Tarran - Sure, but if you get lead poisoning then it's your fault
.
Also, sorry to all those waiting to be Dwarfed/Elfed/Humaned/Kobolded, but apparently;
I'm afraid you may have a longer wait before you
.
7th Galena 675 - MorningDerm continued working for the next two days, stopping only to chew on a plump helmet or to down a tankard of Dwarven beer. Inspired by whatever he had seen, he single-handedly hauled a huge block of gypsum rock up to the workshops, then took an iron bar, a fungiwood log, some mica and more gypsum, as well as giant olm and gorlak bones. Then he ushered everyone out of the workshops, claiming to need peace and quiet to work. Then he spoke no more but got to work, a smile on his face. Two days afterwards he waltzed out, calling everyone to see the masterpiece that the gods had inspired him to make,
"A coffin?" Tarran asked disbelievingly. Rion glanced sideways at Ibruk,
"Well, my dear prophet, what are the gods trying to tell us now? That we should prepare our tombs?" he said slightly mockingly. Derm spoke before Ibruk could interpret anything. He pointed at the coffin,
"I remember flying above the world, out into the stars, and seeing the temple of the gods. And I remember Dustik, my patron goddess speaking to me, at least I think it was her that spoke to me!" he explained excitedly.
"You mean you actually saw the goddess speaking to you!?" Kadzar asked, awed. Derm gave a nod,
"Well, not exactly, but I heard her and saw her temple! I don't remember everything but..." he trailed off here.
"Who's this?" Torvold asked, pointing at the image of the female Dwarf in giant olm bone.
"Mafol Chainedabbeys." Derm answered automatically.
"Who?" Torvold repeated, the name unfamiliar. Derm shrugged,
"I don't know, I just know that it's Mafol Chainedabbeys."
"I've heard that name." Bounce piped up, "I think she was the outpost liaison for the Grizzly Vessel."
"This must be moved to the temple." Kadzar said firmly, interrupting their musings. Ibruk nodded,
"The goddess herself knows that hard times are ahead, and has prepared a sarcophagus to remind us of this." he said solemnly, "This holy artifact, Gadankobem - The Honest Trouble, must be kept safe within the temple."
"And why
must it be in the temple?" Reg demanded to know.
"Because these are sacred artifacts inspired by the gods - and thus should be housed within the temples of those gods." Kadzar said firmly, giving Stas - who wore Throatground on his wrist - a pointed stare.
"It's Derm's coffin, let him decide where it goes." Urist ventured. The group rounded on Derm, who glanced at The Honest Trouble, perhaps realizing the meaning of its name.
"Well-" he begun, "-the goddess Dustik inspired me to create it, so I suppose it should be in the temple."
10th Galena 675 - MidnightOnce again they met in the dead of night, this time besides the wall that led to the Spider Maze. Stas was leaning on the schist wall, his mind deep in thought when Bax arrived, Atis trailing behind the greenskin.
"Well? Have you thought 'bout my proposition?" Bax said immediately, not wasting any time for pleasantries that Goblin society didn't even have. Stas cleared his throat, standing up fluidly,
"Well-" he begun, "-it should be against my better judgement to accept a Goblin. But you've proved that you're not some backstabbing monster, and your abilities will be a great boon." he said. Bax smiled toothily,
"I'm glad to hear that. You'll see, there's nothing better than life in the home-towers to teach you valuable skills in...what would ya call it? Subterfuge, that's it."
Stas gave a smile,
"No doubt. With your skills added to mine, hell's the limit. And it just so happens that silver bars have been minted in the forges..."
Limestone 675The month of Limestone passed quickly, and without any of the tribulations that usually marked the months, the worst being Bounce still not finding where the missing gems had vanished to, a fact that bothered the dutiful bookkeeper. The harvest was brought in, ensuring food for the rest of the year, while the surplus was brewed into fine Dwarven beer, ale and wine. Between shifts at the magma forges Tarran had toiled on his cottage, with most of the flooring for the second storey finished. Everything - including the workshops - had now been moved to the caverns, only the militia barracks remained on the upper levels. Tarran and Muenster were both still hard at work forging all the metal ores that had been mined out into valuble copper, iron and silver bars, along with zinc and lead. Gadankobem had been moved down into a special section in the temple underground, where it was daily anointed by Kadzar and his fellow priests. Peace settled once more in Nomekast, not only could they now see out into the outer world, but thanks to the stairs, they could even stand on top of the lighthouse and breathe in the fresh air. This meant that in clear weather they could stand on the top of the lighthouse, while in rain they could still see out thanks to the windows.
8th Sandstone 675 - NoonAs Limestone passed and the community moved into Sandstone, work began to slow. With the increasingly festive mood growing as they drew closer to Obsidian and the New Year there was less incentive to work quite so hard. They had enough food and drink, and safe walls to protect them from the hostile creatures of the deeps, along with a militia that was now well-equipped with copper and iron equipment if any occasion should arise that needed violence. Tarran had claimed several lead bars to build himself lead furniture for his dining-room for reasons not quite understood; thanks to the fact that he had forged the bars himself, coupled with the general uselessness of lead itself, there was little opposition to his taking of the lead. His cottage, drawing increasingly-closer to completion over its year of construction, had made many wish to emulate it and build their own little houses in the caves.
Taking a break from the tiring fieldwork, Derm decided to go down into the temple's underground section, to see Gadankobem, his creation. The vision he had seen still when he was first inspired by the gods to make it haunted him still. He had come to definitely think it was Dustik Egebber, goddess of the rain and of plants who had spoken to him. She was his patron god, as decided by his lineage after all, but he wasn't certain. Some details had faded from his memory, but he still vividly remembered passing through the endless realms of the gods, and Dustik's last words still echoed in his ears,
'Uphold your duty and defend the light.'He had no idea what exactly she meant, possibly she meant 'fight off the Nothing', possibly she meant 'do some great act like the heroes of old', he wasn't sure. Gadankobem stood by itself in its own chamber off the cemetery, Derm approached it, admiring its details. He was still amazed that his own hands had created it, and since its creation, he had indeed been excellent at any kind of masonry, just as Ibruk and Melagius had become great at bone-carving after the creation of their own artifacts, Stas also possibly had become a master at stonecrafting or masonry or suchlike, but the Dwarf was almost never seen at work so he had no idea if it was true. Derm laid a hand on the gypsum coffin, feeling the completely smoothed rock. He looked at the image of Mafol Chainedabbeys. And then froze, his eyes glazing over. All the sounds of the world phased out, then the lights until he was left in a featureless void, and then came a great booming voice,
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Topic: [Community] Nomekast - At War with Nothing (Read 180195 times)