dermonster - That synopsis is great!
I couldn't have done better. Also, I've updated the first post with Nomekast's pantheon.
Fisher-Risen - Welcome to Nomekast!
Your character is up on the main post.
masam - Welcome back. Muenster's not dead yet, he's made windows for Tarran and for the new lighthouse and since then has been training with his mace. There's not much more I can say beyond what ISGC's said, only to mention that Muenster helped fight the last forgotten beast.
1st Granite 676 - EveningThe two didn't meet until evening. Loral had spent most of the day exploring Nomekast, while Fori had had to work on the farms (and had also met Xenos there, apparently the Kobold was also a farmer, a surprise considering Kobold society seemed mostly hunter-gatherer). But eventually the two Elves crossed. Their eyes crossed and an unspoken bond of kinship passed between the two. Fori sat herself down on a ledge above the farms, inviting Loral to do the same.
"It's been long since I've seen another of the People." Loral said warmly, using the ancient Elven name for their race. Fori smiled,
"Same here. I had begun to despair that the Elven race had been destroyed. The traders had said otherwise, but I couldn't shake the feeling."
"Oh we're surviving." Loral said grimly, "But barely. The Nothing are a like a plague. Like the Goblins but in a vast unending swarm. The flatten entire forests, killing the life within. Sometimes they even - life knows how - manage to set the forests aflame, killing the trees in agony."
Fori sighed sadly at this,
"That bad..." she murmured. Loral nodded,
"You know the Amazing Vegetation?" he asked. Fori nodded, every Elf had heard of the Amazing Vegetation, they were considered the very pinnacle of Elven society in terms of strength, a legendary Elven Queendom that had thwarted the Excavated Confederation's empire-building ambitions at the Battles of Gutissharislu and Gencesh Otir both in which the Humans were completely crushed. The Excavated Confederation's defeat had forced them to end their expansion, hemmed in by Goblin Empires to the north and west, the sea to the east, and the Amazing Vegetation and its ally the Beast of Stances to the south. Though the war had only ended thirty years ago, it had gained huge fame amongst the Elven race, spreading out across the world as a tale of Elven power against the Human encroachers, becoming more and more unbelievable, to the point that some versions had as little as one hundred Elves fighting back as many as a thousand Humans.
"Well," Loral continued, "their Queen was forced to flee Themiyimelara, the entire retreat was razed."
Fori frowned sadly, you knew it was bad when the most war-like Elven nation had abandoned their capital, leaving the trees to die,
"What do you think will happen?" she asked grimly. Loral shrugged,
"Either we all die, or the Nothing just vanish like they appeared, only nature will know."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"No problem with him, just a bit of malnutrition." Steve affirmed. Rovod nodded,
"I just thought I better have you give him the once over, just in case, Doc." he said. The marksdwarf had brought the Elven boy that had come with the red-headed Dwarven woman to the hospital for a check up. The woman had shouted angrily in an unknown language, until Bax who had been passing, informed him it was Goblin, and then had promptly spoken with her. The two had spoken at length for some time, and then the woman - who Bax said was called Gutusp - had thrust the Elf boy into Rovod's arms, and muttered something which apparently meant 'take her to hospital then', upon being told it was a boy, she shrugged and apparently said something along the lines of 'they all look the same anyway'.
"So what's your name?" Steve asked the Elf. The boy looked fearfully at the Dwarf, perhaps overwhelmed with the alien look of the beard, "Name." Steven repeated. He pointed at himself,
"Steve. S-T-E-V-E."
The boy seemed to understand, hesitatingly he pointed at himself,
"Smangesostdu." he said. There was a long laugh, and then,
"Smanges
nux." came a voice from the stairs. It was Bax, the Goblin had a grin on his face,
"
Smangesostdu means 'slave-girl' clearly because Gutusp thought he was a girl.
Smangesnux means slave-boy."
Rovod frowned,
"Grammar doesn't matter," he said, "This boy isn't a slave."
"He's property of Gutusp. Hell, he just called
himself a slave."
"Because he doesn't know better. He's not a slave."
"Whatever, take it up with Gutusp. Usually, kids that have been 'napped are slaves, I don't know how Dwarves organise it."
It was at that moment that Gutusp appeared, she strode down the stairs, moving towards the Dwarves,
"
Zos?" she asked impatiently, pointing at the Elf. She seemed to be asking if the boy was fine. Bax nodded,
"
Zos is an affirmative, it can mean good, yes, fine, understood. Here she means 'is he fine'." he confirmed, clearly delighted at knowing more than the Dwarves. Steve nodded at her,
"Yes,
zos, zos, but you can't treat him like a slave. No smangesnosmu, or smangesostux or whatever it was."
"
Smanges is a slave,
nux is boy,
ostdu is girl. Oh, and
snuto is no, or not." Bax corrected. Rovod shrugged,
"
Snuto smanges." he said to Gutusp, echoing Steve. Gutusp looked affronted. She drew herself up,
"
Smanges ngogngo! Ngogngo!" she growled. Bax grinned,
"And now she's saying the slave is hers. I warned you."
Rovod looked adamant,
"
Snuto smanges. Nux, snuto smanges." he repeated calmly. He looked to Bax to see if this sentence made any sense, the Goblin nodded. Gutusp turned to Bax, chattering angrily in the greenskin's native tongue. Bax shrugged. Gutusp gritted her teeth,
"
Zos," she spat, "
snuto smanges. Nux ngogngo." and with that she grabbed the poor Elf boy by the wrist and led him out of the hospital.
8th Hematite 676Life had returned to the familiar routine of Nomekast's existence. There had been no more attacks by ancient beasts, or even local wildlife. The crops were planted and growing for the harvest in autumn. There was a surplus of booze, and water for the non-Dwarves. On the shadier side of things, Stas and Bax together had expanded the hide-out to include a room to hide the silver they were planning to steal, as well as a second bedroom and a kitchen if ever they should have to lay low.
Tarran had led a group of people east of the magma pool of Derfori, where they had found cassiterite, precious gold and an abundance of silver.
This had led to an expansion of the enclosure on the Fiery Cistern which had greatly increased space to build, indeed, Xenos, the Kobold, had made his own secret little farm in a corner of the cave, where he was starting to grow his own crops.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
EveningRar strode happily down the stairway, moving towards the caves and the dining-area for dinner. He had got used to the general quiet of Nomekast. This wasn't one of the great mountainhalls of the south, where traders would be bustling in and out, nobles would be being escorted along by guards, people would be hawking their wares, and more. No, this was much quieter, more dignified one could say, a bit more lonely another could say. He had quickly gotten use to life here, he had been training, crossbowdwarves were held to be very much useful here. They could attack without fear of being attacked back, and if the harvest should ever fail he had no doubt he, Rovod and Steve would make for good hunters. He passed Sandra in the stairs, giving her a warm smile. She smiled back, Sandra scared him at times. She was a very kind-hearted girl, but there was just something about her...
It was at that point that he heard it, a muffled thump just as he passed the trap corridor to the outside world. He looked down it but saw nothing. The thump came again. Sandra had heard it too, and doubled back to see,
"What do you think it is?" she asked curiously.
"Maybe someone outside?" he ventured. She nodded determinedly,
"We have to let them in, they might be being attacked!"
"Wait! What if its Nothing!?" but it was too late, the Human had already started towards the levers, reading the runes on the labels on them, she pulled two, and the bridges crashed down. For a while nothing happened. Then around the corner came slowly striding an armoured figure, holding a hammer. Sandra closed the bridges behind the newcomer.
"Hello?" Rar ventured. The figure said nothing. As it came closer they made out that it was Goblin, and a female one at that. She stopped in front of them, her armour and hammer were caked in blood,
"I come seeking the holy prophet. Where is he?" she asked. It was at that point, as if by divine intuition, that Ibruk arrived,
"Ah, Sandra, Rar, you're missing the plump helmet roasts...oh, greetings, pilgrim." he said, surmising that the Goblin must have just arrived. The Goblin opened her eyes wide, dropping to one knee,
"Your holiness! Thank Id I have found you at last. I have followed the rumours all the way from the ruins of the capital of the Gross Ruthlessness."
If Ibruk was surprised at a Goblin invoking the supreme deity of the Grizzly Vessel, he didn't show it. Instead he merely nodded, looking solemnly at the Goblin,
"Kol bless you, pilgrim. You have travelled far, but now you have arrived. What is your name?"
"I am Zustashtosid, Hammer of the Gods."
"You have a Dwarven name?" Rar asked, curious. The Goblin looked at him, nodding,
"Yes, I am
mak."
"Mak?" the Dwarf asked. Sandra nodded,
"It means 'lost' in Goblin, it's what they call outcasts. I met a
mak from the Infamous Plagues, he'd married an Elf, so they skinned his wife, made a coat out of her, and threw him out with only that."
"You must be tired and hungry from your pilgrimage." Ibruk said, interrupting the Human and taking Zustashtosid by the arm, "come, we are just about to serve dinner."
If anybody still wants to join Derm's expedition to the third cavern level, now's the time to say it.
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Topic: [Community] Nomekast - At War with Nothing (Read 180229 times)