Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Lord Dullard]

18 Slate, 1052
"General Moltenglazed!"

Ex-General Moltenglazed grumbled and rolled out of the small cactus-bark cot, making his way towards the sound of Icky's voice. As usual, it was coming from near the entrance, which seemed to be the part of the settlement that attracted the most un/wanted attention.

"What is it?" Moltenglazed squinted, looking off into the distance. Icky was banging furiously on a pan at this point, summoning the rest of the dwarves from below. They came running up individually or in pairs.

"Looks like.. dwarves!" Exclaimed Pix.

"A caravan?" Asked Akroma. "Wait, no.. they don't look like traders. They're carrying work equipment."

"Then they must be the exiles," Moltenglazed said, trying to get a better look. There were three of them marching slowly towards the fort now, escorted by a couple guards.

"Hm.. looks like three," Annie judged. "That shouldn't be too bad. Oh.. wait."

And suddenly more were becoming visible as tiny dots in the distance. The numbers climbed, until Moltenglazed could count..

"Fourteen.. fifteen.. seventeen.. by ARMOK. Eighteen.. TWENTY!?"

The first string of the immigrants was slowly trickling into the fort now, looking around with a mixture of despair (this was expected, considering the clime) and interest, the latter mostly directed at Lorgrem's huge wall project. The guard platoon sped off almost as soon as the migrants had safely arrived; Moltenglazed couldn't say he blamed them, considering the fact that they had to journey all the way back through the desert.

"All right, listen up!" Moltenglazed started once they'd all 'assembled', which basically meant most of them were randomly loitering around the entrance plaza. "My name is Ézum Moltenglazed, and for what it's worth, I'm the supervisor of this endeavor." There were mixed looks - most of them probably recognized his name, which could have been good or bad, since it was probably widely-known as the name of a military 'traitor' throughout most of the kingdom now. "For whatever reason, the lot of you have been chosen to be sent here. Whatever virtues or villainies your past holds mean little to me as long as you work hard and keep your beards out of trouble. It isn't easy surviving out in this hellhole, and we won't tolerate slackers or miscreants who only make life more difficult for the rest of us."

He paused shortly, letting his words sink in. Out of the corner of one eye he noticed that Akroma was already sizing up several of the newcomers.. they'd recently decided it would be prudent to put together a small fighting force once they had the numbers for it, and it was good to see the speardwarf was already hard at work in that regard.

"Get inside and we'll find you some places to sleep and rest from what I'm sure was a long journey. Be prepared to work from sunset until sundown when you wake up. Akroma.. Captain Akroma here - will be selecting some of you to start up a guard force. I trust you'll cooperate."

[ March 12, 2008: Message edited by: Lord Dullard ]

[Lord Dullard]

The Journal of Ézum Moltenglazed
18 Slate, 1052
Well, all told, the immigrant tally comes to the following:
1 Carpenter
1 Stoneworker
1 Furnace Operator
1 Weaponsmith
2 Gem Cutters
2 Gem Setters
1 Bone Carver
1 Fisherdwarf
1 Cheese Maker
1 Dyer
1 Herbalist
2 Lye Makers
4 Uneducated Peasants
1 Child - why in Armok's name anyone brought it here I don't know.

All in all, I'm slightly underwhelmed, but it's no worse than I was expecting. It is more than I was expecting, though. For the next few weeks most of our labor is going to have to be devoted to getting another farm up and running, so we have enough food and drink to sustain ourselves.

I've officially made Akroma the Sheriff, and given him the authority to maintain watch on the fort and direct military efforts for the time being. I think he'll do well in the position.

To start up our 'military' (a term I'd hardly dub proper for this bunch, but perhaps in time..) he immediately drafted the two gem cutters, setters, the cheese maker, and the lye maker. A couple of them seemed pleased, but the others were obviously rather put off. Too bad, but their prior professions were not particularly conducive to the survival of the settlement.

A few of the immigrants struck me as being particularly promising:

Viktoria, one of the new fighting recruits, who professed an interest in learning the art of the spear from Akroma,

Istrian, a young fellow who seemed interested in hunting (perhaps I'll have Annie teach him a few tricks) or clerical duties (some of which I would be more than happy to unload on another dwarf),

and Boris, a dwarf that says he has a 'troubled past'. Nonetheless, he possesses some useful skills.

OOC Note:
Sorry to those who didn't get the professions they wanted right away, but I've set their labor preferences accordingly and they'll eventually settle into the proper roles.

[Indagator]

A child, hmm? I'll have to figure out some way to work that into my backstory...

[Dwarfaholic]

"Icky's diary

Some "immigrants" (exiles) arrived today.
I waited for the General to give his speech, then approached some of the more promising-looking individuals.

The peasants looked interested in my offer, and have agreed to join in.
The child has also joined in, and will spy on the General whenever possible.
He told me he has had experience of it before.

The others, however, weren't interested. The fools."

[Lord Dullard]

Updates coming soon-ish (meaning sometime tomorrow, most likely).

As for character journal entries: the input is appreciated! However, don't be offended if I don't make them 'canon' - especially if you spring big plot twists in them. Working things like revolts and treachery into a story driven by a textual game interface is hard enough without a lot of advanced planning, and harder when more than one person is trying to control the plot.

Again, I'll note that PMs are the way to go if you have plot requests or want your character to do something backstab-y/secretive/eeeevil. Sudden twists lose a lot of their zing if everyone knows about them already, and who the perpetrator is.

[Dwarfaholic]

We wonder who the above post is directed at.   :eek:

[Istrian]

Istrian's report

18 Slate 1052

My lord, I am pleased to report success on initial infiltration operations. I will now begin gathering information about this outpost and the realm it is attached to.It seems that the leader of this fort is a former general who was exiled for treason.

Fortress defenses look rather weak, even inexistant. In its current state, I do not expect it to last beyond its fourth year. I also smell something fishy in the air, though it could just be the heat. I will try to look into it. I expect to send this report, along with the next ones, with the next caravan.

IG

[Kaelem Gaen]

*prods the thread* Did this die too?

[Dwarfaholic]

Damn if it does.

[Kameloso]

Great story so far !

[Lord Dullard]

I got bogged down with IRL work and playing with my non-community fort this week. Thanks for reminding me to update!

More to come tonight, after I catch some shut-eye.

[Toaster]

Oh, why not.  I'll take the Weaponsmith.  With luck, he'll go fey and you'll get tons of masterwork weapons... if we can ever find some good metal.

Name:  Firebeard

Firebeard was your everyday weaponsmith back in the mountainhomes.  He got himself exiled to Luror Kalur by speaking ill of the new king in a tavern while a guard was listening.  Simple dislike has become burning hatred as he was stripped away from his family and friends and tossed into the burning desert.  He now wishes to forge weapons to outfit an army to break free of his oppressive rule.

(If the weaponsmith is female, that's fine- I figure dwarves only care when it comes to making more dwarves.)

[Lemnx]

Wow this is good. I wonder how I missed it the first time around!

[Dwarfaholic]

"Diary of Icky.

So, I've little to do. My thugs and I sometimes gather for meetings, but there's not much we can do, seeing as we are a minority. I'll just have to wait until I have the hearts of the people.
That'll take some time, I guess. I'll have to start socializing.

On other news, the child is a great help. He has given me invaluable information of the General's actions.
I just hope I can leave this place soon.
Too much sand."

[Kaelem Gaen]

*twiddles fingers in anticipation*