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[callisto8413]

Dwarf Fortress - The World Of Bones - The Adventures Of Callisto

Callisto first decided to explore the abandoned shops and houses.  Maybe there was something useful?  Or maybe she could find a clue why a major trading center was showing such decay?

Ducks and turkeys seemed to walk the streets along side the humans who seemed to occupy the town.

She used a well to refill her skins and picked a house to take a nap in.

It was night when she woke up.  She was well rested and decided to explore the town while the citizens slept.

Was this town dead?  Where did most of its people sleep?

There was a market but at night there was nobody.  Though she did notice they sold a lot of different items.  Maybe if she worked on some of the bones she carried she could sell them?

So she found a empty building and went to work.

After making bone items she could wear she decided to nap till sunrise and go sell them to the traders.  That way she could gain some coin and then try to find the tavern?

Of course the merchants made fun of her name but she tried to trade with them anyway.

For her work she received two silver coins.  Not bad.  At least it was local coinage and more acceptable to the townsfolk.

Sadly while the traders knew of many people, places, and monsters, none seemed to know of a tavern.  Maybe they were all from the hamlets?

Though she did find a tavern called the Mouth of Crewing.  She decided to go on in and have a few drinks and ask for more information.

Which didn’t seem to have any staff.  So she decided to serve herself.  At least she tried.  There was no cups or goblets in the coffer she opened.  It had musical stuff in it.

She examined the upstairs and found a bunch of empty bedrooms.

She pondered if she could make a bone cup or something?

She went back downstairs and finally found the coffer holding the goblets and mugs.  She grabbed a rose gold goblet.

After drinking some sewer drew she decided to head out and explore what seemed to be a fortress in the middle of the town.  No doubt a better part of town.  Or the center of the government.

She returned the goblet to the coffer (while pouring some of the sewer brew into one of her packs) and left the tavern.

Nope.  Inside the walls were as bad as outside.  Though she did pass the Lunches of Biting.  But she passed it.

She figured government officials would be more interesting to talk to.

The keep was…crowded…

She started to chat with the Lord Consort Ecen Ewomlir.  Who was pretty boring.  So she tried to talk to the Chamberlain Shato Rabinlaspar.  Who was less boring as he explained he had been a criminal a few years ago.

So Callisto decided to chat with the Baroness.  Turned out the Baroness Rusna was just the Baroness Consort and the real ruler was Bushik Wanedurged who was also a Baroness.  But a real one.

So she started to talk to the Baroness Bushik.

Callisto asked to become a hearthperson and the Baroness turned her down.  “You are not worthy.”

She asked if she could be a performer and didn’t even hear any answer.  Mostly because everybody was talking.

She decided to try to perform something for the crowd.  Maybe she could get a job as a performer if she could show some skill.  Outside of hunting and bonecrafts.

So she told the tale of the founding of the Abbey of Blossoming!  Sadly while she started out well she screwed up some of the details and the crowd decided she sucked.

Then she decided to give a sermon on Commerce.  Surely a trading center, even one as poor as this one, would enjoy a sermon related to trade?

Once again she started out well and then it went downhill.

And the crowd was more than happy to tell her she sucked at it.  Tough crowd.

Sadly, this was unlikely to get her a job in the town.

Still, if you drown while trying to swim, try try again.  Or something like that.

So she tried another sermon.  This time about the value of Hard Work.  Maybe not the BEST value to preach about to a bunch of upper class snobs who lived in the middle of a ruined city.

Once again it started out well but soon her lack of skill showed and the crowd started to toss insults at her.

She tried to talk to the real Baroness again but the ruler was less than impressed by Callisto’s performances or how many animals she had killed in the wild.  And she finally broke off the chit-chat.

Callisto frowned.  She wanted to join in a society.  But this one didn’t want her.

And to be honest she wasn’t sure she wanted to stay here.  The hamlet’s were cleaner and more friendly.

Should she continue to try to impress these folks?  Maybe go on quests?  Or maybe go to one of the hamlets and try to find a job here?  Did the hamlets have jobs?!?!

[King Zultan]

Seems weird that there are that many people living in a town that dead, also why would you want to live with all those snobs, bet you could find nicer people somewhere else in a more lively place.

[callisto8413]

Seems weird that there are that many people living in a town that dead, also why would you want to live with all those snobs, bet you could find nicer people somewhere else in a more lively place.

I plan to stay in the trading center, torture the snobs while practicing my skills at story telling and preaching.  Once I get good at it I can go to one of the hamlets and see if they will take me in as a performer or priest.  I just have to figure out who to ask permission to join the hamlet...

[King Zultan]

After enough time they shall lean to love your story telling!

[callisto8413]

Dwarf Fortress - The World Of Bones - The Adventures Of Callisto

Callisto decided to continue to practice in front of the live audience.  And when she became tired she could easily find someplace to take a nap in the keep.

As she pondered what story to tell next many in crowd petted Lekla.

She decided to tell a few tales of the dwarfs who lived in the Abbey of Blossoming.

Mixed with sermons, of course.  And even a poem or two.

The crowd’s reaction was…mixed.

The Baroness still, even after so many performances, needed to something REALLY good before she would agree to make Callisto a performer.

So Callisto continued to practice on the room of Nobles, clerks, and abbots.

Then she took a piece of bone and made it into a scepter and gave it to the Baroness.  She liked it but it didn’t change her mind.

So she went back to telling tales and poems.

She then took a break to read some books that were on the floor.  What a messy place this was.

Then she spent a few hours, away from the crowd, to compose a new poem.  Incineration And Nothing More.  It was truly awful.  So of course she used it on the crowd.  Maybe it would be used as a weapon for future generations?

By the tine she finished some in the crowd seemed to have liked it.  Weirdos. 

Also by now she was  getting sleepy.  She asked if she could sleep in the keep and was told by the Baroness Bushik “The Honeys of Luster is west.”

Callisto, realizing she had been dismissed, decided to leave the keep. 

What a bunch of jerks.

She wandered about until she found the Portentous Date, a tavern, and entered it.

It was empty.  But the bedrooms upstairs were clean and not occupied.  She picked the nearest one to the stairs and went to sleep after having a meal.

She woke up in the midnight of the night to a growling.  Her tummy.  She had a midnight meal and went back to sleep.

When she woke up she went back to the keep to continue to practice.  And pick up her bones which she had dropped on the floor.

She did some more tall tales, a few poems, a few sermons, and even tried to sound like a vir.  Then she tried to sound like a angish.  Some in the crowd joined in.  Mixed results again.

After a few more performances she decided to leave the keep.  It was just too annoying to get such bad feedback from the crowd of snobs.  Maybe she could find a hamlet to try her story telling skills with.

Also her waterskins were almost empty.

At the river, where she refilled her skins, the town was still mostly ruins.  Lots of people, mostly humans and dwarfs, and a shrine here and there.  But mostly there was ruins.

As she left the town, heading towards the Hamlet Tenderperplexed, she did pass some open businesses and even a market place.  Even a few houses that still housed people.  So the town had a few working structures.  But most of it was still ruins.  And flocks of ducks.

She was beginning to think that the trading town had been nothing but monks, traders, and a government that ruled, and taxed, them.  A town of people who didn't live in the town.  Just travelers and traders.  Like the town was one big tavern.  Not that the taverns were staffed.

She decided that the only business was trade.  But the trade from the hamlets was no longer able to support such a large town and people had gone elsewhere.

As she approached the hamlet she wondered if she could find a job or home.  If all the people had fled to the hamlets to find work that suggested that there might not be able positions left for her.

[callisto8413]

Dwarf Fortress - The World Of Bones - The Adventures Of Callisto

Callisto and her elephant approached the hamlet.  She noticed there was a group running about the fields and tried to interact with them.

Turned out to be a bunch of human monks and a goblin doctor? 

After a small chat she moved to Tenderperplexed.  Which was nothing but houses and one Skrine.

She decided to ask about the government.  Maybe of she found the Mayor or Ruler she could join the hamlet?

She entered a house and asked a animal trainer about who ran the hamlet.  Seemed a Lady named Thram Smilescrape, in the Mead Hall named Cloudy Howls, was the ruler.

So Callisto went off to find the Mead Hall.

She noticed the populace was mostly humans with a few goblins here and there.  And some of them liked to talk to her pet elephant.  One even agrued with it about something.  Weirdos.

She found that the Cloudy Howls was to the east of the hamlet.  Maybe where the upper class lived and worked?

She entered the Mead Hall and asked for a job.  Either as a performer or as a hearthperson.  The Lady turned her down.

So Callisto told a few tales and did some sermons.  Even a poem.

Turned out the upper class is still the upper class.  Even when they lived in a Mead Hall in a farming hamlet.  Snobs!  They had mixed reactions to her skill.  Mostly insults.

So she went to another room and turned the gator bones into art.  Earrings, rings, and so on.  Stuff she could wear, trade, or give as gifts.

She gave the Lady a bone crown.  Funny enough the Lady already had a human hair crown.  Why would a human wear a human hair crown?

The Lady refused to hire Callisto but agreed that, when nightfall came, she could sleep in the Hall.

So she read a book about a cook which she found on the floor.  The only book there.  At least the rulers of the ruined town had a bunch of books.  Also stored on the ground....were there no libraries?

Callisto sighed.  What to do now?  If she wanted a job she might have to go on a quest and maybe kill a monster or return a item.  Or get killed.

[callisto8413]

Dwarf Fortress - The World Of Bones - The Adventures Of Callisto

So Callisto went to the Lady and asked about troubles.

There seemed to be a lot of them.  The town Rulers had no problems while it seemed the hamlets had troubles for days.

The Callisto asked about the missing treasure but the Lady Thram didn’t seem to want to answer.  So she started talking to a Pikeman named Sizet Sugtegism. 

So a rib scepter was missing….ewww…

Stolen by a human mummy named Zih Moltenqueens.   Really?  And people made fun of her name.

Sadly the Pikeman had no idea where the human mummy or even who to ask to find out.

So she started asking everybody.

And found out, after a lot of questioning, that the mummy was at Holedell?  A tower to the southwest.

She was even able to get directions to it!

She left the Meadhall and checked the map.

It didn’t seem THAT far away.  But towers were bad news.  Not just full of monsters and traps.  But hidden rooms and junk.  Even if she defeated a mummy would she find the scepter?

And would there be sources of water on the way?

[callisto8413]

Dwarf Fortress - The World Of Bones - The Adventures Of Callisto

And so Callisto and her pet elephant started by following the river south for a period of time before heading southwest.

After a few days travel, and after butchering a peacock, she arrived at the hamlet or Passionfights.  Which had a river flowing right up to it.  No doubt why the people had built their hamlet there.

The hamlet was full of ruined houses and abandoned buildings. 

There was nobody around and she moved on.  She killed and butchered animals when she needed the meat and kept a close eye on her skins so as to keep them full when she needed to.

Sadly, the mountain blocked her from going to Holedell directly.  She would have to find a round about way to get to the Tower.  And she was running low on water.

She had to go through a evil forest to find a lake to refill her water skins and try to find something to hunt.  She was out of meat.

Would she be able to resupply herself before she starved?  Would she find a way to the Tower?  Did she take a wrong turn?

[callisto8413]

Dwarf Fortress - The World Of Bones - The Adventures Of Callisto

Callisto was having a problem.  There didn’t seem to be any animals around the large lake.  And non of the plants were something she could eat.  She wondered about how long she could last without meat or veggies?

She tried climbing a orange tree but it had no fruit for her to harvest.

As she approached the south side of the lake she started to melt and bleed!  She ran back to the north and tried to recover by drinking some of the sewer brew.

What happened?  Did the heat get too much?  Even where she was resting it was burning.

At least she had survived.  But if the tower was in a region too hot to travel in then trying to recover the treasure was pretty much out of the question.

She checked herself and realized it was time to head someplace safe.  And she still needed food.

Time to give up the quest and find meat.  So she made a run for the nearest sign of civilization she could detect, to the west, and searched it for food and shelter.  Luteclustered, as it was called, was a farming hamlet and, sadly, had little in the way of shops, taverns, or even warehouses.

At least there was fresh water.

The strawberry fields seemed to laugh as her as she wandered about looking for ANYTHING to eat.

The people were mostly farmers and they were willing to allow her to sleep in their homes if she wanted.  From what she could tell, from asking them questions, there was little in the area and little to trade.  This part of the world was even less populated than all the regions she had visited before!

As she searched for food, wandering among their fields, she found spinach growing in one of the fields.  Which she could eat!!!!

She ate a few leafs and then picked a abandoned building to sleep in.  From its many rooms she assumed it had been used as a warehouse during a more profiable period in the hamlet's existence.

By morning she was feeling a tad better.  She picked some more spinach to eat and put in her backpack.

At least she was no longer on the edge of death.  And she would have more scars to show off to the natives.

[King Zultan]

I wander what happened to cause the melting?

[callisto8413]

I wander what happened to cause the melting?

I have heard that regions can become superhot but this was weird.  I was lucky to find someplace with food.  There were no animals in this region.  Truly a wasteland.

[callisto8413]

Dwarf Fortress - The World Of Bones - The Adventures Of Callisto

Callisto decided she owed the local government for all the spinach she had eaten.  And stuffed into her backpack.

So she went in search of the local mead hall.  Maybe she could tell them a few sermons in exchange fir the spinach?

From a farmer she found out the person in charge was the Lady Busbel Deskstockade.  Of course she had to ask around to find out where the Lady was.

Nobody seemed to know where she was so Callisto went searching for a mead hall or city hall.

While searching she found a herd of horses and camels.  She attacked one of the fat horses.  She needed meat.

They ran away after a few hits so she went after the camels.  Sadly, even wounded, they were too fast to chase down.

After a few tries she gave up and went back to looking for the Mead Hall. Which she found.  Which was called the furious Savior.

And yes, the Lady was there.  So Callisto chatted with her a tad before asking for a job.  Any job.  She was turned down of course.

So she gave a few sermons, did some poetry, and even a few tales.

Once again there were mixed reactions from the crowd.  Nobody in these lands understand Callisto’s art! 

At least the Lady was willing to let Callisto stay there the night if need be.  But jobs were still off the table.

Callisto sighed and asked about…troubles.



Seems the Lady’s son had been kidnapped by Stozu Wheelsmenaced.  A goblin.  The Callisto pondered this and asked where this Wheelsmenaced was.  Of course the Lady had not a clue.  But suggested Callisto ask Anur Presentcontain who was a well traveled traveller.

Turned out Stozu was a protector of the defenseless and so on.  He was a holy fountain.  Whatever that meant.

But the Lady had no idea where to find Anur who knew where Stozu would be.  Callisto sighed and decided to explore the Mead Hall and ask the crowd for information.

Turned out there were armies on the march, abductions, beasts, and other troubles.  Were there no law enforcement?  No jails?  No Heroes? 

She finally ran into Anur himself!  Well, a Anur anyway.  And asked about Stozu.

Callisto was disappointed to learn that Anur, well, this one anyway, knew nothing about the goblin in question.

Nor did the Holy Fountain know where the goblin might be.

Callisto was beginning to think all the people in this world were worthless idiots.

[callisto8413]

Dwarf Fortress - The World Of Bones - The Adventures Of Callisto

Then Callisto had a brilliant idea.  Why not ask Anur Ocnaputi about Anur Presentcontain?

But when asking about Presentcontain Ocnaputi just talked about himself.  Ehhh?

When she asked where Anur Presentcontain WAS Anur Ocnaputi replied with a strange answer.

So…Presentcontain and Ocnaputi were one and the same.

But that brought up some…interesting information.

He had no idea who the son of the local Ruler was?  Oh boy.  So she switched tracks and asked about the missing Treasure.

A MUMMY wanted a book returned?  She wasn’t touching that with a ten meter pole.

Callisto decided to stop asking questions for a tad and relaxed by doing some more poetry and sermons.

After the performances, in which some of the crowd retched, jerks, Callisto went back to asking questions.  And getting mostly nowhere.

Maybe she could ask about OTHER troubles.  Ones that were not about kidnapped kids nobody could find or treasures taken from mummies.  She asked one of the warriors about the…’skulking vermin’.

That sounded more like something she could handle.  Now to find monastery called Notchfaint.  She was told it was far to the northeast.  Great.  At least that was not toward the burning, melting, region.

She left the mead hall to check her map.

Well, it didn’t look far.  And there seemed to be rivers on the way. 

Callisto sighed and wondered if this was the start of her fame.  Or was she going to be killed by a bunch of crazy cultists.

[Ziusudra]

But when asking about Presentcontain Ocnaputi just talked about himself.  Ehhh?

When she asked where Anur Presentcontain WAS Anur Ocnaputi replied with a strange answer.

So…Presentcontain and Ocnaputi were one and the same.

Yes, "Presentcontain" is just the English translation of "Ocnaputi" from the DF human language.

[callisto8413]

Yes, "Presentcontain" is just the English translation of "Ocnaputi" from the DF human language.

Ohhh....that explains that.  On the other hand now I have to deal with a language barrier!  Darn you realistic settings!