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[Kogut]

You need to pull a Dwemer and build your own God. Maybe the Dwarves reject the gods who have failed them and they try to build their own in hell? Substitute lava for the Heart of Lorkhan and TADA! Numidium all up in this bitch.

"Their mastery of (...) and geothermal power by tapping into the natural lava source under Morrowind allowed them to create airships, sentient machines, mechanical observatories, and lighting systems that continued to work for centuries without any maintenance." ( http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer )

[Bloogonis]

I find it oddly fitting that when the last dwarf dies the primary sentient creatures in the fort will be Plump helmet men. I can see it now, an age passes and an adventurer finds Weatherwires ruins, she makes her way to the throne room to find a wizened old Plump Helmet Man In flowing robes who tells the tale of the ancient dwarves. And to this day Plump Helmet Men guard the ancient halls from the occasional Antelope and Topazolite Fiends who stumble upon the Dwarven legacy.

[Malarauko]

You need to pull a Dwemer and build your own God. Maybe the Dwarves reject the gods who have failed them and they try to build their own in hell? Substitute lava for the Heart of Lorkhan and TADA! Numidium all up in this bitch.

"Their mastery of (...) and geothermal power by tapping into the natural lava source under Morrowind allowed them to create airships, sentient machines, mechanical observatories, and lighting systems that continued to work for centuries without any maintenance." ( http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer )

Yeah but they used the power of the Heart of Lorkhan to create a giant golem.

[DS]

As construction of the great stair nears completion, the ghostly planter strikes again. Taking control of Èrith Minedtribe of clan Gearguild, Ilral Boltedday struck down the master lasher Stukos Testorbs, the last remnant of the Lashhushed clan. Èrith, who had been recently recruited to the Silvery Princesses, had already reached legendary skill with his adamantine short sword - a skill which was put to vicious use by the angry spirit.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Also, a third type of demon has been spotted in the deeps: the Mite Brute. A great, scaly, slavery mite with thin wings of stretched skin. Truly, the underworld appears to be full of foul creatures.

[DS]

The great stair is finished, except for the lowest level. It extends in a solid, unbroken column from an engraved chamber below the dome, through the second cavern layer (though it is hidden behind a solid obsidian block wall), through the caisson and the magma sea, and to the base of hell itself.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The Grooved Book-Volcanos, led by the militia commander Libash Dippedurns, goes into position at the top of the stair, in case some fiends should strike immediately. The structure is connected to the featureless grey surface of the underworld with a final steel stairwell - no demons are apparently nearby - forming a direct and permanent route directly from the fortress and into hell.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Two squads journey bravely into the waste: the Silvery Princesses, led by Èzum Openeddoors the Robust Stoker of Lances, and the Dignified Hammers, led by Shorast Phraseposts the Odorous Temple of Diamond. The Hammers will guard the stairwell from invasion, while the Princesses will perform the first ranging - Èzum leads his squad through the abyss, exploring the area, so that the prime location for a temple can be found.

[DS]

The region of the underworld that lies underneath Weatherwires has been explored, but a suitable site for the temple remains to be selected. The location of the structure will of course depend on its nature - size, complexity, use, etc. - which also remains to be determined.

After a desperate battle with an Antelope Fiend, captain Èzum and his squadmates discovered that the demons are generally too large for any single warrior to defeat. Instead, a lone warrior would simply be batted around by the fiend, until one wrong step sent the dwarf tumbling into one of the mysterious glowing pits which marred the underworld's otherwise featureless surface. Though Èzum's squad suffered no casualties, the captain was forced nearly to the edge of one of these pits, and so further precautions are being made. A steel curtain wall, surrounding the base of the stairwell, will ensure that any squad who guards the entrance to the fortress will have a small area, protected against those howling, swirling vortices of light, where they will need not fear an accidental plunge deeper into the abyss. Once this curtain wall is finished, a small barracks, complete with a supply of food and drink, will be erected so that the militia can train and eat, even while stationed in the deepest of deeps.

[Wannazzaki]

You need to pull a Dwemer and build your own God. Maybe the Dwarves reject the gods who have failed them and they try to build their own in hell? Substitute lava for the Heart of Lorkhan and TADA! Numidium all up in this bitch.

"Their mastery of (...) and geothermal power by tapping into the natural lava source under Morrowind allowed them to create airships, sentient machines, mechanical observatories, and lighting systems that continued to work for centuries without any maintenance." ( http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer )

Geothermal powered their fortresses, their machines were powered by steam boilers and soul gems as a battery. Though not believing in magic soul gems had a "unique electrochromatic signature" indicating they were filled. The Dwemer themselves tried to bend the heart of lorkhan to their will using Kherigans tools (Wraithguard, sunder etc). This of course, pissed off the spirit of nirn (Lorkhan) who did...well. What he did was up to debate. It either fused them with their hugemongous mecha, it Did destroy their bodies (red dwarf style piles of dust) but whether this means their souls are gone or they just got blasted to another plane of oblivion it's up for debate. Considering Nirn's cosmology is "Stars are rents in reality showing the other planes of oblivion" the dwemer could come back by getting around to utilising space travel which hilariously behaves a bit more like Spelljammer space.

[DS]

As the dwarves toil away, smelting iron into steel bars which are then hauled into the deeps to be added to the constructions there, the peaceful and tamed mushroom folk, confined to the top of the southwestern building, are building the foundations of a new society.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Although they cannot speak, they can apparently communicate, probably via spores. This particular individual is the oldest - according to Runesmith, she is aged 43 - and is also the most skilled.

I'm not great at interpreting the raws, so I bumped over to arena mode, removed the [ARENA_RESTRICTED] tag from their entry (this is the second change I've made, after adding the [PET] tag), and wrestled a plump helmet man in order to better determine their body layout. From what I can tell, they have no facial features whatsoever - just a head. As well, they have no individual toes or fingers, and no division between an upper or lower arm. Just a head (the mushroom cap, presumably) an upper and lower body, and arms and legs, terminating in fingerless hands and feet, respectively. They are all (always) a plain purple.

Based on these findings, it can be deduced that the plump helmet men are simple creatures possessed of a kind of intelligence completely alien to that of the sentient races, including dwarves. They communicate with spores, which is also presumably how they tell one another apart, and reproduce. They are simple creatures, in body and spirit.

...however, before the end comes, I may attempt to teach them other skills. Curse the map's apparent lack of flesh balls!

EDIT: Found a picture of various mushroom folk on deviantART - the little guy on the bottom, second from the left, fits the description of a plump helmet man pretty accurately.

[DS]

The curtain wall is completed, and as the scaffolding is being torn down, an armor stand is placed next to the base of the stairwell and each of the four remaining squads ordered to train in hell.

...not a moment too soon, as a barrage of seven demons assaults the fortress.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

In the battle, the scions of the Vesselplayed and Thunderbridge clans are wounded - though, luckily, a few broken bones are the only wounds suffered. Kol Claspedrelief, the youngest dwarf and the only survivor of clan Languagemetal makes his first two demonic kills - a pair of mite brutes.

Now, the last construction - the final effort of Weatherwires.

[DS]

Years pass. Old age claims another dwarf - a clothier who has lived in the fort since 144.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Those years seem distant now, part of another age. A time, long passed, which now is only a vaguely remembered dream amidst the despondent hell which is Weatherwires.

The scaffolding which was used to construct the curtain wall is removed.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Only one task remains to the dwarves of the Merchant of Echoing.

[Haika]

That was quite the read. I approve greatly, and look forward to the final creation.

I kinda wish there was a way to stop playing the fortress(without abandoning), and use it as the mountainhome for a new fort. However that doesn't seem to fit in with the theme and flow of the story so far. Either way, I quite enjoyed reading things so far.

[Protactinium]

I am so effing glad I posted earlier in this thread. It reminded me to check up on this thread, and goddamn did it deliver.

You're phenomenal at storytelling, DS.

[Bloogonis]

I always imagine the plump helmet men like purple versions of the third one in the top row and for communication i had always assumed it was either wiggles and simple sign-language or vibrations and possibly thumping out sounds either against their bodies or the ground or objects in the area. When I was about to post I remembered they don't have eyes and was about to junk my preconceptions but then I checked the raws and saw they have Infravision so now I have the impression that their entire head is like a big 360 degree thermal sensor. This suddenly makes me a little disconcerted looking at my own plumphelmet man colony and keep hearing the soundtrack played in the Predator movies when its the predators viewpoint.

[Karakzon]

plump helmet men
FROM SPACE!

[DS]

I was struck with food poisoning last night, so you can imagine my utmost disgust and horror when I boot up DF and four of these things attack:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Apparently the previous onslaught was found wanting, and the overlords of hell ordered in what might pass as siege engines amongst the fiends - the bloated, undulating vomit of a thousand demons, given sentience and malevolent will by whatever evil force was contained in the underworld.

The green monsters struck quickly, and militia commander Libash Dippedurns and a mace lord by the name of Rovod Craftlabor the Sour Tusk (wielding Entrancegriffons the steel mace) sprung to the defense. Although the demon's fragile bodies offered no resistance, every time the warrior's landed a strong blow, the thin, vile film which held together the monsters would release a spray of demon bile which knocked the dwarves off their feet, sometimes high above the slade floor, only to come back down with a crunch.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Ironically, it is the monster's strength which proves to be their undoing. As the rest of the military rushes in to aid in the defense, Commander Libash strikes a long slice into one of the fiends with the Blockaded Pungency, the artifact adamantine spear once wielded by Vabôk Earthenfins, and the jet of loathsome spew hurled the four demons into the air. The creatures fell back to the surface with a splat, leaving pools of steaming vomit on the black slade. One of the beasts heaves forward, still not quite dead - or whatever passes as death for a blob of vomit.

The creature struck swiftly, crushing the curse-breaker Zasit Portalwines, first child of the Quakedented clan, between itself and the slade floor. 21 years have passed since Zasit was born, and since then no other clans have formed. In all, 20 children were born into the clan, although now only 9 remain, and with their patriarch slain, that number will only grow smaller.

The last green monster collapses to the ground in a burst of its own vomit, and ceases to undulate.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I am so effing glad I posted earlier in this thread. It reminded me to check up on this thread, and goddamn did it deliver.

You're phenomenal at storytelling, DS.

Hey, thanks.

I kinda wish there was a way to stop playing the fortress(without abandoning), and use it as the mountainhome for a new fort. However that doesn't seem to fit in with the theme and flow of the story so far. Either way, I quite enjoyed reading things so far.

Well, I will of course post the save once the fortress is finished for good, which will allow anyone to do a reclaim, or explore the fort in adventure mode.