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[Voca]

To everyone signing up, you're all in for the next immigration wave. Pwnzerfaust and Diarrhea Ferret, if you give me your dorf details I'll set them up with immigrants too.


From the diaries of Mr. Ax. Dated 26th Slate 744, Mid-Spring

Work is never short these past days, and even I have been reduced to labouring like a common minion. Much has been accomplished though; Doctor Graf has finished the beds, the food and drink has been bought indoors, and the mason Derm has made us some rock door to hide the Base and a new chamber has been dug out to increase space. Most important of all, I have begun work on some preliminary plans for my grand work. I estimate that with the vast machinery and work required, much more labour is needed, I will need to find some way to recruit more henchdwarves. Furthermore, the nature of my device requires a dip in the earth for true effectiveness; I shall send Derm and Doctor Graf out tomorrow to search for such a natural feature. If we can't find one then we shall need to carve one ourselves.

Not all is well and good however; we are falling prey to our stomachs. I estimate we do not have enough food and drink stores to last us the year. The masked butcher, Frodo seems a murderous reliable sort for getting us some meat, I will send him out to get us some more meat stores. The sooner we become self-sufficient the sooner my grand plans can be put into action.


The sun shone down brightly as Derm and Doctor Graf hauled themselves up another incline. The two had been walking for over an hour now, searching for Mr. Ax's hole in the ground. They had all but given up hope now, and were just about to make their way back to the Base when they heard a crashing of rocks and a cry of frustration. Running towards they sound, they found an angry Frodo at the bottom of a deep dip in the rock. A mountain goat was blaring loudly, bouncing up the sides back up towards the mountain.



"How did we miss this?" Doctor Graf asked, puzzled. Derm shrugged,

"What do you think Mr. Ax even wants with a hole?" It was Graf's turn to shrug,

"Some plan." he replied, his mind already churning with his own ideas,

"A plan involving a giant tower with a maze inside?" Derm wondered hopefully. Frodo was still shouting angrily at the mountain goat as the two carefully came down to help,

"You're not hurt?" Graf asked. Frodo turned to him, a furious gleam in his eye and his hand quivering,

"I was a second away from getting that goat and gutting it!" he complained, "A SECOND! Now it'll be dry horse meat tonight! I want fresh meat! Fresh meat with blood still in it! Not dry flesh!"


"Not one, but two!?" Mr. Ax asked excitedly. A manic grin spread onto his face as Doctor Graf and Derm told him of the deep pit they had found. It had turned out that there was another one just behind it. The evil genius rubbed his hands together in glee, "And was there a flat surface nearby? Large enough for a third?" The two Dwarves nodded, Mr. Ax chuckled, "Brilliant! Excellent! Wonderful!" he exclaimed, "In that case we simply need to wait for adequate labour and we can begin with the plan! And it is a great plan! It is a great plan of great proportions!" he broke off here into crazed laughter, and Derm and the Doctor couldn't help but join in with a few chuckles themselves.


24th Slate 744, Late Spring
Location: The Base

Frodo was whistling merrily through his mask as Shebi hauled in another hoary marmot carcass,

"Typ's got another one for you, Frodo." the weaponsmith said quietly. Typ had taken up the hunting on account of his weapon skills, leaving Frodo free to butcher the carcasses for meat and bones. The butcher didn't look up from his work. He had a steel battleaxe before him, and a pile of bones besides him. In one hand he help a knife. He took a bone, and began carving it with the knife. Shebi looked at it curiously,

"What are you doing?" she asked. The bonecarver didn't look round but answered - gruffly, as though annoyed he was being bothered during his work -

"Carving bones up, things're better with bone on them."

He finished the bone he was working on, having carved it into a neat spike. Shebi's interest grew further now that spikes were involved. Taking a length of cord, the butcher tied the spikes to the battleaxe. He showed it to Shebi, the handle was now fine goat bone, and it menaced with spikes of hoary marmot bones. Shebi took it in one hand,

"See?" Frodo said, "Much better with bone, better for slicing meat." The weaponsmith nodded at this, feeling the tip of the spikes with a finger,

"Definitely better." she agreed. It was the bonecarver's turn to nod,

"Now if you'll excuse me," he said shortly, taking up a goat skull, "I'm going to make some more decorations."

[Voca]

From the diaries of Mr. Ax. Dated 1st Limestone 744, Early Autumn

We have made much progress in the development of The Base since my last entry. We have a large supply of meat from Typ efforts and Frodo's butchery, and now Typ has set up a farm to bring in plump helmets for alcohol. He grumbled at this menial work, but he recognises both my authority and the sheer necessity of alcohol for our continued survival.

We also discovered a large vein of magnetite, that yielded much of the precious ore. Shebi and Julius have set up forges to begin smelting the ore into iron which means that we have had to deforest a sizeable part of the outlying foliage; no one should notice due to our position out of major trading routes. We still need an anvil before the metal bars can be used for any actual useful work however, so this is our priority.

Work on my grand machine has already begun, and I plan to unveil the schematics soon so the correct machinery can be prepared, I envisage its construction should take us up to a year if we can get sufficient labour. Finding a magma source is also a priority, to ensure maximum efficiency of the machine and maximum effect upon those it will be unleashed on.

Beyond that, very little has happened, we have set up a dining room, I have had some offices dug for me, and one of the muskoxes we brought with us to pull that wagon has given birth to a calf. I have ordered the calf slaughtered for meat, and Frodo the butcher has had much fun decorating various doors with bone handles and even spikes. I am still questioning how to contract more henchminions from outside, I do not want to send someone to go find some due to our already small number, but I can''t expect them to just turn up.


13th Limestone 744, Early Autumn
Location: Forests Outside The Base

Sakzul Templesabre took off his pig tail cap and wiped sweat off his forehead for what seemed like the hundredth time. The sun was beating down heavily as though it was still summer and he had stupidly kept on his winter clothes after having passed through the southern glaciers. The rest of his merchant caravan wasn't faring too well either, even the pack animals seemed to be wilting in the heat. He replaced his cap, looking over to the hazy horizon. A forest of trees spread across the place, leading to rising plateaus and to mountain behind them. This didn't seem to on the route. Confused, he turned to one of the guards, just in time to see a dog bolt past.. It seemed one of the dogs had gotten loose from its cage. His merchant instincts kicked in at seeing a valuable asset try to escape, and he ran after it, through the bushes and trees.

The dog made straight for the hills, leading Sakzul further from the caravan. It bolted up the mountain face, and as the merchant tried to follow, he smashed into hard stone. Rubbing his head and getting up, Sakzul looked at what had knocked him over. It was a stone door, and a stone door meant Dwarves which meant possible trading partners. You always heard stories of how a particular group of merchants stumbled onto particularly rich mountainhomes that had been hidden away from time immemorial. He backed up, taking a good note of where the place was before running back to the waiting caravan, eager to tell them of his find.

Frodo and Julius were hauling a butchered mountain goat outside when they arrived. Frodo was the first to react, pulling his butcher's knife out and waving it at the merchants,

"One more step and I'll make instruments out of your bones!" he cried angrily. The caravan guards raised their weapons warily, eyeing the worrying masked Dwarf. Julius - more diplomatic than Frodo - stepped past the bonecarver,

"Greetings," he said pleasantly, "What can I do for you?"

Reassured that Frodo was not going to attempt to carve them up, the merchants, headed by Sakzul approached. Introducing themselves as merchants, they asked whether they could trade. Uncertain of what to reply, Mr. Ax was called for. The leader stepped out, having put on a hood to hide his features; he was virtually unknown here in the west, but he didn't want to risk anything and since hoods were fairly commonplace in Dwarven society, he knew the merchants would not ask questions. After a quick exchange of information, Ax turned to Typ who was standing besides him,

"Get all those skull totems Frodo has been making, we'll sell them those to whet their appetite." he whispered. The bodyguard raised an eyebrow,

"Are you sure? They could easily tell everyone we're here."

"Not so. These are merchants from The Fresh Mechanisms, they lost their last city several centuries ago and since then have been roving traders. They don't tell anyone their trading routes to maintain their high profits, and they'll keep any secret in return for something they can sell. They don't care for law, only profit."

Soon the dozen finely-crafted skull totems that Frodo had been busily making in his spare time were bought out and Julius, as the designated broker, managed to buy several chunks of meat and a few plump helmets, while Mr. Ax managed to convince them to discreetly send any promising Dwarves towards The Base as new henchdwarves. Reassured that there would be greater profits for them next year, the traders continued on their way.

[Dermonster]

*generic praise*

*generic whining for giant trap/maze tower.*

[Julius Clonkus]

Magnificient. And quite interesting to see the agent as broker, hehehe.

[gumball135]

Very good so far. Mind if I have a migrant?

Name: Maximus
Profession: Swordsdwarf, Farmer
Story: An ex-army general from a large Dwarven empire. He was cast into exile after refusing to obey the new emperor, who he suspected of murdering the old one. Before he decided to come to this place as a henchman, he travelled the lands fighting in gladitorial arenas. His character was not inspired at all by the movie ''Gladiator''.

[Urist McOverlord]

[disappointed]Dang. I was going to start a community game like this, but looks like I was beat to the punch.[/disappointed]
Ah well, I might as well join in this one!

Urist McOverlord Requesting Dwarfage:
Name: Datan (it was going to be the name of the overlord in my story. grumblegrumblegruble...)
Gender: Male, preferably
Profession: Could I get Sheriff/Captain when the position becomes available? Preferably with the custom job title of "Lieutenant"

In-Character, he'd basically be the standard guard leader archetype. Loyal, strict, sadistic...

[Voca]

My apologies for the late reply, updates should be more regular now (no promises though).
I got everyone dorfed, except for Pwnzerfaust and Diarrhea Ferret, I still need your dwarf details if you still want a dwarf.

From the diaries of Mr. Ax. Dated 14th Timber 744, Late Autumn

Success! Seven more stout Dwarves have joined our growing group, the merchants of The Fresh Mechanism must've kept their promises. This doubling of labour means that work can begin in earnest on my grand machine, several of the new recruits, a Maximus Decimus Meridius, Price and Datan have offered to stand as guards. Datan has also been placed as 'Lieutenant' so that all punishment for any misbehaviour can be decided by him and not waste my valuable time. Another recruit, a Nikolai came to me with an interesting idea, a sort of 'secret police' whereby his job will be finding traitors in The Organization (worrying but possible with our growing ranks) and eliminating them. I don't know if I can fully trust him (or any of the others) yet, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

We still need an anvil, and I can only hope the merchants bring one next year when they have promised to return as without such a valuable piece of equipment we cannot forge and the necessary machinery cannot be made.

With the possibility of growing numbers and growing devices we may need an evacuation plan, so I have ordered a secret exit shaft to be dug out leading to an out-of-the-way plain where we can escape in case of any dangerous pesky agents from the Dwarven governments.


15th Timber 744, Later Autumn
Location: The Base

Julius hacked his way through the chert rock, his pick sending sparks into the air. Tonight, he was told, Mr. Ax would finally reveal his 'master-plan'. With any luck the plan wouldn't be ready for quite some time after that and the agent would be able to prepare a counterplan to defeat the insane Dwarf's ideas. He smashed his pick once more into the rock face and was met with thin air. Almost falling through by surprise, the weaponsmith looked down, and saw, deep darkness. Clutching like an eagle on a mouse to the rock wall and perched like a parrot on a branch, the miner stared down, transfixed for a few moments by the endless darkness below him. Warily, he took a rock and dropped it through. No sound was heard.



A chasm! There could be no doubt that he had stumbled on a chasm! He briefly wondered whether to tell the others, Mr. Ax had found some pretty twisted henchdwarves, and he knew that this endless hole would only give them ideas probably involving dropping agents like himself down into the chasm's depths. But they would stumble onto the chasm sooner or later when the exit shaft was fully dug out, and he needed to keep in Mr. Ax's confidence if he was to be effective at stopping whatever mad schemes the evil genius was to come up with. A frown on his face, he left the huge cavern and returned to the Base, telling Mr. Ax the news with a forced smile,

True to Julius' fears, the maddwarf was delighted, ecstatic even, at the discovery of the chasm. He pulled Derm off his duty of helping build the walls of whatever structure was being built in the depths of the large pit to the south, and ordered him to begin manufacturing floor hatches at once. A mechanic's workshop was also soon put up and one of the newcomer Dwarves, Sulvor was given the task of making mechanisms, despite only being a woodburner and woodcutter.


Night was falling as the 12 Dwarves, minus Typ, gathered in the dining hall to finally hear Mr. Ax's grand plan. The stout mad Dwarf stood proudly at the head of table, a large wrapped scroll in his clutches, besides him stood Typ, the assassin having been declared Mr. Ax's official bodyguard,

"Gentledwarves!" he declared, "It is time you discovered the full extent of our mission here." he drew himself up further, beard quivering in anticipation, "Many of you will already know the basics of our operations; in order to help achieve global peace and prosperity for all, The Organization must take the reins of power, only we can stem the tide of destruction that will lead us to an age of death!" there were a few murmurs of assent, until a few coughs from Datan, soon followed by Maximus and Price, convinced them all to show full-hearted open support in the form of cheers. Mr. Ax quieted them down with a wave of his hand,

"There is only one way we can save the world; we must show them our power, the extent of our zeal! Gentledwarves, I give you; Agechange the Tower of Destruction!" he threw open the scroll, revealing plans for his his long-awaited construction and laid them out onto the table, inviting them to inspect it.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Derm, though ecstatic at the idea of a tower, immediately pined for traps instead of the machinery inside of it. This earned him a glare from Nikolai, who frowned and narrowed his eyes, twirling his handlebar moustache as he looked round, eager to root out any opposition to this plan.

"A new age approaches!" Mr. Ax declared over the hubbub of general conversation, "When Agechange the Tower of Destruction is activated, all low-lying towns shall be destroyed and in the ensuing chaos The Organization shall swoop in to take command, for the good of all, naturally!"

[Urist McOverlord]

Looks cool. I couldn't quite tell what the machine-tower was supposed to do, though. Computer's beiing kind of stupid...

Also: PRAISE and MERRIMENT

[Julius Clonkus]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Can't write, some maddwarf's watching everyone at the moment.

Brilliant. I wonder how many more agents are gonna sign up besides me. Seriously, it's terribly cold and dark down here warm and bright right out the front door.

[Voca]

Looks cool. I couldn't quite tell what the machine-tower was supposed to do, though. Computer's beiing kind of stupid...

My fault, the drawing doesn't give much idea into the actual point of it all. The tower is basically a huge pump to flood the world with.

[Voca]

Sorry for the non-updates everybody, I blame the Yukon Quest and Mount&Blade. I'll be on holiday until next week, the devious plan A can resume.