Part V:Before and After
1st of Felsite, 374The Mining Outpost of RivermineRal Curlrock sat at her desk. She put down her quill and laid her hands on the arms of her chair. Finally she had completed it, a guide to Rivermine, which she had titled 'The Camp: Before and After'. She thought it a very clever name, since it began with her, Edëm, Tulon and Rith searching for a place to establish a mining outpost almost precisely three years ago, and went through all its phases and hardships until this very day.
Yes, she had much reason to be satisfied, and certainly baron Stukos would be pleased to read it (naturally Ral glorified and praised the baron in it to such an extent that it would make most people cringe).
(Several excerpts from
The Camp: Before and After, authored by Ral Curlrock)
“The mine shaft of Rivermine penetrates deep into the very heart of the earth mischievous Ôsed formed in the times before the beginning of times, through a variety of layer of stone gifted to us by the grace of the Gods of Rock: strong and sturdy granite, grainy schist and the dark-colored basalt and andesite.” “The shaft punctures into and through the winding hollows and caves concealed within the rock, with incredible beasts of both benign and foul nature living in said caverns -- though, Rivermine has been blessed by the Golden and none of the latter have been sighted.”
“As we, the mountain folk of Ustuth Ïdath under glorious rule of His Unaging Majesty, King Såkzul Cudgeltapers, very well know, the deep hollows of the earth hold a plentitude of danger. Therefore we erected palisades around the entries to the mines.”“They would, naturally, be of no use against flying creatures and avian predators, or -- may the Prince of Duty protect us -- if one of the ancient horrors of legends comes from the dark.”“These measures were taken immediately after the breach, for the safety of my servants and the subjects of the King are of my greatest concern. We did, however, encounter a few cave swallow men before the palisade rose -- they were possibly of a tribe of some sort, barely intelligent. Fortunately they merely took a peek into the shaft and were off, and have not been since then.”
“As I had expected, and as wise Stukos Matchedsabres, the rightful baron of Waterlures, clearly had known (for indeed in his infinite wisdom he had sent us to this place for a reason), the ore we sought was deep within the bowels of the earth.”“The first hollows we breached yielded not much but gem, and we had to delve all the way until we broke into a second layer until we struck red ironstone. Were it not for my insistence and the word of the baron on my side, the others certainly would have given up a long time ago and abandoned the whole venture as a waste.”“I, for one, never had any doubts of the success of our mission.”
“Above on the surface Rivermine has grown in these few years. What started off as two buildings that served as living and working place along with storage, has now grown to include many a structure. On the north, we have built a house with a communal dining area and living space above. On the south, we have stables, and a guard house, which has a kitchen, main hall and living spaces.”“In the guard house, next to the bridge we built over river Swayedcrypt, is an office, which shall serve as a toll keeper's office. It is only right that the great baron Stukos will be paid for the effort he has put into offering passage over the treacherous waters.” “It is my hope that one day the bridge will be named Sazir Stukos, the Bridge of Razors, in honor of our benevolent benefactor.”
“Indeed, the future of Rivermine looks bright and prosperous: we have struck rich veins of ironstone, gems are abundant and we have safe passage over the river. May Mestthos protect us and the generous baron's wealth until the moment we have prepared proper defenses.”
4th of Felsite, 374The Tower of Islandfences“Ah, so you have finally come. I have been expecting you.”
It was the dwarf with his back turned to the large elephant man who spoke with a grating, raspy voice. He was looking at a statue of a dwarf in front of him, unfazed by the intrusion into his chambers. On his right side was a child, once an elf, now only a shriveled husk kept alive with dark magics. On his left side was another child, once a goblin, now but a mere memory of a lively child, sitting on an iron table. The plague thrall children were playing a soulless form of make believe -- something they would continue to do for the rest of eternity.
A slight smile came to the elephant man's face as he watched them, as at the same time he dodged the pitiful attempts of an animated corpse to wail at him. “Yes, I know. I seek Kadol, are you him?” The elephant man said to the dwarf, continuing, “I am Cañar Spiritcoal the Armored Groove of Persuaders. And I have come to bring this world to peace.”
The dwarf slowly turned around. He was holding a hatch cover made of bones in his hands. He set it aside calmly, then turned to look Cañar in the eyes with a deep, penetrating gaze with his amethyst eyes. “No, I am not Kadol,” he finally answered, “I am Lokum Armoresteemed, and I am the overlord of Islandfences in his absence.”
Before Cañar found the words to respond, the dwarf continued, looking at the mockeries of children, “It is good that you have come to realize what true peace is. Life, is in a word, torture.”
“Yes, I was wrong for a long time,” Cañar spoke, “I and my companions, we saw the likes of you -- and now me -- as the true enemy...” He paused for a moment, sidestepping another blow from the wasting corpse next to him.
“But I have been contemplating for a few years on it now,” he continued, “I spoke with the True Gods. And I understood. Life, as you said, is torture. Torment. Seeking to inflict suffering. Giving and taking. Mostly taking. Causing unimaginable pain... But once there is no Life, no emotion, there is... Peace. I can feel it now in me.”
“Good, good,” the dwarf said with a grin, “Eventually all will come to the same conclusion. But you did not seek me only to tell this, no?”
“No,” the elephant man said, “I have come to offer my fealty. The Dawn of Peace will pay homage to the Prestigious Glazes -- if you will accept such a thing.”
The dwarf looked Cañar from head to toe, rubbed his beardless chin and said with a broad smile, “I accept your offer.”
5th of Felsite, 374Cañar opened the door that led into the hillside and stepped in. He had arrived at Grownwaters, the retirement home of his former traveling companion Ova.
“Ova, are you home?” Cañar said with a raised voice as he noticed the main hall empty, the tables covered in dust and cobwebs in the corners of the roof. He stepped into the hallway leading to Ova's chambers, continuing, “Old friend, it is I, Cañar. We must speak.”
No answer.
He searched the house, adjacent buildings and the surroundings, but there was no sign of the mandrill man.
'So you are not here, then. A pity. I would have very much liked to see you. Tell you what I have learned,' Cañar thought as he re-entered Ova's home and walked back to the hallway, looking at the hatch at its end.
He turned to look at the four shambling human corpses following him. They were moaning all the time, mindlessly, and a couple were dragging their entrails behind them. “Well, it looks like my friend isn't here,” he spoke to them, despite very well knowing they had no semblance of intelligence to them. He sighed.
“It matters not. There is something else I came here for,” he continued and reached down to open the trapdoor.
He walked down the steep stairs, stepped on the sand floor and walked to the end of the room where a casket lay with two pedestals next to it.
The animated corpses followed him obediently.
He opened the casket and a waft of foul air carrying the scent of death came out, but Cañar was unperturbed by it. It was a comforting smell, a smell he had come to embrace: the smell of peace.
“My friend Rin,” he said to the corpse in the casket, covered in gem, coin and other goods, “Forgive me to disturb your peace, but time has come for you to wake up. There is still work we have to do.”
The elephant man made a simple gesture with his hand as he looked at the body he had laid on the sand. The darkness in the room seemed to become momentarily darker as the eyes -- or what was left of them -- of the dead goblin began to glow an eerie blue. The corpse shuddered and began to move.
Cañar smiled.
8th of Felsite, 374The Keep of LonecanyonsOko had lost track of days while he was staying in Lonecanyons, helping out in all manner of chores and building work -- mainly finishing the roofing of one peasant house. Possibly over a week had gone by (it was no use asking Amana, for the fairy often forgot if it's morning or night), but then again the badger man was in no hurry.
However, today he would continue his journey towards the place called Waterlures, for he had heard much more about it while staying at the keep.
“...And so I saw the dwarves were good and, and -- wait, no,” Oko scratched his badger head as he stumbled in his words. He was telling a story of how he came to live with the dwarves of Treethimbles, but kept forgetting all the details. He really wasn't much of a story teller, and he kept backtracking all the time and changing the story. It was awful to listen to, and one could see it on lord Thob's face (even though he tried to be polite and appear to listen with interest).
“Ah, now I got it!” The badger man exclaimed as he thought he remembered the end of the story, “So, it was this Iden, a dwarf, he saw that we had, had -- what do you call it? -- ah!
Potentia. Yes, potentia, some kind of, um, magic? Yes, some kind of magic thing in us...”
“I. See,” Thob said with an awkward smile, “But let us not tarry any longer. You must be on your way now if you intend to reach some semblance of shelter before nightfall. You are, of course, welcome back anytime you wish, fair badger man...” The dwarf paused for a moment, and continued, “...And fairy and rooster. It has been an honor being your host.”
And so Oko, Amana and Goden the rooster said their farewells (well, Goden really didn't, nor did Amana, since she forgot to) to the good lord Thob, made one final check that they had everything with them, and set off towards the village of the capybara folk.
And so the journey of Oko, Amana and Goden continued with them heading first northwest towards the hillocks of Tradeplay. It was already late when they set foot, and the sun was in the west heading swiftly towards the horizon. They could've waited until the next day before leaving, but Oko was determined to leave on this day.
So lord Thob had suggested Tradeplay to them as a place to spend the night, lest the bogeyman catch them (of course such beings did not exist in these lands, but Oko was not aware of it, and Thob had merely wanted the inexperienced travelers to be somewhere safe away from other dangers of the night).
It was already dark when they reached the outskirts of Tradeplay and it took some time for them to find the actual hillocks. Eventually they found a mound with some noise coming from inside. As the door was open, they entered and saw many a dwarf sleeping on the floor (to be frank, most of them were passed out -- this was a drinking hole). A rank smell wafted into the noses of the travelers. Amana winced, but Oko stepped forth to greet those who still were awake.
After some talking, permission was granted to stay for the night and the three curled up in a corner to sleep.
9th of Felsite, 374This time the travelers did not linger, but set forth as soon as the sky in the east took a faint pink hue with sunrise approaching. They followed the banks of the river Touchy Guts north, walking through dense and long grass. The sky was clear, but the air was chilly and in shadier places one could see a coating of hoarfrost. Oko wrapped his robe and cloak tighter, slightly shivering as a cool breeze blew from the east.
It was a twisting river, shifting its direction all the time: just when it appeared to head straight to the north and the destination of Oko, it made a sharp turn to the west, slithering and winding like a snake in the grass. Amana had lost her sense of direction almost immediately when they left, but Oko managed to keep an estimation of where north was by the position of the sun, looking on what side the branches of trees were thickest and where moss grew on the their trunks.
It was a rather uneventful day walking in the wilds, but as the sun was high in the western sky and they emerged at the banks of river Swayedcrypt from the Forest of Constructing, they saw in the northwest what appeared to be several roofs above the tree tops.
At first they thought that it must be Waterlures, but then Oko remembered that lord Thob had mentioned of a mining outpost called Rivermine next to the flowing waters. So, Oko came to the conclusion that must be it, for Waterlures was next to a lake (as Iden had told him).
Oko walked through the foliage and bamboo thicket amidst tall highwood trees towards the buildings in front of him. There were several houses close to each other with a low palisade in the gaps. He saw a door in the palisade, where a hill rose to the east. There was nobody in sight, but the badger man swore he heard some noise from beyond the walls.
There was nobody in the opening between the buildings, but they heard something from house in the north. “I wonder what they'll think of us?” Amana thought out loud, and when noticing Oko turn to her, continued, “I mean, if they're dwarves, will they too be surprised to see 'a badger, fairy and rooster' together?”
“I have no idea,” Oko replied as they walked across the grass to the door.
Inside they saw a hall with tables and chairs, and a dwarf in the corner. Oko greeted the dwarf and introduced himself. The dwarf -- named Domas -- told that they'd best seek out Ral, the head of the mining outpost.
After a short search and running into several other dwarves and a jaguar man (Amana thought him a bit frightening), they were directed upstairs where they met Ral Curlrock. However, she was not really in the mood for a discussion, and after telling very little she rather impolitely (in Oko's mind) told them to leave her to her work and go bother someone else.
But nobody else either was interested in the likes of Oko and Amana, all sending them off to pester someone else.
Until they came upon a dwarf with a long beard as black as charcoal. He was a burly one and had a pick strapped to his back. The dwarf was rather excited to have visitors and invited them to his room.
“Aye, to Waterlures yer goin', eh?” He asked the two and introduced himself, “They call me Edëm, they do. And I've been to the place yer talking about. Nice place, cozy place. But come, come, let's get in me room. Close the door behind you, will you?”
So they entered Edëm's room, shutting the door behind them. The dwarf sat on his bed, motioning the chair to Oko, who went and sat there as Amana fluttered up to sit on the cabinet. Goden stayed at the door, looking at the lot curiously. Edëm began to talk to them, lowering his voice almost to a whisper.
“Waterlures, yes. Now, first let's get this straight. When we came here, to this place to strike the earth and find what riches the Gods of Rock had to offer, well, I thought of those rodents -- those capybara folk -- over at their village a suspicous lot. All manner of tales we had heard, aye. Dark tales. Unnatural rituals and sacrifices in the night. Blood spilled in the name of the Rabbit...”
Oko gasped at those words. There were worshipers of Ôsed in Treethimbles too, and he had not seen them commit such foul deeds. Perhaps they had been hiding it all the time? Perhaps the other badger folk were not safe there. He was shocked, but then Edëm continued.
“But I was wrong. Those tales were mere old cheesemakers' tales, I'm telling ya. Made up to scare the children. Keep 'em loyal to the King and the Prince. No, what I saw in that place when I visited not long ago was something different than I expected: a good, tight community of loving and caring ro--
individuals. Tulon (I went with her there) said it was just a ruse, a mere trick of evil rabbit-worshipers, but I gave it thought. Much thought.”
He pointed at his bald head, tapping it with his finger a couple of times.
“This small brain of mine. It may not be the smartest around, but I sure can sense it when something is amiss. And it was not amiss in Waterlures, no. Things are wrong
here. There is no community, no friendship. That Ral, she's bossin' everyone around, all the time. Thinks she's something. Well, she's not. She's just a coward, a gutless groveling worm ready to lick those boots of the baron, do anything he wants. Pitiful.”
Oko did not understand what Edëm was talking about, but all of this sounded Very Important. So he listened intently. Amana, however, had stopped paying attention after the first few words, and was making faces at Goden, taunting the rooster.
“No respect for the Old Ways she has. No respect for me skill with the pickaxe. And I'm tellin' ya, there's something
wrong with what we're doin' here. It has something to do with that Waterlures place, aye. I can feels it in me beard. A tingling. The gods be telling me that way.”
Edëm took a swig from his winesking, wiped his mouth and offered it to Oko and Amana. They passed. Oko still remained silent, focused on Edëm's words.
“Well, anyways... Now I be thinking, 'Hey, there's this curious lot heading to Waterlures, this badger, fairy and rooster. And they don't know the way, so maybe I show them.' You see where I'm goin', mister badger?”
“Um... N-nooo?” Oko said, raising his brow and then shaking his head.
“Ach, you're me way out of here, of course! I'll pack me bag and take you to the place. Leave this damn mess of an outpost behind!” The dwarf said, abruptly flailing his hand in a sweeping motion.
“...But we'll have to wait until it's dark.”
They talked and waited for many an hour until the sun set and they were sure all the others were at sleep or at least in their quarters. Silently they walked down the stairs, making sure not to step on the creaking boards (Edëm showed which ones to avoid), and stealthily the crept between the buildings to the bridge, crossing Swayedcrypt.
It would not be a long way to Waterlures from here.
Traveling in the dark would have been hard were it not for Edëm's ability to see in even the darkest of caves. They followed the river through the barren, rocky landscape of the Dune of Influencing until they came to the shores of the Lakes of Saturninity.
There they set camp, for Edëm said it would be suspicious of them to arrive at the dark of the night. It was better to continue at dawn.
So, food was had, tales were told and songs were sung before heads were laid to rest.
10th of Felsite, 374Sure enough, as day broke and they set forth, the houses and towers of Waterlures could be seen across the lake.
Oko was excited, his heart pounding in his chest. All the stories he had heard. Soon they'd see if they were true or not.
The four walked down a slope towards the tall wooden walls ahead of them. A paved road of white quartz led through a gate, and a gatehouse rose high and mighty above it.
“Aye, that's the East Gate of Waterlures,” Edëm said to the badger man who he noticed looked at the sight with jaw agape. The dwarf took a deep breath of the air blowing from the lake and the village. It was otherwise refreshing, but carried with it the odor of fish -- both fresh and not-so-fresh. “It ain't like the good air of the grand halls of a dwarven settlement, but me beard'll be damned if it doesn't have a good feel to it. Even a dwarf like me could get used to it!”
“I-it, it is huge!” Oko managed to say, “Far bigger than I imagined!”
“Well, come on then, let's go in,” Edëm said and shoved the badger man forth.
They entered the building in front of them: a large circular house with a tower rising from its center and a wing extending south onto the lake.
Inside they came to a hall with an open space in the middle and tables and chairs arranged in clusters at the side. In the center they saw a percussion instrument -- Oko recognized it as the ngotol -- which consisted of bone bars attached to a wooden stand. The ceiling in the center rose high above and one could see railed platforms going around the walls. It was a grand sight.
A capybara woman, dressed in a toga and carrying many bone figures in her hand looked at the travelers.
“Hello travelers, I am Ònul Strickenrelics and it is a mighty fine day we have,” she spoke with a genuine smile on her face, “Welcome to the Enchanted Bridge, the grandest inn of Waterlures. We are unfortunately currently not open for outsiders, but I will not turn you away. Please, come, take a seat. You look weary and in need of a drink. What brings you to Waterlures?”
A view of Lonecanyons in the year 374
A view of Rivermine in the year 374
=====
Yeah, so that *should* be all the adventure mode side ventures for some time. I didn't do everything I wanted, but enough anyway.
So, next up is returning to fort mode and this time I'll try to get most of the missing folk back. We shouldn't have a problem with visitors listed as hostile since I made all zones citizens only before retiring. And there weren't any on the map when I retired, iirc. There still might be a odd few that pop up, but that's not a problem.
I'll probably have a couple days break before continuing.
Author
Topic: Waterlures - A Capybara Man Fortress & Adventure [DF 0.47.05] (Read 84005 times)