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[strongrudder]

I keep finding myself lurking this forum, so I thought I'd join up. I'm pretty new to Dwarf Fortress - downloaded 40d a couple months ago and am still on my first fortress, Roughshield.

I thought that my first post on the forums ought to be some sort of contribution, even though this story is not nearly so epic as most others that come from DF. Hope it's enjoyable anyway.

-------

Aban Thadducim ran as fast as she could, cradling her mangled arm and cursing the band of goblins behind. They were still a ways back, nearly out of eyeshot... but they were closing fast.

They had come on the heels of another goblin ambush, striking the hapless dwarves of Roughshield while they eagerly looted a decimated caravan. Two civilians had been felled before Aban, a member of the Guard, threw herself into the fray. She had done a respectable amount of damage before a goblin finally caught a hold of her weapon arm and nearly destroyed it. There was no other choice but to run.

But now the initial surge of adrenaline was past, and Aban was slowing. Just as she came within sight of the fortress' main doors, the goblins caught up to her at last. Their leader knocked her flat with a heavy blow. Chuckling eerily, the invaders surrounded the dwarf. All she had the strength left to do was raise herself up on one arm and glare defiantly around the circle. She barked a stream of curses, but these were cut short as a goblin grabbed her by the neck. The beating began. Aban endured  the ferocious blows at first, but at last she began to slip into unconsiousness.

She was only dimly aware of the cry that went up among the goblins. Thundering into the fray was Roughshield's captain of the guard, Kogan "Donatella" Tosid - another female dwarf like Aban. With a roar she defended her fellow guard, dual shortswords (one obsidian, one steel) slicing through goblins as if they weren't even there. Shed limbs flew everywhere, streaking both Kogan and the ailing Aban with goblin blood.

As soon as it had begun, the final battle was over. No goblin had even time to turn away from Kogan's deadly blades. Gently the captain picked up her charge's broken body and began to carry her to the barracks to rest. But as heroic as her rescue had been, it had been just a few minutes too late. Aban faded into oblivion before they'd even crossed the fortress threshold. Vengeance, however, was already served.

-----

And here was a quick doodle done shortly after this happened. It's terribly rough, but the energy of the goblin slaughter is about right. This was also before I noticed/remembered that I'd assigned the lady two swords, haha.

Spoiler: In Defense of the Fallen (click to show/hide)

[LordSlowpoke]

This noble demands moar story [3/3].

...Speaking of which, it's one of the highest qualities I've read recently. Good job.

[Jordrake]

This is an excellent story. The writing quality is top-notch and the story itself is quite gripping. You've made your mark with a bang, certainly in my eyes.
For an apparent newbie, you've done well. Not only has your first fortress lasted for months, but you have a badass captain dual-wielding short swords, one of which is obsidian, a material I have yet to encounter. Well done all around.

Welcome to the DF community.

[strongrudder]

Thanks. I couldn't really make head or tail of the world map when I first embarked, and I ended up at the foot of an obsidian mountain. So I'm pretty much swimming in that stuff. (Less fortunate was the fact that I've had no wildlife for nearly 10 in-game years. ...and lost the last of the water to evaporation just recently. I'm just grateful for caravans and my forest at this point.)

As for this legendary captain of the guard... after musing a bit about my fortress and its inhabitants, I realized she's hands-down the most interesting dwarf in the place. There is certainly more to be told about "Donatella" Tosid, or whatever freakishly long name she goes by these days.

[shibdib]

awesome little story

[strongrudder]

This one is fairly mundane, and is mostly a buildup to the accompanying sketch... but ah well.

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Donatella Tosid was perched on a barrel in one of Roughshield's spacious cellars. Sparse torchlight glinted off the stream of dwarven wine as she poured it into a heavy mug. Taking a deep pull, the captain let her mind wander contentedly.

"Donna! Donna! We've been sieged!"

Donna choked on the wine. "Wha-?" She went into a bout of coughing, spraying deep purple liquid everywhere. The marksdwarf at the cellar entrance cringed a little, but continued at his superior's impatient gesture.

"They...they say Cap'n Minkot's already taken his dwarves out t'meet the blasted goblins!"

Donna ignored her burning throat and freed her twin obsidian-edged swords (a matched pair at last!) from her belt. "Minkot's lot? They'll have 'em all if we don't get out there fast! Call up the squad!"

Six dwarves burst out of Roughshield's front gate shortly, weapons bristling. The air was already shrill with the screams of goblins. Donna glimpsed the head of a goblin in the corner of her eye, before it disappeared over a hill. "They're on the run already!" she barked. "After 'em!"

No goblin was faster than Roughshield's captain of the guard. It was like a game for her, catching them one by one and sending them through the air with each blow. Goblins continue to seige Roughshield regularly to this day, which one would think would be reckless on their part. Of course, no goblin who's seen Donatella up close has lived to tell any cautionary tale.

Spoiler: A Goblin Flees in Vain. (click to show/hide)

[breadbocks]

Epic, dude. No other way to say it. You are an excellent writer. This would normally be a rather boring seen, but you made it interesting.

[Jordrake]

Excellent writing, cool story, epic dwarf.
A few more incidents of awesome and Donatella may match up to the greats like Morul and Cacame. 'Bout time a female was in Dwarf Fortress legend.
See if you can engineer a situation wherein she dives down a cliff to massacre goblins below.
Keep a backup save, that could go very wrong.

[breadbocks]

How unaware are you?

1. You forgot Captain Ironblood. NEVER forget Ironblood. You also forgot Nemo2342, Holistic Detective, and Urist.
2. It takes more than just 2 weeks (No offence meant, Strongrudder. You are a great writer) to go in the annals of great dwarfdom. Things like Boatmurdered don't pop up overnight.
3. Where the fuck do you think we got Urist? Female Dwarf. Read up on your famous dwarfs long before you proclaim a dwarf legendary.

[Pwnzerfaust]

Take heed, knave! The bread has spoken.

[breadbocks]

Take heed, knave! The bread's container has spoken.

I'm no bread. Simply its holder.

[Jordrake]

How unaware are you?

1. You forgot Captain Ironblood. NEVER forget Ironblood. You also forgot Nemo2342, Holistic Detective, and Urist.
2. It takes more than just 2 weeks (No offence meant, Strongrudder. You are a great writer) to go in the annals of great dwarfdom. Things like Boatmurdered don't pop up overnight.
3. Where the fuck do you think we got Urist? Female Dwarf. Read up on your famous dwarfs long before you proclaim a dwarf legendary.

I wasn't trying to make a complete list. And sorry, I sort of forgot about Urist. But still, the way it's going this dwarf is looking pretty damn badass. Like I said, it would take a fair few more acts of awesome before she became an important figure.
Also, it seems like you could have said that in a way that was less insulting.

[Ultimuh]

@strongrudder
I must say that I like your art.

[breadbocks]

@Jordrake: I meant it to be insulting. The message wouldn't have made it otherwise. You deeply offended me with your quick judgement of a product still rather early on in production. But enough of this flame war. I want to not be marked as a troll.

@TheWorld: I agree with you Ultimuh.

[strongrudder]

Hahaha. Nah, I'm not trying to make any mark on Dwarfdom with these (Tholtig was a pretty rad female dwarf iirc), just flexing the writing muscle I've left alone for far too long. My captain is par for the course in this game, I imagine. Still... I've become oddly attached to her. Probably because she's named. At any rate, the other day she blew right through two squads of axegoblins, and it was pretty satisfying. Even had a marksdwarf handy to slow down the ones too close to the edge of the map.

Anyways, thanks for the replies. (: