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[Ignem]

- Chapter 01 -
Arriving at Syrupglow



Ustuth Nilkodor, dubious worshipper of Alod the Inky Help of Angels, proudly took a few steps toward what would be the entrance to his grand fortress - Syrupglow. Among him was his six long-term acquaintances of his - proficient enough in a multitude of arts to be among the honored few that were to begin the building of The Tool of Healers greatest fortress yet!

He stroke his beard contently and envisioned a great fortress in the black-speckled landscape before him. ”C'mon lads! Times wastin'.”, he motioned the wagon and his followers forward.

The adventurous and merry gang of seven dwarves made haste to their new home.


The entrance Ustuth had located were to be opened up immediately and during that time a temporary Carpenter's workshop as well as a Mason's workshop was to be built outside, in order to start making doors and beds for the sleeping-quarters - which were rooms most prioritized since any true dwarf deprived from sleeping inside a nice mountain long enough would most likely go insane.



A couple of hours worth of digging and the miners discovered that the entrance had an outer layer of black sand and within it - a thick layer of Basalt, this will make a nice dark entrance hall, thought Ustuth to himself.



To his personal liking of the color green, the miners reported hitting Olivine, which made Ustuth's day - no matter the vomitous, outside grass, goblin-like nature of the color, Ustuth held it dear and already had big plans of Olivine statues in the dark black entrance hall. The rest of the dwarves knew they had no say.




Profile of Ustuth Nilkodor

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

He likes the color green, he should like this.




Ustuth got reports from the miners that considering the different aspects of the mountain's structure - it would be best to mine the workshop area before the living-quarters because of structural stability and it involved some sort of “feng shui of mining 101”. Being the unassertive dwarf he was, he took the advice and solved the sleeping-quarter problems by building a temporary sleeping-hovel made out of tower-cap logs and a nice basalt floor. It would house everyone and provide a nice relief from the sun.



It seems even the lizards like this temporary arrangement. Snack, anyone?

So, what's Syrupglow? Where's the plot? Where are the Elephants? The HFS? The unholy demon-spewing chasms of doom? Well, Syrupglow is certainly not the place where many of these things may take place, unless I'm as surprised as you are.

My advice to you is, just ignore Syrupglow, it's just another part of some forgotten universe.

What IS Syrupglow then? The telling of a tale as it evolves before me, with certain goals in mind, following the fortress Syrupglow and its leaders, should not Ustuth survive.

I have been inspired from reading so many documented DF games, I want to see if I can do my own version. I expect nothing like a Boatmurdered or my personal favorite Blockedlance. I just want a place to tell my story, so read if you will.

If you ARE interested, I feel obliged to tell you that you should not expect some form of daily updates. I hope to dish out some quality when/if I do, this does not exclude the possibility of a daily update - but it will lessen the chances of such.

[Ignem]

Unloading our Goods

9th Slate, Year 201
(201.02.09)

Ustuth could finally rest from the sun as the rather crude wooden hovel was completed and all the beds were set in place. The unisex cabin would be cramped and filled with an uncomfortable smell of wood, host dwarves ranging from sweat-dripping miners to eye-strained administrators and include a dangerously small gap between the beds for some very important alcohol.

However, Ustuth commended Litast Storlutlibash ("Litast Dimpleaxe") for the speed in which he got the hovel built, along with the help of the blacksmith Iden Etaszaneg ("Iden Joinedrelic") who helped muscle all the buildingmaterials and set the basalt floor in place.

"Ust" Ustankol ("Ustuth Blamelesswheels") the miner, not to be mistaken for Ustuth Nilkodor the Clerk and dubious worshipper of Alod the Inky Help of Angels, ran out of the entrance to quickly search for Ustuth with her gaze. Funnily they both shared the first name, dwarves have been known to mistake their childrens genders before and so Ustuth, or Ust as she had been known to be called, had shortened her name to end any future confusions. Her parents had shipped her off to mining-school early in her years, fitting profession for their son they thought. An occupation she never really enjoyed fully because of her strange love for the outside.

Profile of "Ust" Ustankol

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Ustuth!", Ust yelled at the sight of the clerk, "We 'ave struck chromite!!"

This got everyone's attention. All dwarves knew that chromite would sometimes befriend platinum, which was something any sane or insane dwarf would love to get their greedy hands on.

Ustuth met her with an excited gaze. "Then what in Alod's name are ye up 'ere for then!? Dig as if yer beard was on fire!"

Ust nodded, "Aye sir!", and immediately turned in her tracks and charged down the basalt stairs of the caves, her trusty pickaxe readied in her strong hands.

The clerk stroke his beard in delight.


14th Slate, Year 201
(201.02.14)

"We 'ave soon excavated most of the chromite, no sign of any p--", Ust was met with a palm raised toward her as to cut her short.

"Don' say more. Keep diggin' and get the sleeping quarters readied, will ye?" Ustuth said in defeat.

Ust nodded and left the clerk to his thoughts - which oddly enough weren't focused on the possible gains of chromite-veins.


25th Slate, Year 201
(201.02.25)

The farm was complete, atleast the first version that could keep the seven dwarven bellies filled with alcohol.




27th Slate, Year 201
(201.02.27)

The Brief Dinner Meeting



Present were Ustuth the clerk, Ust the miner, Iden the blacksmith and Minkot Zonkol ("Minkot Helmedwheel").

"I figyer yer farms up 'n goin' then Minkot?" Ustuth asked almost entirely in a rethorical manor.

"Aye, got lubbly juicy plump helmets for ye all!", she hurried between two large bites on some plump helmet stew that few could eat while retaining a smile across their beard.

Profile of Minkot Zonkol

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

A sidenote, I had sort of planned her to be some plump helmet freak, since I was going to start off with a lot of plump helmet which ought to be some sort of dwarven curseword by now. Funny enough she already had plump helmet listed in her likes along with the helpful mood I also planned her to have.

"Mmmf", Ustuth managed to grumble instead of voicing his dislike of the plant - he knew the first months would be bumpy. "How about them sleeping quarters Ust?" He turned to Ust.

"They are being smoothened as we eat-- speak! Sir!", Ust wiped the sweat of her forehead with a loaf of bread in her hand.

"Good", Ustuth turned to the entrance, "within a week I want to see statues in olivine line up inside the entrance of Syrupglow." With that, he walked towards the wooden hovel, hoping it would be one of the last nights outside a dark soothing cave ceiling.


1st Hematite, Year 201
(201.04.01)

More than a month had passed and time had crawled to a very early summer. It was the first of Hematite and the sun shone ever so horridly bright. There were no olivine statues in sight in the not-at-all-complete entrance hall. Delays upon delays seemed to haunt Ustuth's schedule and he was just starting to understand how much work they had infront of them. Everyone helped where it was needed, the stone detailing of floors and walls for the sleeping-quarters were done by any dwarf with two capable hands - save Ustuth who had to supervise mostly and kept moving furniture around.

The statues that got made were of diorite, basalt and gabbro - not a spot of green on them! Ustuth thought he had made it clear when he ordered a pile of olivine right outside the mason's workshop, but apparently it had done nothing to convey his wishes.

This was the least of his problems, he had forgotten to order the making of a still! There was no still, no brewing which could only lead to one undiserable and most terrible conclusion - NO ALCOHOL.

Status Report - 1st Hematite 201

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

He immediately ordered to dig out some room for a still and for the still to be built and Minkod would have to work double-shifts brewing alcohol, and she didn't mind the thought of spending her time on this most valuable task ofcourse.

The sleeping-quarters were almost done, a few more rocky surfaces to be smoothened and then a few furnitures for Ustuth's room if any liasons would arrive.

[Labs]

Are you making this a community game? I love the tileset.

[Ignem]

The tileset is the newest Mayday set with one own alteration (there's some sort of new sponge-like tile I found really ugly and switched back to the old Mayday used), I'm using the colors from the Plac1d set and the BEEFMO dwarves.

As for a community game, I'm definitely willing to name incoming migrants and try in any way I can to involve them in the tale, customized to the best of my abilities.

[Ignem]

The Midsummer Hovel

The night when the still was finished Minkot could finally get to work with brewing the best thing she knew aside from plump helmets - alcohol. She had hung a lamp up with enough oil to last her a long while. The boys and girls were thirsty, some had even asked to be woken up as soon as a batch was done. Minkot couldn't be happier with this arrangement. She had dwarves in need of her services, and it happened to be through one of her two specialities - farming and brewing.



When you think about it, alcohol is to dwarves what water is to humans. It's essential for the well-being of our entire race, what could be a nobler purpose in life than to supply the dwarven society with this nectar of the gods you wonder, none. Minkot never brew to supply dwarves with alcohol though, no, to her it was also an art. The right taste was paramount to her profession and may Mebzuth the god of coasts and oceans drown her if she ever changed her mind about that, she thought.



The summer was hot and dry, but most if not all dwarves of Syrupglow found time to enjoy the outside now when there was the option of going inside to a comfy cave and/or bed. The hovel that was a temporary sleeping-quarters to all seven of them was now Minkot's own and it had access leading down to the still and farms. Ustuth had asked her and she found it a wonderful idea, he had some concerns for her safety living in a wooden house outside the fortress so he told her that it would most certainly be a temporary thing. Minkot had nodded and smiled, as she always does.


11th Malachite, Year 201
(201.05.11)

Ust came running out of the entrance, a bearded smile upon her face and eyes filled with excitement. "We've found..

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Woohoo!", she shouted and opened a barrel of wine to celebrate with.

Perhaps there was more to these rocks than heaploads of basalt and olivine, just as Ustuth had, atleast, hoped.


Litast, being a carpenter was the obvious choice of getting the job to cut down trees, not because he was skilled in the art of cutting down trees but because he knew good wood when he saw it. This would also minimize any complaints about the type of trees cut down, Ustuth had thought to himself, ridding himself of another problem on the road to fulfill his dreams.

Litast donned the axe and chopped in a most dwarven manner, the exact total opposite of how an elf would not chop a tree. This would take him a few hours since he was new at the task, but he liked being close to the material he worked with.



All in all, Litast was feeling quite great. He was glad for a lot of things lately. Except for a little noise, not too weird considering the upstart of their life's greatest achievement, everything was just great.

Profile of Litast Storlutlibash

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Ignem]

Discontinuing this one. I've been playing it for a while now. The problem with this map are numerous.

I checked the civ for my starting location, and I had been clumbsy enough to start where only dwarves exist. No humans, no elves, no goblins, no action. The map is a bit big as well, I think I'll try with smaller than 6x6 for these kind of things, and with a lot more action. I've played two years more on it and I'm glad to report Ustuth Nilkodor is alive and well, so is everyone else. The population is around 50 dwarves and they found a lot of small pockets of platinum and a rather large gold vein. Some copper and other goodies as well, but with the constant reminder of never having to even fear for a goblin siege, this map just got more stale and boring than social studies back in high school.

DISCONTINUED.