We felt that our hovel needed some cozying. We needed beds. So we all grabbed our copper axes and began to chop at the dry stumps of ancient trees.
We had disturbed the peace of this vile surface. Ingish R gave a yelp as a gigantic mass of fur came forth from the mud. It was a platypus, a strange creature as any, made stranger by its damned nature. We startled, but not for long.
Ingish S, the leader of this expedition, gave a war whoop. "We must fight this vile land! Bring light to the darkness! WE ARE THE ANGELIC LANTERNS!"
So we dropped our useless axes and bore our fists upon the foe.
It disappeared in a puff of waterlogged fur. This is a land of Ghosts, it seems, not of real, tangible, Fightable threats. We must remain united, and when we can, hidden.
This creature would have made short work of an individual dwarf. we must be more careful.
We finished cutting, and Lokum U crafted fine beds from the logs left atop the hill. We had them in time for the night.
Urist G. please?
oh yeah, about the fort, it seems like a pretty ambitious and !!FUN!! project, what is your militia about?
pickfighting (quite dangerous to an early fort taking on count how military works)?
fistfighting?
someotherweaponryfighting?
death eyes?
Could I claim Lokum U? He seems like a pretty cool guy.
The first night has passed. we have decided to have our first meeting. We spoke of dreams.
Urist G. please?
oh yeah, about the fort, it seems like a pretty ambitious and !!FUN!! project, what is your militia about?
pickfighting (quite dangerous to an early fort taking on count how military works)?
fistfighting?
someotherweaponryfighting?
death eyes?
Could I claim Lokum U? He seems like a pretty cool guy.
Everyone's night was troubled. But throughout the discussion, the two males of the group sat by one another, and occasionally whispered gravely to the other's ear. Finally they came forth.
Lokum U gathered himself before the small band. Finally he spoke.
"I had a dream last night. a terrible, terrible, beautiful dream. I dreamt of a forest ablaze, of giant beams of twisted wood holding aloft a stone ceiling, of roots twisting through obsidian like tendrils of steel through space. I dreamt of a dark figure standing above a glassy pillar amidst a dead forest. It spoke to me.
'You are the root, Lokum. you are the root. And amidst this blackness, you are the beam. You are the raven, Lokum. Rise. Fly. tear down the fowls of the sky and pluck the feathers from their wings.'
I think this means something, as my heart pumped magma when I heard it. This is why I have chosen to adopt the name he spoke to me when the stars died above, and the land froze below. Henceforth, call me Ravenplucker."He stepped back. he seemed to have grown tall and menacing. His dark hair swept over his face. he turned to Urist.
"My friend also had this dream. let him tell us what name he was given."Urist gave a chuckle. then he spoke:
"your words are eloquent, Ravenplucker. I feel we shall be friends. But I must change my name first."He cleared his throat and sighed. A great weariness came over him. he talked in a harsher, more gravely tone. Spoke he:
"When I was brought above the great tower in the sky, and when I watched the rivers die and seas dry, the shadow turned to me and closed around my eyes. It spoke into my ear.
'Stone and Ores of bone, you alone shall bend the will of rock. My child, you have a name which shall define you. You have claws and teeth beneath the surface. the claws of a bird. the teeth of a wolf. You shall have the name 'Raptorfang'.
This among many other things it told me. I think it wise I take that name, and give it unto my children to carry in hard times."
The groups was silent. Every dwarf here had that same dream that night. But only these two had been spoken to by the dark spirit above the great pillar.
Ravenplucker and Raptorfang stood silent, as if entranced by the cold winds above.
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Topic: Catchclasps: Fire and Rotting Flesh (The "Test Everything" Fort) (Read 17796 times)