acts for this year may involve delving deep into the caverns once again in search of this precious material.

[Travis Bickle]

SAVE FILE

Let's see if we can breathe any new life into this fortress. I'll be sending out a DM to anyone who still has a living dwarf letting them know that an election will be held, so if you're interested in running the fort, please say so in the thread.

[fatcat__25]

I'd love to run, but rules say I can't 'till next year. I guess I'll try find someone else for this year.

[Maximum Spin]

All right, so, if you guys want, I can probably take another turn now. It wouldn't be very democratic, but it doesn't look like anyone else is willing. One party state ho, I guess.

[Travis Bickle]

It wouldn't be very democratic, but it doesn't look like anyone else is willing. One party state ho, I guess.

Go right ahead, my dude.