We spent some days around our small town Helmedfragrances. It was less than an hour from the fort which suited him. They worked on the temple to Kanil's god Buh, patron of festivals and songs, although this temple was little more than a pavilion.
Being a large brutish and simple man most of his fellows were shocked at his choice of Buh as a patron, especially since most simply didn't have a god. Kanil himself hated merriment and partying, but he felt like a child whenever he listened to or read the works of passing artists or got to speak with the ones they were holding hostage for ransom. So he practiced poetry and was horrible at it, but Buh was always there to listen to it.
The day after the Pavilion finished he pulled out his map marking the fort. It was time to finish the goblins in the area that were putting pressure on his tribe. Scouts came out of these two locations
He first hunted all the scouts around the northern one. Foolishly the goblins chose to always go out and track alone, which made them easy if not tedious to hunt down.
The dark pit itself was quiet for the most part. Very little traffic until he got into it's network of tunnels underneath. He found a few trolls and a couple of goblins and killed them, but his real treasure was two stray beakdogs wandering the funerary pits. He took them both as his, and they took well. Either because of their shared love of violence or because Kanil was just good with animals. After that things were quiet there
Until he ran into a dwarf. It was like some sort of broken thing sprinting across the place yelling "identify yourself" and even if Kanil did so it would leave and come back later asking the same.
It was one of the hunters from the east, that much he could tell, and he knew they were pretty ferocious with their powers. Perhaps it was left to guard the place from goblins, but if so it did a horrible job and was unable to recognize him either as an invader.
He heard it shouting its alarm like warning again as it ran back into view to pass the tunnel near him. As it crossed he swung for it's neck. It was faster than Kanil could ever hope to be. In the time it took Kanil to swing it drew it's weapon. Activated its power and stabbed its own weapon into its chest, but it miscalculated
With this pit clear he took his new pets and Pamud to the southern one. This one was stuffed with goblins although not a single one was warriors. After slaying one they went into a panic and ran, but this played out favorably. The beak dogs chased the hapless goblins down the tunnels and eventually led them right back to Kanil. As each goblin ran past him he beheaded them and lined the tunnel with little green bodies.
After that was done he went to the main part of the underground pits where goblins tended to gather. The room had plenty of them, but they were too spread out to see one another, and so he would kill one after another and the others had no clue as he worked his way towards them.
One goblin metalcrafter held it's own against Kanil. Not with blade, but words.
"You think any of this matters man-filth? More will come. The Elder Hell is more powerful than you could ever hope to be"
"I'll break your hell on my blade"
"Yes, think you're strong don't you? Wanna be the master of these lands?"
He raised his blade "No, power is oppression of others. It's a worthless thing."
The goblin was unphased by the blade or the coat of blood covering Kanil "Is it? You're powerful or you wouldn't have gotten this far. Power is all that matters it shapes the world around us and that is why you are able to stand"
"All I want is to protect the life me and my people have now"
"And you'll need power to do that, yes. We use numbers, but you use those muscles and iron. We're the same just with different resources"
Kanil rested his blade "That...is a lot to consider, but I have no wish to control others"
"Power doesn't control. People meld themselves around power. Take those dwarves, They try to avoid these places because theirs power here they wanna avoid."
"Did want to avoid. I've been harassed non-stop by bearded regiments"
"Then you need more power, yes? To make them stay away so that you can be free to do as you please?"
"I...see. I will spare you for your wisdom, little one." Kanil's value of power has changed.
From there they rested, explored and found a vault, but did not go in. One of the beak dogs earned a name chasing down and feeding on a goblin. Kanil decided on Duquehan or "nurturedglories". We ended up exploring all the dark pits, because after this one every other one was completely abandoned. This piqued his curiosity. Where was this army invading his homeland? He took a risk and decided to head for the black tower in the west.
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Kanil knew little history, but this black fortress was an intimidating sight that he stayed away from, but here now climbing down the endless trenchworks. This place seemed long abandoned too. Most of the trenches were worn and fading and the towers around the dark one were crumbling. He reached the fortress itself and walked in. When he strained his ears he could hear movement from somewhere around him, but it was very little.
The ceilings of each room went higher than he could see and with the walls being made of slade it seemed he was walking in total darkness.
With virtually no sounds or life this was disconcerting. He passed statues some of goblins and others of fantastic beasts. He wondered if these creatures had been real or were the products of a twisted imagination.
After ascending in silence for so long he finally, reached the top. The "master" was scrawnier than almost any other goblin he had run into. Gray-skinned tiny and withdrawn.
At this point Kanil settled on a false name and title to blend in with the inner-workings here.
"What do you mean there's no plan? Aren't you the master? What about conquering the east?"
The master seemed shy "Well, I don't know what dark pit you've been hiding at, cousin, but...well. The Plagues of Forking really hasn't been the same since those dwarves got here."
Kanil was confused by the name and looked at the Master's pin.
"who rules here?"
"Uh... well, my wife actually. Funny thing is that my title is really ceremonial. Most of us live as bandits now. Sometimes the dwarves come out of their mountain to make sure we're really all dead so we have to hide in the tunnels. There's only a handful of us here"
This wasn't the empire that Kanil had been fighting. He assumed the goblins had come from the pits to the west, but these hailed from an entirely different land.
This fellow seemed entirely kind and wanting to stay out of the way. Kanil loved violence, but really had very little hate in his heart so he left the master. The master never realized how close he was to death that day thinking he had reunited with some cousin of his own people.
This was a lot for Kanil to consider as he left the site. Goblins from far away places, and apparently the dwarves were a problem for everyone in this area and not just him. What should he do? What did he want to do? Fight more, but these gray ones were a tribe like his own.
As he continued to walk a goblin from one of the tunnels sprinted out and greeted him and without thinking he replied "I am kanil Inchwhips"
He froze immediately. The goblin seemed nervous now as Kanil was well known.
Kanil's beakdog made a croaking hiss at it sensed the goblin's fear and Kanil's hostility building.
The beakdog pounced and pinned the goblin who punched feebly at it's head. It began mauling the goblin before Kanil came over and inserted Cloudfought into it's brain. It was time to leave. There was too much to consider.
OOC:
So that's that. A lot to consider on my part. The Elder Hell is actually from the far arctic north and is the only goblin civilization that has any success in this world and is occupying the pits of their dead cousins, but I also cleared them from the area.
So for Kanil would he be more interested in killing the dwarves who are pressing in from the north or the undead hordes to the east that do not expand, but represent an ever present threat?
I also discovered that in real life if an elephant loses it's trunk it starves to death, fortunately I doubt dwarf fortress will simulate that.
Also the Master Azstrog. According to legends his three year old son was executed by the dwarves when they last invaded the place and that is who he is saying he misses in the dialogue.
Do you guys find the history of df world's interesting? I'm deep diving this one's and might expand on it
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Topic: In Search of Fairy Tales - Adelaathira - The End of Dwarfdom (Read 49737 times)