MAPSTORY:
Prologue:
He'd been enjoying a llama cheese stew when got the news.
"You're the new leader," said Nahkh, the founder of this fortress and scion to a long, distingished, and often infamous line of longbeards.
Nil nearly spit out his food. "What, how? Was there an election?" Nahkh shook his head as Nil continued. "Did someone die? Did I do something to piss you off?" Did I get all sober last night and volunteer? Why me?!" Nahkh only shrugged.
"Hey, I don't make the rules. I'm just the messenger." said the architect. He turned and walked away.
"Wait, what the hell? You do make the rules! Sure, you've never told them to anyone, but..." Nil trailed off; Nahkh was already out the door. There was no helping it--Nil was in charge.
Even though he'd lived here for several years, the dwarf decided to survey the fortress as a refresher. The heart of the fortress had sections both above and below the aquifer. The lower section was organized and well engraved, although it did have some workshops that would be sure to cause anyone sleeping in the higher quality bedrooms to sleep fitfully. The upper section was far less ornate, owing to its older age and packed sand wall; it held a few bedrooms and stockpiles.
Although there was an older, secondary entrance leading directly to the fortress, the main gate included a fuctional drowning trap; Nil's first order of business would be to lure the orcs roaming around outside into it. However, there was a smaller area, devoted mostly to glasscrafting, positioned by the magma pipe that was not full protected by the trap. Bones littered it, testifying to the difficulty the dwarves had experienced trying to defend the exposed area. Nil's second order of business would be to pipe magma into the main fortress, then loot and abandon the metal and glassworks. The area above the pipe itself had belonged to the old, now dead dungeon master, and was half-floored with clear glass. It now served has his tomb; Nil planned to leave that part mostly untouched out of respect for the dead. Once the magma is piped across the river, he would use it not only to poer a more conveniently located metal and glassworks, but to pierce the aquifer a second time.
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Nil's diary:17th Granite--The cowardly orcs fled before I had a chance to drown them. The next day, Nahkh was elected mayor, filling a vacency... apparently I'm still in charge though. I also set our champion wrestlers to spar with some swords and hammers made out of wood and soft metals.
19th Granite: Began plans for the magmaduct when I realized we had no miners. Who ever heard of a dwaven fortress without a miner?! I ordered the two unskilled peasents to pick up some picks and start earning their keep.
20th Granite: Received word that the much-feared geese have grown in numbers; counting the goslings, there are now almost twenty of the winged monsters lulling around outside.
2nd Slate: Some migrants, including a new dungeon master--apparently the old one was killed fighing magma creatures wall installing his glass floor--have arrived, even though they know they place may be their grave. The other migrants included two woodworkers, two millers, a herbalist, a seige engineer, a weaponsmith, an armorsmith, a metalcrafter, a blacksmith, a thresher, a mechanic, a hunter, and four useless peasants. The peasents and one of the millers will be diverted to form a new military squad,. They'll first learn some melee skills, then, later, I'll give them some crossbows. I'll first send the hunter out to cull the goose population, then have him become a full-time marksdwarf.
7th Slate--Just after the last of the migrants passed through it, we finished the foundations of a new tower. This will help to control the westen hill, above the fortress; it has often been used as a staging ground by enemy seigers. If we have time, we'll give the Captain of the Guard a new office on the top floor.
11th Slate--Someone ordered most of our dogs butchered for food. Madness! I will instead have them trained to fight.
24th Felsite: The goose-menace has been taken care of, for the the time being at least. The migrant hunter killed eight, and most of the rest have apparently been scared off--only one adult and two goslings remain.
1st Hematite: The new dungeon master was found with damage to her spine, lower body and arm. She had been injured for some time, but we can't figure out how--there have been no attacks by enemies, no cave-ins, and no acts of dwarven justice. She refuses to explain herself, which has allowed rumers to run rampant--some spectulate the ghost of the old dungeon master, Demonic Spoon, extracted bloody revenge on his successor. Personally, I suspect she was tangled with the wrong goose.
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The orcs:It was early summer, and human caravan was overdue. For the last week the sentries had nervously watched, knowing an orcish attack was at least as likely as the humans' arrival.
They sighted them coming along the banks of the river, from upstream. They were without wagons, seemed to be moving faster than usual. When the humans spotted the sentries, they picked up their pace even more. The one in front waved his arms and shouted; although he was too far away to be heard clearly, the dwarves didn't need to be lip readers to know that the humans wouldn't be the only visitors to Sparkgear this summer.
The dwarves' work on the magmaduct had created an alternate route to enter the fortress, and the desperate humans took full advantage of it. One of the miners watched them pass through. When the last camel stumbled down the ramp (something that probably would have taken hours if camel hadn't been half-paniced by the smell of orc), he mined it out. The orcs would not be able to follow the same path.
Over the next week, the orcs took positions around Sparkgear, probing its defenses. Finally, a squad of lashers charged the main entrance. Nil had hoped to have the vent-side forge complex cleared out before the fortress faced a full-fledged assult, but they hadn't had enough time. The continuing traffic between the areas prevented full use of the drowning chamber. The orc squad instead found the drain open, leaving a makeshift moat too wide for them to cross. They tried to back out, but were blocked by a wall of water before they could do so.
In the midst of this, the widow of one of the old leaders, Kurisukun, approached Nil. Urgently, she informed him that her husband had built a trap to catch the carp in the river, back before it was dammed. Now. however, the gates that had once held back the riverwater were open, probably to allow access to the riverbed. The orcs could take this path as easily as the dwarves.
Nil himself ran to the lever, closing it only a moment before the leader of the entire orcish assult, a local warlord armed with a bow, passed through it. From the sound of it, Nil guessed two full squads of orcs had been about bypass the fortress defences. Nil's return to the main hall was made as quickly as the sprint from it, but this was out of anticipation, not fear. Half of the enemy siege party was now several days' march from the ramp that allowed access to the riverbed, which was in turn adjacent to the dam's floodgates.
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Later, in the riverbed:The orcish warparty, almost 25 strong, retraced their steps up the dry riverbed. They'd marched a couple hours where they heard the sound of the water approaching. Within minutes, the orcs were deluged by wall of muddy water. The corpse of one of the humans floated on the crest of the wave, as if to oversee his revenge.
The orcs were not bad swimmers, and only one or two drowned. But most of the rest were swept away [actually they stood at the end of the river until other events provoked a retreat, then diappeared] and the few that managed to hold onto the riverbank were no threat to Sparkgears.
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Diary of McClane, Sparkgear Militia:Malachite 13--They finally killed the orcs in the drowning trap. Bastards had managed to stay close enough to the drain that the water never got deep enough to drown them, but our marksdwarves were able to take care of them. Endok wants to get some up close action; me, I'm happy to keep sparring. Not like we're gonna run out of orcs to kill.
Malachite 16--I've been pulled off training. Apparently the marksdwarves want to go finish off the orcs in the river, just like they did the ones in the drowning trap. Unfortunately there's still a squad of lashers out there, so they need us. They're diging through the bins to find us some good weapons as I write. Wish they had some better armor, too, but most of what we have was made for orcs and goblins and doesn't fit.
Malachite 20--Within the hour we'll sally forth. Me and my three squadmates, all legendary wrestlers with some skill in maces, hammers, and swords. Also 6 marksdwarves under Dakost, the captain of the guard. Should be enough.
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Dwarf Hard, With A Vengeance:"Go to hell, dwarf!" growled the orc. It probably would have been more of a bellow, except the orc was tired and badly injured, with two bolts still stuck in one of its legs. It was desperately trying to escape Sparkgears, but its injuries had reduced it to crawling through the knee-deep water.
"If I do, I'll take you with me," grunted McClane. His injuries weren't as bad as the orcs, mostly just scratches. He was far more exhausted, however--he'd been fighting for the last three days. The battle against the lasher squad had gone well--only one casualty, plus a badly mauled baby. It had been close, though, and even the marksdwarves had needed to join to help McClane and his squadmates to hold the line towards the end. Oddly, the human guide representative, driven insane through clastrophobia during the siege, participated in the assault against the orcs [true story, and given his stats it probably didn't hurt].
When it was clear the dwarves would triumph, the leader of the lashers and two bodyguards jumped into the fortified above-ground courtyard [dodged from bolts]. The leader itself had managed to fight its way through, but the bodyguards were trapped. McClane and his squadmates (minus Endok, who had been injured) were sent to finish them off. The other orc was cornered by the other two dwarves for now, but this one had broken away, forcing McClane to give chase. The dwarf was so exhausted he could barely stand.
McClane grabbed the orc's foot, the injured one. "Got you, you ugly--" McClane was cut off by a kick to the face and the orc scrambled way. The dwarf realed for a moment, then regained his senses and tackled the orc. They struggled for nearly half a minute, then the orc again managed to slip away.
This continued for some time. McClane kept up with the orc without much trouble, but after hours of fighting he didn't have the strength to give a killing blow through the orc's armor. The orc was nearly outside, and McClane feared it would escape. But waiting at the top of the ramp was Zefon the Fat Gleams, a marksdwarf.
"Look! At what you did! To my baby!" screamed the mother as she pummeled the orc with her crossbow. The orc was too busy shielding its face to actually follow her orders, but McClane did--it was clear the child would never walk. He would have let the bereaved mother finish the orc off, but he felt hands lift him to his feet. Turning, he saw Nahkh.
"Go ahead, McClane." sad the mad architect. "We'll kill it together."
McClane turned to the now prostrate orc, raising his mace.
"Yippie kai yay, motherfucker."------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nil's diary--the final months:17th Galena--the bottom section of the drowning trap is still filled with water. it's about waist deep, and between the corpses of the orcs and the woodworker Iden it's getting quite putrid.
11th Limestone--dwarven traders are here... for some reason the wagons keep bypassing us. I've ordered the hatches covering the down stairs replaced with constructed floors, hopefully that will help. It could just be that they don't want to get wet, though.
19th Limestone--More orcs are back. For now we'll just let them site outside. Also, a grizzily bear tore up some random kobold, then ran off with some cheese.
13th Tmber--The dwarves from the mountainhome are soft. Most of the traders have gone insane, and the villaige liason looked like he was about to. So, we sallied forth with some of the merchant guards, killing a squad of orcs and allowing the liason to escape. Unfortunately, other than one of the guards, a marksdwarf, he was the only member of the caravan to survive.
10th Obsidian--A mason entered a few mood, grabbing two chunks of hematite ore and a few other scraps.
25th Obsidian--The mason built a floor hatch. I've ordered it to be placed in the new stairwell as soon at the latter is complete.
16th Granite--Nahkh has informed me that I'm no longer the leader. Managed to not kill everyone including myself, and completed all the projects started. best of luck to the next poor son of a bitch...
Short version: Only two or three deaths, also the human representative went nuts during the summer siege. Also lost the dwarven caravan (saved that trade rep tho). Built a small tower and a magmaduct to both supply a new, more conveniently located forge/glassworks and to breach the aquifer (again). Trained up 5 new marksdwarves from scratch, got our wrestlers decently skilled with various weapons. Also saw lava mist for the first time (I'd seen magma mist, but not lava).
I've got a bunch of movies but most of them were long with only a little excitement (the battle with the orcs was drawn out but I got most of it). I could upload them if people want but the best one is already
up.
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Topic: SG5 - The Next Generation [Signup full for now] (Read 45862 times)