This taste of victory is still fresh in my mouth.
Kar Puwuncobi’s victory against one of the beasts has been a great morale booster.
Though that aside, I am still bothered by my recent discovery.
If Andreus is to be believed this fort is basically collapsing in on itself.
The reset will occur if the fort falls which should be a good thing.
But there is some THING out there that is waiting for the collapse.
I have noticed something that THING’s presence seemed to weaken a bit when the beast died.
It felt like the eyes watching me blinked… or more accurately IT winced.
Perhaps the THING’s control is directly related to the number of those abominations near the fort.
Maybe I should systematically eliminate the beasts in the deep.
I got a lot of work in front of me don’t I?
Or should I say El Presidente has a lot of work in front of him.
I’d have him go after this guy if it hadn’t found a path to such an odd location.
I wonder why magma isn’t melting it?
I decided there’s another target that needs finished first.
This guy is in what looks to be a hospital. I figure I clear him out first.
Okay! Wait. There’s a dwarf in the magma fighting the beast!! MEGO!? He’s actually keeping the beast in the magma long enough to melt it!!
Sad to say though, He dies too… but that is one beast down.
All that is left is a single copper pick that Mego was carrying. There is also a ghost here that watched the whole thing unfold. He tells me everything that I expected to hear about Mego’s fight.
And one more thing I didn’t expect to hear. The beast escaped and still lives. CRAP!
It carries on destroying stuff. It has lost a lot of tissue though and appears to still be going strong.
It eventually makes its way back in the room it originally appeared in and is fighting a wolf.
Erica, The Master, and Ledi are all hanging out nearby.
I redirect Kar Puwuncobi to this room instead of to the demon. Though he doesn’t seem interested in fighting again.
He’s chasing around the lost and frightened diplomat screaming, “MEETING!” at the top of lungs.
It doesn’t help that he is swing around a pick around as he’s doing this.
I think the fact that his battle cry before killing the previous beast was also “MEETING” that the diplomat might have the wrong idea.
Maybe. El Presidente might actually want to kill him. I’m not sure.
Suddenly, Kar drops the pick and screams “TO BATTLE!” And he begins to pick up equipment.
Was he unarmed during the last fight? He only attacked with a shield… so maybe?
Erica IV begins to fight the beast in the depths.
Apparently cousac is down there now too.
The wolf manages to take control of the fight for a bit and gets the beast to chase it further down stairs.
I imagine that now is the best time to point this out. Now that Mego is dead:
A once proud race of dwarves; creatures of craft and industry; drinkers of the finest drink and builders of the mountain halls; now there are only ten.
The fires below are out of control.
The demons have made their way up he suddenly as well.
The Flame Phantoms are setting fire to everything. The smoke is everywhere.
I can barely see through the smoke and I am suddenly startled when I hear someone bellow “MEETING!”
He’s wearing armor this time from the sound of it, but I’m sure he isn’t carrying a weapon!
Ummm… did I see that right? Did that attack just go through el Presidente?
Either way, he fell off the edge. He hurt himself a bit, but seems to be fine.
He climbs up and rejoins the fight.
Only toget burned to death in the fires.
Nine Left.Dang it. I never intended him to fight these demons. I didn’t even realize they were about to explode in here.
Eight Left.The demons are assaulting the beast all at once. Apparently the beasts are playing for a different team than the demons.
Maybe I’m right about the beasts being agents of that THING.
The demons seem to be winning. At this point if they win we are going to be killed by demons.
I can’t seem to find the body, but the beast was put down by the demons.
The demons are currently fighting the largest resistance we could muster.
Actually, they are just fighting cats. But they’re our cats.
The battle seems to be one-sided. See the cats are the only ones that think they are in battle.
The demons are just trying to pet the kitties.
Unfortunately for the cats, a being composed of flame can’t really pet anything in a nice way.
Seven Left.The cats are not faring well against these demons from the deep.
Singed cat hair has become the new scent to waft through these corridors. At least it covers up the smell of vomit and blood.
The demons running low on cats to molest find Seth and Erica. They can’t even defend themselves in the coming onslaught.
Another long time citizen bites the dust.
Six Left.To die so young in such an unpleasant manner would normally be sad.
But let the sweet embrace of darkness comfort you where you go now.
Five Left.The fort’s numbers have dropped by half in such a short time.
I have been unable to do anything to prevent this disaster. I need to save the rest.
Alas. I cannot.
The befouled creatures known as cats have yet again lead disaster to our precious few citizens.
These foul mangy rats have done nothing to help us and instead lead the very creatures killing them to us.
I am beginning to really freaking hate these damn cats!
Okay, the cats managed to confuse it. It’s somewhere I can block it.
Or the damn cats unconfused it and started it moving now that I have dwarves ordered to build walls.
Curse those cats… and all their descendants and ancestors.
Just because the demons are toppling shit doesn’t mean you have to do it also!
Now the Master is fighting one of the Flame Phantoms.
The Master isn’t doing too well in this battle.
Four Left. Nothing more can really be said about how little a chance we stand here.
Another dwarf is ambushed…
…and doesn’t live to tell the tale.
Three Left.At least our cat population is under control.
There’s a dwarf down in that cursed room again. I thought I sealed the only path in and out of there.
Where the heck are they finding a way down?
I got a bad feeling about all the named cats that seem to be dying from time to time.
The crazy cat kid, Ledi seems to be suffering extremely from a number of different things.
I am worried about this child’s mental state. She was already crazy to begin with.
At the same time… I like this. Hehehehehehehehehehehe… stupid cat lady… you are the reason we suffffer.
All my plans, ruined by your fluffy little beasts! Heh heh heh… I hope you suffer a lot.
This dwarf is also exploring terrible areas with no way to get there. Where is this hidden stairway at?
Hey I got good news! See:
Yay! More dead cats! Seriously, I couldn’t have heard better news. Heh Heh Heh Heh…
Halbezbin Somegret just defeated a demon causing it to explode. WHOA.
Sadly, this little victory… comes with a healthy dose of defeat.
Two Left. It figures this random guy turned hero quickly turned out to be the sacrificial kind of hero.
RenegadeSparks was lucky and can escape with his own life thanks to said sacrifice.
Hehehehahohehahehehahaho.
DIEDIEDIE… Kill the cat lover!
HEHEHEHEHE ONE LEFT!But the final dwarf lacks brains. RenegadeSparks wanders into a dead end for no reason at all.
And hehehe…
He finds only death…
A pair of demons boxes him in.
With a breath of fire and a fireball thrown the last dwarf slams against the wall taking the full brunt of the heat and fire.
I feel it… hahaha… the energy of the fort… all rushing past me…
Like a great wind it carries me toward whatever end it wills.
I sense other ghosts fade as we approach the destination. They are converted to pure energy.
I am not a ghost, so I’m falling apart a lot slower. Hehehe…
I can… hehe… feel the darkness… hehe… all around me. That THING has won…
I could do nothing. I failed. In the next world, IT will have greater control thanks to the rip we have caused.
Armok... please... if you have any mercy... please remove cats from the next world...
I would be very thankful.
As I begin to fade, I see it. The Tainted One, That Vile Force, That Thing. I hear it. And it speaks to me.
A.aaaaaii…oo…eee…
---
And so passes the last Overseer of Hellcannon. All around the world the living raise their heads. For a brief moment, so small no one event realizes that it happened.
The wind starts to blow again and fades away just a quickly.
The world wasn’t quite ready to reset yet. It would be years before the reset would finally erode the world of its current iteration.
The Foul One was carefully allowing the energy in Hellcannon to build up. He can wait.
To the millions of people the world would last for one hundred years or more, but to the Foul One the world would start anew shortly.