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[Heavy Flak]

The Events of the 24th of Slate, 1057

The hallways were crowded, but really, when weren't they?  The original fortress had been designed for seven.  Over time, it had been retrofitted for 40.  When the population was pushing 90 the walk-ways were tight, but things still worked.

Aryn had to fight his way from the crypts to top-side, shouldering past Dwarves he'd never seen.  By the time he'd reached the housing level he'd gotten into a fight with two Dwarves, sent Archin and Rice to stop a group he'd never seen from using the workshops, and been nearly bowled over by children.  Nearing the stairs up, he spotted Snake Splitskin, the Legendary Swords-dwarf carrying bags, a pair of well-dressed Dwarves chatting amicabliy and following along behind him.

"Snake!  What the hell is the meaning of this?  Get back to the barracks and train the new recruits," He shouted, his red face and shaking hands a much-too-seen clue he was near his breaking point.

"Sir, uh, sir?  These here are the Budseal's.  They're from..." Snake paused, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.  Taking in a deep breath, he finished his sentance in the exhale, "Queen Rīsen.  She's declared this land a Barony, and has seen fit to send a tax collector and the good Baroness here to watch over her new investment"

It took Sulari and her whole squad to pull Aryn away from Snake and drag him to his room.  They could only throw him inside and slam the door shut - it seems that during the last visit the elves made, he had purchased more than just a Jaguar: a large black bear was chained in his room, roaring it's displeasure at seeing it's master manhandled.  

It took nearly a day for Aryn to calm down.  Snake was the first to go in, and eventually Sulari and Likot entered to talk with him before he agreed to leave.  He looked older, more cagey, and was always glancing over his shoulder in hallways and questioning Dwarves as to why they were going.  After a meeting on the Wash System with Lucy, she innocently asked him what was the cause of this stress.

He scowled at her, and growled out in response, "They're watching me.  They're all watching me.  They just want a piece of what I've created, these leaches.  These parasites!  They'll see, Aryn Estetar won't lay down..."

[Heavy Flak]

From the journal of Johnny Fountainspring
11th of Felsite, 1057

Things are looking up for Ol' Johnny.  Despite Stravitch's failed attempts at securing the mayoral position for the right team, there have been quite a few perks.  By getting one of his guards to take The Fall, Stravitch is once again in the clear.  The arrival of the Baroness and her consort, along with the tax collector, have given me and my men license to start pumping out idols at an alarming rate.  

Thanks to our new tax collector a series of shops have been opened up.  All of the forts denizens have been given an account to signify what they owe the queen after their purchases have been subtracted from their salary.  Thanks to push to unionize the workers, the majority are only doing the jobs they are assigned.  That's leaving them with barely enough to squeek by with just their room and board.  The next time we have merchants, I have no doubt that we'll see a huge return in profits for all the Zefon junk we pawn off of these Mountain Home yokels.  

Oh, as soon as the first shipment goes out!  I can hardly, hardly, [/I]hardly[/I] wait!

[Heavy Flak]

The events of the 10th of Hematite, 1057

Bad news always came at dinner time.  The majority of Dwarves worked second-shifts, which meant the majority ate their nights meals around eight.  With so many happily socializing in the dining room, these were the times Aryn came in to make his Announcements - the announcements that affected deeply, the ones that caused problems, the ones that lead to The Magma Gods.

Tonights meal would be one that was ALWAYS talked about.

The doors had barely rebounded off the wall before Aryn's voice, shrill and nervous, was filling the room.  He stalked towards the front, flanked by two of the Human merchants that had just arrived.

"Oh, you snakes!  You tricky beasts!  It's no wonder at all we have the Budseal's residing with us!  Messages!  MESSAGES!  Of course!  One of you has been sending MESSAGES to the queen, in an attempt to usurp my power!  It's so obvious, I must have been blinded by my trust, my total trust, of you as Dwarves!"

Reaching the front of the meal hall, he spun on his heel, his arms out stretch.  The Humans circled quickly around his spread arms, standing beside him with looks of bordem on their faces.  Aryn continued:

"These, my friends, are Rosycats and Guildstern.  They're merchants from Stramgil, and, well, why don't I let them tell you?"
 

"Ah, friends.  I'm Rosyca-," he paused, and glanced to the other merchant, who was shaking his head solemly.  "I apologize.  I'm Guildste-".  Another solem shake of the head, and the merchant lowered his head in puzzlement.  The other stepped forward.

"I apolgize for my companion.  He's ... often confused.  We're here to remedy a small problem.  A problem of fees!  You see, we have a mail bag..."
"Yes, a mail bag!  A bag, filled with the mail, of those who have paid for postage.  The messages they gave-"
"Of course.  The messages they gave to us, postage paid, are to be delivered to stops along our route.  We've received twenty three of them, and would you believe-"
"Would you believe that we found twenty FOUR of them in our little pouch?  Of course we can account for them, we read the ones that are give-"

Rosycats was elbowed in the stomach, his companion glaring at him briefly before he continued, "The point is, we have an unaccountable message here, and we've brought it to the attention of Mr. Estetar here."

Aryn pushed his way to the front, leering at the assembled mass.  He held the letter on high, his eyes filled with an insane light.  "Ha ha!  But the traitor, the TRAITOR, has made this unreadable.  Unwilling to show himself in public he hides behind codes, he sneaks letters into the satchels of our allies.  I offer to you, a bounty.  Break this code.  Perhaps, PERHAPS, we can begin to safeguard our homes for once in it's existance.  Remember.  This is on YOUR heads!"

He stalked from the dining room, trailed by the now-bickering Rosycats and Guildstern.  He stopped briefly at the the front door and tacked the letter to it, leaving the contents to be read by all:

code:

NGGRAGVBA: Sbegerff evcr sbe cvpxvat
NELA uvqvat zber jrnygu guna fubjf
vapernfr gnkrf.  Fraq Xrrc jngpu
Zrffntrf cbffvoyl jngpurq.  
Cebprrq jvgu pnhgvba.

***

OOC: A little fact about me - I love contests!  So here's the first of them.  A very simple encrypted letter has been found.  Whoever posts what this says first, I'll do something for your Dwarf!  Mind you, it won't be something drastic like ... make him kill everyone.  But I will make a room to his specification, start a mining project, design a personal tomb, whatever you think they'd like.  

If this goes well (and is solved easily), in the future I might start posting harder puzzles.

[ April 11, 2008: Message edited by: Heavy Flak ]

[ricemastah]

Oh interesting...

[ricemastah]

Rice's Journal
10th Hematite

The message has concerned me greatly and ever since Aryn posted it on the door I have wondered what it could mean. I have been working long and hard on deciphering the meaning, however I have been unable to get a truly decrypted version of it. I shall show Aryn what I have found so far and I can only hope he shall be mature enough to put our differences behind us.

"ATTENTION: FORTRESS RIPE FOR PICKING. ARYN HIDING MORE WEALTH THAN SHOWS INCREASE TAXES SEND & KEEP WATCH. MESSAGES POSSIBLY WATCHED PROCEED WITH CAUTION"

The message is clear, we have a traitor in our ranks. I knew it would come to this, but I did not see it coming so soon. I must act, or I must get Aryn to act.

Edit: Got rid of code tag and made it look nicer
Edit2: I realized what the square was!

[ April 11, 2008: Message edited by: ricemastah ]

[ April 11, 2008: Message edited by: ricemastah ]

[Heavy Flak]

From the Files of Aryn Estetar
12th of Hematite, 1057

For once, a piece of good news has landed on my desk amidst all the death and betrayal.  What surprises me most isn't just what it is, but who brought it to me.

Apparently Rice had stayed up most of the night working on the letter and he brought it, nearly fully translated, to me in the morning.  I canceled my meeting with the Budseal's and their absurd demands for furniture and earrings and mugs, and we poured over the possibilities of this letter.  Regardless of our differing opinions of certain phrases, there is one fact that stood out:

There is a traitor in the fort.

It's with much chagrin I write that I've been wrong about Rice.  During our planning and designing stages, Lucy gushes about him, and I always humored her because her knowledge of mechanics has been needed.  But perhaps, just perhaps, my harsh judgment of his character was my own fault.  I may not agree with his stint as mayor, or with some of the choices he's made since we've began this venture, but he has heart, and he wants to see this place succeed.  For that?  For that, I'm willing to give him a second chance.

I've moved his file from the top drawer to the third, and before I left I gave him a small chit with my signature on it.  The idea of paying off informers is distasteful to me, but without the possibility of rewards come no results, and at least with this new economy he can afford to pay the unions to complete whatever tasks he may have in mind.

***

OOC: Good job, Ricemastah!  So how do you want to put the reward given to use?

[ricemastah]

OOC: Well after reading rice's profile I realize that the things he likes... well they are for the most part hard to get. Siliceous ooze, Electrum, STAR RUBIES and CRYSTAL GLASS??! I mean seriously. I wanted to try and figure something out that would fit in character, but I guess just a slightly bigger room would be nice.

[Heavy Flak]

The Events of the 7th of Galena, 1057

The hallways were packed with apprehensive Dwarves.  Lucy and Aryn stood in the middle of one of the hallways leading to the apartments.  Aryn was more gaunt than normal, his face sunken and sallow.  Beside him, Lucy looked as nervous as the rest, her attire having been changed from the Engineers coveralls and cap to a worn and dusty dress pulled from the stockpiles.  

"Dwarves, beside me is Lucy Hammertempests, my lovely assistant who I'm sure you've all had the pleasure of meeting while living here.  I've had her dress in these filthy rags to show off the greatest achievement we've had yet - The Wash-Works.  Above your rooms are a series of channels that carry water from our newly-constructed lake.  Lucy?  Now, please."

Lucy adjusted her glasses and sighed, slowly walking down the rows of apartments.  A loud throat clearing from Aryn caused her to pause before adding a little flair to her step, one hand outstretched.  She finally came to one of the rooms by the end and gave a half-hearted spin, opening the door.  

"You see, when Lovely Lucy enters this room, she'll trip a small pressure plate.  This will open the flood gates above her, and water will come trickling down to gently cleanse her!"

On queue Lucy entered the room.  There was an audible click, and an ominous grinding of gears from up above.  Very faintly the sound of rushing water could be heard through the basalt ceiling.  Eventually water began to trickle into the room, a pleasing mist flowing into the hallway.  

The Dwarves all clapped, and Aryn took a wide bow, flapping his cloak out behind him.  The applause stopped though when Lucy cried out, "Oh god!  It's not closing fast enough!"  Aryn spun on his heels in time to see Lucy, soaked to the skin, skidding out of the room and down the hallway.  Behind her water was rushing into the hallway, spilling under door jams.  

Archin was already sprinting up the stairs, a few of the miners following at her heels.  Her shouts could be heard down the hallway as she barked orders, "Aban, hit the lever above to stop filling the lake.  Ushat, come with me!  I'm going to need your help shutting the second floodgate!  Hurry!  We need to stop this before the quarry floods!  HURRRRYYY!"

[Heavy Flak]

From the Journal of Johnny Fountainspring
7th of Limestone

The debacle with the Wash System has done more for Aryn's reputation than any propaganda campaign Stravitch, the members of Fountainspring Fisheries, and myself could have possibly put together.  He's almost never seen in public now, opting to take his meals in his dining room.  Stravitch has said he's only seen a few Dwarves enter:

* Lucy, who's been tasked to retrofit the wash to work now that the last traces of water have evaporated.  
* Sulari and Snake, obviously sent in to discuss fortress defense.  There is now rumblings of some sort of special guard unit being designed.
* Rice, a surprise to me in particular.  I had always assumed they only spoke in passing.

By her quick actions, Archin kept the fortress from flooding over entirely - leaving us with minimal clean up.  This selfless action has netted her so much respect from the citizens.  She's been consulted for advice on a multitude of projects, and well-wishers are always buying her and her miners drinks, or meals, or just stopping to chat in the hallways.  It brings a tear to my eye to see such a hard-working Dwarf get what's her due, and it certainly makes it easier for me to sneak job orders in or goods away while everyone has their attention on her.

[bigmcstrongmuscle]

Rosycats and Guildstern?

Nice! Something's rotten in the state of Denmark...

[Heavy Flak]

Since I got to sit in a small room for a week listening to some jackass talk about security I decided to make the best of my time.  In between highlighting and taking notes, I started doodling in a little notebook I keep on me.  A lot of clean up and some highlighting later, I'm left with something I think is passable enough to post here.  Hopefully you'll enjoy.

[Kuli]

Nice drawing.  Sgt. Pepper was awfully tall wasn't he?

I'm disappointed rice decoded the message so soon.  I really like cryptograms.

I'm not all that surprised the Dwarf Wash failed.  It seems like the sort of thing that could easily destroy a fortress.  Is it really worth the risk just to wash the grime off some dwarves?

[Heavy Flak]

quote:Originally posted by Kuli:
<STRONG>Nice drawing.  Sgt. Pepper was awfully tall wasn't he?

I'm disappointed rice decoded the message so soon.  I really like cryptograms.

I'm not all that surprised the Dwarf Wash failed.  It seems like the sort of thing that could easily destroy a fortress.  Is it really worth the risk just to wash the grime off some dwarves?</STRONG>

I debated putting a little height-chart on the right but eventually deemed just too cheesy.  For the record, I always considered Sgt. Pepper the tallest dwarf in all the lands, topping it at a towering five foot one.  

I'm happy that Rice got the message first, just because I feel his character's been kicked around too much by Aryn and deserved something really good.  I'll post more cryptograms in the future though, and maybe do something like ... tell you guys Out Of Character when they'll go up (Say, 6pm EST on X date) so everyone has fair warning to pop in and get a crack at them.

I was 100% convinced the Dwarf Wash wouldn't work like based on how I laid it out.  I like having adversity though.  Drama!  Intrigue!  And there's a chance I can get it right the second time now that the place has dried out.  I put three fail-safes in place for a reason  

[Heavy Flak]

From the Journal of Johnny Fountainspring
10th of Opal, 1057

Things have slowly been coming back to normal.  Kuli's work on the church's grand roof is still underway.  The stoneworkers have been grumbling that they aren't getting paid for this after-hours, but their complaints are muted by Kuli picking up the hammer and chisel himself, and the I.O.U's bearing his signature he hands out at the end of each day.

A basalt shortage lead Archin and the miners to our landing site, and a few weeks of hurried strip-mining gave us more basalt than we could possibly use.  Though, to be fair, that has been said twice before... but I'm sure now we won't have any shortage of the stone.

Rice and Istrath have been working together to finally decorate the fortress.  Istrath is taking the large amounts of glass and gems we have laying about and is using them to adorn the statues Rice is carving in the workshops.  It'll be good to see some art around our halls.  

Just last week, the Goblins tried to ambush our haulers.  I assume this is retribution for Olngo's capture and suicide, but it didn't work as they planned.  Sulari and her axes were patrolling near the haulers when they ran into the ten macemen.  The new recruit was swarmed, and killed, but that was the only causality we suffered.  By the time the haulers realized there were Goblins in the area, Sulari was removing the head from the last of their number.  

Winter's caravan hasn't yet come, and I'm beginning to get nervous.  What will I do with all this junk now, just let it sit and gather dust?  I still have to pay off the stonecrafters, and their pay was coming out of that shipment.  Oh well, maybe there can be another way...

[Zironic]

Pepper twas a great dwarf..