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[poeticwatcher]

Have enjoyed reading Would read new if you started over

[KenboCalrissian]

A quick heads up - I'm delayed yet again... this time in search of a new job.  I'm still employed, but I'm itching for a new town.  Unfortunately I have to focus on interviews and studying for technical things and such, so I can only guarantee one thing: This isn't dying until I say so!

For the record, I've given it a lot of thought and decided this story's going at least one more game year.  That should leave plenty of time to drive the story where it needs to go.  Incidentally, it also leaves plenty of time to change my mind should I decide the fort needs to go on.

[KenboCalrissian]

File 0.28.181.40d, Royal Archives 2002-2008: The Fall of Zursalbalad (Severedcoils)
Testimony by Ingish Olonalåth, Miner, delivered to Unib Tunrithlut
on 18th Felsite, 211, Late Spring,
several Urists North of the border of Zursalbalad proper.

This transcript contains conversation between 2 (two) people: Unib Tunrithlut (referred to as "U:") and Ingish Olonalåth (referred to as "I:")

U: Ingish!  What a splendid spring day, don't you think?

I: Unib, slow down with the meetings!  I'm gonna get caught... I think they're getting suspicious.

U: But I brought you your flour!  You love flour, don't you?

I: <I hold the bag of flour out to Ingish, but he does not take it.>  You need to learn a thing or two about a bribe.  We've got plenty of food, I can go to the stockpiles any time I want and gorge myself on flour.  My life is at risk here, and I ain't gonna trade that for no bag of tasty, powdery, wholesome flour... No matter how delicious it might be.

U: Hm... I suppose you are correct.  Your information is more valuable than a bag of flour, since it pertains to acts of suspected treason and murder.

I: That's more like it!  You know, I've been thinking, with two dukes and a baron gone missing, there should be some openings, I take it?

U: That there are, unlike our dungeons.  They're quite full, in fact, so when we determine exactly what is happening here, who is involved, and who has information about these events that they withheld from the state, we'll have no choice but to perform immediate execution on every culprit.

I: Ahh... <Ingish has been practicing bluffing, I see.  His face goes stone, providing no indication whether or not he understood the implied threat.  He has a tell, though; he tugs on his (pig tail trousers) as though they were falling down, and the tension in his clenched fingers is blatantly obvious.>

U: So.  Why don't you begin by telling me how the new Duchess is getting along?  <I set the bag of flour down between us, and give him my best smile.>

I: She's fine.

U: Fine?  Well now.  I suppose we have nothing at all to worry about, then.  If you say she's fine, then obviously she would tell me the same if I were to ask her myself, hm?

I: Wait!  If you did that, then you'd surely give me away!

U: And what would Zon do to you if she were to find out about these meetings?

I: ...Look, I'm serious.  She's alive.  Been complaining quite a bit about her living arrangements, though.

U: When I last toured the fortress grounds, I noticed there were, conveniently, only one set of chambers per consort.  There were no separate chambers for the previous Dukes, and the facilities provided would not have been of sufficient quality to be shared between husband and spouse.  Were her complaints in relation to this fact?

I: No, actually there were two sets of rooms available before they arrived.  The problem is we only had time to fully furnish one set of rooms.  Rather than take the furnished room herself, she gave it to her husband and demanded brand new furniture be built from scratch immediately.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

U: Oh... so, she is currently roomless of her own volition?

I: That's right.  There's also the matter of their crypts, which were not grand enough for them.  We've had this complaint in the past from previous rulers, so Zon has designated plans for larger tombs to keep future guests happy.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

U: My, that's a lot of tombs!  How many guests does she expect to die here?

I: I... I don't know.

U: What else has been going on in the fortress of late?

I: Oh, well... I don't know if it's important, but we've resumed setting up a glass industry.  This had been started several years ago, you might recall,
 but it was abandoned.  Deemed unnecessary, I think.

U: So, why now?

I: Beats me, but now we're interested in clear glass rather than settling for that ugly green stuff.  Space for a pearlash facility is being dug just above the magma glass furnaces...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I: ...and some rooms are being dug out north of the magma forges, for storage I think.  The tunnels that are currently there were intended as a first line of defense against fire imps - you know, to mitigate the damage one could deal with a fireball.  But, since the magma pools under the forges are sealed off, fire imps coming out of the forges won't ever be an issue.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

U: Hmn... again, I find it odd to resume a glass industry at this stage.  You're producing more than enough wealth from roasts alone, your metalworkers aren't yet fully trained... why divert resources to a new, inferior industry?

I: I dunno, maybe she's bored?

U: Exactly.

I: ...Uh, what?  What'd I say?

U: Nevermind, Ingish.  I think I've heard enough for now.  The Duchess has been here almost twenty days without dying, so I should like to think she will be just fine.  I will return again in some time, but there are pressing matters at court to which I must attend.

I: ...Yeah, great.

Spoiler: OOC (click to show/hide)

I've got 10 days worth of vacation ahead of me, so expect a few updates this week!

[KenboCalrissian]

19th Felsite, 211, Late Spring
by Asob Momuzzokun
-------

Zon... I don't know where to begin.  I don't think you really meant what you said to me, or at least I really hope you didn't.  You're losing your grip on reality.  This whole mission is getting to us in a bad way.  I'm sorry about throwing wine at you, but you... you really scared me, and I didn't know what else to do!  You're falling off the deep end and I guess I thought... I dunno, maybe you'd snap out of it?

Anyway, I wanted to speak with you in person, but I couldn't find you anywhere.  Maybe it's for the best that these words be written rather than spoken, but... I've had enough.  I don't want anything else to do with... what we're doing with the Dukes.  This mission serves us no good.  Minkot holds no real authority over you, or me, or anyone for that matter.  Our very civilization is in peril as we play his game.  I want out, Zon, and I think it's for the best that you come with me.  We can leave this place, tonight.  We'll head for the mountains, migrate to a different civilization altogether, and return to our simpler lives.  You can be regional fisherchamp again!  Or a lumberjack, you're really good at that too!  And I'll just mine, or manage a small business, or even become a merchant.  Life can be simple, and we never have to kill again!  And if they come for us, call us traitors for disobeying the king... well, we'll expose him.  We'll expose it all, the whole thing.  And yes, we would have to incriminate ourselves... but we were under the king's orders, until we felt morally obliged to stop.  That still might not save us, but if it came to that point... I don't know... either way, I want out.  Feb Koganlikot is still alive, it isn't too late.  Anyway, I suppose I'll leave this on your table for you to find later.

Your best friend ever (and don't ever forget it),
Asob

-------

Okay... it's a few hours later, and something weird's going on.  Your journal is right here where I last left it, so obviously you haven't been back to your room.  This means you're also probably not documenting, and someone needs to be right now.

Remember all those rooms you designated?  Well... nobody's mining them.  All of my miners report they were ordered to cease digging at once, and my pick was taken from my quarters while I slept last night.  I can't see any reason why you would do that, especially while you're trying to get some new rooms set up.  Maybe it's King Minkot?  Is he superceding your orders?

I'm looking for you as I write this, but I have no clue where you might be.  So, the first logical thing that came to mind was to pan the dining hall for information.  'Archibold' and 'Other Grendus' are arguing over flails, 'Skuorgs' is boasting to 'Derm' about how he finally became acknowledged as a weaponsmith...

"Excuse me, you're the mayor, aren't you?"

The voice is unfamiliar, but I recognize the speaker immediately.  It's Melbil Mistêmkogan, the Duke Consort who came with Feb, who is alarmingly not with her husband.

"Yes.  My name is Asob Momuzzokun, welcome to--"

"Put a button on it while I talk."

"Wha--"

"Your lips!  Button them!"

I fall silent, but mostly out of confusion over the consort's queer choice of phrase.

"My wife is very upset with you, I'll have you know!  Our quarters were not fully prepared upon arrival.  She will be very cross if our furniture isn't completed within the week!  This very week, I tell you!"

"Yes.  I'm very sorry about that, we're working on it as we speak.  By the by, where is your wife?"

"Oh, I don't know.  Someone came by and told her there was a very nice lever with her name on it, so she left posthaste to go pull it."

A shiver went down my spine.  It's already begun...

"Who told her that?  Could you please describe this person?  Was he dressed as a peasant?"

"Blast you, you all look like peasants to me!  Now begone.  Oh, and do something about that drab little hovel you call a crypt for us.  It's awfully barren, and we shan't be dying in a place such as..."

I let him ramble as I walk outside.  Pulling a lever, and not one within the dining hall... but I don't know of any other levers!  There were two under the Big Tent, but they're completely submerged right now.  Was there another I'm forgetting about?

I wander outside to look for you, Zon, and see Litast the marksdwarf shooting at a target.  I figured the target range is near enough the entrance that he'd have seen you if you'd gone past to chop trees or to fish.

"Litast!  Do you have a moment?"

"Yes.  Er... No."

"Oh.  Alright..."

"No, I mean, yes I have time!  But my name is no longer 'Litast.'"

"Oh...?  It's not?"

"No... Apparently, it is now 'DiDi.'"

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"'DiDi??'  Is that some kind of title?  Did you get another kill recently?"

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Not aside from those two goblins from the ambush.  It's just my name, now.  Apparently."

"Ah... so, how did you come by a name like that?"

"I didn't.  Zon mandated that it's my new name.  That's authority for you... oh, right, I guess I shouldn't say that in front of the mayor, hm?  Don't get me wrong, we're still alive so I suppose I should trust your lead, but... honestly?  What good does naming me after a blind ex-marksdwarf twice do?"

'Di.'  Of course.  I can't believe I didn't realize it...

"Litast--"

"'DiDi,' apparently."

"Whatever.  Where is 'Di?'"

"How should I know?  She's probably passed out on top of another dwarven sugar roast, stinking up the commons again."

"I know where she is."  I whirl around frantically towards the voice of Ingish Olonalåth, who overheard our conversation.  "She's off to a dig."

"A dig?  Mining??  'Di' isn't a miner!"

"She is now.  She's the only miner, I believe.  I stumbled over her body near the finished goods stockpile.  She woke up, then proceeded to get a +Gold goblet+ from a -Nickel bin.-  She said 'It's about time I was recognized for my hard work!  They knew they made a mistake when they took me off crossbow duty, and they knew they made another mistake when they said I couldn't mine anymore!  Now they know I'm all they need!'  Then I politely told her she wasn't going to get much mining done with a goblet, escorted her to the weapons stockpile, and handed her a (Copper pick.)"

Fool!  He probably didn't even realize what he was doing.  I start to run--

"Asob!"

I stop, turning back to Ingish.  He looked very sad.

"I... I'm sorry.  The king was walking by, I didn't want to raise suspicion..."

"Thank you."  That's all I needed to hear.  I know exactly where she is now.

I ran as fast as I could.  Through the stockpiles, around the bottomless pit, towards the drainage tunnels near the Big Tent--

"'DI!!'"

There she is, but I'm just a second too late.  She disappears behind a green glass portal that wasn't there before.  I bolt forward and try to open it, but it won't budge!  Somehow, the door has locked itself behind her!

I peer through the green glass to try and see what's happening.  Feb is in there, repeatedly pulling a lever that doesn't seem to be doing anything, and beyond that...

...It's exactly what I feared...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

'Di' breaks through the wall, releasing the water...

I pound and kick and scream at the door, but none of that opens it any faster.  'Di' hasn't been washed out with the rushing waters...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The water isn't moving incredibly fast, though... There's time...  I need my pick.

Frantically, I scramble to the weapons pile, grab a +Copper pick,+ and scramble back - but on my way, I can hear the creaking of mechanisms through the walls.  A pump begins turning...

...NO.

((DFMA 1)) ((DFMA 2)) ((Movie)) Water surges into the tunnel faster, fed by the river pump somebody activated...

...somebody activated the pump... they pulled the lever just to flood her out faster.  The Duchess is dead, and 'Di' had to die with her.

Minkot will pay.

I head for the dining hall, pick in hand.  Minkot will die.  Mark my words, I will slay that crooked monster myself.  I will free this civilization of his tyranny, of his cowardice, of his...

_{...oh no...}

"Wow, I sure felt that one!  What did that do?"

"That's the lever that's going to ensure our safety when we're finally ready to claim all that adamantine.  I won't bore you with the details, but I'll give you a hint - it definitely involves diverting an underground river over the pit."

"Incredible.  Well, thanks for letting me pull that lever, Zon!"

"Oh, any time, Melbil!  I think you're going to have a wonderful stay here at Severedcoils."

You... you did it... Minkot had nothing to do with it, did he... Why, Zon... Why... I'm trying so hard at this moment to hold onto the belief that I've misunderstood something... but then you see me, and when you walk up to me with that coy smirk on your face... I already know that you're lost.

"Oh, Asob!  You're just in time.  Be a doll and break the news to our good friend here that from now on, he'll be pulling his own lever."

[KenboCalrissian]

According to my snapshots folder, that was the 100th post with pictures!  Huzzah!

[Chaoseed]

Congratulations! I'm still enjoying read this.

[HoshiGiniro]

wow this awesome story was a great read to bad it has been dead for 120 days i was really getting into it sorry you had such a hard time with the FPS and the real life stuff but i must clap for your awesome writing abilities

[Quietust]

wow this awesome story was a great read to bad it has been dead for 120 days i was really getting into it sorry you had such a hard time with the FPS and the real life stuff but i must clap for your awesome writing abilities

Was this thread necromancy really necessary?

[Aklyon]

Its a cool fort yes, but there wasn't really any point to necroing to say that.

[KenboCalrissian]

They were reminding me I need to get back to this and finish what I started.

[KenboCalrissian]

27th Felsite
Asob M.
---

Zon seems to have forgotten all about her journal - that, or she realizes that documenting everything leaves proof of what she's doing.  As much as she wrote in this thing it's hard to believe either.

It's hard to focus on the details of the fort while worrying about my... friend.  If it's still appropriate to call her that... these days, she feels more like my ward.  I've taken to watching her closely, keeping notes on her activities.  She seems... disinterested, distanced.  Fishing, but letting the fish die on the ground, again.  She doesn't even watch them flail about.  I've tried to approach her, and have even presented this journal to her to see if she would take it... but she just... stares at me.  Her eyes always seem sleepy, and a vague smile plays on her lips, but... she says nothing.  Just stares.  Despite the creepy, maybe pleased, maybe humored look, she goes back to scowling as soon as I leave.  Like her last noble kill was the most important thing she's been looking forward to, and now that it's over she's just sort of waiting for the next one.  Or... maybe she's waiting for me to do something?  She hasn't even given any orders since, just watching the dwarves go about their daily lives while she fishes.

I now find myself picking up the slack.  We've been having a lot of trouble making the crypts nice enough for the dukes, so I'm expanding the current orders to add some additional space to each.  A few more masterwork engravings should be enough... we managed to strike both hematite and sunstone in the crypts.  If I were feeling more optimistic I'd say it was a sign, but right now it just feels kind of... meh.

I gave the craftdwarves and jewelers some things to do, even though we typically make enough profit off of roasts.  We do however need some furniture decorated so that we can improve room quality, so anything that leads toward training of this sort will be a blessing.  I also order some more bins and designate some trees to chop - maybe that will get Zon interested in something other than murdering fish.

This is getting awfully droll, so I teach the child Asmel Medenrith how to throw a party to cheer everyone up!  Perhaps a... singles party, with the consorts as the guests of honor?

[HoshiGiniro]

my necromancy wasn't meant to draw you back if you were to busy to do this

but your story telling did inspire me to start my own fortress story

[Argonnek]

It LIVES! This fort is fun to read about, especially since it's one of the very few 40d stories left out there.

[KenboCalrissian]

Hoshi, while I am busy, this is one of those things that I feel I just HAVE to finish (also, your HoF vote was highly encouraging!  Much appreciated).  It's not so much that I'm too busy to work on it, it's that the game runs so freaking slow that it takes several hours before anything interesting happens.  The last post took about 3 hours, and only 10 days passed in game.

I'm going to try to make at least one entry per week - most likely on the weekends - and then end it when I hit a score of 5.  That's only 10% of the original challenge score, but hey, I'm leaving room for improvement in case I want to do it again in the latest version of DF on a smaller map that won't make my computer weep openly for mercy.

That said, I'm going to try to get another post up tomorrow - I'll be too busy today, but it's good to see how fast you guys lay on the support as soon as this story has an involuntary spasm

[Aklyon]

Doing it again with all of the possible vampire consorts and wereconsorts could be interesting.