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[Kagus]

So do I, but there's not much else availing itself at the moment.  There isn't enough room to shoot them all from the top of the hole where it's safe, and I don't want anyone right next to the edge where they can get nabbed.  I can't dig out the walls around the hole from the level I'd like to because the dwarves keep cancelling the job because they see one of the froggies.

I should be able to channel through the floor of the microcline chamber and take out the walls underneath without any problems.  Then it's just a matter of pulling that lever and hoping for the best...

[Kagus]

Enough is enough.  

The demons have been harassing the workers and making work dangerous in these final stages of the process.  I have taken it upon myself to deal with the beasts personally.

I stocked up with a fresh quiver, and headed down to the mines where the lower pit entrance is located.  When I reached the pit, I simply stood there and looked down into the hole and at the demons croaking and jostling in the pit below.  I brought my crossbow up, sighted, and prepared for blood.

I started firing.  Black goo ran down from the wounds left in the frog-beasts' flesh as the steel bolts were sent into their soft, sickly-green skin.  More and more bolts I pulled from my quiver and fired into the mass of fiends below, trying to get as many of them as I could before they coordinated themselves enough to run.

The foul stench of their rotting brethren mixed with the new smells they were putting off, and the stench stung at my eyes and blurred my vision, but I could still see well enough to shoot, could still see well enough to kill.

More and more bolts sank into the flesh with a wet smacking sound, and the occasional gout of grayish-black fluid shot out when "I got lucky and hit an artery.

They were crowded into a mass of flesh down there, and I used that confusion and obstruction to my advantage, filling them with dwarven steel as they tried to crawl into the deeper depths of the pit, away from my wrath.

They started to fall.  The wounds inflicted on them too great, the blood lost too great in quantity to be ignored.  I watched them collapse to the muddy ground in sickening splatters of goo and filth, and I kept on shooting them.  More and more began to fall, staggering around and launching curses at me in that rumbling, croaking language they speak in.

Finally, I had to stop.  I had run out of ammo.  But I had done what was needed, the frog demons had retreated into the darker recesses of the pit and would no longer trouble the workers as the last of the measures were taken before the launching of the Demonhammer.

When I went back up into the main quarters, I was met by the cheering of the workers.  For my act of slaying the few beasts I had managed to, they awarded me with their undying thanks and the title Kegethsheget Deler, "The Held Horn of Steel".  Kadol has also assured me that this event shall not go unrecorded in the history of Roariron.  She is an unusual sort, seeming to switch attitudes and personalities at random, but she is a fine dwarf when she wants to be.

The final supports have been removed safely, thanks to the retreat of the frog demons.  The last of the precious adamantine has been removed from the Demonhammer.  All that remains now, is to evacuate the area, pull the fateful lever, and pray to whatever gods we hold.

[rwallace]

I'd volunteer to take a turn, except I fear the current situation may be a little too precarious to put a novice at the helm (currently almost through my first year of Mirrorpale, my first outpost, with 7 surviving dwarves out of a population of 18), but figured I'd wish you luck with the demons anyway. I love Kagus's in-character posts  

[I3erent]

Wonder how this is gonna go down...

[I3erent]

Pics man Pics!!!

[Kagus]

I needed to take a few shots at this, as certain things keep needing to be adjusted and re-adjusted.  For instance, I needed to remove all the walls from the Demonhammer because they were holding it up, so it wouldn't fall.  And then I did that, and the stairs were holding it up, so I'll have to channel those out from above.

I want to see how this thing works just the same as the rest of you...

EDIT:  Okay...  It's not dropping.  I checked, and I've got cave-ins on in the init.txt, all the tiles arouns the Demonhammer are open, there's no pillar underneath, and I've channeled out the squares adjacent to the stairway on the level above.  I can't just remove the stairs, because the imbecile miners insists on standing in the chamber to do that.  I tell them to channel the stairs on the level above, and they go downstairs to do it.  

I've got one more thing to try, and I'll submit a bug report if it doesn't work.  As with any construction project "Expect delays".  I've got some other stuff I'd like to do right now.

[ April 01, 2008: Message edited by: Kagus ]

[Jamini]

You will probably lose miners if you have them channel it out directly. The dust will knock any dwarf is a large radius down into the cave-in area, likely killing or maiming them.

I would highly recommend making a "lip" over the edge of the demonhammer with a constructed wall attached to a support (attached to a lever). Doing this would both prevent an early (and potentially hazardous) cave-in as well as giving our population a much-higher safety rating.

However it's your turn so do as you please. Personally I would have handled the pits in a different way.

[Kagus]

I'm using a support underneath the whole thing, mining isn't the trigger for its collapse.  I've done that far too many times, thank you very much.

And there's not much else I can do with them...  I can't bring them up into a hallway of doom, because there's a level of empty space in between.  I'd have to go farther down, build the hallway out of constructed walls and fortifications, and then breacch the wally into the pit, almost certainly losing the miner.  

Out of curiousity (I don't have enough time left on my turn to alter my plans), what would you have done?  The way this pit is set up may be a bit different than one might expect...

[Kagus]

Events of Moonstone 23rd, 1055.

The gathered dwarves of Roariron were silent as they gathered around the lever, all eyes turned to me.  Time passed as they shuffled from foot to foot, trying to make themselves comfortable in what was most certainly an uncomfortable situation.

Finally, I gave the command.  The lever, that fateful lever, was to be pulled.

A glassmaker, one of those branded by the others as a worshipper of Godum, stepped forward with a determined look in his eyes and pulled fiercely on the lever.  The mechanisms inside clicked and chittered as they relayed their message of destruction through the stone, gears rotating and axles spinning as that mechanical command rushed its way through the bowels of the earth, heading towards the Demonhammer.

We waited for a few, breathless seconds.  Not a single dwarf moved, and the utter silence caused by a mix of hope and dread filled the room with an atmosphere almost as thick as the stone which surrounded us.

*~~~~^~~~~*

And then it came, an earth-shuddering mountain-sundering rumble as the Demonhammer, freed of its constraints, crashed down into the stone below it, and then the foul demon pit beneath.

The unimaginably loud roar of the clash of stone was joined by another roaring, that of the frog demons.  Their bellowing croaks shrieked out and competed remarkably well with the thunderous crashing of the rock thudding down upon them, their voices tinted with a high-pitched note of pain, terror, and unfathomable rage.  This cacophany flooded the mountainhall in every corridor and room until, finally, the sounds faded and only the echoes in our ears remained.

As the dust fell,  the cheers rose.  All of the assembled dwarves cried out in triumphant joy at the felling of the demons, and all creeds were joined in one as they rejoiced at the crushing of a shared foe.

On this day, all lines drawn between those of differing religious disciplines have been nullified.  No longer shall brother turn upon brother for the mere sake of a label put upon him by zealots whose minds were clouded by insane fervor.

I have sent a messenger to my employer in the mountainhomes, informing him that my work has been completed and that I am awaiting dismissal.  For now, however, I join my comrades in the dining hall for some well-deserved festivites.  The reign of terror of both the demons from the pit, and the demons from the mind has been abolished, and all the gathered dwarves clink mugs together with their fellows as the grand feast is brought out.

Today shall be remembered always in the minds of these dwarves.  I suppose I shall miss them, those who aided in the construction of the Demonhammer, those who presented themselves for the strenuous labor of military work, and those who have, I believe, become my friends.  However, it will be good to go back.  I still get slightly dizzy walking through these corridors.  

I really must have a long chat with the prospector who designed this place...  

*~~~~^~~~~*

Events of Obsidian 17th, 1055.

The messenger has returned from his trip, and brings with him a response from my employer.  I am to stay on until an unspecified date, as there is currently no need for my services back in the mountainhomes, and they feel I would be of most use if I remained here.

Not only must I stay here, but since the powers that be have decided an extended period of foreign military leadership would be demoralizing to the populace, I am to relinquish my command, and act out the orders of whoever steps up to take the place.  

When the locals found out about this, they were overjoyed.  In celebration, they presented me with a gift from all the grateful citizens of Roariron.

A tomb.

I really need a drink...

.

EDIT:  There, it's finished.  I can post a few pictures I took of the Demonhammer and subsequent pit-levels before the activation.  Speaking of the Demonhammer, you may want to really slow down the recording of it, as the framerate goes a bit nutty.  Thankfully, things picked up once the demons got squishified, but it's still a bit slow.

Good luck.

[ April 01, 2008: Message edited by: Kagus ]

[I3erent]

quote:Originally posted by Jamini:
<STRONG>You will probably lose miners if you have them channel it out directly. The dust will knock any dwarf is a large radius down into the cave-in area, likely killing or maiming them.

I would highly recommend making a "lip" over the edge of the demonhammer with a constructed wall attached to a support (attached to a lever). Doing this would both prevent an early (and potentially hazardous) cave-in as well as giving our population a much-higher safety rating.

However it's your turn so do as you please. Personally I would have handled the pits in a different way.</STRONG>

The pits were actually revealed by Kadol and walled in before all of the demons escaped and overran Roariron. Then all of the rock surrounding the pit was removed to 1 or 2 thickness walls, from the ground up, so essentially we had a demon "skycraper underground,  There was pit at the top of this structure that was 2 levels highere than the top pit level, so it was rather unorthodox (but soo cool, dropping things into the pit of death hahahaha).

Anyway Much props Kagus!!! I thought we were doomed, as crazy as things were when you showed up, I thought you mad!

[I3erent]

Got all but 1 that was insane.

[Jamini]

If they were sneaking and survived wouldn't they still not show up?

Hem, anyway:

I am Cerol Zokumrigoth. Three year carpenter of Roarion, a dark fortress designed by madmen.

Or at least, that is what the traders whisper to each other when they think we sleep. I listened, I always do. I listened to them as they planned to sacrifice our own to the demons. I listened as they agreed on a name that would lead us to our doom. I listened, as they sang their hymn to Godum and talked excitedly about the pits below.

The heathens called to the outside, the wreched outside world. A place that we had all left for refuge away from all dwarves, a place where one cannot live and die in peace to here. This fortress, this holy ground upon which we stand. This adamantine pillar of dwarven might. They called for an outsider to rule us by mandate of the king. They called for the defiler.

Godum must have rejoiced when she watched that pillar fall, crushing her creations into the muck that they so revered. Not a clean death, no, a brutal, messy death that left some of them still alive to torment us.

Well, now my time has come. The defiler has reliquished control over her stranglehold on the temple, and with the mandate unfufilled another dwarf must take his place untill our glorious leader has redeemed himself in the eyes of the rest of our people. No other was willing to take the sceptre of control so thus, with an eager anticipation I have offered to follow the will of the gods for a year.

The defiler gave me a strange look, but said nothing as she left the room. Shaking her head.
---

I gotta admit, the fortress looks good. It's a bit more... expansive... than I like, but I can work with it I think.

My goals over the next year will be mostly agricultural and industrial. I've noticed that four of our peasents have no training whatsoever (not even pump operating!), and so it's likely that for the majority of the year they will be working to increase their efficiancy.

Also, I'm definatly going to get some fresh crops growing, seeing as we have absolutly zero in stock (Kagus, was that deliberate?) and get our industries moving along well. That includes mining out and securing the demon pits.

Either way, this should be an exciting year!

[I3erent]

Good luck!!  

"If they were sneaking and survived wouldn't they still not show up?"

I dropped many foes in that pit before the demonhammer, so I thought they were all visible??  But maybe....

[Jamini]

I noticed, what did you drop ... thirty or more dwarves.

This fortress runs very slow on my computer (19k stones... what were you THINKING?) So it may be some time before I finish my turn. However, I do intend to finish within two weeks or so...

Perhaps more if I'm really unlucky. :/

[Kagus]

No, the crop shortage is not deliberate.  It's not that I don't want fresh plants in stock, it's just that we have absolutely no need for them.

Thousands of drinks and hundreds upon hundreds of prepared meals should hold us over for a while.  The only thing that could potentially be grown for use would be pig tails, and we've already got more spider silk than we could ever need.

I stopped food produtcion because all the seeds were going to waste anyways.  There's no space in the food stockpile for new plants, and nobody free to move them even if there was.  I say focus on other things for the moment.

As for the stones, well...  That's what the crusher and the catapults are for.