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[Quantumtroll]

Sometimes, the sweetest victory can conceal the bitterest defeat. Here's my story so far:

My lone (unarmored) hammerdwarf Doren Godsteel had just left the desert continent of her youth and swum across an ocean to the continent where a Bronze Colossus had savaged her once peaceful and idyllic ancestral home.  Her mission was one of revenge, and to prepare the site for new settlers.  Maybe next time the settling dwarves would heed the ancient call to dig deep instead of building an unprotected and abhorrently human-like settlement on the surface.

On her way across a hill, she discovered a cave, which was duly explored and found to be connected to an enormous system of caverns.  Fascinating geology, but a dwarf on a mission must focus.   After a good night's sleep in the safe embrace of stone, she continued towards the rising sun.  Lo!  A jaguar on the prowl.  Unwise animal, easily dispatched.  But, what's that over there?  A mad flock of winged heads with huge, fanged mouths!  Abominations like that should be destroyed at once, so with hammer in hand Doren walked over to the monsters and started smashing wildly. 

The next moments are foggy, for somehow she found herself plunging through the air, hungry heads beating their batwings about her head.  Twisting, she managed to break her fall by hitting a head in mid-fall, and landed heavily on a bed of thick moss.  Surrounded by over a dozen of the monsters, her bones aching from the beating and bleeding from cuts all over, she limped to a defensible position and successfully finished off the flock of heads. 

During the fight, and the period of rest that followed, Doren became completely disoriented.  She knew not whence she came or where to go, but one thing was certain: she must keep moving.  After a few days of aimless wandering, increasingly desperate, something new appeared.  A dark structure of curious stone.  The zombie hordes that infested the structure proved insubstantial upon contact with the cold steel of her hammer, and she arrived at a beautiful and powerful artifact.  Taking it, a demon arose from the evil depths.

The impossible lightness of the sword was matched only by the keenness of its blade, and in its faint blue glow, Doren struck the demon for an eternity, sapping its strength until it finally shriveled up and collapsed. 

Energized by this victory and imbued with courage by her wondrous sword, Doren formulated a plan.  She would try to make her way back to the cave she'd found, and make her escape that way.

Today, after a long and dangerous passage under water, her dwarven senses finally told her she was standing underneath this cave... 



... See that there, in the upper right?  That's the cave where she needs to go.

67 levels to get to the cave that leads to an exit.  By the beard of Armok, how did Doren get so far down?  How did she survive?  More importantly, how can she continue her mission?  I have ranged pretty far all around this area, and there's no way up out of this cavern.  I need some advice here, people! 

[shadenight123]

there is a way to move from adventurer to fortress mode and viceversa.
you should pass to fortress, embark on the area, dig a way out of your adventurer, then go back to adventure mode and exit with your adventurer.

[IT 000]

Continue adventuring looking for another exit, document it and post your story!

[Eric Blank]

these two extremes are both so beautiful. The first would get you out of that cavern in a few weeks, while the second would be a true adventure.

Are you sure the caverns don't continue indefinitely? Did you mean you're boxed into a small section of caverns? It's rare, and I understand you're in the third cavern layer if you permitted the world to generate all 3, but you could escape by finding a series of upward passages. It'll take a long time and a lot of mindless wandering, but if you make it to the layer the cave reaches into you can navigate back to it to escape

It sounds to me like the flying heads got you to dodge off a cliff down a deep pit between caverns. Were you in the first layer when you started?
Lucky you landed on that other flying head or you would have exploded on impact Truly an epic tale. Keep posting!

[Quietust]

Try working your way to a Human town (not a castle) and seeing if it permits you to quick-Travel away.

[Quantumtroll]

Since I'm trying to roleplay this character, I'd need some explanation for the dwarven rescue diggers to just show up at exactly the right cave, so I'm not going that route.  If a mod or cheat enabled my dwarf to dig her way up using the adamantine sword, that'd be a quick-fix option that I might consider.  But since I don't know of any adventure-mode digging mod, that's not an option either.

My options are thus:
Try to go north, where the sea is.  Maybe there's an underwater connection?  But this seems unlikely, because then the cavern would be inundated by salt water and also there doesn't seem to be any path northwards in this area...

Go east, where there is a forest and elven settlements. But why?

Go southeast, where there are hills.  If it's karst landscape there may be cracks connecting the cavern levels.  DF may not include this geology, but it'd be a nice story if it turns out to work.  This is my current plan.

Go west, away from everything.

I'll keep posting on Doren's wanderings. She doesn't seem to have any trouble surviving down there, which is exciting. Meatballs for dinner every day! I just wish I knew more about how caverns are generated, so I would more of a clue as to how to proceed.  Everywhere I've gone it's just been mostly flat, only a few levels up and down.  Hardly a fraction of the five dozen levels I need to go...

[Quantumtroll]

Having ascertained the true nature of her predicament, Doren formulated a plan.  From the descriptions of the surrounding landscape and the underground survey she accomplished with her wanderings, she deduced that an area in the south with broken hills might be karst landscape.  Groundwater seeping down from the surface has carved channels through the rock which may allow the passage of a dwarf.  The water flowing among the cracks of this mossy cavern must be fed from the same source and eventually reaches the sea. 

Doren considered.  Following the flow of the water to the sea might yield an underwater passage.  She was a powerful swimmer, but could she make it through winding caves? No, she must take to the water and swim against the current, heading south towards the cracks that allowed the seepage in the first place. 

The voyage was long and hard, made more difficult by packs of crundles.  Fortunately, the farther she moved from the evil temple, the fewer horrible monsters seemed to lurk in the shadows.  Finally, a distinctly colored plume of mud signaled a passage to a higher level of caverns. 

This cavernous area was deserted. No towercaps graced the empty spaces, not even any moss or fungus.  Without anything to graze on, larger animals were equally absent.  There would be no food here, so no time to tarry.  The path north, back to the original cave, was blocked by chasms and impenetrable rock, so Doren continued moving south, deeper underneath the broken hills. 

Hungry now, she considered eating one of the live roaches she'd picked up at the bottom of the caverns.  No. That's disgusting. Right at that moment, an impossible draft of moving air. Excited now, Doren squeezed through a crack and entered a series of small caves arranged on top of each other.  Climbing quickly, a small herd of elkbirds squawked and lowed as she ran past, casually removing a leg and a wing from one of the creatures for dinner.  This blue sword was truly a gift from above.

Then, finally, after weeks underground, miles of twisting passages, and hordes of unsavory creatures, grass. Sweet green grass, so unlike the dry and yellow cruft of her hometown, yet so much better than squishy fungus and mud. 

But... hold on a minute, where is the sky? Where is the sun and where are the stars?  And that over there isn't a tree, it's a fungiwood!  This grass grows but has never seen the light of day!!  Such a cruel trick, such an abysmal lie.  In a fit of spite, Doren set fire to the area, crawled back into the crevice she came from, and collapsed into a deep sleep...

[Quantumtroll]

(Lucky me, work today involved running programs for long periods of time to gather statistics )

The treasonous grass was only smoldering when Doren woke up. The smoke had been removed by some sort of air current, but it was impossible to tell in which direction. 

These caverns were covered in lush vegetation and spacious beyond the largest human-built structures Doren had ever seen.  It would be hard to find a passage up in this landscape.  Having made a lot of height, however, she was prepared to try moving back north again, to the cave near to where she fell. 

This cavern was infested with creatures of all kinds.  If Doren wasn't perpetually covered in the blood of battle, it was only because of the frequent pools of water that provided impromptu baths.  Nevertheless, progress through the mostly open caverns was swift and she soon arrived back in the area underneath the cave. There were scattered skeletons of crundles there, oddly familiar.  Yes, now she remembered, these were the monsters she slayed during her brief and wonderfully voluntary foray into the cave.  It was just a matter of retracing her steps and she'd be out!

Animals were sheltering in the caves near the surface. It must be night. Lucky, because she'd run out of proper food and cave monsters had a strange taste to her palate, which was used to ordinary human foods.  Finally, after butchering her kills, Doren Godsteel makes it out of the caverns alive:



Alright, sweet, I made it out!  I can't believe it!  Now I can take this adamantine sword and go lop off the hands of the Bronze Colossus that wrecked the lovely village I built in Fortress Mode.  Just have to find the place, but after getting lost underground that should be a piece of cake.  But first, off to the Elven settlements to gather some back-up archers!

[_DivideByZero_]

Bravo! But archers probably won't do much against a colossus, since it can't bleed.

Also, you might want to look into using a better image host like photobucket.

[Tharwen]

Hurrah! Yay for Doren!

May she never be affected by random critical headshots!

[Interus]

After hearing so much about how getting lost in the caverns means no escape, this story was pretty awesome.  Thank you for sharing and staying in character to make it even cooler.

[iyaerP]

Well played.

[Yoink]

Epic! May the adventures of Doren continue for many a forum post!

Also, I've given up on many adventurers lost in the caverns, so good work!

[Quantumtroll]

Thanks for the support, friends!  Things have gone swimmingly well after the cavern escapade (thanks to the little sword I found), and Doren's adventures are already coming to a close.  But let's not get ahead of ourselves, maybe destiny has something more in store for her yet.

Sword in hand, Doren Godsteel set off down the hill, breathing deeply of the fresh, clean air.  She was curious about the hole that had originated her subterranean adventure, but couldn't find it among all the trees and ponds of the swampy lowlands.  No matter, she was quite satisfied indeed to close that chapter behind her. At least for now, as there was a slight twinge of conscience whenever her blade cut a jungle vine or dismembered a wild animal – a portal to the netherworld had opened, and it was her fault.  Fortunate that the caverns were so labyrinthine that the evils lurking underneath might never rise to bother the mortal sphere above.  Unable to solve the problem on her own anyway, she set herself to finishing the mission she'd started, to destroy the Bronze Colossus, Ngaxa Freegorges the Contested Renowns, who plundered the peaceful and unassuming village that her family emigrated from years ago.

Traveling on land was fraught with its own set of dangers. Each evening, Doren would scout for a secluded place to shelter for the night, and could only sleep fitfully for fear of bogeymen and nocturnal predators.  Bogeymen were the most dangerous, even though Doren's keen dwarven ears tended to wake her before they got close.  They'd come in swarms, and she'd chant a rythm to herself while she cut and dodged and bled the monsters out.  Knock one over, cut an artery, move to the closest standing and repeat.  These almost nightly fights cost Doren teeth and broken cartilage, but her skills improved until she was sure she was a match for the Colossus.  After defeating the bleak horror spouse Oda Echopack, the bogeymen seemed to avoid her for days at a time, greatly improving her mood.

It was far to go, indeed, and one day Doren hit upon another cave.  A safe haven for rest, and perhaps another entry into the underworld.  Definitely worth exploring.  She didn't get far, however, before hearing a hiss emanating from eight throats.  Hydra!  It came in fast and bowled her over, crowding her into a corner.  With nowhere to go, the sword flashed out, again and again. Heads rained down and the cave was soon slick with blood.  Aleni the hydra was no more.

Doren's maps guided her east, through abandoned elven forests that surrounded goblin mountains, then following a river south through a wide valley.  The river turned southwest, and Doren followed it to the coast, and followed to coast far to the south past another goblin civilization.  She was getting close to her goal now, as evidenced by a goblin raiding party that crossed her path.

"Halt in the name of Emancipated Malice!", yelled Osta Ruthlessmuscles the goblin, standing proud in iron breastplate.  That design seems familiar, mused Doren as she savaged the skinny creatures with bone-splintering kicks and ran them through with supernatural metal.  Sure enough, the armor was dwarven-sized and bore the stamp of the Trade of Cats, her civilization!  This was a most fortuitous find, for our heroine's leather dress and coat were in a sorry state.

A few days inland, at the foot of a small mountainrange, Doren encountered the signs of her ancestral home.  Skeletons of livestock and work animals littered the ground, finished goods and furniture strewn about like a tornado had... *GROAN*
Doren barely had time to take stock of the situation before an enormous moving statue came around, twisting metal screaming with every movement.

The Bronze Colossus bore dents, cracks, and chips from the brave efforts of the ad hoc militia trying to defend their settlement.  Bone bolts, copper picks and axes in unpracticed hands hadn't done much to dim the vitality of the abomination, however.  With a sudden rush, it bowled Doren over before she got in more than a strike.  The fight was grim and hard, neither opponent letting up their constant exchange of blows.  While Doren turned blue from bruising, the adamantine sword slashed and cut cracks into the statue.  She could barely stay upright under its overbearing bulk, and focused her efforts on the Colossus' legs. With a sound like a crashing church bell, it finally fell.  Now, the tables had turned, and Doren's greater speed rapidly weakened the bronze being. Finally, with a tremendous chop, the Colossus' head broke off, rolled a short distance, and came to rest.

Ears ringing from the noise, Doren sat down in the grass, eyes tearing up at finally having avenged her people. All that remained of Ngaxa Freegorges the Contested Renowns was an inert bronze statue decorated with gouges and cracks, surrounded by blood, sweat, and chunks of bronze glinting in the sun.

(what's next?  Kill the goblins nearby?  Go to a human town, sell some stuff, retire?  I think I'd like to rebuild this place soon now that the Colossus is gone.)

[Haspen]

Sell the statue, buy jewelry, settle down with humans.

Reclaim the fortress and build a dedicated shrine/something for Doren.

Bonus for engravings of a dwarf striking down a bronze colossus