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Author Topic: DeathQuest: Tale of the Remnants  (Read 63724 times)

Rysith

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #330 on: January 16, 2009, 04:33:06 pm »

That carpenter finally finished his ... Bucket. It's quite the fancy bucket, though. The body is maple, with a phyllite handle. The handle has bands of chestnut, turtle shell, and camel leather, as well of spikes of cave spider silk. The body has a series of images around it. There is a lizard in maple, a dwarf being surrounded by dwarves in maple, an orc striking down a goblin in phyllite, a different dwarf being surrounded by dwarves in onyx opal, and a centaur in giant cave spider silk. I've ordered it built into a well in the dining room, which will hopefully cheer people up a bit: I've seen several unhappy dwarves wandering around recently, and the last thing we need is an outbreak of tantrums.

the 14th of felsite brought a new dwarf to the fortress, as the Countess consort gave birth to a boy. I've been keeping everyone too busy for anyone to really pay attention, though.

On the 16th of hematite, we had a group of goblins (three marksgoblins and two wrestlers) ambush a cat, which meant that I got to try out the new fortifications. I've also learned to be a bit more careful about ordering Thob out into combat: he easily outpaced his squad and was shot in the hand while charging them (after killing both wrestlers). Fortunately, the three marksgoblins were so distracted trying to hit him as he ran around that the macedwarves were able to swiftly dispatch them. I'll have to remember to give them time to catch up next time, rather than just sending them all charging headlong into combat. Thob has since recovered, though, so there wasn't any long-term damage.

Possibly as a result of Thob's temporary incapacity, though, on the 18th of Hemetite elections were held and Zerg was elected the new mayor. The elections are a bit of a facade anyway, but it makes the peasants feel better. Zerg, though, has begun demanding better accommodations, so the engravers took some time off from the graveyard project to smooth and engrave his new rooms. He seems happy with them now.

Speaking of which! The digging of the graves is completed, and we're about halfway done filling them. Finishing moving stuff in from the outside helped a lot with that (though it's now just inside the entrance. At least it's safe from kobolds).

We've also nearly completed work on the entrance deathtraps! They still need testing, of course, but we've got two bridges out in front now. One has space underneath it for our troops to lie in wait before springing out to attack at close range (possibly flinging attackers at the same time). The other leads to a long, spike-lined corridor. I've provided a pit area at the other end of that, too, so it should be safe to pit the prisoners and watch them run for the exit before we trigger spikes at their feet. Or have some dwarves stationed between them and the exit. We could also use it as a highly-defensible corridor in the event of an attack, since all combat would be one-on-one at close range, injured dwarves could fall back to allow fresh ones to come up,  and in emergencies we could seal the passage off and fill it with spikes.

And, to unfortunately end on an unhappy note, we noticed on the 5th of malachite that a goblin had successfully stolen one of of our children. It must have been one that was following our woodcutters out, I can't imagine that they could have made it through the front corridor. I'm hesitant to order patrols around the woodcutters, and I can't assign any of the war animals to the children. Maybe some more walls...
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ToonyMan

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #331 on: January 16, 2009, 06:11:34 pm »

Please tell me it wasn't Tholtig!  Oh woes is me!   :(





She was the daughter of the leader of the orignal 7.
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Rysith

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #332 on: January 16, 2009, 09:31:14 pm »

Please tell me it wasn't Tholtig!  Oh woes is me!   :(
She was the daughter of the leader of the orignal 7.

Nah, the game log said it was Monom Asteb•nul. I'm not actually sure who's kid it was, is there any way to check?
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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #333 on: January 16, 2009, 11:06:09 pm »

Yes. look through everyone's relation screens.
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Rysith

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #334 on: January 19, 2009, 06:17:37 pm »

Fortunately, the child that was stolen was (as I suspected) the child of a woddcutter and a guard. They don't even seem to have noticed that it's missing, and both parents are still ecstatic.

the 24th of Malachite saw one of our mechanics, Datan Nisgakzuntir, possessed to make an orthoclase mechanism. After encrusing it with mica, studding it with iron, encircling it in bands of iron and phyllite, adorning it with rings of maple, and finally carving spikes of phyllite, goblin bone, and leather for it, he carved a tiny image of two wild strawberries into the central gear, and then declared that he couldn't remember how he did all that. Ah well.

On the 23rd of Galena, we began our deathtrap tests. I stationed a swordsdwarf at the far end as an insurance policy. The first to go through, a goblin wrestler, was dumped in by the Countess herself, and it was she that pulled the lever to send the spikes into its unprotected body. It died before the swordsdwarf could make it in to finish it off.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Feeling more confident in the design, I ordered several more orcs and goblins dumped into the pit, and then opened the covering drawbridge to give them the illusion of hope. The results were mostly the same:
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
Unfortunately Vemini Vicelistened, an orc master lasher, made it through the corridor with both of his lungs pierced. Unfortunately for him, Thob was waiting at the exit of the corridor with axe in hand. In his weakened state, the orc was no match for Thob, and was quickly dispatched.

Limestone brought the dwarven caravan: 7 wagons full of the things I had requested in the spring. We immediately set about trading, managing to sell them a surprising amount of the stuff that we had taken off the various invaders to the fortress in exchange for some metal and a large quantity of steel armor and weapons. We traded for both nickle silver and the things required to make it. We were also able to request flux stone from the traders for next year, so hopefully we can produce some steel goods on our own in the future.

While the traders were here, the goblins decided to spring an ambush. Lead by a human bowman, three swordsgoblins had made it past the initial line of weapon traps. Unfortunately, they then ran into the caravan guards, who quickly pounded the bowman's face into a pulp. Thob's squad was again sent to chase down the fleeing goblins.

As they were finishing them off, another group of goblins sprung from ambush. It seems that the initial ambush had just been a ploy to draw our military out into the open. Not wanting Thob to fight on his own, I ordered our reserve squad of macemen out, and the 4 axegoblins and 3 wrestlers in the ambush squad were quickly killed. It was here that I noticed that Thob has gotten 17 kills this year, quite a respectable number. None of our military were even scratched.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Despite this demonstration of our prowess defending the fortress, the caravan told us that dwarves at the mountainhome still consider Deathquest a cursed deathtrap. I wonder what the previous leaders could have done to earn such a poor reputation, and why the King had decided to send me here?

As the caravans were leaving, the Count suddenly decided that Low Boots were not to be exported and, upon discovering that several low boots were in the goods we had just traded away, he ordered four dwarves beaten for thier insolence. I've decided that he's quite insane, but I don't feel that it's my place to arrange for his untimely demise. I got three of the dwarves into armor before the beatings could be administered, but the guard was able to catch Momux Abledakas, a bone carver, before he could make it to the armor stockpile. He bled to death in the meeting hall. At least he will be well-buried.

Speaking of which, I have completed my task: Every dwarf, adult, or child, now has an engraved tomb in the lower levels of the fortress. There are still some slots left for any future arrivals.

On the 10th of timber, we received a message from the mountainhomes that our fortress was large enough to be considered a duchy. Of course, the now-duke and his consort immediately celebrated by demanding more stuff, but they proved fairly easy to satisfy.

But ah, the meat of this entry! On the 10th of moonstone, we heard the orc war drums outside, and I was delighted to see an approaching force of no less than 80 orcs. Their leaders, easily picked out by their better-quality black iron armor, were two guards, two marksorcs, and a lancer. They brought with them a squad equipped with each weapon that Orcs can forge: spears, axes, bows, mauls, and swords.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The perfect force to test my new defenses against! I stationed two squads of marksdwarves, lead by Orcy and Jumppy, on the new fortifications above the entrance, Thob and the swordsdwarves at the surprise door, and the macedwarves, lead by Baby, to hold the inner side of the spike corridor.

The first kill went to Shot, who took out one of the marksorcs with a single shot just as the orcs charged the walls, thinking that the spike corridor was an entrance to the fort that we had forgotten to seal.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

At first, I mis-timed the spike pulling, and several orc wrestlers made it up into the interior of the fort. Baby and his squad held their ground, killing the wrestlers without difficulty. Traitor was then able to make it to the lever, assuring the doom of the orcs trapped in the tunnel.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As I ordered the spike corridor sealed to trap the remaining orcs inside, the surprise door opened and Thob and his squad lept out into the orc slashers. Thrown into confusion by the sudden appearance of battle-ready dwarves, they were quickly routed. The siege was broken on the 20th of moonstone, and only one orc escaped the melee dwarves waiting on the surface for cleanup.
Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Unfortunately, the orc that escaped was an orc slasher that escaped by cutting Thob's leg as he chased it down. Thob's injury is not severe, though, and he should be up again within a month or two. Thob was the only injury that I noticed, and our only losses were two swordsdwarves and two war dogs, which I consider extremely light for the damage that we inflicted on the orcs. Both Sazir Tanoddom and Ustuth Etoludil will be buried with dignity. They came a long way in my year here, from simple farmers to battle-hardened dwarves willing to give their lives in the defense of the fortress. I'm sure that the defenses of Deathquest will only become more formidable as our fledgling military gains experience.

Much heroism was recognized in this battle. Thob personally killed four orcs, and Baby was given the title "The Quickness of Aging", and Shot was named "The Walled Scorn of Splashes". The Orcs have been sent a clear message: Deathquest will not be cowed by force of arms, and can defeat any army they send against us. Deathquest shall not fall!

THIS IS DEATHQUEST!
« Last Edit: January 19, 2009, 06:25:54 pm by Rysith »
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Rysith

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #335 on: January 19, 2009, 06:23:52 pm »

And, that's the end of my year. Though I didn't mention it in the story, I've also started reorganizing the stockpiles (sort of...) and been producing iron plate and chain for the military. Things seem fairly stable, and our fortress wealth has climbed to 1.6M which will hopefully mean some migrants in the spring. I did what I could to increase exported wealth as well, since I think that that influences it a bit.

The fortress guard has been switched off crossbows to hammers so that they didn't take all the practice bolts, and there will be a an enormous number of bolts once the bonecarvers finish turning the corpses from the siege into bolts. The mace and swordsdwarves are approaching competence, and the next person can probably start trickling recruits in slowly and they won't get hurt too badly (there were times this year when the entire barracks floor was covered in blood...). I'd try to replenish the swordsdwarves a bit, maybe go for 8 of each.

What should I do with the save to pass it on to the next person?
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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #336 on: January 19, 2009, 06:26:45 pm »

pass it to me, upload to the dffd.


Also, the deathtrap is rather effective, though naturally not as effective as the pathway of traps.
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ToonyMan

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #337 on: January 19, 2009, 06:34:14 pm »

Upload the whole thing so that there is no confusion with the modded raws.  Ok, (name here) you'll get another turn, but I want a piece of the action next.


This is DeathQuest is a great slogan.   ;D



Nice update!
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Rysith

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #338 on: January 19, 2009, 06:51:55 pm »

Alright, it's at http://dffd.wimbli.com/file.php?id=803

I removed the autosave folders, everything else should be fine. I think I remembered to put notes on the levers that I added, but they should be fairly self-explanatory.

The deathtrap is actually much more effective than the trap corridor, since the orcs have trapavoid now. Of course, you need to manually trigger it, but that just adds to the fun. The corridor is also designed to force 1-on-1 fights, so you should be able to station a single good fighter in the non-spiked portion and let them kill everything that comes through. The dwarves also don't seem to object to things that you've pitted there, so dumping prisoners down there works fine. The floodgate closes off the stairway but not the pit.

The new fortifications should also give you full coverage of the front and sides of the entrance, even right against the walls. Enjoy!
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Ultra-Towerdude

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #339 on: January 20, 2009, 07:44:36 am »

Great story! ;D But what the bridges and the ramps near the road do? Where do I get a note-thing? I would also like a dwarf. Farmer, or someone who dosn't die so easily( not military), male and call him Someone
« Last Edit: January 20, 2009, 08:01:08 am by Ultra-Towerdude »
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Rysith

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #340 on: January 20, 2009, 12:02:53 pm »

Great story! ;D But what the bridges and the ramps near the road do? Where do I get a note-thing?

Notes are 'n' from the main view. The north bridge leads into the spike corridor, the south bridge has a nice place for troops to hide under and come out when the bridge is opened, scattering enemies right up by the bridge and causing melee slaughter.
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ToonyMan

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #341 on: January 20, 2009, 12:16:15 pm »

Uploaded the map.

http://www.mkv25.net/dfma/map-4404-deathquest



EDIT:  I got to say, I love those tombs.   ;D




OBAMA!
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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #342 on: January 20, 2009, 03:21:00 pm »

1st granite

I’ve resumed control of the fort, and my first act was to upgrade the armor of our fortress and royal guard. I also ordered an adjustment of their weaponry, as it has been found that swords are the most effective weapon against the orcs in close combat and the guard is highly unlikely to be able to effectively employ crossbows, so I’ve switched the royal guard to swords. There was some discussion of the effectiveness of spears, but I overruled that for two reasons:  1. spears are very dangerous to train with, often leading to multiple deaths. 2. although a good stab through the torso with a spear can kill almost anything immediately, it is likely that spears may be lost in enemies and leave our soldiers defenseless.

5th granite

By armok! I’ve never seen so much booze in my life!

13th granite

‘Orcy’ is now a champion marksdwarf. Also, humans. 2 squads, one pikemen lead by a spearmaster and one swordsmen lead by an elite bowman.

27th granite

The humans are slowly beginning to attack, and the marksdwarves are shooting their horses dead, which I feel is a mistake, as the skittish behavior of the horses may prove a great advantage when the battle begins in earnest

4th slate

It seems the primary human weapon is boredom. I’m going to take a nap.

18th slate

Okay, we’re facing the humans in the field starting now.

23rd slate

I’m never doing that again. Much of the melee contingent is dead on the ground with multiple bolts riddling their bodies, but the valiant fortress and royal guard is taking care of the cleanup.

25th slate

Okay, cleanup was not the right word for that, as the human spearmaster was still alive and keeps striking down nearby guards. Also, watching the combat has demonstrated that the hammer, while a poor weapon against orcs, is ideal against human cavlery.



----------------------------------------------

Yeah, that could have gone far better. The elite marksman kinda shredded my charge, and if the fortress/royal guard hadn't shown up things would have been really bad.
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ToonyMan

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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #343 on: January 20, 2009, 03:27:59 pm »

Egah!!  You don't charge at a elite marksman in an open field!   :o




When you say "Much of the melee contingent is dead" does that mean only 4 or 5 survivors?
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Re: DeathQuest: Tale of the Survivors (now with added succession!)
« Reply #344 on: January 20, 2009, 03:51:01 pm »

8 survivors, though that's counting the wounded and ignoring the guard.

Actually, the charge went better than it could have because he quickly expended his bolts. I've begun rebuilding the melee contingent already, and the new recruits are training fast.
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