Every embark starts with randomly named dorfs, except for two. There is always a dorf named Uli and Edom. Uli is an average cook at best, but phantoms himself to be a chef of great renown. He is a jack of quite a few trades but certainly a master of none. He is my animal caretaker dorf. He prefers to be alone and prefers the company of animals over other dorfs. He likes dwarven rum and silver bars. Edom is the only dorf he can really stand to be around. Edom is the brewer and Uli mostly puts up with him because of the free sampling of experimental new drinks Edom comes up with. Edom's specialty is Swamp Whiskey, which he derives from muck roots. Uli *loves* muck roots for their twisting shape.
As I was going through legends mode I surprisingly enough noticed a surname almost identical to Edom's. This was my first attempt at LegendsViewer and Adventure mode. I really had not the slightest clue how amazing the story telling element of this sim is. I was ignorant thinking that legends mode just adds some minor details to the world my dwarves reside in. I had no idea of the level of depth that is added. It turned out to be a toy boat, that threw me into an adventure I never had expected. This was also was my first attempt at Adventure mode.
"In the year 90, in the village of Authorchannels, Vabok Learntools created Slidewave the Umbral Blade, a toy boat that was crafted so expertly that it became a symbol of power."
Slidewave the Umbral Blades was a legendary slate toy boat.
This is a slate toy boat. All craftsdwarfship is of the highest quality. It is decorated with goose bone and encircled with band of giant cave spider silk. This object
menaces with spikes of giant rat bone and nickel.
As I said before, Vabok's last name caught my eye so I started looking into this interesting dwarf that had resided in my fortress' world.
Vabok, by trade was a brewer, much like Edom. He grew up in Authorchannels where he met a fair young dwarven maiden named Stukos Wheelhouse. They became lovers in the year 90, and that same year Vabok created the infamous Slidewave the Umbral Blade (an artifact which now often goes by the name "Vabok's Revenge" as it is believed to now be a cursed item). I assumed the toy was made to celebrate the coming birth of a new dwarven child...to my horror I was wrong. As I kept reading I learned that that very year, Stukos left Vabok and became a peddler
in a nearby city and took on a new lover! Now this on its own was bad enough, to my horror she didn't tell Vabok about this new lover for 3 years. They finally broke up in the year 93. I never figured the story lines would be so exciting and interesting.
Vabok now had a legendary toy boat, no wife and no baby. Now I found out that Vabok actually was the great-grandson of the king of Pinkorbs (his great-uncle is a renowned vampire), so I assume he had some connections, though he was a simple dwarf of simple means. He ends up giving the slate toy boat to a ruler of Authorchannels, a high ranking member of the "Invisible Gravel". It was intended for the governor's new born son, but the governor was so taken by the toy boat that he makes it an artifact. Legendsviewer tells me that the artifact was made "A symbol of Office 24". So very intriguing!
What I learned from there is that Slidewave was moved to Pinkorbs for storage. Now Pinkorbs is the main citadel of my world, it was created in the year 1. What an amazing honor that Vabok's toy boat would be wielded by the rulers of Pinkorbs! The artifact was kept in storage for 22 years but then it was wielded once more by two rulers of Pinkorbs. The latest, Count Reg Tombmoistness is the singular pursuit if my current quest. I quickly created two stout dwarves in adventure mode that fit the bill perfectly for Uli and Edom, and set forth to Pinkorbs. A citadel city wayyyy to large for two simple dwarves of my creating.
The story of poor Vabok didn't end well. Legends states he moved to a new hamlet called Boltsjade where he met and married a grim hunter dwarf. It merely states he "started wandering the wilds". I assume poor Vabok never got over his beautiful Stukos. She took his heart, and maybe even his only child.
In the year 105, Vabok was slain by the hydra Smospe Furblossomed the Certain Rawness. I intend to find this beast of course.
Currently Uli and Edom are wandering the citadel city of Pinkorbs. The sights! the smells! There are busy vendors, the hustle and bustle of city life. Never did two dwarves see so much in a day!
This is where I left of. I took the time to write all this because I never, not in a million years, thought this kind of gaming was possible until last night when I realized "fortress mode", "Legend mode" and Adventure mode" are not three games within one. It's one, all encompassing way to get completely lost in a world, that is so rich, its almost tangible.