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[Battlecat]

Sorry for the lack of activity, but I'm not dead!  Just having a busy month with very limited computer time.  I hope to have another update to post soon! 

[Battlecat]

Cog’s Journal, 28th of Granite, 325

One month gone from the year already and so far nothing significant has happened.  Construction is proceeding nicely on the towers out front and work is still proceeding on the final experimental defensive system in the depths.  It would be interesting if we could trap a few demons. 

There’s not much else to report.  No sign of the King so far.   

Events of the 6th of Slate, 325

Cog waited apprehensively at the front gate as the heavily armed dwarves bearing a litter approached the fortress.  He recognized the steel armor as belonging to the royal guards.  But their approach had an urgency that he had not expected and they didn’t look nearly as polished as he expected.  One of the guards of the procession began running when he spotted Cog.  He was out of breath and tired looking as he approached, “The King is dying, please lead the way to your grand hall.  He has a desire to see beauty before he leaves this world.  I am Onol, captain of the royal guard.  We will speak afterwards.”

Cog, taken aback at this news said, “The entrance is right over there, the stairs will take you straight down to the hall.”  With that, the military squad bearing the king’s litter ran towards the fortress.  Cog followed them as quickly as he could. 

Downstairs, they set the litter down where the wizened, dying King had a glorious view of the glass murals and the wealth of Towersoared.  The King beckoned towards Cog with weak hands.  He leaned forward, “This place is worthy.  You are all that remains now.  I have failed my people and this is all we have now.  Towersoared is now Mountainhome.  You have done well.”

He slumped back into into his litter, looked slowly around the room and then spoke in a quiet voice but somehow it filled the vast room.  “My mind is clearer than it has been in years.  We lost Mountainhome years before we knew it had been taken.  Taken by ennui and then by our enemies.  Now I am the last of the royal line and my failed rule ends here.  The true heart of Mountainhome came here and so here Mountainhome shall be.  Live well and build well.” 

And with those words, his eyes closed and Ushrir Domasam, Ranger and the last King of the Manor of Deification died in the Grand Dining Hall of Towersoared.

OOC:  Honestly, I suspected this might happen.  It’s sad that there are bugs like this in Dwarf Fortress, but it makes for good story!  As for what happens now, that remains to be seen.  To be honest I was kind of hoping the King would survive at least a little while. 

@Triaxx2: I look forward to hearing it!

@Child of Armok: I sent you a PM regarding your options, let me know what you think, or if you didn’t get it.  We’re a bit short of military dwarves but actually with the new soldiers from mountainhome that actually has changed a bit.

@dragoncurse: The curse of RL has been hitting hard of late! 

[kisame12794]

Uhhh. At least we don't have to worry about the King anymore.

[Paaaad]

Cog for King! Just start a new dynasty! (If that's even possible...)

[Triaxx2]

I had a thought. Perhaps alter it to pump magma into a hallway with water on the other side as an emergency plug mechanism if the invasion fails. Or perhaps to seal it up after Derm has ROFL stomped them all.

[Siraidan9]

Reality: worst. game. ever.
Well personally reality has been looking up, huzzah for that.
Though as always it takes up... time.

[Argonnek]

Yeah, reality's a bastard of a game. Crappy tutorials, seemingly nonsensical challenges, permadeath, and there are no cheat codes to make it easier. Especially if you spawn in one of the bad areas. At least you get to meet other interesting gamers sometimes.

[Battlecat]

Cog’s Journal, 8th of Slate, 325

The King is dead, and apparently his guard had to work carefully and quickly to get him out of Towersoared alive.  The leader of the former royal guard gave me the general review of what happened back home.

It was a rather sudden fall rather than a slow decline although it has apparently been coming for many years.  The King was being advised by several secret worshippers the goblin gods.  Naturally they convinced our aging King that the goblins weren’t a threat so he pulled back from military action against the nearby goblin fortresses. 

Then the followers opened the gates for a goblin army that managed to sneak up.  The official border watch had been discontinued by the betrayers in government.  The Royal Guard had kept up a secret watch, and used the recent delivery of goods to convince the king to come visit Towersoared before his death.  The former capital and what little remains of our nation are under goblin governance now. 

Spoiler: Leadership of The Dwarven Nation (click to show/hide)

The leader of the royal guard, a well known Hammerdwarf asked for a name change and that his squad be retained as part of the Towersoared military.  I felt it was a reasonable request.  He now goes by the name “Child of Armok” and will command the 3 remaining members of the Royal Guard who arrived bearing the King.  I’ve attached his new file below for my records.

Spoiler: Child of Armok, Hammerdwarf (click to show/hide)

Now we just have to figure out what to do.  Some dwarves are rumbling about crowning me King, but I think I will pass.  If having a crown on my head will make me behave like the duke, I pass!  I see no reason to promote new royalty; our fortress works and I believe we should simply stick with it.

OOC:  Real life is a crazy game, but we all have to struggle through it.  Next update later this week assuming I don’t get slammed by another RL random encounter! 

@kisame12794: Indeed.  Although it’s a challenge I was hoping to take on. 

@Child of Armok: Your dwarf is assigned above.  Welcome to the fortress!

@Paaaad: I sort of wish it was possible, but the fortress will simply remain as it is now.  I think Cog would chafe at being a king, he likes having the time to practice his craft.

@Triaxx2: Good idea, I was sort of thinking about that, or about creating a system to rebuild plugs.  I’ll start examining the idea but it might not get done before the battle!

@Siraidan9: Yeah, no doubt about that. 

@Argonnek: Agreed! 

[thriftshopmusketeer]

Man! Still going!
Sorry about disappearing for a while--like you said, RL is the craziest game. Good to see Garet's still going strong, although it seems he's the only one to get hurt nowadays. If it's not too much trouble, could I see his stats? If he's post-legendary with the sword, then it's time for him to move on in his quest for perfection across all forms of combat.

I have another request: If and when it comes time for garet to face a beast, don't do a test round. Do it the dwarven way-- if he dies, then he dies. I don't like all this talk of savescumming and such. "Tis elven cowardice, if you ask me! Without risk, where's the rush? I say derm should be alone on the front line when the circus comes to town--and if he falls, so be it. What better death for a warrior such as he?

[Triaxx2]

Like a few thousand demons are even going to slow him down. Derm is the entire 300 all rolled into one.

[Battlecat]

Events of the 13th of Slate, 325

Garet, Master of Weapons parried another blow from Omen and then quickly took a shot at Muffintoast’s shield during practice.  His sword moved quickly and precisely without any challenge whatsoever.  He had at last achieved mastery of the sword. 

He looked at the faces of his fellow squad members and said, “It’s time for a change, this weapon holds no challenge for me anymore.  I believe I saw a platinum war hammer in storage down stairs, I think I’ll try that out now.”  And so the master of the crossbow and sword headed off to begin mastering his third weapon.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Cog’s Journal, 24th of Slate, 325

With time and the world closing in around us, I’ve temporarily assigned every mason and any idle dwarves to cage trap installation.  They don’t have to be perfect and the product will be inspected by Pawn before they are loaded.  But this is taking far too long.  There were betrayers in the mountainhome.  I’m certain there will be one here as well. 

I’m certain of the threat below and the threat on the surface from the goblins.  We can’t live out our existence worrying about both. 

Events of the 28th of Slate, 325

Zanfar cursed quietly, hauling a gear downstairs for installation in the traps.  Cog had redoubled efforts to prepare for the arrival of the masters.  Zanfar was certain there was no doubt the arrival of the masters would have to happen soon.  But there was too much activity to breach the wall.

Soon though, very soon.

Cog’s Journal, 21st of Felsite, 325

Trading with the Elves this year was uneventful.  They brought some booze, we traded them some arts and crafts.  We have just about 5000 units of booze now and 3500 units of prepared and preserved food.  We are well stocked for the future! 

OOC:  Quietly working towards preparations for the battle.  It’s coming.  Not a lot of stuff to actually write about, the fortress is ticking along like a well oiled machine! 

@thriftshopmusketeer: I’ve been keeping an eye on him, but as you can see in the update above, he must have recently ticked into the legendary category.  I’ve moved him onto the hammer for now unless you have any objections.  I took the shot just moments after he switched! 

Also, with regards to the savescumming, I never do that with the main save game.  I’ll make the occasional backup copy to satisfy my curiosity but the main one remains legit.  The end will be epic and legit one way or another! 

@Triaxx2: I sure hope so!  Would be epic!

[Dermonster]

...

Didn't the 300 lose?

[Triaxx2]

Yes, but only because they were betrayed and attacked from behind. Even so they managed to achieve their objective, which was to delay the Persians long enough for the Athenians to get away and later defeat them at sea.

[Battlecat]

Cog’s Journal, 6th of Hematite, 325

The screams from the duke’s quarters were apparently clearly audible this week.  Apparently he’s having a tantrum about the burial arrangements of some dwarves in this fortress.  He’s just wandering around his room ranting and raving about life in general.  Personally, I think he’s just disappointed that he doesn’t get to be a royal hanger on. 

Cog’s Journal, 23rd of Hematite, 325

The duke apparently has sunk into a deep depression.  He stopped eating and has taken to wandering around in a funk.  Apparently the burial arrangements of some dwarves and the rapidly failing nobility of our nation were too much for him.  As such his mandates have ended.  I suspect he’ll pass away quietly unless someone convinces him to eat. 

Cog’s Journal, 4th of Hematite, 325

Just a few more cage traps to install and the demon cage experimental hallway will be completed.  I’ve been putting this off a long time but I think we’re ready to examine the adamantine pipe a bit more closely. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

OOC: The crazy battle is going to begin soon now.  1, maybe 2 more updates and the fun will begin. 

@dermonster: So, not the 300 then!  I'm sure Derm will be fine. 

@Triaxx2: Exactly!  I think that won’t be a problem since I’ve never seen a dwarf retreat from combat.  But we’ll see soon.  Preparations are moving quickly now. 

[Argonnek]

Does he have a child? And if so, are they of age? If the answer to either of these is no, then you'll be hit by a bug that makes it so you'll never get a replacement Duke. I'm not sure if we should be happy or sad about that.