Played through late summer, fall, and some of winter. Early on, I looted some beds and barrels from the ruins of the overfortress. Also, I ordered some of the peasents to fill some crucial gaps in brewing and masonry.
In the fall, the caravan showed up. No wagons, because I wasn't able to build the drawbridge to the main entrance--zombified aquatic life strikes again. Some of the caravan guards took potshots into the pool, killing the cave crocodile and one or two other creatures. According to the liaison, the mountainhomes will pay top dollar for rings, quivers, and prepared food. I also made a bunch of bedrooms and spruced up the dining hall.
While the caravan was in, another zombie giant eagle showed up.
During the winter, Lorbam the glassmaker went into a mood. He didn't have a chance--we don't even have sand, let alone a functioning glass industry--and is now running around babbling.
Also, a hermit moved into a cave in one of the hills above the ruins of the overfortress. It is prophesied that one day he will come down and teach dwarves about their limitations and how to overcome them--although if he isn't careful he'll run out of booze and die of thirst first.
Finally there was a goblin ambush, described as follows.
Tode Ustangokang the speargoblin and his slavers crept though the scrubland. According to the map, the entrance to the secret dwarven settlement was just over the hill. The orc who sold Tode the map insisted that this group of dwarves had suffered heavy losses in battle and was nearly undefended. "Nothing good to steal there," the orc had said, "but plenty bodies."
Suddenly, a dwarf with an unusually long beard nearly walked into the goblins. "He's spotted us! Get him, you whoresons!" said Tode. A goblin grabbed the dwarf, but it slipped out of her grasp and ran to the north, against the walls of the ruins of the old fortress. Tode had it cornered, once against within his grasp, but once again it slipped away. The goblins continued to chase it, but it was far faster than them and entered the fortress more than a minute before they reached the tunnel.
The entrance turned out to be right where the map had said it would be. It was well-hidden, tucked into a small gully. Without the encounter with the longbeard and the map, Tode would probably have never found it--he probably would have spent the whole time fruitlessly searching around the ruins or the base of the statue. A few paces in, Tode and the other goblins crossed a small, hastily constructed bridge. One nearly stepped on a pressure place, but Tode narrowly prevented it. "Do you know what that is, you diseased elf-pecker?!" Tode hissed, "You step on that and spikes will come up from the ground or a wall of water will come down that hallway or some shit like that..." Tode trailed off as he followed the chains and pulleys that connected the plate to the gate. He glanced up to make sure his goblins had finished crossing, then stepped on the plate. He chuckled.
"Must be my birthday!" said the speargoblin. "Dwarves gave me a way to make sure you cowardly spider-lickers don't run if something waves a kobold sticker at us!" As he spoke, the drawbridge rose to block the entrance.
"But what if they're more prepared than you say they are, Tode? What if we need to run?" asked one slaver, an individual Tode had already decided to quietly murder on the way back to the Tower.
"If they were ready to fight they would have met us outside, openly. Dwarves are honorable and shit. No, they were hoping we'd never find them. Now that we have, they're fucked." Tode replied.
As soon as Tode finished, a second dwarf approached. This one had a beard nearly as long as the first, but wore different clothing and carried a pick. As soon as it saw the goblins, it fled back down the tunnel, again far faster than any of the goblins could run.
They pursued anyway. As the end of the tunnel was a door. When the first goblin reached it, he gave a battlecry and charged through. His cry was cut off, however, and Tode thought he heard a wet thud.
After the second goblin went through the door Tode was sure her heard a thud, and after number three, Tode thought he heard a muffled scream after the thud. The goblins pressed on, one by one passing through the door to silence. Tode was sure there was a reasonable explanation for what was on the other side of the door; surely the goblins were merely looting and enslaving quietly. These dwarves were weak, unarmed, and cowardly--even that old longbeard had fled.
Tode reached the door, and opened it, terrified of what may be on the other side. He was relieved to find nothing more than a series of dusty stair cases. The speargoblin stepped forwards, letting the stone door swing shut behind him.
In the blink of an eye, the longbeard that they'd ambushed outside stood before him. Either he was even faster than Tode had realized or he was damn good at hiding. The goblin didn't even have time to react before the dwarf pushed him down the stairs.
Tode was stunned not only from the fall, but from the sight. Here was the scene he had feared--blood everywhere, corpses strewn about, and half a dozen dwarves with murderous looks in their eyes. All looked ready to tear Tode apart with their bare hands. It wasn't necessary, though, because three of them had picks, and one of them entered Tode's skull before he took a second breath.
(the first 'longbeard' was Ark, the second one was Rovod. the battle pretty much happened as described, except that a couple goblins were killed at the top of the stairs. Tode wasn't one of them)
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Topic: SparkGear 3 - With A Vengeance [Now with Dig Deeper] [OVER] (Read 119850 times)