Print

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

[Baney]

I blame height,

Dwarven necks, Dwarven logic, Dwarven height.

The Fortress of AshenCave could have been the greatest, yet it fell...

(in the voice of David Attenborough)

Here lies the graves of some hundred dwarves, mighty in their buildings, mighty in their constructions, yet not so mighty in their forethought.

Their civilisation here at AshenCave was a golden one, and I don't just mean that metaphorically, but literally.

The AshenCave in its earliest foundations discovered a gleaming golden rock, and while it was not gold, its shine gives off the impression of gold. Anyone who comes to stand before these mighty walls would see, a mightly rich culture.. and perhaps.. that is why it fell.

The AshenCavians were studious in their construction, building local tunnels, rooms, thrones and artifacts of great wealth. But as you can see here.. their Walls were their greatest concept.. and possibly.. their greatest downfall.

Concentration all their efforts on these walls, and unable to strain their necks high enough, they could not notice the overhanging landscape above, which so obvious to any taller race, allowed any who stood above, total access to the treasure piles that stood waiting, behind the walls.

and so they came.. The goblin Crossbowmen.

At first.. none knew of why or how these strange metal bolts flew from the sky.. the guards stood helpless to understand the incoming rain of death. but rain it did, and die they did. hundreds were slaughtered, in the most blood thirsty slaughter know in the land.

The few stragglers that remained, quickly grabbed up their arms, and climbed up, up, up into these strange hills, but as unprepared as they were for the initial slaughter, they suffered again at the hands of the prepared warriors of goblin kin.

12 lone dwarves survived that day, but not for much longer. the stench of death, the lost of parents, children, friends and loved ones proved too much, and soon the last dozen dwarves were in chaos, some climbed up to the very peaks which proved their downfall, and threw themselves off. Others, their minds strained by the constant decaying reminders of the lives they once knew.. snapped, and they began a second, more devastating battle.. the one within their minds.

The last.. individual dwarf, having buried his family, his friends, his entire clan. made a tragic mistake. threw a tantrum (or possibly.. knowlingly) Fell to his knees sobbing, as his sleave pulled open the lever which opened the floodgates... the lower caves were filled with the haunting echos of the last AshenCavian, and possibly still echoes now with the spirits of all who were lost that day.

[Grimlocke]

Thats in interesting place for a fort though, nice natural moat.  Too bad about that fatal difference it height though, hehehe.

You could (should ) have build a wall on the outer shore of the river first, then build a concetric (higher) wall on the inner shore. Would have made a pretty cool castle-ish fort.

The wall needed more battlements by the way. Also more gatehouse. And magma! But that goes without saying.

But of course with all that it wouldnt have made as good a story about a typical dwarf fort miscalculation

[Sensei]

Yeah. That happened to me once. Fortunately I ordered my infantry in the courtyard to hide in the statue garden.

[Judas Maccabeus]

This does sound like ths sort of thing you'd see in an old historical documentary, the tragic tale of how some old civilisation fell because they failed to plan for something, and the implied sense of superiority from the British narrator.