Sorry sorry sorry! This update took forever, between all the work I had to do as well as having to entirely re-type it. I should be getting back to a frequent schedule this weekend.
'Sir Grath', Knight, mandates updates (100)
(33/100)EDIT: I've returned to here and decided that this is a good turning point to mark a new chapter of the story, focusing on the fort's new nobility and using the military's first melee battle with the orcs as a climax of sorts for the Of Knights and Days chapter, especially as they're well-incorporated into the story at this point. Our new chapter is called A Noble Pursuit, and begins with this update here.
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14th Galena, 17~I heard a whistle, and stopped mid-sentence.
“Boss? You okay?” Jyrvus asked. I had just been giving him a play by play of our last great battle, which I’d watched from the cabin’s roof. The soldiers were a pretty quiet bunch, so most of our populace only saw the bodies of Momuz’s comrades, then the pile of orc and spider corpses.
“Yeah, I… heard something, I think.” There was another whistle, and we both turned. It was Datan, the dungeon master. She appeared frustrated, and was standing outside the cabin, squinting in the harsh sun. I imagine she’d never seen a place so far from luxury before. Presently she was smiling icily and whistling to me while waving me over.
I sighed, and turned back to Jyrvus as I walked over to the lounging noble. “We’ll catch up later, all right?”
“Whatever you say, boss.” The armoursmith stopped leaning on his pick and walked off towards the still in progress magma tower. He hadn’t mined in a few years now, but the pick still seemed inextricable from his personality and he had never given it up.
Meanwhile, the rest of the fort was at low spirits, no matter how many spirits they drank. We’d lost seven grown dwarves and a baby in the battle alone, and four other dwarves in the tower accident. Nobody was in a pleasant mood, least of all the military; Ubik had begun having angry breakdowns, while Macedon had been sitting staring out into the jungle for the last week without food or drink.
I approached Datan grumpily, but did my best to appear friendly. I imagine she was putting on the same social pretense.
“Manager. How is it that I have yet to be presented with proper accomodations?” ‘Manager,’ she calls me. I’m just a title, I see.
“Well, madam, uh… You see over there?” I pointed to the isolated patch of land we’d run magma around. “That’s going to be the future keep. Once that’s done, we’ll be putting yourself in a nice room in there with all the furnishings and whatnot. For now, uh… your current residence in the walls is the best we can do.”
“It’s unacceptable. Someone of my position?” She scoffed. “I am a dungeon master, am I not?
Master. It is a title bestowed only after years of accomplishment as well as apprenticeship.” She cracked her whip, its tip snapping mere beaths away from my nose. I wasn’t even aware she was holding it – and suddenly it was gone again. “I would prefer to have my demands treated with a bit more weight. Do you understand me?”
I scratched my neck, in disagreement but without the force of personality to stand up to her. “Well, I think it’s pretty obvious I understand you, I mean, we’re both speaking plain dwa—”
CRACK! “Again: do you
understand me, Mr. Manager?”
I let out a breath. I could feel the slightest bit of blood welling on my cheek; the whip had come just close enough to give me a superficial cut. Sigh. “Yes, yes, I understand you. What do you have in mind?”
She wound her whip, and it disappeared instantly from view. “A proper dungeon. Filled with caged prisoners, all manner of fierce beasts, smouldering lava pits. That is what I am used to, Manager, and that is what I require. I’ve noticed you have an undead menagerie caged away – perhaps I should pay them a visit?”
“…Uh. You think that’s the best… well, safest idea?”
“Don’t question my thoughts, Mr. Manager, and we’ll get along just fine, I think. Besides, don’t you have your own problems to be concerned about? I should think The baron will want proper accomodations.”
I blinked. Baron?
Datan clued in to my recognition failure – perhaps she had kept this from me intentionally to make me panic at the last minute. “Oh, the baron is coming to visit for a few years. You didn’t hear? Shame. Well, I hope you’ll be able to get things ready for his arrival in time.”
“But—”
“Oh, goodness me, what a lovely little fort! Ooh, do you see that, Percy? Look, they’re building a tower in that lava there! Oh, how splendid!”
I whipped my head around to see a rabble of nobility approaching. I turned back to see Datan walking away, whistling. Great. She’d intentionally left me in this situation with just enough time to worry without being able to do anything. I sighed as I tended to do these days and made my way over to meet them.
The woman, dressed in purple giant cave spider silk and all manner of expensive jewelry, was pointing at just about everything she could see. The cabin. The tower. The mural. Even the knights, standing stoically on duty.
The man beside her had sunk his head down a bit, and was eyeing everything with a regard that was part suspicion, part distaste. His behaviour was certainly more resigned than the woman, and his apparel reflected that: he wore a very plain black suit, with a single platinum ring on one finger and some sort of insignia emblazened on his jacket. Clearly the Baron, with a proper entourage.
Along with the Baron and his madam, there were two other men: One was a small, bookish fellow with some sort of nervous twitch. He had a roll of fiber parchment, and was making scratches on it with a piece of coal – he must be rich; parchment was near-impossible to come by. The other… I wasn’t sure what to think. The fourth man had a robe wrapped all around himself, and his face was cloaked under a hood. I got a terrible vibe from looking at him.
Odd as this bunch was, though, it was my job to be the host. Unfortunately.
“Sir! It’s a pleasure to introduce you to our fine community here! Welcome to Mightygrips! I am the king’s steward, Quinn Shadowhelms.” Argh. My sucking-up voice sounded so fake.
The baron stared at me, rather coldly. The baroness jumped in. “Oh, hello there, I’m Victoria, and this is my husband Percy! We’re just ever so happy to be here, aren’t we, Percy?”
The baron grunted.
“Well, uh, it’s a pleasure to have you here, Lord Percival! We haven’t quite prepared your offices, but I assure you we’ll have your lodgings ready by night-time. Does your wife prefer her own room, or would you like a second bed in yours?”
The two nobles stared at me blankly for a moment. “Oh, no, dearie, you seem to be mistaken,” said Lady Victoria. “Percy here isn’t the baron, he’s just here along with me! I’m the baroness.” She giggled.
I silently cursed Datan and tactfully removed my foot from my mouth.
“Of course, of course, my mistake, my mistake. These letters we receive from the mountainhome, they get dirt and rain on them and so on, just a nightmare to read.” I shrugged my shoulders and did my best to laugh heartily, then focused my attention on the bookish fellow. “And you are…?”
“James Gleehalls, chamberlain. Point me to my quarters. I have work to be done.” His conversation was as short as his stature.
“Yes, yes, uh, of course. And yourself?” I had now turned to the mysterious shrouded figure, whose face was coated in darkness despite the sun being at its brightest.
Lady Victoria raised a hand quickly. “Just a personal guard, Mr. Shadowhelms, no need to make acquaintance.” Odd. I let it go.
“Well!” I said. “Why don’t I take you on the exciting tour of our little fortress here?”
Lord Percival groaned. Inwardly, I felt the same way.
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CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT HUUUUUUUUUUURGH
I think we’re all very lucky that Macedon went miserable instead of berserk. I think he tried to commit suicide, but jumped from one part of the walls to another, and has just stood there the last while. Ubik’s in serious danger of going nuts, though, as well as a whole bunch of other well-armoured dwarves. I think I’m gonna put the military in the same room and lock them in with food so that any psychotic breakdowns are immediately dealt with. Plus being off-duty and socializing should help a bit. Still, we're teetering on the edge of a tantrum spiral.
I'm curious if personalities evolve over time. Can I see Sadok's personality sheet again?
What Beanchubbs said - Sadok's personality's still the same, although amusingly he's one of the only ecstatic dwarves despite his sister going insane and getting swatted into the magma pipe.
Seeing as Mightygrips is a castle, shouldn't there be a dungeon?
Yup! Initially I had been thinking of a built dungeon within the keep (since it's going to be quite tall), but after reading all your guys' suggestions, I'm thinking I should dig it out underneath and really make it interesting.
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Topic: The Castle Mightygrips: Cancelled. [community] (Read 48030 times)